you're very welcome. day one of the uk general election campaign is in the books after british prime minister rishi sunak called a snap vote for ajuly. party leaders are now embarking on six weeks of intense campaigning. mr sunak attending events in england, wales and scotland today. the conservative leader said only his party offers security and economic stability. the leader of the opposition labour party, sir keir starmer, says voters have the choice between what he called continuing decline and chaos under the governing conservatives, or rebuilding the country under his party. mr sunak�*s conservative party has been in powerfor14 years and opinion polls put it more than 20 points behind labour. our political editor chris mason reports. cheering placards and cheers, and babies getting attention from politicians. keir starmer is quite the fan of visiting lower—league

football grounds in places he hopes labour can win. he was in gillingham, in kent this morning — his deputy with him, too. thank you. whatever service people try and access these days, they find it's like wading through treacle. red cards aren't usually welcome for folk on a football pitch, but expect to see plenty of these in the next month or so, spelling out labour's core message. we've had 1a years of going round and round in circles, getting absolutely nowhere. chaos and division feeding chaos and division. if you want change, you have to vote for it. and if you vote labour, it's a vote to stop the chaos. it's a vote to turn the page, and it's a vote to rebuild our country together. thank you very much, thank you! a general election is about winning seats

and staying in them. rishi sunakjust about managed that in ilkeston, in derbyshire, as he made the case the economy is on the up. inflation down from 11% when i got thisjob, down back to normal, just over 2%. energy bills now falling by hundreds of pounds. wages have been rising by faster than prices for almost ten months now. the conservatives and labour have a very different approach to dealing with people crossing the channel in small boats. labour would scrap the tory plan to send some migrants to rwanda, which rishi sunak claims could make a big difference. how do we stop the boats? well, i'm very clear, it requires bold solutions. that's why we need rwanda. got to make it crystal clear to everybody. if you come to our country illegally, you won't get to stay. but the prime minister told us today he didn't expect anyone to be sent to rwanda before the election.

within hours, mr sunak was at a brewery in barry, in south wales, having a go with the kit. there was then an awkward moment when he said this... are you looking forward to all the football? not so much my bag. wales have not qualified for the euros, the football tournament starting next month. england and scotland have. and talking of scotland, rishi sunak completed his three nation dash today by flying to the highlands. and having a catch up with the scottish conservative leader at the port of nigg, north of inverness. meanwhile, in edinburgh today, the new look scottish national party had their general election launch. on july fourth, independence day, make sure your voice is heard. i expect over the next six

weeks, we'll see the tories and labour really going at it. they'll be going hammer and tongs to discredit each other. i'll also be going hammer and tongs, but not against anyone. i'll be going hammer and tongs to put scotland first. ready? right, cheering — let's go! cheering and in cheltenham, in gloucestershire, the liberal democrats were sorting out their choreography — some in party colours from head to toe. leader ed davey has a phrase we'll hear a fair bit of. a fair deal where everyone can have a decent home that is secure and clean, and affordable, comfortable retirement when the time comes. a fair deal where every child has a decent school, where they can have the opportunity to realise their potential. the next six weeks will involve a fair bit of ticker tape and assorted electioneering paraphernalia. luckily, there are those keen to pick it up. chris mason, bbc news.

two guys in our speaker of the house usjohn —— the speaker of the house that he will host benyamin netanyahu forjoint benyamin netanyahu for joint session. benyamin netanyahu forjoint session. he was speaking at a us embassy event in washington, dc. ., �* a, , _ us embassy event in washington, dc. ., �* ., dc. tonight i'm happy to announce _ dc. tonight i'm happy to announce something - dc. tonight i'm happy to | announce something else dc. tonight i'm happy to - announce something else to you, will be hosting prime minister but net —— benyamin netanyahu joint session of congress. the news comes _ joint session of congress. the news comes days _ joint session of congress. the news comes days after the biden administration suggested it would join congress in sanctioning the international criminal court for judging netanyahu and the criminal court forjudging netanyahu and the minister for defence with war crimes. the us central command says three american troops have suffered what it's calling "noncombat injuries" during the operation to build and operate a pier off the coast of gaza to increase humanitarian aid aid to palestinians. reports say one us serviceman is in critical condition. one was medically evacuated to a hospital in israel and is in

critical condition. says deliveries at the pair have resumed after two days of disruptions due to what it says what truckloads of a being intercepted by palestinians. in the mediterranean a two—storey building collapsed on the spanish island of palma de mallorca, killing at least four people. emergency services is at least 16 others were injured in the incident. local media see the building was a restaurant. the area is normally busy with tourist at this time of year. at least nine people, including a child, were killed after a stage collapsed at a campaign rally in mexico. dozens more were injured in the incident, which occurred as presidential candidate jorge alvarez maynez was delivering a speech in the city of san pedro garza garcia, near monterrey in the northern part of mexico. this is footage of the moment here — where you see the lighting structure come down with people still on the stage. the host of the rally, mr maynez, was not injured in the collapse which he said was caused by a sudden gust of wind.

it comes weeks before mexico's general election on 2june. it's been a deadly campaign cycle, with one mexican political firm reporting that 200 politicians and candidates have been murdered or threatened ahead of votes being cast. our correspondent will grant is in mexico city with the latest. the first thing is how these images of this terrible accident impacted mexicans across the country and, of course, particularly in the state it took place. the huge metal structure that was propping up the awning that was holding the massive screen in—place came down amid these high winds. the candidatejorge alvarez maynez fled the scene as quickly as he possibly could with his entourage, trying to get to safety. and all of that debris went into the audience, went into the crowd, where the majority of the deaths and the injuries took place. more than 120 people were hurt, were

injured and taken to hospitals around the state. now, though, of course in the aftermath questions are being asked about how much was known about the meteorological conditions that caused that terrible incident. the national manager organisation so they had put out a warning about electrical storms and potential hailstorms in the state and the state run water commission also put out a warning several hours before the campaign event was held. mr maynez and the state governor, samuel garcia, say was an unexpected and abnormal events. the president, manuel lopez obrador, has extended his sympathies, of course of the victims, and theirfamilies, victims, and their families, but victims, and theirfamilies, but also made it very clear that an investigation into the circumstances behind the accident will be opened. in solidarity to those who were hurt, the front runner in the

election has cancelled an event in the states and of course mr maynez has cancelled the rest of his campaign events right the way through to the end of this election on 2june. the usjustice department is suing entertainment giant live nation, accusing it of using illegal tactics to maintain a monopoly over the music industry. the us attorney general, merrick garland, made the announcement earlier, arguing the concert promoter and its ticketmaster service has illegally inflated concert ticket prices, and is hurting artists, venues and concertgoers alike. music fans have complained for years about sky—rocketing fees, and have been calling for a re—examination of live nation's purchase of ticketmaster in 2010. here is us attorney—general merrick garland speak about the case on thursday. in recent years live nation ticketmaster exorbitant fees and technical failures have been criticised by fans and artists alike. but we're here today because live nation

ticketmaster conduct is inconvenient or frustrating, we're here because, as allege, that conduct is anti—competitive and illegal. live nation's chief financial officer, joe berchtold, has said the company fundamentally disagrees with the lawsuit. the company has since released an update on its website to break down the lawsuit, saying in part that the doj "ignores everything that is responsible for higher "ticket prices, from rising production costs, "to artist popularity, to 24/7 online ticket scalping "that reveals the. public�*s willingness to pay far more than primary ticket prices. live now to william tong, the attorney general of the state of connecticut and one of the co—plaintiffs in this lawsuit. william tong, thanks for joining us on bbc news. the merger of these two companies was approved 14 years ago also what has changed in the intervening period that has now resulted in you and others taking this lawsuit?- resulted in you and others taking this lawsuit? what we fear taking this lawsuit? what we fenr would — taking this lawsuit? what we fear would happen _ taking this lawsuit? what we fear would happen has - taking this lawsuit? what we - fear would happen has happened.

and live nation ticketmaster has become a dominant behemoth that controls 80% of primary ticketing for major concert venues. they manage 400 artist, they control 265 plus major venues in this country, they just grew and grew and grew and they gobbled up their competitors and now everybody knows they are a monopoly, which is why connecticut and 28 other states and the district of columbia, including democrats and republicans have joined the department of justice today.— joined the department of justice today. joined the department of justice toda . ., ., justice today. live nation says is artists are _ justice today. live nation says is artists are responsible - justice today. live nation says is artists are responsible for. is artists are responsible for setting the ticket prices and it can't force artist to charge lower prices or ban them from dynamic pricing, especially as for many now concert tickets are a major revenue source for others. you're shaking your head. , . , ., ., head. these offences hold no water. live _ head. these offences hold no water. live nation _ head. these offences hold no water. live nation are - water. live nation are ticketmaster controlled the entire stack, the entire transaction life—cycle from the

van all the way down to the venue. so if they are going to blame artists, for example, well, they promote the artist, they control that part of the market, they represent the artist, if they are going to blame venues, they own and control the venues. they own 60 out of 100 of the major epithet is in this country. if they're going to blame ticketing, well, they control the ticketing infrastructure and they are the ones who load on the cost of fees like ticketing fees, processing fees. you know, they lard on many different fees along the way thatjcpaa of a ticket from, say, $90 or 100 and —— $100 you $125 or $150. ticketmaster is responsible all these costs because they are a monopoly. what they not responsible for a single scalping or people who are prepared to go on these reselling websites and pay whatever money they have.

whatever they do to go to these concerts. how does the lawsuit address that or is a need for legislative changes alongside it? that is just in this direction. that is ticketmaster and live nation trying to point the finger somewhere else at somebody else, we're not talking about the secondary market. we document the primary market. we document the primary market and we're about ticketmaster and live nation's absolute dominance in this space. by the way, it would interest you and your audience to know that ticketmaster and live nation are now moving into the secondary market, so they're not content controlling they're not content controlling the primary market, now they are offering their own secondary market or ticket scalping product to pick up on tickets that have been sold after they were released by ticketmaster. figs after they were released by ticketmaster.— after they were released by ticketmaster. as early, at a bare minimum, _ ticketmaster. as early, at a bare minimum, you - ticketmaster. as early, at a bare minimum, you were i ticketmaster. as early, at a - bare minimum, you were looking for ticketmaster to be split out from live nation and minimum, you are looking for them to miss zettel —— mooga

daily. what would that achieve for people looking for better value tickets?— for people looking for better value tickets? competition. it would reintroduce _ value tickets? competition. it. would reintroduce competition. we live in this fishbowl that is completely dominated by live nation and ticketmaster and they control the entire ecosystem in this fishbowl. and so if we decouple ownership and management events use and the management events use and the management and promoting of artists from the ticketing then they can't use all of the various levels to hold people in this fishbowl. so, for example, if you are an artist and you want to play big venues then you have to play by ticketmaster's rules because they control the venues and if you want to play the venues and you want to play the venues and you are managed by ticketmaster are live nation you have to use ticketmaster's ticketing technology. so basically they hold us all in this fishbowl.

we are captive in what is known in anti—trust terms as a competitive mode. they build this mode around us and we can't get out, we have no choice. ~ , can't get out, we have no choice-— can't get out, we have no choice. ~ , ., , choice. well, this lawsuit will be closely — choice. well, this lawsuit will be closely watched _ choice. well, this lawsuit will be closely watched across - choice. well, this lawsuit will| be closely watched across the us and indeed around the world. i'm sure we will be talking to you again. william tong, attorney generalfor the you again. william tong, attorney general for the state of connecticut. they should talking to us on bbc news. thank you so much. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a ten—year—old girl who died in a mudslide in north yorkshire has been named as leah harrison from darlington. herfamily have paid tribute to her as a "happy and bubbly" little girl. her school called it a heartbreaking tragedy. the mudslide happened at carlton—in—cleveland wednesday afternoon during a school trip. cabinet secretary simon case told the covid inquiry that downing street was "definitely dysfunctional" during the pandemic. he also said messages criticising borisjohnson

and colleagues were "raw, in the moment" expressions and not the reality of the government's pandemic response. mr case sent whatsapps saying mrjohnson "cannot lead" and calling officials "pygmies" at the height of the pandemic. he told the inquiry he "deeply regretted" the messages. rishi sunak�*s flagship bill to ban smoking for anyone born after 2009 looks likely to be shelved. parliament will be suspended friday for the campaign and all legislation that isn't already passed automatically gets dropped — regardless of who wins. sunak faced backlash over the bill from his own conservative party. labour previously pledged to bring in the ban if they win the general election. you are likely bbc news. lawmakers in the us state of louisiana passed legislation to designate two abortion pills as they just controlled substances on the first in the nation to do so. the law would categorise them as schedule for drugs, putting them in the same category as ambien and xanax, which are considered to have potential for abuse or potentialfor abuse or dependence.

potential for abuse or dependence. possession of the drugs, which can be used for abortions, can result in thousands of dollars in fines orjail time. the bill now heads to governorjeff landry to be signed into law. joining me live to discuss this is emergency medicine doctor dr jennifer l avegno, head of the new orleans health department. thanks forjoining us. you wrote a letter, you another louisiana physicians, wrote a letter expressing your concern. possible, can you to us what is a controlled substance, in general, what is the classification mean? sure, thank you- _ classification mean? sure, thank you. a _ classification mean? sure, thank you. a controlled i thank you. a controlled dangerous substance is a list of drugs that are considered to have a high risk of abuse or dependence or addict give properties or are a public health hazard. they are categorised into various schedules depending on the degree of risk. these are drugs

that are opioids, as you mentioned, schedule for drugs, which these would now be placed in, things like valium, xanax and tramadol, things we know have a very high risk for abuse and dependence. mifepristone and dependence. mifepristone and misoprostol. do and dependence. mifepristone and misoprostol.— and dependence. mifepristone and misoprostol. do not. what uses they _ and misoprostol. do not. what uses they have _ and misoprostol. do not. what uses they have beyond - and misoprostol. do not. what. uses they have beyond abortion? in a state like louisiana where they have been on sale for mr mccredie's, they used every day in routine medical care for miscarriage management, for safe labour and childbirth, uterine haemorrhage following childbirth, they also have several non— obstetric users, things like gi ulcers and endocrine users as well. these are drugs that are routinely prescribed, they are very, very safe, and they are critical for high—quality maternal healthcare. so high-quality maternal healthcare.— high-quality maternal healthcare. ., healthcare. so what did you think then _ healthcare. so what did you think then is _ healthcare. so what did you think then is going - healthcare. so what did you think then is going to - healthcare. so what did you think then is going to be . healthcare. so what did you | think then is going to be the

impact of characterising them as a controlled substance as is going to be the case if and when the governor sizes into law? , ., ., �* , when the governor sizes into law? , ., ., �*, ., law? first of all, it's a really _ law? first of all, it's a really dangerous - law? first of all, it's a - really dangerous precedent. these are not dangerous substances. there is no evidence they have any risk of abuse or dependence. as you can imagine, ouraddiction abuse or dependence. as you can imagine, our addiction medicine physicians were quite concerned about this because it really goes against everything they try to do when they treat addiction. calling them dangerous when they are not dangerous when they are not dangerous really is a slippery slope that any medication that a legislator might not like could suddenly be called dangerous if we are divorcing this from any medical basis to do so. practically what is going to create is additional barriers for patients being able to access these medications in a safe, timely manner. meaning there are additional hurdles in order to get prescriptions, together build on both the provider and the pharmacy level and i think the pharmacy level and i think the most damning thing is that

any time we mislabelled something as dangerous that creates fear and confusion among patients. if a patient has been given one of these drugs to facilitate a safe, healthy childbirth and they have been told that's dangerous that sets of a real fear and misunderstanding between them and their provider and that means the doctor can't practice medicine the way they were trained. ., , , , ., trained. now, this bill, be law if the governor _ trained. now, this bill, be law if the governor sizes, - trained. now, this bill, be law if the governor sizes, will - trained. now, this bill, be law if the governor sizes, will see | if the governor sizes, will see anyone possessing these drugs without a valid prescription could those fines, possibly jail time, could those fines, possibly jailtime, but could those fines, possibly jail time, but there will be an exemption for pregnant women. as you said, how would individuals come to have these drugs without prescriptions? well, i'lljust say, there are an awful lot of medications that individuals get without a prescription. we see that all the time in the emergency department and elsewhere, whether it is something like viagra, whether it's something like a particular pain pill or

people taking their friends�*s antibiotics. that in and of itself is perhaps not the best medical care, but that does not mean that those drugs are dangerous, nor does it mean that they have the potential for abuse. this will not — and i have almost 300 physicians were willing to put their voice to this you will say this will not stop individuals who choose to water these pills for abortions online, but what it will do is what really concerns physicians and that his interfere with a legitimate practice of legal and safe healthcare. so for us this is not about abortion, this is about being able to take care of our patients in the best way we can. �* , , , we can. and 'ust briefly, doctor. h we can. and 'ust briefly, doctor. if_ we can. and just briefly, doctor, if this _ we can. and just briefly, doctor, if this comes - we can. and just briefly, doctor, if this comes to | we can. and just briefly, - doctor, if this comes to pass and individuals are afraid to take these drugs or, indeed, physicians are afraid to prescribe them to their patients, what practical impacts could that have for

certain pregnant women or, indeed, those were miscarrying? certainly any delay or barriers to care leads to worse outcomes. so that woman who is miscarrying who can't get the medication is afraid to take it, her risk of having a further complication, haemorrhage, sepsis, infidelity with that miscarriage automatically goes up. and certainly not a way to improve our notoriously poor maternal health outcomes. it also contributes to the chilling effect on physicians that started when louisiana enacted legislation to criminalise physicians who performed abortions and what we're seeing is that leading to physicians not choosing to stay and practice in the state. when we have no more obs, we are in a much worse position than we are right now. much worse position than we are riaht now. , right now. 0k, we believe it riaht right now. 0k, we believe it right now- _ right now. 0k, we believe it right now. dr _ right now. 0k, we believe it right now. dr jennifer - right now. 0k, we believe it right now. drjennifer l- right now. drjennifer l avegno, head of the new orleans health department, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. —— we will leave it there. forjoining us on bbc news. -- we will leave it there.- we will leave it there. thank

ou. china launched two days of military exercises around taiwan. china's military release these images of the bills. the taiwanese military said for the first time the drills have stimulated a full—scale attack as opposed to previous drills simulating an economic blockade. the first time chinese exercises targeted east of taiwan. china sees taiwan as part of its territory and insists it should be unified with china's mainland. taiwan sees itself as distinct. so one's newly inaugurated president, william knight, called on china to stoppers is frozen except the existence of his democracy. china has dispatched naval air, ground forces. while lewis has no official close to taiwan it has a law requiring it to provide the island with the means to defend itself. one us representative spoke to the bbc earlier about the risk of escalation.—

earlier about the risk of escalation. ~ .., ~' escalation. welcome i think when you — escalation. welcome i think when you have _ escalation. welcome i think when you have close - escalation. welcome i think. when you have close proximity of military assets from the chinese cabinet party with taiwan air assets, for instance, in what's called the air identification zone, the ato said, well, you can have a potential accident, you can have deaths, you can have injuries, i'djust have deaths, you can have injuries, i'd just don't think thatis injuries, i'd just don't think that is — that doesn't make any sense. it would be something thatis sense. it would be something that is unnecessary and i would just urge everybody to do what william lie said in his inaugural address which is let us keep the status quo and resolve all differences peacefully. finally, dazzling new images of the cosmos to share with you. european space agency says its telescope sent back the largest images of the universe ever taken from space. they captured vast new areas of this guy in unprecedented detail. euclid has a wide field of view in

contrast to the fussing james webb telescope. astronomers say the images are at least four times sharper than those captured using ground—based telescopes. that telescope launched less than a year ago. fabulous images there. thanks for watching. stay with us here on bbc news. take care. hello there. conditions look a lot better for the next couple of days. we should see more sunshine around, lighterwinds, so it should feel a bit warmer as well. friday, it's an improving picture — we should see sunshine breaking through across many areas. and for most areas, it should be dry, just a few showers across northern areas. now, this area of low pressure is continuing to weaken, and the rain is fizzling out, so there'll be barely anything on this weather fronts across scotland, northern england, as we move through friday morning. should see plenty of sunshine developing across southern areas, and some holes appearing in that cloud further north. just the odd shower dotted around, but many places will stay dry. temperatures responding, as well — lighter winds, more sunshine, 19 celsius, maybe 20 celsius, in the south, high teens further north. as we head through friday night, it looks like skies

will clear pretty widely, so it will turn chillier. just the odd shower across scotland, a bit more cloud here — so i think double figure—values in much of scotland and northern ireland, single figures for large parts of england and wales. so, into the bank holiday weekend, it's starting off fine and settled on saturday for most areas, and then, we'll start to see sunshine and showers through sunday and bank holiday monday. we've got this weather front encroaching in slowly during the weekend — but ahead of it, plenty of sunshine around. will be a chilly start, little bit of mist and fog around. this feature moving in from the continent could bring some cloud and rains east anglia, eastern england, and then, later in the day, this weather front moves its way into southwest england. but plenty of sunshine across the country, just the chance of an odd shower. a much warmer 20 celsius for many areas, up to 22 in the southeast. now, as we head into sunday, this weather front starts to cross the country, destabilising the atmosphere. it'll be one of sunshine and showers, i think — and through the afternoon, some of these showers could turn out to be heavy

and thundery, some local torrential downpours in places. temperature—wise, because a bit more cloud around and some showers, i think we're looking at highs of 18—19 celsius. and then, through bank holiday monday, again, sunshine and showers — probably the heaviest of the showers on monday will be across the northern half of the country, a bit more of a breeze as well coming in from the west. so, temperatures 16—17 celsius i think for many places. and then, for the upcoming week, i think it stays fairly unsettled — low pressure always close by, showers or longer spells of rain. however, there will still be some decent spells of sunshine at times. take care.

the usjustice department is suing live nation, alleging the ticketmaster parent is suffocating competition. formula e, the f1 of electric cars, returns to china this weekend. we speak to the ceo just ahead. hello and a warm welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. to our top story today — entertainment company live nation's stock slipped nearly 8% on wall street after the us department ofjustice sued the parent company of ticketmaster, calling it a monopoly and accusing it of

violating antitrust laws. our north america business correspondent erin delmore has all the details. 14 years ago, us government approved the merger with ticketmaster. since then live and nation has grown into a powerhouse putting on concerts, selling tickets, owning venues and representing hundreds of artists. the government is suing it now calling it a monopoly that uses its various footholds to enrich itself and squash competition. in a press conference on thursday the attorney general merrick garland pointed to the exorbitant fees and technological failures that have angered concert—goers and artists and called the company's conduct anti—competitive and illegal saying it is time to break it up. our complaint makes it clear what happens when a monopolist dedicates resources to entrenching monopoly power and insulating itself from competition rather than investing in better products and services. we allege that live nation has

illegally monopolised markets across the live concert industry in the united states