this is bbc news. the headlines at 11: three teenage women are arrested on suspicion of terror offences in raids linked to a police operation in north london on thursday in which a woman was shot and injured. leading social media firms are "shamefully far" from tackling illegal and dangerous online content, according to a report by mps. these social media companies have been asked repeatedly to sort this out and repeatedly they have failed to do so. so i think it is time that the government should be putting new systems in place which involve fines. a man shot dead by intruders at a house in dorset has been named by police as 61—year—old guy hedger. labour promises new legal standards for rented homes in england, if it gets into power. the conservatives say it would result in higher rents. also: the final week of campaigning is underway in the french presidential election. the front runner, emmanuel macron, is calling for major reform of the european union. a new picture of princess charlotte

enjoying the outdoors, taken by her mother, has been released ahead of her second birthday. good morning and welcome to bbc news. three teenaged women have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences after raids in east london. the arrests are being linked to the counter—terrorism operation that saw a woman shot and injured in willesden in north london last thursday. ten people, linked to that operation, have now been arrested. with me is our reporter james waterhouse. the met police say this arrest is pa rt the met police say this arrest is part ofan

the met police say this arrest is part of an ongoing intelligence led operation. the suspects, to the 18 yea rs old operation. the suspects, to the 18 years old and 19, all women, are being held by police and questioned outside of london on suspicion of the commission and preparation and instigation of terrorist acts officers have confirmed the arrest officers have confirmed the arrest of linked to a similar rate in willesden last week which 21 old women injured after being stopped by armed police. she has since been discharged from hospital, arrested on suspicion of the same offences. police have said, following that arrests, that they believe they foiled an active terror plot. they do say that, yes, details are a little bit sketchy because it is a developing investigation. reluctant to give up too much detail. ten people have been arrested. over the bank holiday weekend, officers got permission to hold six suspects do about it. the maximum you can hold

its 14 about it. the maximum you can hold its 1a days before you need permission from the judge. the investigation is developing at the moment. thank you. social media companies are being accused of a "shameful" failure to tackle online illegal and dangerous content. a report by a group of mps says sites like facebook, twitter and google put more effort into protecting their profits than keeping the public safe online. the home affairs select committee branded the firms' lack of action as a "disgrace". asjonathan blake reports. twitter, facebook, and google — big brands and household names used by billions online every day, but accused again of doing nowhere near enough to tackle illegal, abusive, or extremist posts. i think both the richest, biggest companies in the world have both the ability and a responsibility to make sure that this kind of illegal and dangerous material is removed. i don't think they are taking this seriously enough, and i think they need to. the mp suggested fines for social media companies failing to remove posts quickly enough. they proposed the firms pay

for police time to investigate potentially illegal content, similar to the model used in football, where clubs pay for policing on match days. all three companies criticised in the report have defended their approach to on—line safety, and they say they are committed to doing more. facebook, twitter, and google all have ways of allowing us to report things we see on—line which may be illegal or inappropriate. but the mp's report criticises the companies for relying too much on users, and says that they are effectively outsourcing the role of policing at zero expense. this is not the first time social media companies have been criticised for not tackling extremism and abuse. they continue to try to balance providing a platform for free speech, with stopping those who abuse it. jonathan blake, bbc news. joining me via webcam from central london is claire lilley — she is the head of child online safety at the nspcc. thank you forjoining us. what do

you think about the way the big companies are handling this? we have said for a long time that we think they are playing by their own rules and now we do not think they are going far enough or further enough in order to promote and protect children who are on their sites. there are millions of children on these sites, not just there are millions of children on these sites, notjust the big names, these sites, notjust the big names, the smaller companies that are equally as guilty. not enough is being done to build in the production of children run the outset that the design stage and not enough is doing done on a day—to—day basis to keep children safe on these platforms. we know that because we see contact to childline, thousands of co nta cts see contact to childline, thousands of contacts every year from children who are being harmed on these platforms, whether they are seeing inappropriate content which is not designed for their age or whether they are being contacted by adults on the sites. we think there is a lot more that these companies could do in order to protect children. specifically what? we think there

should be an independent regulator that the two long companies have been playing by their own roles and 110w been playing by their own roles and now they need to be held to account by an independent regulator that has the powers to make them take these issues as seriously as we would like them too. we would also like to see a much greater degree of transparency in what is going on because at the minute, we do not really know, they do not share very much information and so we really need to understand the scale of the problem. would like to see, as the home affairs select committee has recommended today, transparency reports on a regular basis so we understand what the scale of the problem is and how it is being tackled. it has been an ongoing issue, the company say they are dealing with it. they have got more things in the pipeline to deal with it and they are, as pointed out, ways of users reporting if they are concerned about something. why do you think it is such an issue? why

is that so much controversy around what the company decide is a cce pta ble what the company decide is acceptable or not? because there are children on these sites who from our point of view are extremely vulnerable, are being exposed to great risk of harm and simply not enough is being done. i accept that the companies are taking steps and the companies are taking steps and the biggest companies are taking steps but we do not think they are going far enough and they are making a huge profit every year and they need to be investing much more in this. they need to be proactively searching out material and conduct thatis searching out material and conduct that is harmful and they need to ta ke that is harmful and they need to take a greater degree of responsibility, they have a duty of ca re responsibility, they have a duty of care to their users and particularly to children. there are millions of children in the uk using these platforms and they have a duty of ca re platforms and they have a duty of care and responsibility to keep their children safe. i suppose what i meant, their children safe. i suppose what imeant, in their children safe. i suppose what i meant, in terms of the guidelines, what contravenes their guidelines or

not, to a lot of users, some of the stuff that the company say does not contravene guidelines, it would seem to be clear, it is an unacceptable. a quick case of perspective, it is an easy thing to get clarity on, where the line is and what is acceptable? the guidelines for some of the sites that kids should not beyond them anyway. of the sites that kids should not beyond them anywaylj of the sites that kids should not beyond them anyway. i mean, that is absolutely right. a lot of the sites have a absolutely right. a lot of the sites havea minimum absolutely right. a lot of the sites have a minimum age of 13. it is very easy for children to sign up, they do not make it difficult for children younger than 13 to sign up and they don't seek to proactively enforce that. how many accounts of children younger than that they seeking to remove? we do not know. it is true, there are much greater things. we have a tool cold y where we provide parents with information about the site, at the games that bad children are using and what they tell is an children tell us is that the reporting mechanism are hard to

find and how to use. the safety mechanisms, the safety information is difficult to find and it is too easy for children to sign up. those are three things immediately that they could really be tackling and would have a big impact on how the children are on these platforms. claire, thank you very much. a man killed during an attempted burglary at a house in dorset has been named by police. 61—year—old guy hedger was shot as intruders entered the property in the early hours of sunday morning. simonjones reports. police cordon off a quiet cul—de—sac that has now become a murder scene. officers were first called here just after 3am yesterday morning. there were two or more intruders in one of the houses. police don't believe guy hedger knew them, but they shot him dead. we are treating this as an aggravated burglary. the offenders, we believe, went in to steal and they've subsequently shot an innocent man. he was taken to hospital, but tragically died. we've since launched a murder enquiry and i'm making this appeal to try and reach anybody with any

information and ask them to come forward to help us. a second person who lives in the house was there at the time. they are said to have been left deeply affected by what happened and are now being cared for by specially trained officers. the police say the area will remain sealed off and there will be high—visibility patrols today, to offer reassurance to the community. they want to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious. the key questions — what led up to the shooting, and why guy hedger ended up losing his life? the hunt for his killer continues. simon jones, bbc news. campaigning in the french presidential elections is entering its final week ahead of the vote on sunday. both candidates, the centrist emmanuel macron and his far—right opponent marine le pen are leading major rallies around paris today. opinion polls taken since the first round of voting last week suggest mr macron is favourite to win. marie le pen and herfather,

jean—marie le pen, have both been campaigning.james is in jean—marie le pen, have both been campaigning. james is in central paris where jean—marie le campaigning. james is in central paris wherejean—marie le pen is speaking at a march. it looks like he is properly finished now. james, tell us what is happening. he finished the few minutes ago. he spoke about an hour, on and off, given that there were some problems which meant he had to stop. he spoke ata which meant he had to stop. he spoke at a separate event from his daughter, there has been a public streaming between them in recent yea rs. streaming between them in recent years. this was very a speech to the front national the fold. does it help his daughter? it is difficult to say it does, bear in mind that jean—marie le pen, at its peak in 2002, only managed to get 17, won 70% of the french run. marie le pen is in the run—off this time, if she appeals to the hard—core supporters of her father, the appeals to the hard—core supporters of herfather, the people appeals to the hard—core supporters of her father, the people who were here, she properly does not win. she

had to extend that support to try and get left—wingers, people who are sceptical about the eu, social conservatives as well to branch out. that is why she is campaigning separately from him. that is why she's gabardine using her first name and not the surname. does it help or hinder her when he comes out and speaks of the house done today? it is difficult to say. it probably motivates long—term national front supporters who have always seen jean—marie le pen is someone they look to. does it help out with undecided? it is difficult to see that it does. it may even be that emmanuel macron, her opponent, uses his appearance to try to tell french people that this is the movement, this is the person from which heart ideas from and they were rejected in 2002 and emmanuel macron will make repeated appeals for them to be rejected again in 2017. the polls but emmanuel macron ahead

—— put him ahead. how can the numbers stack up? and she still do it? in order to have a chance of doing it, she is now try to do something very difficult. she tried to get votes from the left i be right. the left—wing, she attracted the cup supporters of the anti—eu candidate jean—luc melenchon. he said that she isa jean—luc melenchon. he said that she is a bad option but she is hoping that some of his supporters will come to her, sceptical about globalisation and the eu, or at worst that they will stay at home. at the same time, she has also tried to appeal to supporters of the right—wing, as the candidate fillon who was knocked out in the first round. she faces a difficult task in time to motivate people from all areas of french politics. i asked her about this on saturday at a news, but as you said she would appeal to the supporters of fillon

and jean—luc melenchon. i think it what's worried emmanuel macron supporters. they worried that people will like her or stay at home. it may be narrower than the poll suggests. they have both been talking about the future of the eu and raising the prospect of france potentially exiting the eu. what is the view of each of them on that? marine le pen has campaigned for yea rs marine le pen has campaigned for years as marine le pen has campaigned for yea rs as a marine le pen has campaigned for years as a prominent anti—eu figure, suggesting that there should be an immediate referendum if she gets elected on france's mentorship of the european union. she is somewhat retracted her thoughts about membership of the euro in recent days, saying it is not a priority. she has positioned herself as a candidate who are sceptical of the eu. by contrast, emmanuel macron has a lwa ys eu. by contrast, emmanuel macron has always shown that he is a pro—eu candidates. interesting in his comments to my bbc colleague in which he suggested there needed to be reformed. i think both candidates

know this. when you do the mathematics of the first run, you see there are about 49% of voters who voted for anti—eu candidates and 49% who voted for by and large eu candidates. there is a division in french society that these two candidates are now trying to address. thank you very much. we're expecting that marie le pen has been to address a rally shortly. we will stay across that and keep you updated with the latest developments as the french presidential election campaign enters its final week. that is the scene live in paris where they are waiting for marine le pen to speak. labour says it will clamp down on bad landlords, if it winsjune's general election. the party wants new powers for councils to issue licences, with tough fines for those who fail to provide safe housing and appliances. but the conservatives say it will lead to rent rises. speaking earlier labour's shadow housing minister, john healey, outlined what the plans would be.

jeremy corbyn is out and about alongsidejohn healey jeremy corbyn is out and about alongside john healey who jeremy corbyn is out and about alongsidejohn healey who was speaking earlier on the party's plans. we can hear them talking. let's have a listen. by letting ban landlord of the whole, thank you for your support this morning. we have got the addition we would love you all to find out. we would love you all to find out. we would love you all to find out. we would love you all to campaign so labour between now and june eight. we will win. i have just signed the petition to start it off. thanks for what you decide. john is right, housing a massive issue all over the country. what we are launching today is essentially a consumer rights petition for private tenants because the lax security of tenure after 11 unsatisfied conduct and through the

housing benefit system, we end up subsidising bad conditions through this process. i represent a london constituency as you know where a third of the people live in private rented accommodation, often very insecure, and have real problems getting repairs done and it is simply wrong. and so this is the first stage of our policy announcements today a consumer rights petition. as john announcements today a consumer rights petition. asjohn was discussing with me earlier, if you go down the road now, i knew by a computer or you buy a fridge freezer and whatever else you decide to buy, you have more consumer rights for buying something like that then you have in renting a flat. let's get signing and campaigning let's fight to win. thank you very much. the campaign is going really well. we have done a lot of events already. the rain may be here on made a bet onjune eight, it is our day, ok?

jeremy corbyn out campaigning alongsidejohn healey, jeremy corbyn out campaigning alongside john healey, the jeremy corbyn out campaigning alongsidejohn healey, the shadow housing secretary. the focus of theircampaign to housing secretary. the focus of their campaign to date on what they are calling a consumer rights revolution, introducing legal minimum standards for rental homes. meanwhile, the focus for the tories, theresa may understood to be considering plans to give middle aged workers tax breaks to help ease the cost of their parents social care. the prime minister theresa may is going to be in the north—west later and wejust going to be in the north—west later and we just saw going to be in the north—west later and we just saneremy corbyn are right now in london. the lib dem leader tim fallon is also campaigning today. the party's battle bus arrived in kingston a little while ago where tim farren was addressing the crowd. what could be worse, the southwest london and the country as a whole, if we have a conservative majority, colossally

majority, coronation on the 8th of june that allows it to ignore the plight of local hospitals. ignore the plight of local schools, ignored the plight of local schools, ignored the reduction in the number of police officers, ignore the reduction in issuance of our armed forces and ignore the growing clamourfor britain forces and ignore the growing clamour for britain to forces and ignore the growing clamourfor britain to remain forces and ignore the growing clamour for britain to remain at least as members of the single market. the worst government of the ones with the uighurs oppositions and there is a vacancy for an opposition in this country and the liberal democrats are here to fill it. tim farren out. president trump has warned that a conflict with north korea, which is trying to develop nuclear weapons, could kill millions of people. he argued that getting chinese help to deal with north korea was more important than becoming involved in a trade dispute with beijing. in an interview with cbs news he also described the north korean leader, kimjong un, as "a pretty smart cookie". sarah corker has the latest. so far, mounting diplomatic pressure has not stopped north korea accelerating its weapons programme. pyongyang has launched two failed

missile tests in the last two weeks, the latest one on saturday. and in a wide—ranging interview on us television, president trump stepped up the rhetoric. if he does the nuclear test, i will not be happy. and i can tell you also, i don't believe that the president of china, who is a very respected man, would be happy either. any military action? i don't know, we will see. but he also warned of the consequences of conflict. massive warfare, with millions, potentially millions of people being killed. and a reminder of america's military might, the uss carl vinson arrived in waters off the korean peninsula this weekend, while on monday japan's biggest warship was deployed to support the us vessel. more signs that tensions in the region are intensifying. and when asked about north korea's young leader, mr trump questioned his sanity, but also had these

surprising words of praise. at a very young age he was able to assume power, a lot of people i'm sure tried to take that far—away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else, and he was able to do it. so obviously he's a pretty smart cookie. mr trump's comments come as he marked 100 days in office at a rally in pennsylvania. in that time he's hosted china's president xi, who he says is now putting pressure on north korea, its ally, to scale back its nuclear ambitions. meanwhile, the us is installing an anti—missile system in south korea, activity that's attracted some protest from local people. and it sparked this reaction from pyongyang. it states newsagency urged the us to... and so, for president trump, the question of what to do about north korea remains his toughest foreign policy test.

in iraq, the battle for control of mosul grinds on, with iraqi forces gradually encircling the old city to try to remove fighters loyal to so—called islamic state. but seven months after nearby christian towns were liberated from the grip of is, their inhabitants still haven't returned. the area east of mosul known as the nineveh plains was once home to around 200,000 iraqi christians, but they fled when is arrived in 2014. many live in camps in kurdish controlled erbil. some have gone abroad. our correspondent paul adams has been to the largest christian town, qaraqosh, once home to 50,000 people but which remains almost entirely empty. waiting to go home, the christians of qaraqosh came to erbil more than two and a half years ago. their lives are still on hold. we meet this couple at the door

to the cramped 2—room cabin, they have agreed to take us back to qaraqosh to see why it is so hard to return. the area was liberated in october, isis has gone. but it is a ghost town. his father is almost the only person here, this is where the whole family once lived, 30 people. when they came back last year, they found a burned—out, looted wreck. translation: if no one cares about us, or replaces what we lost, how can i come back? it's a disaster. six months after liberation, there is no water or electricity and no plans to repair the damage. as the battle rages on in nearby mosul, the people of qaraqosh feel ignored and vulnerable. translation: we are christians, the original people of

this place. we want our own christian province on the plain, to run our own affairs by ourselves, to guarantee the future for ourselves and our children. they were married in the church of saint mary, one of the biggest in the middle east, defaced and burned by is fighters. in the courtyard, signs of target practice. and from the roof, a lifeless panorama. this really does bring it home. up here on the roof of the church, you look around in every direction, there is no sign of movement. no one hanging out the washing, no one walking in the street. before isis arrived, there were at least 50,000 people in qaraqosh, now there is almost no one. on the edge of town, a small unit of mostly christian troops guard the entrance to qaraqosh but people remember how quickly isis swept in before,

could it happen again? this man runs the only cafe in town. translation: it's up to the iraqi government whether is comes back or not. it's all about security. we hope they will not come back. but if the security forces withdraw, there is a chance is will return, maybe even stronger than before. qaraqosh is an overgrown, haunted place. the christians who lived here have scattered. some are living abroad, it is hard to see them coming back any time soon. paul adams, bbc news, northern iraq. a man's died and a woman was seriously injured in separate

incidents during a motocross and quad—biking event in county durham. the rider was taken by air ambulance to hospital but died from his injuries. later a woman also had to be airlifted from the private meeting at low hardwick farm. police closed the event on safety grounds. at least nine people are now confirmed to have died as tornados hit the us state of texas over the weekend. more than 50 people are in hospital according to local authorities. the american midwest has been struck by an intensive weather system that has caused damage across several states including neighbouring missouri and oklahoma, which are now in a state of emergency. the organisation representing nhs groups has called on political parties to commit to linking health spending to the growth of the economy. because of restoration point out that uk health spending as a shared the economy is below that of france and germany. it also won the next government to set up an independent body to advise what of funding is needed to meet the needs of the nhs.

the testing of primary school children — is affecting their learning and mental health according to an influential group of mps. the cross—party education select committee says the way sats results are used to judge schools, causes a negative impact on teachers and pupils. here's our education correspondent marc ashdown. even from a young age, children are well accustomed to being tested, but mps are worried the importance placed nowadays on how pupils perform in isolated tests leads to a multitude of problems. results are used to judge schools in annual performance tables, which this education select committee report says create a high—stakes environment, damaging to both pupils and teachers. these year 6 students are gearing up for their tests. it is a good school in a challenging area of london. the reality is children at the age of ten or 11 are going to do an hour's test, which will rate their learning and reading for four years. it's a very high—stakes hour. for us, as a school, the results of that are also very high stakes for our school,

too, because it is how it is rated. unlike the recommends scrapping the annual publication of tests in favour of a rolling three—year average. we are pleased to see the report today acknowledging it is not fit the purpose. we've been working with the purpose. we've been working with the government to try to bring about long—term aim improvements and are encouraging signs that a long way to go yet. ofsted is also urged to take the focus off stats and look at a broad and balanced curriculum in its inspections, to prevent so—called teaching to test. ofsted said it already looks for a broad curriculum. the department for education has said it will consider the proposals. it will respond in due course. let's bring you this photograph being shared by the duke and duchess of cambridge. it's of princess charlotte

who's celebrating her second birthday tomorrow. the photograph was taken in april by the duchess at their home in norfolk. their royal highnesses say they would like to thank everyone for all of the lovely messages they have received, and hope that everyone enjoys this photograph of princess charlotte as much as they do. now a potential cat—astrophe averted after a cat falls into the water at london docks. after scrapping with another cat, felix fell into the water. letter show you the pictures. you can see them there. luckily for him, he must have had some of his nine lives remaining as dock worker scott derben came to his rescue. the engineering and operations manager at the london dockyards hung off the side of the dock pulling the cat to safety. all well that ends well. let's catch up all well that ends well. let's catch

up with the weather. how is it looking everywhere? there is a bit of sunshine around and warmest conditions at the moment in the isle of man. look at the sharp as from the north—east of wales recently, grey skies sitting on the hills and the cloutier is linked in across parts of wales, edging into northern england and down towards devon and see the channel islands. outbreaks of rain, across devon and the channel islands. big shower clouds starting to build up, chance of the odd rumble of thunder across seven countries. a bit of sunshine in between. the further north we go, thicker cloud drifting across england for a time, the odd spot of rain but most will be dry here and indeed across the west of scotland, the best of today's weather could see 19 or 20 celsius. in tonight, we'll still see some showers across the southern coastal counties, they will drift away. locale continues into tonight and particles east

scotla nd into tonight and particles east scotland a north—east england. it will be a cool start to tuesday as well as across the uk, especially in the wet weather will be closed by the wet weather will be closed by the light winds. not a bad start, a lot of sunshine around initially. saying grey east england, cool breeze, 12 showers but a lot of dry weather. the best of which in the west, temperatures into the high teens. hello. this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines... three teenage women are arrested on suspicion of terror offences in raids linked to a police operation in north london on thursday, in which a woman was shot and injured. mps accuse some of the internet‘s biggest companies, including facebook and google, of doing "nowhere near enough" to remove illegal content. a man who was shot dead by intruders at his home in east dorset has been named by police as 61—year—old guy hedger. labour promise to create new legal minimum standards for tenants in rented homes in england. the conservatives say it

would result in higher rents. a new picture of princess charlotte enjoying the outdoors, taken by her mother, has been released ahead of her second birthday. let'sjoinjessica let's join jessica with let's joinjessica with a sports update. with the premier league title battle seemingly a two—horse race between leaders chelsea and second place tottenham, attention turns to the race for champions league qualification. tonight, liverpool can move three points clear in third place, ahead of both of the manchester sides, with a win at watford. both united and city dropped points yesterday. united were held to a 1—1 draw at home to swansea. city had to rely on a late equaliser from gabrieljesus to rescue a point at struggling middlesbrough. here's liverpool manager jurgen klopp on the race to finish in the top four.

it would be nice if we would have ten points more and fight with chelsea for the title but that's not for us at this moment, so we have to fight for what we can fight for, and that's a champions league spot, champions league place, and it's really, really interesting, to be honest, and is there more pressure? no. it's the pressure you create by your performances. snooker, and he might be the reigning world champion but mark selby has some work to do if he's to defend his title. he goes into the last day of the final trailing john higgins by ten frames to seven. selby, who's the world's number one player, had been 10—4 down but won the last three frames of the day to give himself a lifeline. selby has been in dominant form of late, topping the world rankings for the past two years, but in higgins he faces a four—time world champion. watch how it unfolds live on bbc two from two o'clock. belgian serge pauwels won yesterday's final stage of the tour de yorkshire to secure the first

overall race win of his career. it wasn't such a good day for the british riders, though, at the tour de romandie in switzerland. chris froome finished well out of contention while simon yates' 19—second advantage at the top of the standings was overhauled by australia's richie porte. he's the second australian after cadel evans to win this race. yates finished second. after his captivating victory over former undisputed heavyweight champion wladimir klitschko on saturday night, anthonyjoshua has been reflecting on his success. and despite adding the wbo and ibo belts to his existing ibf title, here's how the briton responded to being described as a global sporting star. a global sporting started it up to you know what it is? i'm going back to the same house, the same family, nothing changes, you know what i mean? the perception and the reached

changes but where i'm at and where i'm based, the ground i'm on doesn't change, so it is nice. it's amazing. but i'm still a fighter and i have to keep that mindset right now, keep my feet firmly on the ground. that's all the sport for now. they're used for five billion journeys every year to shop, work or study, yet bus services outside of london are in crisis, according to campaigners. councils across england and wales have cut their budgets by a third since 2010, affecting thousands of routes. and it's the young, the less well off and those living in small towns and villages who are said to be the ones suffering most. here's our transport correspondent, richard westcott. time's running out for many of our buses. they carry three times more people than the trains but thousands of council—subsidised routes have gone in recent years. this is the 267 late—night service from bath to froome.

it's one of the services that is facing cuts across the country, and in fact come september the funding for this service is going to run out completely. most of the passengers on this bus are young, like holly, who works lates in a restaurant. and josh, who goes to college in bath. they can't afford to drive, catch the more expensive train or move house. it's a really, really big deal because you just can't find the same opportunities in a small town like froome, so being able to travel daily and nightly back from bath, it's really important to me being able to earn enough money to live independently. how much longer have you got potentially going to college in bath? just under three years. how are you going to get there for the next three years? i won't be able to if they cut it. i don't know what i'm going to do. bath and north east somerset council says other authorities should help fund the service because the passengers come

from different areas. first bus has helped keep it going for a few extra months, but in reality unless a campaign can drum up more passengers, the late weeknight 267s will go. it's a story reflected across much of england and wales. campaigners say nearly 3,000 council—subsidised routes have been slimmed down or dropped since 2010. 500 of them last year when two thirds of local authorities cut their bus budget. first group run a fifth of the buses outside london, which is where these cuts are happening. we want to carry more customers, that's how we are successful, is how the communities we serve are successful. when we are criticised for bus cuts or whatever, we do take it hard. we only ever withdraw a service as a very last resort and of course very often at the moment a service is being withdrawn because of reductions in local authority funding. councils say years of cuts

in government funding has forced them to ditch routes. a new buses bill will soon give them more powers to improve services, but back on the 267, passengers know that once their bus disappears, it almost never comes back. richard westcott, bbc news, frome. the local elections on thursday will include ballots for six english cities to pick their first metro mayors. but are the voters engaged? jayne mccubbin has been to bury in greater manchester to find out. there it is. six of them, five of them. any tray for 20, guys. welcome to bury market. any two for £1, ladies, strawberries, raspeberries or blueberries. we're here with a question. are we ready for may the 4th? yeah, bank holiday! this looks good, great sausages, mark. oh, thank you. may the 4th. may the 4th? no. may the 4th, general election? no. yeah, election, yeah. not the general election. no?

you're not going to ask us politics questions, are you? star wars, may the 11th be with you? they may need thatjedi force to get them through the next few weeks. before they vote for a new government, they've got to vote for a new metro mayor. it's the mayoral election, mark. is it? right! you're telling me something now. metro mayor. the metro mayors will have power over issues like transport, housing, skills, and, in some areas, powers over policing. but over the spuds and black pudding, there's a general sense of apathy. are you at all interested? not one bit. we've had brexit, we've had a general election, another one, and to be perfectly honest, lost the will to live. economists believe that its cities which drive economic growth, london is the energy of the uk economy. the government wants to devolve more powers to the city regions to try to emulate its success. whether or not they're the right powers matched with the right money, that is up for debate.

it's about decisions being taken in greater manchester or tees valley or liverpool that have previously been taken in london. it's a really big opportunity to create more jobs and put more money in the pockets of the people that live in these areas. i'm just not convinced they're getting enough cash. you know, if somebody gives you two bob and a conker year after year after year for 30 years, you will end up with a nice pile of conkers. but it doesn't make you wealthy. these good people of bury and the rest of greater manchester were asked in 2012 if they wanted a metro mayor — the majority voted no. are you voting? iam, yeah. i've already sent it off, postal. sue and albert voted yes. i'd sooner have the money spent up here by the people who need it up here, they know what's being spent rather than down south because london doesn't know what's going on up here basically. we are totally two separate nations, the north and the south. more power for up north, all good in your book? yes. so on may the 11th they'll vote again. they hope their metro mayor will have the clout to make a difference.

jayne mccubbin, bbc news. a sculptor previously nominated for the turner prize has been named as the official artist for this year's general election. cornelia parker is the first woman to take on the role since it was created in 2001. she will observe the election campaign and produce a piece in response. the politics in my art is quite under the radar and not so overt. but increasingly i find it harder and harder for the work not to be more political because we live in a very interesting moment in history, i think. you are always making work in response to what's happening around you — well, i am. i've just been in america last year, a week a month working on a piece of the met museum for the roof. with the backdrop of the american election which completely consumed me and everyone else i'm sure. i think we can see a picture of it. tell us, it's the bates motel — is that right? it's the psycho house, which is based on edward hopper‘s house

by the railroad and i recreated the set, which is only two flats propped up from behind, out of an old red barn from upstate new york. in america, they like doing the hustings in front of red barns because it symbolises wholesome america, so both parties love the red barn and the psycho house has the opposite connotations! it's almost like good and evil merge, so i call it transitional object psycho barn. the barn was sitting on top of the met, so people could look at it from central park and see the psycho house on top of the met. we just had a whizz through some of your other well—known pieces, as well. the kiss by rodin wrapped in string, and the blown—up shed which people may or may not be familiar with but in terms of your thinking now, on this election, you knew last week, that you now have to properly engage and produce a piece of sculpture to reflect this election?

it doesn't have to be sculpture, it could be in any form, cos i work in all kinds of ways. how are you thinking? well, ijust opened a show a couple of days ago more about the american election, which is a video piece. i don't know. i think what i'm going to do as i always do, is just absorb myself in the material and ideas will emerge. i mean, i had lots of ideas but i am going to bat those away because being out on the trail, i'm sure other ones will pop up. can you give us some examples of the sort of thing you have been thinking of? well, i take lots and lots of photographs for a start, but since i've known about being the election artist, everything i take photographs of, suddenly, you can read in a political way, if you just put the right caption beside it! a group of garden gnomes, whatever! i think i'm going to correct my prism of looking and see it as a metaphor, perhaps, for what's going on. but it's quite overwhelming, what's going on, especially what's

happened in france. before our election we've got the french election and that may have a profound influence on ours. it's not just what's happening in britain — it's happening globally. if you're eating out and you're so full you just can't fit it all in, would you ever ask for a doggy bag? a lot of us wouldn't. a survey suggests two—fifths of people are reluctant to ask for our leftovers. this is contributing to millions of tonnes of food waste each year. now restaurants in scotland are taking part in a scheme to get people to take their unfinished meals home. holly hamilton has been to find out more. when it comes to dining out, we're spoilt for choice. and in an all super—sized era, portion sizes are getting bigger too. and yet even if we can't manage to finish everything on our plate,

most of us are quite reluctant to ask for it to be boxed up and taken home with us, in other words a doggy bag. adam, do you mind if i get the rest to go? i'll be right back. thanks very much. in fact, one survey found that while 70% of people said they'd like a doggy bag, 42% said they'd be too embarrassed to ask for one. makes you feel a bit conscious of the fact that you might be looked upon differently if you ask for the food. if they give you too big a helping and you can't finish it you've paid for it, so you got a choice of taking it home and having it for your tea the next day... or feeding it to your dog. that's sensible as far as i'm concerned. i have on numerous occasions and i don't have any problem about doing it. it's so much waste, i have a small appetite, i enjoy good food but i would like to take it home with me. i never ask for a doggy bag because look at my plate, it's always empty and i can't! in scotland it could soon be the norm with plans to introduce doggy bags to all restaurants as part of a plan to cut food waste. excuse me, sir, would you like that wrapped in a doggy bag?

yeah, that would be great. thank you. well, a lot of restaurants offer doggy bags already, which is fantastic. what good to go does is that extra bit of promotion, so you're actively offering a doggy bag. we did a pilot and pleased to say it was really positive and something that restaurants told us they wanted, and customers too said they wanted. and this is the problem. across the uk food waste costs the restaurant sector more than £600 million a year, with eateries producing nearly 200,000 tonnes. more than a third of that waste comes straight from the customers' plates. but it doesn't have to be this way. campaigners here say if restaurants routinely offered doggy bags it would save the equivalent of 800,000 meals going in the bin every year. i do think that it's our responsibility to make sure people are aware of the fact it's ok to take food home, it's ok to reheat it and it is fit for purpose. we're talking about a world that

has a food crisis in it and we're wasting food. so people taking food home, we're just giving them that opportunity and actually intervening rather than waiting for them to ask i think makes a huge difference. doggy bags are common practice in the us and even in france restaurants are now legally obliged now to provide one if requested by diners. but here in the uk, old habits die hard. as a nation we don't like to make a fuss, but with ambitious targets to cut food waste by 20% within the next ten years, maybe it's time to start thinking inside the box. holly hamilton, bbc news, glasgow. now it's time for meet the author. faith and reason, and the gothic imagination — the ingredients of sarah perry's bestselling novel, the essex serpent. we're in the 1890s and cora seaborne, newly widowed, leaves london for the country, where she encounters a community terrified by the apparent return

of a fabled monster. her interest in nature leads her to believe that it's real. the local vicar believes it is the product of a pagan imagination. they argue a good deal — they also, more or less, fall in love. it's a rich tale of obsession, mystery and belief. welcome. i suppose it's a story, really, about fear, isn't it? it is. and it's a story about the way that fear affects from people in different ways, according to their age, their gender, their preconceived ideas about the world. and how an imagined, or unimagined, monster can be very different to different sets of people. there's a sense in which it's a period which reflects some

of the obsessions of our own? very much so. one of the things i wanted to do was, in perhaps a slightly mischievous way, wrong—foot the reader, who might feel that they're reading a victorian novel, set in the world of crinolines and fainting wives, pea—soupers, and instead find themselves reading about the trades union congress, the london underground, the birth of feminism, scientific developments. so i wanted to invite the reader to interrogate how far we've come since the end of the 19th century and whether the end of the 19th century was actually more modern than we ever allow ourselves to think. and at the heart of the story is the argument, really, between two people who also then have a romantic attachment. the vicar, who is married, and the newly widowed woman who arrives in the country. of course, they have a very different response to this apparent appearance of a serpent, a monster in the midst of the community. she thinks it's a natural event, because she wants it to be a dinosaur.

he says it all got to do with a breakdown in faith. yeah. a very interesting collision. it is. i think that's another reason why the end of the 19th century is so interesting for me. i think debates around science and reason, the extent to which faith and science are antagonists, and whether or not they can support each other. or if they are? or if they are, precisely. it's something that is very much part of the dialogue now and is a debate that's been going on for a very long time. what i wanted to do was disrupt the idea that a man of faith like will would be a man of superstition and fear. actually he's presented as being a man of reason. and that a man of science, like cora, or a woman of science, like cora, would be the reasonable and rational one. actually, she is rather given to emotional display and not thinking is quite right. well, indeed. and the distinction is not as clear as we might first think? exactly. the intriguing thing

about your story is that there is the excitement of how to interpret this phenomenon that apparently has turned up in the community. but, alongside it is, if you'll forgive me putting it like this, in this phrase, an old—fashioned love story? i wanted to present a relationship that seemed to be somewhere on a slightly indefinable spectrum, between an intellectual curiosity and an argument that comes between intellectual opposites. emotional intimacy and romance, at what point does it switch from one thing to another? i think it's important to say to people that haven't read the book yet, perhaps, that although you have these ideas running through your head and you wanted to communicate the nature of this argument to the reader, in the end, it's a story. i mean, it's a story about a community that is gripped by fear and excitement. that is what draws the reader in? i hope so. more than anything else, i'm a storyteller. i'm a great spinner of yarns. i'm given to boring on at great length about anecdotes around family and friends, things that have happened to myself. that's what a good novel does.

ideally, however high the ideas, however much you want to interest or educate, really it should be about a cracking story that can pass the time on a wet weekend. but it's also true that what you display in this book, which is a wonderful read, enthralling read, is an affection for the gothic imagination. i mean, it's a kind of gothic novel, isn't it? very much so. i'm very, very interested in what he gothic actually is. interestingly, you could lock three orfour academics in a room, with no bread or waterfor ten hours, and not let them out until they have agreed on a definition of the gothic. they'll starve, because it's something that people are constantly debating. the gothic is a feeling. it's a sensation, is not a genre. it's the feeling that there is something that we don't quite understand. am i mad, or did i just see that thing? if i am mad, is that worse than a monster? we all have fears that we, to some degree, enjoy. i mean, we enjoy treading on the edge of an abyss, in a way, in our minds, don't we?

that's what we'll do. we do. i think what a really good gothic novel does, what i wanted to try to emulate, his arouse in the reader similar sensations to those felt by the characters. so, a successful gothic novel will leave the reader feeling as unnerved and as uneasy as the characters who are encountering these fears themselves. so, a reader of a gothic text like dracula would be invited to think, what is it that i desire that i ought not to desire? so, you're drawn into the book like one of the characters. what kind of cracking stories did you grow upon? i sense that you've a love for the victorian novel, just by the way you attack this period. i mean, attack it in a sense of being a writer who immerses himself in it? yes. i had a very interesting background. my parents were members of a strict baptist chapel and i was brought up with very little access to popular culture. so, actually, i was raised on the king james bible, which is one succession after the other of cracking yarns. well, if you want to

write good english... exactly, in terms of exposure to cracking ideas, extraordinary prose, but also one story after another of heroism, and betrayal, and mystery, and strangeness, and magic, all incorporated in this one book. and because we didn't have a television and i didn't go to the cinema, and all the rest of it, i immersed myself instead in what was available in the house, which tended to be 19th century literature, foxe's book of martyrs, bunyan, and what all of these have in common is storytelling. yes. and so did you always know you were going to be, in some form, a storyteller? i did, very much so. in a way that i find very difficult to convey how intense this feeling is. the analogy i always use is that most women i know have always known that they would one day be a mother. i have always known, in that sort of visceral, "there's no point in my existing if i don't do it" kind of way, that i will tell stories in some way. whatever period i would have been born into, i would have been a storyteller of one kind or another. what you've done in this book, of course, is to play with, but also to respect, a tradition.

i mean, you enjoy writing a story, telling a story of the kind that you grew up reading. you're not interested in experiment. i mean, you want to obviously do something original with your characters, and have them stepping outside stereotypes, of course, but you are also paying homage to a storytelling tradition that you love? that's right. what i wanted to do simultaneously pay homage to and interrogate it. for example, one of the things i did was shy away from the kind of language we associate with 19th—century novels. so, nobody rides in a carriage. they call a cab. people do not speak to mama and papa, they speakto mum and dad. they go to a pub, rather than to an inn. in that sense, i was very much enjoying the tropes of 19th—century fiction and gothic fiction, whilst also disrupting the reader and saying, you know, this is not a dusty period. this is not a dusty novel. it's modern, it's contemporary. well, i think anybody reading this book would come to the conclusion that you might have been quite happy

at that time. do you think you would have been? yes, i was born 100 years too late, i suspect. sarah perry, author of the essex serpent, thank you very much. thank you. good morning. at least there is a little but of sunshine around this bank holiday for many. some of the sunniest conditions have been across the north—west highlands of scotland. this was taken just a short while ago and is where the warmest of the weather is with highs of around 20. not the same everywhere. some of you have been cast in your eyes out a rather grey skylines and it is this hook of clive woodward has been responsible for most of the ring to it is. —— this hook of cloud which has been responsible for most of the rain. more persistent rain in devon, parts

of cornwall and into the channel islands, which will continue but some of it will ease off, particularly across devon and cornwall and there could be showers later on. into the afternoon, it is not going to feel particularly warm under the rain not going to feel particularly warm underthe rain band, not going to feel particularly warm under the rain band, especially with the breeze coming in from the north—west but with a bit of sunshine, quite pleasant because winds are a bit lighter across south somerset and devon. breezy towards somerset and devon. breezy towards somerset and devon. breezy towards somerset and kent. 12 isolated light showers in wales. cloud across northern and that will break up and most will be dry this afternoon and stay dry with a good deal of sunshine in western parts of northern ireland and western scotland. contrast 20 degrees with the western half, only about nine. the winds are coming off the cold sea and the low cloud will linger. to me, showers in the south will gradually depart, pushing off into northern france. most of those will be dry into tuesday morning. clear

skies in the west and especially in scotland, mist or fog skies in the west and especially in scotland, mist orfog patches. still grey a cross scotland, mist orfog patches. still grey across parts of scotland and north east england tomorrow because ofan north east england tomorrow because of an easterly wind. that is because of an easterly wind. that is because of the low pressure today pushing southwards into france. the winds are anticlockwise and clockwise winds around the high pressure established in scandinavia brings the easterly flow in. off a cold sea, temperatures only around ten to 13. 12 showers are crossing them but nowhere near as bad as today. here is why the wind is particularly cold in the east. sea temperatures at the moment are the lowest at this time of year. we continue that easterly flow through much of this week so don't expect impetus to rise to much on wednesday. brightest in scotland and north east england. showers in the south—east corner but mostly dry. high pressure to the north of thursday, west is best for the sunshine for the rest of this week. coolest in the east and after today,

most will be dry. ben has more than half an hour. this is bbc news. i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at 12: three teenage women are arrested on suspicion of terror offences in raids linked to a police operation in north london on thursday in which a woman was shot and injured. leading social media firms are "shamefully far" from tackling illegal and dangerous online content, according to a report by mps. these social media companies have been asked repeatedly to sort this out and repeatedly they have failed to do so. so i think it is time that the government should be putting new systems in place which involve fines. a man shot dead by intruders at a house in dorset has been named by police as 61—year—old guy hedger. labour promises new legal standards for rented homes in england, if it gets into power. the government says it does not

recognise a