�* south �*south pole. hello, i'm ben thompson, welcome to bbc news now. we start in the united states, where the country's enormous film and tv industry has ground to a halt. tens of thousands of hollywood actors have joined screenwriters in the first industry—wide stoppage in more than 60 years. the screen actors guild wants streaming giants like netflix, disney and paramount to agree to a fairer split of profits and better working conditions. it also wants assurances about the use of artificial intelligence. while the strike is going on, actors can't appear in films or even promote the movies they've already made. while the strike is going on, actors can't appear in films or even promote the movies they've already made. as a result, stars cillian murphy, matt damon and emily blunt left the premiere of

christopher nolan's oppenheimer in london last night as the strike was declared. the studios say they have made meaningful offers but that's been rejected by those on strike. the guild's president, fran drescher, said the decision by actors to walk out was a "moment of truth". we are being victimised by a very greedy entity. i am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. i cannot believe it, quite frankly. how far apart we are on so many things. how they plead poverty, that they are losing money left and right while giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their ceos. it is disgusting. shame on them. they stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment.

the issues in the strike go much deeper thanjust the film industry itself. the screen actors guild wants streaming giants to agree a fairer split of profits and better working conditions. but other demands — like protecting actors from being replaced by digital replicas — reflect wider challenges. the union wants guarantees that artificial intelligence and computer generated faces will not be used to replace actors. not since 1960 has a there been a strike on this scale. that dispute was led by the future us president ronald reagan — seen here with his wife nancy and fellow actorjames cagney. our entertainment reporter annabel rackham has more on the background to today's strike action. these actors are trying to reach an agreement with some massive organisations, disney, netflix, paramount and warner brothers. a lot of their issues

are pay—related. the union says that performers are getting paid less than ever before and that is because of the way that streaming services work. previously, actors would get royalties from shows or films if they were repeated or sold on to various networks. now, shows and movies are going straight onto streaming and this means that there is no extra opportunity to earn money. so they would like to negotiate a deal which sees bonuses based on streaming numbers. that is one of their key demands, but it is not the only one explain what they are asking for here? one of the big issues is with artificial intelligence. it's all about actors�* images, faces and voices not being used without their permission. a lot of actors are worried about what artificial intelligence is going to have in terms of an effect on their careers. they don't want tools to be allowed that would create digital versions of themselves and then used in ways they don't approve of.

this has a real knock on effect with a lot of what we would call extras, background actors, because they could be replaced with computer—generated faces and voices. and they use these day rates where they may get £100 to work for the day. they use that to get by, and that line of work may be replaced entirely. it is fascinating about the role of ai and what that could mean for production and rights people's faces and faces and images and that sort of thing. talk about the impact on production. most film studios will grind to a halt as a result, and even those that are midway through production will find that they probably can't finish the film, is that right? yes. when we talk about what the impact is going to be, essentially, we don't know yet because this sort of strike hasn't happened for a long time. the last time there was a strike of this calibre was in the 1980s. it is estimated that if that sort

of strike were to happen today, it would cost around £30 million a week to the industry. it would have a huge financial impact. as you said before, we saw the 0ppenheimer stars walk off the red carpet last night. part of the strike would be that you cannot do any promotional work forfilms or tv shows coming up, and that is a huge way of promoting what is going to be on screens or in cinemas. so you have got films like disney's haunted mansion, which is about to come out, and the new teenage mutant ninja turtles movie. those films are not going to have premiers or red carpets. that is an important part of it. then we have also got the big production problems that this is going to cause. there are a lot of films in production at the moment such as wonder woman 3 and gladiator. we think they are going to stop

producing entirely. and with projects being filmed in the uk especially, there is a lot of effort to save money due to the cost of productions. us and uk co—productions will not be able to run any more. it is also more complicated with british actors, because they are part of a different screen guild. so they might be able to continue work, but we don't know whether other aspects of production will able to continue. an indian rocket has blasted off for the moon a deadly heatwave is continuing in parts europe, with temperatures over a0 degrees and climbing. countries including greece, italy, spain and croatia and turkey have seen some of the highest temperatures, with the heat expected to break records next week. this is athens, where red cross ambulances have been helping people struggling in the extreme heat.

the acropolis will because for a few hours to protect some visitors from the worst of the heat. —— will be close. sofia bettiza is in a sweltering rome. it is going to be extremely hot in italy today. the health authorities have issued a red alert warning for ten cities today, but that is going to go up to 14 cities tomorrow. in the southern region of calabria, people will not be allowed to work from 12.30 to a.00pm if theirjobs require prolonged exposure to the sun. people here are being advised to stay indoors in the afternoon, to drink plenty of water, to avoid coffee and alcohol and to check on their elderly neighbours if they live alone. but the issue is that it is the middle ofjuly, there are lots of tourists here in italy and many of them have told us that they are not really following this advice. they have come here on holiday from japan, australia, the us and they don't want to spend hours inside their hotel rooms or not eating or drinking

italian food or italian wine. and so what we are seeing is several tourists who have collapsed in the last few days because of heat stroke. now, because of climate change, heat waves like this one are becoming more frequent and more severe and they can be dangerous. last year, about more than 60,000 people died in europe because of the heat. and so there are fears that this heatwave could cause more deaths this summer. and because of that, authorities here in italy, but also other european countries — greece, spain, germany, france — are urging people to take this very seriously. because these extreme temperatures are expected to continue in the next few days. earlier i spoke to carolin kroeger of the university of oxford about the potential danger that extreme heat could pose to people.

over the summer, there were 60,000 heat—related deaths and it is particularly dangerous for people whose respiratory system is not up to things. there are huge implications. we have touched on the danger to life, but also things like crops. if this goes on for a prolonged period, we could start to see huge problems with agriculture. yes. period, we could start to see huge problems with agriculture.- problems with agriculture. yes, a lot of our crops _ problems with agriculture. yes, a lot of our crops are _ problems with agriculture. yes, a lot of our crops are very - problems with agriculture. yes, a lot of our crops are very sensitive j lot of our crops are very sensitive to heat and were not made for these kind of temperatures. so these heatwaves particularly during the growing period for me the harvest will be lower and there will be less food supply in the long term. find will be lower and there will be less food supply in the long term. and is there anything _ food supply in the long term. and is there anything we _ food supply in the long term. and is there anything we should _ food supply in the long term. and is there anything we should be - food supply in the long term. and is there anything we should be thinking about to try and mitigate some of these risks? because the science suggests that the world will continue to get warmer, should we be thinking right now there about how

we can mitigate some of the risks to agriculture and to crops and food supplies? agriculture and to crops and food su lies? . v agriculture and to crops and food su--lies? . �*, , supplies? that's absolutely right. we need to _ supplies? that's absolutely right. we need to be — supplies? that's absolutely right. we need to be thinking _ supplies? that's absolutely right. we need to be thinking about - supplies? that's absolutely right. | we need to be thinking about true issues, one is mitigation, lowering our emissions, because these rising heat events are linked to climate change, the second thing we need to think about is adaptation, how can we make sure our crops are protected? it could be heat resistant crops, it could also be recognising that some regions in the world will benefit from climate change and see a growth in crops and food supply and some will see a drop. so getting these regions to change crops and practices and potentially trade war could be another avenue.— potentially trade war could be another avenue. ,, ., , ., , another avenue. showed up we also be thinkin: another avenue. showed up we also be thinking pretty — another avenue. showed up we also be thinking pretty quickly _ another avenue. showed up we also be thinking pretty quickly now _ another avenue. showed up we also be thinking pretty quickly now about - thinking pretty quickly now about changing infrastructure around the world? to make sure we are better able to cope with these higher temperatures.— able to cope with these higher temperatures. that's absolutely ri . ht. a temperatures. that's absolutely right- a lot _ temperatures. that's absolutely right. a lot of _ temperatures. that's absolutely right. a lot of places _ temperatures. that's absolutely right. a lot of places like - temperatures. that's absolutely l right. a lot of places like europe, the infrastructure isn't equipped to handle the heat and the

infrastructure includes not only way buildings are interrelated but also they might have green spaces and public parks, making sure we have cooling technologies that are sustainable.— cooling technologies that are sustainable. �* ~ , ., , sustainable. and we will keep an eye on those temperatures _ sustainable. and we will keep an eye on those temperatures as _ sustainable. and we will keep an eye on those temperatures as they - on those temperatures as they continue to climb. a scathing report from mps in the uk says some people are being forced to pull out their own teeth at home, because they can't get access to an nhs dentist. a health and social care committee says the pain and distress of people who can't see a dentist is "totally unacceptable in the 21st century". many dentists are refusing to accept new adult patients, and some people are travelling hundreds of miles to get dental treatment. celestina 0lulode reports. excruciating pain caused by gum disease and no access to an nhs dentist led danielle to desperate measures. i've extracted 13 of my own teeth. last year, she told the bbc about her struggle. there are no dentists.

i'd love to be able to ring a dentist up and say, "my teeth are falling out, i need help." but every time i do, it's like, "sorry, we're not taking on nhs patients any more." and i, like a lot of other people, cannot afford to go and get this treatment done privately. in the end, she relied on the kindness of strangers to pay for private medical treatment. so we make a little noise. i'll show you the noise. so this is the little noise like that. and it sprays some water like that. and emma has a little vacuum cleaner that just sucks up all the water like that. is that 0k there? the dentists blame an nhs contract system that they say does not pay them properly for their work. the government pay dentists by how many units of dental activity they do every year and that means that we, as dentists and clinicians, have to see so many patients and do so much treatment in order to fulfil our contract.

if i don't hit my units of dental activity by the end of the year, the nhs will fine me massively. now, a group of mps are calling for change. in a report published today, they recommend making sure everyone in need of an nhs dentist can access one within a reasonable timeframe and distance. financial incentives for dentists to see new patients and those with greater needs, and more information so the public are better informed about the treatment they're entitled to. nhs england and wales has announced some changes to dentist contracts. the government says it's invested more than £3 billion a year into nhs dentistry, but there's concerns rapid action could prove too little too late. celestina 0lulode, bbc news. around the world and across the uk.

this is bbc news. barnaby webber, keen cricketer, died alongside his friend a medical student. the pair were stabbed to death as a wattel from a native. the school to —— my caretaker was also killed in a separate attack. they can be tens of thousands of new measles cases in london because of low levels of vaccination according to the uk health security agency. it says there is an urgent need to vaccinate children, teenagers and young adults because levels of measles, mumps and rubella in the uk —— immunisations in the uk are very low. nearly 1000 baggage handlers and ground staff at gatwick airport are due to walk out there in the summer holiday season in a row over pay for

the members of the unite union who work forfour companies the members of the unite union who work for four companies at the airport are set to walk out for eight days. the strikes will take place in july eight days. the strikes will take place injuly and the beginning of august. your live with bbc news. the 0scar—winning actor kevin spacey has told a jury in his sexual assault trial that he could have had sex — in his words — "all the time" but found it hard to trust people because of his fame. mr spacey is being cross—examined after giving evidence for the first time yesterday. he's denied 12 sex offences against four men between 2001 and 2013. 0ur correspondent frankie mccamley?was outside court for us, and a warning, frankie referred to some bad language that was mentioned in court. yesterday the court heard how kevin spacey was here to establish his innocence and proceed with his life and that is exactly what he came here to do. sitting in the witness box today, he was very relaxed, very calm and very assertive at times and there were some very tense exchanges between himself and the prosecution

barrister. thejudge between himself and the prosecution barrister. the judge even between himself and the prosecution barrister. thejudge even had to interject at times, telling mr spacey to answer the question. beginning the cross—examination, the prosecution focused on what they called nimes to grab. they asked if it was his trademark move. he not only disagreed with the term, he said, i do admit i may have touched one of the accusers but he said it was gentle, it was not a grabber. the prosecution then turned to allegations made by another man in question is why would he have lied? spicer replied, money, money, and then money. there were some further tense exchanges, especially when mr spacey called something allegations he had grabbed a man's crotch, excuse my language, absolute

bullocks. the prosecution of, that is exactly where you grabbed him. he answered, really? laughed a little bit, turn to the judge and said, really? thejudge told him to bit, turn to the judge and said, really? the judge told him to the question. he said no, i didn't. this morning, the cross—examination has finished, we are expecting some defence witnesses to take the stand later this afternoon and of course, mr spacey denies all of the charges against him. we will have the latest throughout the day here on bbc news. an indian rocket has blasted off for the moon on a mission to land a rover on the lunar surface. the chandrayaan—3 lifted off from southern andhra pradesh state. if successful, the craft — which went into earth orbit shortly after the launch — will deploy a lander near the south pole of the moon next month. anushka sharma is the founder of naaut — a space technology consultancy. she spoke to us about the significance of today's launch

landing on the surface, it wasn't so successful and that was in 2019. so this is the next attempt. we have had a successful launch and now begins the 42 dayjourney so the last chandrayaan—2 successfully got an orbiter into orbit around the moon but in the final stages of actually landing on the surface, it wasn't so successful and that was in 2019. so this is the next attempt. we have had a successful launch and now begins the 42 dayjourney on the way to the moon, where then the mission will then align in a new orbit to orbit around the moon before we have the next attempt, and fingers and toes are all crossed, that they have this featherlight landing on the surface of the moon, to have this lander and rover on board the science experiments, to safely kind of start getting us back information and important science back to earth. yes, and the location where it was hoping to land is significant, isn't it? it is little explored, we don't know all that much about the lunar south pole.

and i am just looking, it has got five instruments on focusing on finding out the physical characteristics of the surface of the moon, the atmosphere, the tectonic activity. this could be really exciting given how little we know about that part of the moon. i know. and this, if india land on the moon, they will be the first nation to do so after america, russia and china. —— the fourth nation. previously we have had other attempts, but what is really interesting is that the lunar orbiter from chandrayaan—2 has actually been providing mission—critical information about a new modified landing site on the south pole and instead, the agency have now moved their mission to actually have a different landing site in line with the lessons they have learned from the previous mission, which is really interesting and this iterative approach now getting back to the moon and providing these insights that we need for science and the lessons that we can all share and ourjourney onwards onto the moon. and i am looking here, and forgive me, i know it has only just taken off. it has got to land safely first, but already, clearly, big questions about what it might

allow us to do and a suggestion that if we want to develop the moon as an outpost or a bit of a gateway to deep space, this could be a really valuable stepping stone on the way to doing that. and that is why this is so exciting, right? using the moon as our next pad to look elsewhere. yeah, absolutely. i mean, this is lunar economy. this is lunar space. so it is the ecosystem between the earth and the moon. so we now have another transportation towards the moon other than the sls who are currently already providing sort of heavy lifting rough kit capability for the heavy missions that we need to take to the moon and beyond, in our solar system, so on to mars and beyond. —— heavy lifting rocket capability. so the moon really marks the next step in our space exploration. this is a robotic mission, but in the future we know with the artemis 2 missions and subsequent artemis missions with nasa, we will start to have humans landing on the surface of

the moon again. and this is an important milestone and i really look forward to some of the collaborations that might actually come together internationally from the indian space research organisation as they now move forward with this mission. medical officials in los angeles say lisa marie presley, the only child of elvis presley, died of a bowel obstruction. the obstruction was a result of adhesions caused by weight—loss surgery she underwent several years ago. presley, who was also a singer, died after being rushed to a california hospital injanuary. she was 5a. let's take you to france now as the country has been celebrating bastille day. it's beeen marked with the annual military parade along the champs elysees, ending with a military fly—past led by the french air force acrobatic team who painted the national tricolour in the skies above paris. after days of rioting sparked by last month's police killing of a 17—year—old by police in nanterre, france banned

the sale, possession and transport of all fireworks during the bastille day festivities. world health experts have classified the artificial sweeter, aspartame, as being "possibly" carcinogenic — or cancer—causing. but — they say — the current advice on how much to have in a day — does not need to be changed. aspartame is found in diet and sugar—free versions of foods. our medical editor fergus walsh has more details. aspartame is found in thousands of products, most commonly in sugar—free drinks, but also some toothpastes, yogurts and cough sweets. it is 200 times sweeter than sugar, so you get the sweet taste for a fraction of the calories. a who committee has listed aspartame as possibly carcinogenic on the basis of limited evidence that it may increase the risk

of liver cancer. and it wants more research. this shouldn't really be taken as a direct statement that indicates that there is a known cancer hazard from consuming aspartame. this is really more a call to the research community to try to better clarify and understand the carcinogenic hazard that may or may not be posed by aspartame consumption. aspartame has been placed in a group of products deemed possibly carcinogenic to humans, along with things like aloe vera and asian pickled vegetables. this is below things deemed probably carcinogenic, like nightshift work and eating red meat. the highest group, where there is clear evidence they can cause cancer, include smoking, alcohol and processed meat. given the weakness of the evidence on cancer and aspartame, the official advice on how much we can consume is unchanged.

the who safety limits for aspartame are based on a person's weight. i'm 70 kilos, or 11 stone, so i'd need to drink, for example, more than 1a cans of diet coke a day to exceed safe levels. that's a lot of cola! i think people can be very reassured by this report, which essentially says, although there is some limited evidence for this possibly having a role in cancer, aspartame is safe at the levels that we currently recommend. when asked which was better for you — a can of diet, or regular sugary cola,a who scientist recommended a third option — water. fergus walsh, bbc news. and finally for those of you out there with o—fid—ee—a—phobia yes that's a fear of —

snakes — look away now. (00v — what you're seeing here is a florida duo — known locally as the "glades boys," capturing the longest—ever recorded burmese python in the us state. weighing an impressive 125 pounds and measuring a staggering 19 feet in length, the record—breaking catch was officially verified by the conservancy of southwest florida. hello. a heat wave in the mediterranean dominating the european weather headlines at the moment. but because at home, it is all about low pressure and unseasonably wet and windy weather for this time of year. the low pressure will gradually drift north and east and dominate the story throughout the weekend. gusty winds across parts of west wales and south west england this morning, 45 to 50 mph, on top of that we will also see

some pretty persistent rain, values —— that is gradually drifting north and east as we go through the rest of the day. showers for scotland on the whole but not that much in the way of sunshine generally across the country. the heaviest of the rain into the afternoon looks likely to be pushing towards northern ireland, across central wales down it in the midlands and along that south coast, gradually pushing towards the scottish borders by the end of the day. in the cloud and the rain it will not be very warm, i'm afraid, 15 to 21 celsius at the very best, temperatures a little below par for the time of year. tonight overnight, the time of year. tonight overnight, the wind and rain continues to push steadily north were people tend to linger in the far north of scotland, staying quite breezy down to the south, keeping a lot of cloud, temperatures will hold up. generally around 13 to 16 celsius to begin with first thing on saturday morning but the leao remains with us and the winds will remain a feature. you can see is the low pressure continues to drift its way north, wrapping around

the low will be several fronts bringing showery outbreaks of rain and plenty of isobars sustain windy. we still have strong gusts of wind, 50 to 55 mph. in autumn or winter thatis 50 to 55 mph. in autumn or winter that is nothing but at this time of year, very unusual, not perhaps what you wanted for your outdoor plants at all. and with that centre of the low here, wrapping around the louw will be plenty of frequent shop or possibly thundery downpours from time to time. there will be some sunny spells but again, it is perhaps not what you want now for the middle ofjuly. top temperatures of 16 to 22 at the very best, 72 fahrenheit. perhaps fewer showers on sunday across england and wales but there could still be some persistent rain particularly in the far north—west of scotland. and again similar values, around 1a to 21 celsius. take care.

the crypto rollercoaster continues, the crypto rollercoaster continues, after us regulators after us regulators suffer a huge setback suffer a huge setback against the crypto world. against the crypto world. reaching for the stars — reaching for the stars — india attempts to join a special india attempts to join a special club by becoming only the fourth club by becoming only the fourth country to land country to land a spacecraft on the moon. a spacecraft on the moon.