spending can now continue. the grandfather of sara sharif, the ten—year—old who was found dead at her home in surrey, talks to the bbc in pakistan. and a convoy out of nevada — tens of thousands of revellers finally leave the burning man festival, after torrential rain turned the desert into a quagmire. and coming up on bbc news... mason greenwood trains for the first time with his new club getafe, afterjoining the spainish side on loan for the rest of the season. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. a bbc investigation suggests that three major water companies in england discharged sewage hundreds of times last year

on days when it wasn't raining, which is illegal. the practice is known as "dry spilling" and is banned because it can cause environmental harm. let's go live to our environment correspondentjonah fisher who's at langstone harbour in hampshire. thanks. last year, ourwater companies in england released raw sewage into our seas and rivers for 1.75 million hours. sewage was discharged on average 825 times every day. breaking that down still further, that means there was a new sewage discharge, roughly speaking, every two minutes. rural west sussex, and one of southern england's celebrated chalk streams. so here we are, welcome to the river lavant or as we locally

call it, the river lav. the river lav. the lav, just full of effluent. rob, a retired businessman, is notjoking. there would be no river lavant in the summer without the treated discharges from the next door sewage plant. when we came it was overflowing, so we had the storm overflow coming out here, untreated sewage coming out here. and we came back a few days later, it was still going on. a few days later, still going on. rob filmed what looks like a white fungus growing on the sewage slick. but why was it spilling? there was no rain on the day the flow began, or on any of the previous three days. rob complained, the environment agency investigated, and though southern water was found to have broken the rules, it was only given a warning. they treated it as a one off, absolutely, whereas it had been going for probably three to four months, and continued for three to four months afterwards. it is a scandal.

over the last few years, the water companies have been forced by the government to report details of when and where they discharge raw sewage. it's only supposed to happen when the system is overwhelmed, after heavy rainfall, or snow. it's not supposed to take place, as it did here, during periods of dry weather. so how common are these dry spills? to find out, the bbc requested details from all nine english water companies. three of the largest complied, providing us with huge amounts of data. we then cross referenced that with rainfall, and found what looks like nearly 400 sewage spills, lasting thousands of hours, that started during dry weather. many of the water companies, like southern water at the lavant,

say groundwater leaking into cracked pipes is behind some of the spills. thames water apologised for some of theirs. wessex said some of the data they had given us was flawed. there should never be a dry spill, and any suggestion that there has been one should be investigated fully by the environment agency. the environment agency is the regulator, they are the people who will do the detailed investigation and understanding of why that has happened, and what they are going to do about it, in terms of was it a breach, is there an explanation or frankly had the water companies literally dropped the ball? the environment agency, the regulator, has experienced years of cuts, though more money is now being made available to monitor sewage. it is the water company's job not to pollute our environment. it is yourjob to police them. that is what we are doing. but you're not doing very well, are you, because the spills are still taking place. but in the last eight years alone we have brought 59 prosecutions with fines totalling £150 million. the agency says it's also looking at potentially illegal spills,

and is now working on it what it is calling its largest ever criminal investigation. the question that follows on from this is how are we going to fix this? and the answer is money, lots of money is needed to invest in the decrepit pipe networks, the sewage treatment plants that don't have the capacity to process enough sewage at the moment. where is that money going to come from? you speak to campaigners, they tell you they would like the water companies to pay for it out of their back pockets, that is not going to happen, when you speak to the water company. orthe happen, when you speak to the water company. or the government. they are making it quite clear that if this problem is to be solved, if the billions of pounds is going to be found to invest in improving our sewage network so we don't see legal or illegal spills, water bills are going to have to rise, you and i are all going to have to pay for it.

jonah fisher. europe's biggest local authority, birmingham city council, has effectively filed for bankruptcy. it has issued a section 114 notice, which prevents all but essential spending. earlier this year, the council began talks with the government after revealing it was struggling with outgoings including equal pay claims and the implementation of a new it system. we will have much more on that story in the coming minutes. the government has been accused of taking a sticking plaster approach to carrying out essential maintenance on school buildings, by the head of the spending watchdog, the national audit office. writing in the times, gareth davies says the unflashyjob of repairs has been neglected. more than a hundred schools in england haven't been able to fully open this week because of problems caused by weak concrete.

ellie price reports. at least the fence will look good, but this school in birmingham needs some serious work to make sure it's safe. the aston manor academy has a problem with raac and is going to be closed until at least next monday. parents are frustrated. with the pandemic, not being coming to school for months, and then we have had the six week holiday, now coming back to school and school is saying they can't come back until the 11th. it is just more time away from school, and he needs to be in school, because he has his gcses. up in scarborough, a similar story. no lessons this week at this school. two thirds of their buildings also contain raac. they have had support beams up for a while, holding the school up, and theyjust told us it is a few areas. it is a bit scary now knowing that some things might like collapse, and it will be scary if it did collapse on us.

in an unusual intervention, the head of the national audit office today accused the government of a sticking plaster approach to school maintenance, and said the unflashy but essentialjob of looking after buildings had been neglected. the government still hasn't released a list of all the schools affected, which labour says is unfair. because parents want to know what is happening. it is clearly unacceptable to leave schools in the lurch for months and months, and it is, as one head teacher said to me yesterday, these are darker days than covid for our children. reporter: how long are i the children going to be out of schools, minister? this morning the education secretary kept her words brief. but the government has been at pains to calm parents. there are 22,000 schools in england, although investigations are still very much under way. so farjust 150 are affected. two in wales and 35 in scotland. think about the school estate, it is only schools that are built or extended between the 50s

and the �*90s, half of all schools either built before that date or after that date, so parents can be reassured. that comes at little comfort for the parents of children who can't go back in to school this week, and for the government, the image of crumbling public buildings is not one they can gloss over. ellie price, bbc news. the grandfather of ten—year—old sara sharif, who was found dead last month at her home in surrey, has spoken to the bbc. he confirmed that he had met his son, sara's father, in pakistan — who told him sara had died in an accident. postmortem tests found sara sustained multiple and extensive injuries. urfan sharif left the uk before his daughter's body was discovered, along with his partner and his brother. surrey police want to speak to the three of them, but so far they have not been found. the little girl's grandfather muhammed sharif has been talking to our pakistan correspondent, caroline davies.

did urfan tell you what had happened to sara? translation: it was an accident. nothing more than that. how it happened, he didn't say. whenever urfan will come out he will explain to police here, and in the uk, and will face the case. he can't live in hiding for a long time. after sara died, did he explain to you why he had come to pakistan? translation: because of fear. what was he afraid of? translation: his daughter died, - and when you undergo so much trauma obviously you can't think properly. they returned out of fear, nothing else. what was sara like as a little girl? very nice, very beautiful. very lovely.

translation: i'm saddened because of my granddaughter, she died. - the grief will always stay with me for the rest of my life. he has a message for urfan sharif, beinash batool and faisal malik. translation: wherever they are, they will be able to listen to this. | i say they should come out, defend their case, whatever it is. they should answer the questions. i don't say they should stay in hiding. what became increasingly clear, speaking — what became increasingly clear, speaking to muhammad sharif, is the amount_ speaking to muhammad sharif, is the amount of— speaking to muhammad sharif, is the amount of pressure he and the family feel they— amount of pressure he and the family feel they are under from the pakistan_ feel they are under from the pakistan police. when i spoke to him, _ pakistan police. when i spoke to him. he — pakistan police. when i spoke to him, he was at court, arguing against— him, he was at court, arguing against what he says is the police's illegal— against what he says is the police's illegal detention of several members of their_ illegal detention of several members of theirfamily during illegal detention of several members of their family during the process of questioning. that process, the police _ of questioning. that process, the police have said that they don't have _

police have said that they don't have those members of the family, and now_ have those members of the family, and now the court has ordered for a two week_ and now the court has ordered for a two week review to find out what has happened~ _ two week review to find out what has happened. but when i asked muhammad sharif what _ happened. but when i asked muhammad sharif what he thought of the fact that his _ sharif what he thought of the fact that his son had come to pakistan, he said _ that his son had come to pakistan, he said he — that his son had come to pakistan, he said he should not have come, he said he _ he said he should not have come, he said he should have faced questioning in the uk. caroline, thank yom _ questioning in the uk. caroline, thank you. caroline _ questioning in the uk. caroline, thank you. caroline davies - questioning in the uk. caroline, thank you. caroline davies in i thank you. caroline davies in islamabad. now we are going to return to the story about a birmingham city council. it has effectively filed for bankruptcy, issuing a section 114 order, preventing all but essential spending. how has it reached this point? spending. how has it reached this oint? . . . . spending. how has it reached this oint? , , , , ., spending. how has it reached this oint? , ,, , ., , point? these issues have been bubbfinu point? these issues have been bubbling away. _ point? these issues have been bubbling away, not _ point? these issues have been bubbling away, notjust - point? these issues have been bubbling away, not just for - point? these issues have been - bubbling away, notjust for months now, but for years. bubbling away, notjust for months now, but foryears. in bubbling away, notjust for months now, but for years. in 2012, a now, but foryears. in 2012, a landmark now, but for years. in 2012, a landmark court ruling meant the city council had to pay to settle a number of equal pay claims to mostly female staff who had missed out on bonuses which were paid to mostly

male staff. over the past decade or so, they have already paid out more than £1 billion to settle those claims. but earlier this summer, it was announced that they still had up to £760 million, rising more and more every month, still left to pay. that is really the straw that has broken the camel's back today. there has been a botched it system, a new one, that was being rolled out, which has cost £100 million. plus the pressures that are being felt by every local authority up and down the country, particularly around things like the rising cost of social care and the after—effects of the pandemic. and all of that has meant that today it has effectively waved the white flag, asking for government intervention and ensuring that section 114 notice. what does this mean for the people actually living here in birmingham a question of the residents of the city? that is not only the most important question, but also a difficult one to answer at the moment, as the city council decides how it is going to

get to a point where it is stable again. we know that it said in a statement today that it will protect core services, but all new spending commitments will now not be going ahead, and it has halted all nonessential spending. there are lots of things apply here. the city employs more than 10,000 people, they were asked if any of them wanted to leave as part of a voluntary severance scheme which was announced just last month. we waited to see what the impact of that will be on whether that will help them claw back some of the shortfall. but this is obviously incredibly concerning news, and even downing street today has acknowledged this is concerning news for the residents of birmingham. the time is 13.15. our top story this afternoon... a bbc investigation suggests that three major water companies illegally spilt sewage in dry weather on more than 380 occasions last year. and still to come, the us says

kimjong—un is planning to make a rare trip outside north korea, to hold talks in russia with president putin. coming up on bbc news... we hearfrom inside the england camp, as steve borthwick�*s side prepare for their opening match of the rugby world cup, which begins in france later this week. we reported yesterday on women who say their children were forced by family courts to have contact with their fathers, even when the men had been accused of abuse. today we hearfrom mothers who've fled abroad — abducting their children. they all say they were victims of domestic abuse, and that they've been let down by the courts in being accused of parental alienation — that's when a child rejects one parent because of manipulation by the other. our special correspondent ed thomas reports from turkish—controlled northern cyprus, where many of the women now live. you may find some of

what they say upsetting. victims of domestic violence. i was raped. family court just didn't listen. hidden, and on the run. if i'd stayed in england, i'd be dead. it was state—sanctioned abuse. for the first time, mothers who fled uk family courts, abducting their children, tell their stories. i was abused by that court, as well as my husband. when i left him, there was a campaign of abuse. i was stalked. i was harassed. rose — not her real name — was the first to tell her story. my daughter, she'd come back with bruises, all documented. and when your child says, "mummy, daddy's hurting me," it breaks you. rose's story highlights complex family court cases. her partner was never convicted of a crime, but we've seen multiple police reports written at the time that said she was at

risk of domestic abuse. i was referred to victim support. i broke court orders on the advice of the police, but the court wanted contact at all costs. rose has never been accused of physically harming her child, but she was accused of alienating her ex. the court said, if you don't send your child, we're going to remove her. and they did. the concept "parental alienation" is controversial. there are calls for it to be banned. and we've learnt the government is investigating its use in our family courts. we can't move from here. we are safe, but in a type of prison. and rose isn't alone. we've been told dozens of women, victims of domestic abuse, have fled ukfamily courts, and many are now hiding in turkish—controlled northern cyprus. we made the same journey to ask why. i'd face bursts of anger.

that's when alarm bells started to go off. i'd be manhandled, left full of bruises. in all, i made about 50 separate phone calls to the police. this mum we're calling suzanne fled after a decade of family court hearings. i was in and out of court all the time, it got so bad. over 120 appearances. the bbc has seen multiple police reports detailing domestic abuse against suzanne. i was going to have a breakdown. i was literally screaming in my head. health professionals said she was suffering trauma, but suzanne was accused of alienation. i was not listened to. my child was not listened to. it was state—sanctioned abuse. some of the mothers risk prosecution for child abduction. some have had their bank accounts frozen, and been placed on interpol no—fly lists. hi, are you ok? we spent months building up trust to tell their stories. so, that's another mother. she's really, really nervous. she is frightened, and she doesn't know whether or not

she's going to speak to us. those who did open up to us would only speak anonymously, and if we change their voices. i was handing my child to an abuser. i couldn't do it any more. this mother says her child became suicidal. the judge made the decision that i was parental alienating him from his dad. i was told i was the abuser. but should you have stayed in england? i had to go. i watched my son's childhood disappear. the women who i've met here, who have fled from the uk, are terrified. mina atla is a turkish cypriot lawyer, who represents many domestic abuse victims. these women are being failed in their countries. they need to be offered some kind of amnesty, and there needs to be a path to safety for these women and their children. she says many are running from allegations of parental alienation. it's not child abduction, it's not parentalalienation, it's domestic violence, it's child abuse.

many of the mothers we spoke to acknowledged they've broken the law. it's so difficult. i left my family, my friends. i've lost everything. after suffering years of coercive control, this mum said the family court became an extension of that abuse. the court should be trying to understand why women give up everything to flee, just to protect the kids. the basic need of a child is to be protected, and we can't even do that in the uk. the domestic abuse commissioner said the cases uncovered by the bbc were harrowing, and there was a need for urgent reform of the family courts. in response to our report, the government said it's investigating the use of parental alienation, but that it takes international child abduction very seriously. ed thomas, bbc news. you can find details of organisations which offer support with domestic abuse at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can phone for free at any time to hear recorded information, on 0800 888 809.

£760 million badly damned on the front line in ukraine. this is also the first verified sighting of a challenger 2, 14 of which were donated to ukraine, by the uk earlier this year, a western defence source has told the bbc that all the crew survived. 200 women in the uk who say they were left with pain and health complications after having a permanent contraception device fitted have been given the go—ahead to take group legal action against its manufacturer. the essure coil was made by the german firm bayer, which insists the device is safe. our health reporter, philippa roxby, is here.

explain more about this phillipa. the essure device is a tiny coil inserted so into the tube to the ovaries to prevent pregnancy and it is done instead of surgery, for many woman it works well and there are few side effects but some women allege it has caused them continuous pain and it has been the cause of heavy bleed bleeding, headaches and mood changes and the lawyers acting for the women in this group claim, say it has caused them huge damage physically and mentally and many needed hysterectomies to solve the problem and many were in pain. bayer who made it, say it stands by the safety of its device, it says it will defend itself vigorously against this legal claim and it is also carried out huge amounts of research and it says there are risk with any medical device, but there are still lawsuits going on in many country, in relation to this device

including canada and the us, it is no longer on sale at all, anywhere in the world, and the uk—med sins regulator says if it works well there is no reason to have it removed. there is no reason to have it removed-— there is no reason to have it removed. thank you phillipa. north korea's leader kimjong—un is expected to make a rare visit overseas — for talks with president putin in russia. officials in the united states government believe the two men will discuss the possibility of north korea providing moscow with weapons to help in the war in ukraine. this report from our correspondent in seoul, jean mackenzie. the last time mr kim paid mr putin a visit was four years ago, but desperate times may call for a reunion. war depleted russia needs ammunition and artillery shells. sanctions starved north korea needs cash. this is where the idea for the meeting was seemingly spawned,

as russia's defence minister watch north korea parade its weapons through the streets of pyongyang injuly. ever since, the us says an arms deal has been brewing. and with moscow desperate, north korea could demand an alarming price. kim jong—un will try to get some kind of economic assistance, politically motivated assistance from russia. maybe he will get some promises, but i don't think he will get much of real stuff. the most worrying demand mr kim could make would be for mr putin to hand over technology to help him build nuclear weapons. the priority of the us seems to be to stop north korean weapons there reaching ukraine, but here in south korea, the bigger concern is what north korea would get in return. whether its money, missiles or technology, it can all be funnelled in to north korea's ever advancing nuclear weapons programme.

but this deal, nor this trip, are guaranteed. mr kim is paranoid about his security — he travels abroad by land, in an armoured train, and with a human shield. this meeting may pose too great a risk. it's anyone's guess whether he will be going to russia to meet with vladimir putin. if he does, it will not come as a surprise at all, there seems to be enough indicators carried through the news and elsewhere that this might happen. the last time this pair met, mr putin gave mr kim a coin in exchange for a sword. it was to avoid future strife, putin said. it turns out he will need to pay a much greater price. jean mackenzie, bbc news in south korea.

let's get the latest with sean dilley, our correspondent in washington. shaun, so what more are they saying about this potential meeting where you are in about this potential meeting where ou are in ~ ., ., .,, you are in well, the language has been remarkably _ you are in well, the language has been remarkably restrained - you are in well, the language has been remarkably restrained from| you are in well, the language has i been remarkably restrained from us officials, clearly the state department national security officials of the white house all urging north korea not to sell these weapons to russia, in support of the invasion in ukraine. but be under no doubt it is one thing using words at a time when the us. a and north korea don't have diplomatic tie, if global security is considered to be under threat you can expect sanctions to be raised further on north korea, what we can take from all of this and it is interesting, is it is somewhat backs up what china has been saying is that it hasn't overtly as an ally of russia been supporting president putin with weaponry in further raps of its

invasion of ukraine but we should shea us intelligence official also be watching carefully, because north korea and china has its own very special relationship, they co—operate very closely and us intelligence officials as well as expressing concern about russia and north korea meeting, to do what they describe as an unlawful arms deal they will watch what involvement china has with north korea in any of those negotiations.— #23 thank you shaun. #23 tens of thousands of revellers who've been stuck in mud for days at the burning man festival in nevada have finally begun heading home — after unseasonable storms turned the desert site into a quagmire. the festival, a favourite of artists, activists, and technology executives, has a focus on self—sufficiency — which as our correspondent graham satchell reports proved to be just as well. a line of motorhomes and camper vans as far as the eye can see.

they have been trapped in the nevada desert for days, but finally, thousands and thousands of festivalgoers are making their way home. it was a great burn until it rained, then itjust gets muddy. you know, no worries, we have all provisions and they communicated well, so we're just like, you just get out a day later. when the rain came to the burning man festival, it turned the sand into mud and clay. organisers closed the gates on safety advice and 70,000 people who had come to celebrate alternative culture and witness the burning of a wooden effigy were effectively trapped. we alljust kind of went back to our tents and hung out with each other and waited until it stopped. it was incredibly muddy. it really looked apocalyptic. when you see the people walking, with their children, some people have a small child of like, three or four years old. the burning man festival has been

going almost 40 years. it turns this part of the desert into a small city. they have never had rain like this before, but finally, it stopped. a modern day exodus from the desert has begun. graham satchell, bbc news. a heat health alert has been issued for most parts of england, as temperatures could reach 32 celsius this week. stav danoas is here with the forecast, wherever you are. yes, so heat is going to be in abundance this week, temperatures will be peaking i think to wednesday and thursday, now we are looking at the low 30s as we head into tomorrow, 32 celsius or so, we have seen 30 celsius during the yesterday period. the september record is 35.6, so i don't think we will beat that but what could be pretty spectacular about this week's heat is we could see 30 degrees

consecutive day after day, which could be a record, so we will have to see by this weekend, if temperatures will break that record. but it is going to be very hot, humid, we are importing this hot air from france on a south—easterly breeze, particularly tomorrow and thursday, the humidity levels will start to rise. not so high this afternoon, comfortable conditions out there but it is hot and sunny, pretty much across the board, only bits of cloud affecting the north of scotland there, into orkney but shetland sunny, high teens here but up shetland sunny, high teens here but up to 29, maybe 31 in the south—east, elsewhere it is the mid to high 20, through this evening and overnight the low cloud rolls back in to eastern scotland and england, a bit more widespread and patches into the irish sea, most places dry and clear, and a mild muggy night to come, temperatures low to mid—teens, maybe higher in the south. into

wednesday we start off with early