�* high, because high, because [eh high, because this race is so tiht. this — high, because this race is so tight. this could - — high, because this race is so tight. this could be | this race is so tight. this could be the most significant moment of the campaign so farand the most significant moment of the campaign so far and set the tone for months to come. a week from now we'll have the general election exit poll — the first indication of how the uk has voted. tonight, we'll look at what the polls so far suggest and why many are still being cautious about believing them. and he's given it. and disappointment for england, thrashed by india in the t20 world cup semifinal. and stay with us here on bbc news for continuing coverage and analysis from our team of correspondents in the uk and around the world. in april, five people, including a seven—year—old girl called sara, died in the sea off northern france.

she had suffocated beneath a crush of bodies inside an inflatable boat. the bbc�*s andrew harding was on the beach when it happened. since then, he's been investigating sara's story, and hunting for the people smugglers who organised her family's trip. that investigation has taken him from migrant camps around calais, to belgium and beyond. but finally he and his team did manage to track down and confront the man responsible for organising that small—boat crossing. this is his story. excuse me, sir. andrew harding from bbc news. we've come to luxembourg to confront a man we've been chasing across europe. we know who you are, you're a smuggler. no. he's responsible for putting hundreds of people in small boats heading from france to england. and responsible for one boat in particular. this one. we came across it back in april

on a beach in northern france. police battling with a group of smugglers. chaos as people clambered onto the boat. we saw a girl here in a pink coat. she was one of five to die at the scene. her name was sara, seven years old, born in belgium, raised in sweden. a few days later, we found her father, ahmed, an iraqi man consumed by grief — and also by guilt. but what of the smugglers? multiple sources tell us the man paid to arrange sara's journey is still active and working from a distant city. so we've come now to antwerp, a city in northern belgium, to try and track down the smuggler, the man who organised the boat and who, to some extent, was responsible for sara's death. and so we set a trap.

one of our team poses here as a migrant looking to cross the channel. wearing a hidden camera, he goes to meet a middleman in antwerp. someone who can put us in touch with the smuggler. and the plan works. we are now waiting for the smuggler to call us. he's just sent us a text message, so it could be any moment now. finally, he does call. believing he's talking to a potential client, he offers us seats on his next boat. so, the smuggler is still in business. but he's not in belgium any more. we now hear he may be on the run, that he's heading to luxembourg — and we're in pursuit. we've received a photo and video suggesting he's hiding in some sort of camp.

an online search directs us to this migrant reception centre in the city of luxembourg. our new plan is a stakeout. we've been watching for three whole days now. still no sign of him. but by now we have more evidence. this photo of the smuggler and his passport. he's called rebwar, from iraq. and then we catch this glimpse of him inside the camp. and a few hours later, we're racing to catch him outside. that's my colleague ahead of me, in black. we know who you are, you're a smuggler. no. he insists we have the wrong man. "i swear it," he says. do you want to call him? just check that he's got the same number that we've been calling. but then we call him on his mobile. the same number he used when he offered to smuggle us to england. who are you? so he's answering the phone.

we know that this is you, sir. we know 100% that you are a smuggler. that you are responsible for the death of this seven—year—old, that you put her on a boat, that you took money from her parents, that she and four other people died. that's you. we know this is our man. he's getting on a tram now. we're going to let him go. there's not much more we can do. so, he leaves. and while we don't follow him, we do inform the french authorities, who've declined to comment. as for the family sara left behind, they're being housed temporarily in this tiny french village. ahmed has claimed that hiring a smuggler was his only option. true or not, he now says he's learned a hard lesson. "the smugglers only care about money," he says. "i hope they'll be arrested and my daughter's death will not be in vain." but his other children have no

access to school here and no idea what comes next. what do you miss most? to have, like, a normal life, like everybody. that's what you miss? do you think you will have one soon? where do you think? in england. i'm sorry. but there's little chance of that right now. her sister's body has been buried here in france. but this grieving family has no permission to settle anywhere in europe. instead, they wait in limbo while the smuggling industry thrives. andrew is here. it was clearly a difficult process

but you found that people smuggler. why can't the french police do that? they are trying, all they are telling us at the moment is that investigation is ongoing. more generally i would say in their defence, the french, the germans and other police forces are making successful arrests, they are breaking up some gangs, they are, for instance, stopping some inflatable boats shipments reaching the coast that are used by the smugglers, but is it enough? are enough resources being administered? that is an open question. what we found in our investigation is that these are smuggling gangs are very spread out, very loose networks, in multiple countries, often with a boss somewhere really hard to get to, like iraq, and i think it's also worth pointing out that this is a demand driven industry, that as long as you have thousands of families, you seem they are ready for whatever reason, to take the risk and get into a small boat in their determination to reach britain, you

will have smugglers there to help supply that. will have smugglers there to help surmly that-— supply that. what about sara's famil , supply that. what about sara's family. they — supply that. what about sara's family, they were _ supply that. what about sara's family, they were in _ supply that. what about sara's family, they were in limbo. - supply that. what about sara'sl family, they were in limbo. still supply that. what about sara's - family, they were in limbo. still in limbo and this _ family, they were in limbo. still in limbo and this is _ family, they were in limbo. still in limbo and this is where _ family, they were in limbo. still in limbo and this is where real- limbo and this is where real complexity comes into this and shows how difficult it is to come up with simple solutions, because the fact is that their father ahmed came here to europe 15 years ago, it's taken 15 years for him to go through the asylum process and finally to be told, no, you have to leave, at which point he took this step in a small boat. in the meantime in those 15 years he got married, life went on, he has three kids, he has two off them still and the focus now whatever you think about the parents and the choices they made and the risks they put their family and, you have two children grown up in europe and they are in limbo.— and they are in limbo. andrew hardin , and they are in limbo. andrew harding, thank _ and they are in limbo. andrew harding, thank you. _ joe biden and donald trump are about to go head—to—head tonight, in their first televised debate ahead of the the presidential election in november. it's being held unusually early this year.

neither candidate has been officially named as the nominee for their party. the debate also comes just two weeks before mr trump is sentenced following his conviction for 3h counts of falsifying business records. our north america editor sarah smith is at cnn's studios in atlanta, georgia, now. why is this debate being held so early? well, it was in factjoe biden who challenged donald trump over social media to do it now. he wants to have this debate early because he wants to concentrate voters' mines on the choice in front of them, to show them that if they don't vote for him they could get donald trump, and he hopes that contrast might improve his poor poll ratings but that entirely depends on how he performs tonight. two old men whom the voters already know very well — well enough to say they really don't like the choice they're being given. and each man now is hoping to make his opponent look even worse. the campaigns try to weaponise what they see as their opponent's greatest wea kness.

social media's flooded with images ofjoe biden looking old and infirm, along with claims he's also mentally incompetent. images unfairly taken out of context, complain the biden campaign. i think he should take a cognitive test like i did. i took a cognitive test and i aced it. doc ronny. . . doc ronnyjohnson. .. it was doc ronny jackson who gave him that cognitive test. democrats love to disseminate trump's verbal slips and more bizarre statements. if there was a shark or you get electrocuted, i'll take electrocution every single time. # start me up # if you start me up, i'll never stop. # the rolling stones don't stop. currently touring america, they're also in their 80s — just about as old as the candidates. their age has not withered fans�* enthusiasm outside the gig in philadelphia, but many are worried president biden is too old for another term. i think we just do need

some new candidates, some young candidates. nobody talks about his policies or what he's doing. theyjust talk about the fact that he's walking around confused half the time. that's why they call him sleepyjoe. he's too old. but donald trump is only four years younger. if you look at the two, i there's no comparison. so donald trump may be as old, but he's not...he doesn't act- as old, he doesn't act as feeble. he's...it'sjust different, i think. his agility is not a 27—year—old kid. no, it's not. he's a senior citizen. but he is smart. he knows what he's doing. he's experienced. i've got confidence in him so far. in the courtroom, we see donald trump for who he is. he's been convicted of 34 felonies. democrats hoped a series of guilty verdicts against donald trump would repel voters. so far, it has not had a huge impact on the polls. for some of the independents, it might make a little - bit of a difference, _ maybe just around the margins that matters, but it's a close race, - so that margin might actually come

to play come november. what happens here tonight will be the most pivotal moment yet in this campaign, and could define the race from now on. now, joe biden has been preparing for this for days, with one of his team standing on us donald trump in mock rehearsals. he is practising what to say about policy, but also how to respond to any potential attacks from donald trump. mr trump has been boasting he doesn't feel the need to do any rehearsing but in recent days what he has been doing is attacking the cnn anchors who are going to be moderating the debate tonight, saying they are biased against him, he has been accusing joe biden with no evidence of using performance enhancing drugs to make him look more energetic and he's been hinting he might announce who his vice presidential candidate could be any day now, maybe today, and that suggests he's not quite as confident that it will got all go

his way tonight as he might want us to believe. it his way tonight as he might want us to believe. ,., , his way tonight as he might want us to believe. , . ,. . you can watch the cnn presidential debate live here on bbc one, the iplayer and bbc news. you'll have to stay up late though — the special coverage starts from 1am. a channel 4 investigation filmed a canvasser for reform uk apparently saying that migrants crossing the channel should be used as "target practice" and using racist language about the prime minister. nigel farage has condemned the campaigners, some of whom also made these homophobic comments about a rainbow flag. the car has a pride flag on its bonnet. hannah miller is in westminster. tell us more about what's been filmed for channel 4.—

tell us more about what's been filmed for channel 4. nigel farage first described _ filmed for channel 4. nigel farage first described those _ filmed for channel 4. nigel farage first described those comments i filmed for channel 4. nigel faragel first described those comments you heard they're as crass, but when pushed did say that they could be described as homophobic. tonight, he said that none of those who've been filmed by channel 4 news will be welcome to work on his campaign in clacton in the future, but this isn't the first time that he has had to defend himself or respond to offensive comments that have been made by people associated with his party. i'm going to show you some comments that were broadcast by channel 4 news, filmed by them, of a man identified as andrew parker, who appears to be a volunteer out canvassing. this is what he had to say about the prime minister. i've wiz been a tory voter. what's annoying — i've wiz been a tory voter. what's annoying me is bleep. he isjust wet _ annoying me is bleep. he is “ust wet. ~ ., ~ annoying me is bleep. he is “ust wet. ~ . ~ . . , wet. mr parker also made these

comments- _ nigel farage has described those comments is very prejudiced and wrong and said mr parker will not be welcome to work on his campaign in the coming week. andrew parker said he hadn't previously discussed his personal views with representatives from reform uk and apologised if they have brought the party into disrepute. nigel farage has suggested already that comments such as this, as people hear about them, may have an impact on people. a willingness to vote for his party. this is his eighth time trying to become an mp and he wants to distance himself from this kind of comments. we distance himself from this kind of commem— distance himself from this kind of comments. ~ . ., . ., comments. we can hear from much of our share and — comments. we can hear from much of our share and he _ comments. we can hear from much of our share and he says _ comments. we can hear from much of our share and he says he _ comments. we can hear from much of our share and he says he is _ comments. we can hear from much of our share and he says he is sorry - comments. we can hear from much of our share and he says he is sorry if- our share and he says he is sorry if anybody has been offended. a lot our share and he says he is sorry if anybody has been offended. a lot of what has been _

anybody has been offended. a lot of what has been said _ anybody has been offended. a lot of what has been said is _ anybody has been offended. a lot of what has been said is nonsense, - anybody has been offended. a lot of| what has been said is nonsense, just the way people talk. where i find people who are genuinely offensive, i deal people who are genuinely offensive, ideal with them. could the election next week see a resurgent liberal democrat party? most opinion polls suggest that the lib dems could once again become the third largest party in the house of commons. they won just 11 seats in 2019, but their leader, ed davey, is hopeful that the party is finally turning a corner. our political editor, chris mason, went to meet him on the campaign trail. marple bridge in greater manchester. hanging around is all part of the thing, covering a general election. that is, unless you've arrived in the nick of time. we're just catching up a bit. this bedraggled reporter in a creased suit finds himself on an impromptu hike, chasing the leader of the liberal democrats. ed davey has specialised in the wacky stunt on this campaign. he's brought us to the top of a hill for his next one. today, he's painting

porcelain on a picnic table. these capers command attention — that is their strategy, a small party fighting to be heard. they'd like to rejoin the eu single market, give 16 and i7—year—olds the vote, and deliverfree personal care and more gps in england. now reunited with his jacket and tie, i wanted on your behalf to ask sir ed what a party like his can actually achieve, given it won't win the election. what's the best you can hope for, for the content in this manifesto? is it that whoever is in government nicks the best bits? well, it's quite often that liberal democrat policies are stolen, but you'll get them stolen more often if you've got lots of liberal democrat mps in parliament arguing for them. i think, in this election campaign, we're winning the argument about health and care, and i think a lot of liberal democrat mps in parliament after the next election will win

for those ideas in that manifesto. opinion polls suggest the lib dems could leap forward from a dozen or so mps to two, three or even four times that. the liberal democrats, under your leadership, have been strongly anti—conservative. how much of an effective opposition could you be to a labour government? i've fought the conservatives all my life, i think they're a terrible government, they have to go — get them out of office. that is absolutely right... so can you be a strong opposition to a labour government, if that's what we end up with? well, we'll take those ideas to whoever�*s in power and campaign for them and push for them, and win for people. a bounce in the polls coming! if services to absurdity counted in this campaign, the lib dems would be heading for a landslide. whose idea was all the mucking about, the various stunts? i don't take myself too seriously, and i think people like politicians having a little self—deprecation. but we've got some very, very serious messages.

and the next stop for sir ed — wem in shropshire, to meet pele the alpaca. chris mason, bbc news, on the campaign trail with the liberal democrats. in northern ireland, representatives of the five largest political parties standing in the election have taken part in a televised debate tonight. one of the main focuses was on health and the nhs. our ireland correspondent, chris page, was watching. under the lights and behind the lecterns, for the last big tv events of their campaign. although this is an election to the uk parliament, in northern ireland there is still a focus on what the parties are doing in the devolved assembly. hone focus on what the parties are doing in the devolved assembly.- focus on what the parties are doing in the devolved assembly. how do the arties in the devolved assembly. how do the parties justify — in the devolved assembly. how do the parties justify voting _ in the devolved assembly. how do the parties justify voting to _ in the devolved assembly. how do the parties justify voting to cut _ in the devolved assembly. how do the parties justify voting to cut the - parties justify voting to cut the health service budget? westminster decides the overall _ health service budget? westminster decides the overall budget - health service budget? westminster decides the overall budget for - health service budget? westminster decides the overall budget for the i decides the overall budget for the government in belfort, but its local politicians who decide how the money

should be divided up and spent. the most important thing to have been achieved _ most important thing to have been achieved is — most important thing to have been achieved is a recognition in the british— achieved is a recognition in the british government that stormont has been underfunded and, with a new labour— been underfunded and, with a new labour government coming into play, there _ labour government coming into play, there is— labour government coming into play, there is an _ labour government coming into play, there is an risk of getting a better deal so _ there is an risk of getting a better deal so we — there is an risk of getting a better deal so we can invest in our health service _ deal so we can invest in our health service and — deal so we can invest in our health service and continue with transformation.— service and continue with transformation. , . . transformation. hospital waiting times here _ transformation. hospital waiting times here are _ transformation. hospital waiting times here are the _ transformation. hospital waiting times here are the longest - transformation. hospital waiting times here are the longest in i transformation. hospital waiting | times here are the longest in the transformation. hospital waiting - times here are the longest in the uk but the party controlling the health ministry said of the parties are starving it of funds. the finance minister gave — starving it of funds. the finance minister gave a _ starving it of funds. the finance minister gave a project - starving it of funds. the finance minister gave a project which i minister gave a project which doesn't take account of this year's pay rise, so we are faced with pressure with the pay rises for nurses, doctors and all of the staff may not be met, and those are precious those people are facing in a cost of living crisis, with all the other pressures. taste a cost of living crisis, with all the other pressures. we need real leadership. _ the other pressures. we need real leadership, real— the other pressures. we need real leadership, real resources - the other pressures. we need real leadership, real resources and i the other pressures. we need real leadership, real resources and to l leadership, real resources and to take tough— leadership, real resources and to take tough decisions. two leaders com etin . take tough decisions. two leaders competing directly _ take tough decisions. two leaders competing directly in _ take tough decisions. two leaders competing directly in the - competing directly in the westminster election accused each other of not being significantly

committed to the devolved government. we committed to the devolved government.— committed to the devolved government. committed to the devolved covernment. ~ . . ~ government. we can tackle the financial challenge _ government. we can tackle the financial challenge we - government. we can tackle the financial challenge we have i government. we can tackle the i financial challenge we have talked about with respect to health but also our public services and also that trust deficit that the institutions will be there in future. ~ ., �* . . institutions will be there in future. . . , , , institutions will be there in future. . . ,, , , future. we don't have a deputy first minister as a — future. we don't have a deputy first minister as a candidate, _ future. we don't have a deputy first minister as a candidate, we - future. we don't have a deputy first minister as a candidate, we don't i minister as a candidate, we don't have _ minister as a candidate, we don't have our— minister as a candidate, we don't have our education minister as a candidate — have our education minister as a candidate and we didn't have any ministers — candidate and we didn't have any ministers abandoning their pitch three _ ministers abandoning their pitch three months. five ministers abandoning their pitch three months.— ministers abandoning their pitch three months. , , ., three months. five parties vying for votes across — three months. five parties vying for votes across 18 _ three months. five parties vying for votes across 18 constituencies i three months. five parties vying for votes across 18 constituencies in i votes across 18 constituencies in seven days' time. well, in exactly a week's time, millions of votes will have been cast. the polls will have just closed. bbc verify�*s nick eardley has been looking at the latest opinion polls. this time next week, we will be poring over the exit poll. but, before then, we do have a lot of opinion polls suggesting what voters might be thinking. this is the bbc poll tracker. the dots are individual polls, the line is the average.

this goes back to 2020 — for much of this period, the conservatives, in blue, were ahead of labour, in red. that starts to change in early 2021. a big change here after reports of parties in downing street during the pandemic start to emerge. there's a huge increase in the gap after the liz truss mini—budget. but let's focus in on the picture over the election campaign. a health warning — many standing for parliament, senior politicians, are sceptical about these numbers. polls can be wrong. but, with that in mind, let's look at labour. they have had a comfortable lead for some time now — about 20% over the conservatives, even with a dip since the start pf the campaign, at around 40%. there have been different predictions of what this could mean for a labour majority, but the poll lead is consistent. the conservatives have seen a dip in their vote over the campaign too —

the average is now lower than it was after the liz truss mini budget, and they will be worried about this. nigel farage's reform party is gathering support in these polls. remember, the voting system means this doesn't necessarily translate into a high number of seats. the lib dems are eyeing up a number of gains, based on this support, often in concentrated areas. you can see the snp here on 3%. that's a great britain—wide figure so it doesn't really tell us what's going on in scotland, where polls suggest a lot of seats are up for grabs. to emphasise, we can't be certain this is right. we are cautious about polls — so are politicians. but a lot of people will be keeping an eye on this until next thursday at 10pm, when the exit poll is published and then the results start to come through.

the international space station has been orbiting the earth with astronauts onboard since 2001. it's huge — by far the largest single structure ever built in space. and it's being retired at the end of this decade. now, nasa has asked elon musk�*s spacex company to build a vessel to push the space station back through earth's atmosphere and safely into the pacific ocean. spacex has been awarded a contract worth more than $800 million to develop what's being called the us deorbit vehicle. it'll push the space station into an area of the pacific ocean called point nemo, one of the most remote areas of the world, known as the graveyard of satellites and spaceships. have a look at this extraordinary pictures. cctv caught the moment when a massive sink—hole appeared on a football pitch in the us town of alton. it's 100 feet wide and could be just as deep. it's thought it was caused by a disused mine collapsing. nobody was hurt, but a whole

floodlight disappeared. england's cricketers are out of the t20 world cup. they were thrashed by india by 68 runs in their semifinal in guyana. our sports correspondent, joe wilson, was watcing the action. there was a rhythm to the cricket in guyana. whenever the rain stopped rohit sharma started. india's captain — no one in the world bats better on the evidence of this world cup. 57 runs from 39 balls. but when rohit missed, adil rashid hit. india's other batters, with a full range of techniques, kept the big shots coming. it all added up to 171, which felt pretty good. clear skies for england's chase. confused intentions from jos buttler. well, he didn't mean to hit it there. caught and gone for 23. phil salt faced jasprit bumrah — whose face says it all. don't look now. harry brook, 68—6.

the last wickets fell in a humbling tumble of run—outs. chance of another run—out. it was india's game long before the final lbw. england lost by 68 runs — in truth outclassed. india to the final, where, in truth, they always imagined they'd be. joe wilson, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's stav da naos. good evening. it was a bit cooler today across the board but we had a top temperature of 25 in the south—east, pretty decent and less humidity. tomorrow, sunshine and showers, quite breezy, courtesy of this area of low pressure printing wet and windy weather across the northern half of the uk tonight, with heavy rain at times across northern and western areas of scotland, blustery gales in places. showers also affecting northern and western parts of england and wales

but largely dry in the south—east. temperature is a lot lower than last night. now looking at nine to 12 degrees. we start tomorrow with plenty of sunshine, but staying breezy in the northern half of the country with plenty of heavy showers, certainly in northern scotland. staying dry from wales and the midlands southwards, with top temperatures of 23. low humidity, so pretty decent and feeling good in the sunshine. this weekend is quite mixed. pretty solid with sunshine, i think. it will be fairly warm but weather fronts moving think. it will be fairly warm but weatherfronts moving in from think. it will be fairly warm but weather fronts moving in from the west bringing thicker cloud on saturday to parts of northern england, wales and into the midlands, splashes of rain to stop breezy for the far north of scotland. the rest of scotland and northern ireland will do pretty well for the sunshine and south—east england will see warm and slightly humid weather moving up from the south. 25 there, otherwise the mid to high teens. but weather front was

out on sunday, a ridge of high pressure builds, few isobars so lighter winds, and we should see some sunshine. a bit of cloud tended to build up and most places staying dry per trip. the temperature bit lower as the cloud built up through the afternoon, 15 to 23. heading into next week, it looks like we will see low pressure always close by, ringing plenty of showers into northern and western parts of the country, some of which could be heavy. forwimbledon, it's looking decent to start the heavy. for wimbledon, it's looking decent to start the week, heavy. forwimbledon, it's looking decent to start the week, with heavy. for wimbledon, it's looking decent to start the week, with the best of the sunshine always in southern and eastern parts. temperature wise, around the seasonal average, perhaps a bit below at times. nights will be cooler and fresher for sleeping. it doesn't look like there is a neatly hot and sunny weather on the way like we had recently. you will have to stay tuned to the weather cost for that. take care.

thanks, stav. and that's bbc news at ten. newsnight is just getting under way on bbc two, with kirsty. on bbc one, it's time tojoin our colleagues

will you shut up! who is on your list? insolent _ will you shut up! who is on your list? insolent anger _ will you shut up! who is on your list? insolent anger when i will you shut up! who is on your list? insolent anger when they l will you shut up! who is on your. list? insolent anger when they met in 2020 and tonight, a defining

moment asjoe biden