translation: | will put. a bullet in my gun, and fire at those who took my leg. we'll have a special report from orla guerin, who is there. also on the programme... the head of natwest, dame alison rose, reveals she was the person who discussed nigel farage�*s relationship with coutts with a bbcjournalist — admitting it was a serious error ofjudgement. two pilots are killed in greece when their water bombing plane crashes as they try to fight forest fires. record numbers of people are homeless in england — living uncertain lives in temporary accomodation. and plunging into a cleaner river seine as paris aims to welcome swimmers back next year for the first time in a century. on newsnight at 10.30 — where it stands, the war in ukraine. as putin destroys grain stores in the danube and the black sea and increases his armed forces,

is a time for the west to lean in more? good evening. we're going to start tonight with a report from yemen — where there's no sign of an end to the eight year long conflict in the arab world's poorest country. these boys — hashim, bader and amir — arejust some of the children who've grown up in the firing line — in a country where more than 11,000 children have been killed or maimed in the fighting. there's been less violence since last year when a temporary un truce was brokered. but it's still not peace. iranian backed houthi rebels seized the capital sanaa in 2014 and still control this area in purple. in 2015 a saudi led coalition — backed by the uk and the us? —

intervened, aiming to reinstall the internationally recognised government and now control the grey areas. but as you can see, the country is still fragmented, all the different colours on the map representing the multiple armed groups vying for influence all over yemen. caught in the middle of it all is the city of taiz 7 which is virtually surrounded by houthi forces 7 and where the young have not been spared. from there, our senior international correspondent 0rla guerin sent this report. yemen's young know nothing but war. eight years on, the guns are quieter, but a generation bears the scars. and if there's one place that shows their suffering, it's al—rasheed street, a front—line neighbourhood in the city of taiz. it's home to bader al—harbi, who's seven.

he and his brother hashim were hit by houthi shelling last october coming home from school. since the attack, the boys�* world has shrunk. they no longer go to classes. their physical wounds may have healed, but their trauma remains, like the danger. conflict echoes around them. do you hear a lot of sounds from the war, hashim? "bullets, explosions, air strikes, shells," he says. hashim, is it very scary when you hear the explosions and the gunfire? "i feel scared and run. there's a lot of explosions." bader wants to be a doctor when he's older. he wants to help people. first, the brothers need

to return to school. "i want to go back," he tells me. "but my leg has been cut off. "how can i go out of the house?" and right next door, another little life upended. amir was maimed on the same day last october in a second round of shelling. it killed his cousin and his uncle in their own home. amir�*s father, sharif al—amri, shares his pain. he says his sleeping son, who's just three, needs another operation and has deep wounds of memory. translation: he remembers

every moment from the - shelling to the hospital. he says, "this happened to my uncle. this happened to my cousin." he talks about the smoke and the blood. it's always on his mind. munir is another worried father, of four. he can't afford to move his family out of harm's way. "all of the shelling is from the houthis," he says. "and we're in the firing line of their snipers." we have cover here from the buildings, but there are snipers nearby. we've been told they're in a crescent around the area and local people say they normally get busy at around sunset. tell me about the situation in here, munir. his front room is in their sights. he knows exactly where to sit.

"i'll show you the sniper�*s place," he says. "it's far. don't worry. "look, over there." then munir tells us if we go out into the garden, we'll be shot. back on the street, sharif tries to distract amir. "don't be scared, my love. "you're a man." but he's just a child who has seen too much. he asks amir what he wants in the future. "buy me a gun," he says. "i will put a bullet in my gun... "..and fire at those who took my leg. "it will go right to them."

most of the children maimed and killed in taiz over the years have been victims of the houthis. but some died in air strikes by the saudi—led coalition. if peace comes, and many yemenis have their doubts, the young will carry this war forever. we can speak to 0rla now. very bleak life for those young people in your report. what hope of an end to the conflict? we have been here almost three weeks and we have had a lot of conversations with yemeni officials and aid workers and human rights activists and i have not had a single conversation with anyone who was optimistic about the chance for peace. in the south here which is more or less government—controlled there is deep scepticism about the idea that the houthis would make any

concessions and agree to any kind of peace deal. we wanted to put questions to the houthis who control the north and the capital, by this country already functions like two separate countries in order —— and in order to go to the north you need permission from the government but from the houthis. we got that permission before we travel to yemen once we arrived in the country, and that permission was then revoked. what you have is a country of 23 million people which is controlled by different armed factions with different agendas and in the south, for example, there is the southern transitional council and they want nothing less than a fully independent southern state which existed here until 1990. unfortunately we seem to have lost the sound. i think we will leave it there but thank you for the latest from yemen.

the head of natwest, dame alison rose, has admitted a "serious error ofjudgement" after discussing nigel farage's relationship with the private bank, coutts, which natwest owns. she revealed that she discussed it with the bbc�*s business editor, simonjack. the board of natwest board says it retains full confidence in her. 0ur correspondentjoe inwood is outside here. what did she say in her statement? this was an extraordinary admission from one of the most high profile banking bosses in the uk that she was the source behind the story. we have got to go back to the start of the month when nigel farage made an announcement that his account with the exclusive bank coutts was closed, he said for political reasons. so i'm a jack of the bbc ran a story from a well—placed source that said it was for commercial reasons —— simonjack. nigel farage then released an internal coutts dossier, a0 pages of explosive suggestions, which suggested it was a political

decision because his values did not align with coutts which led the bbc align with coutts which led the bbc a few days ago to make an apology to nigel farage and said it had run the story in good faith. he accepted the apology. and now we have this story from alison rose who is the chair of natwest, which owns coutts, she admitted she was the source of the story and she said it was a serious error ofjudgment although she error of judgment although she denied error ofjudgment although she denied giving away any confidential information. the board of natwest have given her their backing and they say it may affect her payback she their confidence. that was not enough for nigel farage and he said not only should she go but the chair of natwest should go and the ceo of coutts, so clearly this is not going away. the chancellorjeremy hunt has said that he has significant concerns over the whole affair. natwest have got their half—year results on thursday and i do not think this is going to be the last we hear of this controversy. thanks for “oininu we hear of this controversy. thanks

forjoining us- _ a court in brussels has found six men guilty of terrorist murder after attacks in the city in 2016. 32 people were killed when bombers targeted brussels airport and a metro station. the so—called islamic state group said it was behind the attacks. several of those on trial had already been convicted of taking part in the paris terror attacks months earlier. two pilots have died in greece after their water bombing plane crashed on the island of evia north of athens while they were trying to put out a forest fire. it's a grim reminder of the dangers faced by those battling to control wildfires, which continue to rage on several greek islands. rhodes is the worst hit, with more evacuation flights underway to rescue stranded tourists. the tour operator tui has tonight cancelled more holidays to affected hotels until the middle of august. in a moment, we'll look at the impact that climate change is having, but first, our correspondentjenny hill reports from rhodes. unrelenting, unforgiving —

the fires are raging on. firefighters battling to contain them. notjust here on rhodes, but on the islands of evia and corfu, too. it's desperate, dangerous work. this afternoon on evia, a terrible reminder of the risks taken. a firefighting aircraft dumps its water, appears to clip a tree and loses control. the two pilots on board were killed. so many are putting themselves in harm's way, like volunteer firefighter panagiotis, who takes us to see what this fire can do. his team's camping nearby, still on high alert. their village is just down the road. translation: you can | understand our anguish. we were running to put out the fire. we were desperate to save the forest, but we were also

desperate to save our houses and our families. when we came to the top of a nearby hill, the scale of the challenge became obvious. up here, you really get a sense of how difficult the task is for firefighters. when we first arrived here, most of the smoke was coming from over there. but in the last few minutes, there's been a flare—up just down here. and of course, the strong wind is not only making things tougher for the people fighting the fires, but much more dangerous. this isn't the image this tourist island wants to project. earlier, the greek prime minister acknowledged that difficult days lie ahead. they sing which is why, even here, a birthday is worth celebrating, though the candle's unlit. you don't light the candle? no, we don't light the fire! "we only put out the fires," he jokes. "we don't start them." dark humour in sobering times.

jenny hill, bbc news, rhodes. a group of international scientists has warned that the heatwaves we're seeing in parts of europe, the us and asia, would have been almost impossible if it weren tfor climate change caused by humans. here s our climate editor justin rowlatt to explain it isn tjust rhodes that s experiencing exceptional wildfires. this is algeria, in north africa, where at least 3a people are reported to have died as a result of heat and fires. there have been fires in parts of italy, like here in palermo in sicily where the airport had to close due to the fires. meanwhile, a5 million americans are under extreme heat warnings while phoenix in arizona faces its 26th consecutive day with temperatures above a3 celsius — an all time record. yes, it is always hot in summer, but scientists said today the heatwaves in the us and europe would have been virtually

impossible without climate change. they found the heatwave in europe was likely made 2.5 degrees celsius hotter because of all the carbon dioxide we have pumped into the atmosphere. the heatwave in the us was an estimated 2 degrees hotter. and the scientists say the heatwave in china was made 50 times more likely and one degree hotter thanks to climate change. they say the findings came as no surprise. we have seen and known for years that heatwaves are getting hotter and more intense, and longer, because of human—induced climate change. so if we don't stop burning fossil fuels very, very soon, then these kind of heatwaves will become even more frequent. so, we are likely to see a heatwave like this every other year, in a two—degree world. so, is it inevitable that climate change will continue indefinitely? well, countries have pledges to massively cut emissions.

here in the uk, the plan is to get to net zero by 2050 — that means the country won t be adding any additional c02 to the atmosphere. and look at this.? while much of southern europe sweltered in the heat, parts of germany were hit by violent summer storms. this is berlin. parts of northern italy were battered by giant hailstones. trees were brought down. so will the extreme heat continue? it is going to ease off a little in france, spain and italy in the next few days, but greece and balkan countries are expected to continue to see very high temperatures possibly into august. sophie. justin, thank you. the number of people living in temporary accommodation in england is at its highest since records began 25 years ago. at the end of march, almost 105,000 households were in temporary accommodation. that s a rise of 10% from the same point last year ? according to the new government figures. and the total number

of children without permanent accommodation stands at over 130 thousand ? also the highest level since records began. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. born into homelessness, five—week—old jack has spent his entire life living in a hotel room. his 17—month—old sister, lily, learned to walk here. the family say they were made homeless through a no—fault eviction, as the landlord wanted the property back. they all now live in the one room. he wakes up crying, it wakes her up. so some nights i've been down here about three in the morning, rocking him in the pram down here so that he doesn't wake her up. out on the street? no, in the reception. reception. yeah. sat in the reception. because that's the thing. when one of you wakes up, the whole room wakes up. yeah. he starts crying for a bottle and wakes her up, and then she wakes up and she thinks it's morning and get up. the families here are among a record number of households

living in temporary accommodation in england. nearly 1a,000 households are living in hotels or bed and breakfasts. the council in plymouth expect to spend nearly £7 million on the problem this year, ten times the amount they spent five years ago. we've got so many families who are going through such a tricky time emotionally. telly hall has an often thankless task, driving around the city trying to find affordable properties for homeless families. because the cost of living crisis, the fact that inflation is going up, mortgages going up, landlords have to, in order to afford to do this, they have to have the rent reflecting that. and we get working families now who are in hotels and b&bs because they can't afford to pay their rent. ministers say they're spending £2 billion tackling homelessness, but they've also chosen to freeze housing benefit levels for three years while rents have soared. research last month suggested just one in 20 private rented properties were affordable to people needing help to pay for housing. and supply is dwindling too,

as some landlords pull out. ok, so this is your entrance hall. dorothy dawson has been renting out her home for 16 years, but she's selling up, blaming government plans to end no—fault evictions and rising costs. well, the mortgage will triple, the payments on the buy—to—let mortgage will triple. and the council tax in between tenants has gone up to £152 a month. the standing charges on the utilities have gone up. and also, because i'm so arthritic now and i can't fix it up myself, i've got to pay people to do all the work on it. so fewer properties to rent, as more families than ever seek a home. my old room was, like, a lot bigger. this one's really small. in my old room, i could, like, do stuff. like, i would usually, like, draw a picture and just nail it into the wall. but i can't do that here. caden has no place to call home.

the 12—year—old has previously spent two months in a hotel after his family were served with a no—fault eviction. they're not allowed to decorate this temporary accommodation as they could be moved at any minute. just not knowing, you know, any day. this isn't secure. it isn't like, "oh, we're definitely going to live here until we move on". something could happen with this place. we could move on again. homelessness means caden can no longer go to the same secondary school as his friends, as he lives too far away. an unintended consequence of a broken housing system. michael buchanan, bbc news, plymouth. now a look at some other stories making the news today. a man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering his 16—year—old sister. amber gibson's body was found in woodland in hamilton in south lanarkshire in november 2021. the judge told connor gibson that he faces a "lengthy sentence" for what he called the "depraved" attack. gibson will be

sentenced in september. china has removed its foreign minister qin gang, seen here on the right, less than seven months after he was appointed to the post. mr qin had been seen as a close associate of president xi jinping. the 57—year—old's last known public engagements were a month ago, fuelling speculation about his disappearance. the government has announced its delaying plans to introduce new recycling regulations by a year until october 2025. under the plans, retailers selling own—brand products would have to pay for their collection and recycling. critics warned the proposals could lead to higher prices for shoppers. kylian mbappe is the 2a—year—old captain of the french team paris saint germain — one of france's biggest stars. and the saudi arabian club al—hilal are after him. they have offered a world record transfer fee of £259 million for him. if he goes, he'll be following fellow stars ruben neves, kareem benzema and roberto firmino who have signed for saudi clubs this summer.

0ur correspondent dharshini david is here — why have they offered so much money? well, with money to burn, saudi arabia has been filling its trophy cabinet with the biggest stars. but how much would you pay for a goal? if this offer s taken up, kylian mbappe may reportedly earn over £1,000 per minute — or £19 per second. it s not just about players for its own teams. saudi s invested even more elsewhere in newcastle football club, it's a key backer of formula 1 and will be the main investor in the combined liv and pga golf tours, a proposed tie—up which shocked the world. it's rumoured to be compiling a war chest to further its sporting goals — but why? the kingdom has made its fortunes through supplying oil — its state producer, aramco,

made record profits of £125 billion. but with prices volatile and diminishing demand forfossil fuels, those earnings are uncertain. the international monetary fund has just downgraded its growth prospects. so it's looking to diversify. its £500 billion public investment fund is ploughing cash into luxury tourist resorts on the red sea and this futuristic city, neom. sports actually accounts for less than 2% of its investment. but it's all part of a bid to boost visitors, and morale at home. saudi wants 10% of its earnings to come from tourism by 2030, providing jobs for its population — 70% of them are under a0. however, saudi's using its money to grow its influence and power globally in other ways. disney, uber, starbucks, google, zoom ? all household name brands that the kingdom owns a slice of.

a decade ago, its international investments were far more scarce. that pivot in strategy is down to this man, crown prince mohammed bin salman — hailed as a moderniser — seen here on his state visit to the uk in 2018. but he is a controversial figure. that year, he was condemned for his reported role in the murder of washington postjournalist, jamal khashoggi, who was a prominent critic of the regime ? adding to criticism of the kingdom s human rights record. but saudi's wealth fund is predicted to hit over £1.5 trillion by 2030. so despite concerns from the use of the death penalty to the abuse of migrant workers and its involvement in the war in yemen, those deep pockets and a desire to rely less on china means the uk, france and us are among those keen to strengthen links. as saudi's sports ambitions grow,

perhaps even strching to an 0lympics bid — the cries of sportswashing are multiplying. but whether you choose to switch on or not, saudi's role and influence in our lives is set to grow. dharshini, thank you. swimmers will soon be allowed back into the river seine in paris for the first time in 100 years as part of a clean—up ahead of the 202a 0lympics. after decades of filthy water, the river has been cleaned up as part of a billion pound regeneration project. and after the olympics, the plan is to have open—air swimming areas for the public too. from paris, hugh schofield reports. a year from the paris olympics and here's a bit of a foretaste, a diving competition. you could say they're testing the water. it wasn't just that swimming in the old seine was illegal — no one in their right mind would have taken the risk. and now? we try not to don't drink too much.

but few sips, it's kind of 0k. it's beautiful water, soft and hot. for us, it's the best. it's great to hear that they have a project to really clean everything. i'm excited to see how that goes. i will come back to check it out. it's more than 80 years since there have been competitive events in the river seine. now, thanks to the improved water quality, they're back. the story of paris is also the story of the seine. but over a century, thanks to industry and human waste, it became little more than a picturesque channel. the turnaround began 20 or 30 years ago, and now regular tests carried out by the city show bacteria levels well within safety norms. it's taken time, commitment and a lot of money, and here, just by austerlitz station, is the result in concrete. the depth of 20 olympic swimming pools, this massive underground reservoir is for storing storm water, the run—off in heavy rain which can otherwise carry human

sewage into the river. 0perational next year, it'll make the seine safe for swimming notjust in the olympics, but afterwards for the paris public. they see the guys, the athletes coming in the river and swimming without any health problems, they will be confident to go themselves in the river seine. that's our massive legacy of the games. scenes like this disappeared under a ban before even the oldest parisians alive today were born. but now, with the olympics around the corner, there is regeneration, and humans are back in the seine. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. now, this is the de brecy tondo, a painting which was only recently discovered to be

by the renaissance painter raphael. the painting was previously attributed to an unknown artist, until teams from the universities of nottingham and bradford used new technology to compare it to another raphael, the sistine madonna altarpiece, and found the similarity between the faces of the madonnas and the children in the two paintings to be identical, and therefore highly likely to have been created by the same artist. now it is being displayed publicly for the first time. the tondo is being shown at cartwright hall art gallery in bradford for two months. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. this is the weather picture, a familiar one. we start in europe. temperatures in sicily reached a6.5 degrees today. the blues are where it's cooler than normal, the reds are where it is hotter than normal. if we follow the next few days, the

heat is getting pushed into the south—east of europe. tomorrow, a significant drop in temperature across southern parts of italy. the heat lasts longer in greece, but even here, ten bridges will be lower and it won't be as windy either, which is good news. —— temperatures will be lower. these were the storm clouds we had across northern parts of europe, where it is still quite wet. in the uk, our weather continues to pile in from the atlantic, which is not good news at this time of year. a dramatic picture in north yorkshire. we had quite a few showers today, but they are turning fewer and with clearer skies, it's going to turn chile in some places —— it is going to turn chile and in some places. in between, it will not be quite as cold because there will be some rain and showers left over by tomorrow across england now in southern scotland. 0therwise, some sunshine for a while before that cloud comes in from the atlantic, bringing rain to northern ireland, wales and south—west, moving over the irish sea later in the day. ahead of that,

we have a bit of sunshine, so temperatures could be a bit higher than today across scotland and eastern england. but temperatures will be depressed under the cloud and rain. that wet weather pushes its way eastwards on those weatherfronts overnight. quite a warm night on wednesday night, but it will start off a bit and damp and misty on thursday. and the rain could hang around across northern scotland and maybe through the english channel. elsewhere, maybe brightening up a touch here and there. that could trigger a few sharp showers in the afternoon. quite a muggy feel and temperatures in the southern half of the uk may be a bit higher. as we have seen, temperatures in south europe will be dropping. that does not mean a lot for the uk. thejet stream is still going to be to the south of the uk, low pressure dominating into the weekend. most of the wet weather will be in the north.— will be in the north. darren, thank ou. and that's bbc news at ten — there's more analysis of the day's main stories on newsnight with

kirsty wark, which is just getting under way on bbc two.