he spoke about the context of why alexandre benalla found himself at this demonstration and why he wasearing a police helmet and he was not a member of the police. he was observing at the demonstration and there was nothing out of the ordinary. what he said was out of the ordinary was his behavior, taking part in the demonstration , dragging that protester as well as wrestling a man to the ground and kicking him, unacceptable. he is shifting the responsibility away from him to the chief of police who will be questioned this afternoon. >> this has been the top story followed here in france. why this hasgh evolved into a national scandal. evolved into a scandal because of that claim that there was a cover up somewhere within the corridors of the presidential palace. that is there because the incident took place 2.5 months ago but it was only brought into the public eye when the newspaper published the video and identified alexandre benalla as being a collaborator of emmanuel macron. it did suspend alexandre benalla as soon as it found out about the incident and it moved him to a desk job

because after being punished with a two—week suspension, today alexandre benalla is still working ato meeting the president. today, president macron pointedly avoided answering questions on the affair. but the pressure is on. can he afford to hold onto this errant aide? hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. the dry, hot summer has brought moorland fires and hosepipe bans across different parts of the uk. many places haven't had any rain since the end of may. now experts are warning about the rapid spread of toxic blue—green algae in rivers, lakes and ponds. it can be hazardous to both humans and animals. stuart flinders reports from cumbria. the higher temperatures, the lower rainfall, are ideal conditions for the appearance of blue green algae, a green sheen on the surface of a lake and scum on the shoreline ring alarm bells for the experts who regularly carry out chemical tests to establish its presence. so we are looking at the water quality sample in the bottles that we collect. we send those off to our lab and we are looking for the presence of blue green algae and once we have that

the former french presidential security aide, alexandre benalla, has been formally placed under judicialter he was caught on camera beating up a protester in may. mr benalla was sacked on friday, but the affair has sparked uproar, with president macron accused of failing to act quickly enough. gunmen in south africa have shot dead 11 taxi drivers who were on their way back to johannesburg after attending the funeral of a colleague. the gunmen ambushed them and using automatic rifles, peppered the vehicle with bullets. earlier, i spoke to south african journalist ayanda mhlongo about what the motivation could be behind the attack. there can be a horrific incident taking place here in south africa and the province, and of course the police have said that they do not know what the motive of this heinous act is. it is believed to be linked to ongoing turf war that in that city ofjohannesburg, between the ivory park association and they have had quite a long battle between themselves and other rival associations over routes. and that has generally been what has been the reason behind the taxi

alexandre benalla was sacked on friday after video emerged which showed him assaulting a man.on‘s opponents accuse him of involvement in a cover—up. the cuban parliament has approved the first draft of a new constitution after a two—day debate. it drops any reference to building a communist society and recognises private property. the final document will be put to a national referendum. the far—right brazilian politician, jair bolsonaro, has officially announced his candidacy for the presidential election in october. mr bolsonaro, a former army captain, wants to loosen the country's gun controls to tackle crime. carter page, a former adviser to donald trump, has dismissed allegations that he collaborated with the russian government as ridiculous. documents containing the claim have been made public by the fbi in response to a freedom of information request. the cache contains 412 pages of heavily redacted material. in the documents, carter page is refered to as an agent of foreign power. they also state that the fbi believes page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by

he's been identified as alexandre benalla, a senior security officer in mr macron‘s team.d a new deportation order for an elderly australian nun at odds with president rodrigo duterte. immigration officials accuse sister patricia fox of breaking the terms of her missionary visa by engaging in political activism. president duterte ordered her arrest and deportation in april, describing the 71—year—old as an "undesirable alien". two children have apparently been attacked by sharks off the coast of long island in new york. these are the first such incidents in the state for seventy years. a thirteen year old boy and a twelve year old girl were bitten at two different beaches along the bay of fire island. both victims are expected to recover fully. the fashion company burberry has admitted to burning millions of pounds worth of products in the last financial year, to protect its brand. the fashion label destroyed unsold clothes, accessories and perfume worth $37 million to prevent them being stolen or sold cheaply. burberry said the energy generated from burning its products w

alexandre benalla was given a 15—day suspension shortly after the incident in may, but was allowed toob protecting the president. he's now been arrested. the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has said he's invited britain to work on a solution to the irish border issue next week. speaking after a meeting of european affairs ministers, mr barnier said they were open to any solution as long as it could be transformed into a legally operative text in time for the withdrawal agreement. with an assessment of where the negotiations stand, here's our europe correspondent damian grammaticas in brussels. michel barnier, we saw today, seemed to me more angry, more frustrated, more determined then he has appeared before. why? well, he said there's 13 weeks to sort all this out. the key issue remaining is that border in northern ireland, and it is that backstop, the insurance policy in case they cannot agree in the future on a trade deal, how to avoid border checks. both sides agreed in december they would have one. today mrs may stood in belfast and said the eu's proposal was unaccep

alexandre benalla was sacked on friday after video emerged which showed him assaulting a man.pponents accuse him of involvement in a cover—up. the cuban parliament has approved the first draft of a new constitution after a two—day debate. it drops any reference to building a communist society and recognises private property. the final document will be put to a national referendum. 620 finance ministers say increased tensions over trade are posing a risk to global growth. at the end of a two—day meeting in argentina, they called for greater dialogue to reduce the risk. in recent months, the trump administration has imposed tariffs on some imports, sparking retaliation. the far—right brazilian politician, jair bolsonaro, has officially announced his candidacy for the presidential election in october. mr bolsonaro — a former army captain — wants to loosen the country's gun controls to tackle crime. carter page, a former election campaign adviser to donald trump, has dismissed allegations that he collaborated with the russian government as ridiculous. documents containing the clai

emmanuel macron has sacked his aide, alexandre benalla, but there has been continued criticism of therance's interior minister has been summoned to answer questions in the national assembly on monday. spanish congressman pablo casado has been elected leader of the opposition conservative people's party. he's expected to take the party further to the right. mr casado succeeds mariano rajoy who lost a parliamentary vote of confidence last month. the indian government says it's exempting sanitary towels from goods and services tax after months of protests by activists. the government introduced the tax, known as gst, on all goods a year ago, and there was widespread anger at the 12% duty on menstrual hygiene products. zimbabwe's president emmerson mnangagwa has told white farmers that their land will not be taken and that they should work together with the government ahead of elections onjuly 30. speaking in harare, the president said that land invasions, instigated by the ousted former president robert mugabe 18 years ago, should no longer happen. the technology giant facebook has suspe

emmanuel macron has sacked his aide, alexandre benalla, but there has been continued criticism of thenterior minister has been summoned to answer questions in the national assembly on monday. a woman who lost nine members of her family in a tourist boat accident on a lake in the united states has been describing the disaster. tia coleman said passengers were told they would not need lifejackets but if she had managed to reach one she might have saved her children. 17 people died when the amphibious vehicle called a "duck boat" sank in stormy weather. sophia tran—thomson reports. these boat passengers filming a sudden storm on table rock lake while out on tour seem unaware of the danger they are in. oh, no. oh, my god. oh, we're goin' under. sinking. further ahead of them, another boat couldn't cope in the severe weather. of the 31 on board, more than half were killed. one of the survivors said as conditions worsened, the passengers were not told to put life vests on but to stay seated. i couldn't see anybody, i couldn't hear anything, i couldn't hear screams, ijust — it felt like i wa

alexandre benalla was sacked on friday after video emerged which showed him assaulting a man.ents accuse him of involvement in a cover—up. g20 finance ministers say increased tensions over trade are posing a risk to global growth. at the end of a two—day meeting in argentina, they called for greater dialogue to reduce the risk. in recent months, the trump administration has imposed tariffs on some imports, sparking retaliation. kulveer ranger, vice president strategy and communication at atos joins me now. good to see you, kulveer. so, this meeting, it seems it ended without any firm resolution on how to reduce these tensions. the fear is that we get more tariffs, more retaliatory measures and the global trade system sta rts measures and the global trade system starts to seize up. all right, ben, a couple of days in buenos aires has had people together, g20 finance ministers but no, no real way forward here. it seems there is the us on one side basically saying we want no barriers, no tariffs and the key point is we want no government subsidies. this is what's irritating espec

alexandre benalla was given a 15—day suspension shortly after the incident in may, but was allowed toto his job protecting the president. he has now been arrested. it has emerged that nine members of the same family were killed when when a tourist boat sank during a storm in the us state of missouri. in total 17 people died, including several children. 31 people were on board the amphibious vessel, known as a duck boat, when it overturned in strong winds on table rock lake near the town of branson. 0ur north america correspondent james cook reports. oh, this is not good. this duck boat made it back to the shore. the passengers, not wearing lifejackets, apparently unaware of quite how much danger they were in. oh, my god. oh, it's going under. further out, a second duck boat was in bigger trouble, unable to cope with the blast from a severe thunderstorm. of the 31 on board, just 14 survived, brought ashore in shock. among the dead was a one—year—old baby. emts, tell one of the emts, please. the missouri government said that nine of the dead were from one family, and three other members

mr alexandre benalla was filmed manhandling demonstrators during may day protests in paris. making the vote mainly symbolic but the scandal has dented the reputation of the president and his team. former president 0bama and his former us vice presidentjoe biden reunited at a bakery in washington. in a surprise visit at the dog tag bakery they took time to greet the patrons and thank them for their service. the bakery helps train and employ disabled veterans, as well as offering support to military families. in san francisco, the social media giant facebook says it has closed more than 30 accounts involved in what appear to be a co—ordinated attempt to influence the forthcoming us mid—term elections. the company said this included almost 10,000 facebook posts and 150 pieces of advertising. 0ur north america technology reporter dave lee gave more details from san francisco. facebook released a bunch of information about this issue earlier. they say they removed 32 different pages and accounts which does not seem like much but between them these sites posted around 10,000 items

emmanuel macron has sacked his aide, alexandre benalla, but there has been continued criticism of there of the elysee to act swiftly. france's interior minister has been summoned to answer questions in the national assembly on monday. the indian government says it's exempting sanitary towels from goods and services tax after months of protests by activists. the government introduced the tax, known as gst, on all goods a year ago, and there was widespread anger at the 12% duty on menstrual hygiene products. zimbabwe's president, emmerson mnangagwa has told white farmers that their land will not be taken and that they should work together with the government ahead of elections on july 30th. speaking in harare, the president said that land invasions, instigated by the ousted former president robert mugabe 18 years ago, should no longer happen. people across japan have been urged to take precautions against a heatwave that has killed about 30 people. thousands more have sought hospital treatment for heat—related conditions. temperatures reached a0 degrees in centraljapan earlier this week

he's been identified as alexandre benalla, an assistant to president macron‘s chief of staff.ry to new legislation defining the country as a jewish state. the controversial law, adopted after hours of heated debate, also says advancing jewish settlement is a national interest and that the entirety ofjerusalem is the country's capital. it also puts hebrew above arabic as its official language. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: buried for 2,000 years, but what's inside? an egyptian sarcophagus spills its secrets. coming down the ladder now. that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30 year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunctioning sperm unable to swim properly. thousands of households across the country

he's been identified as alexandre benalla, an assistant to president macron‘s chief of staff. new brexit secretary has promised to intensify and energise negotiations with brussels. the uk's official departure date, next march, is fast approaching. but the european commission has now advised eu member states to step up preparations for a no deal brexit, anticipating that no formal deal may have been reached by the deadline. from brussels, our europe editor, katya adler. a new face in brussels, confronting the same old brexit challenges. michel barnier, the eu's by now rather dour chief negotiator, has been in on this process from the start. 0ur challenge will be to find common ground between the fundamental principles that define the eu and the uk positions. the smiling enthusiasm of the new brexit secretary came in stark contrast. i come out today to discuss the detailed proposals that we've got in our white paper, that you'll have seen. and i'm looking forward to, with renewed energy, vigor and vim, heating up the negotiations, and making sure we're in the best position to g

the man in question is alexandre benalla an assistant to president emmanuel macron's chief of staff. he had confidence in his bodyguard. he points to a member of his entourage and says "my bodyguard's over there." here's that clip. the french presidential spokesman bruno roger—petit was a little more contrite here s his official response. translation: he is suspended for 15 days with the suspension of his salary. he was removed from his job for organising security for the president's trips. this sanction was to punish unacceptable behaviour and was the final warning before being sacked. this sanction is the most severe ever given to a policy officer working at elysee. possible charges are violence by a public official, pretending to be a policeman and the illegal use of police insignia. meanwhile, opposition mps are calling for far stronger action to be taken against the guard. here s bbc paris correspondent, hugh schofield s assessment. this man is a member of macron's security detail and i think it would be wrong to say that he is a senior adviser or aide to macron, but he has an o

the bodyguard, alexandre benalla, was sacked by mr macron on friday.ven on what that means. and, as this article in left—leaning liberation noted, even though three investigations are now under way — judicial, paliamentary, and administrative — the presidential palace still believes it's not a story for mr macron to comment on. that silence is fueling criticism he is out of touch with ordinary people. the country's interior minsister gerard collomb also got a grilling today over the scandal. he gave his version of events to lawmakers in paris, where he appeared to deflect blame. translation: mr benalla was not part of the staff placed under my authority. with the office of the president and the police prefecture having all necessary information to take action, i considered that the facts that were flagged were being dealt with at the appropriate level. so i did not get involved further in this issue. we've now heard from the bodyguard. he says his acts are being exploited for "media and political ends". his lawyers said in a statement, "this personal i

he's been identified as alexandre benalla, an assistant to president macron's chief of staff.nfirmed mr benalla is not a policeman. they don't look great for mr macron, those images, do they? two children have allegedly been attacked by sharks off the coast of long island in new york. this is the first incident of its kind in the us state for 70 years. a 13—year—old boy and a 12—year—old girl were bitten at two different beaches along the bay of fire island. both victims are expected to recover fully. students at manchester university have defaced a mural featuring rudyard kipling's poem ‘if‘ — in a stand against the work which they have described as racist. the author's 1895 poem was painted on a wall of the university's newly renovated union building. but student leaders erased the work, replacing it with a piece by maya angelou in a bid to reverse ‘black and brown voices‘ being written out of history. the union has apologised for failing to consult students on its choice of poem. it is reported that the luxury label burberry has been burning millions of pounds worth of stoc