edna o'brien, one of ireland's best—known writers, has died aged 93. she made her name with a series of novels focusing on how young irish women were treated by their country. blackpool illuminations have been a draw for visitors for more than 100 years and preparations are already under way ahead of this year's switch on. earlier this week, some of the upcoming displays were revealed and our reporter ian haslam went to take a look. blackpool�*s big switch—on is the biggest night of its events calendar. for many years, celebrity tv designer laurence llewelyn—bowen has led the illuminations illuminati. now he's come up with this donkey—based feature. tell me about this.

i can't work out. it's either the work of a genius or a madman. i love the fact that you are absolutely right. it is perfectly poised between pleasure and pain. donkeys are so synonymous with blackpool. and actually i love the idea of northern soul. and i love the idea of ice creams, and i love the idea of kind of mushing it all together. now, people want that kind of, you know, instagram—able moment. something this town is rarely short of. blackpool design is like design you won't find anywhere else in the uk. but of course this is what inspired las vegas. we did it here first. even though we're world leading, we're the ones that always understated, but i think not so much this year. yeah, and the ice cream as well. it's not quite the tallest around, but... this is the most frustrating thing. we found out this morning that it's not the tallest ice cream in the world. so we have decided that actually we can get over this inadequacy by adding a 30 centimetre cherry. what we create here in blackpool is art, light art. and it's an amazing display which can be, you know,

seen from space, which people have an amazing amount of affection for. do you think some astronauts go into space just to look down and see the blackpool lights? i would hope so. this year, local art students have helped with the designing. i mean, i remember going- when i was quite little as well, and i've never really thought too - much about the design process of it. i think it's quite interesting - for a lot of people to see newer, newer designs coming in. at blackpool's new short town museum of entertainment, there's a gallery dedicated to the illuminations. kids or adults can design their own and see what they'd look like. oh, and there it is on the prom. arguably my finest hour, this. blackpool's history with illuminations runs back all the way through to 1878, when we first installed electric streetlights on the promenade, and thousands of people came to the prom to see them be switched on, and it's snowballed from there. this is the old and the new is very much thriving as well, isn't it?

it is. yeah. i mean, the format has still been the same. it boosts civic pride and it celebrates blackpool's local history. this year's illuminations switch—on is on august 30th. ian haslam, bbc news. the television presenter laura whitmore has alleged she was subjected to inappropriate behaviour while taking part in strictly come dancing eight years ago. she didn't name who was involved in her case, but she was paired with professional dancer giovanni pernice, who's previously denied threatening or abusive behaviour — and since left the programme. in a statement on social media, laura said...

two men have died after a light aircraft crashed in north yorkshire. police were called to thorganby, near selby, just before 10am, after a two—seater plane came down in a field. two men in their 20s, believed to be the pilot and a passenger, were pronounced dead — theirfamilies have been informed. the chancellor of the exchequer, rachel reeves, will be speaking in the house of commons on monday. she said she will be promising "honesty" about the scale of the financial challenge faced by the new labour government. the audit of public spending she ordered when she became chancellor is something that has not occurred before. meanwhile, the former conservative business secretary, kemi badenoch, says she is running to be the leader of the conservative party. she is the sixth confirmed candidate in the contest. let's speak to our political correspondent, helen catt. so, helen, let's start with the chancellor of the exchequer, rachel reeves, what are you expecting her

to say tomorrow here in the uk? figs to say tomorrow here in the uk? as he to say tomorrow here in the uk? sis he said, to say tomorrow here in the uk? is he said, when she took office she commissioned this audit of government expenditure. now, she says that despite the fact that labour had talks with the civil service and despite the fact that economy, some of the state of the economy, some of the state of the economy had been known, she knew it would be a difficult inheritance, she said when she took office it became clear that things were in some way worse than she had anticipated. she was finding out thing she didn't know before so she ordered this audit, and she's going to give the result of that tomorrow. and she is expected to go through a lot of different areas and in effect say look, things are worse in terms of spending then we talk, but overall the government is going to be short by tens of billions of pounds if it's going to stick to its own rules on spending. the implication of that therefore is that it's going to be looking to find places to recoup that and so she's talking, she's going to say that she's going to set up this office of value for money that she

talked about or it labour has talked about in the past, to try and find some savings, to try and recoup some money. she is also going to try to stop all spending before it starts. there's been some reporting that that could mean that she's going to cancel some infrastructure projects, one of the things that has been suggested and reported in some of the papers is that might mean things like the tunnel that's planned to go under stonehenge. but of course, we haven't had that confirmed to us here at bbc but that is one of the projects that is thought might be on the chopping block when she looks at this tomorrow. now this is also going to use a pretty strong language, she will accuse the conservatives of covering up the true state of the public finances. the conservatives are responding pretty robustly, they are saying it is a con, that this, everything had beenin is a con, that this, everything had been in the public domain when it came to the economy and they say

this is labour laying the groundwork to raise taxes. it's going to be quite a war of words over this i think, as well as getting the detail from rachel reeves where she says this extra money that she wasn't expecting is coming from and we do know though of course that one of the think that is coming down the track that wasn't in the budget was public sector pay rises that the pay review boards recommend how much pay rises, how much sorry, certain professions like teachers or nurses could get by way of a pay rise they have been coming back about 3% higher, three percentage points higher, three percentage points higher than the government had budgeted. some things are coming up higher but we'll get a better explanation tomorrow. 0ne higher but we'll get a better explanation tomorrow. one of the thing to say about this though as you might wonder why both sides are using such strong language. partly, there was a bit of a battle going on here to set the narrative for the coming years. labour want to set a narrative of them having an inheritance that was worse than they

thought to anything that happens from now on is still the fault of the conservatives come as much as the conservatives come as much as the conservatives did when they came in in 2010. for the conservatives it's a narrative about labour always intending to raise taxes and going back on what they said in the election, there is this political battle to set the narrative. we've also not battle to set the narrative. we've also got news — battle to set the narrative. we've also got news around _ battle to set the narrative. we've also got news around the - also got news around the conservative, the race to be the next leader of the conservative party. two senior politicians in kemi badenoch and suella braverman making different decisions. kami saying she will, suella braverman saying she will, suella braverman saying she will, suella braverman saying she won't. what are the reasons these two women gave for their decisions. tiara reasons these two women gave for their decisions.— reasons these two women gave for their decisions. two figures both on their decisions. two figures both on the riaht of their decisions. two figures both on the right of the _ their decisions. two figures both on the right of the party _ their decisions. two figures both on the right of the party as _ their decisions. two figures both on the right of the party as well, - the right of the party as well, so the right of the party as well, so the reasons they've given to start with, kemi badenoch was always widely expected to run in this leadership race, she ran in the contest to succeed borisjohnson, contest to succeed boris johnson, she has long been tipped as want to watch. she's come out this evening with leadership bid where she's taken a swipe at other candidates

that have come up for her. a lot of them have been talking about the need to unite the party, talking about the importance of unity, kemi badenoch is saying that is not enough, the conservatives need to know who they are and what they stand for and she says that means going right back to first principles and reconfirming some of those, things like their belief and the nation state that served its own citizens above all else. so she's putting forward that pitch this evening. sue braverman —— suella braverman wrote a piece for the telegraph, she claims that she did have the numbers to get on the ballot tomorrow, each one needs in support of ten conservatives, she has those ten but there is no point of her being on the ballot because she says most mps in her party disagree with her diagnosis and prescription, that they don't want the things that she is saying said out loud. she says the platitudes about unity are fashionable and she

warns that is not on us. for that reason she says she is bowing out. there had to have been some speculation in recent days about whether she would run, certainly her team, her bid hadn't seemed quite an advanced as some of the others but there she is this evening confirming that she will not. find there she is this evening confirming that she will not.— that she will not. and one last auestion that she will not. and one last question to — that she will not. and one last question to you, _ that she will not. and one last question to you, helen. - that she will not. and one last question to you, helen. we i that she will not. and one last - question to you, helen. we do have six confirmed candidates for that leadership campaign. what six confirmed candidates for that leadership campaign. what happens next? nominations _ leadership campaign. what happens next? nominations formerly - leadership campaign. what happens next? nominations formerly close i leadership campaign. what happens| next? nominations formerly close at half past two tomorrow afternoon, then there's a bit of a low as the candidates in terms of process as the candidates have the whole summer, really, orthe whole the candidates have the whole summer, really, or the whole of august to start their campaigns, i assume they will be getting out and touch talking to some of the membership around the country. when parliament comes back in september mps will start the process of whittling those candidates down. in the first week when they're back, bill whittle them down to four candidates, for candidates will get to pitch at the party conference

which happens at the end of september into early october, and mps will then whittle them down to a final two. the final choice though is made by conservative party members in an online vote that will run throughout october and the winner will finally be announced on november the 2nd. rishi sunak will continue as the acting leader throughout that time. helen, thank ou ve throughout that time. helen, thank you very much. _ throughout that time. helen, thank you very much, our _ throughout that time. helen, thank you very much, our political - you very much, our political correspondent helen catt in westminster. rugby league's kevin sinfield says he's committed to three more challenges to raise money for mnd charities in honour of his friend rob burrow, who died last month. the former leeds rhinos captain and now england coach was at the university of leeds to receive an honorary degree, as amy garcia reports. i'm honoured to present - to you for the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa, kevin sinfield. - kevin, congratulations. what does this honorary degree mean to you? thank you. ijust think it's incredibly humbling to be here today to share in a special day with so many people

who have worked so hard. and being amongst so many people who are graduating and with their family and friends, and it's such an important day for them. so, yeah, ifeel very humble. looks great to be back in leeds. you're a lad from the other side of the pennines, but yorkshire, leeds in particular is really special to you, isn't it? less yorkshire, more leeds. rob inspired me to be a better person, a betterfriend, to be more kind, to think of others. by doing this, amazing things happen. life becomes so much more fulfilling and special. that beautiful speech, it was very much about love and friendship, wasn't it? i played in a team for a long time where medals and trophies were so important. but now we're finished, it's the memories and the friendships that are what we all hold the dearest. and to make the most of the special moments we have with people we love and care about,

and to cherish those moments. rob has been a huge part of my life. when you think we played together for so long, and then how close we became over the last four and a half years. and i spoke about him today. i think his impact across the uk, throughout the mnd community will never be forgotten. together, you and rob raised over 15 million for mnd charities. you always said that you were just helping out a mate. the challenges, the fund raising, does that continue now? yeah, probably more so than ever. the challenge is to, you know, i've committed to another three, you know, probably first time i've said that. but it means we've done seven running challenges then. can you tell us any more about that? well, the first one is the only one that had been planned. in the next two, we'll see what happens. how will you best remember rob? in probably the best way possible, which was that smile. obviously the stuff he did on the field was incredible, but everybody saw the bloke in the dressing room. the guy who was cracking jokes

and what he's done the last four and a half years, i think for somebody to be so brave and courageous is, it just shows what a special guy he is and was. and it won't be forgotten. kevin �*s infield talking about his friend, rob burrow. andy murray — who intends to retire after the games are over — has extended his career with a spectacular win in the olympics men's double opener. despite a rocky start, murray and his doubles partner — dan evans — fought back against theirjapanese opponents to make it through the first round. their dramatic turnaround was watched by our tennis correspondent russell fuller. it's a reminder of how much he still loves the sport how able he is to wring every last drop of a professional career with the help of dan evans who played a knot in considerable part in the conclusion,

managed to save five match points to come back from 9—4 down in the first of ten point five break that would decide the match against curry and daniel, they won seven points in a row to make sure that they take their place in the second round. the celebrations afterwards were really quite special because they've achieved so much in their careers, andy murray especially. they had been davis cup team mates but i think dan evans who is also still in the singles competition says that he is prioritising the doubles as is andy murray because he knows the significance of this final event to murray, silver and mixed doubles in 2012, and also because they're playing with the british shirt on their backs and you need to win four matches to win a medal in the doubles, that's one down. improbably, three go. russell, you know andy murray well, you followed his career for many years. when he's

five match points down, does he consider defeat, or does he always think he's going to win it? i consider defeat, or does he always think he's going to win it?- think he's going to win it? i think most professionals, _ think he's going to win it? i think most professionals, especially i think he's going to win it? i think - most professionals, especially those as successful and driven as andy murray, are still thinking about how they can turn that much around. i don't think he will have been contemplating as he prepared to serve a one point when five match points down, that this was quite possibly the final stroke of his tennis career, i would be very surprised if that entered his mind. or the belief they could turn it around because andy murray has done that so many times before. three grand slam singles titles in the run to those titles there have been very harry situations where murray has been able to come back and turn matches around. he certainly did it in the davis cup in 2015 when great britain won the title for the first time in 79 years. so i think there isjust that time in 79 years. so i think there is just that absolute belief, that love of the game, that competitive spirit that will never wane even though at some point in the next six orseven

though at some point in the next six or seven days, andy murray is going to be a retired professional tennis player. {iii to be a retired professional tennis -la er. u, , player. of course here in the uk we talk about andy _ player. of course here in the uk we talk about andy murray _ player. of course here in the uk we talk about andy murray a _ player. of course here in the uk we talk about andy murray a lot. - player. of course here in the uk we talk about andy murray a lot. do i talk about andy murray a lot. do other countries wish for us to stop talking about him and focus on other players such as doll and alvarez in the lipid games?— players such as doll and alvarez in the lipid games? people en'oy the treat the lipid games? people en'oy the great champions i the lipid games? people en'oy the great champions playing i the lipid games? people en'oy the great champions playing asi the lipid games? people enjoy the great champions playing as long . the lipid games? people enjoy the | great champions playing as long as they possibly can. i think novak djokovic, having now found himself second best to carlos alcaraz at wimbledon in the final of the second yearin wimbledon in the final of the second year in a row, is becoming perhaps even more loved by spectators and parts of the world where he hasn't always been universally popular because suddenly he is hugely successful 2a time grand slam champion, he was defying the odds and now he is the underdog in a sense that he's trying to beat the younger guys. if you've got rafael nadal and you've got djokovic and andy murray for a little longer, people really, really treasure them. they don't want them to play where it gets ridiculous for they can barely move around the court, and

andy murray knows his body is essentially given up on him, this is the final event of his career but if he can manage it lasting another two or three matches been fantastic, there might be one more 0lympic there might be one more olympic medal at the end of the week. let's get more now on an incident at manchester airport last week and new footage has emerged which ended with a police officer kicking a man in the head. the cctv appears to show how three officers were trying to make arrests, when two men punched two of them to the floor. speaking to my colleague ben boulos on bbc breakfast, the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, has urged people to allow the authorities to continue their investigation. well, it is an extremely difficult situation, but at least this morning it has moved forward a degree because people now have a fuller picture. and it confirms what i said last week, which is that this is a situation that escalated very quickly. it's a very violent situation,

issues on both sides. the key now is that we allow the two investigations, the two parallel investigations to complete their work. so there is one investigation ongoing into a number of assaults. and that is a police investigation for people who are on police bail. and there is a second investigation into police conduct. so it's really important now, you know, lots of people have had their say on this very complicated situation in recent days. we understand that. but it's now important that we we go forward from here with those two investigations. so all of the right actions can be taken as a result. it's an absolutely fair point to allow the investigation to run its course. but people want answers. there are tensions as a result of this. when will we know? when will the investigation give us answers as to what happened? so i do understand that frustration.

and i felt it to a degree, because when you have footage that is subject to a potential criminal trial, it can'tjust be put out into the public domain. but, you know, the world in which we live is that some video emerges and other video can't be released. it's obviously a really complicated situation, but, you know, you can't put a timeline on these things. these are careful considerations that have to be made. about the whole incident. you know, looking at the whole thing start to finish and then the rightjudgements made as to the accountability for what happened. but as the mayor overseeing greater manchester police, have you been given a steer? have you asked for it? is it days, weeks? months? just a rough timeline. well, i've said as quickly as possible. 0bviously, given the huge interest in the whole issue, and, you know, i think everyone could see that there is a public interest

in that, but you can't really put a timeline on investigations. they take as long as they they take. at least now there is a fuller picture. as i said at the start, in the public domain. and it is, as i was saying last week, much more complicated than was first made out. you know, we live in a world where something appears, a fragment, and everybody rushes to judgement and then another fragment, and then everybody makes a judgement on that. it's very difficult. but now we should now accept that there are two parallel investigations. they've got to be allowed to complete their work, and then a line eventually will be able to be drawn. but as i say, there are serious issues here to be investigated on both sides. do you think the anger within the community and the public backlash that we saw initially would have been as intense, had people seen this latest footage and knew that it wasn't isolated — what they had seen initially? well, yes.

and i suppose if the whole picture had been put out straight away, it would have enabled people to make a judgement, a more rounded judgement. but as i say, it's not as easy as that. because sometimes footage will be used in a later trial, potentially. and it can'tjust be put out because that can have an impact on any potential proceedings. so, it's why in this social media age, we are kind of living now with situations where, you know, a partial picture is presented and everyone takes a sort of, if you like, a side about that, you know, a very kind of absolute position one way or another. and that's what we often see now. life is more complicated, isn't it? the truth often lies in between. and i did say that last week. and i did also say to people, look, be careful. this isn't as simple as it looks. you know, time is needed here. there is a very complicated situation that has issues for all those involved.

and, you know, to some degree, i think some people heard that. but, you know, here we are. we are where we are. i think at least we've got that fuller picture this morning. let's allow the investigators to do their work and then bring the right actions as a result of those investigations. mr burnham, you mentioned the social media impact. and there is a danger that in the absence of verified factual information in that vacuum, rumour speculation fills the void, isn't there? is that in your mind as this investigation, as you say, takes an unknown amount of time? yes, it certainly is. i think there's learning for everybody from this because this is a phenomenon of our times, isn't it? that video will emerge from whichever source, but it will go out there and everyone then becomes a, you know, an expert on it and says, "oh, i know exactly." "and this is it," and makes a sort

of absolutely sort of unequivocal judgement on the back of it. but, you know, life, as ijust said a moment ago, isn't like that. the risk is, of course, you get consequences from those judgements and that that furore that builds and that can have impact in communities, it can have an impact on public order. the thing i would say is politicians really shouldn't be part of that, you know, that rush tojudgement. but we have seen that this week on both sides of this and those people in positions of responsibility. and i, in my view, shouldn't be adding to the sort of clamour and the hype about around an incident. so i do think we have to learn from this and, you know, from our side as well. everybody has to step back and and learn from this. these situations can be quite dangerous. you know, people's careers are on the line in these situations. i think, you know, we all feel for the police officers who were who were injured as a result of what happened.

and, you know, there's a whole lot of stuff that kind of comes together. and it's really important, i think, learning from this that we, you know, we do it better the next time. it's not possible always for all of the video by everything to be in the public domain because of the nature of criminal investigations. but somehow i think certainly politicians need to lead from the front in not adding to the public furore. hello there. sunday was a very warm day. we had the sunshine far and wide, and we've got a few more days of dry weather and sunshine to come, but the heat is going to continue to build across england and wales. and, really, across the whole of western europe, temperatures are rising, the heat is pushing up from spain into france

and for the olympics. that's the temperature anomaly chart. you can see for eastern europe, things may be a little cooler than normal. here at home, though, the heat is building underneath that area of high pressure. there is a weak weather front approaching from the north—west, and that's bringing more cloud into scotland and northern ireland on monday. the odd light shower, perhaps, but most of any rain really is in the far north—west of scotland. the cloud will break in other parts of scotland, but the best of the sunshine will be for england and wales. just a bit of patchy fair—weather cumulus. the winds will be light in england and wales. there will be some cooling sea breezes. there is a stronger breeze, though, blowing for scotland and northern ireland, where temperatures aren't changing much. it's still going to be warm for eastern scotland, but the heat is really concentrated on england and wales. inland temperatures in the south—east, 28 or 29 degrees. that weather front continues to weaken as it moves down into the high pressure overnight and into tuesday. just that sliver of cloud there. more sunshine to come for scotland and northern ireland on tuesday, the odd light shower in the far north—west. sunny skies on the whole

for england and wales, a little bit hazy at times. and those temperatures continuing to rise, particularly towards the south—east of england, could make 31 or even 32 degrees here. quite different temperatures for scotland and northern ireland, and you can see the temperature difference overnight tuesday night into wednesday morning — an uncomfortable night for sleeping in the south—east, particularly in london. there's more sunshine and generally dry weather to come on wednesday. signs of one or two showers breaking out, particularly towards the south—west of england. this could be the first signs of some change. but ahead of that, it's still going to be a hot day through the midlands and the south—east. temperatures, 29, 30 degrees quite possible once again. things are changing, though, wednesday and through the rest of the week in particular, its not going to be quite as warm. there's the chance of more cloud and some rain, which could be heavy and thundery. on wednesday night and through thursday, that moves its way northwards. and then after we start the week with high pressure, we're going to end the week with low pressure in the west.

live from london, this is bbc news. thousands attend funerals for the 12 children killed by a rocket strike in the golan heights. the white house says the attack was carried out by hezbollah. adam peaty takes over at the breaststroke, missing out by 0.2 seconds. greater manchester mayor andy burnham says a second video gives a

fuller picture of what happened between police and the man they arrested. good evening. western leaders are tonight urging restraint in the middle east after yesterday's rocket attack in the israeli occupied golan heights, in which 12 children and teenagers died. today, funerals were held for victims of the attack which israel blamed on the lebanese militant group hezbollah — and responded with air strikes hitting targets in southern lebanon. hezbollah, which is backed by iran, denied responsibility, but this evening, the white house said the rocket did belong to the group and was fired from an area it controls — and the israeli security cabinet has held an emergency meeting to discuss further action, fuelling fears of a wider conflict.

the rocket struck the town of majdal shams, home to the