this is bbc news. the headlines at 11pm: the prime minister declines to say whether she will continue with the tories‘ policy of pension increases, while the chancellor, philip hammond, hints that the conservatives may leave open the possibility of tax rises. all chancellors would prefer to have more flexibility in how they manage the economy and how they manage the overall tax burden down than having to have their hands constrained. as france goes to the polls for the first round of voting, prosecutors say the gunman who shot dead a policeman in paris was a convicted criminal. a report into the deaths of three soldiers during an sas exercise in the brecon beacons has concluded it could happen again. and at 11:30pm we'll take a second look at tomorrow's papers, including: the times says trump is not

preferencing britain. good evening and welcome to bbc news. on day three of the election campaign trail the prime minister and the chancellor have given theirfirst hints about the conservative manifesto. theresa may says she'll keep the current spending on foreign aid, despite pressure from some within her own party to cut it. but she would not commit to keep the so—called triple lock on pensions, which guarantees they rise by inflation, average earnings or 2.5% each year, whichever is highest. labour says it will keep it. and the chancellor philip hammond has hinted that the conservatives will end the party's promise not to raise income tax, vat and national insurance. our first report is from our deputy political editorjohn pienaar. trust me, i'm a politician. melita

stays popular forever, trust me, i'm a politician. melita stays popularforever, at theresa may clearly feels she is like enough now to make promises some might make that others won't. she looks confident enough but the message is one we have heard before and will again. what drives me is the passion i have in politics. to make the uk at country that works for everyone and not just the at country that works for everyone and notjust the privileged few. today that meant sticking to britain's target for spending on foreign aid, what some brad wing cut. when it look at how to spend and make sure we can spend it in the most effective way. aid budgets safe, then, at how will the cash be spent and held back in future and what about that other costly pledge, keeping up the value of pensions? again today you are selling the country —— telling the country that you are leader that people can trust. so can pensioners trust you to go on raising their state pension

year by year, just as your party and the government does now? all i would say to pensioners is look at what the conservatives in government have done. pensioners today, £1250 better off as done. pensioners today, £1250 better offasa done. pensioners today, £1250 better off as a result of action that is being taken. we were very clear about the need to make sure we support people in all the rage and that's what we've done. that wasn't yes, but here in berkshire and a lot of places in the people like the idea of looking after pensions. they've worked their lives and paid their national insurance and their taxes, so i think they deserve it as much as anybody else. if you can't look after the elderly, what can you do? if it can be done, stop it for them. it needed. a lot of them put it straight the bank. theresa may may be about to upset a lot of voters. even thinking about dropping the promised to pensioners takes a leader very confident about this election, especially now she is

clearly protecting overseas aid spending at the same time. a big lead in the polls comes in handy if you are about to annoy millions of pensioners, a big majority in the commons even more so pensioners, a big majority in the commons even more so if you then get on and do it. that deserves hype. jeremy corbyn campaigning his way to small crowds and big ones. no talk of saving on benefits here. the jeremy corbyn way sounds like this. theresa may seems incapable of answering any question about the protection of the triple lock on the state pension. i give you that commitment now. labour will maintain the triple lock! he has stood by what is called the triple lock, pensions up every year by inflation, 01’ average pensions up every year by inflation, or average earnings. 0r 2.5%. pensions up every year by inflation, oraverage earnings. 0r2.5%. can labour afford this, along with other promises? he hopes he can win this argument. sorry, i'm not sure where iam going. argument. sorry, i'm not sure where i am going. but how could he? no one does and no one has voted yet. the

lib dems look turkey. they are sure this election will be better than last time. we are the only clear opposition to the conservatives, imposing a hard wrecks it, exit from a single market. a clear and effective decent opposition on every other level. and on they go. pollsters and pundits may think they know how this end, but there are 48 days to go. the chancellor philip hammond has said he would prefer the government to have more flexibility on taxes. speaking to the bbc, he hinted that he would like to change the conservative's 2015 manifesto promise not to raise income tax, vat or national insurance. he was talking to our economics editor kamal ahmed in washington. it was the solemn pledge, tweeted to the voter by david cameron before the voter by david cameron before the election of 2050. no increases in tax or vat or national insurance. -- 2015. will in tax or vat or national insurance. —— 2015. will it be repeated before

this election? today the title of visiting washington hinted maybe not. i came into politics not to see taxes rising but to see the burden of taxation falling as our economy grows and that remains my very clear political ambition. but you do not support specific tax pledges, not to raise income tax, national insurance and vat, because it would tie your hands. all chancellors would prefer to have more flexible it in how they managed the economy and how they managed the economy and how they manage the overall tax burden down than to have their hands constrained. the problem with pledges, they tend to come unstuck. here is the chancellor on budget day, announcing an increase the national insurance payments for the self—employed. they then followed a screeching u—turn after critics pointed out mr hammond had broken a 2015 pledge. the chancellor is here

in washington to talk about the global economy, but frankly his mind is on matters rather more domestic. in his interview with me i think it went as far as he feels able to, given that the manifesto is not yet finalised. he is no fan of constraining promises, particularly on tax. he used one word over and over again. flexibility. on tax. he used one word over and overagain. flexibility. mr hammond has opened up a flank and labour attacks. i think he is recognising that he has problems with the economy, problems in the budget that he has done and as a result of that there will be tax rises under a conservative government if they get re—elected. this is quite a tax bombshell. as always the big test in any election, the economy. and today's paul retail figures suggested that the increase in inflation is starting to bite and consumers are starting to feel the strain. some might say you have called this election to get the

mandate before the economy truly turned sour. we call this election because it will strengthen the prime minister's and in the negotiations to get the right brexit deal for britain. but in terms of the economic data, it has been remarkably resilient over the last nine months. just this week the imf revised up its forecast for britain's economy this year to 2%. the chancellor will return from his us trip at the weekend, that to an election battle where the promises the parties makes the voters will be key. as far as mr hammond is concerned, if you are it would seem the better. —— if fewer it would seem. len mccluskey has been re—elected the general secretary of the uk's biggest trade union, unite. mr mccluskey beat his nearest rival gerard coyne by just over 5,500 votes. but only 12% of unite's million plus members voted. following the result, mr coyne, who was suspended from his position in the union yesterday, said he was considering

a legal challenge. campaigning in france has ended ahead of the first round of voting in the presidential election. the final day was overshadowed by the attack in paris yesterday. the paris prosecutor, francois molins, has confirmed that a note found near the gunman's body contained messages sympathetic to the so—called islamic state group. from paris, thomas fessy reports. the french prepare for an election organised under a state of emergency. armed police have been a common sight in the streets since the 2015 shootings in paris. 50,000 of them have been deployed across the country. security has been stepped up around famous tourist sites. like macro —— like mont mark in the capital. residents are used

to soldiers patrolling their cities. when the campaign started many believed it would be defined by terrorism and security. it turned out voters have so far been more concerned about unemployment and the economy. it remains unclear as to whether thursday's attack will have a last—minute impact on people's choice. we've had enough of anxiety and things like that, with all the attacks and so on, do we just wanted to ignore it, personally. maybe it will have an impact, but i do know. translation: are not worried about sunday in particular. but i am worried in general fall of us. i just don't think our politicians really have a full grasp of the problem. most important i think is the economy and the economic recovery. this is the most important. more than security? yes, for me. the champ sally says has reopened and is bustling again. but on the pavement a reminder of the attack in which a police officer was

killed and two others wounded. —— champs—elysees. on friday the paris prosecutor revealed that the attacker had spent 14 years in jail and never showed signs of being radicalised. police questioned him again earlier this year, over suspicions of terrorism, but he walked free. there was no proof to charge him. on the eve of the most unpredictable presidential election in years, thursday's shooting will have repercussions beyond the french capital. across france, people hope for a peaceful vote. and there'll be live coverage of the results of the first round of voting in the french presidential election. that's this sunday at 6:30pm, in france decides on the bbc news channel. police investigating a bomb attack last week on a bus carrying the borussia dortmund football team

say they now believe it was an elaborate financial scam. they've arrested a man who they say had hoped to send the club's share price plummeting in the hope of making a profit on investments he'd made before the attack. at least 19 children have been killed when their mini bus collided with a truck in south africa. the accident happened near the capital, pretoria. one report said the bus exploded into a ball of flame on impact. the health trust facing an investigation into the avoidable deaths of babies was told by regulators a decade ago that its maternity services needed to improve. the health care commission told the shrewsbury and telford trust that its monitoring of babies' heart rates during labour wasn't good enough and that its training of staff was inadequate. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. she was very dependent on me. my life went round a clock. i had to give her medication at certain times, make sure her feed was running ok.

i was more of a nurse and a carer than a mum. abbey was born in 2004 with brain injuries, including severe epilepsy and cerebral palsy. staff at the royal shrewsbury hospital failed to promptly deliver her, despite foetal heart traces indicating abbey was in distress. the errors led to abbey dying aged just 17 months. her heart rate went down, down and down. they didn't intervene. obviously they tried to move me to see if they could find a trace. there wasn't anything there. so if they would have done theirjob and got me into theatre when she was dropping, as in her heart rate dropping, then i might still have her now. following abbey's death in 2007, the bbc‘s panorama programme learned the nhs regulator wrote to the trust urging them to improve maternity services. the healthcare commission said they should keep a record of foetal heart monitor traces, staff training needed updating and learning from clinical

incidents had to improve. two days ago, we asked the trust to lay out the actions they'd taken following the healthcare commission's advice. this afternoon they responded. they failed to provide evidence that any changes had, in fact, been made. instead, they say that every baby's death is investigated to ensure that lessons are learned and again, repeated their unreserved apologies to the families. we were prepared to have a child, to change our lives completely. and that didn't happen. kai hall should still be alive. but staff at the trust failed to properly monitor his heart rate and missed that he was in distress. his heart—broken parents are astonished the trust was told a decade ago to improve its maternity care. it makes me angry, but it makes me sad as well, to think of all the people that have lost their children

because theyjust haven't done anything, they haven't acted. it's horrible. you feel robbed. this memory bear is katie and matt's lasting link to kai. years after the trust was told to improve care, their son is one of several babies who need not have died. michael buchanan, bbc news, shropshire. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may declines to say whether she'll continue with the tories‘ policy of pension increases, while the chancellor hints that the conservatives may leave open the possibility of tax rises. as voting gets under way in france, parisian officials say the gunman who shot dead a policeman was known to them as karim cheurfi, a convicted criminal. a new report into the deaths of three soldiers during an sas exercise in the brecon beacons says it could happen again.

the world of football has reacted with shock to the death of the former england and aston villa defender, ugo ehiogu, at the age of 44. he collapsed yesterday after suffering a cardiac arrest at tottenham hotspurs' training ground, where he worked as a coach. he was capped four times for england. here's our sports correspondent, joe wilson. ugo ehiogu was a rock. the stock goals, sometimes he scored them. ended at ehiogu. a central defender, as strong and imposing as any footballer and now at the age of just 44, he's died. his passing was perhaps felt most poignantly at aston villa where he played for nearly a decade. i know it's very difficult for you... i think we're

all shocked and devastated the news of somebody so young who very very quietly was making his way as a very talented coach from what i've been hearing. who was uncompromising, quick, all of the football world will be shocked and saddened. ugo ehiogu was making his name as a coach with tottenham, barely looked like he had aged during his playing days. he suffered cardiac arrest at totte n ha m days. he suffered cardiac arrest at tottenham is training ground yesterday. during his career one man stood alongside ugo ehiogu, gareth southgate. defensive partners at villa and then middlesbrough, southgate is now the england manager, his friend gone. southgate paid this tribute to ehiogu today: ugo ehiogu was married with two

children. forfootball, the death ugo ehiogu was married with two children. for football, the death of a dedicated professional at 44 carries the sadness of simply not making sense. the footballer ugo ehiogu, who has died at the age of 44. a ministry of defence report on the deaths of three sas reservists in the brecon beacons has found there were multiple failures and that it could happen again. corporaljames dunsby, lance corporal edward mayer and lance corporal craig roberts died of heat exhaustion during a recruitment exercise on one of the hottest days of 2013. our political correspondent adam fleming said the report was highly critical. it echoes previous similar criticisms from a coroner and health and safety executive. now we have this investigation by the mod‘s defends safety authority, declassified today. the document points at failures at really every

single level. on the ground, the staff who were running this exercise didn't have the equipment to monitor the temperature on a day when temperatures reached 31 celsius. the people running the exercise hadn't clocked the fact that the reserve lists, who are part—time soldiers, might not be as physically fit or as well—prepared as the professional soldiers who are full—time who are doing the exercise alongside them. further up the chain the report also identifies this issue that no one really knows exactly what role the specialist reserve unit should be playing if there ever deployed on a battlefield, which means no one ever really knows if this really exceptionally gruelling kind of training is the right thing for them to be doing. the conclusion released in this document today, there is a danger something like this could happen again, that is rejected tonight here at the mod where officials say lessons and recommendations are being listened to and learning is being done. a court has heard how a teenage computer hacker unleashed nearly two million cyber attacks on websites

around the world using a programme designed in his bedroom. adam mudd, who is now 20, admitted creating the programme and selling it to criminals. a new report by the national crime agency warns that the average hacker is just 17 years old, as angus crawford reports. simple, effective, illegal. the titanium stresser, a cyber weapon designed to shut down websites unless their owners paid a ransom. it bombarded targets with data, using ddos, or distributed denial of service attacks, and it was created by adam mudd when he wasjust 16. internationally, this tool caused a considerable amount of damage... mudd sold it to other criminals, making hundreds of thousands of pounds. but after a massive attack in the us, the software was traced to his home in hertfordshire.

at one point, seven million ddoss, making nearly $400,000 — that's not innocent, that is like an industrial scale for the purposes of cybercrime. this site is a hack forum... but are there other adam mudds out there, teenage boys dabbling in hacking? an online investigator shows us forums where they meet. look, here, young people are openly discussing how to use illegal software. so all—in—one virus toolkit. how young are the youngest people on here? i've seen youngsters from the age of12,13,14. we find a user who says he's 15 and is happy to talk. ijust asked him, by text, what age he started, and he said about 12 or 13. do you make much money? he says, "a lot, actually." spends almost on his computer! the average age of cybercrime suspects is just 17,

and police are so concerned they've launched this video. told us he robbed a bank! and they've helped put together this tech competition. here, teenagers learn how to hack and stay on the right side of the law. if you know what you're doing, you'll probably find the bad side a bit more interesting, more challenging maybe. it does seem quite easy, like hints of what we got to do. you've got in? we've just got in. there can be a fine line between hacker and criminal. after today, they should all know the difference. angus crawford, bbc news. the duke and duchess of cambridge were announcers of this week's radio 1 chart show. the couple popped into the studio

to talk about their mental health campaign, as our royal correspondent peter hunt reports. please welcome to radio 1, the duke and duchess of cambridge. with a destiny to fulfil, some djing in the meantime. these are royals bringing their message about mental health to a young audience and a confession about listening habits.|j a young audience and a confession about listening habits. i have text in? under a different name? >> obviously but i didn't text while driving. the princely fan who seek shout out and was castigated when he missed a royal event for a skiing and clubbing trip loves going to gigs. it's not something you can do? i got gigs. it's not something you can do? igot in gigs. it's not something you can do? i got in and of trouble for my dancing so best to keep away from that. the price for such airtime, questions that wouldn't have pleased

victory, like what takes their fancy for a tv supper? i don't like spicy food. where does it give normally get ordered? it doesn't normally go to the palace. we normally go to get it ourselves. he's not going to go to chicken cottage! the professionals changed, the royals remained and were set to work. the official chart with greg james. and the duke and duchess of cambridge. 13 weeks at number one with shape of tube before harry came along and spoiled his easter. bringing together to national institutions, the monarchy and the chart show. number one is ed sheeran with shape of tube. when i'm on holiday would you mind stepping in? to be honest i could probably do a betterjob. it was a rather unusual sight on the streets of hull last summer, thousands of naked

people painted blue. now they're getting the chance to see the results for the first time in a new art exhibition to mark hull as this year's city of culture. the photographs were taken around the city's landmarks with people posing for the artist spencer tunick. our erts correspondent colin paterson reports from hull. what makes 3,200 people strip off their clothes and paint themselves blue? laura dykes, support worker, hull resident and now hanging in a gallery. i really wanted to be on a piece art work in the art gallery, that's what drew me to it. i have a little boy who's eight. i wanted him to come to the art gallery, and me to say, "that's me." it was july last year, when people came from as far as japan and australia to take part in artist spencer tunick‘s latest photographic extravaganza, sea of hull, featuring four different shades of blue body paint. i was trying to bring the sea back into hull over paved and concrete landscapes. i think it worked out well. cheek byjowl by buttock, from a distance, it looked

like a gigantic smurf nudist colony. with so many people from hull taking part, it led to more than a few awkward moments. i bumped into somebody from work, which was a bit awkward. but no, not really. everyone was there to do the same thing. once everyone was in the same situation and they got their kit off, it was fine. how did the conversation go when you bumped into the neighbour? it was very much eye to eye and everything was kept above the neck line. all the participants have been invited to this evening's launch to find out which parts of them have made the final photos. i was way down there. you would think there might be some kind of nervousness or awkwardness. you had to ask strangers help you do the bits you couldn't reach. but because everybody was in the same situation, it was just... i'll always look back on it fondly. the day hull turned blue, now making a lot of people happy.

colin paterson, bbc news. let's have a look at the weather with helen. good evening. some cooler weather this weekend but much colder next week. but despite that it looks like most of us will have a lot of dry and brighter weather with spells of sunshine, of course at this time of year the sun is becoming strong, as strong as it is at the beginning of august now so it will make it feel quite warm if you have the sunshine but as you can see through the day gone by the cloud building up with time. we initially had the sunshine in the south, the cloud sunk south all the time and the skies were clearing with sunshine in northern scotland, but not as warm as it was bya scotland, but not as warm as it was by a long shot yesterday, eight degrees down. but it will be colder overnight because we have the cruel air filtering south, overnight because we have the cruel airfiltering south, some ground—frost in the northern half of the country. —— cool air. chilly in

northern areas where the cloud stays broken in the south—west or example but seeing mist and fog. that will clear quickly and beautiful son in the north, the remnants of our weather front in the south and the re m na nts weather front in the south and the remnants in the south—west. in south wales we could get into the mid—teens. some sunshine coming out in the south—east, more so in the midlands, east anglia, northern england behind our weather front. our weather front lingering in east anglia, brightness initially and the front returns. wintry over the hills in scotland making it feel chilly. through the night the cold air sinks further south, tomorrow night will be colder still in the south in particular, so we'll see role ground—frost elsewhere. not as cold as earlier this week but that's about some change —— to change —— rural ground—frost. a chilly start for the london marathon with a bit of cloud but we could see sunshine

in the afternoon making it feel warm. decent weather around for most, it may be a chilly start with ground—frost but temperatures recovering in the sunshine, even where we have the cold air, 12 or 13 and light winds because it is high pressure making it feel pleasant. late in the day low pressure brings the risk of heavy rain and gales in scotla nd the risk of heavy rain and gales in scotland and when the weather front goes south, that's the arctic blast i talking about with heavy showers, hailand i talking about with heavy showers, hail and thunder, sleet and snow evenin hail and thunder, sleet and snow even in southern areas and at low levels. hello.

this is bbc news, with martine croxall. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow mornings papers in a moment. first, the headlines: the prime minister declines to say whether she will continue with the tories‘ policy of pension increases, while the chancellor, philip hammond, hints that the conservatives may leave open the possibility of tax rises. all chancellors would prefer to have more flexibility in how they manage the economy and how they manage the overall tax burden down, rather than having to have their hands constrained. as france goes to the polls for the first round of voting, prosecutors say the gunman who shot dead a policeman in paris was a convicted criminal. a report into the deaths of three soldiers during an sas exercise in the brecon beacons has concluded it could happen again.