this is the kashmir the indian government wants the world to see. beautiful, serene, filled with tourists. away from the site is the more grim picture — a painful, long—running conflict. more recently, a clampdown on democratic rights. journalists who can bring out people's voices and ground realities say they are being

silenced by the government. asif sultan, a kashmiri reporter pictured here at one of his court hearings. he's been injailfor five years, charged under terror laws. his father mohammed says asif was targeted for this article he wrote about an anti—india militant. translation: everyone knows he is innocent. i he is a professional reporter and was jailed for his writing about the militancy. they wanted to make an example out of him. so other journalists so otherjournalists don't dare to cover topics the government does not approval. —— does not approve of. at the time of his arrest, asif�*s daughter was six years old. she might have been reunited with her father when he was given bail last year. but on the day of his release,

new charges were brought. asif was kept in jail. it's part of a troubling pattern. journalist sajad jailed for a criminal conspiracy. well—known magazine editor, fahad shah arrested on terrorism charges. whenever they're granted bail, new cases are filed to keep them in custody. most recently, ifan mirag, who has worked with international outlets, jailed for alleged links to terrorfunding. this complex, which now houses an office of the kashmir police. until last year, this is where the kashmir press club used to be — the main body in the region which used to stand up for the rights of journalists. last year, it was shut by the government and in its absence, journalists say they have nowhere to turn to if they feel threatened. we've heard of other forms of intimidation.

dozens ofjournalists in the region are on no—fly lists, prevented from leaving the country. dozens ofjournalists have not had their passports renewed. we've spoken to 20 journalists on the ground, each of whom have told us they've been called by the police and questioned about stories they'd done or social media posts that they've put out. this reporter told us about one such experience. he does not want to be identified, fearing reprisal. i started getting calls from the police over a story i had written. they kept asking why i had done it. then, i was questioned in person. they told me they know everything about me and my family, which felt very scary. i kept thinking, "would i be arrested or harmed physically?" and what impact has that had on yourjournalism? instead of thinking about whether i have enough facts in a report, i worry more about whether it will land me in trouble. we are all self—censoring. there is an attempt to silence the press in kashmir once and for all.

most journalists told us they fear reprisal by the state. but in a conflict between indian forces and underground militant outfits, some say there are other dangers. i spoke to a journalist who received threats from an insurgent group. translation: working | as a journalist in kashmir is like walking on a razor�*s edge. there are threats from all sides. i am constantly afraid of a bullet coming at me and that no—one will ever find out who fired that. the impact onjournalism is evident when you look at the papers on any given day. the front pages are pretty much full of statements from either the national government or the regional administration. there are lots of soft stories. but there's barely any journalism in here holding the government to account. we asked the police and the regional administration to respond to the allegations made byjournalists who spoke to us. they have not replied. in press statements, the administrative head

of the region has insisted that there's absolute press freedom in kashmir. what we found belies the claims. on ground in kashmir, press freedom has all but been eroded. fanning the flames of a bitter conflict. this year has seen a dramatic rise in violence and vandalism committed by radicaljewish settlers against settlements in the occupied west bank. this palestinian village of burka recently mourned 19—year—old kashir martin,

shot dead. locals said they'd rushed to protect farmland from armed settlers. in an unusually strong rebuke, the us called the killing of the young man jewish terrorism. his relative's afraid to show her face. no—one knows who the next victim will be. no—one will protect us. if — and god forbid — there are any other confrontations or attacks, our government cannot legally do anything. israel has full control over 60% of the west bank and its soldiers protect hundreds of thousands of settlers. most of the world sees all of the settlements as illegal. but israel is approving an increasing number. and new unauthorised jewish outposts are also being set up like one ms olive grove owned by palestinians from burka. this man tells me the bible is his deed to this hilltop and far—right members of the israeli cabinet share his ideology. translation: we have an -

expectation from the government that those elected by right—wing votes to settle the land, expand the settlement and not hurt them. our vision is all the land of israel will be settled with jews. these rolling hills are all part of the west bank. palestinians who live here have long hoped it would make a large chunk of a state of their own but with hardline israeli ministers totally opposed to that now in power, building in settlements is being approved at record speed. the goal to cement an israeli presence, to change the landscape. without grazing land fortheirsheep, palestinian herders worry for their future. this month, nearly 90 people fled from the slopes where they'd lived for generations, blaming settler harassment. translation: they used to stop outside our house at midnight - and honk their car horns, or send kids to harass us.

they would scare sheep, then block them in, or empty our water tank. settlers are emboldened by the new political reality in israel. gunshot. and there is a sense of impunity that adds to palestinian resentment. with huge new investment in settlements, hostilities here only look set to deepen. china's recent floods hit hard in parts of the country not accustomed to them and its meteorological administration says both extreme temperatures and precipitation have definitely increased in recent decades. it's one thing to talk about climate change in the abstract, quite another to consider real human impacts.

this whole town is having to rebuild after the recent floods and all these businesses, they've been completely trashed by the floodwaters and the people here, they don't know how they're going to be able to get back to the way their lives were. both this man's shops in hubei province were submerged by floodwaters. translation: it will take me 8-10 years to recover - from these losses. the government has not said whether it will compensate us. every year, flooding in china seems worse and official statistics appear to confirm it. in 2011, the country recorded six floods per month during the summer but this year, there are ten times as many. the impact has even struck the overall food supply in august, 40% of the famous rice crop

was wiped out by flooding. translation: when i saw the water hit here, i cried. | the crops are gone. i lost everything. it's hard to calculate. then, in the south, where flooding is supposed to happen, there are fears of a drought closing in. this man grew up next to a lake and drives a boat out to an island when there is enough water. translation: this year's water level is very low. i old people say this has only occurred once before, in the early 1950s. since the song dynasty 1000 years ago, the temple has been surrounded by water during the rainy season. recent droughts have exposed it much earlier. a couple of months ago, all of this was underwater. but as the waters have receded, the island behind me has become accessible by land and this historic site has become something of an environmental barometer to measure whether water levels are where they should be at any given time of year.

extreme weather is focusing attention on climate change in china. but can this huge country combined with the rest of the world quickly enough to do something about it? my dad lived there for five years, my parents, and i lived there for four years and we all went down with cancer and we all seem to have had it within the same sort of time period. we were told not to even bath in the water. yeah, don't even wash in it. there is increasing. international concern. it is a massive public health threat.

overlooking the west coast ofjersey's coastline, a cluster of farms and houses lying at the foot of the airport. nestled amongst sand dunes, the landscape is isolated and peaceful and yet, it was the heart of chemical contamination. almost a0 years ago, firefighting foam made by american company 3m and tested at the airport training ground leaked into private borehole water supplies. it was 1985 when people living in the area began to report signs of a mysterious foam spilling out from taps and drains. this farm is one of the closest properties to the airport. hi. and farmer ted was amongst the first to notice something was not quite right. over here, from this tap, in fact, the cold water tap, the kitchen sink, had virtually like a head of beer on the top and continue to overflow.

i called public health first of all, i think. they took some samples of the water and took it back to 3m. they came back and said they confirmed it was foam. we were told not to even bath in the water. yeah, don't even wash in it. on one sunday afternoon, ted returned to find the hill connecting the fire training ground and his farm covered in white foam, destroying his cauliflower crop. it is as if there had been a snowstorm. ourfarming programme our farming programme was affected. we were short of cauliflower for a period. probably in excess of £1000. we now know the form contained toxic man—made chemicals found —— chemicals called pfas. they are found in all sorts of things from saucepans to chemicals and clothing. they are known as forever chemicals because they do not break down. they find their way into water sources across the world and most people have a small quantity of these in their blood.

this was just the beginning of what's been a very long battle for islanders. these letters and reports and photos have been shared with me by local people and showjust how highly contentious this issue has been for decades. but what do these documents actually tell us? in 1985, when the foam was first discovered, the airport said they only used water at their training ground. in 1990, a sample confirmed the foam contained products including 3m's lightwater foam used at the airport. in 1993, the airport took responsibility for the contamination. the airport provided bottled water and recommended for properties to switch to mains drinking water, but refused to pay for water rates until later. the jersey evening post asked: in the years that followed,

a small research linked the chemicals to serious health concerns, somejersey residents began to question whether the illnesses were down to chemical poisoning. bladder cancer, kidney cancer, thyroid problems. graham and his family lived in a cottage just north of the training ground in the mid—1990s. my dad lived there for five years, my parents and i lived there for four years and we all went down with cancer and we all seem to have had it in the same sort of time period. at the age of 52, i was diagnosed with a blood cancer. they said i could have possibly had it for even 20 years. your family does not have a history of cancer? there was no known history of serious cancer. 3.5 years ago i underwent

a stem cell transplant which was horrendous for anybody to go through and my young son had to witness all the pain and suffering that went on and it's something that has affected him to this day. the toxic effects of the chemicals were relatively unknown at the time of contamination. in 2005, thejersey government were about to sign a confidential settlement with the chemical manufacturer 3m to finance clearing up the area, something some ministers tried desperately to block. we believe the states ofjersey should not surrender forever their ability to sue the manufacturers of the foam and we do not know what the evolving science is going to demonstrate to us in five or ten or 15 years. that can take many years, our time, that case against the foam manufacturer would not improve. despite push back the deal was signed and sm gave thejersey government £2.6 million which went towards cleaning up the area. thejersey evening post which i work for along

with the daily express had a front page of the time, "secret deal in the state assembly," so we knew it existed. julian is a localjournalist and after reporting extensively he was leaked a couple of the deal revealing thejersey government had given up their right to sue 3m and would support the chemical company if any locals took legal action. that was the same that really struck me, i was surprised the government would be willing to commit to work against their own residents, should they feel as though they want to make a case. i have some sympathy for the government at the time. this was announced. they had to clean up the fire training ground and also you've got to remember at the time that the nefarious implications of pfas and the links with potential cancer and other ailments was not fully known. in hindsight, i think they made a mistake. i think the government still has the opportunity to make good any

wrongs of the past. after years of local lobbying the jersey government agreed to test the blood of people living near the airport for pfas, one of the only places in the world to do so. in 2022, the results showed many had levels than normal of two pfas compounds and although graham's results were not amongst the highest he has undergone a stem cell transplant and cancer treatment since exposure. julian lived just outside the catchment area and did not qualify for the government testing programme but he took an independent test result through a german lab which showed his levels were three times higher than their national standard. i grew up in the west of the island in the environs of it, i went to nursery school in the bay. i spent a large chunk of my time down there on the beach, playing with friends. it showed to me this is a significant issue and it's

not just affecting those who live in the so—called ploom area around the airport. jersey's public health has set a new scientific panel to investigate pfas related concerns and to advise the government. we are in this area which is a bit of a grey area. most of the international research is showing there is a link, if you like, an association, between pfas and poor health but it is still not quite proving that pfas was the cause. the environmental protection agency says pfas can cause serious health problems like cancer, environmental agency links pfas with high certainty to health issues including certain cancers the us environmental protection security imposed restrictions on drinking water, so why isjersey still saying there was not enough research?

there was an awful lot of overlap, i agree. there is increasing concern and we need to sort good research from the poor quality research. we aim to be as transparent as we possibly can. whatever is killing those cows is in the drinking water. forever chemicals have even caught the attention of hollywood. well, now you can defend me. the film dark waters brought pfas contamination to the global stage. 190 cows. you tell me there's nothing wrong. based on the true story of a lawyer who took on chemical giant dupont when it contaminated a small town in west virginia with toxic chemicals and that lawyer robert bilott described as a whistle—blower on water contamination says chemical giants have known about the dangers for decades. this is a massive public health threat. we are talking about chemicals that are being found in the drinking water and in people all over the planet. and at levels that frankly

are raising real concerns. some of these companies that actually created and invented this chemicals going back right around the time of world war ii, we see when we started to dig into internal documents from these companies, is that they were aware these chemicals would not break down in the environment, that's why we hear them refer to as forever chemicals. there is more than adequate evidence to support the concern about the public health threat. this is evidence that has been used in cases? this has been laid out tojuries, it's been subject to incredible scrutiny for decades now. when we approached 3m for comment they said they'll stopped manufacturing pfas and will work to discontinue its use in their products by the end of 2025, saying:

but forever chemicals have already found their way into water sources around the world. authorities now face big decisions on how to handle contamination. residents in the town of richmond will get a share of $130 million in compensation for properties polluted by toxic phone once used by the defence force. health issues arising from the contamination have not been resolved. the australian government recently paid out millions to affected residents living in pfas contaminated areas. jersey's residents have yet to receive any compensation. in 1995, affected islanders tried their best to launch legal action against the airport but were told by their lawyer that it would be pointless to pursue any legal claim without enough scientific data. 30 years on, some residents are tired of fighting. i'm not wealthy enough to tackle them. it is a simple as that.

taking on the government, you are not going to win. you want to get on with life? yeah. others, encouraged by emerging research, think legal action could be the only route. the first thing you want is their health back but that will not happen so that less financial compensation. with that come from jersey? i believe it should because the states ofjersey are ultimately responsible and they also took money from 3m. if the states ofjersey does not start to do the right thing by these people then i think you will see collective action legally taken against the states ofjersey. he is one of ten residents who have spoken to a law firm about potential collective legal action. they are interested in bringing a claim because they believe

health concerns they have experienced may be related to pfas because of the blood test results they have health received. should any action go ahead, this potentially could be the first of its kind. we will be at the very early stages of any potential claim and at this stage we are not sure who any potential defendant would be, although it's likely to be the states ofjersey entity and potentially the manufacture of the chemicals. we approach thejersey, government for an interview which they repeatedly declined. they said in a statement: it's been more than four decades since toxic forever

chemicals found their way into local borehole water. residents living down the slope from the airport have still not received a penny of compensation they feel they deserve. for them, it's still a forever problem and after years of lobbying, it is clear they are not giving up. this journey is not yet over. i do not feel it is over, i think there is a lot more to say and discover. i never thought it would travel as far as it has. the voices will becomel more angry and louder, and it's not going away. hello. the weather is set to feel decidedly summer—like over the next few days but there is one small reminder

that we are now into september. a bit of a more autumnal and murky start to sunday with mist and fog patches in places. a completely different type of weather in the far north of the uk. the stripe of cloud on the earlier satellite image is a frontal system which will continue to bring outbreaks of rain in the far north of scotland. it will be breezy here as well. further south, under the influence of high pressure with light winds, there are some mist and fog patches around across parts of england, wales, northern ireland, south—west scotland, tending to lift and clear through the morning. then we will see long spells of sunshine, although it may turn a little hazy at times with some high cloud in the sky. our frontal system in the far north of scotland still bringing some outbreaks of rain and a brisk breeze. with some shelter from the breeze in north—east scotland, we could see highs of 25. parts of southern england, getting to around 26. on sunday night, one or two mist and fog

patches again developing. this frontal system still plaguing the far north of scotland with cloud and some splashes of rain. it is certainly not going to be a cold start to monday morning. most places between 10—15. on monday, we do it all again, a frontal system still in the far north of scotland, particularly the northern isles, seeing cloud and rain with that. elsewhere, early mist will clear and we will see some long spells of sunshine. a bit more of a breeze in the far south—west but still, 25 celsius in plymouth, 27 in london, 26 in aberdeen. the warmth will be widespread and there is more where that came from. another very warm day on tuesday. just a small chance of a shower in western parts of the uk. this frontal system weakening in the north of scotland. temperatures again widely into the low to mid 20s, some places may be a touch higher than that. for the middle of the week, this area of high pressure is set to shift eastwards. low pressure swirling to the west of us. this weather set up will bring

us a southerly flow of air and some very warm air indeed. in fact, it may feel hot in places on wednesday. temperatures in the south may be up to 29, possibly 30 degrees. only very slowly turning more unsettled at the end of the week.

live from washington, this is bbc news. israeli police deploy stun grenades, tear gas and sponge—tipped bullets against hundreds of protesters in tel aviv. us presidentjoe biden visits florida to examine the damage from hurricane idalia. plus, burning man attendees are told to shelter in place after heavy rain hits the festival in nevada's black rock desert.

hello, i'm carl nasman. police in israel have opened an investigation into the use of live fire by officers during clashes in tel aviv between rival groups of eritrean asylum seekers. nearly 150 people were injured. violence broke out as eritreans protesting against their government clashed with supporters of the regime. both groups then fought police attempting to impose order. some suffered gunshot wounds and are in serious condition. israeli media report it was the first use of live fire on protesters inside israel since the second intifada in 2002. investigators are now gathering evidence from the scene to determine whether officers behaved according to the law. bbc�*s yolande knell is following developments from jerusalem. well, this was an event that was organised by the eritrean embassy — a kind of festival event. it hired a hall not far

away from the embassy, to the centre—south of tel aviv.