breaking this hour — a serious knife attack in the french alps. several very young children and an aduu several very young children and an adult are injured, some are in a critical condition. the suspect is in custody. this video shows the man alleged to have carried out the attack being overpowered and arrested. this is the scene live in annecy, the alpine town's picturesque lakeside, now, a crime scene, guarded by armed police. also ahead, president zelensky visits the area badly affected by flooding — caused by the destruction of a huge dam in southern ukraine. hello, i'm ben thompson, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of live news, interviews and reaction. and we begin with a developing story in france.

nursery school children have been attacked by a man with a knife in the east of the country. two children are thought to be in a critical condition. it appears they were playing in a park by a lake when they were attacked. it happened in the town of annecy, in the french alps. the interior minister says the suspect has been arrested. the french parliament held a minute's silence when news of the stabbings emerged, while the country's prime minister, elizabeth borne, is on her way to the scene. this is the scene in the french parliament a little earlier when news of that attack emerged. in the last few minutes, france's president has tweeted. emmanuel macron says: "attack of absolute cowardice this morning in a park in annecy. children and an adult are between life and death. the nation is in shock. our thoughts are with them as well as their families and the emergency services mobilized."

our paris correspondent, hugh schofield, has the latest. we hear the detail, more about what happened. that it was by this park and the little playground in the park by the lake in annecy. out of the blue, this man who was dressed in green with a bandanna on his head, jumped over the fence surrounding this play area and started attacking the children, some of whom are in their pushchairs, some of you may well have been less than three years old if they were in pushchairs, who were on a morning outing in the sun. started to run away as if to escape, then came across this couple working or working in the park nearby and

with police approaching attacks on them, or at least the man, and the man was stabbed and is in a very dangerous critical condition in hospital. at that point, the police shot him in the legs and overpowered him. he is in custody. we don't know what his condition is. and we cannot even be sure that he is being questioned by police because presumably the first thing will be to treat him. the mayor of annecy has denounced what he calls an appalling attack. he says a press conference will be held a little later so we will stay right across that and bring you any div elements from there if we get them. but what actually transpired in this attack? formerjournalist is in this attack? formerjournalist is in annecy and witnessed the moments right after the attack. i was right after the attack. i was approaching _ right after the attack. i was approaching the _ right after the attack. i was approaching the end - right after the attack. i was approaching the end of - right after the attack. i was approaching the end of the | right after the attack. i was - approaching the end of the lake. i saw and _ approaching the end of the lake. i saw and heard multiple police sirens and a _ saw and heard multiple police sirens and a light— saw and heard multiple police sirens and a light helicopter about to land. — and a light helicopter about to land. and _ and a light helicopter about to land, and i knew immediately there was some _

land, and i knew immediately there was some very dire emergency situation — was some very dire emergency situation happening. sol was some very dire emergency situation happening. so i stopped where _ situation happening. so i stopped where i_ situation happening. so i stopped where i was at the corner of the park— where i was at the corner of the park near— where i was at the corner of the park near the lake and started photographing. and i observed channei— photographing. and i observed channel 26 french tv person with her cameraman — channel 26 french tv person with her cameraman. it was somewhat chaotic. the police _ cameraman. it was somewhat chaotic. the police were trying to keep bicyclists _ the police were trying to keep bicyclists and people from approaching the scene, which was fairly— approaching the scene, which was fairly fer— approaching the scene, which was fairly far away from where i was standing — fairly far away from where i was standing. you could see it but it was closer— standing. you could see it but it was closer to the lake where the stabbing — was closer to the lake where the stabbing occurred in one of the public— stabbing occurred in one of the public park areas. the stabbing occurred in one of the public park areas.— stabbing occurred in one of the public park areas. the view there of one eyewitness _ public park areas. the view there of one eyewitness in _ public park areas. the view there of one eyewitness in the _ public park areas. the view there of one eyewitness in the immediate i one eyewitness in the immediate aftermath of that attack. let's take you to the newsroom. naomi, we need to be very clear here about what we are no transpired this morning but also what we don't yet know. we are awaiting that press conference. we may get further details. that awaiting that press conference. we may get further details.— may get further details. that is ri . ht, may get further details. that is right. and _ may get further details. that is right, and perhaps _ may get further details. that is right, and perhaps the - may get further details. that is right, and perhaps the most i right, and perhaps the most important thing we don't know at this stage is the motive for this attack. what we do know is he was a syrian national, as hugh schofield

was reporting there, who we believe had asylum status. we don't know what the reasons were for this attack. it is too soon to draw any conclusions on that front. we don't know his condition. but police will be looking to speak to the attack are obviously in the coming hours to discover what the motive was as this investigation continues. and something else that we don't necessarily know here is the timing of this. and whether it is possible there was any terrorism involved at this stage. we are not certain. the condition of the children is believed to be critical. two of those children are believed to be in critical condition and one adult believed also to be in critical decision. we believe that is the elderly man who was stabbed as the attacker tried to flee on foot. so we don't yet have an update on how all of these injured people and children are doing. we hope to get that and bring it to you soon. yes.

that and bring it to you soon. yes, im ortant that and bring it to you soon. yes, important clarification _ that and bring it to you soon. yes, important clarification of - that and bring it to you soon. yes, important clarification of what we do and don't know. you talked there about what the police have been saying. indications that he has no known links to islamist groups. what do we know about his refugee status? the attack we are told was carried out by a syrian man in the party was refugee status. we have any more updates on that element of this? there have been mixed reports and back and back and forth from various police sources and french media on this particular angle. initially, police sources and french media on this particularangle. initially, it was believed that the attacker, a syrian national, was seeking asylum or refugee status in france. then it emerged that he possibly had asylum status in another european country. so that it is yet to be clarified. what we do know is that he disrupted the peace and tranquillity in this lakeside park at about quarter to ten this morning. a sunny morning in this small alpine town. and began a

reign of terror on those children, playing with kindergarten group. some as young as three years old. we still, as we are reporting, are unclear as to the motive to this shocking attack.— unclear as to the motive to this shocking attack. good to have that u date. shocking attack. good to have that update for _ shocking attack. good to have that update. for now, _ shocking attack. good to have that update. for now, thank— shocking attack. good to have that update. for now, thank you. - shocking attack. good to have that update. for now, thank you. i- shocking attack. good to have that| update. for now, thank you. i know your going to stay across this story and bring us any further developments if we them. this is the scene live in annecy after the attack that president macron has attacked as an act of cowardice. he says the nation is in shock. children as young as three are in a critical condition after this knife attack in the french alps. that is in annecy. the suspect is in custody. police have described him as a syrian man who was seeking refugee status. young children and one elderly man attacked in this appalling incident in the french alps. we are awaiting a press conference from police and local authorities. we will bring that to you just as soon as we have it. now let's take you to ukraine.

president zelensky has visited region of kherson, that's been devastated by flood waters after the collapse of a major dam. an official at kherson city's military administration says water is no longer rising in the city however a mass evacuation is still under way to get people areas already flooded, or at risk from rising waters. around 600 square kilometres of the southern region is now underwater after the kakhovka dam was destroyed. alongside the humanitarian, environmental and agricultural disaster, aid agencies are now warning that there is a growing risk from landmines that have been dislodged by the waters,

and are now floating downstream. water continues to flood out of the dam's reservoir. in some areas, rescue teams have reported coming underfire. kyiv has accused russia of leaving people to die and said the damage caused to farmland, threatens a globalfood crisis. president zelensky says it's impossible to tell how many might die without international assistance and has called for help from outside aid groups. our correspondent, james waterhouse, is in kherson — and has been out with local rescuers on the river dnipro. well, we're in the eastern part of kherson, close to the dnipro river. the body of water here is huge. if you look over there. that is a port and whole buildings and cranes are partially submerged. and over here is a victor and vitaly. they have been helping people. they went to the grey zone earlier, which is neither occupied by russia or ukraine. and they say they came

underfire. it is ukraine. and they say they came under fire. it is such a tall order people are facing here and this is the area where the flooding is most severe. so that's are corresponded there on the river dnipro, giving you some idea of how far the floodwaters have risen. live now to kherson — and michael capponi — who is the chief executive of global empowerment mission — a non—profit organisation that's been working in ukraine since the start of the war. we can tell quite how high those waters are. what can you tell us about the work you are able to do and whether you are able to get to the people who need help? yes. and whether you are able to get to the people who need help? yes, so many different _ the people who need help? yes, so many different variables _ the people who need help? yes, so many different variables going - the people who need help? yes, so many different variables going on i many different variables going on right now. thank you for having us. in this particular part, this is just in the area of 25 villages. it looks like basically the entire first story, some of the second

stories are completely submerged. everybody�*s homes are destroyed now basically. a lot of people have been evacuated. i think there are still a lot more to evacuate in this region. we are working with the government, the partnership, with the governor of kherson. we have been asked to basically support some of these villages specifically with water and food. so we have committed to 80 8-0, food. so we have committed to 80 8—0, full—sized trucks that we are bringing in from key headquarters into this area. no water for about 400,000 people. it is quite a disturbing situation, and then you have the environmental situation. there are dead fish everywhere, there is oil in the water, there are mines floating everywhere, and then on top of that it is just explosion after explosion after explosion. as i've been speaking, it is the only

break i've heard. it sounds like the 4th ofjuly or something, but it is not the 4th ofjuly, it is not a parade, it is explosions and people dying nonstop. this isjust unbelievable that this is allowed to go on in this time of the world. michael, give me a sense they of how you might be able to do your work safely. it is astonishing to be talking not only about the danger of landmines but the fact that they could be floating in the water right around you at any moment. i don't think there — around you at any moment. i don't think there is _ around you at any moment. i don't think there is anything _ around you at any moment. i don't think there is anything that - around you at any moment. i don't think there is anything that we - around you at any moment. i don't think there is anything that we can j think there is anything that we can do at this point, honestly, other than just have faith that our mission is that important and that we have divine protection, because you just do not know. there are so many variables. this is a situation where you just have to risk it and there are people that need to be rescued. if there is a floating mind, all we can do is pray. and mind, all we can do is pray. and what are you — mind, all we can do is pray. and what are you able _ mind, all we can do is pray. and what are you able to _ mind, all we can do is pray. and what are you able to do to get to

the people that need it? because not only is this an environmental and agricultural disaster, this is first and foremost and humanitarian disaster. we already know mr zelensky asking for more help from overseas aid agencies.— overseas aid agencies. fortunately we have been _ overseas aid agencies. fortunately we have been based _ overseas aid agencies. fortunately we have been based here - overseas aid agencies. fortunately we have been based here since - overseas aid agencies. fortunately| we have been based here since day two of the war so we have the infrastructure, the trucks the teams, the ukraine teams, the boats, everything that is needed. we were deployed immediately as we always do. we were in kherson bringing large amounts of aid. that is what we are doing once again. we have large convoys with eight, tracks at a time, getting refilled every single day, and then that aid is being distributed. we don't have any images. it is very military. we are supporting all of these villagers. it is really good to talk to you and we wish you all the best with that work. it is important to work. joining us live from her son. around

the world and across the uk, it is bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news now. there has been a significant shift in how we do our grocery shopping since the pandemic. data has told the bbc have shoppers now visit the supermarket less often, spend more on own label goods and are turning to loyalty schemes to try and bring prices down. a —year—old boy who died following an incident in west lothian has been named locally. emergency services were called to the academy and blackburn on tuesday afternoon. the teenager was taken to hospital but died shortly afterwards. it is understood another 14—year—old boy was involved in the incident. the school has described it as isolated.

the head of the metropolitan police has apologised for the force's past failings towards the lgbt+ community. in a letter to the human rights campaigner peter tatchell, sir mark rowley, said scotland yard had systems in place that led to bias and discrimination towards the public over many decades. you're live with bbc news. hundreds of millions of people in north america are experiencing very poor air quality and have been advised to wear high—grade masks outdoors — this is due to air pollution created by intense wildfires in canada. much of the smoke is coming from quebec, where 150 fires are burning. hundreds of miles south of quebec, this was the orange haze covering new york's times square. the city will begin distributing one million free masks on thursday. new yorkers say the scene is like something out of a movie. the apocalypse. that's what it feels like. it's very scary. and dangerous, too. i haven't had a mask on since covid. no, i've never seen anything

like this before at all. this is bonkers. i was completely shocked by the haze and the... . you can smell this - horrible, horrible smell. it feels like a video game. it doesn't feel real. it smells weird, it's crazy, my lungs feel weird right now. it is having all sorts of implications. residents have been advised to stay inside if possible. new york mayor eric adams warned people about the high air quality levels, which were at "hazardous" levels. from the gloom over the yankee stadium, to the smoky haze in our skyline, we could see it, and we could smell it, and we felt it. it was alarming and concerning. last night, at 10pm, the air quality index hit 218. a very unhealthy level. 0n the levels of health concern, it really sent shock waves throughout the entire city. so that was the view there from the

mayor of new york. we will have much more on that as we get further developments with our correspondence who are in new york. britain is to host a global summit on the safety of artificial intelligence later this year. the announcement comes as prime minister rishi sunak continues his visit to the us. he's due to hold talks with president biden at the white house later today, aimed — in the words of the uk government — at cementing their "joint leadership in the technologies of the future". the british government says the summit will aim to agree ways of evaluating and monitoring al's most significant risks. it's not yet clear who will attend the meeting, as our technology editor, zoe kleinman, reports. we don't yet know who's going. we don't yet know which countries they'll be from. we do know that there is this enormous race not only in in the in the seemingly endless number of ai products

that are being released and developed. there's so much money and so much research pouring in that this is not going to stop any time soon. and so countries including the uk are racing to to position themselves not only as leaders within it, but also to find a way of regulating it to try and maximise the benefits that it can bring. and we know it brings huge benefits. you know, we just saw the other week an ai tool discover a new antibiotic, for example. but there are also lots of risks as well. not least, you know, how is this going to affect things like the jobs market in the near future? we already see tools like chat—gpt able to do jobs that traditionally humans have done, and the uk very much wants to be part of this conversation. well, it wants to lead the conversation. the question is, can it actually, you know, when the amount of money and resources and infrastructure that we have here is comparatively small, you need a lot of computers to process data that's used in al, an awful lot of them. and we just do not have that infrastructure on anywhere near the scale that, for example, the us does. that is our technology editor.

an undercover bbc investigation's unmasked the man behind a number of websites selling videos of women being sexually assaulted on public transport across east asia. visitors to one of the sites could even order their own tailor—made videos. bbc eye's zhaoyin feng reports from tokyo. this is nagoya injapan. translation: there's a guy looking for a target. - the railway police are running a covert operation, on the hunt to catch sexual assaulters. translation: | would - like to follow him to check his behaviourfor a bit. sexual violence against women in public is a global phenomenon. but injapan, the problem is so endemic that it has its own name, chikan. translation: you're riding back and forth on a single ticket. - it looks like the kind of behaviour a chikan perpetrator would make. the suspect is taken to the police station for further questioning. chikan has been normalised over

the years by its prominence in the adult entertainment industry. but the reality is much more sinister. translation: in the trick of the trade, it felt - like a hand hitting me. takako, not her real name, was only a teenager when she was sexually assaulted on the train for the first time. translation: it started to feel like it was touching and grabbing me. i that's when i finally realised that this was chikan. i was sexually assaulted almost every day. bbc eye has been investigating a network of websites selling thousands of videos of women being sexually abused on public transport across east asia. this is a horrific business of sexual assault. the websites are run by a shadowy figure known as uncle qi. but who is he? our investigation has led us to tokyo, where we tracked down uncle qi

and his close associates. translation: hi. hi, noctis? posing as a potential investor, our undercoverjournalist met with them multiple times, until uncle qi himself agreed to meet us. in this meeting, tang zhuoran, a 27—year—old from china admits to being uncle qi. the man behind all the websites we have been investigating. translation: how many people do you have in your current team? - translation: i have a team of 15 people. | tang also admits to making huge profits, cashing in on sexual violence against women. translation: our daily i turnover is £550 to £1,100. we located an address for tang in tokyo and went to put our allegations to him.

translation: my name is zhaoyin feng, i'm a reporterfrom the bbc. we know that you are the online persona uncle qi. do you do this for the money or do you enjoy abusing these women? stop, stop, stop! hey! we put our allegations to him. his only response is silence. and then violence. tang has since left japan. his associates say they are no longer working with him. the country is set to reform its sexual assault laws. however, campaigners say these changes don't go far enough. zhaoyin feng, bbc news. we can speak to zhaoyin feng. tell us a little bit more about these videos. , ., , , ., videos. these abuse videos are extremely _ videos. these abuse videos are extremely graphic _ videos. these abuse videos are extremely graphic that - videos. these abuse videos are extremely graphic that follow l videos. these abuse videos are l extremely graphic that follow the same _ extremely graphic that follow the

same pattern, a man secretly filmed his female _ same pattern, a man secretly filmed his female target and follows her onto a _ his female target and follows her onto a train. seconds later, he sexually— onto a train. seconds later, he sexually abuses her. there are thousands _ sexually abuses her. there are thousands of such videos being sold online _ thousands of such videos being sold online as _ thousands of such videos being sold online. as we look deeper into these websites, _ online. as we look deeper into these websites, we discover that a name kept cropping up will stop, uncle qi. kept cropping up will stop, uncle 0i~ so— kept cropping up will stop, uncle 0i~ so we — kept cropping up will stop, uncle qi. so we focused our investigation on him _ qi. so we focused our investigation on him. ., , ., qi. so we focused our investigation on him. ., i. ., ., ., qi. so we focused our investigation on him. ., ., ., ., on him. how did you manage to track down these — on him. how did you manage to track down these men? _ on him. how did you manage to track down these men? because _ on him. how did you manage to track down these men? because your - down these men? because your investigation led you to tokyo, didn't it? but a lot of work went intojust finding them in didn't it? but a lot of work went into just finding them in the first place, i would assume? taste into just finding them in the first place, i would assume? we combined oen place, i would assume? we combined open source — place, i would assume? we combined open source research _ place, i would assume? we combined open source research with _ place, i would assume? we combined open source research with undercoverj open source research with undercover secret _ open source research with undercover secret filming to unmask the identities of these men cashing in on sexual— identities of these men cashing in on sexual violence. we spent a lot of time _ on sexual violence. we spent a lot of time following the money on the website _ of time following the money on the website and based on one paypal account— website and based on one paypal account we discovered the identity of one _ account we discovered the identity of one of— account we discovered the identity

of one of the associates of uncle qi, of one of the associates of uncle oi, that — of one of the associates of uncle qi, that led us to tokyo. 0ur undercover associates met with uncle qi undercover associates met with uncle oi himself. _ undercover associates met with uncle qi himself, and in the undercover meeting — qi himself, and in the undercover meeting uncle qi admitted to having made _ meeting uncle qi admitted to having made huge profits from this business, capitalising on sexual violence — business, capitalising on sexual violence. ., .,~ , business, capitalising on sexual violence. ., . ., violence. your report makes it clear this is a growing _ violence. your report makes it clear this is a growing problem. - violence. your report makes it clear this is a growing problem. just - violence. your report makes it clear this is a growing problem. just tell. this is a growing problem. just tell us how much of an issue injapan this is? us how much of an issue in japan this is? ~ ., , , ., , this is? women being sexually assaulted in _ this is? women being sexually assaulted in public, _ this is? women being sexually assaulted in public, especially| this is? women being sexually i assaulted in public, especially on public— assaulted in public, especially on public transport, is a global phenomenon. but injapan it is a really— phenomenon. but injapan it is a really serious problem. so much so that it _ really serious problem. so much so that it has — really serious problem. so much so that it has its own name,, chikan. many we spoke to are advocating _ name,, chikan. many we spoke to are advocating for tougher laws on sexual — advocating for tougher laws on sexual assault in public. it is . reat sexual assault in public. it is treat to sexual assault in public. it is great to have _ sexual assault in public. it is great to have your _ sexual assault in public. it 3 great to have your report. thank you for the reporting you have been

doing. zhaoyin feng without report in the newsroom. just your mind you, we are following events happening in the french alps in annecy, where children as young as three are now in a critical condition after a knife attack in the town. president macron has said that the nation is in shock. the city's mayor has denounced what he calls an appalling attack. they have told us a press conference will be held later. we will stay across that should you require any more details, there is a bbc life page that is up and running with all of the latest lines and reaction. we understand the police say the attack was carried out in a park by a syrian man who was seeking refugee status. three children and one elderly man attacked. we will have the very latest for you here on bbc news. stay with us.

hello again. as we head into the weekend, it's going to turn much more humid by day and by night and the temperatures will also go up. today what we've got, though, is low pressure to the south of us. high pressure still dominating the weather. so we're remaining fairly static. the weather we had in the last few days is more or less what we'll see today. the cloud continuing to retreat back towards the east coast. a lot of dry weather, a lot of sunshine. but by the end of the afternoon, a few showers getting in to the isles of scilly. now, the black circles represent the strength of the wind gusts. it's going to be a breezy day wherever you are. but the strongest winds will be across the south west of england. and it's also here, as well as central southern england, and parts of wales, where we'll have the highest temperatures, potentially up to 25 degrees, but feeling cooler under the cloud and the breeze across the east coast. but uv levels, wherever you are today, are moderate or high. something to bear in mind if you're spending time outside. now, through this evening

and overnight, the cloud comes back in from the north sea. it pushes westwards. there'll be some clear skies in the west and the south, but you can see the showers pushing in across the south west of england and the channel islands, and they could well turn a wee bit more thundery by the time we get to the morning. 0vernight lows between 6 and 11 degrees, but under clear skies in the north and the west, we could see temperatures fall to three or four. but tomorrow, if anything, the cloud should melt away more rapidly than today. it won't linger as much across parts of the east coast. we'll see more brightness here and we'll see some more thunderstorms across the south west and the channel islands. but we could see temperatures getting up to 27 degrees, for example, in central southern england. now, friday and into the weekend, the low pressure continues to throw this weather front across the uk. this is what's going to bring some heavy, thundery showers our way. not all of us, of course, will see one. there will be gusty winds around them and potentially some hail and they could lead to localised flooding, though, falling on hard, dry ground. and you can see how they're pushing northwards and eastwards. ahead of them, though,

a lot of dry weather and a brighter day along the north sea coastline — and a warmer one as well. we could hit 30 degrees locally somewhere in the southeast and rising levels of humidity. that continues through the night and into sunday. the thunder risk will be across eastern areas, but then it diminishes as we go through the rest of the week.