the headlines. it least ten people have been killed in israeli airstrikes on the gaza strip. this is bbc news, the headlines: at least ten people have been killed in israeli air strikes on the gaza strip. israel says it was in response to a threat from palestinian group islamichhad. one of its top commanders is among the dead. the conspiracy theorist alexjones has been ordered to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages after falsely claiming the sandy hook school shooting was a hoax. the defamation case against the infowars founder and host was brought by the parents of one of the children killed. china has made a show of strength in the taiwan strait for a second day. the us has accused china of "fundamentally irresponsible behaviour" after beijing said it was stopping cooperation with the americans on a range of key issues including how

to tackle climate change. now on bbc news, shrimps, saris and guns. faarea masud investigates how the demand for shrimp is destroying land that women have farmed for centuries in bangladesh. along the coastline is riverbeds of rural bangladesh, thousands of factors where rice was once grown have been converted into intensive shrimp farms. catering to a multibillion—dollar global industry. since the explosion of the industry in the 1980s when the world's appetite for this luxury food group, there have been increasing

allegations of violence and land grabbing by criminal gangs. i'v e i've come to bangladesh to hear first—hand about the hidden abuses in the industry, and the detrimental effect of saltwater shrimp farms on these women's health and livelihoods. paar health and livelihoods. poor eo - le health and livelihoods. poor peeple are _ health and livelihoods. poor people are being _ health and livelihoods. porr- people are being exploited by the rich and powerful and poverty is not being eradicated. these shrimp are so expensive, and poor people can't even dream of buying them.

it has taken me years to gain exclusive access to the working conditions of this remote, often secretive community. now these women farmers are fighting back to protect their rights. music. frozen shrimp exports are worth about $500 million to the bangladeshi economy. after garments, seafood is the country's biggest export. most of it is sold to europe. baby

shrimp are caught from rivers and waterways and hatcheries, and waterways and hatcheries, and then brought to these shrimp farms where they are cultivated to full size. most of these shrimp farms are along the coastal birds and riverbeds of bangladesh, where there is a plentiful supply of water. but environmentalists and local communities are telling me that vision farms leave the area we can vulnerable. the land can no longer withstand the effect of cyclones and typhoons which bangladesh experiences regularly. as we travelled to the south—west coast, the effects of saltwater toxicity on the farms was clear. we are surrounded by cracked and grey coastline, which actually saw using aerial cameras, stretched for miles. local wildlife had disappeared. the landscape is gutted and divided into rough rectangles known as polders,

low—lying tracts of land surrounded by embankments. many of the people farming in this area in the polders live below the poverty line. i began my journey in polder 23, when there are currently ongoing problems. here, the land is barren and muddy.- problems. here, the land is barren and muddy. well, this lad has barren and muddy. well, this lady has just _ barren and muddy. well, this lady has just told _ barren and muddy. well, this lady hasjust told me - barren and muddy. well, this lady hasjust told me that - lady has just told me that because of problems of saltwater exposure, she has actually had to have surgery. in fact, many of the women here have said they had all kinds of related problems to be exposure to salt. many of the women say they have complained to local shrimp farm

owners and the local authorities about the health issues they are experiencing, but they say the complaints not being listened to. these coastal areas are overseen by local union councils. the chairman of one such counsel told me that these days, violence in these shrimp times is not on the same scale as a few decades ago, and that

any complaints are dealt with through a more collaborative system. 0ver through a more collaborative system. over in polder 29, i heard about the history of intensive shrimp farming, which included allegations of violence conduct by men with guns. since many shrimp farm bosses live in the cities, far away from the remote coastal areas, they would send local agents or local contacts to maintain the affairs of the shrimp farms. their methods, so local witnesses, got out of hand. during prolonged campaigns localfarmers hand. during prolonged campaigns local farmers said these men would intimidate local farmers into converting their rice land into intensive shrimp farms.

i heard iheard similar i heard similar stories and some of the other areas i visited. and when did this happen?

the police didn't respond to our request for comment on the weapons involved in the shrimp industry, but this representative from a non—governmental organisation called do it yourselves told me about the history of guns in the industry.— about the history of guns in the industry. they used to be armed. the industry. they used to be armed- now _ the industry. they used to be armed. now they _ the industry. they used to be armed. now they are - the industry. they used to be armed. now they are less - the industry. they used to be - armed. now they are less armed. they were very violent before,

because they had gotten away with it in the past, so they thought they could get away with it, but because of all the noises we were making out all the levels, arms, etc has gone down considerably. now what they use is manipulation. i asked people, especially at the village level, you know you are risking your life, you know you are going to get killed, and yet you resist. and they said, we have nothing else to lose. they had to fight a lot, so did we, but the fact that we don't give up, and i always say that you only lose when you give up, i think that is what empowers the people in the area to feel that they can live their life the way they wish to. and i —— and they don't have to be intimidated by goons, thugs or people who are in power. slowly a resistance _ people who are in power. slowly a resistance began _ people who are in power. slowly a resistance began against - people who are in power. slowly a resistance began against the l a resistance began against the encroaching intensive shrimp farms. the revolutionaries

spark originated in polder 22, where we travel to next. amidst the grey, infertile shrimp land, it remains a shining victorious patch of green. it was here in 1990 where a localfarmer it was here in 1990 where a local farmer was brutally shot dead. her name was kuranamoy shuktar. she was had little formal education, but she had heard from neighbouring communities about the detrimental effect that saltwater from shrimp farms had on poor communities like hers. this memorial behind me was erected to commemorate her and the beginning of the women farmers movement to protect their rights. i have come here to speak to her family about her legacy.

what legacy has shellacked in this for women? —— she left. sometimes the women are negatively referred to as water bandits. i asked negatively referred to as water bandits. iasked him negatively referred to as water bandits. i asked him what his responses to rumours that his mother and herfollowers responses to rumours that his mother and her followers were also violent.

the bangladeshi government department, the ministry of fisheries, responded and said any complaint of harassment or violation of labour laws reported in shrimp industries are dealt with together with local administration. it are dealt with together with localadministration. it added local administration. it added that localadministration. it added that it welcomed more detail on people we spoke with in order to resolve any cases. the slow progress in reducing violence in the shrimp industry has led to grassroots do—it—yourself collectives. creeper led one of the key struggles. these days, she and her colleagues go from village to village re—enacting their fight in short theatrical plays. they each play themselves. it is a way of directly educating the community who often cannot read

or have no access to media. in an effort to see where the

money to fund this industry is coming from i tried to trace the global shrimp supply chain. i went to a fish depot where all of the small shrimp farmers sell their shrimp to factories and then they are sold on to export to foreign countries. but it was impossible to trace where all the shrimp here were coming from. it was an informal bazaar. paths of shrimp poured from unmarked baskets for brokers to sell on to the highest bidder. shrimp were brought in on carts with no license plates, crates full of shrimp had travelled along unmarked roads through four villages and a few impromptu ponds. several species of shrimp were often piled onto the same mat and after a chaotic verbal bit process a buyer could walk off without showing any papers. consider that it showing any papers. consider thatitis

showing any papers. consider that it is from depots like this that most of the world receives its bangladeshi shrimp. it is a very murky supply chain to verify in any meaningful way. and there is sometimes a problem with drinking water supply in those areas as a result of the salt proliferating in the area. what

solutions would you propose to improve that condition for the farms. while bangladeshi shrimp exporters push for growth in the industry the country's law is also at work. an environmental lawyer was one has been fighting cases around saltwater shrimp farms for years. a substantial amount of agricultural land owned by the poor farmers are being forcibly grabbed by shrimp cultivators and for the government it is earning but it is earning biofuel. ., . ,

earning but it is earning biofuel. ., ., , ., ., biofuel. totally damaging the traditional _ biofuel. totally damaging the traditional land. _ biofuel. totally damaging the traditional land. the - biofuel. totally damaging the traditional land. the shrimp l traditional land. the shrimp are so expensive that poor people cannot even dream of purchasing them and meeting their protein intake man. saltwater shrimp farms have many female workers and they have complained to me about things like skin issues and ongoing health issues. what has been your experience of having to handle those cases all those issues? ., , ., , issues? the local people protesting _ issues? the local people protesting against - issues? the local people protesting against the i issues? the local people - protesting against the undue interest of the outsiders, undue interest detected by local lawmakers a national level policymakers. local people come into conflict with these outsiders and while we are suppressing people one way is to kill them or to threaten them with tactics so that they do not really open their mouth anymore and they do not get organised any further. and when you see that your land is underwater and you have no chance of getting it back, you

are forced to work in the shrimp industry bangladeshi's department of fisheries said in a statement that more than 250,000 ruralfamilies are 250,000 rural families are dependent 250,000 ruralfamilies are dependent on shrimp farming for their livelihoods. it is dependent on shrimp farming for their livelihoods.— their livelihoods. it is said that most _ their livelihoods. it is said that most of _ their livelihoods. it is said that most of the - their livelihoods. it is said that most of the people . that most of the people employed interim cultivation in bangladesh are marginalised people who live in coastal areas and are victims of climate change, sea level rose, saline water intrusion and loss of livelihood. it added that for a decade or more these people have been maintaining high global standards and that the government conducts awareness activities, training, formation of trade unions and that it supports arbitration processes based on labour rules and social compliances. but not all of bangladeshi's shrimp farms are problematic, of

course. successful efforts to conserve the nearby mangrove forest have led to shrimp farms having healthier water for both shrimp and farmer. the collective strength of these women has led to some victories against an encroaching multibillion—dollar industry. the women of polder 22 enjoy rich harvests of vegetables, rice and fruit.

hello. we have had a hosepipe ban come in force on the isle of wight today but we have further bands on the way to parts of sussex, kent and south wales over the next week or two. today's been another dry day across the south of the uk but further north we have seen shallow clouds, showers been pretty well scattered in nature, looking at the rainfall we may expect over the next five days you can see it stays completely bone dry across the majority of england and wales and answering the big question, when is it likely to rain across the southern parched areas? i reckon will probably stage over the next ten days but the dry speu the next ten days but the dry spell could extend as much as two weeks either way. it will be a long time before we see any significant wales for southern wales, southern counties of england and any rain on the way will probably fall during the last third of august. looking at the weather

picture for saturday, another dry story for most of england and wales. when crossing northern areas of scotland and cloud popping up enough in northern ireland in northern england. 0dd isolated fleeting passing light shallow but most will have a dry day. temperatures are in the high teens across northern areas, 25 degrees in the sunshine across the south—east. fairly warm weather sunshine does come out and we still have these perfect conditions for the athletics of the commonwealth games with light winds, sunny spells, damages in the early 20s. through saturday night it is another dry note for most however there are still some rain on the charts working gradually southwards into scotland. may see little of that working into the central belt by the end of the night heading into the first part of sunday morning. temperatures are a little higher than we have seen over recent months, 10- 14 have seen over recent months, 10— ia degrees. again a little bit of rain in the forecast for scotland although no great amounts are in the forecast. away from that feature we will see dry conditions in northern ireland, england and wales with

sunshine. to which is beginning to rise, 21 degrees for aberdeen, 25 the cardiff and 27 in the sunshine for london. feeling quite hot. that trend for the temperatures to rise continues on into monday and in fact most of the uk will have dried weather. just a little bit of rain in the hebrides and maybe the far north—west of highland and the threat for 0rkney and shetland. 0therwise 0rkney and shetland. otherwise find some sunshine in the temperatures, more widely, getting into the mid— high 20s. 27 for both cardiff and london. into the new week we will start to see this kind of configuration in the jetstream where get a big rich —— ridge and that encourages editing around the uk and it is that sinking and accumulation of our near the surface of the earth that we call high pressure. here it is. that will build into next week. becoming more dominant, a strongerfeature dominant, a stronger feature and dominant, a strongerfeature and that means across pretty much all of the uk we are looking at dry weather and, day by day, damages will start to jump by day, damages will start to jump a little bit. for some

we're looking at hot weather conditions into next week. for the north of the uk a fine speu the north of the uk a fine spell of weather. showers over recent days it is dry and temperatures more widely reaching the low— mid 20s so feeling warm in the sunshine but further southwards across parts of england and wales we will see temperatures climb further and we're looking at highs at least the low 30s across parts of sake london and cardiff but picked temperatures could reach around 32 or 33 celsius towards the middle of the week. it will be hot and there is still, as i say, no significant rain.

welcome to bbc news. i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: at least ten people are killed in israeli air strikes on gaza, inluding a top commander of the islamichhad movement. the group's responded by firing dozens of rockets at israel. conspiracy theorist alex jones is ordered to pay $a5 million in punitive damages after falsely labelling the sandy hook school shooting a hoax. chinese fighter jets fly close to the coast of taiwan, as bejing halts cooperation with the us on key issues including climate change. no respite in sight as europe endures the worst drought on record. thousands of performers descend on edinburgh as the world's biggest arts festival gets under way.