live from london. this is bbc news. a bbc investigation into the sinking of a migrant boat off southern greece last week casts doubt on the authorities�* account of the response. hundreds are feared to have died in the disaster. us secretary of state anthony blinken holds talks with his chinese counterpart on the second day of his trip to beijing. it's the first visit to the country by a top us diplomat in almost five years. mps will vote today on a report which found former prime minister borisjohnson deliberately and repeatedly misled parliament over parties during coronavirus lockdown restrictions. and the royal mint unveils a new 50 pence coin marking 75 years since the first arrivals of the windrush generation.

hello, i'm sally bundock. after a boat capsized off the coast of greece last week, in which hundreds are feared to have died, the bbc has obtained evidence casting doubt on the greek coastguard's account of the tragedy. analysis of the movement of other ships in the area suggests the boat was not moving for at least seven hours before it capsized. our europe correspondent nick beake has this report. the greek authorities have faced heavy criticism over their response to this disaster. their argument has always been that the boat was moving in a steady direction towards italy, that it wasn't in danger, and so the people on board did not need to be rescued. now, we've been looking at shipping data, looking at the boats that were in this part of the mediterranean sea on the day of the tragedy. we also looked at court

records, logbooks, photographs and video. we've built up a picture which seriously challenges the official greek version of events. last tuesday morning, from the air, authorities spot the migrant boat. this is a surveillance photo. a simulation we've obtained from a ship—tracking service shows civilian boats in the area in the run—up to the sinking. coastguard and military vessels do not appear. the migrant boat didn't have a tracker, but the yellow pin shows where it eventually goes down. at around 1500 gmt, a ship called the lucky sailor, which gave us its logbook, turned sharply and is asked by the coastguard to supply food and water to the migrant boat. soon after, says the coastguard, its helicopter finds the boat to be on a steady course. but two and a half hours later, at around 6pm, another vessel, the faithful warrior, comes to the same area and is also requested to supply food to the boats. to supply food to the boat.

bbc verify has confirmed this is footage of it happening. from 7:40pm until 10:40pm, greek officials, from a discreet distance, see the boat keeping a steady course and speed, according to their initial statement. but they later published this close—up image, taken in the same time period, which shows no waves around the migrant boat, suggesting it's hardly moving. and let's look again at the activity of the last seven hours. it's all around one specific spot, indicating the migrant boat has barely changed position. remember, all this time, greece says the vessel is not in trouble and is safely on its way to italy, and so no rescue is needed. it is at ”pm that the boat sinks with hundreds on board. and there is a frenzy or ships coming to help. of ships coming to help. including the celebrity beyond, from where this footage was taken and later sent to the bbc. a luxury yacht, the mayan queen, is then instructed

to assist, and takes the survivors to shore. they reach safety at the port of kalamata, but leave behind serious questions about the whole greek response. the united nations has already called for an investigation into what happened, and it's reminding countries about their legal and moral obligation, they say, to intervene if they see people in danger. a number of european countries in recent years have pursued a tougher policy when it comes to migration, and in particular when it comes to dealing with migrant boats. in terms of our investigation, the greek authorities are yet to respond, but it's clear that this does raise fresh questions about theirjudgment and what really happened. the us secretary of state anthony blinken is having talks with china's top diplomat, wang yi, on the last day of a whirlwind visit to china. it still isn't known whether he will meet china's president, xijinping. mr blinken touched down in beijing on sunday morning,

and embarked on more than five and a half hours of talks, plus a two—hour dinner, with his chinese counterpart, foreign minister qin gang. american officials described the talks as candid and constructive. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell gave this update about mr blinken�*s meeting with wang yi. the reason he is meeting him is, in the chinese system, wang yi is above the foreign minister, like the communist party's foreign minister, if i could put it that way. a very important person for him to meet. i think it will be similar to yesterday, similar themes. really the main goal in this, because expectations are so low, is to re—establish lines of communication between the two superpowers and pave the way for more high—level meetings in future. if they can do those things, both sides will have considered it a success. of course, they are talking

about other issues in theory. you mentioned making it easy for people to get visas and the like. so there are other discussions taking place, but in terms of a concrete outcome, for example, qin gang, the foreign minister, has already been invited to washington and said he will go. in their minds, that would be a concrete outcome. as i say, the bar is very low in terms of what they hope to achieve. live now to taipei to speak to emily feng, the international correspondent covering china for npr. it's good to have you on the programme. from your perspective, how is this visit being covered? 50 perspective, how is this visit being covered?— being covered? so far it has exceeded — being covered? so far it has exceeded expectations, - being covered? so far it has exceeded expectations, but| being covered? so far it has i exceeded expectations, but as just mentioned, expectations were low, and the us state department were careful to say it's the beginning of a process and hopefully it will pave the way for more visits. qin gang

will go to dc, we don't know when. hopefullyjanet will go to dc, we don't know when. hopefully janet yellen will go to china sometime soon, but this isjust will go to china sometime soon, but this is just the beginning and we have to see whether secretary blinken meet xi jinping, which would be a sign the chinese also want to work with the us. the chinese also want to work with the us-— with the us. ok, but in terms of taiwan. — with the us. ok, but in terms of taiwan, china _ with the us. ok, but in terms of taiwan, china has - with the us. ok, but in terms of taiwan, china has been - with the us. ok, but in terms i of taiwan, china has been clear in the last few days that it is of core interest to it and it's the biggest risk to china us relations. that is the diplomatic issue, isn't it, that will cause issues for these two sides?- that will cause issues for these two sides? it's also the military issue _ these two sides? it's also the military issue that _ these two sides? it's also the military issue that could - these two sides? it's also the | military issue that could cause friction between the sides. unfortunately, secretary blinken is in china but the heads of the military have not been talking. in singapore a couple of weeks ago, the chinese military rejected an invitation from the us defence chief to meet. so although we have diplomatic warming up, so to speak, the militaries speaking and that is worrying. in terms of trade, the

relationship between the us and china is so important notjust of the two biggest economies in the world, but the global economy. many are looking to this is an important reset in the relationship. what are people saying about this in taiwan where you are? again, it's a beginning. _ taiwan where you are? again, it's a beginning. hopefully - taiwan where you are? again, it's a beginning. hopefully the , secretary can go to china. recently the chinese ministry sent a delegation to the us, so you might see some easing in terms of tariffs. —— the commerce secretary can go to china. the trade war remains and that's a tangible thing the countries can talk about now. but again we don't expect any kind of breakthrough during secretary blinken�*s visit, it will have to be followed up by other us and chinese policymakers.- other us and chinese policymakers. just briefly, what is the _ policymakers. just briefly, what is the feeling - policymakers. just briefly, what is the feeling in - policymakers. just briefly, l what is the feeling in taiwan at the moment about the threat from china? ibig

at the moment about the threat from china?— at the moment about the threat from china? big shoulder shrug, it's been there _ from china? big shoulder shrug, it's been there for _ from china? big shoulder shrug, it's been there for years - from china? big shoulder shrug, it's been there for years and - it's been there for years and years. it is in the headlines each day, particularly as taiwan heads into the presidential elections, it's a topic many politicians speak about but it is not more present today than it has been in the last 70 years.— present today than it has been in the last 70 years. thank you for our in the last 70 years. thank you for your time. _ in the last 70 years. thank you for your time, emily. - we will have more on that later when we look at our business news, looking at the trip on the part of antony blinken, what it means for trade relationship going forward. mps will debate a report later which found that boris johnson repeatedly misled parliament about lockdown parties in downing street. mrjohnson announced his resignation last week after reading the findings. it is unclear whether rishi sunak or other senior conservatives will attend this afternoon's debate. our political correspondent iain watson reports. they say there is no such thing as bad publicity. although he's no longer an mp,

borisjohnson still has a way of dominating the headlines. today, mps were giving their views on the report by a cross—party committee of politicians which found that the former prime minister lied on multiple occasions to parliament about partygate. the report said, borisjohnson misled the house on an issue of the greatest importance and did so repeatedly. if borisjohnson had still been an mp, the committee would have recommended that he was suspended for three months and they are calling for him to lose his parliamentary pass. this cabinet minister said he will neither vote for nor against the report, because he feels the proposed punishment is too harsh. i think the final conclusion, the decision to impose a 90—day penalty, is not merited by the evidence... so will you vote for the report or not? i will not vote, i will abstain. boris johnson called the report's conclusions deranged, and the committee itself as a kangaroo court. so you can expect some of his supporters to be

jumping to his defence in today's debate. the labour chair of the committee, harriet harman, is expected to give a staunch defence of her report, and to say her committee, which had a conservative majority, came under unfair pressure from johnson supporters. it's not clear, having aired their views, whether mps will simply nod the report through or whether there will be a recorded vote. if so, that could be tricky for rishi sunak. if he votes for the report, he will upset the pro—johnson activists. if he votes against, the opposition will say he lacks integrity. if he doesn't turn up to vote at all, they will accuse him of being weak. with four by—elections looming, rishi sunak is keen to move on from partygate, but this video shows just how difficult that will be. this is conservative party headquarters in december 2020, when socialising between different households was banned. the attendees were working on the london mayoral campaign and not for borisjohnson, but the danger for rishi sunak is that events like these tarnish his party's brand,

and the political damage goes beyond the reputation of a previous prime minister. let's get some of the day's other news now. russia's most prominent opposition figure, alexei navalny, is set to go on trial on charges including extremism. he's already serving a nine—year sentence after being convicted of embezzlement in a case his supporters say was politically motivated. if found guilty again, he could face decades more injail. the trial will take place in the penal colony where he's being held. the former british prime minister, david cameron, will give evidence today at the covid—i9 public inquiry. the first stage of the inquiry is scrutinizing preparations for a pandemic before 2020 when the virus struck, whether the uk was ready, and government decision—making in response to the outbreak. authorities in southern brazil say at least 11 people were killed

by an extra—tropical cyclone that hit the state of rio grande do sul. another 20 are missing. parts of the brazilian coast received almost 30cm of rain in a day. voters in switzerland have backed the government in a referendum on proposals to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. the government says switzerland needs to protect its energy security and the environment. under the plans, more than $3.5 billion will be invested to help households and businesses switch away from oil and gas, which is all imported, to renewable sources. south africa is suffering a water crisis, with creaking infrastructure, more homes digging boreholes, an increase in water tankers and now a cholera outbreak, exacerbated by the power crisis. pumza fihlani reports from johannesburg. new to this community — bottled

water for sale at the roadside. for the residents of this sprawling township outside the capital, pretoria, access to clean drinking water has become a necessity. people here are now facing a cholera outbreak, which is spread through unsafe drinking water. ageing infrastructure and poor maintenance of water treatment facilities are partly to blame, but the community is also struggling with crippling power cuts. many south africans are without electricity for up to eight hours a day. and with no energy to power water pumps, homes are left with dry taps, sometimes for days. this is the vaal dam. it's one of the main dams supplying water to the country's economic hub, johannesburg. it's also part of a larger system that provides water to dams across many provinces in the country. so it's quite important, but it is many kilometres away from the communities that need

it, and sometimes there are problems with getting the water from here all the way to them. we have both these massive pumping systems, pumping schemes that take water into the economic heartland. so that is dependent on a surplus supply of electricity, which we no longer have. then, of course, every single drop of water has to be pumped. 0ne fifth of all electricity goes to that. that's a significant number. spurred by fears of water insecurity, a growing number of people have started to build boreholes and water tanks in their back yards. with everything going on in our country as well, most household residential people like to go on their own again, so most people want to be that independent. and so, yes, the rise has been really, really big. but this is an expensive exercise. for a team like this to come out, you're looking at around $7,000.

that is about 130,000 rands. it's something that the majority of south africans would not afford to do. and for those who cannot afford it, their hope is that water companies have a plan to keep the service running. so what are they doing? load—shedding has forced us to accelerate and reduce dependency on external energy. the next year or so will be off the grid about 10%. we are going to be using the sun. we are endowed with the sun in south africa. to convert that energy into electrical energy, to pump our stations. south africa is a water—scarce country, but experts say its current water woes are manmade, caused by years of neglect and poor investment. now vulnerable communities are the ones paying the price. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

bbc news, bringing| you different stories from across the uk. oh, well done, girls. sunny school days exploring the outdoors. these pupils in west yorkshire are on a nature trail and know how important it is to apply suncream. you can't go to school without having sun cream on, and it protects you. but according to the charity melanoma focus, one in ten people are not wearing suncream because it's so expensive. it's hugely concerning. we don't... we strongly believe this is not a luxury item. this is something that prevents melanomas, prevents deaths. melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, and the number of cases are increasing in the uk. charities are calling on the government to help make this life—saving product more affordable. there have been conversations about removing vat.

for more stories . from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. the royal mint is unveiling a new 50p coin marking 75 years since the arrival of the empire windrush, which was one of the first ships to bring large groups of west indian immigrants to britain after the second world war. the new coin depicts two people from the windrush generation against a backdrop of the union flag, as greg mckenzie reports. these are the first pictures of the new 50 pence piece which pays tribute to the many british caribbean and commonwealth citizens who arrived in the uk on board the empire windrush between 1948 and 1973. newsreel: arrivals at tilbury. the empire windrush brings to britain 500 jamaicans. i many are ex—servicemen who know england. - they served this country well. injamaica, they.

couldn't find work. discouraged but full of hope, they sailed for britain. - citizens of the british empire coming to the mother- country with good intent. thousands came to help rebuild the country following world war two. it was multi—disciplinary artist, bristol—based valda jackson who was chosen to design the windrush 75th anniversary coin. she arrived in the uk from jamaica at the age of five. it's quite an honour, really, and a privilege to be given the opportunity to represent us and the generation before us in this way is...is quite a big deal. valda started work on the image almost two years ago, and spent months perfecting it. i want them to be obviously representing the group — the windrush group — the people who are most likely to suffer from

prejudicial behaviour. 0nce valda had finished her artwork, it was sent to the royal mint, who used specialist 3d software to turn the paper drawing into a coin. only then was it ready to be approved by his royal highness king charles himself. there's privy council meetings — obviously we released quite a lot of coins a year, and each coin has to go through this rigorous process. there's not a single uk coin that doesn't go through the rigorous process i'll tell you about today. so there are meetings several times a year with his majesty the king and the legal entities around him, where they sign off on these coins. he personally signs off to say he is happy for this to appear on his coinage. we've been given rare access here at the royal mint, where the coins are actually pressed. now, in terms of that silver coin, there are only 1,948 of them in existence — because that number marks the year of the first voyage

of the empire windrush back in 19118. there are three coins available — all of which go on sale today ahead of thursday's official windrush day. two are limited edition collectibles in gold and silver. the third is a commemorative coin. greg mckenzie, bbc news. to colombia now — and a closer look at an extraordinary story of survival, after four children were found in the jungle a0 days after a plane crash, back in may. the bbc�*s visualjournalism team has been mapping the massive search effort that found them — here's mimi swaby to break it down. the plane the children were flying in crashed over colombia's southeastern amazon on the 1st of may. now, the body of the mother, the pilot and an indigenous leader on board were all recovered at the site. however, the children, now 13, nine, five and one, were then

missing for a0 days before they were found by a search party consisting of 160 soldiers and 70 indigenous people. now, all the children were found malnourished, exhausted and dehydrated, but they were found alive. the bbc�*s visualjournalism team has been mapping out a possible route the children took. they found multiple items during the a0 days, including a nappy and parts of a bottle thought to belong to the youngest sibling. so these were found in the middle area here, and later on, there were more fruit parts found such as passion fruit pits, peel, and then footprints later on in the a0 days. but heavy rain really made this operation hard, as it washed away a lot of the footprints. day after day, soldiers with sniffer dogs and local indigenous groups scoured the jungle area. now, the search was split into one—kilometre squares, and it's thought that teams

walked more than 2,600 kilometres in total. so, again, a huge area. two patrols, actually in opposite directions, zigzagged across the area, making sure that nothing was left unturned and there was no possibility they would miss the children. now, the search commander said that this wasn't just a search for a needle in a haystack, but more for a tiny flea in a vast carpet because they kept moving. so it really is a miracle these children were found in such a difficult terrain to navigate. the latest spacex mission has blasted off from florida. on board is an indonesian satellite which it will launch into orbit. it was the 12th launch for the falcon 9 rocket. next month spacex will carry the european space agency's euclid space telescope which is designed to explore the dark universe.

many of us have jumped into a pedalo for a slow ride around the bay when on holiday — which is hardly taxing. but for die—hard pedalo competitors, there's nothing better than the world pedalo championship, and this year brussels played host. wendy urquhart reports. for the second year in a row, competitors lined up to race in the belgian pedalo world championship on the lake at the bois de la cambre park in brussels, cheered on by friends and family as they took off on the water. this competition is not for the faint—hearted. it takes four hours to complete the relay race, and they have to pedal like crazy around a number of inflatable buoys, and through inflatable arches to reach their goals. loud music and screams from the bank spur the teams on. some are wearing flamboyant costumes. others have loaded their pedalo with alcohol to stave off the pain of their

aching thighs. and there are a few hazards along the way. translation: it's important to never stop peddling, - and it's even more important to avoid the ducks! you have to slalom around them. translation: it looks. like nothing when you're standing watching — you'd think it's relaxing, but it's actually quite intense. 22 teams put the pedal to the metal on sunday and, the fastest lap time was five minutes and 21 seconds. after 5a laps of the course, team kefir came out on top to be proclaimed winners of the 2023 belgian pedalo world championships. wendy urquhart, bbc news. we like to keep you across all

these — we like to keep you across all these events.— we like to keep you across all these events. back with the top business stories _ these events. back with the top business stories next. - hello, there. the rain came pouring down on sunday. there was some flooding in places and, for a while, a lot of thunder and lightning, as well. but the storms have eased. the rain, though, continues to be heavy and it continues to push its way northwards away from northern england, coming to rest in scotland by monday morning. and it's muggy air that follows behind that rain, so temperatures around 1a or 15 degrees. but we start with that wet weather in the morning in scotland — heavy rain to begin with. it'll move away to the north—west, clearing away to be replaced across the uk by sunny spells, and a scattering of showers developing — the odd heavy thundery one in the afternoon for northern ireland and scotland. for england and wales, there'll be fewer showers — particularly in the south — and you may get away with a dry day. it will be warm in the sunshine, the winds a little bit brisker, perhaps, but temperatures in the mid 20s. much better weather for the cricket at edgbaston. but low pressure continues to bring the threat of some

rain as we move into tuesday. we've got that muggy air coming in on that southerly breeze, but that's where the wet weather is moving in from, as well. so we've got this heavy, potentially thundery rain moving northwards across england and wales on tuesday morning, up into scotland. some sunshine around outside of that rain, but that could trigger some more thundery showers here and there. and temperatures may not be quite so high on tuesday — 20 to 22 celsius, probably nearer the mark. heading into wednesday and, again, some more warm sunshine, but more heavy, slow—moving, thundery showers breaking out in particular in scotland, northern ireland, perhaps the north—west of england and north wales. it's drier and it's brighter and it's sunnier towards the south—east, and that's where it's warmer, as well — 25 or even 26 degrees midweek. may see a little area of high pressure coming in from the south—west on thursday, before this rain arrives in from the atlantic on friday. there are some heavy, thundery downpours very close by in the near continent. but thursday should be a drier day.

ridge of high pressure, the air�*s descending more, limiting the amount of showers, limiting the heavy showers. a lot of places will be dry and quite sunny. we will see the highest temperatures again towards the south—east. 0ut towards the west, it is just a little bit cooler. so we've got the chance of some showers for the next few days that could be heavy and thundery. particularly in the south—east later, it should turn drier, but also quite a bit warmer, as well.

hello, i'm sally bundock with the top business stories