fergus walsh, bbc news, westminster.ed a deep and heartfelt apology to the victims of the infected blood scandal. paymaster general nick thomas—symonds has delivered a statement in the house of commons in which he also said that the families of people who died after being infected with contaminated blood will be able to apply for £100,000 of compensation if they have not already had support. we also recognise that as well as delivering institutional change we must also provide financial redress to the people whose lives have been irreversibly and tragically changed as a result of the infected blood scandal. one of the most powerful conclusions, madam deputy speaker, in the inquiry�*s report is that an apology is meaningful only if it is accompanied by action. and it is now my responsibility to carry forward this action, and i hope to lead this work not only with the support of this house but with sensitivity and respect towards the people who have been so unfairly affected by this scandal. after all that has happened, li

fergus walsh, bbc news, westminster.tic scenarios without the need for exposure to fire or smoke. 0ur reporter ross pollard has been to find out more. it really is unbelievable that i can do this in virtual reality because this is exactly what i would be doing at a real fire scene. a new age of training fire fighters. this virtual reality kit allows new recruits to experience different scenarios. i think they're finding it exciting. it's different. we're not saying that this is the only way that they would train. it's definitely about blending technology like this with that practical training. put this on first, 0k. and talking of new recruits... so we�*re going to connect the heat vest and here it goes, 0k. we�*re going to put the water on. so you�*ve got the haptic feedback. oh, yeah, so right now it is actually physically pulling me back. so you�*ve got to sort of do a... yeah. put your left foot a good two foot in front of your right. i need to turn around. oh, there we go, so there�*s the fire at the petrol station.

fergus walsh, bbc news, westminster. the manchester airport incident press conference, a police officer seen kicking somebody in the head films by a box of passers by. has since been suspended and in the past few minutes the independent office for police conduct have said a police constable is being criminally investigated over the use of force during an incident. we are waiting to hear from manchester mayor andy burnham, we understand he met people from rochdale in the local community, some scenes of unrest there last night and the night before while family of the man kicked in the head have appealed for calm in all communities. this is the seen live in paris, president emmanuel macron and his wife meeting dignitaries who have flown in from all over the world ahead of the olympic games opening ceremony, train services delayed and disrupted with incidents on french high—speed rail lines average for the opening ceremony, a massive attack, statement said, aimed at paralysing paralysing the network. the transport minister c

fergus walsh, thank you.ed for offshore wind farms — in plans to make the uk less dependent on foreign energy. it's the first major announcement from great british energy, the state—owned firm created using a windfall tax on oil and gas companies. our business editor simonjack has the details. offshore turbines like these generated i3% of all uk electricity last year, and the government wants thousands more and is earmarking £8.3 billion to create a state owned energy company to help achieve that. the prime minister announced that gb energy will team up with the crown estate, which owns thousands of square miles of sea bed, to speed up offshore and onshore wind projects. keir starmer said that would reduce uk reliance on volatile fossil fuels and cut customer bills. it will push bills down, and that's the sort of number—one issue behind renewables — bills will go down and not for a short time, but actually permanently, and for every family and every business across the country, that is hugely important. labou

our medical editor fergus walsh has this report. this is an issue which provokes passionate debate.day mps voted overwhelmingly to reject a bill to allow assisted dying in england and wales. a lot has changed here in the past nine years, not least in the commons. there are 335 first—time mps at westminster. and, crucially, the new prime minister, sir keir starmer, has given his support for a change in the law. although mps will get a free vote on what is a matter of conscience. so what will they vote on? the bill would allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults with less than six months to live the right to an assisted death via a lethal dose of drugs, which must be self—administered. this would need to be approved by two doctors, and there would be external scrutiny from a high courtjudge. the private member's bill is being introduced by lord falconer, who told me he believes parliament is finally ready to change the law. this bill is so important because it brings compassion to the end of life. it allows people to avoid pain. it gives them the comfort of knowing that they can

here's our medical editor fergus walsh. the elixir of life, or snake oil?ce. the mouse on the right has been treated with an antibody against a protein linked to the ageing process. the treated mice had better muscle function, fewer cancers, and lived around 25% longer. the antibody treatment blocks a protein called interleukin ii, which researchers think plays a key role in ageing and inflammation in humans, as well as mice. what it does is it turns off the interleukin 11 signal, which hits 2—3 master ageing switches within the cell. so when you turn off interleukin 11, you turn off the ageing switches, and you improve the bodily functions in all your organs which are affected by age. but will it work in humans? that's the big question. the antibody is being used in some human trials and looks reasonably safe, but it's far too early to tell whether it could help us hold back the ageing process. is there a way to test if the mice were happier? before we end this edition of newsday, let's bring you the story of one of the photographers who caught the assassi

fergus walsh, bbc news, westminster.e placed on university finances. our education editor, branwenjeffreys, joins us now. branwen, what does this mean for universities and students? there is a pretty blunt message in the announcement today by the education secretary, the big problem is the financial stability of universities alongside the statement today. they published an independent review which points out that there is a risk of a university or more than one getting to the point when they cannot pay their bills. it says more focus needs to be put on making sure that doesn't happen and worryingly, the independent report also says there does not seem to be also says there does not seem to be a really good plan in place to protect students if the university failed financially so the education secretary says that should be top of the list of priorities and freedom of speech powers which would have meant fining universities and student unions that were due to come into force next week really are not a priority and they wil

here's our medical editor fergus walsh. the elixir of life or snake oil?mice. the mouse on the right has been treated with an antibody against a protein linked to the ageing process. the treated mice had better muscle function, fewer cancers, and lived around 25% longer. the antibody treatment blocks a protein called interleukin 11, which researchers think plays a key role in ageing and inflammation in humans as well as mice. what it does is it turns off the interleukin 11 signal, which hits two or three master ageing switches within the cell. so when you turn off interleukin 11, you turn off the ageing switches, and you improve the bodily functions in all your organs which are affected by age. but will it work in humans? that's the big question. the antibody is being used in some human trials and looks reasonably safe, but it's far too early to tell whether it could help us hold back the ageing process. ben. hope for us all. thank you very much, fergus. the olympics get under way in paris at the end of next week, with team gb aiming for a record haul of m

fergus walsh, bbc news, westminster.er, benjamin netanyahu, will hold talks with donald trump at the former president's resort in florida later. it follows two separate meetings yesterday with presidentjoe biden and his vice president, kamala harris, the democrats�* new candidate for november's election. mr netanyahu is trying to shore up american support for israel's war effort before voters go to the polls. tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate after a huge wildfire spread through the canadian town of jasper. the prime ministerjustin trudeau has praised firefighters, including many from overseas, who have joined efforts to battle the flames in the historic mountain resort, where half of the buildings are feared to have been destroyed. the leader of one of the world's biggest drug cartels, ismael zambada, otherwise known as �*el mayo�*, has been arrested in texas. earlier this year the 76—year—old was charged by us prosecutors with conspiracy to make and distribute fentanyl, the drug that has been bla