victoria gill has more. >> the whole argument about the lab leak theory kind of became more politicizedn scientific. there was a world health organization investigation, the tone of their dismissal of the theory was criticized, then it became politicized and a blame game between the u.s. and china, each trying to blame the other. get back to the evidence. when they examine the evidence withll of the knowledge we have, that people would have been wandering around these communities possibly a symptomatically, with a mild cold, that it would have been spreading. when you gather up all of the data and information, you see it centers on the lab. what they are hoping is the scrutiny of the evidence will point us back to where the scientific data leads us rather than for it to get mired in politics. it is only by understanding what happened that we can figure out how to stop something as terrible as this from happening again. >> victoria gill reporting on new research of the origins of covid-19. in the u.k., the latest tv debate between the candidates who want to be prime minister was canceled

victoria gill, bbc news.ened in australia. kylie minogue and jason donovan returned for the show, offering viewers "the perfect blend" of tear—jerking nostalgia from the programme's heyday. 0ur australia correspondent shaimaa khaliljoins us from melbourne. # neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours...# it was the soundtrack for a soap opera generation. guess what? well, you're talking to me at any rate. and a tv show that turned australian suburbia... g'day. ..into a global success. you might not recognise the name, but if you have been watching neighbours over the years, you will definitely know where we are. it is the famous ramsay street, the home of the soap. neighbours became a massive hit in the late �*80s and the early �*90s, and while many australians loved it... i'm talking to you, madge mitchell, ramsay, whatever your name is. ..it was britain where it really took off. 0h, someone else to... i couldn't walk down the street, particularly in the uk. you would just be mobbed and chased. of course, i

victoria gill, bbc news. detail in our business coverage because the farming, agricultural community across europe has been impacted seriously by the wildfires. what does that mean for fresh produce? we will discuss that a little later. now, let us look at some other news. president putin was my second foreign trip to dutton since the invasion of ukraine. two countries targeted by western sanctions. at least 20 people, most of them women and children who did not know how to swim, died when their boat capsized in the indus river in central pakistan. the overloaded vessel was ferrying more than 100 members of an extended family to a wedding. the bridegroom was among those who were rescued. it's not clear if the bride survived. in the us, the jury selection has begun in the trial of steve bannon, the former close aide to donald trump. he faces charges of criminal contempt of congress for refusing to cooperate with the investigation into the storming of the capitol by trump supporters last year. sri lanka's actin

victoria gill reporting there on the new research on the origins of covid 19.in the uk, the latest tvo be prime minister —liz truss and rishi sunak— was cancelled, after the presenterfainted on air. the sun and talktv debate, hosted byjournalist kate mccann, was abruptly halted around halfway through — after a loud crash was heard. talktv said mccann was "fine" but the channel had been given medical advice not to continue. on twitter, both candidates extended their sympathies to the host. the debate had covered tax, the state of the nhs and the rising cost of living. former president donald trump is back here in washington today, making a keynote speech — it's the first time he's been in the nation's capital since he left on the morning ofjoe biden�*s inauguration. that was just days after mr trump's supporters attacked the us capitol. for more, let's go now to the bbc�*s north america correspondent nomia iqbal who's outside the venue where mr trump has been speaking. mrtrump speaking mr trump speaking just a mile and a half away from the us capital, which his supporters sacked. did h

our science correspondent victoria gill has more.test day. and the mercury is still rising. the unprecedented temperatures above a0 degrees forecast in england have been fuelled by climate change. they are, scientists say, a taste of things to come. we really need to pay attention because we can see things going wrong already. we can see that there are health impacts from this heatwave, and our infrastructure is struggling and how uncomfortable it is to live with this type of heat, so we need to pay attention and move things on really quite a lot faster in terms of our planning. it's notjust humans feeling the heat. chester zoo is closed because of high temperatures for the first time in its 90—year history. species—specific cooling measures include frozen fruit for the chimpanzees. and as many of us struggle to keep cool, conservationists are worried about the impacts on nature. more hot days and drought, the wildlife trust says, means its nature reserves risk wildfires and other lasting impacts on important habitat. this moss peatl

let's speak to our science correspondent victoria gill. erms of why this has been reached now, was their new evidence that came to light or how did they come to this conclusion? it is more about re—examining all the initial evidence and also building on what we know about the virus now, that has taken us to enact years of understanding how it can spread and what species it can be transmitted to the understanding that many are acing to medical have mild symptoms. 0bviously that affects how an initial outbreak pans out in a busy city. it is a big puzzle, the initial outbreak, the virus that causes covid—i9, so what the scientist have done is take all that evidence and look at some and look at again what was probably the cause of the initial outbreaks. 0ne at again what was probably the cause of the initial outbreaks. one of these papers looks at that early patient data. that is something we heard a lot about in the initial outbreak in wuhan, these cases of patients that had this very mysterious chest infection, or hospitalise with it because

here's our science correspondent victoria gill.es are having on landscapes like this. we know that ice sheets in greenland, in antarctica losing ice mass, and that mass goes to the ocean, increasing sea level. what impact is that going to have in our coastal communities, in places like this? of course, i have to say that coastline is always changing, theyjust do. but climate change and specifically sea level rise will enhance those changes. so erosion and other processes, we will always have them, even if in a historical context. but the scale, rate and impact will change, and it will change dramatically quite soon. the rate of sea level rise, this report confirms, is accelerating, exposing more of our coastal communities to storm surges and flooding. many of us felt the heat recently, and we've seen the damage that extreme temperatures can do. but when it comes to climate change, nature, researchers say, can help us to adapt. back in 2018, seven square miles at the top of this moorland, — this is winter hill behind me — was ablaze

victoria gill, bbc news.to the ongoing drought affecting the horn of africa. merchuma reports from the tsavo national park in kenya, where poor rainy seasons have seen rivers drying up and grasslands have shriveled in the game reserves. a bone here, a jaw there, ribs scattered around, these are the remains of an elephant. in the last few months, such scenes have been found by rangers in kenya's largest park, the tsavo. for the last about 30 minutes we have been following a really, really strong stench. the rangers say that stench will lead us to a carcass. this is the carcass of an elephant and it is still fresh. maybe a few days' old. it is nowjust pieces of bones and some flesh remaining. kenya and the larger horn of africa is going through the worst drought in a0 years. there have been four failed rain seasons. the situation has become unforgiving even to the giants of the animal kingdom. climate change kills 20 times more elephant than poaching, so it is a red alarm. total across the country, elephants di

our science correspondent victoria gill has this report.eat, scientists say, is being fuelled by climate change. this type of heatwave is very worrying, and it is a little bit of a taste of things to come. we're expecting heatwaves to be more intense, to have these very high temperatures and to be longer, last longer, and be more frequent. with our shifting weather patterns, conservationists are concerned about wildfires and other lasting impacts on nature. this looks so dry. peat should be wet. it shouldn't be like this. this moss peatland in the north west of england should be saturated. the team here says that climate change is degrading this precious peatland mud, and that that will have knock—on effects for our environment. it's the change in weather pattern, so we're getting more and more periods of little rainfall or no rainfall. and because of that, then, you know, we're talking nearly a metre, probably even further down, which is actually dry peat. and peat should be wet. peat should be wet. we should have sphagnum on top of it, th

victoria gill, bbc news. your questions on the heatwave. you can send them in to us by tweeting — using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or by emailing them to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk conservative mps will vote today on the last four candidates who are left in the running to be the next party leader — and the country's next prime minister. 0ur political correspondent ione wells reports. tom tugendhat is eliminated from the election. the other candidates are able to go forward. another day, another vote. the list of who could be the next prime minister is now down to four. it was a good night for the former chancellor, rishi sunak. he made gains, with more mps choosing to back him. less so for penny mordaunt, who lost a supporter, but she's still in second place. good morning. the foreign secretary, liz truss, is eyeing up that spot, though, making seven gains last night. not as many gains as kemi badenoch, though. her team thinks she has the momentum over liz truss and penny mordaunt, after making nine gains, de

victoria gill, bbc news.eader gotabaya rajapaksa fled the country and resigned last week over the economic crisis. the country's parliament will vote for a new leader tomorrow. we now have this report. the tea leaves picked here end up in cups across the world. these lush fields are home to sri lanka's biggest export, but they've been badly hit by this unprecedented economic crisis. "our leaders aren't bothered about providing us with the basic "necessities," he says. "they're the ones who have put us in debt by stealing "dollars and spending them however they want. "right now, sri lanka is like a ship stranded at sea." across sri lanka, there are huge queues waiting forfuel, with much of the country grinding to a halt. anger on the streets has already led to the ousting of the president. in factories, there's frustration. tea exports bring in dollars vital in keeping the economy afloat, but production has been falling. tea has been grown and produced in sri lanka for the past 150 years. the industry employs

here's our science correspondent victoria gill.astal communities to storm surges and flooding. many of us felt the heat recently, and we've seen the damage that extreme temperatures can do. but when it comes to climate change, nature, researchers say, can help us to adapt. back in 2018, seven square miles at the top of this moorland, this is winter hill behind me, was ablaze in a wildfire about this time of year. but the restoration work that's going on here is holding water in that moor. so, it's helping to offset the impacts of climate change like flooding, but also restoring that peatland and that whole ecosystem. the flow of water here is slowed by these willow branches, which keep it up in the moorland rather than running off the hill and flooding towns. ok, so this is the leaky dam. so these are leaky dams, the natural flood management, which the aim is to hold the water, to slow it down. just to slow that flow. 0k. you can really, you can see it working and see the water flowing. you can, you get a really great view from top

victoria gill, bbc news.ms across the channel in mainland europe. we talked about wildfires in the midlands that they have seen terrible ones in some parts of southern europe. in southwest france, thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes as firefighters continue to tackle blazes along the atlantic coast. dozens of fires continue in spain with official data saying the amount of land burnt so far this year is already the most in the last ten years. that gives you a sense of the scale of what they are dealing with. one man here who has already had a busy morning is the manager. hats? man here who has already had a busy morning is the manager.— man here who has already had a busy morning is the manager. how are you? i am nood, morning is the manager. how are you? i am good. thank _ morning is the manager. how are you? i am good, thank you. _ morning is the manager. how are you? i am good, thank you. you _ morning is the manager. how are you? i am good, thank you. you are - morning is the manager.

victoria gill, bbc news.ss for many parents at this time of year, and a london charity is trying to reduce the cost. the swap shop in romford was previously only available to those who'd been referred to the charity. but with recent rises in the cost, the charity says even working families are struggling. the cost of living crisis is affecting everybody, notjust someone who is on benefits or someone that is on a low income. i am a single parent myself so the fact that i have this opportunity is massive. a cross—party group of mps and peers are calling on the government to speed up its monkeypox vaccination programme. the group will meet with ministers today. they also want to see more financial support for sexual health clinics experiencing a higher demand for services. up to 7,000 fans will be able to watch the euro 2022 final, which is going to be shown on a big screen in traflagar square. england will take on either france or germany at wembley stadium on sunday at 5 o'clock after thrashing sweden in the s