nick beake, bbc news, southern laos. of course, we are continuing to monitor events in laos.ng, summer 2018 is hot, it is indeed very hot. from the arctic circle and scandinavia to california, and north africa, an exceptional heatwave has been sweeping across the northern hemisphere for several weeks. japan has a new record temperature of 41 degree celsius. there is a very serious side to this. more than a dozen people have died from heat—related illnesses and thousands more are in hospital. a little earlier, i spoke to australia's national heatwave project director, john nairn. i asked him how this heatwave compares to that of 1976. i think it's quite comparable, at least we know that that's what struck western europe in ‘76. of course, we don't have the information from asia and north america for that particular time either. that's possibly why it's a little unusual, because we have had a series of heat waves around the northern hemisphere. cities are particularly struck, many cities are just not coping very well at all. i think it possibly is a story that extends beyond th

nick beake reports.orrent of water that crashed through this countryside offered little chance of survival. in time, the full, grim picture will be revealed. for now, the world of the survivors is turned upside down. they cling to safety on the roof of their homes. children and the elderly carried towards dry land, the few possessions people had time to salvage hauled through the muddy floodwater. families who have lived in this corner of laos for generations are now homeless. forced out by the destruction unleashed by a newly built dam on their doorstep. its developers say torrential rain in recent days caused a fracture which they tried to fix. they sent out an evacuation warning, but it was too late for many. international aid agencies are racing towards the six villages most affected. but their path is damaged, obstructed, and, in some places, submerged. local teams have been able to give out some supplies, but they desperately need more food, water, clothes and medicine. with more than 6500 people w

nick beake, bbc news, southern laos.roadcast a police search of his home. this afternoon, a judge denied the corporation the right to appeal a privacy ruling against it. our special correspondent lucy manning is here. what does this mean for the bbc? well, today we are starting to get an understanding of the size of the bill the bbc is facing for losing that case against sir cliff richard last week. it stands at eu million, including £850,000 last week. it stands at £1.1 million, including £850,000 going towards his legal fees. million, including £850,000 going towards his legalfees. that million, including £850,000 going towards his legal fees. that will increase as well. and today the bbc tried and failed to get permission to appeal the judgment. the judge, tried and failed to get permission to appealthejudgment. thejudge, i have to say, was fairly dismissive of the bbc‘s arguments, he said some of the bbc‘s arguments, he said some of them were irrelevant, wrong and meaningless. the bbc has to decide now whether it wil

nick beake, bbc news, southern laos. stay with us on bbc news. a surprise appearance in his home town. the us space agency, nasa, ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armagh. once an everyday part of the soldier's lot — drudgery and danger — now no more after four decades. if one is on one's own in a private house, not doing harm to anyone, i don't really see why these people should wander in and say you are doing something wrong. six rare white lion cubs on the prowl at worcestershire park, and already they have been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they are lovely, yeah. really sweet. yeah, they were cute. very glad to have you with us on bbc world news. the top story: north korea has returned soldiers killed in the korean war back to the united states. a deadline passes for the us government to try and reunite families separated by donald trump's zero tolerance policy. i spoke just now to madhu greywal, federal immigration policy counsel with

nick beake, bbc news, southern laos. this news just coming this newsjust coming in. a lot in korea and the united states. the white house has just announced that north korea has transferred the remains of a number of soldiers killed in the korean war to the united states. the number of the remains is not specified. this repatriation of people killed in the korean war to refrain from 1950 to 1953 was one of the agreements reached at summit between donald trump and kim jong—un in singapore injune. more on that as soon in singapore injune. more on that as soon as we have in singapore injune. more on that as soon as we have it for you. a government minister in greece has said there are "serious indications" the wildfires near athens this week were started deliberately. at least 80 people died, and many more are still missing. mark lowen reports. searching for the trace of a life. at the place where 26 bodies were found after the fire, some hugging each other, rescue workers think they spot something else. it is so charred that they call police to make out if it's human r

our correspondent nick beake is at the site.lear this site. just a reminder — this is the entrance to the cave, and for the past two weeks while the boys have been trapped, this has been the site of so much activity. you've got troops based here, the police, volunteers, medical teams have been carrying out rehearsals for a rescue, what they do for real. also, the media have been based here too. so now, it's a big operation to get everyone cleared out. the big question — why are we being asked to move? we haven't been given any sort of clarification yet. however, the governor of this province said yesterday that within the next three or four days, it would be a perfect opportunity to try and stage a rescue. the boys are in relatively good health. we've had rain overnight, but before that, it has been dry and they have been managing to pump water out. so we are being moved from this site now and hopefully in the next hour or so, we'll get more information about what will be happening today. nick beake reporting there. russia out o

nick beake, bbc news, southern laos.are "serious indications" that wildfires near athens earlier this week were started deliberately. over 80 people died, and many more are still missing, after the fires which started on monday. mark lowen reports. searching for the trace of a life. at the place where 26 bodies were found after the fire, some hugging each other, rescue workers think they spot something else. it is so charred that they call police to make out if it's human remains. could this field of devastation yield even more fatalities? for the family who lived here, the nightmare endures. the first group running down... jason fragos says 30 people ran through here, escaping into the sea as the flames closed in. they didn't see the group of 26 behind. our house, it was our heavenly place, and that we had all our childhood memories, both mine, my mother's and even my grandmother's. inside our property, inside that house, 26 people were dead, were actually burned alive. i couldn't walk, i couldn't breathe. his neighbour

our correspondent nick beake is at the site.m —— thejust 7am —— it hasjust the just 7am —— it has just gone seven o'clock in the morning and we have just been told to clear the site. a reminder, this is the entrance to the caves and the past two weeks while the boys have been trapped, this has been the sight of so trapped, this has been the sight of so much activity. you have troops are based here. police, volunteers, medical teams have been carrying out rehearsals for a rescue. what they do for real. also, the media have been based here, too. now it is a big operation to get everyone cleared out. the big question, why all -- cleared out. the big question, why all —— why we being asked to move? never been given any indication. the government said that within the next three orfour government said that within the next three or four days it would be a perfect opportunity to stage our rescue. the boys are in relatively good health. we have had rain overnight but before that it has been dry and they have been managing to pump water r

nick beake, bbc news, rakhine state, myanmar.igration policies. more than 600 events were planned, with major demonstrations in washington dc, new york and other cities. the marchers demanded that migrant children are reunited with their parents after being forcibly separated at the us border. 2000 children are still being held in detention centres. a privately developed rocket has exploded and crashed to the ground just seconds after lift—off in japan. hundreds of people were watching in shock as it fell from the sky in flames at a test site on the island of hokkaido. it was unmanned and there were no injuries reported. the rocket was developed by a company which is hoping to provide affordable commercial space flights. it was japan‘s second attempt at sending a private rocket into space. as you can see, it has gone up in flames. two british sailors take to the high seas today to attempt to solo sail 30,000 miles around the world non stop. the golden globe race sees 18 competitors recreate the extraordinary expedition which made

nick beake, bbc news, rakhine state, myanmar. elephant man — the story ofjoseph merrick, so severely disfigured that he became a circus exhibit to survive. but the role of the lead character has never been played by a disabled person — until now. amanda parr reports. step in and see! stand up, you bloody donkey, up! up! rollup, rollup, to see the elephant man. the star of victorian freak shows. a figure of keen interest to the medical community. and in this production, an iconic disabled role reclaimed. it's a strident step beyond whatjamie beddard calls the lazy and offensive casting of the past. the only elephant man i've seen was done by non—disabled actors, which i don't think is acceptable. me being disabled, me being an actor, me doing the elephant man, i really hope makes it a bit more authentic and a bit more meaningful. i need to do a good job to do itjustice. jamie says working with drama school graduates like this will normalise inclusion and exciting approaches to casting. not having that slightly strange feeling that

nick beake reports.rashed through this countryside offered little chance of survival. in time, the full, grim picture will be revealed. for now, the world of the survivors is turned upside down. they cling to safety on the roof of their homes. children and elderly carried towards dry land, the few possessions people had time to salvage hauled through the muddy floodwater. families who have lived in this corner of laos for generations are now homeless, forced out by the destruction unleashed by a newly builtdam on their doorstep. its developers say torrential rain in recent days caused a fracture which they try to fix. they sent out an evacuation warning, but it was too late for many. international aid agencies are racing towards the six villages most affected. but their path is damaged, obstructed, and in some places submerged. local teams have been able to give out some supplies, but they desperately need more food, water, clothes and medicine. with more than 6500 people without shelter, it is a dauntin

nick beake reports.rent of water that crashed through this countryside offered little chance of survival. in time, the full, grim picture will be revealed. for now, the world of the survivors is turned upside down. they cling to safety on the roof of their homes. children and elderly carried towards dry land, the few possessions people had time to salvage hauled through the muddy floodwater. families who have lived in this corner of laos for generations are now homeless, forced out by the destruction unleashed by a newly built dam on their doorstep. its developers say torrential rain in recent days caused a fracture which they try to fix. they sent out an evacuation warning, but it was too late for many. international aid agencies are racing towards the six villages most affected. but their path is damaged, obstructed, and in some places submerged. local teams have been able to give out some supplies, but they desperately need more food, water, clothes and medicine. with more than 6500 people without she

the bbc‘s myanmar correspondent nick beake joined the trip.ingya village. the people are long gone. if you look around you can see evidence of fire here. they are trying to usher us away again. they are saying it is time to move on. why can we not go in here? why can we not go inside? because it is very dangerous. something could happen. we do not know is do not come in there. we wa nt we want to go back to our homeland. myanmar‘s government insists it wa nts to myanmar‘s government insists it wants to bring them back home. but they are sceptical they feel no one wa nts they are sceptical they feel no one wants them. how would you describe the rohingya people in three words? he only needs one. "terrorists." bats often get a bad rap. i'm thinking vampires here. but they're actually essential for agriculture, they keep insects down and fertilize crops. however, a fungus that causes deadly white nose syndrome is spreading across the us. it's a wildlife wipeout, killing millions of bats. but in hard hit pennsylvania, scientists are hoping to slow

our south east asia correspondent, nick beake, reports.hrough this countryside offered little chance of survival. in time, the full, grim picture will be revealed. now, the world of the survivors turned upside down. they cling to safety on the roof of their homes. children and elderly carried towards dry land, the few possessions people had time to salvage, hauled through the muddy floodwater. families who have lived in this corner of flowers families who have lived in this corner of laos for generations are now homeless. forced out by the destruction unleashed, by a newly built dam on their doorstep. its developers say torrential rain in recent days, caused a fracture which they try to fix. they sent out an evacuation warning, but it was too late for many. international aid agencies are racing towards the six villages most affected. but their path is damaged, obstructed, and in some places, submerged. local teams have been able to give out some supplies, but they desperately need more food, water, clothes and medicine. with more than 6500

journalists are normally banned from the area, but our myanmar correspondent, nick beake, managed tocrap of land between two countries, a people who have lost everything. the rohingya, living in fear, in limbo, and in desperate need of a home. this is no man's land, between myanmar, from where they fled rape and murder, and bangladesh, where they see no future. we are crying. nobody wants to live in these conditions. won't you please help us, to go back to oui’ you please help us, to go back to our homeland? put pressure on the myanmar government. the government here in myanmar insists it once to bring home the rohingya families as quickly as possible, but they are deeply skip full. they believe they are the people no country wants. they escaped from this lush landscape. we have managed tojoin a government chipped to rakhine state. build as a chance to see —— see peace and stability. but there is a dark history here, because all along the route we glimpse remnants of rohingya muslim villagers, burned to the ground last year. they torched their own homes, is the burmese army's explana

our corespondent nick beake has been finding out — he sent this report.es away from where the boys are trapped. the conditions here are are trapped. the conditions here are a really similar. we are barely 20 metres inside and already you have a sense of what it is like to be underground in this part of north and highland. —— northern thailand. the water in these caves is murky. and muddy. and just imagine, the water in these caves is murky. and muddy. andjust imagine, if the water in these caves is murky. and muddy. and just imagine, if this passage were flooded. visibility would be non—existent and obviously that complicates any rescue attempt. people have to feel their way through the cave. we are using lights at the moment. this is what it looks like without any. the caves in this region are limestone. over centuries, water has seeped down in different places and at different speeds and created what we see today. that is why you can have narrow passageways which flowed easily, leading to bigger chambers where there is safety for a time. the passages th

our correspondent, nick beake is at the hospital where the boys have been taken to in chiang rai.t do we know about the boys, their condition and what treatment they are receiving? duncan, it is midnight here in thailand where we presume these four boys are now reunited with their families at the hospital behind me. we saw two ambulances arrive here earlier this evening, we had two helicopters overhead and we think two other boys we re overhead and we think two other boys were bought through a different entrance. doctors and nurses were waiting for them. they knew these boys individually, they knew their wea knesses boys individually, they knew their weaknesses and they knew how they have been coping underground for the past two weeks. in terms of any official word from the doctors and nurses that has not been forthcoming, but the indications we are getting have been that the boys are getting have been that the boys are doing pretty well considering what they have gone through. apart from the rescue part of this mission, their condition is a com plete mission, their condition is a

we heard from nick beake at the hospital earlier. been hearing reports from, the operations chief said all four are reports from, the operations chief said allfourare in reports from, the operations chief said all four are in perfect condition but this has not been verified to us by medical officials ora verified to us by medical officials or a correspondent on the ground, but that is what we were told that the press conference. the streets are still very busy, night has fallen, but i am sure that inside the hospital, things are hectic as they ensure that the children are fit and well. chris boardman, from the british caving association, said the changing weather had forced the operation, but for the moment, the conditions were ideal. i know that the timing is effectively perfect. they have been draining the cave for as long as they know the children have been there and they are acutely aware that the monsoon rains are due sometime today. they had to move and they have moved decisively, and i have so much respect for the rescue perso

our correspondent nick beake has been outside the chiang rai hospital where the boys are being treated is the main hospital in the chiang rai region, about one hour by carfrom chiang rai region, about one hour by car from the cave complex where the boys have been rescued from today, four boys. i am just looking, as some sort of military vehicle there. in the past 90 minutes we have seen two ambulances arrive. the railings we re two ambulances arrive. the railings were moved away, the traffic was stopped and the ambulances raced to the main entrance to the hospital. we have seen police helicopters, or certainly helicopters involved in the rescue overhead. the crucial information to bring you comes from a press co nfe re nce information to bring you comes from a press conference in the last few minutes but also from the thai navy seals, there are divers have been involved in the rescue and they say four of the boys have been brought out. we do not know about their condition. clearly the teams have been waiting for their arrival, but in terms of how the individual boys are failing, we do

our correspondent, nick beake, was at the hospital where the four boys have been taken to in chiang raiat this hospital to night that the doctors and nurses have the responsibility of looking after these four boys, the first to be brought out as part of this extraordinary rescue operation. they we re extraordinary rescue operation. they were ready and primed and earlier this evening the first patient arrived. we saw an ambulance raced to this place. they went straight to the main entrance. a short time later a second ambulance arrived. after that helicopter overhead and then another helicopter and those boys were brought into another entrance. we believe they have undergone checks this evening. they had a plan in place for basic checks like blood tests, looking to see if they had picked up any infection in they had picked up any infection in the water. it has been more than a fortnight now since they were trapped in this cave and how they would be plucked to safety looked extremely difficult indeed. but we know tonight four boys are here and they are being looked after. joining me now i

earlier i spoke to our correspondent, nick beake, who is outside the chiang rai hospital, where we believee been taken to. we have seen two ambulances raced into the hospital. we do not know who is inside but we know that the ambulances left the cave complex, which is about an hour away from here, so they have raced along the road to this point. arribas source at the moment for what is happening is the thai navy seals. they have been providing regular updates on their facebook page. they are the people who have been in the cave, taking videos of the boys and posting them. they say that four boys at this stage have been brought to safety from the cave complex. that is the word from them. lots of other reports at the moment, we cannot say for sure whether they are accurate but what we know is that two ambulances are here, and four boys rode to safety according to the elite units spearheading this operation. what are the primary concerns for the health of the children as they are brought to hospital? what sort of plan has been in place? the doctors and nurses here have not been speaking publi

here‘s nick beake. bruised, bewildered and with no idea if their parents are still alive.ow about the ferocity of the flood it unleashed. this man and his wife quietly explain how their one—year—old daughter was swept away. translation: i put my daughter and my wife on a boat. i tried to hold it but the water was very strong and the boat flipped over and my daughter fell into the water. it all happened right before my eyes. it‘s feared as many as 3000 people are still stranded in this part of southern laos. their rooftops now islands in a murky sea of despair. the authorities are reluctant for the world to see this, and so they‘ve banned foreign journalists, but we managed to press on undetected and find more survivors. we‘ve just found this shelter, where hundreds of people are now gathered. they want food, water, blankets and medicine, if they need it. talking to people here, they all tell you the same story. they had very little time to escape. their homes have been destroyed by the flood water and this, now, is the reality of their life. this evening, on the border wit

here's more from our myanmar correspondent nick beake.nce that the rohingya women had endured before they fled to bangladesh. he said this was a humanitarian and human rights nightmare. the short—term priority was for some 200,000 rohingya people in cox's bazaar to be moved to another location, a place of safety, to escape a battering from the monsoon season which continues to hit this place so hard. he called on the international community once again to do more to help these people. he said they are the most persecuted people and they desperately need assistance. in the medium to long time, the priorities are much more difficult to solve. that is trying to bring back the rohingya people to man mark, the place they call home. the united nations said conditions on the ground and rakhine state are simply not right for their safe, sustainable and dignified return. —— bring back the rohingya people to myanmar. i was there last week, i saw the level of animosity from the ethnic rakhine state all, still there, they are buddhists, and they have

our asia correspondent nick beake is at chiang rai hospital for us this morning. ed they would try to get out the four remaining boys and their coach today. the good news is their coach today. the good news is the water level in the cave complex has remained the same as when they embarked on this perilous mission. the first day's operation took 11 hours, the second day took nine hours, the second day took nine hours and they hope to get the remaining boys out today in an even shorter time. everyone hopeful of that. we heard from the medical teams today and they said the boys taken to teams today and they said the boys ta ken to safety first were well. their first words when they were rescued was they were pleased to see theirfamilies, they rescued was they were pleased to see their families, they have rescued was they were pleased to see theirfamilies, they have missed them and they are delighted to be out. the medical team were asked about what the boys wanted to eat, the answer was chocolate but no such luxury at the moment, it is more basic food. we heard the bo

let's speak to our correspondent nick beake, who is in nearby myanmar.damn suddenly give way? simon, we've heard from some of the companies who have been constructing this huge project, five yea rs constructing this huge project, five years in the making, this dam. it was due to open next year and one of the thai companies involved has said that simply there was too much rainwater over the last few days and for some reason, we don't know oi, pa rt for some reason, we don't know oi, part of the dam collapsed. it was not said to be the largest dam but certainly one which was three quarters of a kilometre long, 16 metres high. and so when that broke away yesterday you can imagine people living nearby had very little time to escape the deluge of water that came pouring towards them. and we know that already there are deep concerns for around 100 people who are said to be missing, and we believe that 20 people now are said to have been confirmed dead. real concerns in laos about this disaster. the scale of it is mind—boggling but what about the rescue operati