a bbc investigation finds new evidence that casts doubt on the greek coastguard 5 account of last month's, migrant boat sinking. oscar—winning actor kevin spacey gives evidence at his trial in london for alleged sex offences. hello. we start with a fierce heatwave gripping parts of europe and north—west africa with potential record—breaking temperatures in the coming days. it comes as the holiday season gets under way in the region. temperatures are expected to rise above a0 degrees celsius in parts of spain, france, greece, croatia and turkey. in italy temperatures could reach as high as nearly 49 degrees. a red alert warning has been issued for ten cities including florence and rome. the bbc�*s sofia bettiza is in rome. the health ministry in italy is advising people to stay indoors in

the afternoon, to drink plenty of water, at least two litres per day, to avoid alcohol and coffee, and to avoid exercising during the day. they are also asking people to check on their elderly neighbours if they live alone, because it is the elderly and young children who are particularly affected when the sun is so strong, and of course, this can be quite dangerous. according to some new research just come out earlier this week, nearly 60,000 people died last year across europe because of heatwaves are just like this one. and it was mediterranean countries, greece, italy, spain, portugal, that saw the highest death toll, with about 18,000 people dying in italy. so, the authorities here are urging people to take this very seriously.

dangerously hot temperatures are also predicted in areas of the us as a heat dome intensifies and remains parked over those regions. heat alerts are in effect for millions of people. cbs news correspondentjarred hill told us one of the biggest areas of concern is phoenix, arizona. southwestern part of the us for about 13 days straight now. temperatures have been at or above 110 degrees fahrenheit, 43.3 degrees celsius there. and it's expected that those same temperatures, if not hotter, could continue on at least until next thursday. this would put that area in record breaking territory for, again, the most consecutive days above 110 degrees outside ofjust phoenix in that region that we are expecting to see some of these really hot temperatures across the southern parts of the united states, which, again, is dangerous, in particular because you have some people in parts of the country there who may not have air conditioning, may not have access to sort of cooling spaces and whatnot. and so there really are concerns

for health and safety, not just for comfortability here. the government is advising what people to do, what. so it depends. there are a couple of things here. if you have air conditioning, people are being told to stay indoors for as much as they can, especially during the peak parts of the day. for some of the people who have to work outside, they're being told to do so in the either overnight or early morning hours, again, when the heat is expected to be at its lowest. but still in some parts of the country, we're talking about 90 or so degrees fahrenheit at the coolest. if there are people who do not have access, though, to things like that, there are some cooling centers that are being opened up. and then another thing that's really being stressed here is for people to make sure that they're checking their cars for children, for pets, if they're going in the store, if they're going in the house for a moment, don't leave your kid or your pet inside the car, not even for a moment, because the interior temperatures

can get so high that it can be deadly very quickly. and this is a very unusual situation. i mean, new york, i know having lived there, can get very hot in the summer, but you're talking about something really extreme now. yeah, exactly. so, you know, parts of the country, these parts of the country are accustomed to the heat. these are — it's the south. that's what happens here. but these stretches of these very, very high temperatures also in some parts of the country, we're talking about the heat on top of the humidity as well. and so this is something that does not happen very often, and that in particular is why there is so much concern here. in india key roads in the capital, delhi, have been flooded after the yamuna river burst its banks. water levels in the city are at their highest in more than 45 years. here's our south asia editor, anbarasan ethirajan this all happened over the past few weeks, heavy rains in northern india

in various states, and one of the worst—affected area the indian capital delhi itself, which is a city of 20 million people. the yamuna river, which runs through the city, has seen water level going above the danger mark, and it is the highest in the last 45 years, as a result, many low—lying areas have been flooded, thousands of people living on the banks have been evacuated, and a short while ago, the chief minister of delhi announced that all schools and colleges will be shut until sunday because of this worsening flood situation. there is also another problem, some of the water treatment plants which supply water to the city of delhi have been flooded, so they are expecting some shortage in they are expecting some shortage in the coming days, so the government has already dispatched disaster management teams, first of all to check this waterlogging in some areas and asking people to evacuate,

and also setting up some relief centres, but unless the water level decreases, because there is a barrage upstream, and they are getting water level going up very fast and that is why they are releasing the water in the yamuna river, that is affecting the capital delhi now. the bbc is restarting its investigation into the conduct of its highest—paid news presenter huw edwards. london's metropolitan police have said they'd found no evidence of a criminal offence following allegations that he'd paid a young person for explicit photos. his wife said he is being treated in hospitalfor serious mental health issues. live now to london where we can speak to alice enders who is director of research at enders analysis. a p pa re ntly apparently we don't have the line unfortunately to alice enders right now, we will come back to that as we can. in the meantime we can bring you some breaking news. a group of

british mps has said that chinese state intelligence is targeting the uk prolifically and aggressively and is a challenge for british intelligence agencies. these are the findings of the parliament's intelligence and security committee. the mps have also raised concerns about chinese influence in uk universities and the nuclear. a security expert from the council of competitive intelligence fellows joins us now. welcome to the programme. in what way is it seen as a threat, what specifically is the parliamentary committee alleging that china is doing? 50. parliamentary committee alleging that china is doing?— that china is doing? so, from my understanding, _ that china is doing? so, from my understanding, it _ that china is doing? so, from my understanding, it is _ that china is doing? so, from my understanding, it is actually - that china is doing? so, from my understanding, it is actually the l understanding, it is actually the soft power, so to speak, of china, the influence. so, it has been the placement when it comes to students, it has been the placement of chosen students to enter into university programs, and then when they are done with those programs, they would be hired into high—technology

companies, into think tanks. so, they would be basically infiltrating at a lower level, but ultimately influencing decision and policy making throughout a longer period of time. as we know, with china, they are very much in the long range about strategy, they are not very short range in their thinking, they are always thinking about the long game, and we've seen that with companies in china that have been hiring as early as the early 2000 people within the technology sector, and those companies at present are the ones that have now been put on the ones that have now been put on the list saying, we don't want to do any business with you because it affects our national security. so, that has been happening for quite a number of years. and unfortunately itjust number of years. and unfortunately it just seems that the security industry has been very forward in knowing and understanding and the government policy has been very far behind. 50. government policy has been very far behind. ., , government policy has been very far behind. . , ,~ government policy has been very far behind. . , w i. �* behind. so, what is the risk, you're talkin: behind. so, what is the risk, you're talking about _

behind. so, what is the risk, you're talking about soft _ behind. so, what is the risk, you're talking about soft power— behind. so, what is the risk, you're talking about soft power rather- behind. so, what is the risk, you're| talking about soft power rather than stealing information? film. talking about soft power rather than stealing information?— stealing information? oh, no, the soft power— stealing information? oh, no, the soft power is _ stealing information? oh, no, the soft power is just _ stealing information? oh, no, the soft power isjust basically - stealing information? oh, no, the soft power isjust basically the - soft power is just basically the setup. the hard aspect is the actual stealing of information. but if you have the people in place, because it really does come down to the strength of the relationships that there is people are able to build in order to seem more authentic in their activities. so, what your having is, yeah, they will go out and they will do the reverse engineering, the actual stealing of hard power, the technology, so to speak, having people go in automatically, but it is really the long—term setup. i think that is where we are seeing the most impact, because what is happening has been done over time. so, because what is happening has been done overtime. so, it because what is happening has been done over time. so, it is a lot harder to read out. we can go in right now and say these companies, we understand what you are doing with chip technology, but at the

same time, it is already seeded in what we are using in our culture, what we are using in our culture, what we are using in technology, our chips that are embedded, us security systems, high vision, software for security, forces, it is already there. now, this isjust a matter of i think a little bit of public awareness and weeding out and saying to china, guess what, we're calling your bluff and we are saying, we know this has happened, and it won't be going on any further. thank know this has happened, and it won't be going on any further.— be going on any further. thank you ve much be going on any further. thank you very much and _ be going on any further. thank you very much and joining _ be going on any further. thank you very much and joining us. - be going on any further. thank you very much and joining us. thank. be going on any further. thank you i very much and joining us. thank you. very much and “oining us. thank you. lets now go — very much and joining us. thank you. lets now go back _ very much and joining us. thank you. lets now go back to _ very much and joining us. thank you. lets now go back to the _ very much and joining us. thank you. lets now go back to the story - very much and joining us. thank you. lets now go back to the story about i lets now go back to the story about the security risk from china as seen by the parliamentary committee. in the uk also, the bbc as you are no doubt very aware has been restarting its investigation into the conduct of its highest—paid news presenter huw edwards. the met police said that they had found no evidence of criminality following allegations he had paid a young person for explicit photos. his wife said he has been in

hospital and is being treated for serious mental health issues. we can go live to london now to speak to dr alice enders, director of research at enders analysis. there has been much discussion about the role of the sun and of the bbc, what is your take on it? i the sun and of the bbc, what is your take on it? ~ ., , , take on it? i think it has been frankly a _ take on it? i think it has been frankly a media _ take on it? i think it has been frankly a media storm - take on it? i think it has been frankly a media storm across| take on it? i think it has been - frankly a media storm across many, many other media outlets, particularly during the time of the police investigation, when many commentators on tv and so on were opining on the fact that the presenter in question should come out and basically reveal who they are. i think if you look back at the situation as it has unfolded, and i think there has been a lot of criticism of the bbc regarding the way in which dealt with the receipt of allegations and so on on the 19th

of allegations and so on on the 19th of may, why did it take so long for them to suspend huw edwards? i think, you know, the bbc does have internal processes, it has to work with them, we don't really know enough this point, the facts are elusive. there have been many allegations and downright accusations, and they are all assumed to be that and unfortunately now we discover that the police does not believe that a crime was committed, it is also true that the sun does not have, huw edwards is not their employee, they don't have a duty of care, the bbc does. we know from the recent situation regarding phillip schofield that when a situation arises in which a person is basically hounded by the media, that that person can become very fragile and can be at risk and does require safeguarding. i'm very pleased to see that the bbc is taking its duty to its employees

very carefully. just taking its duty to its employees very carefully-— taking its duty to its employees very carefully. just to interrupting ou, what very carefully. just to interrupting you. what the _ very carefully. just to interrupting you, what the bbc— very carefully. just to interrupting you, what the bbc has _ very carefully. just to interrupting you, what the bbc has said - very carefully. just to interrupting you, what the bbc has said is - very carefully. just to interrupting | you, what the bbc has said is that first of all, it did get a vast amount of complaints and you can see why people might be motivated to make them in the first place, and second of all, that it did try to contact the people who are making the complaint, the parents of the young person, and was not able to make contact. so, the details of that will emerge. the question then becomes, if there is no criminal, or even alleged criminal element to this, is it a story at all? 50. even alleged criminal element to this, is it a story at all?— this, is it a story at all? so, in my view. _ this, is it a story at all? so, in my view. i _ this, is it a story at all? so, in my view, i must _ this, is it a story at all? so, in my view, i must say _ this, is it a story at all? so, in my view, i must say that - this, is it a story at all? so, in my view, i must say that i - this, is it a story at all? so, in - my view, i must say that i believe bbc employees have the right to private lives, in fact we all do, but of course we know that this story was really hijacked to become a story about the bbc, which, as you know, has a history with presenters, jimmy savile and so on, and i think that was actually really wrong, to huack that was actually really wrong, to hijack the story about that. huw edwards did not use his status as a bbc presenter with respect to this

young person, in fact i'm very sure that huw edwards would have loved to have been able to remain completely anonymous. so, it is not an easy story to cut and paste onto similar stories that have occurred in the past. stories that have occurred in the ast. �* . , stories that have occurred in the ast, �* . , ., ~' a, stories that have occurred in the ast, �* . , ., 4' y., , past. alice enders, thank you very much indeed _ past. alice enders, thank you very much indeed for _ past. alice enders, thank you very much indeed forjoining _ past. alice enders, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. - past. alice enders, thank you very | much indeed forjoining us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. in medway the council is consulting on a scheme to stop vehicles using roads close to schools at peak times, including the one outside this watches the primary. to be honest i think it is a great idea, it can get manic especially around any of these areas because there is any of these areas because there is a lot of schools and a lot of traffic. if it goes ahead the scheme will be similar to this one in london, drivers caught on camera during drop—off or pickup times will be fined unless they are residents, have businesses in the street or are

working at the school. what have businesses in the street or are working at the school.— working at the school. what we are seeinu in working at the school. what we are seeing in london _ working at the school. what we are seeing in london and _ working at the school. what we are seeing in london and other- working at the school. what we are seeing in london and other placesl working at the school. what we are l seeing in london and other places is people choosing other types of transport so potentially car sharing but also looking at walking and cycling to school, which has the concurrent impact of reducing our pollution as well. ilouiith concurrent impact of reducing our pollution as well.— pollution as well. with the consultation _ pollution as well. with the consultation now - pollution as well. with the consultation now over, - pollution as well. with the consultation now over, it i pollution as well. with the i consultation now over, it will pollution as well. with the - consultation now over, it will be decided whether and where the scheme should go ahead. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. we have some breaking news for you. everton footballer dele alli says he was sexually abused when he was six years old. in an emotional interview with the former england footballer gary neville, dele alli revealed the abuse he suffered as a child before he was adopted at the age of 12. he said he was molested aged six, started smoking aged seven and was dealing drugs at eight. dele alli

recently spent six weeks in rehab because of a sleeping pill addiction and mental health issues. the defence case in the sex offences trial of oscar—winning actor kevin spacey has begun. prosecutors concluded their evidence against the hollywood star on wednesday after a jury panel heard accounts from his four alleged victims. the defendant was labelled a "sexual bully". kevin spacey denies the charges. live now to greg mackenzie outside southwark crown court in london. greg, what can you tell us? well, kevin spacey. _ greg, what can you tell us? well, kevin spacey, the _ greg, what can you tell us? well, kevin spacey, the us _ greg, what can you tell us? well, kevin spacey, the us actor, - greg, what can you tell us? well, kevin spacey, the us actor, has l kevin spacey, the us actor, has given evidence for the first time in this trial, which began on the 30th ofjune. today, the defence opened their case and ultimately said this case was about money. trying to obtain money from the actor. he went as far, the defence, patrick gives

qc, said that it was about money, trying to get money from the actor, and went as far as quoting one of the alleged four victims as saying, it had better come soon or i will have to bunched stacey, a direct reference in trying to obtain money from the actor in relation to these claims. as the morning progressed, kevin spacey has been talking about his early years, when he first came to britain as a child and then how he came back to britain to appear in a film at the age of 27. now, there are four alleged victims and what you are seeing now in court is they are going through each of the claims, the allegations, individually, the first of which has already started. ask how kevin spacey knew the first alleged victim, he said, he knew the individual and he went as far as saying, i like him, he was great, we laughed a lot. because much of the

morning will be spent going through the timeline of the event to determine and when or where kevin spacey was at the time of these alleged offences. his defence qc even went as far as saying, it has been the onus on kevin spacey himself to prove where he was at the time of many of these offences, 12 in total, all of which 63—year—old actor denies. the trial continues. you very much, greg. a bbc investigation has found new evidence that casts doubt on the greek coastguard 5 account of the migrant boat sinking in the mediterranean a month ago. 82 people are confirmed to have drowned in the tragedy but it is feared a further 500 may have died. now, survivors claim they were told to keep quiet after raising concerns about the coast guard's handling of the disaster. 0ur correspondent nick beake has more. in a park in central athens we meet

two survivors who ask us to hide their identity. they say the greek coast guard caused their boat to sink. translation: they attached a rope from the left. - everybody moved to the right side of the boat to balance it. the greek vessel moved off quickly, causing our boat to flip. they kept dragging it for quite a distance. the men allege that when survivors tried to speak out about what happened, they were quickly silenced. translation: the army man said, you have survived death, _ stop talking about the incident and don't ask more questions about it. stop talking about this. stop making accusations. you are safe now. that's the most important thing. mind your business. we returned to the port of kalamata in southern greece guard interviewed survivors. but there are now doubts about that process. 0ur bbc investigation last month showed that in the seven hours before it went down,

the boat had hardly been moving at all. and now, using court documents, witness statements and the evidence of a new whistleblower, we can see a pattern of behaviour by the greek coast guard. after this person watched our bbc verify investigation last month he contacted us. he wanted to explain that he worked as a translator in a previous people smuggling case where he believed an argument was built against two innocent men, with fellow survivors being threatened. they were told, if, unless you specify such and such, these were the individuals who were people smugglers, you will be treated unpleasantly, you will be put in prison and returned to taliban. as for this summer's shipwreck, the greek authorities have charged nine egyptian men with manslaughter

and people smuggling. the greek coast guard refused an interview and have not replied to our latest allegations. but this new video, and these new claims, raise more questions about their actions. nick beake, bbc news. egypt is hosting a summit with sudan 5 neighbours to discuss ways to end the bloody conflict there that has raged for nearly three months. the united nations says more than three million people have fled their homes as a result of the power struggle between the sudanese army and a paramilitary force, the rapid support forces. joining me now from cairo is the bbc�*s sally nabil. so, sally, what progress is being made here?— so, sally, what progress is being made here? ,, ., , �* , ., made here? summit hasn't started about a an hour— made here? summit hasn't started about a an hour ago _ made here? summit hasn't started about a an hour ago or _ made here? summit hasn't started about a an hour ago or such, - made here? summit hasn't started about a an hour ago or such, and i about a an hour ago or such, and speeches have been given by heads of states represented in the summit. —— summit has started. they include

egypt, sudan, chad kammerertray and others. egypt, sudan's northern neighbour, the egyptian president, he presented egypt's vision of how to end the conflict in sudan, and he said that warring parties have to stop fighting and sit down at a table and start negotiations, he also called for save humanitarian passages so that much—needed humanitarian aid can be delivered to the sudanese people caught up in the crossfire between the rapid support forces and the sudanese army, and he also said that there was delivering aid should be safe and secure and they should not be targeted. these are the points listed by the egyptian president, but no—one knows so far how realistic these points are, and if they will be ever applied, because previous

negotiations between the sudanese part in saudi arabia failed to put an end to this conflict and a lot of sudanese people here in cairo that i have spoken to, they said that both parties have equal powers that is the reason behind prolonging this conflict, has no end in sight at the moment. ., �* , , , moment. indeed, and it's very, very damauuin moment. indeed, and it's very, very damaging and _ moment. indeed, and it's very, very damaging and costly, _ moment. indeed, and it's very, very damaging and costly, and _ moment. indeed, and it's very, very damaging and costly, and as - moment. indeed, and it's very, very damaging and costly, and as you - damaging and costly, and as you rightly say, of course, very difficult for aid to get through? absolutely. we are speaking about hundreds of people who have died here, many of them are civilians, we are talking about severe shortage in everything, in food, are talking about severe shortage in everything, infood, in medicine, in water. i have met some of the sudanese who fled to egypt recently and they told me, one of the relatives, for example, was shot dead because he was going out looking for water for his family, so this is the kind of situation we are talking about in sudan, and the

summer is very tough in sudan, i have been there, i know how it is like to survive the baking heat with no water or food, that would make like to survive the baking heat with no water orfood, that would make it even worse. so, the thing is, humanitarian aid is much—needed but the situation on the ground is too dangerous for aid to be delivered, and this is why egypt and other countries who spoke during the summit, they emphasised the importance of delivering human aid and above all, stop the fighting and sit down for negotiations. again, no—one knows if the warring parties will be willing to do that. no-one knows if the warring parties will be willing to do that.— will be willing to do that. thank ou ve will be willing to do that. thank you very much _ will be willing to do that. thank you very much indeed - will be willing to do that. thank you very much indeed for - will be willing to do that. thank| you very much indeed forjoining will be willing to do that. thank - you very much indeed forjoining us. voting is taking place in thailand

to decide the country's prime minister. a progressive coalition led by the move forward party swept to victory in the lower house, upsetting the conservative establishment, but the military appointed senate could still block him from forming a government and we are going to be live in the next hourin are going to be live in the next hour in bangkok outside parliament to see how that vote is progressing. this is bbc news. hello again. we are in for another day of sunshine and showers, with the showers fewer and further between compared to recent days and lighter winds as well. the heaviest showers are likely to be across the north of scotland, where they could be potentially thundery, we could catch a shower potentially anywhere but most of us will have a dry day, with sunny skies. by the end of the

afternoon there will be more cloud gathering across south—west england, wales and northern ireland which will produce some rain as it continues to advance northwards and eastwards by the end of the night we will have heavy rain and strengthening winds across the far south—west. under clear skies in the highlands, temperatures could fall away as low as 5 degrees. tomorrow this is the low pressure that will be bringing us the heaviest rain and the strong winds. it is pushing northwards and eastwards during the day, and this front will continue to move north, but it is notjust rain in the south—west, it is also strong winds, gusting to gale force around the coasts and you can expect some choppy seas as well. this rain pushes northwards and eastwards through the course of the day. we've got our first weather front moving northwards across scotland, a drier interlude in between, the timing of this rain could change. at the moment we don't expect it to get into east anglia and the south—east

until later in the day but it might come in a bit faster or a bit slower so that is something to watch. moving into the weekend we are looking at unseasonably windy conditions, some thundery downpours and it is going to stay cool. low pressure continuing to drift northwards and eastwards, in the centre of it we have got light winds but around it, the winds will be strong, touching gale force again across the north of scotland and also south—western areas for saturday will be an unsettled and windy day, windy wherever you are, we have got rain pushing across the north of scotland but all around this area of low pressure we have got some heavy showers and some of those will also be found. these are our temperatures, 15 in the north to about 22 as we sweep down towards the south. heading into sunday, again it is going to be windy everywhere, there will be some showers or rain, mostly in the

mostly in the north and west.

the british economy shrinks in may. are we on the path to a recession? in sri lanka, one year on from the sudden departure of president rajapaksa, people continue to struggle with crushing living costs.