hello, i m miriam moshiri, welcome to verified live, we start with unprecedented high temperatures and parts of the world being reported across many parts of the world. breaking records on multiple continents. the heatwave is continuing across southern europe with rome registering a new record high of 41 celsius. torrential rains have inundated parts of asia including taiwan and south vietnam. in the united states, and excessive heat warning is still in place for death valley in california, which is expected to reach a peak of more than 50 celsius today, that's more than 50 celsius today, that's more than 120 fahrenheit. in europe, it's so hot, that in italy, 20 cities across the country are on the red list, which means people are facing

a very high health risk due to the intense heat. the island of sardinia has surpassed 42 celsius today and wildfires are raging in several areas of southern europe, including mainland greece. these pictures are from an area close to athens. let's cross live to those areas around athens to bring you some live pictures coming into us now at the bbc. you can see that thick smoke covering much of the horizon trying their best to bring some sort of water, some sort of firefighting relief to quell the flames and stop the spread of the wildfires. lots and lots of fires across greece but

also exacerbated by the high temperatures that are so high that people who are fire fighting the fires are struggling to keep them in check. joining me live are our correspondents across europe — azadeh moshiri in the greek capital, athens and sofia bettiza in the italian city of palermo. we are looking at those live pictures north of athens, you are southeast of athens, and the fact that all of these areas are affected show how widespread this problem is for the greek government. that’s for the greek government. that's ri . ht. for the greek government. that's right. several— for the greek government. that's right. several fires _ for the greek government. that's right. several fires have - for the greek government. that's right. several fires have been - right. severalfires have been travelling through mainland greece. you were just talking about the fires that are burning on the other side at that firefighters stopped to and are asking for help, they send for planes two from italy and one from france —— to from italy into

from france —— to from italy into from france, where you see where i am is the aftermath of what happens when those wildfires hit. now you see burned trees, you can smell the ash here and the ground itself is hot and dry. you can also see around me some of the wind and that is what makes it so difficult for firefighters to reach some of those flames. there are locals who have been speaking to media and have said that firefighters simply have not been able to reach them. we talked about the high temperatures that are exacerbating this issue. well, here, as we have been walking around here during the day we have seen packets of smoke suddenly pop up again with ash travelling up from the wins because of the fact that the heat is still not over. now, just to say, we did speak to emergency services to confirm here that it would be safe for us to film, and what they did say was that today they are safe, that those who were evacuated yesterday could come back, but this

heatwave is not over. the peak will be between thursday to sunday, so they did say the fires are not over. there will be more and mainland greece. �* . ., ~ , ., , greece. azadeh, thank you very much indeed. let's move _ greece. azadeh, thank you very much indeed. let's move things on - greece. azadeh, thank you very much indeed. let's move things on and go i indeed. let's move things on and go to italy, specifically to our correspondent in the italian city of palermo in sicily. i wasjust talking to telling me that the central part of sicily has a much higher temperature than the outskirts, the beach areas, the areas next to the sea, because temperatures are extremely hot, given that sicily is already the hottest part of italy on many days. you are right, it is extremely hot in sicily. — you are right, it is extremely hot in sicily, and it has been for the last few— in sicily, and it has been for the last few days. now, this is where two years— last few days. now, this is where two years ago, the highest temperature in europe was

registered. it was 48.8 celsius, and it could _ registered. it was 48.8 celsius, and it could be _ registered. it was 48.8 celsius, and it could be exceeded in the next few days _ it could be exceeded in the next few days now. — it could be exceeded in the next few days. now, italians are used to hot summers. — days. now, italians are used to hot summers, but not this hot, especially as these consecutive heat waves _ especially as these consecutive heat waves came suddenly. they are having an impact— waves came suddenly. they are having an impact on_ waves came suddenly. they are having an impact on people's help. some hospitals — an impact on people's help. some hospitals here in palermo are seeing a rise _ hospitals herein palermo are seeing a rise in_ hospitals here in palermo are seeing a rise in the — hospitals here in palermo are seeing a rise in the number of patients that are — a rise in the number of patients that are being admitted with health issues _ that are being admitted with health issues caused by the extreme heat. that's_ issues caused by the extreme heat. that's why— issues caused by the extreme heat. that's why the italian health ministry— that's why the italian health ministry is asking hospitals to activate — ministry is asking hospitals to activate a _ ministry is asking hospitals to activate a heat cope in emergency rooms _ activate a heat cope in emergency rooms this— activate a heat cope in emergency rooms. this is very similar to the way that— rooms. this is very similar to the way that italy has dealt with the code _ way that italy has dealt with the code that pandemic, setting up a separate — code that pandemic, setting up a separate branch with extra doctors and extra — separate branch with extra doctors and extra procedures to deal with people _ and extra procedures to deal with people who come in and need urgent care quickly. now, in terms of what

happens _ care quickly. now, in terms of what happens next, you mentioned that 20 cities across _ happens next, you mentioned that 20 cities across italy are under a red alert— cities across italy are under a red alert warning. that's going to go up to 23 cities— alert warning. that's going to go up to 23 cities tomorrow. a red alert warning _ to 23 cities tomorrow. a red alert warning means that the heat poses a threat _ warning means that the heat poses a threat to— warning means that the heat poses a threat to everybody, not just young children _ threat to everybody, not just young children and the elderly. now, in some _ children and the elderly. now, in some parts— children and the elderly. now, in some parts of the country, the heatwave _ some parts of the country, the heatwave is expected to continue for the next _ heatwave is expected to continue for the next ten days, and that is why the next ten days, and that is why the authorities here are urging people — the authorities here are urging people to be extremely careful. sophia — people to be extremely careful. sophia irr— people to be extremely careful. sophia in palermo, good to talk to. thank you very much indeed. as always, if you want to know more about what is happening with this heatwave that is gripping some of the parts of the world, you can go to the bbc�*s website. we have a life page they are dedicated to answering any of your questions and bringing you all the very latest on the hot weather in of the world. more than 100 current and recent mcdonald's workers have told the bbc about a toxic culture of sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying at the company's uk outlets. the uk equality watchdog, the ehrc,

said it was "concerned" by the allegations and that in response to the bbc�*s findings, it was setting up a new email hotline for those affected. mcdonald's said it had "fallen short" and that it "deeply apologises". this report is from our employment correspondent zoe conway, and a warning — you may find some of the content distressing. shelby was 16 when she started working at mcdonald's last year in berkshire. she says that the workplace felt toxic. 0ne senior manager was openly racist and mocked disabled employees. managers warned her to stay away from certain older men, including one man in his 50s. i was just speaking to one of my friends and he grabbed me by my hips and pulled me onto his groin area and then just held me there. i felt disgusted. he was so much older, as well. shelby says she complained to the store's management, but nothing was done. she quit in may.

mcdonald's said it was investigating why any issues that she raised were not formally escalated at the time. mcdonald's uses a franchise system that means individual operators are licensed to run the stores and directly employ the staff. this lady is employed by a franchise in cheshire, she is 17. last year, she was repeatedly sexually harassed by a much older male colleague. the man was also racially abusive. he offered to show me his penis in the freezer. he said the n word to two boys in the kitchen. he referred me as a monkey n word to others, and would not stop repeating it. even though the others seemed uncomfortable with the situation. i could not handle it at this point and ijust broke. why didn't you go to the store manager? to the man in charge? i didn't think i would be believed. i think they would have

seen my story as an exaggeration. why didn't you go to the man in charge? i didn't think i would be believed. i think they would have seen my story as an exaggeration. her stepfather complained to mcdonald's corporate headquarters, the franchise and the police and after this intervention, the man was fired. mcdonald's said her experiences were abhorrent and unacceptable. it apologised unreservedly and said swift action was taken and the man was dismissed within three days. in february, mcdonald's signed a legal agreement with the equality watchdog, the ehrc, in which it committed to doing more to prevent sexual harassment from taking place, including online training. mcdonald's workers have told the bbc the training is not being taken seriously and one employee described balancing an ipad next to a mcflurry machine and flicking through the online course whilst doing the drinks. other workers have told us that they have not been offered any training at all. in a statement, alistair macrow, the ceo of mcdonald's uk and ireland said...

live now tojennifer mondino, the director of the time's up legal defense fund in washington dc. it supports individuals who have experienced sexual harassment at work to come forward to seek justice. good to talk to you and thank you forjoining us. how similar are these accusations that we are hearing here in the uk to those that you've seen in the united states? . �* those that you've seen in the united states? ., �* ., ., . ., . ., states? yeah, i've had a chance to listen to the _ states? yeah, i've had a chance to listen to the bits _ states? yeah, i've had a chance to listen to the bits that _ states? yeah, i've had a chance to listen to the bits that you've - states? yeah, i've had a chance to listen to the bits that you've just i listen to the bits that you've just played and also read some of the scenarios that were uncovered in this investigation, and i would say that but they are describing is eerily similar to what we heard from

workers at mcdonald's restaurants all across the country. as a director of the legal defence fund, i have heard about class action lawsuit against mcdonald's in michigan and in florida as well as other cases involving mcdonald's records experiencing sexual harassment in cities and states all across the us, and what they report is just the same as what has been uncovered in this investigation in the uk. systemic reports of workplace sexual or harassment, abuse and retaliation when they do, if they do speak out about the sexual harassment and the abuse they are experiencing. haste sexual harassment and the abuse they are experiencing.— are experiencing. have there been any successful _ are experiencing. have there been any successful cases _ are experiencing. have there been any successful cases brought - are experiencing. have there been l any successful cases brought against mcdonald's for any of these accusations? if they have been successful, what has the outcome then? went to the victories mean going forward? we then? went to the victories mean going forward?— going forward? we have been sopporting — going forward? we have been sopporting two _ going forward? we have been supporting two different - supporting two different class—action lawsuits, when in michigan and one in florida. the one in michigan did and in a settlement

of $1.5 million early last year, which meant payouts of an average of $10,000 for the class plaintiffs, so that was a tremendous success. we were hoping that it would send a message to mcdonald's that it is time to take steps to keep their workers safe. but we are not really keeping an eye on the ongoing class action in florida which represents more than 100 stores across the state and a class that's estimated to have about 5000 workers. in that one does involve corporate to mcdonald's as a defendant. so we will be watching that closely over the next year. in thinking that also might be something that finally sends a message to mcdonald's that they need to keep their workers safe from these issues of harassment that have absolutely not been going away and are apparently also happening in restaurants all across the uk. jennifer, briefly, if you can, obviously legally we have to be very careful, but do you think it is the

franchising model that is the problem here? i franchising model that is the problem here?— franchising model that is the problem here? franchising model that is the roblem here? ,, ., ., problem here? i think that for too lona problem here? i think that for too long corporate — problem here? i think that for too long corporate mcdonald's - problem here? i think that for too long corporate mcdonald's has . problem here? i think that for too i long corporate mcdonald's has been using that as an excuse to not pay attention. it is so difficult for workers to speak out about harassment. these are workers who are so often having to make a choice between keeping their pay cheque that they rely on and speaking out about harassment and may be facing retaliation. in many cases, yet another burden is that they, unbeknownst to them, working at a restaurant that is owned by a franchise instead of corporate mcdonald's, and mcdonald's has been using that as an excuse to distance itself from the responsibility. a worker, customer, simply going to mcdonald's restaurant has no way of knowing that it is a restaurant that's controlled by corporate mcdonald's or a franchise and i think it is mcdonald's that needs to pay attention to these issues. jennifer, so good to talk to you. thank you very much for taking the

time to speak to us here on the bbc. the bbc did share its findings with mcdonald's. its ceo said in a statement... he says mcdonald's will investigate all allegations and all proven breaches of their code of conduct will be met with the most severe measures they can legally impose up to and including dismissal. he also said there has been a roll—out of new policies and strict reporting processes all aimed at offering the highest possible workplace protection for all employees. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. a mother who was jailed for illegally obtaining abortion tablets to end her pregnancy during lockdown will be released from prison after the court of appeal reduced her sentence. 45—year—old carla foster was given

a 28—month sentence after admitting illegally procuring her own abortion when she was between 32 and 3a weeks pregnant. 0n sentencing last month, a judge said she would serve ex—manchester united footballer ryan giggs is hoping to revive his career in the game after being cleared of domestic violence allegations made by his ex—girlfriend. he was due to face a retrial on domestic violence charges later this month, but the case was withdrawn at a hearing at manchester crown court this morning. the boss of online food retailer 0cado says the uk is "definitely over the worst" of food price inflation. chief executive tim steiner gave his forecast as separate figures revealed that grocery price growth slowed for a fourth month injune. market researcher kantar said prices rose by 14.9% in the four weeks tojuly 9th compared with a year ago. you're live with bbc news. a us soldier has been detained in north korea after crossing

the ability of computers to learn from themselves. there many positive benefits as we have heard, but also there are some dangers. top security and intelligence officials have told the bbc there is an urgent need to build security into ai systems, as the risk of failing to do so could be devastating. with mark, here is our security correspondent. ai is moving fast but there are concerns that security may not be keeping up. in particular there is a risk that al systems can be hacked or deliberately fooled. this is a field called adversarial machine learning. so to take one example in the world of visual al, to the human eye, this is a pig and the ai has been trained to recognise it. but if you add data to the image which is invisible to the human eye,

so how might this be a danger in the real world? let's take another example. what if ai is being used to guide cars around a city? it only took researchers placing these stickers on a stop sign to fool an al to believe the sign was actually a 45 mph speed limit sign. you can imagine the risks, as one former intelligence chief explains. as we become dependent on al for really good things, like delivery of food or autonomous vehicles or utilities, all sorts of things that ai will help to control in the future, we will become very dependent. and that means that attacks on those systems could be really devastating. this could even have serious consequences for national security. for example, if al was being relied on to detect tanks in satellite imagery, like in russia's build up to invading ukraine, but could be fooled to miss them. ai is already being used in ukraine

to help direct drone strikes, so imagine if someone fooled a system to direct fire to the wrong location. one of the challenges of ai is that the data it learns from can be tampered with or poisoned, and the systems are not always transparent enough to understand how it came to a particular decision. the official in charge of britain's cyber security told me all of this means it's vital that those companies racing to roll out ai products think about how to secure them. from our perspective the key thing is building good cyber security into ai now. so what we don't want to be in a position of is, in 30 years' time, still trying to fix fundamental flaws that were built into early ai models. the scale and complexity of these models is such that if we don't apply the right basic principles as they are being developed in the early stages, it will be much more difficult to retrofit security, even than it is with

existing technology. securing ai systems is certainly not impossible but there are two lessons from the last few decades. firstly, that bad actors will try and use this technology, and secondly, it's better to build in security from the start, rather than wait until it's too late. that was gordon carrera, our security correspondent. following the bond, back to greece, because these pictures are still coming into us at the bbc. simply incredible pictures. look at the sun there, the rays of the sun, very much blocked by the thick smoke emanating from the forests northwest of athens in an area, it's the second day we have seen wildfires crossing all around this area, and its first residents to flee their homes. and also reading that it's forced degree permits her to urgently return home from a summit in brussels. now, these spires and grays have been extended for more eight km. that's five miles. what's

happened over the last few hours is we have seen a number of helicopters trying their best to bring water to trying their best to bring water to try to fire fight the spread of these wildfires, but it's not being helped by the very, very high temperatures that we have seen. and you can see at the moment it is about 20 minutes past seven. at the temperature increase is still extremely hot. particularly around athens, where it is —— which is where these pictures are coming from. this pictures are live pictures coming to us from greece. a us soldier has been detained in north korea after crossing the borderfrom south korea into the north without authorisation. the person was on an organised tour of the area that divides the two countries. live now to our correspondent sean dilley who is at the pentagon. what have the americans been saying

about the supper? i know we are expecting some sort of briefing in the next few minutes?— expecting some sort of briefing in the next few minutes? that's right, and xp minutes, _ the next few minutes? that's right, and xp minutes, the _ the next few minutes? that's right, and xp minutes, the challenge - the next few minutes? that's right, and xp minutes, the challenge of l and xp minutes, the challenge of the joint chief of staff will be up on stage here, theoretically another to do with ukraine, that will be a hot topic here, the us army have confirmed or the military and north korea have a nice time 15 minutes that us service member has crossed without authorisation and without authorisation into the military line. our respondents in the us have said that they have been going on between buildings and laughing and details are meant to be announced by chart leak and including the identification and which are us partner, cbs, have indeed already identified as a private second class travis king. 50. identified as a private second class travis king-— travis king. so, we are expecting the americans _ travis king. so, we are expecting the americans to _ travis king. so, we are expecting the americans to give _ travis king. so, we are expecting

the americans to give some - travis king. so, we are expecting the americans to give some sort| travis king. so, we are expecting i the americans to give some sort of briefing on this what will happen now that the man has been taken into north korea? the now that the man has been taken into north korea?— north korea? the big question is why is he there? — north korea? the big question is why is he there? what _ north korea? the big question is why is he there? what are _ north korea? the big question is why is he there? what are his _ is he there? what are his motivations? has he actually defected? it might be considered when he is moved over there that is de facto a defection. the fact that he went voluntarily into north korea, however, doesn't necessarily mean that he still wants to be there. we may get some details and some meat on the bone on that one. it certainly this is a headache that president biden could well do without at a time when tensions with china are already a little bit frosty. they are warming up, the claimant and way, john kerry speaking this week, but the american back south korea are going to have to deal with and it embarrassing to the medic incident that we are hoping to get more details on shortly. hoping to get more details on shortl . ,, ., ., ~ hoping to get more details on shortl . ,, ., ., ,, , ., , hoping to get more details on shortl. ,, ., ., ,, , . shortly. sean, thank you very much indeed. shortly. sean, thank you very much indeed- our— shortly. sean, thank you very much indeed. our correspondent - shortly. sean, thank you very much indeed. our correspondent at - shortly. sean, thank you very much indeed. our correspondent at the i indeed. 0ur correspondent at the pentagon. the bbc�*s top management have been

facing questions in parliament about the corporation's leadership. director—general tim davie has confirmed the bbc has been in contact with the complainant in the huw edwards case. but, he said, he "can only go so far" in discussing details of the situation due to concerns about privacy. he also said the bbc has a �*good process' for handling internal complaints. david, tell us what we have learned from today's appearance of bbc management in front of parliamentary committee. the management in front of parliamentary committee. ., , ., management in front of parliamentary committee. ., ., , committee. the house of lords communications _ committee. the house of lords communications community --| communications community —— committee and it was a pretty normal scheduled meeting, however, because of the events last week rather more newsworthy than many of were expecting. the questions, the immediate questions was how the bbc was handling the issue raised by the headlines, the allegations about hugh edwards last week. a limit to

how much the bbc could actually tell them. now that the police have said they've seen information suggesting there was anything criminal in the allegations can us down to the bbc. that investigation, that fact finding, we are told, they're well, there has to be a duty of care, which he edwards was hospitalised with serious mental health issues his wife said in a statement, there is an issue of duty of care. —— or weeks, possibly months for that particular investigation. however, there is also the issue of the complainant, they said there had been an issue, complaints about how that bbc had dealt with that, how slow it had been, and they said there will be issues about the red flags whether or not these things should be made more aware of the iran and the full investigation about complaints and protocols will be reported later the autumn. david, thank ou be reported later the autumn. david, thank you very _ be reported later the autumn. david, thank you very much _ be reported later the autumn. david, thank you very much indeed. -

this is the scene in the pentagon in washington. this is the world's press awaiting a briefing on that soldier who crossed into north korea. we are going to hearfrom us authorities imminently. stay with us. hello again. there are already parts of scotland, so far this july convective scene 60% more rainfall than a typicaljuly, so it has been very wet. hiding underneath the rain clouds during the day today, and the reason it's been unsettled as we have got this trough to our west, creating areas of low pressure that they move across the uk to bring us rain. there is no change to that pattern expected. meanwhile across southern europe we have this rage, that pushes air down to the earths atmosphere can adapt dry out and can trap some extreme heat near the earth's surface, 46 celsius likely in parts of sardinia and sicily. for both, actually, temperatures for

most will be more into the upper 30s. most will be more into the upper 305. it most will be more into the upper 30s. it is the extreme heat and quite dangerous, but the 46 celsius are going to be relatively localised affairs. now, overnight tonight, outbreaks of rain will slowly be easing across eastern areas as our easing across eastern areas as oui’ area easing across eastern areas as our area of the pressure breaks out into the north sea. it then turns quite chilly for scotland and northern ireland with temperatures getting down into single figures here with some clear spells. 0verall, down into single figures here with some clearspells. 0verall, looking at the medic transfer wednesday, as that low pressure pulls out of the way, it is a brighter kind of day, a day of sunshine and showers. the majority of the showers will be across northern and eastern, and eastern events of england as well. still, expecting some spells of sunshine, so at least in that regard, it should be a better kind of day. that said, temperatures for most will be a little bit below average. typically between 17—20, although 2a in london is close to average can one feel too bad in the july sunshine. now, but there is taken out of the showery kind of

day, but that said, there will be 90 showers around. most of them will be in northern scotland, so if you catch a shower elsewhere, count yourself quite unlucky. sunny spells and the temperatures still a little bit below average forjuly, and hides for most of us between 17 and 23 degrees celsius. what about the end of the weekend weekend? remember that tough and the jet stream. that's not going anywhere very far very fast. that will create further areas of low pressure. that means we've got more rain to come. now, for a predicate of the bad weather will be across parts of scotland and northern ireland. drier and brighter for most of the men and wales, but for most of the men and wales, but for most of the men and wales, but for most of the weekend, we will see rain at times.

dorset. this is bbc news, the headlines... unprecedented high temperatures are being reported across the road, breaking records on multiple continents and causing many wildfires. and north korea detains a serving soldierfrom the us and north korea detains a serving soldier from the us army who crossed the border without authorisation. we are expecting a briefing from the pentagon in the next few minutes. it's the final day of campaigning in three crucial by—elections which could be a major test for rishi sunak�*s authority. suna k�*s authority. and a sunak�*s authority. and a barge which will be used to house 500 asylum seekers dogs in