across the country — as people choose a new government. joe biden insists he's not bowing out of the race for the white house — as some democratic governors back the president. i'm here to tell you today that presidentjoe biden is in it to win it. we place our support in him. three" hurricane beryl batters jamaica with high—winds and heavy rain — one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the island. and police in australia investigating the disappearance of a 12—year—old girl following a crocodile attack — say they've found human remains. hello. welcome to bbc news. the polls have opened in the first uk general election in almost five years.

there are 40,000 polling stations open across england, scotland, wales, and northern ireland. around 46 million people are eligible to elect 650 members of parliament to the house of commons. the prime minister and conservative party leader rishi sunak went to cast his vote this morning with his wife akshata murty in their local constituency in north yorkshire. another early voter was the snp leaderjohn swinney. here he is at the polling station in perthshire. hannah miller has more on election day. yeah, yeah, it's that time again. it's come round. with election day finally here, this hairdresser�*s has a new look — one of 40,000 polling stations open today for you to cast your vote. basically, i'll come here and get everything set up. the people that are doing the polling will come. and, yeah, it'sjust a busy day. i come back at 10.30, pack it all up, and we work as a salon in the background. we do let the clients know, obviously, we are a polling station,

but, yeah, everyone�*s happy to come in and, yeah, wejust carry on business as normal. in the run—up to a general election, a lot of the conversation tends to be about who might be the next prime minister, but, today, what you're actually voting for is your local mp. they will be one of 650 to sit in there, in parliament. a party needs just over half of them — 326 — to form a majority government. the polls are open until 10pm and you'll need to show an accepted form of photo id, such as a passport, driving licence or an older or disabled person's bus pass when you turn up. if you asked for a postal vote and it hasn't arrived, you can go in person to your local council to request a replacement ballot paper before five o'clock. and if you've got a postal vote but not sent it back, you can still drop it off at the polling station today

in england, scotland and wales. or ask someone to do so on your behalf. at this royal mail office, they're sorting through completed postal votes to get them to the right place to be counted. if somebody opts to vote by post, we will get the postal vote to them. that goes out in something we call a ballot back. they then return the postal vote and it's got a clear purple strip in it. all the machines are set up to automate that process. but, on the very final day, we do a final—day sweep just to make sure everything that comes through, even on the very last day, we can get to the returning officers. and here in london, that's to 16 different returning officers. the political map has been redrawn for this election to reflect population changes and make the number of voters more equal. so you might find that your constituency has changed. but wherever you live, today is your opportunity to say what you think, while pets wait patiently outside. hannah miller, bbc news. we will speak to leila later on in

the programme but let's turn to another election. we begin the programme with concerns amongst democrats in the united states. while some senior members of the party have been expressing their support forjoe biden, other figures are publicly piling on the pressure on him to withdraw from the presidential race. these concerns are about biden�*s mental agility, after last week's televised debate with donald trump. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports this is the biggest personal challenge facing joe biden since he launched his re—election campaign. many democrats are widely reported still to be in panic mode a week after this. making sure we are able to make every single solitary person eligible for what i have been able to do with the covid — excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with, er. the president's fumbling performance during his debate with donald trump has led to growing calls from members of his party

for him to abandon his bid for a second term. two democratic congressman have urged mr biden to step down, while us media outlets say a letter is circulating in the house of representatives with party members urging colleagues to sign to persuade the president to call it a day. but mr biden has, it seems, the backing of democratic governors after a meeting at the white house, where they said they had a frank discussion with the president. it was candid. i think that, you know, we always believe that when you love someone you tell them the truth. i think we came in and we were honest about the feedback that we were getting, we were honest about the concerns we were hearing from people. we were also honest about the fact as the president continued to tell us that he was all in, we said we would stand with him. earlier, it was business as usualfor mr biden. he appeared at a ceremony to posthumously award medals to two civil war heroes. he ignored the shouts of reporters

and left the white house press secretary to answer the question of the day. the president is clear—eyed and he is staying in the race. i don't have anything else beyond that. he is staying in the race. that is what the president has promised to do. later, the president spelled out his intentions in a campaign message to supporters. "i am the democratic party's nominee," he wrote, "no one is pushing me out. i am not leaving. i am in this race to the end." americans will watch the 81—year—old closely over the next days when he is scheduled to give a high—profile tv interview and appear at a campaign rally. in the meantime, donald trump, who is 78, is pushing ahead in opinion polls, while more voters are saying joe biden is too old to be president. let's speak to scott lucas. he's professor of us politics at the clinton institute at the university college dublin.

this is the critical four days as to whether or not biden stays in the race. he's got a primetime interview with abc in the us and a rally in wisconsin and another rally on sunday in pennsylvani. on sunday in pennsylvania. i think the democratic strategists, politicians — i think the democratic strategists, politicians and donors will be looking — politicians and donors will be looking at how biden performs and

polling _ looking at how biden performs and polling based on those performances. if he polling based on those performances. if he comes _ polling based on those performances. if he comes across as capable and confident — if he comes across as capable and confident. if he stumbles or if the polis— confident. if he stumbles or if the polls don'i— confident. if he stumbles or if the polls don't show improvement i will expect— polls don't show improvement i will awed by— polls don't show improvement i will expect by the end of next week that biden— expect by the end of next week that biden wiii— expect by the end of next week that biden will be asked to formally step aside for— biden will be asked to formally step aside for the good of america. the onl thin aside for the good of america. tie: only thing that counts is on election day but what sense are we getting in terms of the polls when it comes to biden�*s own potential in beating donald trump because that's what he's campaigned on. he can beat donald trump. i what he's campaigned on. he can beat donald trump-— donald trump. i always take polling with a grain — donald trump. i always take polling with a grain of _ donald trump. i always take polling with a grain of salt _ donald trump. i always take polling with a grain of salt but _ donald trump. i always take polling with a grain of salt but the - donald trump. i always take polling with a grain of salt but the fact - donald trump. i always take polling with a grain of salt but the fact is i with a grain of salt but the fact is is that trump has widened his lead since the debate last week. and at the same time, i should mention that vice president harris is running neck and neck with trump so the

polls are showing she's in better shape than biden. i think america is locked in on old joe. rather than discuss the biden administration record, they could just talk about how old joe biden is. you record, they could just talk about how old joe biden is.— record, they could just talk about how old joe biden is. you say that's the problem — how old joe biden is. you say that's the problem with _ how old joe biden is. you say that's the problem with us _ how old joe biden is. you say that's the problem with us media - how old joe biden is. you say that's the problem with us media but - how old joe biden is. you say that's the problem with us media but are | the problem with us media but are you arguing that perhaps these concerns aren't justified you arguing that perhaps these concerns aren'tjustified because that performance that many democrats saw concerned then when they are thinking of a president who will be in office forfour years? thinking of a president who will be in office for four years? the concerns — in office for four years? the concerns are _ in office for four years? the concerns are justified - in office for four years? tie: concerns are justified but the in office for four years? ti9: concerns are justified but the us media is responsible for two things,, this is the most important election since 1865, economy,

immigration, health care, education, foreign policy, the threat to democracy and they should be covering donald trump with the same scrutiny that they coverjoe biden. donald trump happens to be a convicted felon, a sex abuse, fraud store and a political coup plotter. when concerns are raised about biden they are there but the problem is that the media is only considering one candidate and pretty much that will be trump. one candidate and pretty much that will be trump-— will be trump. scott lucas, that is appreciated _ 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo is in south london. leila, election day is finally here — and there are some important things for people to remember

if they want to go out to vote today aren't there? it might seem strange to people who have been following the campaign for the last six weeks that today on polling day, the bbc is not going into any of the issues for all this time. nothing about the parties, the polls, all of those policy issues. it's because the bbc and other broadcasters here in the uk are bound by rules which means we can't get into polling day ourselves until the polls close. what we are focusing on today is just the process, the act of democracy in action, people going into polling stations like this one in south london, checking boxes and we focus only on that until the polls close at ten p m. then we will get an exit poll at tpm. an indication of what

the result will look like. it's based on a survey of voters at various polling stations across the uk. then the votes will get counted across halls in different counties. so today, we are looking at 40,000 polling stations with hundred 50,000 people making sure it runs smoothly so quite a lot to get into.— so quite a lot to get into. leila, thank you _ so quite a lot to get into. leila, thank you for— so quite a lot to get into. leila, thank you for that. _ so quite a lot to get into. leila, thank you for that. we'll - so quite a lot to get into. leila, thank you for that. we'll have l so quite a lot to get into. leila, - thank you for that. we'll have more from you later today because its voting day to day. we will have full coverage of the uk elections in a special programmejust coverage of the uk elections in a special programme just before 10pm tonight. that will be at 9pm. around the world, and across the uk, this is bbc news.

let's look at the latest now on hurricane beryl. at least ten people are now known to have died as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the caribbean has made landfall. hurricane beryl has brought winds of more than 130 miles an hour, damaging buildings and felling trees. 0ur central america correspondent will grant reports. having ripped off roofs and tossed aside homes as it tore through the caribbean, hurricane beryl has now hitjamaica. for days, the island's government has said that the storm's destructive force was not to be underestimated. that beryl would lash the country with high sustained winds, strong gusts and heavy rain. they also warned of life—threatening storm surges, too. and even within the first hours of the storm making landfall, streets in the capital, kingston, began to flood, damaging homes and businesses. an evacuation order for low—lying areas was put into place, and the prime minister stressed that residents of at—risk communities should move to safer districts.

we urge alljamaicans to comply with notices to evacuate if and when they are issued. the coming hours will revealjust how much damage beryl has wrought in jamaica. but other islands show the devastation it can cause. in carriacou, off the coast of grenada, entire communities have been left homeless, with buildings destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. in st vincent and the grenadines, union island was among the worst affected places in the caribbean, receiving the full brunt of beryl�*s power. beryl is an unprecedented storm. none have formed as quickly or have intensified as fast in atlantic hurricane history, and satellite pictures show it's not done yet. as the storm leaves jamaica's territory, it will move towards the mexican mainland. the tourist resort of cancun is directly in its path. just as people in grenada,

in st vincent and the grenadines and injamaica had prayed for the best as beryl drew near, now mexicans are crossing their fingers in the hope that this extraordinarily powerful storm begins to weaken before it reaches their communities, too. will grant, bbc news, mexico. curtis is on holiday with his young family and he says the weather is returning back to normal.- returning back to normal. now, thankfully. _ returning back to normal. now, thankfully. it — returning back to normal. now, thankfully, it sounds _ returning back to normal. now, thankfully, it sounds like - returning back to normal. now, thankfully, it sounds like things have quietened down. i've stuck my head outside a few minutes ago and there isjust a breeze head outside a few minutes ago and there is just a breeze and a couple of showers left with the worst behind us. communication has been fantastic for us since we've got here. they've gone door—to—door or left notices or put up signage around the resort saying which services would be in effect, which

would be delayed until the storm was over and in respect of any curfews and which activities would not be allowed, including going outside until the all clear was given. they've been forthright, transparent and they've done a magnificentjob of communicating with everybody here on the resort. that of communicating with everybody here on the resort-— on the resort. that is curtis kitchin: on the resort. that is curtis kitching who _ on the resort. that is curtis kitching who is _ on the resort. that is curtis kitching who is there - on the resort. that is curtis kitching who is there in - on the resort. that is curtis - kitching who is there in jamaica on kitching who is there injamaica on holiday with his family. more than twelve thousand people in california have been ordered to evacuate their homes as a huge wildfire rages in the north of the state. hundreds of hectares of grass and woodland —— near the state capital, sacramento —— have been consumed by flames since the fire started on tuesday. the authorities have described the fire as exceptionally dangerous. the california governor,

gavin newsom, has declared a state of emergency in the area. california is in the grip of an extreme heatwave, with soaring temperatures of up to 46 celsius. let's turn to the middle east. hamas says it's sent new ideas to qatari and egyptian mediators aimed at ending nearly nine months of war in gaza with israel. israel confirmed it's "evaluating" what it described as hamas comments on a ceasefire and hostage release deal. meanwhile, the israeli military says it's killed a commander of hezbollah in lebanon in an airstrike. these pictures were sent to us by the news agency afp, which says they were posted online and show the aftermath of the strike. muhammad nimah nasser is one of the most senior hezbollah figures to have been killed in nearly nine months of cross—border clashes. israel has also approved plans for what is being described as the biggest potential expansion of settlements in the occupied west bank in more than three decades. israeli officials have not publicly commented on the latest seizure of 12.7 square kilometres of land, which comes amid heightened tensions with palestinians

because of the gaza war. let's get the latest with our middle east correspondent yolande knell. first, when it comes to the demands, the proposals that hamas and sent to mediators, what do we know about that? :, ., , , mediators, what do we know about that? :, , ., that? hamas say they responded in a ositive that? hamas say they responded in a positive spirit — that? hamas say they responded in a positive spirit to _ that? hamas say they responded in a positive spirit to the _ that? hamas say they responded in a positive spirit to the deal _ that? hamas say they responded in a positive spirit to the deal on - that? hamas say they responded in a positive spirit to the deal on the - positive spirit to the deal on the table, the 3—phase plan thatjoe biden set out on the 31st of may. they said it's an israeli proposal of a phased release of the remaining 120 israeli hostages, some of who have been killed in gaza. a six—week tray is expanding into a longer term ceasefire in the second phase and then the third phase which is about reconstruction and post—war vision

of the gaza strip. now, we knew things had got stuck once again in the latest rounds of mediation on this main sticking point that really, hamas was demanding that there should be a full ceasefire, a full withdrawal of israeli troops and that should take place quickly and that should take place quickly and that should take place quickly and that the israelis were saying there should be fighting in gaza until hamas is eliminated there but they were also talking of a truce to bring home the remaining hostages. the comments from hamas leave room for some new negotiations, they are seen more in a positive light, we have had the israeli prime and is a buzz for saying they have received the comments and will return their

comments to mediators. we have had a palestinian official speaking to us saying that this is something that should be viewed positively and they accept they could be new rounds of negotiations now.— accept they could be new rounds of negotiations now. there are approved lans for negotiations now. there are approved plans for an — negotiations now. there are approved plans for an expansion _ negotiations now. there are approved plans for an expansion of _ plans for an expansion of settlements in the occupied west bank. could you put that into context for us in terms of the tensions around all of that, more so than we have explained so far? what than we have explained so far? what we have seen — than we have explained so far? what we have seen during _ than we have explained so far? wist we have seen during the war has been with this particular israeli hardline government in place, that includes ministers in key positions who are really seen as being leaders of the settler movement. since they've been in power at the start of last year, they have looked to increase the settlement presence in the occupied west bank, making clear that they see it as part of the plan

to prevent in the long run the idea of the creation of an independent palestinian state alongside israel, that the two state formula for peace which is internationally approved here, so they we have seen since the war began an increase of outpost settlements, these illegal settlements, these illegal settlements, even under israeli law. we had a far right government minister declaring five of these unauthorised outposts will be legalised by the israeli government and now this big takeover of land being declared state land that israel in the west bank. nine months into the gaza war, there are growing signs of open dissent against the hamas government residents have told the bbc that people are publicly cursing the group's leaders and that some are publishing messages online

urging them to agree a ceasefire. many in gaza are still fiercely loyal to hamas, and support them. but as our middle east correspondent lucy williamson reports, fear of speaking out against the group appears to be waning. this leadership does not represent us. this teacher was filmed after hundreds of palestinians were killed and injured in an israeli raid to rescue hostages last month. some have criticised hamas for hiding hostages in a big city marketplace. this man publicly oppose hamas before the war and was arrested by security forces several times. now

he says people are less afraid to speak out. in he says people are less afraid to speak out-— he says people are less afraid to speak out. in gaza, most people criticise what _ speak out. in gaza, most people criticise what hamas _ speak out. in gaza, most people criticise what hamas has - speak out. in gaza, most people criticise what hamas has done. l speak out. in gaza, most people - criticise what hamas has done. some people are even being called livestock by certain hamas leaders. it's all right for them sitting under their air conditioners at home, they haven't lost their children, their home, theirfutures. desperation is eroding social control in gaza. there are those still fiercely loyal to hamas and it is hard to assess how many are turning away but even some of those on the group's i'm payroll is wavering. 0ne hamas official speaking anonymously said the 7th of october attacks were a crazy, and 0ctober attacks were a crazy, and have caused untold damage. thea;c october attacks were a crazy, and have caused untold damage. they did not build any —

have caused untold damage. they did not build any shelters _ have caused untold damage. they did not build any shelters for— have caused untold damage. they did not build any shelters for people - have caused untold damage. they did not build any shelters for people or. not build any shelters for people or reserve food or medical supplies. i will leave gaza the first chance i get. will leave gaza the first chance i et, ., ., , will leave gaza the first chance i et. ., ., , , will leave gaza the first chance i et. ., .,, , will leave gaza the first chance i et. ., , :, will leave gaza the first chance i get. hamas is battling for control on the streets. _ get. hamas is battling for control on the streets. its _ get. hamas is battling for control on the streets. its police - get. hamas is battling for control| on the streets. its police targeted by israeli forces. unofficial security have been filmed punishing looters. and a well—placed source described bloody score settling with other armed groups in places where israel's army has withdrawn. before that war, gaza is sharp political divisions were hidden under a blanket of fear. but fear is only relative to what you have to lose. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. that's all from us for now but stay with us here on bbc news for all your latest updates.

hello again. wherever you are today, it's going to be windy, but the strongest winds will be in the north of the country, blustery winds further south, and it's the south east that has the highest levels of pollen today. and we're talking predominantly grass pollen at this time of year. so what's happening is low pressure is pulling away into the north sea. this weather front is coming in enhancing the showers. and you can see from the isobars that it is going to be windy wherever you are. a lot of showers coming in in that wind across scotland, northern england and also northern ireland. the heaviest, most prolific will be across the north west. come further south, a much brighter day, more sunshine than there was yesterday, but still one or two showers in wales and the south west of england. temperatures 12 to 20 degrees for wimbledon today. drier and sunnier than it was yesterday. it will feel warmer as a result. 20 degrees. but tomorrow it's all change. tomorrow we're looking at some rain and also blustery winds. so moving on through this evening and overnight the weather front in scotland sinks south

with its rain fragmenting all the time. then we have a new weather front coming in from the southwest, moving across southern parts of england and wales with its cloud and its rain, some clear skies in between, the winds easing for most and overnight lows nine to 13 degrees into tomorrow. then we still have this clutch of fronts, a waving fronts, so they may move a little bit further north than a little bit further south. then i'm going to show you. so it's going to bring in all this cloud and rain again. it could get a little bit further north, the rain orfurther south, but we do expect it to turn heavy across. devon and cornwall later moved north of this weather front. but we do expect it to turn heavy across devon and cornwall later moved north of this weather front. there's a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and a few showers, but again these are the wind strengths. tomorrow the gusty winds, particularly across southern counties of england and through the english channel and especially essex.

temperatures 13 to about 19 or 20 degrees. heading on then in towards the weekend. while we've got this area of low pressure continuing to drift off into the north sea, still producing some rain. it will be windy on saturday and it's looking showery on sunday, but this weather front may well bring us some more in the way of rain. so on saturday, the north and the east will see some rain as the low pressure drifts across us. sunny spells further south but showery on sunday.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the polls open in the uk general election — millions getting the chance to choose a new government. joe biden insists he's not bowing out of the race for the white house, as some democratic governors back the president. and how rising temperatures may impact those competing at this summer's paris 0lympics. police in australia investigating the disappearance of a 12—year—old girl following a crocodile attack have found human remains. the girl was reportedly attacked while swimming in a creek with herfamily near a remote town south of darwin in the northern territory. the area is home to an estimated 100,000 saltwater crocodiles — more than anywhere else in the world. let's get more from our sydney correspondent, katy watson. after nearly two days of searching, police have now found the remains

of what's believed to have been the 12—year—old child who was attacked by a crocodile on tuesday. now more details have come out about the attack. the child was swimming with their family around dusk when the attack happened, and it's believed that there was a black crocodile in the area. now, the police have said that's absolutely devastating news for the family, for the community, and that they're working to provide support for all those involved. as many as 40 people from the community helped the police in the search. they searched by foot, they searched by boat as well as by helicopter, but it was difficult terrain — the vegetation is thick and the waterways very narrow and very windy. now, the northern territory is home to 100,000 saltwater crocodiles alone. it's the biggest population anywhere in the world, and the population has really soared since the 1970s, when crocodile hunting was banned. it's one of the most aggressive crocodiles. they can grow up to six metres long.

an average male is just over three metres and can weigh a tonne. now, there was no detail about the crocodile thought to be involved in the attack, but earlier the police did say that they'd spoken to a wildlife officer who had given them permission to remove the crocodile if found. now, yes, there are a huge amount of crocodiles in northern territory, but attacks are rare and fatal attacks even rarer. in fact, this is the first one since 2018. katy watson there. the metropolitan police in london has launched a review of its investigation into an incident at a school where two pupils died after a land rover crashed into an end of term tea party. last week prosecutors decided the driver of the car that killed eight—year—olds nuria sajjad and selena lau would not be charged as she had suffered an epileptic seizure. in their first interview since the deaths, staff

at the study preparatory school in wimbledon have told the bbc the met has failed to answer some key questions. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. so it was like a...like a war zone. standing on the lawn where their pupils, selena and nuria, died when a land rover smashed through the children here. and the car... well, the car had gone into the building and dented the building, then sort ofjumped back. debris everywhere. the eight—year—old girls had just been celebrating at an end of term party, tables and mats laid out. nuria — talented and chatty, selena — hard—working with a twinkle in her eye, said her teachers. prosecutors last week decided not to charge the driver because they said she had suffered an epileptic seizure, which hadn't previously been diagnosed. a decision the school struggles with. i was very surprised.

i think we were both very surprised. as was the whole community, really. and we've waited and waited and given the police and the cps the time and the space to make that decision, and now we feel very angry and sad and upset and confused. but their greatest frustration is with the met police, its investigation and what they see as a failure to answer questions since the decision not to prosecute. there were numerous questions that they were unable to answer. that's made the last week incredibly difficult. i mean, the police said that their officers worked tirelessly through every detail of the incident to ensure a complete investigation. that... it didn't... you know, it didn't look like that to us at each of those three meetings because they were not able to answer some of those questions. you were shaking your head there?

no, i think the words "thorough" and "tireless" suggest that you would have a body of evidence that you would be able to share. but in some areas, there was just a complete lack of knowledge — the lack of thoroughness was how it appeared. have you felt let down by the met police? at the end of this process, at this moment in time, it would appear to be that i have been let down by them. the met has now decided it will review its investigation, saying it has listened to concerns from the families of nuria and selena and others affected. last week, the driver, claire freemantle, expressed her deepest sorrow to the families and said she had no recollection of what took place. the flowers on the lawn planted from those the community left in tribute to selena and nuria. helen comforted nuria as she lay injured. ijust talked to her

about how wonderful she was, how much we loved her, how much mummy and daddy loved her and, you know, what a special girl she was. but we couldn't keep them safe on that day, and that...you know, i will always live with that. lucy manning reporting there. fake police, suspicious phone calls and fabricated evidence — these are some of the hallmarks of a new wave of elaborate scams targeting chinese people around the world. the bbc has spoken to one such victim — a british chinese woman who was manipulated into handing over her life savings, with empty but convincing threats of extradition. this one said i am involved with international money laundry and any crime suspect. ifeel a bit

international money laundry and any crime suspect. i feel a bit stupid now, but there is no chance i can do thatis now, but there is no chance i can do that is not real. it's so convincing. —— i can know that is not real. let's go to bangkok and speak to jake sims. he is a visiting expert on transnational crime at the us institute of peace. what are some of the signs that pointed to this that let you and others to see a pattern here? this is a very different _ others to see a pattern here? ti 3 is a very different form of crime and scams than we have seen in the past and it is also a very different form of perpetrator. you have seen this migration, a very sophisticated, powerful, china originating organised criminals coming into the region in an effort to evade law enforcement back home and they can be viewed at some of the masterminds here. it is a very different dynamic than scans have looked like an played out in the past. looked like an played out in the ast. ~ :, , looked like an played out in the ast. . :, , ., ., looked like an played out in the ast. . :, , ., :, past. what is the heart of the scan? how do they — past. what is the heart of the scan? how do they convince _ past. what is the heart of the scan? how do they convince people - past. what is the heart of the scan? how do they convince people they i past. what is the heart of the scan? i how do they convince people they are police? ==

how do they convince people they are olice? , :, how do they convince people they are olice? , ., :, _, :, :, police? -- it is a long con form of romance. — police? -- it is a long con form of romance. and _ police? -- it is a long con form of romance, and is _ police? -- it is a long con form of romance, and isjust _ police? -- it is a long con form of romance, and isjust one - police? -- it is a long con form of romance, and isjust one of- police? -- it is a long con form of romance, and isjust one of many| romance, and is just one of many types of scams. the dominant feature that repeats itself over and over in these places is that you see relationships being built orforms of credibility being deployed by the scammer that are using techniques and sophistication well, well beyond what we have seen in other forms of scamming in the past. find what we have seen in other forms of scamming in the past.— scamming in the past. and we have viewers watching _ scamming in the past. and we have viewers watching in _ scamming in the past. and we have viewers watching in various - scamming in the past. and we have viewers watching in various places. | viewers watching in various places. how widespread is this scam? this is really extensive. _ how widespread is this scam? this is really extensive. if _ how widespread is this scam? this is really extensive. if you _ how widespread is this scam? this is really extensive. if you look - how widespread is this scam? this is really extensive. if you look at - how widespread is this scam? this is really extensive. if you look at it - really extensive. if you look at it as part of the network of scams occurring across the region, these long con highly sophisticated scams, a recent report estimated 40 billion a recent report estimated 40 billion a year in revenue from myanmar, cambodia and louw alone and a labour

force exceeding 300,000 people, which is a significant industry in any context —— laos. in cambodia, this is massive, it conservatively accounts for half their gdp, so more than all other domestic industries combined. it is fairly unprecedented. pretty few parallels where you have a single industry like this that is fully dominating the landscape of the country. and the landscape of the country. and briefl to the landscape of the country. and briefly top tips, how can people ward off against the scan like this? first of all, be aware. do not engage with and do not send money to people you do not already know and trust. protect yourself and be on the lookout. also raise your voice to your government, ask them for help to address the underlying drivers of the crime, by the corporations are inadvertently facilitating this and high—level perpetrators that the uk government

and other countries around the world have the ability to hold to account given the type of crime. {lilia have the ability to hold to account given the type of crime. 0k, jake, thank ou given the type of crime. 0k, jake, thank you for— given the type of crime. 0k, jake, thank you for the _ given the type of crime. 0k, jake, thank you for the information. - given the type of crime. 0k, jake, | thank you for the information. you can hear more about this story on bbc sounds or whenever you get your podcast from just by searching bbc trending. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the countdown to the summer olympics and paralympic games in paris is on, with just weeks to go before the opening ceremony. but there's widespread concern over the potential effects of extreme heat. heat was a huge issue at the last summer 0lympics, seriously affecting competitors, and with high temperatures expected, organisers are having to think more than ever about how to mitigate the effects of climate change on athletes and how to ensure events take place safely. let's speak to drjessica mee — research fellow at the university of worcester.

thank you so much for your time. could you break this down for us? what are the impacts we are really concerned about your?— what are the impacts we are really concerned about your? certainly with the athletes. — concerned about your? certainly with the athletes, when _ concerned about your? certainly with the athletes, when they _ concerned about your? certainly with the athletes, when they are - the athletes, when they are exercising in hot conditions, the experience additional physiological strain which will make it really difficult for them to sustain the same level of intensity or speeds they might typically experience during temperate conditions. if they accumulate too much heat, and their body gets very hot, they may experience some form of heat illness, which may be quite acute symptoms like muscle cramps or hydration that are fairly easily treated with optimising hydration strategies, but in more serious cases, this might also result in exertional heat stroke, which is where we start to see athletes become quite disorientated, confused. they begin to look quite unstable on their feet and perhaps make some poor decisions and likely

collapse. make some poor decisions and likely colla se. :, make some poor decisions and likely collase. :, ,, make some poor decisions and likely collase. :, i. , make some poor decisions and likely collase. :, ,, , :, make some poor decisions and likely collase. :, , :, :, collapse. could you tell us more of her athletes _ collapse. could you tell us more of her athletes have _ collapse. could you tell us more of her athletes have adapted - collapse. could you tell us more of her athletes have adapted their - her athletes have adapted their training in response to this? athletes will likely have been utilising what we refer to as heat actualisation which are based on 100 years of research where we have refined these particles are made them accessible for athletes —— heat acclimatisation. we have observed a substantial increase in the uptake of these protocols by athletes, they essentially involve athletes exposing themselves to hot conditions like having a hot bath, using a sauna, steam room or environmental chamber or relocating to hot climates. to train over multiple days, get hot and sweaty and ultimately allow themselves to adapt and then be able to better protect their health, wellbeing and also ultimately their performance at major events in hot conditions. dr

mee can i do think we may have to start thinking about new rules, protocols for certain sports? —— do you think. i think we are seeing a shift at the moment.— you think. i think we are seeing a shift at the moment. currently event or: anisers shift at the moment. currently event organisers and _ shift at the moment. currently event organisers and medical _ shift at the moment. currently event organisers and medical teams - shift at the moment. currently event organisers and medical teams are i organisers and medical teams are equipped with a very good strategies on the day to manage these heat events. and make sure athletes have adequate access to cooling procedures, correct hydration procedures, correct hydration procedures, and you see in some particular events, they increase the number of breaks and access to water that might occur during a particular event. mil that might occur during a particular event. : , g ,, that might occur during a particular event. _ ~ event. all right, dr jessica mee, thank you _ event. all right, dr jessica mee, thank you for — event. all right, dr jessica mee, thank you for your _ event. all right, dr jessica mee, thank you for your time. - on to that other big sporting tournament this summer — the euros. after england's nail biting win on sunday, they are on to the quarter finals to face switzerland. the excitement is high for the swiss team following their ruthless win against the euros title holders, italy, but will they do it again?

joining me now is swiss football expert craig king and football journalist, frida fagerland. thank you for your time. i want to start with you, frida, because what we have heard with england's training in gareth southgate's criticism towards his training, do you expect any big upsets 0bviously you expect any big upsets obviously we do not get to see everything going on in the camp, i sense there has been a shift in mood. and going on in the camp, i sense there has been a shift in mood.— has been a shift in mood. and the name in has been a shift in mood. and the game in slovakia _ has been a shift in mood. and the game in slovakia probably - has been a shift in mood. and the game in slovakia probably served | has been a shift in mood. and the i game in slovakia probably served as a reminder that things can end in an instant if you're not at your best. they were just wholesale with one minute to go on the bellingham goal sought to give relief in that game and they threw it back at the critics. they looked drained, fen

scattered mentally and physically, including gareth southgate. the sales manager -- swiss manager _ gareth southgate. the sales manager -- swiss manager says _ gareth southgate. the sales manager -- swiss manager says he _ gareth southgate. the sales manager -- swiss manager says he has - —— swiss manager says he has sympathy for him, what kind of manager and squad are england facing? t manager and squad are england facin: ? ~ , ., manager and squad are england facina? ~ , ., , ., manager and squad are england facina? ~ , :, , ., ., facing? i think it is a squad that is ve , facing? i think it is a squad that is very. very — facing? i think it is a squad that is very, very experienced. - facing? i think it is a squad that is very, very experienced. this | facing? i think it is a squad that. is very, very experienced. this is not the _ is very, very experienced. this is not the first _ is very, very experienced. this is not the first time round. they have reached _ not the first time round. they have reached the — not the first time round. they have reached the stage of the tournament, did it at _ reached the stage of the tournament, did it at the _ reached the stage of the tournament, did it at the last euros, beating france — did it at the last euros, beating france so — did it at the last euros, beating france so memorably and there are always— france so memorably and there are always at— france so memorably and there are always at the knockout stages. this is the _ always at the knockout stages. this is the six _ always at the knockout stages. this is the six major tournament any row, so the _ is the six major tournament any row, so the main — is the six major tournament any row, so the main thing coming into this for this— so the main thing coming into this for this team is experience. those building _ for this team is experience. those building blocks have been there over the ten _ building blocks have been there over the ten years, guys like granit xhaka — the ten years, guys like granit xhaka and _ the ten years, guys like granit xhaka and shakira have been there the whole — xhaka and shakira have been there the whole time and managers have continued — the whole time and managers have continued on over the ten years and he was _ continued on over the ten years and he was under pressure himself, the qualifying _ he was under pressure himself, the

qualifying campaign was very unlike switzerland, he had his group and they stayed in second and there were a lot of— they stayed in second and there were a lot of question marks over him, but he _ a lot of question marks over him, but he came _ a lot of question marks over him, but he came through it and is now put the _ but he came through it and is now put the team onto the knockout stages — put the team onto the knockout stages again, so he knows the pressure — stages again, so he knows the pressure that southgate has been under~ _ pressure that southgate has been under~ he — pressure that southgate has been under. he has also come through it and has _ under. he has also come through it and has a _ under. he has also come through it and has a team playing very well at the moment. and has a team playing very well at the moment-— and has a team playing very well at the moment. :, ., , :, , ., the moment. frida, any worries about jude bellingham _ the moment. frida, any worries about jude bellingham and _ the moment. frida, any worries about jude bellingham and his _ the moment. frida, any worries about jude bellingham and his celebration, l jude bellingham and his celebration, let's call it, again slovakia? yes. let's call it, again slovakia? yes, he is of a — let's call it, again slovakia? yes, he is of a slender— let's call it, again slovakia? 193 he is of a slender investigation by uefa for that credit gesture, which some have suggested was directed at the opposition bench —— he is obviously under investigation. he said it was not. we do not know what will happen yet but the initial report says uefa would drop the case, and i think that will probably be what happens. i do not think he will be banned, at least. there have also been preoccupations where the couple of other investigations that are more severe than what bellingham did, but wejust are more severe than what bellingham did, but we just have to wait and see what happens.—

did, but we just have to wait and see what happens. craig, there is a london born _ see what happens. craig, there is a london born player— see what happens. craig, there is a london born player in _ see what happens. craig, there is a london born player in the - see what happens. craig, there is a london born player in the swiss - london born player in the swiss team, isn't there? could you tell us more about him? he team, isn't there? could you tell us more about him?— more about him? he was a bit of a surrise more about him? he was a bit of a surprise package — more about him? he was a bit of a surprise package because - more about him? he was a bit of a surprise package because before i more about him? he was a bit of a i surprise package because before this tournament, he had not played at all until they— tournament, he had not played at all until they were a friendly against estonia — until they were a friendly against estonia. he had not been capped, but had a _ estonia. he had not been capped, but had a very— estonia. he had not been capped, but had a very good season in bulgaria and scored — had a very good season in bulgaria and scored a lot of goals there and he got _ and scored a lot of goals there and he got the — and scored a lot of goals there and he got the call—up. but he had that 45 minutes, — he got the call—up. but he had that 45 minutes, didn't particularly impress. _ 45 minutes, didn't particularly impress, then the manager threw him in for— impress, then the manager threw him in for the _ impress, then the manager threw him in for the first game against hungary— in for the first game against hungary and he scored. so there is a lot of— hungary and he scored. so there is a lot of faith _ hungary and he scored. so there is a lot of faith from the manager in him, _ lot of faith from the manager in hint. but — lot of faith from the manager in him, but he is not really featured sense _ him, but he is not really featured sense. there are other options in the swiss— sense. there are other options in the swiss team that may be more reliable _ the swiss team that may be more reliable and have been there for a longer— reliable and have been there for a longer period of time, but he is someone — longer period of time, but he is someone who has taken his chance. i do not _ someone who has taken his chance. i do not think— someone who has taken his chance. i do not think he could have dreamt a better— do not think he could have dreamt a better start — do not think he could have dreamt a better start to his international career~ — better start to his international career. he has pretty much made his debut _ career. he has pretty much made his debut at _ career. he has pretty much made his debut at a _ career. he has pretty much made his debut at a major tournament and scored _ debut at a major tournament and scored a — debut at a major tournament and scored a goal as well, so can't get much _ scored a goal as well, so can't get much better than that. he might not feature _ much better than that. he might not feature against england, but he has

already— feature against england, but he has already made his mark for this team. definitely. frida, speaking of younger players and criticisms levelled against the england squad, and southgate, what have we heard from kane and bellingham may be about how that might affect the team? flhiii bellingham may be about how that might affect the team?— might affect the team? phil foden was actually _ might affect the team? phil foden was actually speaking _ might affect the team? phil foden was actually speaking about - might affect the team? phil foden was actually speaking about this i was actually speaking about this yesterday and he basically said he was quite frustrated about how they have been playing or the fact that he has not maybe been as prolific as he has not maybe been as prolific as he would have wanted to. gareth southgate has a lot of tough decisions to make, especially to get the balance of the team much better. especially thing as a probably ... probably because probably because you have a phil foden playing out of the position on the left, he is a brilliant player but one that tends to drift incidentally, but since the only

natural left back is luke shaw, who has been injured and properly not ready to start on saturday, you're not left with many options. in the game against a you, there is playing saka in that position, but southgate really needs to think about this closely. really needs to think about this closel . :, really needs to think about this closel . ., ,:, , ,, really needs to think about this closel . ., , i. :, closely. 0h, frida, sorry, you froze there. closely. 0h, frida, sorry, you froze there- sorry. _ closely. 0h, frida, sorry, you froze there- sorry. i— closely. 0h, frida, sorry, you froze there. sorry, ithink— closely. 0h, frida, sorry, you froze there. sorry, ithink your— there. sorry, i think your connection is breaking up there. both of you, thank you so much. it will be one to watch. thank you for your time. a bull broke loose in peru causing chaos in the streets among pedestrians and drivers on monday in the town of santa anita, located east of lima. videos showed the animal charging against cars and pedestrians in the street. the bull was eventually cornered and caught by police.

airport passengers are being urged to fully research meet—and—greet car parking firms this summer, as new figures show a rise in the number of complaints being made to trading standards about operators. the warning comes as some travellers have reported issues such as extra charges, missing keys and even missing vehicles. 0ur reporter clodagh stenson has been to sussex to find out more. after buffets, beaches and beer, you're back on home turf. but that return to reality can have a bumpy landing. somebody answered and said they had no recollection of having our car at all. eventually, we were told that the keys had been lost or misplaced. they basically either put the phone down or ignored my emails. - yeah, this company is really totally rubbish. meet and greet or meet and cheat? after the parking operator drive park and fly claimed they'd lost her keys, kim was forced to get a midnight

taxi to norfolk with the promise they'd drop her car back. eventually, they said, look, if i want my car, i need to fetch it. they've had to replace the key with a new key. it's cost them £200 to buy a new key and, um, you know, i should be grateful. eventually, a family member picked up the car. and that lost set of keys? it was the original key, still with scratches on it, so they had never replaced the key — that had been a lie. and i actually do not know what they did with my car while it was in their care for all those days. same company, different problem. richard was told they'd lost his car. so i said, right, we're going to have to go into a hotel. and after one week of no car and frantic calls... what they told us was the car was where we left it, which was in the short—stay car park, and it had been there for a week. trading standards has told the bbc that they're getting complaints about cars never being moved at all. so you drop your car off somewhere like this — gatwick short stay —

expecting it to be picked up, and it never is. and while you're away, that can rack up a big fine. when customers' keys are handed back to them, they're unaware that their cars never left the airport and they'll have to pay this bill to leave the car park. natasha also used drive park and fly and got a fine after her car was illegally parked. the issue was that the parking meet—and—greet people parked it there, not us. leon's romanian holiday got a rude interruption after a series of charges left his bank account. entry in north terminal by 12:26 and come out by 12:29. it's only three minutes. his van, which should have been securely parked by galaxy parking limited, was repeatedly entering the gatwick drop—off zone at an automatic charge of £6 a time. i'm not happy and i got stressed on my holiday,

because i'm thinking if anything happened to my car and then i get the blame because i am the owner of the car. and these experiences are not isolated incidents. the review site trustpilot is flooded with complaints about drive park and fly and galaxy parking limited. both sussex police and west sussex trading standards have recently warned people to do their research, saying they get regular reports from disappointed customers. what we're trying to utilise is the intelligence we're receiving from customers and analysing that information to work out have we got any criminal offences? if we can demonstrate this is a constant pattern by the business, then we can look at those offences and take them to task for those actions. gatwick airport stressed that it has no relationship to drive park and fly or galaxy parking limited. the challenge we have is that they are able to operate on and at gatwick because they're not breaking any of our bylaws. just be extra careful when you're looking on these comparison websites at the providers

that are on there and just do extra research. so just check things like the contact details — you know, have they got independent reviews on the likes of trustpilot? and just go that layer deeper to make sure that what you're booking is fully trustworthy. i've just been to visit a known address for galaxy parking. they weren't operating at that site any longer. however, there were some other meet—and—greet operators using that site. they deny any link to galaxy parking. despite promises of reimbursements, neither kim, natasha, leon nor richard have received a penny back. it had cost me over £350 to get my car back. so we ended up having to pay the £100. in total around 50. about £400. the whole experience was just massively frustrating. - we were totally helpless. nobody could help. - the police couldn't help, - the citizens advice couldn't help. the insurance company weren't i interested because we didn't think

we were going to get the car back. and at the end of the day, it was just down to - the people we'd booked with. we've made multiple attempts to contact both drive park and fly and galaxy parking limited, but neither have responded. clodagh stenson, bbc news. back to the election — and the labour leader sir keir starmer has just voted. here he is with his wife at the polling station in his constituency in camden that's in north london. as you can see, lots of observers being kept well away as he walks up the steps. no campaigning of course on polling day just that long wait until the results begin to come in overnight and we learn who the next prime minister is likely to be. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. wherever you are today, it's going to be windy, but the strongest winds will be in the north of the country, blustery winds further south.

and it's the south—east that has the highest levels of pollen today, and we're talking predominantly grass pollen at this time of year. so what's happening is low pressure is pulling away into the north sea. this weather front is coming in, enhancing the showers. and you can see from the isobars that it is going to be windy wherever you are. a lot of showers coming in on that wind across scotland, northern england and also northern ireland. the heaviest, most prolific will be across the north—west. come further south, a much brighter day, more sunshine than there was yesterday, but still one or two showers in wales and the south—west of england. temperatures 12 to 20 celsius. for wimbledon today, drier and sunnier than it was yesterday. it will feel warmer as a result — 20 celsius. but tomorrow it's all change. tomorrow we're looking at some rain and also blustery winds. so moving on through this evening and overnight, the weatherfront in scotland sinks south with its rain, fragmenting all the time. then we have a new weather front coming in from the south—west, moving across southern parts of england and wales

with its cloud and its rain. some clear skies in between, the winds easing for most and overnight lows nine to 13 celsius. into tomorrow, then, we still have this clutch of fronts, a waving fronts, so they may move a little bit further north than a little bit further south. then i'm going to show you. so it's going to bring in all this cloud and rain again. it could get a little bit further north, the rain orfurther south, but we do expect it to turn heavy across move north of this weather front, there's a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and a few showers, but again these are the wind strengths tomorrow. they're gusty winds, particularly across southern counties of england and through the english channel and especially essex. temperatures 13 to about 19 or 20 celsius. heading on then in towards the weekend — while we've got this area of low pressure continuing to drift off into the north sea, still producing some rain, it will be windy on saturday and it's looking showery on sunday, but this weather front may well bring us some more in the way of rain. so on saturday, the north and the east will see some

rain as the low pressure drifts across us. sunny spells further south but showery on sunday.

all this live from london... all this this is bbc news the polls open in the uk general election — millions getting the chance to choose a new government. joe biden insists he's not bowing out of the race for the white house — as some democratic governors back the president i'm here to tell you today that presidentjoe biden is in it to win it. we place our support in him. hurricane beryl batters jamaica with high—winds and heavy rain one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the island. also coming up... from online bookstore to $2 trillion colossus. as amazon turns 30, we take a look at the seemingly unstoppable rise of the retail giant. hello. i'm azadeh moshiri. welcome to the programme.

the polls have opened in the first uk general election in almost five years. there are 40,000 polling stations open across england, scotland, wales, and northern ireland. around 46 million people are eligible to elect 650 members of parliament to the house of commons. in the last half an hour the labour leader sir keir starmer and his wife arrived at a polling station in north london to cast their votes. bystanders being kept well away and plenty of security in evidence. the prime minister and conservative party leader rishi sunak went to cast his vote earlier this morning with his wife in their local constituency in north yorkshire. another early voter was the snp leaderjohn swinney, here he is at the polling station in perthshire. hannah miller has more on election day.

yeah, yeah, it's that time again. it's come round. with election day finally here, this hairdresser�*s has a new look — one of 40,000 polling stations open today for you to cast your vote. basically, i'll come here and get everything set up. the people that are doing the polling will come. and, yeah, it'sjust a busy day. i come back at 10.30, pack it all up, and we work as a salon in the background. we do let the clients know, obviously, we are a polling station, but, yeah, everyone's happy to come in and, yeah, wejust carry on business as normal. in the run—up to a general election, a lot of the conversation tends to be about who might be the next prime minister, but, today, what you're actually voting for is your local mp. they will be one of 650 to sit in there, in parliament. a party needs just over half of them — 326 — to form a majority government. the polls are open until 10pm and you'll need to show an accepted form of photo id, such as a passport, driving licence or an older or disabled person's bus pass when you turn up. if you asked for a postal vote and it hasn't arrived, you can go in person to your local council to request a replacement

ballot paper before 5pm. and if you've got a postal vote but not sent it back, you can still drop it off at the polling station today in england, scotland and wales. or ask someone to do so on your behalf. at this royal mail office, they're sorting through completed postal votes to get them to the right place to be counted. if somebody opts to vote by post, we will get the postal vote to them. that goes out in something we call a ballot back. we call a ballot pack. they then return the postal vote and it's got a clear purple strip in it. all the machines are set up to automate that process. but, on the very final day, we do a final—day sweep just to make sure everything that comes through, even on the very last day, we can get to the returning officers. and here in london, that's to 16 different returning officers. the political map has been redrawn for this election to reflect population changes and make the number of voters more equal. so you might find that your constituency has changed.

but wherever you live, today is your opportunity to say what you think, while pets wait patiently outside. hannah miller, bbc news. for more on the electoral process today and what the bbc is allowed to report on polling day, here's our political correspondent leila nathoo. it might seem strange to people who have been following the campaign for the last six weeks, that today, on polling day, that the bbc is not actually getting into any of the issues that we've been talking about for all this time. nothing about the parties, the state of the parties, the polls, all of those policy issues. it's because the bbc and other broadcasters here in the uk are bound by rules, which means that we can't get into that on polling day itself. so the time between 7am in the morning and 10pm in the evening, when the polls are open and people are actually casting their votes, what we focus on today instead

isjust the process, the kind of the democracy and action, if you like. so the process of people going into polling stations like this one in south london and putting their x's in boxes, and we focus solely on that until polls close at 10pm. and then, of course, from 10 p.m. 0nwards, then the votes will start getting counted in halls across the country. all of those pieces of paper will be added together, and then slowly the picture will emerge. but for today only, we are focusing on the polling stations like this 40,000 polling stations across the country, 150,000 people involved in making sure the whole thing runs smoothly. so quite a feat and quite a lot to get into. let me show you the scene live at westminster. as voters head to the polls here in the uk you can find all the latest including how the bbc reports polling day on the bbc news website and app. and a reminder — you can watch

the general election results programme live on bbc one in the uk and here on the bbc news channel around the world from 9.55pm bst all the way into friday. let's turn now to the us election and president biden has insisted that no one will push him out of the running for his bid to be re—elected. after a meeting with the president last night, some democratic governors have said they're standing behind him. there have been concerns are about his mental agility, after last week's televised debate with donald trump. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports this is the biggest personal challenge facing joe biden since he launched his re—election campaign. many democrats are widely reported still to be in panic mode a week after this. making sure we are able to make every single solitary person eligible for what i have been able to do with the covid —

excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with, er... the president's fumbling performance during his debate with donald trump has led to growing calls from members of his party for him to abandon his bid for a second term. two democratic congressman have urged mr biden to step down, while us media outlets say a letter is circulating in the house of representatives with party members urging colleagues to sign to persuade the president to call it a day. but mr biden has, it seems, the backing of democratic governors after a meeting at the white house, where they said they had a frank discussion with the president. it was candid. i think that, you know, we always believe that when you love someone you tell them the truth. i think we came in and we were honest about the feedback that we were getting, we were honest about the concerns we were hearing from people. we were also honest about the fact as the president continued to tell

us that he was all in, we said we would stand with him. earlier, it was business as usualfor mr biden. he appeared at a ceremony to posthumously award medals to two civil war heroes. he ignored the shouts of reporters and left the white house press secretary to answer the question of the day. the president is clear—eyed and he is staying in the race. i don't have anything else beyond that. he is staying in the race. that is what the president has promised to do. later, the president spelled out his intentions in a campaign message to supporters. "i am the democratic party's nominee," he wrote, "no one is pushing me out. i am not leaving. i am in this race to the end." americans will watch the 81—year—old closely over the next days when he is scheduled to give a high—profile tv interview and appear at a campaign rally. in the meantime, donald trump, who is 78, is pushing ahead in opinion polls, while more voters are

saying joe biden is too old to be president. let's look at the latest now on hurricane beryl. at least ten people are now known to have died as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the caribbean has made landfall. hurricane beryl has brought winds of more than 130 miles an hour, damaging buildings and felling trees. 0ur central america correspondent will grant reports. having ripped off roofs and tossed aside homes as it tore through the caribbean, hurricane beryl has now hitjamaica. for days, the island's government has said that the storm's destructive force was not to be underestimated. that beryl would lash the country with high sustained winds, strong gusts and heavy rain. they also warned of life—threatening storm surges, too. and even within the first hours of the storm making landfall, streets in the capital,

kingston, began to flood, damaging homes and businesses. an evacuation order for low—lying areas was put into place, and the prime minister stressed that residents of at—risk communities should move to safer districts. we urge alljamaicans to comply with notices to evacuate if and when they are issued. the coming hours will revealjust how much damage beryl has wrought in jamaica. but other islands show the devastation it can cause. in carriacou, off the coast of grenada, entire communities have been left homeless, with buildings destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. in st vincent and the grenadines, union island was among the worst affected places in the caribbean, receiving the full brunt of beryl�*s power. beryl is an unprecedented storm. none have formed as quickly or have intensified as fast in atlantic hurricane history, and satellite pictures show it's not done yet.

as the storm leaves jamaica's territory, it will move towards the mexican mainland. the tourist resort of cancun is directly in its path. just as people in grenada, in st vincent and the grenadines and injamaica had prayed for the best as beryl drew near, now mexicans are crossing their fingers in the hope that this extraordinarily powerful storm begins to weaken before it reaches their communities, too. will grant, bbc news, mexico. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. police in australia investigating the disappearance of a 12—year—old girl following a crocodile attack, have found human remains. the girl was reportedly attacked while swimming in a creek with her family near a remote town south of darwin, in the northern territory. the area is home to an estimated 100,000 saltwater crocodiles, more than anywhere else in the world. around the world and across the uk.

this is bbc news.

let's turn to the middle east. hamas says it's sent new ideas to qatari and egyptian mediators aimed at ending nearly nine months of war in gaza with israel. israel confirmed it's "evaluating" what it described as hamas comments on a ceasefire and hostage release deal. meanwhile, the israeli military says it's killed a commander of hezbollah in lebanon in an air strike. these pictures were sent to us by the news agency afp, which says they were posted online and show the aftermath of the strike. muhammad nimah nasser is one of the most senior hezbollah figures to have been killed in nearly nine months of cross—border clashes. israel has also approved plans for what is being described as the biggest potential expansion of settlements in the occupied west bank in more than three decades. israeli officials have not publicly commented on the latest seizure of 12.7 square kilometres of land, which comes amid heightened tensions with palestinians because of the gaza war.

i've been speaking to our correspondent injerusalem yolande knell for more. hamas say they responded in a positive spirit to the deal on the out on the 31st of may. they said it's an israeli proposal of a phased release of the remaining 120 israeli hostages, some of who have been killed in gaza. into a six—week truce is expanding into a longer term ceasefire in the second phase and then the third phase which is about reconstruction and post—war vision of the gaza strip. now, we knew things had got stuck once again in the latest rounds of mediation on this main sticking point that, really, hamas was demanding that there should

be a full ceasefire, a full withdrawal of israeli troops and was demanding that that should take place quickly and that the israelis were saying there should be fighting in gaza until hamas is eliminated there but they were also talking of a truce to bring home the remaining hostages. we've been hearing from the israeli media that the comments from hamas leave room for some new negotiations, they are seen more in a positive light, we have had the israeli prime minister's office saying they have received the comments and will return their comments to mediators. when we have had a palestinian official speaking to us saying that this is something that should be viewed positively and they accept they could be new rounds

of negotiations now. there is mentioned that israel have approved plans for an expansion of settlements in the occupied west bank. could you put that into context for us in terms of the tensions around all of that, more so than we have explained so far? what we have seen during the war has been with this particular israeli hardline government in place, that includes ministers in key positions who are really seen as being leaders of the settler movement. since they've been in power at the start of last year, they have looked to increase the settlement presence in the occupied west bank, making clear that they see it as part of the plan to prevent in the long run the idea of the creation of an independent palestinian state alongside israel, that the two state formula for peace which is internationally approved here, so they we have seen since the war began an increase of outpost settlements,

these illegal settlements, even under israeli law. we had a far right government minister declaring five of these unauthorised outposts will be legalised by the israeli government and now this big takeover of land being declared state land that israel in the west bank. nine months into the gaza war, there are growing signs of open dissent against the hamas government there. residents have told the bbc that people are publicly cursing the group's leaders and that some are publishing messages online urging them to agree a ceasefire. many in gaza are still fiercely loyal to hamas, and support for the 7th of october attacks is still high, but as our middle east correspondent lucy williamson reports, fear of speaking out

against the group appears to be waning. it isa it is a warning that the some viewers are scenes in this report may be seen as distressing. in gaza, now the anger is not just against israel, but against hamas. scenes like this, unthinkable before the war are growing more common. enough killing damu. this university teacher screams �*you're scum!�* this leadership does not represent us. it does not represent us. the teacher was filmed after hundreds of palestinians were killed and injured in an israeli raid to rescue hostages last month. some have openly criticised hamas for hiding the hostages in a busy marketplace or firing rockets from civilian areas. hamin publicly opposed hamas before the war and was arrested by its security forces several times. now, he says, people are less afraid to speak out. in gaza, most people criticise what hamas has done. some people are even

calling their livestock by the names of certain hamas leaders. it has a lot of support amongst those outside gaza's borders who are sitting under air conditioners in their comfortable homes, who have not lost a child, a home, a future, a leg. desperation is eroding social control in gaza. there are those still fiercely loyal to hamas, and it's hard to assess how many of them are turning away. but even some of the group's own payroll are wavering. 0ne senior hamas official, speaking anonymously to the bbc, said the 7th of october attacks were a crazy, uncalculated leap with a devastating impact on gaza's people. i know from my work with the hamas government that it prepared well for the attack militarily, but they did not build any safe shelters for people or reserving a food, fuel and medical supplies.

if my family and i survive this war, i will leave gaza the first chance i get. hamas is battling for control on the streets. its police targeted by israeli forces. unofficial security squads have been filmed punishing looters. and a well—placed source described bloody score—settling with other armed groups in places where israel's army had withdrawn. before the war, gaza's sharp political divisions were largely hidden under a blanket of fear. but fear is only relative to what you have to lose. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. there is more on that on our bbc website and app. 0nline shopping is a big part of our everyday lives, from food, to clothes, to furniture, but do you ever think about where it really came from? well tomorrow marks 30 years since the founding of amazon,

the globally influential and successful online marketplace which has gone on to forever change the commerce industry. let's speak to miya knights, retail technology expert and author. it's been three decades of amazon, how has it changed retail as we know it? absolutely. i think when we look at how it has impacted consumers in the uk, the most impactful statistic is that 30% of all retail is sales in the uk are now online. its mission to work out how to use digital technology and internet to persuade consumers to shop online, it's been wildly, wildly successful. lloathed

consumers to shop online, it's been wildly, wildly successful.— wildly, wildly successful. what did we hear from _ wildly, wildly successful. what did we hear from geoff _ wildly, wildly successful. what did we hear from geoff sec-mac - wildly, wildly successful. what did we hear from geoff sec-mac back| wildly, wildly successful. what did i we hear from geoff sec-mac back in we hear from geoff sec—mac back in the day. does he have any sense of how he could have changed this? he how he could have changed this? h9 certainly would, i imagine, congratulate himself on succeeding in his vision of persuading us to buy on the internet, because when you think about it, 30 years ago, most traditional retailers would not have believed that consumers would part with money up front before having received the goods without even having touched or felt them. but nowadays, we are more than happy to do that and, as i've said, more of us are going online now. his original vision to get us on line, he's been absolutely successful. what about the vision now. it's

experimenting with so many new technologies. what are the projects they are looking at when they look to the future? i certainly think developing capabilities in artificial intelligence and tools based on that which may have benefits to bear on all of its different divisions will be a top priority of the company moving forward. where we will see that impacting us as consumers shopping online will be in areas where amazon has already been an innovator, in ratings, reviews, recommendations, those are now being aggregated using ai in order to bring us the best of hundreds of thousands of ratings that they get on their products sold on amazon every day. i think ai will be important, in terms of integrating all those diverse business

divisions, even more tightly, so they can drive greater efficiency out of the business so they can increase margins as well as underpin any new growth. thea;r increase margins as well as underpin any new growth-— any new growth. they are looking at thins like any new growth. they are looking at things like drones. _ any new growth. they are looking at things like drones. what _ any new growth. they are looking at things like drones. what about - any new growth. they are looking at things like drones. what about on i things like drones. what about on the high street? do you think people are becoming so reliant on having everything delivered to themselves like this that it could hurt the high street or is that still that feeling of going somewhere physically that people will want to keep? t physically that people will want to kee - ? ~ : :, , keep? i think certainly post-coronavirus, - keep? i think certainly i post-coronavirus, where keep? i think certainly - post-coronavirus, where digital post—coronavirus, where digital demand exploded into 20% year—on—year growth for amazon, we've certainly seen a rebalancing of the relationship that consumers see between online and the stores, and the good news is is that it is in favour of stores. wherever we have survey consumers and ask them

to vote with their wallets, that trusted human touch, expertise of store associates is absolutely invaluable and is one of the most important assets for traditional retailers these days. but we're seeing an increased demand for ordering online but collecting orders on store, click and collect. that saved the role of the store doubly important, notjust as a place for us to engage with experts but for retailers to reduce the costs of getting the goods that they deliver to us down to a point where it changed into profit.— deliver to us down to a point where it changed into profit. thank you so much for your— it changed into profit. thank you so much for your expertise. _ it changed into profit. thank you so i much for your expertise. remember, its general election day. stay with us on bbc news, because there is more to come. hello again.

wherever you are today, it's going to be windy, but the strongest winds will be in the north of the country, blustery winds further south. and it's the south—east that has the highest levels of pollen today, and we're talking predominantly grass pollen at this time of year. so what's happening is low pressure is pulling away into the north sea. this weather front is coming in, enhancing the showers. and you can see from the isobars that it is going to be windy wherever you are. a lot of showers coming in on that wind across scotland, northern england and also northern ireland. the heaviest, most prolific will be across the north—west. come further south, a much brighter day, more sunshine than there was yesterday, but still one or two showers in wales and the south—west of england. temperatures 12 to 20 celsius. for wimbledon today, drier and sunnier than it was yesterday. it will feel warmer as a result — 20 celsius. but tomorrow it's all change. tomorrow we're looking at some rain and also blustery winds. so moving on through this evening and overnight, the weather front in scotland sinks south with its rain,

fragmenting all the time. then we have a new weather front coming in from the south—west, moving across southern parts of england and wales with its cloud and its rain. some clear skies in between, the winds easing for most, and overnight lows 9 to 13 celsius. into tomorrow, then, we still have this clutch of fronts — waving fronts, so they may move a little bit further north then a little bit further south than i'm going to show you. so it's going to bring in all this cloud and rain. again, it could get a little bit further north, the rain, or further south, but we do expect it to turn heavy across devon and cornwall later. move north of this weather front, there's a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and a few showers. but again these are the wind strengths tomorrow. they're gusty winds, particularly across southern counties of england and through the english channel and especially essex. temperatures 13 to about 19 or 20 celsius. heading on, then, in

towards the weekend — we've got this area of low pressure continuing to drift off into the north sea, still producing some rain, it will be windy on saturday and it's looking showery on sunday, but this weather front may well bring us some more in the way of rain. so on saturday, the north and the east will see some rain as the low pressure drifts across us. sunny spells further south but showery on sunday.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the polls open in the general election — millions getting the chance to choose a new government. the metropolitan police launches a review of its investigation into a crash at a school in south london where two pupils died. 0n the horns of a dilemma — can rhinos in zoos help boost genetic diversity for their cousins in the wild? and better late than never — the award for bravery returned to its rightful owner decades after it went missing. hello, welcome back. the polls have opened in the first uk general election in almost five years. there are 40,000 polling stations open across england, scotland, wales, and northern ireland. around 46 million people are eligible to elect 650 members of parliament to the house of commons. the labour leader sir keir starmer and his wife arrived at a polling station in north london to cast their votes.

bystanders being kept well away and plenty of security in evidence. the prime minister and conservative party leader rishi sunak went to cast his vote earlier this morning with his wife akshata murty in their local constituency in north yorkshire, another early voter was the snp leaderjohn swinney, here he is at the polling station in perthshire. let me show you the scene live at westminster, as voters head to the polls. you can find all the latest, including how the bbc reports polling day on the bbc news website and app. and a reminder, you can watch the general election results programme live on bbc one in the uk and here on the bbc news channel around the world from 9:55pm bst all the way into friday.

the metropolitan police in london has launched a review of its investigation into an incident at a school where two pupils died after a land rover crashed into an end of term tea party. last week prosecutors decided the driver of the car that killed eight—year—olds nuria sajjad and selena lau would not be charged as she had suffered an epileptic seizure. in their first interview since the deaths, staff at the study preparatory school in wimbledon have told the bbc the met has failed to answer some key questions. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. so it was like a...like a war zone. standing on the lawn where their pupils, selena and nuria, died when a land rover smashed through the children here. and the car... well, the car had gone into the building and dented the building, then sort ofjumped back. debris everywhere. the eight—year—old girls had just been celebrating

at an end of term party, tables and mats laid out. nuria — talented and chatty, selena — hard—working with a twinkle in her eye, said her teachers. prosecutors last week decided not to charge the driver because they said she had suffered an epileptic seizure, which hadn't previously been diagnosed. a decision the school struggles with. i was very surprised. i think we were both very surprised. as was the whole community, really. and we've waited and waited and given the police and the cps the time and the space to make that decision, and now we feel very angry and sad and upset and confused. but their greatest frustration is with the met police, its investigation and what they see as a failure to answer questions since the decision not to prosecute. there were numerous questions that they were unable to answer.

that's made the last week incredibly difficult. i mean, the police said that their officers worked tirelessly through every detail of the incident to ensure a complete investigation. that... it didn't... you know, it didn't look like that to us at each of those three meetings because they were not able to answer some of those questions. you were shaking your head there? no, i think the words "thorough" and "tireless" suggest that you would have a body of evidence that you would be able to share. but in some areas, there was just a complete lack of knowledge — the lack of thoroughness was how it appeared. have you felt let down by the met police? at the end of this process, at this moment in time, it would appear to be that i have been let down by them.

the met has now decided it will review its investigation, saying it has listened to concerns from the families of nuria and selena and others affected. last week, the driver, claire freemantle, expressed her deepest sorrow to the families and said she had no recollection of what took place. the flowers on the lawn planted from those the community left in tribute to selena and nuria. helen comforted nuria as she lay injured. ijust talked to her about how wonderful she was, how much we loved her, how much mummy and daddy loved her and, you know, what a special girl she was. but we couldn't keep them safe on that day, and that...you know, i will always live with that. airport passengers are being urged to fully research meet—and—greet car parking firms this summer, as new figures show a rise in the number of complaints being made to trading standards about operators.

the warning comes as some travellers have reported issues such as extra charges, missing keys and even missing vehicles. 0ur reporter clodagh stenson has been to sussex to find out more. after buffets, beaches and beer, you're back on home turf. but that return to reality can have a bumpy landing. somebody answered and said they had no recollection of having our car at all. eventually, we were told that the keys had been lost or misplaced. they basically either put the phone down or ignored my emails. - yeah, this company is really totally rubbish. meet and greet or meet and cheat? after the parking operator drive park and fly claimed they'd lost her keys, kim was forced to get a midnight taxi to norfolk with the promise they'd drop her car back. eventually, they said, look, if i want my car, i need to fetch it. they've had to replace the key with a new key. it's cost them £200 to buy a new key and, um, you know,

it's cost them ——£300 to buy a new key and, um, you know, i should be grateful. eventually, a family member picked up the car. and that lost set of keys? it was the original key, still with scratches on it, so they had never replaced the key — that had been a lie. and i actually do not know what they did with my car while it was in their care for all those days. same company, different problem. richard was told they'd lost his car. so i said, right, we're going to have to go into a hotel. and after one week of no car and frantic calls... what they told us was the car was where we left it, which was in the short—stay car park, and it had been there for a week. trading standards has told the bbc that they're getting complaints about cars never being moved at all. so you drop your car off somewhere like this — gatwick short stay — expecting it to be picked up, and it never is. and while you're away, that can rack up a big fine. when customers' keys

are handed back to them, they're unaware that their cars never left the airport and they'll have to pay this bill to leave the car park. natasha also used drive park and fly and got a fine after her car was illegally parked. the issue was that the parking meet—and—greet people parked it there, not us. leon's romanian holiday got a rude interruption after a series of charges left his bank account. entry in north terminal by 12:26 and come out by 12:29. it's only three minutes. his van, which should have been securely parked by galaxy parking limited, was repeatedly entering the gatwick drop—off zone at an automatic charge of £6 a time. i'm not happy and i got stressed on my holiday, because i'm thinking if anything happened to my car and then i get the blame because i am the owner of the car. and these experiences are not isolated incidents. the review site trustpilot is flooded with complaints about drive park and fly and galaxy parking limited. both sussex police and west sussex trading standards have recently warned people to do their research,

saying they get regular reports from disappointed customers. what we're trying to utilise is the intelligence we're receiving from customers and analysing that information to work out have we got any criminal offences? if we can demonstrate this is a constant pattern by the business, then we can look at those offences and take them to task for those actions. gatwick airport stressed that it has no relationship to drive park and fly or galaxy parking limited. the challenge we have is that they are able to operate on and at gatwick because they're not breaking any of our bylaws. just be extra careful when you're looking on these comparison websites at the providers that are on there and just do extra research. so just check things like the contact details — you know, have they got independent reviews on the likes of trustpilot?

and just go that layer deeper to make sure that what you're booking is fully trustworthy. i've just been to visit a known address for galaxy parking. they weren't operating at that site any longer. however, there were some other meet—and—greet operators using that site. they deny any link to galaxy parking. despite promises of reimbursements, neither kim, natasha, leon nor richard have received a penny back. it had cost me over £350 to get my car back. so we ended up having to pay the £100. in total around 50. about £400. the whole experience was just massively frustrating. - we were totally helpless. nobody could help. - the police couldn't help, - the citizens advice couldn't help. the insurance company weren't i interested because we didn't think we were going to get the car back. and at the end of the day, it was just down to - the people we'd booked with. we've made multiple attempts to contact both drive park and fly and galaxy parking limited, but neither have responded. clodagh stenson, bbc news.

before we move on to our next story, i want to remind you it is polling day before we move on to our next story, i want to remind you it is polling day here before we move on to our next story, i want to remind you it is polling day here in before we move on to our next story, i want to remind you it is polling day here in the before we move on to our next story, i want to remind you it is polling day here in the uk before we move on to our next story, i want to remind you it is polling day here in the uk and before we move on to our next story, i want to remind you it is polling day here in the uk and you before we move on to our next story, i want to remind you it is polling day here in the uk and you may before we move on to our next story, i want to remind you it is polling day here in the uk and you may have noticed a qr code right there. you can get all the information you need on bbc news website and app, as well as the rules and terms of what we can and cannot report today. we have our live election programme later this evening. that is live on bbc one in the uk and the bbc news channel here at 9:55pm pst. you can up channel here at 9:55pm pst. you can up all the winter friday if you want to. researchers are trying to boost the genetic diversity of southern white rhinos in africa by harvesting the eggs of captive animals in zoos around europe. cross—breeding programmes in zoos mean that captive white rhinos have genes that are more diverse. here's our science editor rebecca morelle. santa is a 22—year—old adult southern white rhino.

she's unable to have calves of her own, but scientists want her valuable genes to live on. she's having her eggs harvested. first, she's given some anaesthetic, and once the team are sure she's asleep, they get to work. a specialist team from germany has flown to dublin zoo for the procedure. santa is being checked all the time while she is under sedation. for the last week, she's been given a special hormone injection to help her produce eggs, but collecting them is far from easy. it requires painstaking precision. the hope is, though, that she could help to safeguard the future of her species. the scientists want to harness santa's genes for the wild rhino population. southern white rhinos almost went extinct. there were just a few dozen left. now their numbers have recovered, but they're all descended from that tiny group, so they lack genetic diversity. but rhinos in zoos have

been carefully crossbred so their genes are more mixed up. a wider genetic diversity gives a healthier population in terms of disease, in terms of their ability to survive. so santa having wonderful genetics that are worth preserving, we know from a previous reproductive assessment that she can't breed, the great thing about this is that santa will be represented in future generations of rhino. the scientists look inside santa's ovaries on the ultrasound. the scientists look inside santa's ovaries. 0n the ultrasound, they locate her eggs inside follicles, small sacs of fluid that appear as dark circles. they extract them using an ultra fine needle. good. good reaction. it's taken years to develop and perfect this fertility technology. it's an extreme form of conservation, but scientists say it's vital. they are products of evolution for millions of years. and they didn't fail in evolution.

they are not bullet—proof and they were wiped out by human activity, and i think we have really the responsibility as scientists to provide new solutions to make it possible that the rhinos can live another million years. in a makeshift lab, the researchers take stock of what they've found. they've extracted four eggs. three are of high quality. they're packed up and will be taken to a fertility centre in italy to create new southern white rhino embryos. rhino ivf is still in its infancy, but the hope is they could eventually be implanted in a female surrogate. it's a lot of effort. a lot of people invest a lot of energy and time and effort, and in the end, we actually come home with a few cells. but however, these cells have the potential to become embryos and to form a new rhino, a huge two—tonne animal so, yeah, it is worth it. but it's always a relief when we have a good outcome in the end.

a few minutes after the procedure, santa is up — a little unsteady at first. although she doesn't know it, the eggs she's donated could make a big difference in ensuring the survival of future generations of southern white rhinos. rebecca morrell, bbc news, dublin zoo. let's look at the euros next. after england's nail biting win on sunday, they are on to the quarter finals to face switzerland. the excitement is high for the swiss team, following their ruthless win against the euros title holders, italy. but will they do it again? i asked football experts craig king and frida fagerlund if they expect any big switchups on the england side. yeah, obviously we don't get to see everything that is going on in the camp, but i do sense that there has been a shift in mood in the england team, and the game against slovakia probably served as a reminder that things can end in an instant if you're not

at your best. and i have to say, the atmosphere in the stadium in gelsenkirchen was just so hostile with one minute to go, and that bellingham goal sort of felt like a release for everyone really, including himself, from what he was saying in the press conference afterwards about how he was throwing it back at the critics, basically. so yes, they have looked drained both physically and mentally, including gareth southgate, but hopefully this was the wake up call and also the moment they needed to turn things around. right. and you're saying gareth southgate looked drained there. craig, the swiss manager said he has sympathy for him, that he's been through similar difficulties. what kind of manager and squad are england facing? i think it's a squad that's very, very experienced. you know, this isn't the first time round that they've reached this stage of the tournament. they did it at the last euros, beating france so memorably, and they're always in the knockout stages. you know, they've done it since 2014. this is their sixth major tournament in a row. so the main thing coming into this

for this team is experience. you know, those building blocks have been there over the last ten years, guys like granit xhaka and shervin shaqiri who have been there the whole time. the manager's kind of continued on from 0ttmar hitzfeld and vladimir petkovic over those ten years, and he was under pressure himself. you know, the qualifying campaign was very unlike switzerland. they had a weak group and they scraped through in second and there were a lot of question marks over him. but he came through it and and he's now took the team on to the knockout stages again. so yeah, he knows the kind of pressure that southgate's been under, but he's also came through it and he's got the team playing very well at the moment. right. and frida any worries aboutjude bellingham and his celebration, let's call it, against slovakia? yeah, so he's obviously under investigation by uefa for that crude gesture, which some have suggested that, you know, was directed at the opposition bench, but he's saying that it wasn't. we don't know what's going to happen yet, but i would guess,

because the initial report suggested that uefa would drop the case, i think that is probably what's going to happen. i don't think he will be banned, at least. they have also been, you know, preoccupied by a couple of other investigations that you have to say are more severe than what bellingham did. but we just have to wait and see what happens. right. and craig, there is a london born player in the swiss team, isn't there — kwadwo duah. could you tell us more about him? yeah. you know, he was a bit of a surprise package because before this tournament he hadn't played, you know, at all until the warm up friendly against estonia. he hadn't been capped. but he had a very good season in bulgaria and he scored a lot of goals there and he got the call up,

but he had that 45 minutes, you know, didn't particularly impress. and then the manager threw him in for that first game against hungary and he scored, you know. so there's a lot of faith from the manager in him. he's not really featured since you know, there's other options in that swiss team that are maybe more reliable and that have been there for a longer period of time. but he's someone that's yeah, he's took his chance. you know, i think i don't think he could have dreamed a better start to his international career. you know, he's pretty much made his debut at a major tournament, and he's scored a goal as well, so can't get much better than that. and he might not feature against england but he's already made his mark for this team. yeah, definitely. and, frida, speaking of you know, younger players, when it comes to some of the criticisms that have been levelled against the england squad and gareth southgate, what have we heard from kane from bellingham about how that may be affecting the team? yes. so phil foden was actually speaking on this yesterday and he basically said that he was quite frustrated about how they've been playing or the fact that he hasn't maybe been as prolific as he would have wanted to. and gareth southgate has a lot of tough decisions to make,

especially to get the balance of the team a bit better, like having right—footed kieran trippier playing as a left back has been a bigger issue at this tournament compared to what it was three years ago, and it is probably to do with the fact that you have phil foden playing out of position on the left. he's a brilliant player, but one that tends to drift in centrally and end up as a number 10. but since the only natural left back in the squad is luke shaw, who's been injured and is probably not ready to start on saturday, you're not left with many options. sorry for the abrupt end there. you can watch the match later this week. their numbers are largely in decline across the uk but the long summer nights offer the perfect opportunity to spot the unmistakeable sight of female glow worms. the insects uses a green light caused by a chemical reaction to attract winged male suitors during the breeding season, and there's one area where they are thriving, as our reporter charlie rose has been finding out. i'm starting to blush. tonight, on the south downs,

love is in the air. this is x—rated stuff, this is. but these amorous insects won't be getting much privacy here. she's wiggling her legs. to really see why glow—worms have such a passionate fan base, we have to turn off the lights. is it the first time you've seen a glow—worm? yeah. what do you make of it? strange thing to be doing in the middle of the night, but it's very cool to see them. at first, everyone's like, oh, you'll see something. and i'm thinking, oh, we're not going to see anything. and we've seen quite a few. it's not the sort of thing you see every day, is it? mm. they're one of the species that are quite iconic. - and where would you find glowing insects in this country? _ you find them on this sort of reserve, - so they're really, really special. and we want to look after them. they're spellbinding, aren't they? they are, they are gorgeous. well, hunting for these things is a lot of fun for us, but the reason they glow is quite serious. the females do it to attract a male.

once that happens, they mate, the female lays her eggs and then that is the end of her life. it's a short but quite extraordinary existence. but their unique beauty doesn't seem to be enough to stop us destroying their habitat. over the past 100 years, the uk has lost almost all of its wildflower meadows. at this reserve near hove, scientists are counting glow—worm numbers by imitating the female's light to lure the flying males into traps. so what we really want to do is to find out how many males there are in a population like this, which we normally do by catching a whole load like this, marking them, subsequently, with little tiny dots of paint which don't harm them at all, releasing them back into the habitat and then seeing how many we can re—catch again subsequently the next night or perhaps two nights later. and that gives us a very accurate

estimate of the population size. and near lewes, they've put more fake females behind large artificial lights to see how human activity can confuse male glow—worms seeking a mate. experts say the insects act like a sentinel for the health of the natural environment. when conditions deteriorate or the glow—worm's habitat is destroyed, then the flightless females are in deep trouble. they seem to be sort of diminishing in lots of different areas. so we need to make sure that in the grasslands that we have here, in the chalk, if they're going to be here, we need to make sure that they survive and, hopefully, we'll be able to come back year after year and see them again. this reserve seems to be acting like a sort of love island for glow—worms, where the admirers of these little earth stars hope the creatures never stop twinkling. charlie rose, bbc news.

a woman who saved a friend from drowning as a teenager in 1957, from drowning as a teenager in 1957 has been presented with a copy of the bravery award she thought she'd lost forever. 0ur reporter stuart woodward has the story. the two girls went down to see the sea on the steps. and mrs bridge went after them, and she fell in. and i ran down the steps after and jumped in the water and held her up for about a minute till a man could come along and lift her out. a nervous 14—year—old maureen, speaking to the bbc about saving the life of a family friend who she was staying with during the easter holidays in 1957. nearly 70 years later, i've brought maureen back to where it happened. i remembered the westcliff hotel the. the sea's right in still! how deep was the water? about ten feet. _ are you a good swimmer? well, not very good. - i swim 40 yards. you've swum 40 yards? yes _ her coat weighed her down so much, that was the problem. i did it on the spur of the moment. i didn't even think about it at the time.

i came out and then turned round and saw my shoe and went back and got it. maureen returned to school in peckham after easter and didn't tell anyone what had happened, but a few months later she was awarded a certificate for her bravery. well, that's the actual presentation. the bbc came to interview maureen at school, something she says was more terrifying than the rescue. some of her children have onlyjust found out about their hero mum after maureen stumbled upon the archive interview on mother's day on the bbc rewind website. she may have kept the newspaper cuttings, but maureen's certificate was lost when she moved house. but with the help of the royal humane society, we've got quite the surprise for maureen. oh, and you framed it as well! thank you very much. look at that. thank you very much. can you... i'll treasure that now. can you read the writing on there? yes, yes. would you mind reading it out? shall i read this bit?

yes, please. it was resolved unanimously that the honorary testimonial of the society, inscribed on parchment... ..be hereby given - to maureen alice stumbles for having, on the 4th of may, - 1957, gone to the rescue of a woman who was in imminent danger of drowning in the sea - at the western esplanade... ..westcliff on sea, essex, and whose life she gallantly saved. how does that feel to see this again? it's lovely. yes. very nice. i can't thank you enough. well done, maureen. i stuart woodward, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. wherever you are today, it's going to be windy, but the strongest winds will be in the north of the country, blustery winds further south. and it's the south—east that has the highest levels of pollen today, and we're talking predominantly grass pollen at this time of year. so what's happening is low pressure is pulling away into the north sea. this weather front is coming in, enhancing the showers. and you can see from the isobars that it is going to be windy wherever you are. so what's happening is low pressure

is pulling away into the north sea. this weather front is coming in, enhancing the showers. and you can see from the isobars that it is going to be windy wherever you are. a lot of showers coming in on that wind across scotland, northern england and also northern ireland. the heaviest, most prolific will be across the north—west. come further south, a much brighter day, more sunshine than there was yesterday, but still one or two showers in wales and the south—west of england. temperatures 12 to 20 celsius. for wimbledon today, drier and sunnier than it was yesterday. it will feel warmer as a result — 20 celsius. but tomorrow it's all change. tomorrow we're looking at some rain and also blustery winds. so moving on through this evening and overnight, the weather front in scotland sinks south with its rain, fragmenting all the time. then we have a new weather front coming in from the south—west, moving across southern parts of england and wales with its cloud and its rain. some clear skies in between, the winds easing for most, and overnight lows 9 to 13 celsius. into tomorrow, then, we still have this clutch of fronts — waving fronts, so they may move a little bit further north then a little bit further south than i'm going to show you.

so it's going to bring in all this cloud and rain. again, it could get a little bit further north, the rain, or further south, but we do expect it to turn heavy across devon and cornwall later. move north of this weather front, there's a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and a few showers. but again these are the wind strengths tomorrow. they're gusty winds, particularly across southern counties of england and through the english channel and especially essex. temperatures 13 to about 19 or 20 celsius. heading on, then, in towards the weekend — we've got this area of low pressure continuing to drift off into the north sea, still producing some rain, it will be windy on saturday and it's looking showery on sunday, but this weather front may well bring us some more in the way of rain. so on saturday, the north and the east will see some rain as the low pressure drifts across us. sunny spells further south but showery on sunday.

live from london — this is bbc news. polling stations across the uk

are open for the country's general election — with millions getting the chance to choose a new government. this is the prize — a chance to serve as a member of parliament at the palace of westminster. despite the growing pressure — joe biden insists he's not bowing out of the race for the white house. hurricane beryl batters jamaica with high—winds and heavy rain — the storm is now heading towards mexico. and happy birthday amazon — it's the $2 trillion online colossus, and it's turning 30. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri. welcome to the programme. the polls have opened here in the first uk general election in almost five years. there are 40,000 polling stations open across england, scotland, wales, and northern ireland.

around 46 million people are eligible to elect 650 members of parliament to the house of commons. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, and his wife arrived at a polling station in north london to cast their votes we've just received these pictures of the liberal democrat leader arriving at a polling station to cast his vote. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, and his wife arrived at a polling station in north london to cast their votes around an hour ago. conservative party leader and prime minister, rishi sunak, went to cast his vote earlier this morning with his wife akshata murty in their local constituency in north yorkshire, another early voter was the snp leaderjohn swinney, here he is at the polling station in perthshire. 0ur political correspondent hannah miller has more on election day. yeah, yeah, it's that time again. it's come round. with election day finally here, this hairdresser�*s has a new look — one of 40,000 polling stations open today for you to cast your vote. basically, i'll come

here and get everything set up. the people that are doing the polling will come. and, yeah, it'sjust a busy day. i come back at 10.30, pack it all up, and we work as a salon in the background. we do let the clients know, obviously, we are a polling station, but, yeah, everyone's happy to come in and, yeah, wejust carry on business as normal. in the run—up to a general election, a lot of the conversation tends to be about who might be the next prime minister, but, today, what you're actually voting for is your local mp. they will be one of 650 to sit in there, in parliament. a party needs just over half of them — 326 — to form a majority government. the polls are open until 10pm and you'll need to show an accepted form of photo id, such as a passport, driving licence or an older or disabled person's bus pass when you turn up. if you asked for a postal vote and it hasn't arrived, you can go in person to your local

council to request a replacement ballot paper before five o'clock. and if you've got a postal vote but not sent it back, you can still drop it off at the polling station today in england, scotland and wales. or ask someone to do so on your behalf. at this royal mail office, they're sorting through completed postal votes to get them to the right place to be counted. if somebody opts to vote by post, we will get the postal vote to them. that goes out in something we call a ballot back. they then return the postal vote and it's got a clear purple strip in it. all the machines are set up to automate that process. but, on the very final day, we do a final—day sweep just to make sure everything that comes through, even on the very last day, we can get to the returning officers. and here in london, that's to 16 different returning officers. the political map has been redrawn for this election to reflect population changes and make the number of voters more equal. so you might find that your constituency has changed. but wherever you live,

today is your opportunity to say what you think, while pets wait patiently outside. hannah miller, bbc news. so what exactly is the bbc allowed to report on polling day? here's our political correspondent leila nathoo with the rules. it might seem strange to people who have been following the campaign for the last six weeks, that today, on polling day, that the bbc is not actually getting into any of the issues that we've been talking about for all this time. nothing about the parties, the state of the parties, the polls, all of those policy issues. it's because the bbc and other broadcasters here in the uk are bound by rules, which means that we can't get into that on polling day itself. so the time between 7am in the morning and 10pm in the evening, when the polls are open and people are actually casting their votes, what we focus on today instead isjust the process, the kind of the democracy and action, if you like. so the process of people going into polling stations like this one in south london and putting their x's in boxes, and we focus solely on that until polls close at 10pm.

and then, of course, from 10pm onwards, then the votes at ten o'clock we get something called an exit poll and that is a prediction based on people constituencies across the country. and then, of course, from 10pm onwards, then the votes will start getting counted in halls across the country. all of those pieces of paper will be added together, and then slowly the picture will emerge. but for today only, we are focusing on the polling stations like this 40,000 polling stations across the country, 150,000 people involved in making sure the whole thing runs smoothly. so quite a feat and quite a lot to get into. let me show you the scene live at westminster, as voters head to the polls. you can find out more about how the bbc reports polling day on the bbc news website and app. and a reminder — you can watch the general election results programme live on bbc one in the uk and here on the bbc news channel around the world from 9.55pm bst —

all the way into friday. let's turn now to the us election, and president biden has insisted that no—one will push him out of the running in his bid for re—election. after having a meeting with the president last night, some democratic governors have come out to voice their support. but after his performance during last week's televised debate with donald trump, many still have concerns about his mental agility, as our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. this is the biggest personal challenge facing joe biden since he launched his re—election campaign. many democrats are widely reported still to be in panic mode a week after this. making sure we are able to make every single solitary person eligible for what i have been able to do with the covid —

excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with, er... the president's fumbling performance during his debate with donald trump has led to growing calls from members of his party for him to abandon his bid for a second term. two democratic congressman have urged mr biden to step down, while us media outlets say a letter is circulating in the house of representatives with party members urging colleagues to sign to persuade the president to call it a day. but mr biden has, it seems, the backing of democratic governors after a meeting at the white house, where they said they had a frank discussion with the president. it was candid. i think that, you know, we always believe that when you love someone you tell them the truth. i think we came in and we were honest about the feedback that we were getting, we were honest about the concerns we were hearing from people. we were also honest about the fact as the president continued to tell us that he was all in, we said we would stand with him.

earlier, it was business as usualfor mr biden. he appeared at a ceremony to posthumously award medals to two civil war heroes. he ignored the shouts of reporters and left the white house press secretary to answer the question of the day. the president is clear—eyed and he is staying in the race. i don't have anything else beyond that. he is staying in the race. that is what the president has promised to do. later, the president spelled out his intentions in a campaign message to supporters. "i am the democratic party's nominee," he wrote, "no one is pushing me out. i am not leaving. i am in this race to the end." americans will watch the 81—year—old closely over the next days when he is scheduled to give a high—profile tv interview and appear at a campaign rally. in the meantime, donald trump, who is 78, is pushing ahead in opinion polls, while more voters are saying joe biden is too

old to be president. mitch robertson is a lecturer in us history at university college london. thank you for your time. president biden said he is in it until the end. what can he do to convince his party, everyone in his party, that he should be? i party, everyone in his party, that he should be?— party, everyone in his party, that he should be? ~ :, , he should be? i think what he needs to do is what — he should be? i think what he needs to do is what we're _ he should be? i think what he needs to do is what we're seeing _ he should be? i think what he needs to do is what we're seeing is - to do is what we're seeing is democratic leaders, and say, what we saw on the television last week was not up to standard in the eyes of the voters and they need something beyond a campaign speech or even a recorded television interview, they want to see him out with voters and taking a lie press conference saying, i did have a bad night, but i'm notjust in it for the next few months but the next four years. white might how much time does he have to do that? there was a lab report that came out saying that he

believes and his party believes that he only has a few days, until the end of the week. how urgent is this? it's incredibly urgent. what's interesting about that leak is that perhaps as time has run out. the early movement and motion is coming out of the white house was, just a bad night, don't worry about it. they now they are acknowledging the people are having those concerns about his age and saying that he understands he needs to show a big performance very urgently in the next week or so. the performance very urgently in the next week or so.— performance very urgently in the next week or so. the only count that matters is the _ next week or so. the only count that matters is the one _ next week or so. the only count that matters is the one on _ next week or so. the only count that matters is the one on election - next week or so. the only count that matters is the one on election day i matters is the one on election day but what sense are we getting from the polls in terms of his ability to beat donald trump? that is after all what he has always campaigned on. absolutely. what the biden supporters are pushing back on on the debate night is saying, let's look at do things. let's look at the money that comes in and wait for the polls. the money was better—than—expected in the polls were worse than expected. a new york times poll that came out says that

he is now down to losing 49, 43. this is the argument that is central to his campaign years on, look, i am old, you know what i have done but i can beat trump, i'm the only person who is beat trump. if that turns out to not be true that really takes out the bulk of the support, i think. evenif the bulk of the support, i think. even if the money he is arguing in, you have big donors questioning him and now, don't you?— and now, don't you? definitely. i think that is _ and now, don't you? definitely. i think that is a _ and now, don't you? definitely. i think that is a fair _ and now, don't you? definitely. i think that is a fair observation i and now, don't you? definitely. i think that is a fair observation to | think that is a fair observation to make, there are leaks from the donors, leaks from his star. it's good news for him but the dam is holding because not a lot of people want to put their name to these claims but a these anonymous leaks are coming in thick and fast every day, that is what is putting the pressure on. the white house was saying 0k, pressure on. the white house was saying ok, this is a bad night but it would dissipate. but it's been a continuous barrage of bad press for the president. haifa continuous barrage of bad press for the president-— continuous barrage of bad press for the president. how would that work was my how —

the president. how would that work was my how would _ the president. how would that work was my how would the _ the president. how would that work was my how would the democratic. was my how would the democratic party, if they decide to do so, how would they replacejoe biden as a candidate? it would they replace joe biden as a candidate? , .., , candidate? it is the case in the ast the candidate? it is the case in the past the presidents _ candidate? it is the case in the past the presidents have i candidate? it is the case in the. past the presidents have chosen candidate? it is the case in the i past the presidents have chosen not to run for election, joe biden has not yet chosen that. if the chooses to carry on, he will be the nominee for the democratic party. what happens after that is the chaos that is working on biden's favour. how is the democratic party going to choose a candidate? were they try and use it at the convention? 0ne a candidate? were they try and use it at the convention? one of the more concerning things i think for the president overnight wasjoe biden's strongest ally in the house was mentioning the idea of the democratic party having a mini primary leading up to the democratic national convention. the ball is in the present�*s court. if he wants to be the democratic nominee, he will be the democratic nominee, he will be the democratic nominee. if he doesn't, the field is wide open.

kamala harris would be the apparent but there are still some concerns in the polling about her. it's a really dangerous time for the democratic party. absolutely. the primary would be absolutely — party. absolutely. the primary would be absolutely incredible _ party. absolutely. the primary would be absolutely incredible at _ party. absolutely. the primary would be absolutely incredible at this i be absolutely incredible at this stage. thank you so much for your time. pa. stage. thank you so much for your time. : , :, , let's look at the latest now on hurricane beryl. at least ten people are now known to have died as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the caribbean has made landfall. hurricane beryl has brought winds of more than 130 miles an hour, damaging buildings and felling trees as our correspondent will grant reports. having ripped off roofs and tossed aside homes as it tore through the caribbean, hurricane beryl has now hitjamaica. for days, the island's government has said that the storm's destructive force was not to be underestimated. that beryl would lash the country with high sustained winds, strong gusts and heavy rain. they also warned of life—threatening storm surges, too. and even within the first hours of the storm making landfall, streets in the capital,

kingston, began to flood, damaging homes and businesses. an evacuation order for low—lying areas was put into place, and the prime minister stressed that residents of at—risk communities should move to safer districts. we urge alljamaicans to comply with notices to evacuate if and when they are issued. the coming hours will revealjust how much damage beryl has wrought in jamaica. but other islands show the devastation it can cause. in carriacou, off the coast of grenada, entire communities have been left homeless, with buildings destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. in st vincent and the grenadines, union island was among the worst affected places in the caribbean, receiving the full brunt of beryl�*s power. beryl is an unprecedented storm. none have formed as quickly or have intensified as fast in atlantic hurricane history, and satellite pictures show it's not done yet.

as the storm leaves jamaica's territory, it will move towards the mexican mainland. the tourist resort of cancun is directly in its path. just as people in grenada, in st vincent and the grenadines and injamaica had prayed for the best as beryl drew near, now mexicans are crossing their fingers in the hope that this extraordinarily powerful storm begins to weaken before it reaches their communities, too. will grant, bbc news, mexico. in australia, police investigating the disappearance of a 12—year—old girl following a crocodile attack have found human remains. the girl was reportedly attacked while swimming in a creek with her family near a remote town south of darwin, in the northern territory. the area is home to an estimated 100,000 saltwater crocodiles, more than anywhere else in the world.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

let's turn to the middle east. israel has confirmed it is evaluating what it's described as new "comments" submitted by hamas to qatari and egyptian negotiators attempting to end nine months of conflict in gaza. the proposals relate to efforts to secure the release of the israeli hostages still being held in gaza, and to achieve a ceasefire — as our correspondent injerusalem, yolande knell explains. they have been a lot of efforts to bring about a new ceasefire and hostage deal. hamas say they responded in a positive spirit to the deal on the out on the 31st of may. that was laid out at the end of may saying it was coming from the

israeli side. the israeli prime minister said that it was evaluating that and it would get back to the mediator so that is the qataris, the egyptians with the us involved as well. there has been some guarded optimism to all of this express through the israeli media. 0ne optimism to all of this express through the israeli media. one of the israeli newspapers put an israeli official saying there is no longer a mass demand for a complete ceasefire in the first phase of this deal. seeing that positively, we have had that confirmed by a palestinian official who is involved in the talks. they have said also that there are new conditions being demanded by hamas for specifically an israeli withdrawal of troops from along the philadelphi corridor, that is a strategically important strip of land between egypt and gaza that also includes the rafah crossing. so it is not clear whether this will lead ultimately to a breakthrough.

many of those in gaza are still fiercely loyal to hamas, which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by several countries and support for the october the 7 attacks is still high, but as our middle east correspondent lucy williamson now explains, fear of speaking out against the group appears to be waning. a warning some viewers may find some scenes in this report distressing. in gaza, now the anger is not just against israel, but against hamas. scenes like this, unthinkable before the war are growing more common. enough killing damu. this university teacher screams �*you're scum!�* this leadership does not represent us. it does not represent us. the teacher was filmed after hundreds of palestinians were killed and injured in an israeli raid to rescue hostages last month. some have openly criticised hamas for hiding the hostages in a busy marketplace or firing rockets from civilian areas. hamin publicly opposed hamas before the war and was arrested by its security

forces several times. now, he says, people are less afraid to speak out. in gaza, most people criticise what hamas has done. some people are even calling their livestock by the names of certain hamas leaders. it has a lot of support amongst those outside gaza's borders who are sitting under air conditioners in their comfortable homes, who have not lost a child, a home, a future, a leg. desperation is eroding social control in gaza. there are those still fiercely loyal to hamas, and it's hard to assess how many of them are turning away. but even some of the group's own payroll are wavering. 0ne senior hamas official, speaking anonymously to the bbc, said the 7th of october attacks were a crazy, uncalculated leap with a devastating impact on gaza's people.

hamas is battling for control on the streets. its police targeted by israeli forces. unofficial security squads have been filmed punishing looters. and a well—placed source described bloody score—settling with other armed groups in places where israel's army had withdrawn. before the war, gaza's sharp political divisions were largely hidden under a blanket of fear. but fear is only relative to what you have to lose. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. elsewhere in the region,

the israeli military says it's killed a commander of hezbollah in lebanon in an air strike. these pictures were sent to us by the news agency afp, which says they were posted online and show the aftermath of the strike. muhammad nimah nasser is one of the most senior hezbollah figures to have been killed in nearly nine months of cross—border clashes. now i want to bring you some breaking news. in the last few minutes it's been announced that the manchester united manager erik ten hag has signed a new deal with the club. his future had been doubt following modest performances last season — and a change of ownership at manchester united. but he won the fa cup in may which seems to have swung things in his favour. again, let me repeat that. breaking news, manchester united manager erik ten hag has signed a new deal with the club. if we have any updates on that, we will bring them to you. more than 12,000 people

in california have been ordered to evacuate their homes as a huge wildfire rages in the north of the state. hundreds of hectares of grass and woodland — near the state capital, sacramento — have been consumed by flames since the fire started on tuesday. the authorities have described the fire as exceptionally dangerous. the california governor, gavin newsom, has declared a state of emergency in the area. california is in the grip of an extreme heatwave, with soaring temperatures of up to 46 celsius. 0nline shopping is a big part of our everyday lives, from food, to clothes, to furniture, but do you ever think about where it really came from? well, tomorrow marks 30 years since the founding of amazon, the globally influential and successful online marketplace which has gone on to forever change the commerce industry. earlier i spoke to miya knights, retail technology expert and author about how amazon has changed retail as we know it.

i think when we look at how it has impacted consumers in the uk, the most impactful statistic is that 30% of all retail sales in the uk now originate online. its mission to work out how to use digital technology and internet to persuade consumers to shop online, it's been wildly, wildly successful. what did we hear from jeff bezos back in the day? what was his vision? do you think he had any sense of how he would changed the industry? he would change the industry? i don't think anybody, least of alljeff, could have predicted how disruptive amazon's growth, rapid growth, has been. but he certainly would, i imagine, congratulate himself on succeeding in his vision of persuading us to buy on the internet, because when you think about it, 30 years ago, most traditional retailers would not have believed

that consumers would part with money up front before having received the goods, without even having touched and felt them. but nowadays, we are more than happy to do that and, as i've said, more and more of our shopping is done online now. so in his original vision to get us to shop online, he's been absolutely successful. stay with us here on bbc news. before we go i will bring you live pictures of west minister as people head to the polls. remember you can follow that on the bbc news website. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again. wherever you are today,

it's going to be windy, but the strongest winds will be in the north of the country, blustery winds further south. and it's the south—east that has the highest levels of pollen today, and we're talking predominantly grass pollen at this time of year. so what's happening is low pressure is pulling away into the north sea. this weather front is coming in, enhancing the showers. and you can see from the isobars that it is going to be windy wherever you are. a lot of showers coming in on that wind across scotland, northern england and also northern ireland. the heaviest, most prolific will be across the north—west. come further south, a much brighter day, more sunshine than there was yesterday, but still one or two showers in wales and the south—west of england. temperatures 12 to 20 celsius. for wimbledon today, drier and sunnier than it was yesterday. it will feel warmer as a result — 20 celsius. but tomorrow it's all change. tomorrow we're looking at some rain and also blustery winds. so moving on through this evening and overnight, the weather front in scotland sinks south with its rain, fragmenting all the time.

then we have a new weather front coming in from the south—west, moving across southern parts of england and wales with its cloud and its rain. some clear skies in between, the winds easing for most, and overnight lows 9 to 13 celsius. into tomorrow, then, we still have this clutch of fronts — waving fronts, so they may move a little bit further north then a little bit further south than i'm going to show you. so it's going to bring in all this cloud and rain. again, it could get a little bit further north, the rain, or further south, but we do expect it to turn heavy across devon and cornwall later. move north of this weather front, there's a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and a few showers. but again these are the wind strengths tomorrow. they're gusty winds, particularly across southern counties of england and through the english channel and especially essex. temperatures 13 to about 19 or 20 celsius. heading on, then, in towards the weekend — we've got this area of low pressure continuing to drift off into the north sea,

still producing some rain, it will be windy on saturday and it's looking showery on sunday, but this weather front may well bring us some more in the way of rain. so on saturday, the north and the east will see some rain as the low pressure drifts across us. sunny spells further south but showery on sunday.

fireworks on wall street, as shares hit new records ahead of the july 4th holiday. but the fed hints it's in no hurry to cut interest rates from their two—decade high. europe's car industry has been gearing up for new tariffs on chinese—made electric cars. so will they actually ignite them today? and the small screen sensation that's sparking a retail boom, from cakes to cocktails, stately home visits to even a special clothing range — we'll have more on the so—called bridgerton effect. welcome to business today, i'm mark lobel. we start on wall street. traders have headed off for theirjuly 4th holiday in a festive mood. the s&p 500 closed at a new record high for the second day in a row — led by the tech giants — as did the tech dominated nasdaq. let's just show you

those closing numbers. the dow is slightly down, but very close to their all—time high above 3900 as well. the rally comes after some weaker than expected data on the us economy, which has boosted hopes for interest rate cuts. from new york, here's our north america business correspondent michelle fleury. wall street record—breaking rally kept going on wednesday during trading in an abbreviated session. what drove it? investors digestive several reports were pointing to a slowing economy. the number of americans claiming unemployment was higher than forecast, while a report on service sector activity from the institute for supply management was also negative. but while there than worry investors, there were hopes that it would convince the central

bank to cut interest rates sooner. the market was lifted by tesla, whose shares rose 6.5% after a drop in sales. it was one of the youngest forces pushing up the s&p 500, along with nvidia. all us markets are closed on thursday in observance of the 4th ofjuly holiday, but it will be back to business as usual on friday, when the labour department releases its report. investors have been hoping the fed can engineer a "soft landing" for the world's biggest economy — getting inflation under control without causing a recession. investment manager keith buchanan thinks they might have done it. it's really painting a picture for a soft landing. i had put those words together because they can come back together because they can come back to bite you, but the slowing that we have seen in the labour market

coming off of slowing growth, it should start to bleed into unemployment either this month or the next two months. that leads us into september, where there is the likelihood of a cut. whether it comes fast enough to set the stage is it to be determined. but this is how the jobs market should be reacting to this incredibly tight monetary policy over the past two years. sinha haldea, global head of private capital advisory at raymond james, says that it's a case of bad news being good news for the us economy. we have a number of data indicators, as we _ we have a number of data indicators, as we just _ we have a number of data indicators, as we just heard, coming in on the downside — as we just heard, coming in on the downside. this is not good news for main— downside. this is not good news for main street, but for wall street, it is being _ main street, but for wall street, it is being taken is good news that the fed might— is being taken is good news that the fed might increase its chances of a

rate cut _ fed might increase its chances of a rate cut. there's at least one rate cut price — rate cut. there's at least one rate cut price in — rate cut. there's at least one rate cut price in from september. that's different— cut price in from september. that's different from the six that were priced — different from the six that were priced in — different from the six that were priced in when we started the year injanuary. — priced in when we started the year injanuary, and just three that priced in when we started the year in january, and just three that were priced _ in january, and just three that were priced in _ in january, and just three that were priced in in — in january, and just three that were priced in in march or april, so the fed has _ priced in in march or april, so the fed has held its nerve and said it will not _ fed has held its nerve and said it will not start cutting rates until it has _ will not start cutting rates until it has seen more evidence that prices — it has seen more evidence that prices were in disinflationary patterns _ prices were in disinflationary patterns. they are hoping that given the data _ patterns. they are hoping that given the data of— patterns. they are hoping that given the data of the past few days, this is what _ the data of the past few days, this is what the — the data of the past few days, this is what the fed needs to start beginning its rate cut cycle, which will bring — beginning its rate cut cycle, which will bring more impetus for wall street — will bring more impetus for wall street it — will bring more impetus for wall street. it is a self—fulfilling prophecy, if you will. to europe now, where the car industry is once again in the spotlight. the european union is expected to confirm today it's putting import taxes or tariffs of up to 37.6% on chinese—made electric cars. eu policymakers are worried europe is being "flooded" by cheap chinese evs, whose makers have had unfair government help. the eu trade chief valdis dombrovskis hasjust told bloomberg there is no basis for china

to retaliate, but the bloc is split over the issue. german car companies made around a third of their sales in china last year and don't want to provoke retaliation. also bmw is among several western firms that makes evs in china for export to the uk. france, italy and spain though are in favour of the tariffs. hosuk lee—makiyama is the director of the european centre for international political economy. hejoins me now. does it look like china can find a way to stop these tariffs are being added to the 10% import tax that currently exists, or have they reached the end of the road? we are actuall at reached the end of the road? we are actually at the _ reached the end of the road? we are actually at the beginning _ reached the end of the road? we are actually at the beginning of- reached the end of the road? we are actually at the beginning of the i actually at the beginning of the road. the technical consultations on this matter started early last week. we will have about four months while both sides are negotiating over this issue. of course, there are a number

of leverages that china can exercise against the european union, notjust retaliation but also concessions. like what? what would those concessions look like? is it inside china or moving production, for example? china or moving production, for examle? :, , china or moving production, for example?— china or moving production, for examle? :, , ., ., ,, example? ideally, china could take these accusations _ example? ideally, china could take these accusations or— example? ideally, china could take these accusations or allegations i example? ideally, china could take these accusations or allegations of| these accusations or allegations of these accusations or allegations of these state subsidies seriously, but it is more likely that the concession will come in the form of joint ventures and localisation of production inside europe, because this what the chinese manufacturers want. it is a good deal to go into the european market, rather than just escaping tariffs. there is half a century of cross and ship inside europe, which is waiting to build

those chinese cars. this is the path we have taken withjenny —— with japanese manufacturers. everyone who wants to escape the tariffs either through a trade agreement or a political settlement, you have to move into europe, that is the price you have to pay. the move into europe, that is the price you have to pay-— you have to pay. the bar is very hiuh for you have to pay. the bar is very high for the _ you have to pay. the bar is very high for the eu _ you have to pay. the bar is very high for the eu to _ you have to pay. the bar is very high for the eu to vote - you have to pay. the bar is very high for the eu to vote against. you have to pay. the bar is very i high for the eu to vote against this comedy block it, and so you could be looking at very expensive cars coming in from china when they are trying to cut emissions targets in the eu. , ., ., y the eu. indeed. they are also very --oular, the eu. indeed. they are also very popular, subsidies _ the eu. indeed. they are also very popular, subsidies for _ the eu. indeed. they are also very popular, subsidies for electric i popular, subsidies for electric vehicles have been a good way for governments to basically increase the popularity of government policy. we have seen that in places like france, but also in scandinavia, whenever opinion polls go down, there is a new subsidy package for

electric vehicles or solar panels. china is aware of that and have geared industrial policies towards those sectors. it is a perfect storm of european subsidies and chinese subsidies coming together at this nexus. :, , ., :, nexus. until november, we have to wait. nexus. until november, we have to wait- that's — nexus. until november, we have to wait. that's correct. _ nexus. until november, we have to wait. that's correct. 0k, _ nexus. until november, we have to wait. that's correct. 0k, thank i nexus. until november, we have to wait. that's correct. 0k, thank you | wait. that's correct. 0k, thank you very much. now, 30 years ago tomorrow, onjuly 5th 1994, jeff bezos started an online book store in his garage in bellevue, washington. and you know the rest. in three decades, amazon has become a global "everything store" — with a stock market value of over $2 trillion, making its founder one of the richest people on the planet. miya knights is a retail expert and co—author of the book amazon: how the world's most relentless retailer will continue to revolutionise commerce. she told us the secret of amazon's success.

i think that ringing so many innovative techniques for selling to us online, like reviews, recommendations, one click buying, really has given it that trust that consumers really do trust that they are going to deliver, meet their promise to deliver to us on time, quickly and at the cheapest price, making it very hard for competitors to beat them. amazon has set the bar understand it in so many aspects of shopping, particularly when it comes to convenience and speed of delivery, specifically amazon really has been the apex example in terms of meeting our expectations as consumers. netflix's small—screen sensation bridgerton has hooked in millions of viewers since it first aired in december 2020. full discolsure, i admit i was hooked too. so much so, netflix claims the bridgerton universe has added around £270 million to the uk economy over

the last five years. fans of the regency tv series can now get their hands on everything from bridgerton—inspired cakes to cocktails, stately home visits and even a special clothing collection from primark. my colleague, ben boulos, explains just what's behind the so—called bridgerton effect. dearest gentle reader, the tonne is simply abuzz with excitement this season. murmurings about a boost to businesses from what some are calling the bridgerton effect. word reaches me that some are inspired to make haste to afternoon teas like this one that would undoubtedly find favour with lady whistledown herself. i think people love to see the kind of dream world of, you know, the kind of the drama behind, the beauty, you know, kind of the royal kind of lifestyle. it's very pretty here, obviously.

it's very bridgerton—like, isn't it? so, yeah, i think that's probably what it is. it's just a bit of a fantasy, i think. well, i have to admit, i've actually not seen it myself yet. but i know that my friend's a big fan, so for her birthday, i thought it'd be a little bit of a treat. and i have to say, ifeel quite inspired now to come and see it myself. i'm like amazed to be here. so i think it's so cool that they have like a whole thing centred around the show, because it's just so fun to watch. and it's like really cool to like — it's like, i love seeing the british like characters and like everything, like kind of focused around like that time period and everything is really cool to me. and there's more demand from those wanting their very own slice of society at home. an entire range of bridgerton—inspired stationery, crockery and clothes. so popular, this retailer informs me it frequently sells out of stock. and hushed whispers abound that some may even indulge in bridgerton—themed liquid refreshment.

yet the greatest stir swirls around a mysterious new arrival in the tonne, and all the chatter in hallways and gardens is aboutjust who this enigmatic stranger could be. surely ben would be cast in the next series. for more on amazon as it turns 30, do turn to the bbc website and news appas amazon founderjeff bezos says he will sell another 25 million shares in the technology giant, worth nearly $5 billion. it comes after the company's stock market value hit a record high on wednesday. in february, he announced that he would sell amazon shares worth around $8.5 billion. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello from the bbc sport centre. i'm hugh ferris. there's a distinctly british feel to the order of play at wimbledon on thursday, even more than the union jacks in the crowd — they'll be able to cheer no fewer than seven players on the two show courts. number one court has two british head—to—heads — katie boulter against harriet dart and jack draper facing cameron norrie, from whom he's just taken the title of british number one. while the centre court programme starts with jacob fearnley�*s gargantuan task against novak djokovic. those are all second round matches, while andy and jamie murray's first appearance together at wimbledon in the former�*s final year is the first time since 1995 a men's doubles first round match has been scheduled on centre court. so if thursday starts with british players, wednesday ended with italians, with the world number one reaching round three. it tookjannik sinner four sets

and more than three and a half hours to beat 2021 runner—up matteo berrettini, with each of the sets he won coming after tie breaks. sinner is in the same half of the draw as defending champion carlos alcaraz, who had a much easier win on tuesday, while the australian open champion will play miomir kecmanovic in the third round. it was a tough match. especially the first tier sets. i made a couple of mistakes in the beginning of the third set and his confidence started to grow a little bit more. such an incredible server and play on grass, it means that only the small details can make the difference. i'm happy to see him back playing this level again. i had fun, i was feeling proud to play the world number one

on wimbledon central court with millions of italian people watching us. i could feel the historic importance of this match and that made me very proud. i wish i could be here in a different condition but in 20 years' time i will remember this match with a smile. manchester united manager erik ten hag has signed a contract extension with the club. the dutchman's previous deal was due to expire in 2025, but the club have triggered an extra year after deciding to stick with ten hag following an end of season review carried out after united won the fa cup. their second trophy in as many years. the club also recorded their lowest ever premier league finish of eighth, but the new united co—owners concluded that despite speaking to a number of alternatives, ten hag would stay in the job. having broken the record for most stage wins at the tour de france with his 35th victory on wednesday, mark cavendish might fancy a crack at number 36 later. the british sprinter passed the mark he'd shared with eddy merckx on stage five, but stage six on wednesday

could suit him — a 163 kilometre ride into dijon that finishes with an 800m dash to the finishing line, and a first chance for cavendish to potentially extend his record. theoretically, this is going to be the end. i believe his contract is “p the end. i believe his contract is up at the end of the year. he will be 40 next may. you know, he's not a spring chicken any more. there is a tidal wave of youthful talent coming through the sport. that said, anyone who watched the sprint closely yesterday saw that that wasn't just his technical and tactical awareness that got him the win, he was strong. when he did start leading the sprint outcome of the big favourite philipson was on his wheel in the slipstream and didn't really have an answer. forwhat slipstream and didn't really have an answer. for what it's worth, i think

he probably has more stage wins in him this year in the tour de france. while there are signs of him slowing down, if he wanted to carry on for another year or two, down, if he wanted to carry on for anotheryear ortwo, idsa down, if he wanted to carry on for another year or two, idsa there would be a fair few teams who would be looking to sign up by the end of the year. james anderson will retire from test cricket next week as its greatest fast bowler, but there's still the odd regret heading into a record 188th match for england in the longest format of the game. statistically, his 700 test wickets also can't be matched by any other pace bowler in history. but anderson has admitted to the bbc�*s tail—enders podcast he would have liked three of them to come in consecutive balls — something he's never done, but close friends and team—mates have. just for bragging rights in the pub, i just for bragging rights in the pub, i which _ just for bragging rights in the pub, i which i _ just for bragging rights in the pub, i which i had got a test hat—trick. i which i had got a test hat—trick. i never— i which i had got a test hat—trick. i never got — i which i had got a test hat—trick. i never got a _ i which i had got a test hat—trick. i never got a test 100 either, and i was so _ i never got a test 100 either, and i was so close — i never got a test 100 either, and i was so close at trent bridge. i thought— was so close at trent bridge. i thought i_ was so close at trent bridge. i thought i was getting one there. that kid — thought i was getting one there. that kid that played at burnley, if you had _ that kid that played at burnley, if you had said were going to play a test match and get a test wicket, i

would _ test match and get a test wicket, i would be _ test match and get a test wicket, i would be buzzing with that. so to .et would be buzzing with that. so to get as _ would be buzzing with that. so to get as many as i have, to be involved _ get as many as i have, to be involved in— get as many as i have, to be involved in as many test wins as a have, _ involved in as many test wins as a have, it _ involved in as many test wins as a have, it still— involved in as many test wins as a have, it still doesn't really feel real _ have, it still doesn't really feel real it — have, it still doesn't really feel real. it feels strange, and i'm sure. — real. it feels strange, and i'm sure. in— real. it feels strange, and i'm sure, in years to come, it will sink ina sure, in years to come, it will sink in a little — sure, in years to come, it will sink in a little bit — sure, in years to come, it will sink in a little bit more. t20 world cup champions india have finally arrived home after days of delays following their victory in barbados. captain rohit sharma, his team and the trophy landed in new delhi in the early hours of thursday after their return travel plans were disrupted by hurricane beryl, which left them stuck for three days. and that's all the sport for now.

let's bring you some breaking news — former president bolsonaro is to be indicted in a federal investigation. federal police in brazil decided to indict jair bolsonaro and his assistants in investigations into the sale of jewellery and the falsification of vaccination certificates, according to local news outlet metropoles. that investigation has been going on for some time now. 0ur correspondent says the request for the indictment of the former president has been completed and should be sent to the attorney general�*s office in the coming days. we will bring you updates as they come.

a british woman has admitted to killing her parents after their bodies were found in her house. virginia mccullough, pleaded guilty to murdering lois and john mccullough injune 2019. the 36—year—old was arrested last year after concerns were raised over the welfare of her parents, who were missing. let's cross to chelmsford crown court and our reporter, frances read. what do we know now? details are starting to come through after what we heard in court today. we know that virginia mcculloch, who is 36, was charged with murdering her parents, lois and john, both of them were in their 70s. this is supposed to have happened back in 2019, they were aged 75 and 74 respectively. their bodies were

found in essex back in september last year. police arrived at the couple's home on the 15th of september last year after concerns for their welfare were raised. they were reported missing as well. the next day, police officers then found human remains at the same location. an inquest laterfound human remains at the same location. an inquest later found that mrs mccullough had died from a stab wound to her chest, but the cause of death for mr mccullough remains unknown at the moment, pending further investigation, as far as the information we have been told at the moment. at the time, the police said it was a complex investigation, very few details were released at the time. they said they were supporting the widerfamily at time. they said they were supporting the wider family at that time. today in court, virginia mccullough pleaded guilty. she appeared via video link from prison in peterborough. sentencing is due to

take place later in the year. a pair of white—tailed eagles on the isle of mull in scotland are still caring for their youngster a year after it was hurt in a nest fall. the rspb said the young eagle injured its wing during stormy weather lastjuly. the adult eagles have skipped breeding this year, which conservationists say is very unusual. 0ur reporter, aileen clarke, has more. the isle of mull is home to 23 pairs of sea eagles, including these two featured on bbc springwatch. oh, wow! and it's this very pair who are surprising eagle experts not with their fishing skills, but their parenting approach. white—tailed sea eagles, with a wingspan of eight feet, build huge nests and, last year, a nest like this plummeted to earth during a storm, injuring one of the chicks. the chick is able to fly around now, but with a clear kink in its wing, it's keeping close to its parents — like here, sitting behind its dad. the local rspb ranger has been

monitoring its progress. as we neared this site, one of the adults came out to the boat, took a fish and flew back towards the shore. as it did so, we could hear the food—begging, screeching calls of a chick, which is the sort of call we hear injuly and august when they're just fledging. and, suddenly, in flew the chick from last year, flying reasonably well, considering what its wing looks like, and it followed its father into the nest and the dad relinquished the fish and gave it up. and we were just looking at each other in astonishment. the attention mum and dad are showering on the chick is unprecedented, he believes — tough love being much more the norm. normally, the eaglets disperse in the autumn and that's the last the parents see of them. in fact, if they did return the following year, they would not get a very warm welcome. they'd probably be chased off. so the fact that this pair have now put on hold their breeding

for this year and are still caring for their chick from last year is just totally amazing and new to all of us. at some stage, the parents may decide it's time to reclaim the spare room and forjunior to do his own fishing. but, in the meantime, these spectacular birds of prey are a study in patient, supportive parenting. aileen clarke, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. wherever you are today, it's going to be windy, but the strongest winds will be in the north of the country, blustery winds further south. and it's the south—east that has the highest levels of pollen today, and we're talking predominantly grass pollen at this time of year. so what's happening is low pressure is pulling away into the north sea. this weather front is coming in, enhancing the showers. and you can see from the isobars that it is going to be windy wherever you are. a lot of showers coming in on that wind across scotland, northern england and also northern

ireland. the heaviest, most prolific will be across the north—west. come further south, a much brighter day, more sunshine than there was yesterday, but still one or two showers in wales and the south—west of england. temperatures 12 to 20 celsius. for wimbledon today, drier and sunnier than it was yesterday. it will feel warmer as a result — 20 celsius. but tomorrow it's all change. tomorrow we're looking at some rain and also blustery winds. so moving on through this evening and overnight, the weather front in scotland sinks south with its rain, fragmenting all the time. then we have a new weather front coming in from the south—west, moving across southern parts of england and wales with its cloud and its rain. some clear skies in between, the winds easing for most, and overnight lows 9 to 13 celsius. into tomorrow, then, we still have this clutch of fronts — waving fronts, so they may move a little bit further north then a little bit further south than i'm going to show you. so it's going to bring in all this cloud and rain. again, it could get a little bit

further north, the rain, or further south, but we do expect it to turn heavy across devon and cornwall later. move north of this weather front, there's a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and a few showers. but again these are the wind strengths tomorrow. they're gusty winds, particularly across southern counties of england and through the english channel and especially essex. temperatures 13 to about 19 or 20 celsius. heading on, then, in towards the weekend — we've got this area of low pressure continuing to drift off into the north sea, still producing some rain, it will be windy on saturday and it's looking showery on sunday, but this weather front may well bring us some more in the way of rain. so on saturday, the north and the east will see some rain as the low pressure drifts across us. sunny spells further south but showery on sunday.

live from london — this is bbc news. voting is under way in the uk general election —

with up to 46 million people choosing a new government. this is the scene live at westminster — where newly elected mps will take their seats. despite the growing pressure — joe biden insists he's not bowing out of the race for the white house. hamas says it's sent what it describes as �*new ideas' to mediators — aimed at ending the war in gaza. could cutting edge ivf treatment in zoos be the solution for white rhinos — in the wild? hello. welcome to bbc news now, 3 hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. thanks forjoining us. the polls have opened in the first uk general election in almost five years. there are 40,000 polling stations open across england, scotland,

wales, and northern ireland. around 46 million people are eligible to elect 650 members of parliament to the house of commons. in the past hour we received these pictures of the co—leader of the green party carla denyer arriving to cast her vote in bristol. this was the libeal democrat leader sir ed davey arriving at a polling station in surrey to cast his vote. earlier the labour leader sir keir starmer and his wife arrived at a polling station in north london. the conservative party leader — and prime minister — rishi sunak went to cast his vote early this morning in their local constituency in north yorkshire. another early voter was the snp leaderjohn swinney, here he is at the polling station in perthshire. 0ur political correspondent hannah miller has more on election day. yeah, yeah, it's that time again. it's come round. with election day finally here, this hairdresser�*s has a new look — one of 40,000 polling stations open today for you to cast your vote. basically, i'll come here and get everything set up. the people that are doing the polling will come.

and, yeah, it'sjust a busy day. i come back at 10.30, pack it all up, and we work as a salon in the background. we do let the clients know, obviously, we are a polling station, but, yeah, everyone's happy to come in and, yeah, wejust carry on business as normal. in the run—up to a general election, a lot of the conversation tends to be about who might be the next prime minister, but, today, what you're actually voting for is your local mp. they will be one of 650 to sit in there, in parliament. a party needs just over half of them — 326 — to form a majority government. the polls are open until 10pm and you'll need to show an accepted form of photo id, such as a passport, driving licence or an older or disabled person's bus pass when you turn up. if you asked for a postal vote and it hasn't arrived, you can go in person to your local council to request a replacement ballot paper before five o'clock.

and if you've got a postal vote but not sent it back, you can still drop it off at the polling station today in england, scotland and wales. or ask someone to do so on your behalf. at this royal mail office, they're sorting through completed postal votes to get them to the right place to be counted. if somebody opts to vote by post, we will get the postal vote to them. that goes out in something we call a ballot back. they then return the postal vote and it's got a clear purple strip in it. all the machines are set up to automate that process. but, on the very final day, we do a final—day sweep just to make sure everything that comes through, even on the very last day, we can get to the returning officers. and here in london, that's to 16 different returning officers. the political map has been redrawn for this election to reflect population changes and make the number of voters more equal. so you might find that your constituency has changed. but wherever you live, today is your opportunity to say what you think, while pets wait patiently outside.

hannah miller, bbc news. let me show you the scene live at westminster — as voters head to the polls — you can find all the latest including how the bbc reports polling day on the bbc news website and app. and a reminder — you can watch the general election results programme live on bbc one in the uk and here on the bbc news channel around the world from 9:55pm bst — all the way into friday. let's turn now to another election, and concerns amongst democrats in the united states. while some senior members of the party have been expressing their support forjoe biden — other figures are publicly piling on the pressure for him to withdraw from the presidential race. the concerns are about biden's mental agility, after last week's televised debate with donald trump. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports.

this is the biggest personal challenge facing joe biden since he launched his re—election campaign. many democrats are widely reported still to be in panic mode a week after this. making sure we are able to make every single solitary person eligible for what i have been able to do with the covid — excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with, er... the president's fumbling performance during his debate with donald trump has led to growing calls from members of his party for him to abandon his bid for a second term. two democratic congressman have urged mr biden to step down, while us media outlets say a letter is circulating in the house of representatives with party members urging colleagues to sign to persuade the president to call it a day. but mr biden has, it seems, the backing of democratic governors after a meeting at the white house,

where they said they had a frank discussion with the president. it was candid. i think that, you know, we always believe that when you love someone you tell them the truth. i think we came in and we were honest about the feedback that we were getting, we were honest about the concerns we were hearing from people. we were also honest about the fact as the president continued to tell us that he was all in, we said we would stand with him. earlier, it was business as usualfor mr biden. he appeared at a ceremony to posthumously award medals to two civil war heroes. he ignored the shouts of reporters and left the white house press secretary to answer the question of the day. the president is clear—eyed and he is staying in the race. i don't have anything else beyond that. he is staying in the race. that is what the president has promised to do. later, the president spelled out his intentions in a campaign message to supporters. "i am the democratic party's

nominee," he wrote, "no one is pushing me out. i am not leaving. i am in this race to the end." americans will watch the 81—year—old closely over the next days when he is scheduled to give a high—profile tv interview and appear at a campaign rally. in the meantime, donald trump, who is 78, is pushing ahead in opinion polls, while more voters are saying joe biden is too old to be president. let's speak to lindy li, who's a democratic fundraiser and delegate — so is one of the people who will be formally choosing the party's presidential candidate next month. she was at the debate and describes joe biden as a friend. thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. what is your position now on whetherjoe biden should continue? :, ~

now on whetherjoe biden should continue? :, ,, , :, now on whetherjoe biden should continue? :, ,, i. now on whetherjoe biden should continue? :, ,, . :, continue? thank you so much for havin: continue? thank you so much for having me- _ continue? thank you so much for having me- i— continue? thank you so much for having me. iwill_ continue? thank you so much for having me. i will stand _ continue? thank you so much for having me. i will stand with i having me. i will stand with president biden for as long as he decides to stay in the race. he is the only one who can hold this coalition together that a democratic president need. he has white working—class, black americans and young americans as well. although support among this particular demographic appears to be weary after the debate. as we await the postdebate result i don't think anyone can make an informed judgment without seeing all the data and seeing the precise impact on other states in pennsylvania, michigan, georgia, nevada.— states in pennsylvania, michigan, georgia, nevada. when did you last directly speak— georgia, nevada. when did you last directly speak to — georgia, nevada. when did you last directly speak to joe _ georgia, nevada. when did you last directly speak to joe biden - georgia, nevada. when did you last directly speak to joe biden yourself| directly speak tojoe biden yourself and directly speak to joe biden yourself and how directly speak tojoe biden yourself and how did his mental agility strike you then? i and how did his mental agility strike you then?— and how did his mental agility strike you then? i can tell you exactl . strike you then? i can tell you exactly- june _ strike you then? i can tell you exactly. june 27 _ strike you then? i can tell you exactly. june 27 around i strike you then? i can tell you . exactly. june 27 around 11:15pm because i have the time sticker. i was very excitingly texting my

family saying the president asked about you specifically. i don't want to embarrass my family but the president told my family something specifically and he asked me the night of the debate, do you remember what i told them? ijust want to say, his every word completely melts my heart. he has been one of the kindest and compassionate people i have ever met. even putting politics aside ijust have ever met. even putting politics aside i just want to tell you and have ever met. even putting politics aside ijust want to tell you and i say this with every ounce of my being, he is a fundamentally good man, truly. d0 being, he is a fundamentally good man. truly-— man, truly. do you think you can beat donald _ man, truly. do you think you can beat donald trump? _ man, truly. do you think you can beat donald trump? i _ man, truly. do you think you can beat donald trump? i am - man, truly. do you think you can beat donald trump? i am not i man, truly. do you think you can i beat donald trump? i am not going to retend like beat donald trump? i am not going to pretend like we _ beat donald trump? i am not going to pretend like we didn't _ beat donald trump? i am not going to pretend like we didn't all _ beat donald trump? i am not going to pretend like we didn't all see - beat donald trump? i am not going to pretend like we didn't all see what i pretend like we didn't all see what we saw on thursday. i am not here to gaslight anybody. but i am also a fan of numbers and data. and it is looking like a lot of names are being thrown about who don't perform any better than president biden. we

hear about gavin newsom but when we look at the numbers themselves they don't actually perform head—to—head any better than biden himself. i also look at it from a logistical standpoint. it's not that easy to just swap in another candidate. anyone who is telling you otherwise is misleading, is committing political criminal practice. we have agreements in place that stipulates that no one but vice president kamala harris is entitled to the $240 million war chest that president biden currently has. 50 $240 million war chest that president biden currently has. so do ou think president biden currently has. so do you think kamala _ president biden currently has. so do you think kamala harris _ president biden currently has. so do you think kamala harris should i president biden currently has. so do you think kamala harris should take joe biden's place if he was to step down? t joe biden's place if he was to step down? :, :, :, , a down? i am going to stick with the resent down? i am going to stick with the present for— down? i am going to stick with the present for as _ down? i am going to stick with the present for as long _ down? i am going to stick with the present for as long as _ down? i am going to stick with the present for as long as he - down? i am going to stick with the present for as long as he stays, i down? i am going to stick with the present for as long as he stays, if| present for as long as he stays, if he decided to drop out for any reason i would be supporting vice

president kamala harris. the foremost reason is that she is well positioned to beat president trump and it is notjust something... this isjust something that and it is notjust something... this is just something that we have to do. our republic is that state. this is existential of the united states of america, this is nojoke. she has certainly grown into the role and become tremendous speaker. she has galvanised my demographic. i have been to events with her in pennsylvania in philadelphia and thatis pennsylvania in philadelphia and that is the path to which the white house runs. everywhere we go with her, crowds are screaming and they go wild. especially women in particular. she has been on a reproductive rights tour which has been a tremendous success. she has been... underestimate kamala harris at your peril, ijust been... underestimate kamala harris at your peril, i just want to say that. at your peril, i 'ust want to say that. :, _ at your peril, i 'ust want to say that. ., , ., at your peril, i 'ust want to say that. ., ., ., at your peril, i 'ust want to say that. :, ., ., ., ., that. you say and are waiting on ollin:

that. you say and are waiting on polling evidence _ that. you say and are waiting on polling evidence on _ that. you say and are waiting on polling evidence on joe - that. you say and are waiting on polling evidence on joe biden. i | polling evidence onjoe biden. i think that new york times had a poll overnight that showed that trump was ahead. are you waiting for more poll evidence? how long are you going to give it before you decide if you are continuing to backjoe biden? th continuing to backjoe biden? t�*i data, it really comes down to continuing to backjoe biden? t�*t data, it really comes down to the six or seven swing states. we need to look closely at what impact the debate has had. at the same time, it wouldn't be the first time that a mild swing or even a drastic swing is driven by the media narrative. i am not saying at all that anyone is exaggerating what happened on thursday. again, iam not exaggerating what happened on thursday. again, i am not here to paint a different picture. i want to paint a different picture. i want to paint the truth as i see it. at the same time we have to consider whether the debt is temporary. i want a holistic view of what is happening in the battleground states because those states are going to determine who is the next occupant of the oval office. hoffa determine who is the next occupant of the oval office.—

of the oval office. how long do you thinkjoe biden _ of the oval office. how long do you thinkjoe biden has _ of the oval office. how long do you thinkjoe biden has to _ of the oval office. how long do you thinkjoe biden has to prove - thinkjoe biden has to prove himself? s, thinkjoe biden has to prove himself? : , , ., himself? a few days. there is a matter of _ himself? a few days. there is a matter of days, _ himself? a few days. there is a matter of days, for _ himself? a few days. there is a matter of days, for sure. in i himself? a few days. there is a i matter of days, for sure. in order to circumvent ohio, where they passed a law, prior to the passage of that law, joe biden might not have been eligible to be on ohio's ballot. thankfully they have a stopgap measure but there is a virtual roll call coming up, this is not a matter of taking time, we need to get this done. for the good of the country and the party, people need to know what is going on. i think we owe the american people that. trump is too great of threat. i was born into a regime that killed my great—grandfather so i know what the stakes are on the stakes are tremendous. the stakes are on the stakes are tremendous-— the stakes are on the stakes are tremendous. how much are you in touch with — tremendous. how much are you in touch with other— tremendous. how much are you in touch with other donors... - tremendous. how much are you in touch with other donors... ? i touch with other donors... ? constantly. touch with other donors... ? constantly-— touch with other donors... ? constantly. touch with other donors... ? constantl . :, , ., , , constantly. can you give us a sense of where you _

constantly. can you give us a sense of where you think _ constantly. can you give us a sense of where you think the _ constantly. can you give us a sense of where you think the majority i constantly. can you give us a sense of where you think the majority of i of where you think the majority of opinion is now. t of where you think the ma'ority of opinion is now.i opinion is now. i think i am trying to 'ust, opinion is now. i think i am trying to just. you _ opinion is now. i think i am trying tojust, you know, _ opinion is now. i think i am trying tojust, you know, get _ opinion is now. i think i am trying to just, you know, get everyone i opinion is now. i think i am trying. to just, you know, get everyone to tojust, you know, get everyone to breathe and calm down. i am not going to be running around with my head on fire, that is not my style. i am just listening. there is a lot of pain and anxiety and rightly so. i completely get it. it's just really hard because we all lived through trump. it was terrifying. and january six happened and we just had the supreme court letting trump run out the clock. he is likely not going to face trial before the election on the insurrection. this is a very big deal. i understand that people are upset. do is a very big deal. i understand that people are upset.- is a very big deal. i understand that people are upset. do you think that people are upset. do you think that joe biden's _ that people are upset. do you think that joe biden's family _ that people are upset. do you think that joe biden's family are - that people are upset. do you think that joe biden's family are the i that people are upset. do you think that joe biden's family are the key. thatjoe biden's family are the key people that will help him decide

this or other names and supporters and friends will ultimately help you make that decision? t and friends will ultimately help you make that decision?— and friends will ultimately help you make that decision? i think you are riaht, make that decision? i think you are riuht, it make that decision? i think you are right. it really _ make that decision? i think you are right, it really comes _ make that decision? i think you are right, it really comes down - make that decision? i think you are right, it really comes down to i make that decision? i think you are right, it really comes down to jill. right, it really comes down tojill biden and his sister. he is surrounded by tremendous advisers who are very capable. i have complete confidence in them that they are going to reach the right decision. at the same time, this is scrantonjoe, scranton is a few hours from here. no person has a better sense of the pulse of the american people thanjoe biden. he was elected to the senate aged 29. that was no fluke. this guy is seriously a talent, you know, such a significant talent. he understands. he has adhered to the ground and know what is going on. i think he is going to make the right decision. he is the only one who has ever beaten

trump. it'sjust hard. it is hard. i know he is trying to do the right thing. he is going to do the abc interview on friday. he is going to come to philadelphia, where i am right now. he is going to be right around the block and i will be there to support him. he is doing everything he can to prove to the american people that he can do this, that he is capable and that he can transcend any doubts. {l3h that he is capable and that he can transcend any doubts.— that he is capable and that he can transcend any doubts. ok. well, we ma seak transcend any doubts. ok. well, we may speak to _ transcend any doubts. ok. well, we may speak to you — transcend any doubts. ok. well, we may speak to you again. _ transcend any doubts. ok. well, we may speak to you again. for- transcend any doubts. ok. well, we may speak to you again. for now i transcend any doubts. ok. well, we| may speak to you again. for now we are very gratefulfor you may speak to you again. for now we are very grateful for you to speaking to us. it is not an easy hour for you speaking to us. it is not an easy hourfor you in speaking to us. it is not an easy hour for you in the states but thank you so much for being here on bbc news. : ~ you so much for being here on bbc news. :, ,, , :, you so much for being here on bbc news. :, ,, i. . :, ., news. thank you so much for having me. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

let's turn to the middle east. israel has confirmed it is evaluating what it's described as new "comments" submitted by hamas

to qatari and egyptian negotiators attempting to end nine months of conflict in gaza. the proposals relate to efforts to secure the release of the israeli hostages still being held in gaza, and to achieve a ceasefire, as our correspondent injerusalem, yolande knell explains. there have been a lot of efforts to bring about a new ceasefire and hostage release deal, but hamas is saying in its statement that it's responded in a positive spirit to the deal that's currently on the table. that is basically the three phase plan that was laid out by president biden back at the end of may, with him saying that that was coming from the israeli side. now, the israeli prime minister's office very quickly said it was evaluating that, that it would get back to the mediators. so that's the qataris, the egyptians with the us involved as well. and there has been some guarded optimism to all of this expressed through the israeli media. one of the israeli newspapers quoting an israeli official saying that there's no longer a hamas demand for a complete ceasefire in the first phase of this deal.

and seeing that positively, we've had that confirmed by a palestinian official who's involved in the talks. but they have said also that there are new conditions being demanded by hamas for specifically an israeli withdrawal of troops from along the philadelphia corridor. that's a strategically important strip of land between egypt and gaza that also includes the rafah border crossing. so it's not yet clear if this will lead ultimately to a breakthrough. many of those in gaza are still fiercely loyal to hamas — proscribed as a terrorist organisation by several countries — and support there for the october the 7th attacks is still high, but as our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, now explains, fear of speaking out against the group appears to be waning. a warning some viewers may find some scenes in this report distressing.

in gaza, now the anger is notjust against israel, but against hamas. scenes like this, unthinkable before the war are growing more common. "enough killing, damn you," this university teacher screams, "you're scum! "this leadership does not represent us. "it does not represent us." the teacher was filmed after hundreds of palestinians were killed and injured in an israeli raid to rescue hostages last month. some have openly criticised hamas for hiding the hostages in a busy marketplace or firing rockets from civilian areas. hamin publicly opposed hamas before the war and was arrested by its security forces several times. now, he says, people are less afraid to speak out. in gaza, most people criticise what hamas has done. some people are even calling their livestock by the names of certain hamas leaders. it has a lot of support amongst those outside gaza's borders

who are sitting under air conditioners in their comfortable homes, who have not lost a child, a home, a future, a leg. desperation is eroding social control in gaza. there are those still fiercely loyal to hamas, and it's hard to assess how many of them are turning away. but even some of the group's own payroll are wavering. one senior hamas official, speaking anonymously to the bbc, said the 7th of october attacks were a crazy, uncalculated leap with a devastating impact on gaza's people. hamas is battling for control on the streets. its police targeted by israeli forces.

unofficial security squads have been filmed punishing looters. and a well—placed source described bloody score—settling with other armed groups in places where israel's army had withdrawn. before the war, gaza's sharp political divisions were largely hidden under a blanket of fear. but fear is only relative to what you have to lose. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. hurricane beryl is beginning to engulf the cayman islands with heavy rains and roaring winds. this is the scene in georgetown, the capital of the cayman islands. despite being downgraded to a category three storm, local reports say some areas have already lost power. beryl has already swept the southern coast of jamaica with sustained winds of 220 kilometres an hour. the capital, kingston, was spared extensive damage, but in some areas buildings were destroyed. at least one person was killed. our central america correspondent

will grant reports. having ripped off roofs and tossed aside homes as it tore through the caribbean, hurricane beryl has now hitjamaica. for days, the island's government has said that the storm's destructive force was not to be underestimated. that beryl would lash the country with high sustained winds, strong gusts and heavy rain. they also warned of life—threatening storm surges, too. and even within the first hours of the storm making landfall, streets in the capital, kingston, began to flood, damaging homes and businesses. an evacuation order for low—lying areas was put into place, and the prime minister stressed that residents of at—risk communities should move to safer districts. we urge alljamaicans to comply with notices to evacuate if and when they are issued. the coming hours will revealjust how much damage beryl

has wrought in jamaica. but other islands show the devastation it can cause. in carriacou, off the coast of grenada, entire communities have been left homeless, with buildings destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. in st vincent and the grenadines, union island was among the worst affected places in the caribbean, receiving the full brunt of beryl�*s power. beryl is an unprecedented storm. none have formed as quickly or have intensified as fast in atlantic hurricane history, and satellite pictures show it's not done yet. as the storm leaves jamaica's territory, it will move towards the mexican mainland. the tourist resort of cancun is directly in its path. just as people in grenada, in st vincent and the grenadines and injamaica had prayed for the best as beryl drew near, now mexicans are crossing their fingers in the hope that this extraordinarily powerful storm begins to weaken before it reaches their communities, too. will grant, bbc news, mexico.

here are the latest live pictures from georgetown in the cayman islands. as you heard hurricane beryl has been in the cayman islands, heading towards mexico after thrashing jamaica with intense winds and rain causing power outages and floods after crossing the smaller caribbean islands in the next couple days. these are the latest images that we are getting in from the cayman islands capital there of georgetown. there is more on the website. it is cause much damage in parts of the caribbean. this is bbc news. hello again. wherever you are today,

it's going to be windy, but the strongest winds will be in the north of the country, blustery winds further south. and it's the south—east that has the highest levels of pollen today, and we're talking predominantly grass pollen at this time of year. so what's happening is low pressure is pulling away into the north sea. this weather front is coming in, enhancing the showers. and you can see from the isobars that it is going to be windy wherever you are. a lot of showers coming in on that wind across scotland, northern england and also northern ireland. the heaviest, most prolific will be across the north—west. come further south, a much brighter day, more sunshine than there was yesterday, but still one or two showers in wales and the south—west of england. temperatures 12 to 20 celsius. for wimbledon today, drier and sunnier than it was yesterday. it will feel warmer as a result — 20 celsius. but tomorrow it's all change. tomorrow we're looking at some rain and also blustery winds. so moving on through this evening and overnight, the weather front in scotland sinks south with its rain, fragmenting all the time. then we have a new weather front coming in from the south—west,

moving across southern parts of england and wales with its cloud and its rain. some clear skies in between, the winds easing for most, and overnight lows 9 to 13 celsius. into tomorrow, then, we still have this clutch of fronts — waving fronts, so they may move a little bit further north then a little bit further south than i'm going to show you. so it's going to bring in all this cloud and rain. again, it could get a little bit further north, the rain, or further south, but we do expect it to turn heavy across devon and cornwall later. move north of this weather front, there's a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and a few showers. but again these are the wind strengths tomorrow. they're gusty winds, particularly across southern counties of england and through the english channel and especially essex. temperatures 13 to about 19 or 20 celsius. heading on, then, in towards the weekend — we've got this area of low pressure continuing to drift off into the north sea, still producing some rain, it will be windy on saturday and it's looking showery on sunday, but this weather front may well bring us some more in the way of rain.

so on saturday, the north and the east will see some rain as the low pressure drifts across us. sunny spells further south but showery on sunday.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: voting is under way in the uk general election, with up to 46 people choosing a new government. —— with up to 46 million people choosing a new government. a new study shows that more than 7% of all deaths in india's largest cities are linked to air pollution. and are linked to air pollution. why rising temperatures affect and why rising temperatures might affect those competing at this year's summer olympics. we start in india, where a new study has shown that more than 7% of all deaths in the country's largest cities are linked to air pollution. the worst—affected city was delhi, where the problem was associated with more than 11% of all recorded deaths. the team looked at concentrations of tiny particles known as pm2.5. they're found in pollutants such as exhaust fumes and industrial emissions. let's go to delhi and speak to one of the co—authors of that study, dr poornima prabhakaran

from ashoka university in delhi. thank you forjoining us today. can you explain how you did this research?— you explain how you did this research? , , , :, , research? this is the first of its kind, a multi-city _ research? this is the first of its kind, a multi-city study - research? this is the first of its kind, a multi-city study which i kind, a multi—city study which looked at the association between short—term exposure to pollution and the risk of mortality in indian cities. what we did was use our own in—house exposure model to measure the exposure, and we had daily deaths for major indian cities. cumulatively, there were about 3.6 million deaths in this time period, of which about 7.2%, approximately 23,000 deaths, could be attributed to exposure to particulate matter,

pm2.5. we used a causal modelling approach in a 2—step manner, which basically looked at first the exposure at a city level, and these were ten indian cities that had a very diverse profile, from cities like bangalore and hyderabad, which had air quality levels within our national air quality standards, but also cities like delhi, which are well above our air quality standards. so we looked at the city level associations, but then we pulled the data for deaths across these ten cities in this time period and we were able to come to this statistic, 7% mortality attributed to pm2.5. what was interesting was that even in the so—called cleaner cities, the cities that conformed to our air quality standards, risk of

dying was high. in fact, the risk difference was steeper at the lower levels of air pollution. this is a startling finding, because traditionally what we have done in terms of air—quality management strategies is to focus on the cities that have higher air pollution levels. this study actually points to the fact that we need to change this approach and actually focus on all of our cities across india, even the so—called cleaner once, if we are to protect peoples health. 50 the so—called cleaner once, if we are to protect peoples health. so in terms of immediate _ are to protect peoples health. so in terms of immediate changes that governments can do, state authorities, companies, what would you suggest?— authorities, companies, what would ou su~est? :, ., , ., ., , you suggest? fortunately, we already have our national— you suggest? fortunately, we already have our national clean-air— have our national clean—air programme which has been in place since 2019. what we have done there is to try and bring down the

particulate matter, the pm2.5 levels. in about 130 cities, which were the focus to cities of this programme because these were the cities that had not attained our air—quality standards. under this programme, there were efforts to put in place interventions based on those sources responsible in those local regions. but i think what we can do now is actually begin to take a nationwide approach, notjust respond, but also focus on interventions that are addressing local sources of air pollution. this was another important finding in our study, it was notjust the regional causes but it was jupiter to study, it was notjust the regional causes but it wasjupiter to local causes but it wasjupiter to local causes being more important in terms

of the risk of mortality. therefore, i think our intervention should focus on the sources that are more local than regional. ok. focus on the sources that are more local than regional.— localthan regional. ok, we are sadly out _ localthan regional. ok, we are sadly out of— localthan regional. ok, we are sadly out of time, _ localthan regional. ok, we are sadly out of time, but - localthan regional. ok, we are sadly out of time, but thank. localthan regional. ok, we are. sadly out of time, but thank you very much indeed for sharing the details there of your research. obviously, it is very interesting and important work on air—quality in india. the metropolitan police in london has launched a review of its investigation into an incident at a school where two pupils died after a land rover crashed into an end of term tea party. in their first interview since the deaths, staff at the study preparatory school in wimbledon have told the bbc the met has failed to answer some key questions. lucy manning reports. so it was like a...like a war zone. standing on the lawn where their pupils, selena and nuria, died when a land rover smashed through the children here.

and the car... well, the car had gone into the building and dented the building, then sort ofjumped back. debris everywhere. the eight—year—old girls had just been celebrating at an end of term party, tables and mats laid out. nuria — talented and chatty, selena — hard—working with a twinkle in her eye, said her teachers. prosecutors last week decided not to charge the driver because they said she had suffered an epileptic seizure, which hadn't previously been diagnosed. a decision the school struggles with. i was very surprised. i think we were both very surprised. as was the whole community, really. and we've waited and waited and given the police and the cps the time and the space to make that decision, and now we feel very angry and sad and upset and confused.

but their greatest frustration is with the met police, its investigation and what they see as a failure to answer questions since the decision not to prosecute. there were numerous questions that they were unable to answer. that's made the last week incredibly difficult. i mean, the police said that their officers worked tirelessly through every detail of the incident to ensure a complete investigation. that... it didn't.. you know, it didn't look like that to us at each of those three meetings because they were not able to answer some of those questions. you were shaking your head there? no, i think the words "thorough" and "tireless" suggest that you would have a body of evidence that you would be able to share. but in some areas, there was just a complete lack of knowledge — the lack of thoroughness was how it appeared. have you felt let down by the met police?

at the end of this process, at this moment in time, it would appear to be that i have been let down by them. the met has now decided it will review its investigation, saying it has listened to concerns from the families of nuria and selena and others affected. last week, the driver, claire freemantle, expressed her deepest sorrow to the families and said she had no recollection of what took place. the flowers on the lawn planted from those the community left in tribute to selena and nuria. helen comforted nuria as she lay injured. ijust talked to her about how wonderful she was, how much we loved her, how much mummy and daddy loved her and, you know, what a special girl she was. but we couldn't keep them safe on that day, and that...you know, i will always live with that.

lucy manning on that report with what happened at the study school in wimbledon. the countdown to the summer olympics and paralympic games in paris is on, with just weeks to go before the opening ceremony. but there's widespread concern over the potential effects of extreme heat. heat was a huge issue at the last summer olympics, seriously affecting competitors. and with high temperatures expected, organisers are having to think more than ever about how to mitigate the effects of climate change on athletes — and how to ensure events take place safely. let's speak to bbc presenter qasa alom. it isa it is a question for many athletes, isn't it? absolutely. it is a world that is getting warmer as a result of climate change and climate scientists have found that heatwaves are becoming more likely as a result of climate change as well. this is a

huge issue all year round for a number of places, and also a huge concern for athletes and the olympic games as a result of what has been happening in tokyo, and there have been plenty of heatwaves in paris over the years. there could be more this summer, with the olympics as well. this causes huge issues for the athletes as well, it could affect their performance on the day, it could also affect their cognitive performance if they are overheating, and that could lead to a number of issues, they could collapse, get heat stroke, which can be really serious, of course, and if they don't get called quick enough, a term called aggressive cooling, there could be a lot of issues for their brain, for the heart, their kidney function as well. it is quite a serious thing. we have seen issues with it over the years, as you mentioned. one that sticks out for me, at the commonwealth games on the

gold coast, he was a couple of kilometres away from finishing the race, was clearly overwhelmed and collapsed. he has now made a full recovery but it shows how much of an issue this is. 20 seconds. phil is one of the uk's fastest marathon runners. just over a year ago, he was a junior doctor in the nhs. then the 31—year—old sir mo farah in the london marathon and now he is preparing for his first olympics. t now he is preparing for his first ol mics. :: �* now he is preparing for his first ol mics. �* ., now he is preparing for his first olympics-— olympics. i can't wait, to be honest- _ olympics. i can't wait, to be honest. really _ olympics. i can't wait, to be honest. really excited. i've| olympics. i can't wait, to be - honest. really excited. i've worked really hard for a long time and this is a lot further than i thought i would get in the sport and to know that i have been here, training for years and years and will be competing at the pinnacle of the sport, it is really exciting. like every olympian. _ sport, it is really exciting. like every olympian, he _ sport, it is really exciting. like every olympian, he has his eye on the weather forecast. paris has every olympian, he has his eye on the weatherforecast. paris has had 23 heatwaves since 2010, according

to the french met office. extreme cabbages are more likely thank to climate change. tt cabbages are more likely thank to climate change.— climate change. it can be really warm, climate change. it can be really warm. so _ climate change. it can be really warm. so the — climate change. it can be really warm, so the big _ climate change. it can be really warm, so the big thing - climate change. it can be really warm, so the big thing is i climate change. it can be really warm, so the big thing is to - climate change. it can be really i warm, so the big thing is to make sure we are prepared for that. there is always a chance there is a heatwave as well, which we have seen in europe over the last few years in the summer, and if it is going to be like that we want to make sure we are well prepared. fine like that we want to make sure we are well prepared.— like that we want to make sure we are well prepared. one of the ways to do this is _ are well prepared. one of the ways to do this is running _ are well prepared. one of the ways to do this is running in _ are well prepared. one of the ways to do this is running in 40 - are well prepared. one of the ways to do this is running in 40 degrees| to do this is running in a0 degrees heatin to do this is running in a0 degrees heat in this specialist chamber at leeds beckett university. his team are monitoring his blood plasma levels, perceived effort and heart rate so they can see how his body and mind are handling the high—temperature is. it and mind are handling the high-temperature is. and mind are handling the hia-h-temerature is. , ., ., high-temperature is. it will promote a series of adaptations _ high-temperature is. it will promote a series of adaptations which - high-temperature is. it will promote a series of adaptations which will. a series of adaptations which will mean he can lose heat more effectively. he feels more comfortable in the hot environment, which will be good for pacing and reduce the risk of general heatstroke.— reduce the risk of general heatstroke. ., . ., ., . heatstroke. how much of an impact will this have _

heatstroke. how much of an impact will this have on _ heatstroke. how much of an impact will this have on his _ heatstroke. how much of an impact will this have on his performance i heatstroke. how much of an impact| will this have on his performance on race day? it will this have on his performance on race da ? . ., will this have on his performance on race da ? _, ., , will this have on his performance on raceda ? ., i, v ., will this have on his performance on raceda? ., i, v ., , race day? it could only be 1% or 296, but that race day? it could only be 196 or 296, but that is massive _ race day? it could only be 196 or 296, but that is massive in _ race day? it could only be 196 or 296, but that is massive in elite - race day? it could only be 196 or 296, but that is massive in elite sport. i but that is massive in elite sport. so it could have a big change. but it is notjust _ so it could have a big change. but it is notjust about getting a competitive edge. the british association for sustainable sport has just warned that intense heat at the paris games could pose a serious risk to athletes' health or even, in extreme cases, lead to death. which is why heat training is becoming even more crucial.— even more crucial. let's get you out. even more crucial. let's get you out- how _ even more crucial. let's get you out- how was — even more crucial. let's get you out. how was that? _ even more crucial. let's get you out. how was that? really - even more crucial. let's get you i out. how was that? really tough, really hot- — out. how was that? really tough, really hot. it's _ out. how was that? really tough, really hot. it's not _ out. how was that? really tough, really hot. it's not fun _ out. how was that? really tough, really hot. it's not fun in - out. how was that? really tough, really hot. it's not fun in the - really hot. it's not fun in the slightest, _ really hot. it's not fun in the slightest, but ijust got to do it. with_ slightest, but ijust got to do it. with training over fulfil, it is with training overfulfil, it is time to check out the results. the heart rate was _ time to check out the results. the heart rate was lower. time to check out the results. tta: heart rate was lower. the good time to check out the results. t'ta: heart rate was lower. the good thing was the perception scale. it's all

good. the sweat rate has elevated, so it's really positive. haifa good. the sweat rate has elevated, so it's really positive.— so it's really positive. how do you feel about — so it's really positive. how do you feel about that? _ so it's really positive. how do you feel about that? that _ so it's really positive. how do you feel about that? that is _ so it's really positive. how do you feel about that? that is a - so it's really positive. how do you feel about that? that is a huge i feel about that? that is a huge positive, isn't it question like we have seen improvements. t positive, isn't it question like we have seen improvements. i definitely feel better than _ have seen improvements. i definitely feel better than i _ have seen improvements. i definitely feel better than i did _ have seen improvements. i definitely feel better than i did a _ have seen improvements. i definitely feel better than i did a few _ have seen improvements. i definitely feel better than i did a few weeks - feel better than i did a few weeks ago in this test. but we always want more as athletes. this ago in this test. but we always want more as athletes.— more as athletes. as well as trainina more as athletes. as well as training in — more as athletes. as well as training in the _ more as athletes. as well as training in the lab, - more as athletes. as well as training in the lab, phil- more as athletes. as well as training in the lab, phil hasl more as athletes. as well as . training in the lab, phil has also been using less high—tech methods like running in thermal layers. and it's notjust top like running in thermal layers. and it's not just top athletes who like running in thermal layers. and it's notjust top athletes who can train for the heat. these techniques can help anyone. experts say that if you do exercise in hot conditions, it is important to pace yourself and not necessarily go for your personal best. and you can find out more about how olympic athletes on the climate question podcast on bbc sounds. let's speak to pragnya mohan — indian national champion and south asian champion triathlete. thank you so much forjoining us

today on bbc news. when you're training in india and other parts of south asia, does that help you prepare for hot temperatures everywhere?— prepare for hot temperatures eve here? ~ ., ~ . everywhere? well, thank you so much for havin: everywhere? well, thank you so much for having me — everywhere? well, thank you so much for having me here _ everywhere? well, thank you so much for having me here and _ everywhere? well, thank you so much for having me here and i'm _ everywhere? well, thank you so much for having me here and i'm so - everywhere? well, thank you so much for having me here and i'm so glad - for having me here and i'm so glad the bbc is doing a piece on this. it is something that is a very concerning thing for us athletes, and to answer your question, when i prepare or train in india or south asia, the temperatures are very high. even in the mornings when i go for my cycle ride or running, the temperatures are higher than 30 degrees. that is one reason why i decided some years back that i wanted to relocate to a cooler place where i could train more frequently outdoors. it does prepare us, but every competition is different. most of the competitions in triathlon

take place in european climates, which is generally cooler than the south asian climate i'm used to. so the temperature you will finally race at, if you prepare or train in such temperatures, then definitely the performance you are going to have on the race day is much better. how much do you worry, and your friends and fellow athletes, about your own physical safety as temperatures rise? tt your own physical safety as temperatures rise?- your own physical safety as temperatures rise? it is a big concern- _ temperatures rise? it is a big concern- to _ temperatures rise? it is a big concern. to just _ temperatures rise? it is a big concern. to just give - temperatures rise? it is a big concern. to just give you - concern. to just give you perspective, if they have to do races in over a0 degrees and high humidity, it can be a killer. it can lead to a lot of fatigue, the recovery takes for ever and, in stream cases, it can be fatal. so if we have to erase in extreme conditions, it is concerning for us

athletes. it shows how much of a crisis it can be, this extreme weather can kill our sports. we will give it all we can. there is only so much we can prepare for the heat. 50 on the race day as an athlete, i don't think any athlete thinks these are the conditions, this is howl will perform. we will give our best, but in the stream cases it can be fatal. t’iiii but in the stream cases it can be fatal. �* ., , but in the stream cases it can be fatal. �* . , , , but in the stream cases it can be fatal. �* . , , fatal. i'll any cases where you were worried about _ fatal. i'll any cases where you were worried about conditions _ fatal. i'll any cases where you were worried about conditions you - fatal. i'll any cases where you were worried about conditions you were | worried about conditions you were training in racing in and what was going through your mind at the time? i have prepared and trained in india for a very long period of time. in india, i cannot train beyond 8am because the heat and humidityjust gets too much, the city i'm from is

in the west, temperatures are about 35 degrees for eight months out of 12 after 8am, so i'm not able to train in the afternoon outdoors or evening, i have to train indoors if i want to train after 8am. in the last year, i did have some races in india which qualifies for the international events and the temperature, there was one race in the middle of the afternoon and it was aa degrees with 75% or 80% humidity. that was a killer race. most of the athletes who participated in that event, it took to three weeks to recover from that event, that was just a qualifier for

an international event. for each event, it takes too much to recover and prepare to compete for the next competition. going into that competition, because you know they will be so extreme, you have to have two or three weeks of preparation. i was in london, i have to travel to india two weeks before the event to prepare for the conditions. even after that, prepare for the conditions. even afterthat, my prepare for the conditions. even after that, my body was not ready because it took a couple of weeks to recover. ., ~ ~' , because it took a couple of weeks to recover. ., . ~ , ., , because it took a couple of weeks to recover. ., , ., , ., , , recover. quickly, does paris seem relatively less _ recover. quickly, does paris seem relatively less worrying _ recover. quickly, does paris seem relatively less worrying because i recover. quickly, does paris seem relatively less worrying because it| relatively less worrying because it might be cooler in europe? melt. might be cooler in europe? well, reall not might be cooler in europe? well, really not because _ might be cooler in europe? well, really not because they _ might be cooler in europe? well, really not because they are - really not because they are forecasting heatwaves during the olympic games. if the temperatures are beyond 35 degrees, with any

distance running, i think it is worrying because those competitions, it can take a lot from the athlete and it can change the game entirely. the olympics is all about winning medals for your country. it is really worrying at with climate change happening, i think it is high time that as athletes we talk about it and get the conversation started. incredibly grateful to speak to you today. the indian national champion, with huge success in your sport. thank you for sharing your thoughts with us today. best of luck to everyone taking part in the paris olympics. we will be bringing you lots of coverage from that when it gets under way.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

gatwick airport is warning people to fully research meet—and—greet car parking firms this summer. new figures show that over the last couple of years, west sussex trading standards received nearly 200 complaints about meet—and—greet operators. some passengers have faced large bills after their cars were left in the short stay car park, instead of being moved off site. let's speak to the head of parking at gatwick, oliver bedford. thank you forjoining us. can you explain what has been happening to all of these customers, who have lost a lot of money in some cases? good afternoon. absolutely. at this time of year are getting into the peak season for passengers travelling through gatwick, with that peak passenger demand comes more car parking demand. we have seen these operators are creating a

presence online and selling at cheaper prices, customers are being lured in by these cheap prices, thinking they will get a good service, but what is happening in practice is they are receiving a service which is very substandard to what we offer as official car parking. often, the car is returned very late if at all in some circumstances, they are losing keys, leaving cars in the short stay car park as you mentioned, and then passengers are coming back and unwittingly being left with a hefty fee or no khakis, and therefore no car to return home with.— fee or no khakis, and therefore no car to return home with. these are independent _ car to return home with. these are independent firms. _ car to return home with. these are independent firms. does _ car to return home with. these are independent firms. does gatwick l independent firms. does gatwick airport have any power of regulation here at all? , ., airport have any power of regulation here at all? , . ., , ., here at all? they are able to o erate here at all? they are able to operate on _ here at all? they are able to operate on the _ here at all? they are able to operate on the airport - here at all? they are able to operate on the airport as - here at all? they are able to l operate on the airport as long here at all? they are able to - operate on the airport as long as they don't break any of our bylaws. what we are trying to do is firstly

raise awareness for our passengers to these rogue operators. secondly working closely with the bpa, trading standards and the police to crack down when we see that they are breaking rules and regulations on the airport. first and foremost, what we advise our passengers to do is your research. if you think something looks too good to be true, just check independent review sites like trust pilot. if you do incur a problem at the airport with that operator, get in contact with us and we can help support you in contacting trading standards, the police and ppa. what we are trying to do is be proactive with these agencies and our partners to crackdown when we can. these are se arate crackdown when we can. these are separate agencies _ crackdown when we can. these are separate agencies from _ crackdown when we can. these are separate agencies from the - crackdown when we can. these are separate agencies from the official| separate agencies from the official gatwick parking sites, is that correct? do you run those customer absolutely. correct? do you run those customer absolutel . , ., .,

correct? do you run those customer absolutely-— absolutely. they have no affiliation with gatwick. _ absolutely. they have no affiliation with gatwick, even _ absolutely. they have no affiliation with gatwick, even if _ absolutely. they have no affiliation with gatwick, even if they - absolutely. they have no affiliation with gatwick, even if they have - absolutely. they have no affiliation with gatwick, even if they have it l with gatwick, even if they have it in their name. but with gatwick, even if they have it in their name.— in their name. but people are presumably — in their name. but people are presumably using _ in their name. but people are presumably using those - in their name. but people are i presumably using those because in their name. but people are - presumably using those because they are cheaper than official services? when we are in peak season, we are seeing that they are pricing very low, very attractively and therefore the standard they are getting on the surface is related to that price. our services are on terminal, on airport products which have fantastic service.— airport products which have fantastic service. ,., , ., fantastic service. ok, sorry, we are out of time- — fantastic service. ok, sorry, we are out of time. thank _ fantastic service. ok, sorry, we are out of time. thank you _ fantastic service. ok, sorry, we are out of time. thank you very - fantastic service. ok, sorry, we are out of time. thank you very much l fantastic service. ok, sorry, we are i out of time. thank you very much for your time today. more online on all of our stories. this is bbc news.

hello again. wherever you are today, it's going to be windy, but the strongest winds will be in the north of the country, blustery winds further south. and it's the south—east that has the highest levels of pollen today, and we're talking predominantly grass pollen at this time of year. so what's happening is low pressure is pulling away into the north sea. this weather front is coming in, enhancing the showers. and you can see from the isobars that it is going to be windy wherever you are. a lot of showers coming in on that wind across scotland, northern england and also northern ireland. the heaviest, most prolific will be across the north—west. come further south, a much brighter day, more sunshine than there was yesterday, but still one or two showers in wales and the south—west of england. temperatures 12 to 20 celsius. for wimbledon today, drier and sunnier than it was yesterday. it will feel warmer as a result — 20 celsius. but tomorrow it's all change. tomorrow we're looking at some rain and also blustery winds. 50 moving on through this evening and overnight,

the weather front in scotland sinks south with its rain, fragmenting all the time. then we have a new weather front coming in from the south—west, moving across southern parts of england and wales with its cloud and its rain. some clear skies in between, the winds easing for most, and overnight lows 9 to 13 celsius. into tomorrow, then, we still have this clutch of fronts — waving fronts, so they may move a little bit further north then a little bit further south than i'm going to show you. so it's going to bring in all this cloud and rain. again, it could get a little bit further north, the rain, or further south, but we do expect it to turn heavy across devon and cornwall later. move north of this weather front, there's a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and a few showers. but again these are the wind strengths tomorrow. they're gusty winds, particularly across southern counties of england and through the english channel and especially essex. temperatures 13 to about 19 or 20 celsius. heading on, then, in towards the weekend — we've got this area of low pressure continuing to drift off into the north sea,

still producing some rain, it will be windy on saturday and it's looking showery on sunday, but this weather front may well bring us some more in the way of rain. so on saturday, the north and the east will see some rain as the low pressure drifts across us. sunny spells further south but showery on sunday.

today at one — millions of voters across the uk are casting their ballots

in the general election. a0,000 polling stations around the country are open till ten o'clock tonight — many of the party leaders have already voted. also on the programme this lunchtime... the metropolitan police reviews its investigation into the crash that left two young schoolgirls dead at a school in london. joe biden insists he won't pull out of the us presidential election, despite his disastrous performance in the tv debate with donald trump. 36—year—old virginia mccullough pleads guilty to murdering both her parents in essex — their bodies were only discovered in her house four years after she killed them. and it's brits day at wimbledon with the murray brothers and a host of other british stars all in action. and coming up on bbc news... after keeping hisjob, now erik ten hag has extended his contract at manchester united by another year. the dutchman survived an end—of—season review after winning the fa cup.