hunter biden, son of us president agrees to plead guilty to federal charges. the controversial influencer, andrew tate, is charged influencer, andrew tate, is charged in romania with rape, human trafficking and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women. search teams race to find a submersible that's gone missing with five people on board on a dive to the back of the titanic. let's start with that last headline, that search that every hour is getting biggerfor that submersible getting bigger for that submersible off getting biggerfor that submersible off the coast of newfoundland. there is that six metre long submersible thatis is that six metre long submersible that is searching for at the us, the canadians, the french, the british, the team has just been increasing canadians, the french, the british, the team hasjust been increasing in size through the course of the day.

we are expecting in the next little while to get an update from the us coast guard. certainly there's been no significant development, and of course, the submersible bench missing on sunday. these are the pictures of the bay in newfoundland where the coordinating of the rescue operation is being done. but there has been no updates since they lost contacts a minute —— an hour and 45 minutes into that dive. since then the search has been growing into the concern has been growing. we have been listening to those on bbc to the course of the day, listening to marine experts talking aboutjust the harshest of conditions on the sea bed. the total blackness that they will actually see, the cold the

oxygen that is running out. it is a race against time. we are expecting to move a bit, but we are expecting the us coast guard will give us an update, and perhaps we will learn information in terms of where they are in terms of the size of the search operation. they are looking on the surface, underneath the water, so perhaps they will guide us as to any sort of development state had in that search. we keep across that story and we will return to it as soon as there is more news to actually bring you. england's former chief medical officer, professor dame sally davies, has apologised to bereaved families as she gave evidence to the covid public inquiry. the inquiry is currently examining the uk's preparedness ahead of covid. when asked about the country's response to the pandemic professor davis said the uk had lacked resilience to cope with the pandemic, with fewer

doctors, nurses or hospital beds than similar countries. let's start with the former chief medical officer, tell us a little more about what she was saying. it seems significant. fix, more about what she was saying. it seems significant.— seems significant. a better day, actuall , seems significant. a better day, actually. as _ seems significant. a better day, actually, as quite _ seems significant. a better day, actually, as quite stark - seems significant. a better day, | actually, as quite stark emotions can she talked about the preparedness of the previous exercise that the uk government had done on the issue of a flu pandemic that we have been hearing a lot about over the last couple of days. indeed an exercise that she instigated looking at how the mayor is pandemic might look like. it was quite technical, but i think in the middle of it all there was quite this emotional bit, i think we can hear the apology now.— this emotional bit, i think we can hear the apology now. maybe this is the moment — hear the apology now. maybe this is the moment to _ hear the apology now. maybe this is the moment to say _ hear the apology now. maybe this is the moment to say how— hear the apology now. maybe this is the moment to say how sorry - hear the apology now. maybe this is the moment to say how sorry i - hear the apology now. maybe this is the moment to say how sorry i am l hear the apology now. maybe this is| the moment to say how sorry i am to the moment to say how sorry i am to the relatives who lost their families. it wasn'tjust the relatives who lost their families. it wasn't just the document was the way they died from it was_ document was the way they died from it was horrible. and i heard a lot about _ it was horrible. and i heard a lot about it from my daughter on the front_ about it from my daughter on the front line — about it from my daughter on the front line as a young doctor in scotland~ _ front line as a young doctor in scotland. it was harrowing, and it remains _ scotland. it was harrowing, and it

remains horrible. so scotland. it was harrowing, and it remains horrible.— scotland. it was harrowing, and it remains horrible. so quite emotional stuff, if remains horrible. so quite emotional stuff. if you — remains horrible. so quite emotional stuff, if you like, _ remains horrible. so quite emotional stuff, if you like, i— remains horrible. so quite emotional stuff, if you like, i mixed _ remains horrible. so quite emotional stuff, if you like, i mixed these - stuff, if you like, i mixed these quite technical things. were hearing about those exercises that they had undertaken in the years up the pandemic they felt that lessons hadn't necessarily been learned from those exercises that had been taken, as i say, we have been hearing a lot about this planning for the flu pandemic over the last few days. she felt that there were some recommendations from that exercise that maybe could have been pivoted away, pick it effectively from what was the flu to a very different coronavirus and we are not quite getting to that part to the date of the inquiry if you like on the issue of locked and she said important was just impossible to plan for, but she said mark could've been done to look at the impact of people, and children, and schools, and that sort of thing, and too much emphasis was

taken on the medical side of it, and the health side of it, the signs stop around those recommendations that you are talking about, because and she was cross—examined, she talked about or and she was cross-examined, she talked abou— talked about or assumption that those recommendations - talked about or assumption that those recommendations would i talked about or assumption that - those recommendations would have been adopted and were surprised that some of them hadn't been. the other key evidence today was from the former chancellor, george osborne and the agent arab austerity and cuts, and much that impacted. but were the key things he said? got ve were the key things he said? (eri�*if very political this money. we heard from george osborne, the former chancellor. yesterday we heard from david cameron, questioned about austerity, question about what it uk had gone into with the health service in a decent state with all the political criticism that has been over the years and indeed already last weekend and this inquiry that his argument was that

wasn't the case and a misunderstanding if you like, his quote was that there was no point in having contingency plan about the pandemic emma because essential to all of us would have to be a strong economy was able to cope with the pandemic. talking about the furlough system here in the uk where essentially the state was able to pay peoples wages. if the economy hadn't been strong enough, this argument was britain wouldn't have been able to do that. so i think it got political. this isn't meant to be a political inquiry, but clearly questions over some of the political decisions made.— questions over some of the political decisions made. thank you so much for takinu decisions made. thank you so much for taking me _ decisions made. thank you so much for taking me through _ decisions made. thank you so much for taking me through all— decisions made. thank you so much for taking me through all of- decisions made. thank you so much for taking me through all of that. i for taking me through all of that. turning to america now. president biden's son — hunter biden, is expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanour tax crimes and admit to illegally possessing a gun while a drug user, after a five—year investigation. the us attorney in delaware filed papers indicating a plea agreement was reached.

he's expected to agree to drug treatment and monitoring. the terms of the agreement are likely to keep him out ofjail. the white house said in a statement that president biden expressed support for his son hunter as he continues to rebuild his life. our washington correspondent gary o'donoghue has been giving me the details. this is a five year long investigation that has been conducted into hunter biden's finances and into this weapons charge and what has resulted here is covering a misdemeanor tax charges and disagreement that he will treatment and to be crime free for a couple of years to stay out ofjail on the gun charge the gun charge is a more serious one. it's as he held her handgun while being a registered drug addict. that's illegal in delaware. and obviously he's managed to reach an agreement with the us attorney and that which is pretty favourable to him i would say.

already had to pay quite a lot of money and finds what she's had to borrow. the republicans as you can imagine believe this is pretty easy treatment. many of them describing it as a slap on the wrist and donald trump of course is facing state and federal criminal charges at the moment on various counts. he said that this was basically a traffic ticket. ,., , , that this was basically a traffic ticket. , , ., ., ticket. gary, in terms of that sort of republican _ ticket. gary, in terms of that sort of republican reaction. _ ticket. gary, in terms of that sort i of republican reaction. republicans for years now have seized on everything surrounding hunter biden. just for those watching around the world, just remind them of some of the background here.— the background here. obviously hunter biden _ the background here. obviously hunter biden is _ the background here. obviously hunter biden is the _ the background here. obviously hunter biden is the president'sl the background here. obviously - hunter biden is the president's son. he has had had a rather chequered business career. if you like he has faced accusations that he has tried to profit off his father's name. they have been allegations about connections with various businesses and europe. there have been

allegations about peddling influence in places like china. his famous laptop, of course, that republicans have focused on of course which was on that, etc. while he need to have done a deal here with the us attorney in delaware, there is still attorney in delaware, there is still a whole bunch of republicans in congress who are investigating hunter biden. they are not going to let this drop anytime soon and they see it as a pretty decent political way of attacking the man in the white house right at the moment. so this is median and of immediate legaljeopardy for hunter biden but it's not going to be in and for the discomfort of being in the spotlight and part of, if you like, the political partisanship in this country. political partisanship in this count . , political partisanship in this count . ., ., ., country. gary, aside from all of that, we heard _ country. gary, aside from all of that, we heard in _ country. gary, aside from all of that, we heard in the _ country. gary, aside from all of that, we heard in the last- country. gary, aside from all of that, we heard in the last few l country. gary, aside from all of- that, we heard in the last few hours and actual trial date laid out to for a donald trump. and that is likely to be not that far before the 2024 presidential election if he is

the republican candidate. this 2024 presidential election if he is the republican candidate.- the republican candidate. this is curious. the republican candidate. this is curious- we _ the republican candidate. this is curious. we are _ the republican candidate. this is curious. we are trying _ the republican candidate. this is curious. we are trying to - the republican candidate. this is curious. we are trying to bottom| the republican candidate. this is - curious. we are trying to bottom out some of this at the moment, but they seems to be an indication that the trial of the documents, that is to say the criminal charges that he faces and was arraigned for in florida last week could start on august the 14th for a couple of weeks. i really curious timing, matthew, because you will know that the first republican debate for the nomination is scheduled for the next week. so this trail goes on for a couple of weeks as a real problem, if donald trump is still the leading candidate for the nomination. because it is a criminal trial. you've got to be there. that was gary o'donoghue in washington. prosecutors in romania have charged the controversial influencer, andrew tate, and his brother tristan, with rape, human trafficking, and forming an organised crime group to exploit women. two associates of the brothers have also been charged. andrew tate was first arrested at his home in bucharest in december. prosecutors allege that the four defendants formed an organised criminal group to commit human

trafficking in romania and other countries including the united states and britain. our correspondent in bucharest, lucy williamson, told us — the charges come several months, after the original arrests. well, this indictment details seven alleged victims who the romanian prosecutors say were forced to make pornographic material after being recruited by the tate brothers with false promises of love and marriage. the prosecutors also say that there fairly wide—ranging charges associated with this indictment, that the human trafficking was carried out notjust in romania, but also in the us and the uk — and that umbrella charge of trafficking contains several different counts against each of the defendants. the organised crime unit are telling us that they're also carrying out a separate investigation into potential charges of money laundering, influencing statements and trafficking of minors, and that they've confiscated a wide range of

assets from the tate brothers in this investigation, including property, cars, watches and also 300 million us dollars in cryptocurrency. a spokeswoman for the tate brothers said that they embrace this opportunity to demonstrate their influence. the court here now has 60 days to rule on the legality of this indictment, whether it can actually be tried in court, but lawyers are telling us it could well take much longer than that. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. it was the tuesday after the king's coronation and caroline said it was the heaviest rain she had ever witnessed. it soon started to pour into her home, flooding the downstairs. but for repairs to take place, they are having to move out for at least six

months. we having to move out for at least six months. ~ . . having to move out for at least six months. ~ ., ., ., ., ., , months. we have all had our moments of bein: months. we have all had our moments of being very — months. we have all had our moments of being very emotional— months. we have all had our moments of being very emotional and _ months. we have all had our moments of being very emotional and upset. - of being very emotional and upset. abhisit caroline, alice runs her own catering company. her kitchen was completely flooded, and the cost to her business has been severe. imeek her business has been severe. week chose not to — her business has been severe. week chose not to claim _ her business has been severe. week chose not to claim insurance - her business has been severe. -- chose not to claim insurance because we are more scared. will we get renewal? if we do, how much will our premium go up? with rising costs all the time, as a small business, you just cannot afford to keep paying a premium. just cannot afford to keep paying a remium. , . . , ., premium. this criticism that the rivers aren't _ premium. this criticism that the rivers aren't kept _ premium. this criticism that the rivers aren't kept clear, - premium. this criticism that the rivers aren't kept clear, but - premium. this criticism that the rivers aren't kept clear, but the | rivers aren't kept clear, but the environment agency says the amount of water that day was overwhelming. there was a huge amount of water in a short_ there was a huge amount of water in a short space — there was a huge amount of water in a short space of time, and the truth is, that the — a short space of time, and the truth is, that the channel size was overwhelmed.— is, that the channel size was overwhelmed. ., .., ., overwhelmed. the water came and went in a matter of — overwhelmed. the water came and went in a matter of hours. _ overwhelmed. the water came and went in a matter of hours. the _ overwhelmed. the water came and went in a matter of hours. the clean-up - in a matter of hours. the clean—up and the recovery will take a lot longer.

you are alive at bbc news. a bbc investigation has revealed how people in the uk and the us are paying for monkeys in south—east asia to be tortured on video. several arrests have been made in connection with the abuse, and two men in indonesia have beenjailed. our correspondent rebecca henschkey went undercover to find out more. her film contains descriptions of torture which you'll find upsetting. these are just some of the thousands of videos we found on youtube of baby monkeys being abused. at the heart of this shocking torture ring was mini.

the people who wanted to do something to mini were part of a global online community. they found each other on youtube and then formed private groups on the messaging app telegram. here, they brainstormed and crowdfunded videos of baby monkeys being tortured. we spent months undercover, trying to identify the people involved, and track down one of the ringleaders in the us. i'm the man. you want to see monkeys get messed up, i can bring it to you, but everything comes at a price. you ran one of the biggest groups in this community. correct. i'm not proud of that. did you think about the monkeys, the pain? not at that point. all i thought about at that point was money. he's one of 25 people the us authorities are investigating. you want to see the mini? yeah. posing as a potential buyer, we hunted down mini's torturer in indonesia.

when you hit them, do you... do you like? we tipped off the indonesian police, who moved in to arrest him. mini, and another monkey we're calling milo, were rescued. in the uk, wejoined a police raid to arrest one of the women accused of being involved in this community. i think she's going to have a little bit of a shock this morning when she gets a knock on the door, to be fair. why baby monkeys? she was one of three women arrested under the obscene publications act. what was going through your mind? so these will go into a locker. activists want to strengthen the law to force social media companies to remove animal abuse. the online safety bill does not include animal torture

as a specific area of concern, and i think anyone would be astonished that it's not included. there are still many active monkey—torture groups on social media. youtube turned down an interview request, but said there is no place for animal abuse on their platform. telegram also declined to talk to us, but said it's committed to protecting user privacy. now in a sanctuary in indonesia, mini has a good chance of being released back into the wild. you're beautiful. sorry for all you've been through. rebecca henschke, bbc news. before we move on, let me update you in terms of that search and rescue operation for that submersible that is going on and off the coast of newfoundland. these are the pictures

from stjohn's bay. it's worth reminding you that we are expecting a news conference from the us coast guard in the next ten or 15 minutes. it's interesting because the head of the us coast guard has been updating american media in the last little while. let me tell you what he has been saying, because he says over the last three or four hours, we have flown multiple aircraft over the site looking for any signs of surfacing of the submersible. the area that was searched is roughly the size of the us state of connecticut. that's worth repeating. it gives you an idea of the huge scale of the task care, the size of the state of connecticut, and he says we continue with that search. we are expanding our capabilities to be able to search under the water as well so that we now have a commercial that saw on the scene that has remote operated vehicles that has remote operated vehicles that will give us the ability to

search under the water as well. so thatis search under the water as well. so that is really interesting. the head of the us coast guard getting a that update. talking about what has been happening over the last three or four hours, and of course, it is this submersible that they are hunting for because since sunday, an hour and 45 minutes into the dive down to the titanic, they lost contact now. they have no idea whether it is a communications problem or something more substantive with the vessel itself. the search goes on as you saw from that statement i just the search goes on as you saw from that statement ijust read out. both on the surface but increasingly beneath the surface most of all the experts have said if it comes to the surface, that's when various radio capacity onboard, they can use to send out signals. they can also normally detach weights from the

vessel itself. they would normally do that in an emergency, and yet neither thing has actually happened. and that, of course, is why so much of the focus is under the water. but as you've got there a sense from that statement, it is such a huge scale and vast expanse of water that they are searching at the moment. the size of the state of connecticut. increasingly, more and more hardware is being sent to the region, we know that the canadians have been sending hardware. we know the french sent a remote—controlled device to that area, so so much equipment is being sent, and as the coast guards were saying, a commercial vessel is they are at the scene and they have remote operated vehicles that will actually give us the ability to search underwater as well. it is worth just saying again

that we are expecting very shortly to have that news conference from the us coast guard. and through the day, various marine experts have been talking to the bbc, just explaining just how difficult this search actually is to try to locate the vessel is one thing, even if they do that, then, of course, how they do that, then, of course, how they would retrieve it is the next massive, massive challenge. and they've got to do that before, of course, oxygen on that vessel runs out. when it set off on sunday, it had 96 hours worth of oxygen, and of course, we are into effectively the second day. so we are about halfway through or nearing the halfway stage. so the race is on. the task, number one, of course, is to identify where it actually is. and of course so many different shapes

are heading to that area. we were hearing from our verified team. they have been monitoring to the crest of the day, the various activity of ships in the region but still they don't have the answer and that shot you see there on the screen, but the news conference is going to come very shortly. you can see the assembled crew and media and reporters and cameras waiting for that update from the admiral, who has been talking to the american networks getting them the latest, they will talk to all the rest of the media that are assembled. our correspondent is there in boston, you have been through the air to the crest of the day and they have been very few updates come i suspect we are going to learn a little more in the next little while. certainly of excluding a little more in the next little while. certainly of excluding the lines from the us coast guard, and they have been saying to us media outlets, and the thing that

jumped out to me was the size of the area of water that they are searching. they described it as the size of the state of connecticut. that is a pretty big area, and when you talk about what they have already covered via the air, they say they have searched some 10,000 square miles. a couple of different aircraft in the area can be made to cover a fair of territory, but if you think about where this ship was and where it might be today, it could have drifted due to ocean currents. it could have surfaced and moved away from the area. we don't have any of tracking that device, that vessel. there was no operating begin attached to that vessel. the good news is that it's not a very fast vessel itself. once it gets underneath the ocean, the propellers are very small that are attached to it, and it is set to only travel a few two or three miles per hour. so

if it did make it down without any sort of safety failures, it wouldn't have been able to travel very far underneath the ocean. and of course they are making sure that they don't miss any potential sightings of this craft, and they are going to make sure to cast a wide net and a wide area, and if it is the size of connecticut than that is what they are going to have to do, and that's one of the reasons why we see so many different aircraft and ships being brought in from different countries and different private companies as well, there's a large area of cover and not a lot of time do it. fit area of cover and not a lot of time do it. . ., , ., , do it. of course, at this stage, every option — do it. of course, at this stage, every option is _ do it. of course, at this stage, every option is open. - do it. of course, at this stage, every option is open. the - do it. of course, at this stage, every option is open. the we l do it. of course, at this stage, - every option is open. the we don't know if this is a communications failure or something more structural involved in the vessel something about losing contact that we just don't know. about losing contact that we 'ust don-t knomfi

about losing contact that we 'ust don't know. what's interesting is learnina don't know. what's interesting is learning more — don't know. what's interesting is learning more when _ don't know. what's interesting is learning more when he _ don't know. what's interesting is learning more when he visited i don't know. what's interesting is| learning more when he visited the titanic a few months ago. for the vessel to resurface and some of them reportedly required the crew to even activate that they have been able to trying to vessel, it's built—in with certain failsafes as you might expect from a vessel that would travel so deep, thousands of metres into the ocean. but there could be several scenarios that people have been throwing around that it could have been trapped underneath the water or air to make.— have been trapped underneath the water or air to make. thank you so much. water or air to make. thank you so much- we — water or air to make. thank you so much- we will— water or air to make. thank you so much. we will talk— water or air to make. thank you so much. we will talk again _ water or air to make. thank you so much. we will talk again when - water or air to make. thank you so j much. we will talk again when that news conference is concluded. there is the picture from boston. to stay with us on bbc news. at press conference coming up with the latest detail on that submersible. hello, good afternoon. well, there's plenty of dry and indeed sunny weather to come

in the forecast as we head through the rest of the week for most of us. but it's been rather unsettled so far today. heavy rain in central southern england earlier this morning and some thunderstorms breaking out. lovely weather watcher picture here from north uist in the western isles. there could be some more heavy thundery showers breaking out for many of us as we head through the rest of today. there are localised weather warnings in place but also some sunny spells too and it will still be feeling warm. now, earlier on, we saw this feature just move its way northwards, currently across north eastern areas of england and northeastern scotland too, where it's likely to linger on for much of the rest of the day, eventually pulling out into the north sea. watch out for some thunderstorms across western scotland and northern ireland. also possibly some heavy thundery showers across south west england and south wales forming in lines. but further east, it's largely dry,

temperatures here peaking in the mid 20s in celsius. now, overnight tonight, the thunderstorms are likely to rumble on, i think, across western scotland and northern ireland, but for most they will fade away where we see them to leave us with a dry night feeling slightly fresher, a little more comfortable for sleeping, but still warm into tomorrow morning with some areas of mist, especially in the south. so, on wednesday, then, there'll still be some showers forming in lines, perhaps for south west england and for wales. and across much of scotland we could see some more thunderstorms break out, frequent lightning across eastern scotland, maybe some thunderstorms across northern ireland, too. temperatures coming up slightly. towards the east, it should stay largely dry, and it will still feel warm here, 23—25 celsius. and then high pressure starts to build in from the southwest as we head through the middle of the week, quite firmly established by the time we get to the weekend. but on thursday, there'll still be a few showers around. the area's more stable so the showers shouldn't be as heavy as they've been in recent days, and there'll be some sunny spells, too. temperatures for most will peak in the low 20s in celsius, starting to rise, but maybe 26—27 degrees celsius in south east england and east anglia.

that high pressure becomes quite firmly established across the south of the uk as we head through the weekend. temperatures will be rising, the humidity levels, too. weather fronts pushing into the north and the west.

my my from london, this is bbc news.

rescue teams hunting for a my from london, this is bbc news. rescue teams details. ’or a my from london, this is bbc news. rescue teams details. $55 my from london, this is bbc news. rescue teams: details.— with the latest details. $55 billion over the next _ with the latest details. $55 billion over the next four _ with the latest details. $55 billion over the next four years - - with the latest details. $55 billion over the next four years - the - over the next four years — the european commission president pleads to provide long—term support for ukraine. hunter biden agrees to plead guilty to federal charges.