3,000 violent crimes against women and girls every day in england and wales — police say it's a national emergency. the government begins face to face talks with junior doctors with a view to resolve ongoing pay disputes. and the art of conversation — researchers find that wild chimpanzees take it in turns to communicate with each other, just like humans do. let's turn to politics in the uk now. the conservative party has set out a timetable for the leadership contest to replace rishi sunak, two and a half weeks after suffering a crushing defeat at the general election. the winner will be confirmed in november. 0ur chief political correspondent henry zeffman has more from westminster. rishi sunak will still be the interim leader of the conservative party almost four months after he lost the general election. so nominations open in the conservative party tomorrow

and mps will have until monday to come forward. they need the support of eight mps to be on the list. but then after that it's not until september that that initial list of candidates gets whittled down by conservative mps to four remaining candidates. those four will then have the opportunity to make speeches to the conservative party membership at their annual conference, that's in early october. after that, conservative mps will then whittle it down again to two, and then conservative party members will have the final say. so it's a long process but conservative mps have clearly decided that they'd rather take their time in the hope of getting it right. and, henry, the new labour government here has faced a challenge from within its own ranks on a question related to child poverty. just bring us up—to—date on what's going on with that. that's right, this is

the two—child benefit cap, it was introduced by the previous conservative government in 2017, and it means that parents don't get child benefit payments on a third or fourth or more children if they have more children. that is deeply disliked by almost every labour mp, but the view of keir starmer and his team, and this was their view in the general election when they were asked this, was that the economic circumstances do not allow them to abolish that cap. there could be, though it's not definite, a vote in parliament on this later today. that's trying to be forced by labour mps in keir starmer�*s party. they want this cap abolished. keir starmer will not lose that vote if there is a vote but it will give us an early litmus test, even though he has this vast majority, of how many of his mps wish that he would move in a more left—wing direction. henry zeffman. the government is to hold its first formal talks with junior doctors in england later in a bid to resolve the long—running dispute over pay. it follows a meeting between the health secretary, wes streeting, and the british

medical association last week. mr streeting said both sides have shown a "willingness to negotiate", but that ending the dispute would "not be easy". earlier our health correspondent nick triggle gave us the latest. negotiators from the government and the british medical association will be sitting down very soon to start these fresh pay talks. these are first that have taken place since the end of last year. wes streeting willjoin them this afternoon, i understand, and they will meet again later in the week. they are working to quite a tight timescale because the bma have said they want a deal put forward that can be considered by mid—august. and wes streeting has described these talks as a chance to kind of reset what has been a bitter and long—running dispute. the strikes started last spring and there have been 11walk—outs so far. what could a deal look like? i think if we look to wales, that's an indication of where the government might need to go. so recentlyjunior doctors accepted a pay rise of 12.4%. that was backdated to last

april, so it was for the 23—24 financial year. but crucially in wales, ministers accepted the principle of pay restoration, increasing pay in future years, to try and claw back some of what the bma says is lost pay. they want to see in total a 35% increase to make up for 15 years of below inflation pay rises. now, in england, junior doctors were given a pay rise last year of nearly 9% on average. so there's not too far to go to get it up over 12% if that is what the government is willing to do. but the interesting thing is what they are willing to give on pay restoration and promises of rises in future years. keir starmer kept saying, talked about his family working in the nhs and talked about the nhs being on its knees.

this is a key test because we keep hearing doctors are leaving the country, they can't recruit enough, not enough being trained. they have gone through the pandemic. it is crucial, isn't it, for the government to get this right. it is. if they are going to tackle the backlog, one of the key priorities in their manifesto, they've got to resolve these disputes. the walk—outs are leading to the cancellations of hundreds of thousands of operations and appointments. wes streeting has said that the 35% pay claim is not affordable all in one go, but he has talked about pay restoration being a journey, not an event. so he hints at a little bit more sympathy for the claims than the previous government was, and i think that's why there is a little bit of optimism, certainly within nhs circles that we might finally get a resolution to this dispute. nick triggle there. let's get more on the news that violence against women and girls has reached "epidemic" levels. that's according to a report by the npcc and college of policing which identified several key threats facing victims including sexual

violence, domestic abuse, stalking and child sexual abuse. the report coincides with a review that has found that the criminal justice system is failing women on stalking. let's speak to london's victims�* commissioner claire waxman, who carried out the review and found out that that two thirds of stalking offences in london are committed by repeat offenders. can you tell us more about what you found? ~ , , found? weeded the first deep dive into stalking _ found? weeded the first deep dive into stalking looking _ found? weeded the first deep dive into stalking looking at _ found? weeded the first deep dive into stalking looking at the - found? weeded the first deep dive into stalking looking at the met. into stalking looking at the met response, looking at more than 400 cases and tracking them through the system. unfortunately we found far too many stalking victims withdrawing from the criminal justice process, 45%, and a high rate of police not taking further action, 41%, citing a lack of evidence is the reason for not taking these cases forward. there seems to be a real issue with

responding to stalking robustly and effectively. i think notjust in london but nationally as well. it comes as we see this wider review of violent crimes with an estimate of one in 20 adults, 2.3 million people, being perpetrators of such violence every year. what do you think needs to happen? we violence every year. what do you think needs to happen?— violence every year. what do you think needs to happen? we need to focus on how _ think needs to happen? we need to focus on how we _ think needs to happen? we need to focus on how we prevent _ think needs to happen? we need to focus on how we prevent these - think needs to happen? we need to i focus on how we prevent these crimes in the first place and i welcome the npcc today who have published an excellent report on the scale of violence against women and girls in this country outlining exactly what needs to happen in relation to a public health approach, what do we do to really tackle those attitudes that are driving some of that behaviour, how do we prevent it? and unfortunately when someone becomes a victim and report to the police and come into the criminaljustice system, we need to see a much more effective response from police and the wider criminaljustice system, better care and support to victims,

and in our report, better identification of what is stalking, making sure we use the stalking legislation. 0ur making sure we use the stalking legislation. our research has shown that legislation at this moment in time is very confusing. it has put together stalking and harassment. police officers can't really understand the difference between the two. there are very subtle differences so they find it very difficult to apply the law. find differences so they find it very difficult to apply the law. and how does the met _ difficult to apply the law. and how does the met police _ difficult to apply the law. and how does the met police rebuild - difficult to apply the law. and how does the met police rebuild trust i difficult to apply the law. and how i does the met police rebuild trust on this issue and general violence against women given the number of scandals we have seen from sarah everard, to bibaa henry, nicole smallman and david carrick, they have been haemorrhaging public trust. . , �* have been haemorrhaging public trust. . , ~ ., �* , , trust. there has. and that's why the kc review had _ trust. there has. and that's why the kc review had to _ trust. there has. and that's why the kc review had to happen. _ trust. there has. and that's why the kc review had to happen. it - trust. there has. and that's why the kc review had to happen. it has - kc review had to happen. it has identified a plan that the met have to implement and they are doing that through their new met for london plan. —— the casey review. trying to

rebuild trust and confidence. it will take time. i work closely with the met. my research has shown a woefully inadequate response to stalking but in the last year we have worked closely through trying to bribe —— closely to try and drive improvement. they are trying to bring more experience and expertise to the front line surrounding domestic abuse and coercive control so officers can give the right response to victims. we are seeing ongoing issues around the lack of victim support and care and communications for stalking victims and all other victims coming into the system. that's an area where they still have a lot more work to do. ., . , ., , they still have a lot more work to do. ., . , ., do. how much in your viewers about culture, do. how much in your viewers about culture. and — do. how much in your viewers about culture, and how— do. how much in your viewers about culture, and how much _ do. how much in your viewers about culture, and how much about - do. how much in your viewers about l culture, and how much about funding, and the people who are recruited into public services overall? i think it is both. they know they to

tackle the culture and they are doing a really greatjob at trying to root out the officers who shouldn't be in policing. but there is a resource issue as well. i know the lack of resources, there is a capacity issue to deal with and tackle the scale of violence against women and girls. but there are things they can be doing now much more effectively and stalking research has pointed them towards that and showing them where they need to improve. we also need much more support in society, a public health approach, and what we do in the space of prevention, education, to try to tackle violence against women and girls, but obviously there is more the police need to do. it is a whole system approach that is needed. we a whole system approach that is needed. ~ ., . ., , ., a whole system approach that is needed. ~ ., , ., g ,, needed. we heard comments from jess phillis, the needed. we heard comments from jess phillips. the new _ needed. we heard comments from jess phillips, the new safeguarding - phillips, the new safeguarding minister and yvette cooper, the new home secretary, and from keir starmer. how quickly can the public expect to see change from this

government before we say things aren't improving quickly enough? we aren't improving quickly enough? - have to be realistic. this government is inheriting a broken criminaljustice government is inheriting a broken criminal justice system. government is inheriting a broken criminaljustice system. those are the facts. this criminaljustice system has been chronically underinvested for well over a decade orso underinvested for well over a decade or so it will take quite some time unfortunately to rebuild and restore that criminal justice system. unfortunately to rebuild and restore that criminaljustice system. it needs wholesale reform. whilst i very much support the government's ambition i also understand it will take time to deliver. we ambition i also understand it will take time to deliver.— ambition i also understand it will take time to deliver. we will leave it there. claire _ take time to deliver. we will leave it there. claire waxman, - take time to deliver. we will leave it there. claire waxman, the - take time to deliver. we will leave l it there. claire waxman, the london victims commissioner, thank you. some breaking news, we are hearing that on the middle east, the world health organization is saying up to 14,000 people now need medical evacuation from gaza. that's coming from the who, which is saying that

is needed right now. it comes amidst the ongoing difficulties on the ground, people being moved again after the israeli army moving in on hamas in the gaza strip. there are key talks going on at the moment. but a lot of pressure still going on in israel and gaza with a lot of hopes for peace but still a lot of difficulties on the ground. returning to politics in the us now. less than a month ago, there seemed to be no question that joe biden would run for re—election. his withdrawal means that kamala harris will come under far greater scrutiny as she campaigns

for the white house. 0ur correspondent tom bateman has been travelling with the democratic election team and he sent us this profile of the politician who hopes become america's first female commander in chief. after three and a half years as vice president, kamala harris is now thrust into the spotlight. her years—long journey towards the top of the democratic ticket has been fraught and often seemed unlikely, but now this could become harris versus trump for the white house. do we believe in the promise of america? and are we ready to fight for it? kamala harris was born in california to immigrant parents ofjamaican and indian heritage. here on the left, she was five when her parents divorced, later saying her mum was determined to make sure the children grew into proud black women. can you think of any laws that give government the power to make decisions about the male body? she won office in the us senate in 2017 after years as a california prosecutor. i'll repeat the question. known for her tough questioning, she gained a reputation as one of the democratic party's rising stars.

five years ago, a run for the nomination quickly failed. i stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the united states. it was ultimately won byjoe biden. we did it, we did it, joe! mr biden picked her as his running mate against donald trump in 2020. and after one of the most divisive elections in us history, the biden—harris ticket took office. she was sworn in as the first woman, and first black and asian american, to serve as vice president. while i may be the first woman in this office, i will not be the last. we won't go back! as vice president, she campaigned for reproductive rights that democrats saw as under assault in the legal fallout from mr trump's presidency. today our daughters know fewer rights than their grandmothers. this is a health—care crisis.

but she quickly ran into trouble over the us border, for which mr biden had tasked her with diplomacy. immigration is now a key line of attack for republicans. she faced criticism for simply telling people not to come. do not come. in a bitterly divisive race, mr trump has long focused attacks on her. kamala, i call her laughing kamala. have you ever watched her laugh? she's crazy. you can tell a lot by a laugh. no, she's crazy. she's nuts. she prosecuted sex predators. he is one. her campaign ads have long focused squarely on him — and expect many more. but the opinion polls suggest she hasn't pushed past mr biden�*s problems, so far predicting a tight race, with her still behind donald trump. and coming from a true blue democratic state,

some worry she lacks the solo street fighting campaign experience needed for the toughest race of all. this could now be another historic first, if she wins the democratic nomination. here with her husband, this couple from california is aiming to become america's first family. but this is already an unprecedented race and the biggest winner could still be the unexpected. tom bateman, bbc news, washington. the british tennis player andy murray has announced he will retire after this summer's 0lympics. posting on the social media platform x, he said that he has arrived in paris for his "last ever tennis tournament" adding that he was "extremely proud" to be able to represent great britain at the olympics "one final time". he's a two—time gold medallist and a former world number one. 0ur sport correspondent chetan pathak reacted to his announcement and reflected on his legacy. andy murray's story

is a remarkable one. we know about the 77—year wait that britain had for a male wimbledon singles champion, which murray ended in 2013. he's a two—time wimbledon champion. he's a three—time grand slam champion, the first of his successes coming at the us open back in 2012. this a man who held his own in a time of federer and nadal and djokovic, of course, went on to dominate the sport. and had it not been for that first hip injury that he had in 2018, it led to hip resurfacing surgery in 2019, there is a question of what could have been, but he refused to give up. he battled on and for the last few years he's had plenty of struggles with injury. he wanted to play singles at wimbledonjust gone and that was denied in the end. he had too much nerve pain in his right leg after having a cyst removed on his back. he did get to play doubles at least. he did get a very emotional farewell on centre court. he was playing doubles with his brotherjamie murray, of course. they lost their match, but there was a farewell that included greats of the game on court like martina navratilova,

john mcenroe, novak djokovic was there as well, his wife kim, two of his daughters, his parents. so he did get that fitting farewell at wimbledon, where, of course, like i said, he won two titles, but he wanted to play singles again and he's going to get to do that next week when the olympics tennis gets under way. both singles and doubles is what he intends to play. there were some questions about whether he may say farewell at the us open. i mentioned that was the first grand slam that he won. but he's now definitively put this statement out saying that this will be goodbye from him at the paris 0lympics, playing at least both singles and doubles on the clay there at roland garros. researchers have found that chimpanzees in the wild take it in turns to speak, much like humans do. the study, carried out by a team from the university of st andrews in scotland, looked at the chimps' hand gestures — and concluded that they often had rapid back—and—forth exchanges. let's speak to dr gal badihi, a postdoctoral research fellow at the university of st andrews,

who led this research. what was the research? the vast ma'ori what was the research? the vast majority of _ what was the research? the vast majority of chimpanzee - what was the research? the vast majority of chimpanzee gestural| majority of chimpanzee gestural conversation involves one of them producing a gesture and the other changing their behaviour in some ways. we were interested in the subset of gestural communications will stop where siblings respond with another gesture. was it a signal to signal exchange that happens very quickly and is quite similar to how we as humans exchange words in conversation. what similar to how we as humans exchange words in conversation.— words in conversation. what does it tell us about _ words in conversation. what does it tell us about the _ words in conversation. what does it tell us about the similarities - tell us about the similarities between humans and chimpanzees? really interestingly, both in humans and chimpanzees there is very consistent timing between these terms. in chimpanzees it is about 120 ms between one turn and the next and between humans it is about 200.

this is the same across groups. but some groups talk a little bit faster or slower and that is true both in humans and chimpanzees. we had one community who were slightly slower than the rest. we don't know yet if this is ape specific to humans, chimpanzees and other apes, or whether it is widespread among social animals.— whether it is widespread among social animals. ~ ., , ., , social animals. where was the group and tell us about _ social animals. where was the group and tell us about where _ social animals. where was the group and tell us about where the - and tell us about where the chimpanzees were and over what period did you study them? this has been a huge — period did you study them? this has been a huge collaboration _ period did you study them? this has been a huge collaboration that - period did you study them? this has been a huge collaboration that has l been a huge collaboration that has been a huge collaboration that has been taken since 2007 to collect all the data and process it. we have five groups of chimpanzees from uganda and tanzania in four different habitats. this included roughly over 100 researchers over almost 20 years, forming the data and following wild chimpanzees every day and then processing the data and analysing it. find day and then processing the data and anal sin it. �* ., ., , analysing it. and what does it tell us about human _

analysing it. and what does it tell us about human communication l analysing it. and what does it tell i us about human communication and analysing it. and what does it tell - us about human communication and how it might develop? it us about human communication and how it might develop?— it might develop? it shows us that we are not — it might develop? it shows us that we are not as _ it might develop? it shows us that we are not as unique _ it might develop? it shows us that we are not as unique as _ it might develop? it shows us that we are not as unique as we - it might develop? it shows us that we are not as unique as we like i it might develop? it shows us that we are not as unique as we like to | we are not as unique as we like to think. while we have language, language isn't necessary for this really fast paced turn taking that we are seeing and other animals. turn taking is widespread across animals, birds do it, other mammals do it. but this face to face really quick back and forth is something that and now we have just seen in chimpanzees but we will be really interested to see if it happens in other social animals as well. it shows is that we are not as special as we might like to think. {line as we might like to think. one intriuuuin as we might like to think. one intriguing question _ as we might like to think. one intriguing question i _ as we might like to think. 0ne intriguing question i have is that some cultures seem to talk more fast than others and more across each other than others. is there anything we can glean from that from your research in terms of why that might be? . �* , ., ., , research in terms of why that might be? ., ., , ., research in terms of why that might be? ., , ., , be? that's one of the things that is still an open _ be? that's one of the things that is still an open ended _ be? that's one of the things that is still an open ended question. - be? that's one of the things that is still an open ended question. in - still an open ended question. in chimpanzees as well, we see

sometimes we have some interruptions, where one individual start to gesture before the other one has stopped. in humans there is some great work from boston showing these interruptions and the timing between turns can be related to the relationship between the people who are talking to each other. people who feel more comfortable tend to have shorter gaps but people who are less comfortable might have longer gaps where they feel uncomfortable, these kind of awkward silences. but these kind of awkward silences. but these longer gaps don't make us so uncomfortable when we are talking with friends. we don't know if that's the case with chimpanzees as well but it's something we would like to look into in the future. very intriguing research, thanks for explaining it to us. he's one of the biggest stars in hollywood. now keanu reeves has come together with the award—winning writer china mieville for his first novel called the book of elsewhere, which is published today. they sat down with our culture editor, katie razzall. from an fbi agent riding a wave in point break,

to a celebrated cop in speed... there is a bomb on this bus! ..to a hacker—turned—saviour in the matrix, on screen, keanu reeves is much more thanjust another action hero. in real life, he's the creator and co—writer of the brzrkr comic book series, which is now a new novel, the book of elsewhere, by keanu reeves and writer china mieville. what made you want to write a novel? well, i didn't write a novel — china wrote a novel. you had nothing to do with it? it's a collaboration. i think that's putting it too far. no, you wrote the novel! it's based on this, right? indeed, yeah. brzrkr, he is immortal. what was it that drew you to this character? the original idea was i wanted to have a character that could punch through people's chests and rip their arms off, and rip their heads off. and you seem like such a mild—mannered, gentle... your persona is so gentle, and yet, this violence, you know... that's how it started. ..whether it's the novel or the book or the acting that you've done. yeah, i think it was kind

of influenced by some of the action films that i had done. so i guess you have a choice. you want a war, or do you want to just give me a gun? you know the well—rehearsed arguments about violence on screen or in books and violence in the real world and whether there are links. and i wonder how you see that. what's the question? the link between fantasy and reality? yes, people look at books and violent films... i hope that if they read brzrkr that they don't go off and start ripping people's arms off and chopping their heads off. of course. because there is also a love story in it. i mean, like, real, actual violence is something that troubles me and disturbs me. i think about it a lot. but i get quite irritated about the way this question is posed about, you know, the relation between depicted violence and real violence, because of what it abstracts out. so when you have societies like ours, which have this kind of fetishistic relationship to soldiers and war. and then it's like, "but my 12—year—old is reading a violent comic." in the novel, the main character

doesn't want to die, he wants mortality, a crucial distinction. i wonder what you've both learnt about man's mortality. is it something that you think about a lot? yeah, i'm 59, so i'm thinking about death all the time. still very young. i mean, i think thinking about death is good. hopefully it sensitises us to an appreciation of the breath we have and the relationships that we have the potential to have. i'm 51 and consider death to be something ruminated on with great respect. i think that one of the things, hopefully you can have it both ways. you can have a book that has these kinds of, you know, fun, explosive sequences, but you can also quite seriously talk about death and what that means to be human. what you've managed with brzrkr is to build this fantasy world. are you trying to escape from the real world in any way? is that what creativity is about? maybe ultimately the fantasy, building another world, brings some kind of comfort in some way.

do you feel that you've been getting that comfort from your creative process? yeah, it's good, clean fun! i recommend it for everyone. creating stuff is great. one of the things, keanu, that people know about you — whether it's true or not, i've got no idea — but you don't own lots of stuff. you're known as being very generous, giving lots away. when it comes to the proceeds of the book, what is your plan for that? are you somebody who just doesn't like to own anything or keep anything? absolutely not. i love owning things. i love having stuff. keanu reeves, an enigma to the end. katie razzall, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. some of us started off on a cloudy note this morning with some rain. the rain now easing, the cloud breaking up, and more of us seeing some sunshine. pollen levels today are moderate or high across many parts of the country as well. we're still talking grass pollen and nettle pollen. and what's happening is the remnants of the weather front clearing away to the east, breaking up all the time with this ridge of high pressure building in,

settling things down. so, the cloud continuing to break up. a few heat of the day showers bubbling up too across central parts of the country, eastern scotland, into the south—east. they will be fairly well scattered and with the onshore flow along the north sea coastline, what you'll find here today is that it will be a little bit cooler than if you move inland. but some blue skies in the east and west coasts, and if that tempts you into the sea, these are the sea temperatures — a bit above average across the english channel and the north sea. now, into this evening and overnight, still a lot of clear skies around, fair amounts of cloud too, and we'll see some mist and fog patches forming. by the end of the night we will have a weather front approaching the west introducing thicker cloud and some drizzle. 0ur overnight lows, 9 to about 15 degrees. that's how we start tomorrow, with a lot of dry weather. again, a fair bit of sunshine around. we could see some heat of the day showers developing in south—east scotland and north—east england.

and a weather front coming in from the west making a bit more inroads into western areas with this thicker cloud and patchy light rain. these are the temperatures tomorrow, 14—25 degrees. a little bit warmer as the wind changes direction a bit along the north sea coastline. but the weather front does continue to push over towards the east overnight wednesday into thursday. and for a time we could see some heavier rain coming in across parts of southern and south—east england and wales. and then later, more rain coming in across western scotland and northern ireland. but in between, mostly dry, bar the odd shower with highs of up to about 22. as we move on through friday, eventually that front clears away and again we've got a little ridge of high pressure building across, this weather front is trying to come in to the west. so on friday the rain is slow to clear from some south—eastern areas and we've got some showers a bit further north. but as we head in through the weekend, things start to quieten up and settle down.

live from london, this is bbc news kamala harris says she's proud to have secured pledges from enough democratic delegates to become the party's nominee for president we have doors to knock on, we have people to talk to, we have phone calls to make, and we have an election to win. cheering.

3,000 violent crimes against women and girls every day in england and wales — police say it's a national emergency deadly airstrikes hit southern gaza, as the israeli prime minister travels to washington for high—level meetings. and the art of conversation — researchers find that wild chimpanzees take it in turns to communicate with each other, just like humans do. hello. im geeta guru—murthy. the us vice president, kamala harris, says she's proud to have secured the broad support needed to become the democratic party's nominee for president. she was speaking after surveys found she'd won pledges from enough party delegates. on monday, ms harris made her first pitch for the presidency. she was speaking to supporters at her campaign headquarters in delaware, who, until sunday, had been working to re—electjoe biden.