this is bbc news and these are the top stories developing at 11am — polling stations around the country are open as millions of people vote in the general election. three men have been arrested in raids in ilford in east london by police investigating the london bridge attack. sacked fbi chiefjames comey will testify before congress today and say that president trump asked him to drop an investigation into an links between the former white house national security adviser and russia. the scottish episcopal church will decide later whether to become the first anglicans in the uk to allow same—sex marriage. also in the next hour — a major re—think on the development of the human species. fossils found in africa suggest humans walked the earth more than 100,000 years earlier than was previously believed. a museum in sweden has opened

dedicated to ideas that never took off. the museum of failure. good morning. it's june 8th. iam i am annita mcveigh. welcome to bbc newsroom live. polling stations are open across the country — as millions of people go to cast their votes in the general election. they'll close at 10pm this evening, with the first results due before midnight. police say there'll be increased security at some polling stations — with armed officers in some areas. joining me now from westminster is our political correspondent alicia mccarthy. and intensive seven—week campaign and now people get to go and cast

their votes, tech as to what has been happening. 50 days since mps voted to hold the selection and finally, today is the day. polling stations will be open for another 11 hours. we have seen theresa may, tim farron, nicola sturgeon, jeremy corbyn, they have all been out to vote so far. we are electing 650 mps. we have got 3301 candidates standing in the selection. 986 of those women. the polls don't close until about ten this evening. we will get the exit poll pretty swiftly after that which will give us swiftly after that which will give us the first hint of what has happened and then the early results coming in again quite quickly. normally, one of the seats in sunderland declares first around 11pm. we should know exactly what has happened by this time tomorrow. thank you. so there are 650 seats in the house of commons up for grabs.

christian fraser has been looking at some of the numbers. it's a numbers game, a general election and there are some big numbers for us to consider this time around. here's the biggest of them all — 46.9 million people eligible to vote. a million more people on the register. there's been a surge in fact in places around the country, up to 10%, particularly in student areas. turnout last time around, slightly down on 2010 — 66.4%. but that's by no means the lowest. you have to go all the way back to 1918, to the end of the first world war when the turnout was 57.2%. up and down the country, there are 50,000 polling stations give or take, a maximum of 2,500 voters per station. you will see them in libraries, in schools, there is even one this time about in a launderette in 0xford. polling began at seven o'clock this morning,

it will close tonight at 10pm. don't worry if you get there very late and there is a queue, so long as you are there before 10pm, you will be allowed to vote. and don't worry if you don't have your voter registration card, your name and address will suffice. once you get into the polling booths, you will have a card like this in front of you. candidates will be listed in alphabetical order. just put a cross in this box here next to whichever candidate you're choosing. don't put a squiggle or a dot or a tick because there is a danger your ballot will be considered a spoiled ballot. you will be aware that there is always this rush once the polls have closed for particular polling stations to declare. that title has gone to houghton and sunderland south, six times running. the last time they declared at 10.a8pm, 48 minutes after the polls closed. 650 constituencies up and down the country. that's the magic number — 326 for a parliamentary majority.

the conservatives had 331 in 2015. you should get an idea of who is going to win probably around the early hours of the morning. if you can't wait up, then by the time you get up for your breakfast, you should know who will be walking through this famous black door, probably followed by larry the cat. and just a reminder that the bbc‘s main election programme, fronted by david dimbleby, starts at ten o'clock tonight. you can watch the full coverage of the results as they come in. police investigating the london terror attack have made new arrests in ilford, east london, following raids involving armed officers. the men aged 27 and 29 have been held on suspicion of the preparation of terrorist acts. 17 people have now been arrested in connection with saturday's attack and five remain in custody.

meanwhile, the times newspaper has released cctv footage of what appears to show the london bridge terrorists in the days before the attack. it's believed to be the first time the three men have been placed together before saturday's attack in which eight people were killed. the newspaper claims these pictures show the men outside the gym where one of the attackers worked. the family of a restaurant worker killed in the london bridge attack have paid tribute to their "marvellous son." alexandre pigea rd was a french national living and working in london. he was stabbed while working on the terrace of the restaurant at borough market where he had worked for nine months. his family said he was a perfect older brother and a "radiant young man." 0ur correspondent sara smith is at scotland yard for us this morning. we heard about a number of arrests,

both related to the investigation into the london bridge attack and indeed other anti—terror arrests as well. two lots of arrests overnight, one linked to the attack and one not but both connected to terrorism. around 10pm last night, officers from the counter terrorism command of the met, accompanied by armed officers, arrested two men in the street in ilford and another man in a house nearby. they are being kept ata a house nearby. they are being kept at a police station in south london for questioning. two of the men were arrested on suspicion preparation of terrorist attacks and the other on drug offences. 12 people arrested earlier in the investigation have been released. 0vernight, three search warrants were executed, in new and waltham forest. three men in their 30s have been arrested, also held in a police station in south

london, but that is not connected to the london bridge attacks. it is a different investigation but they we re different investigation but they were arrested on suspicion of instigation or preparation of terrorism offences. this investigation is still very much under way, as you can imagine but what is over is that very sad task of finding out the names of all those who have died. police say they have now identified all eight who have now identified all eight who have died. they had a casualty bureau set up here in the days following the attack. they took 3500 calls but that casualty bureau has 110w calls but that casualty bureau has now closed. we also heard today from a british transport police officer, one of the first on the scene when there was a call for help. he ended up there was a call for help. he ended up being seriously injured, stabbed in the head, face and leg and he is still in hospital described as seriously unwell. today, he wanted to thank fellow officers who had

come to his aid and they said —— he said they had kept him alive. he also wanted to thank members of the public for the support he received. he also said he was sorry he could not do more and he said, i want you to know, i did everything i could. one of the attackers who drove a vehicle into pedestrians before stabbing others near london bridge had viewed the videos of a radical american preacher, according to his friend. that radical preacher is from the town of dearborn in michigan, where our correspondent, aleem maqbool, tried to catch up with him. to please the enemies of allah and the enemies of mankind. ahmad musa jibril, an american, and one of the most popular online voices among brits who go to fight with so—called islamic state. i'm telling you facts. he calls forjihad and preaches separation of muslims from non—muslims or kafir.

hours ago, masses of the ummah, ourummah, were joining with the kafir in the new year celebration. a former friend of london attacker khuram butt says it wasjibril‘s videos that helped to radicalise him. the preacher himself is a free man, living in michigan. well, we have been trying to speak with jibril about his preaching but for now, at least, he's a pretty hard man to track down. his neighbours, though, have told us they thought he was nice and friendly and said they had no idea he produced such videos. but the fbi did know. it tried for years to put away jibril but never managed to find that he had actually broken the law. he is very smart, as many of these folks are. they know there is a line they can go up to and not to cross that line. but talking generally about killing people, making jews orphans, that is not enough? unfortunately, in this country it is not.

ahmad musajibril has been a nuisance to muslims in this area as well. he will come and say things to imams sometimes, that you are out, separated from your vision, this is not the way, that you are just bluffin. that you are just bluffing. even imams in the area say they have called for action against him. freedom of speech stops at speech but when you have someone act upon it, this is crossing the line. that should not be. do you think there are others, even in this community, coming close to that line? there are many of them, many of them. the internet is full of them. here, stopping those who are not quite caught crossing from preaching hate to actively supporting militants is tough. even if they potentially inspire violent acts. but that is notjust a problem for this community and certainly not just an issue for the us.

one of the most dramatic moments of the trump presidency to date will unfold in congress today. the former fbi director, james comey, who was sacked by mr trump, will give evidence about his relationship with the president. he has already had his opening statement published online. in it he says the president repeatedly asked for his loyalty. he also says mr trump urged him to drop an inquiry into his national security adviser michael flynn, who had just been forced to resign. rajini vaidya nathan reports from washington. oh, and there's james. he's become more famous than me. there was a time when president trump had nothing but praise forjames comey, but a firm grip in january turned into a firing in may. the president sacked the fbi director, reportedly calling him a nutjob and more. he's a show boat, he's a grandstander. the fbi has been in turmoil.

you know that, i know that, everybody knows that. most people know the president's version of events. now, james comey will go public before the senate with his. just like his testimony in march, it all comes back to russia. 0n the eve of his appearance before the senate, james comey released a written statement. he said the president isn't being investigated by the fbi as part of the russia enquiry, confirming statements made by mr trump in the past. isaid, if i said, if it's possible, will you let me know, am i under investigation? he said, you are not

under investigation. mr comey says he was asked to drop the investigation into ties he was asked by the president for his unwavering support. he said he needed loyalty and expected it. the white house denies this. mr comey says he was asked to drop the investigation into ties between the former national security adviser michael flynn and the russians. he said mr trump told him this. here's a good guy, i hope you let this go. it is interesting whether the president took steps to interfere or obstruct in any way. there is no evidence the president asked for an end to the enquiry into russia but it is a cloud over him. there is no suggestion the president asked for an end to the wider russian inquiry butjames comey says mr trump told him there was a cloud over him..

it's not just congress which is looking into the trump campaign's ties to russia. there was also an ongoing fbi investigation. in the saga of washington politics, james comey‘s testimony is a must—see moment but it's just one act in what is becoming a long and drawn—out political drama. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, washington. joining me now via webcam is alan dershowitz — who is a us lawyer and a former trump supporter. you contend that even under the broadest definition of obstruction, no crime has been committed by donald trump, could you explain why you say that? we have a very different constitutional system than the british. you have a director public prosecution who is independent. we have attorney general and fbi who work the president. —— who work for the president. —— who work for the president. i will give you an

example. when president bush, the first, decided he wanted an investigation of the iran—contra matter, he certainly hardened the secretary of defence which ended the investigation. the president stifled the investigation. that is not an obstruction of justice. the investigation. that is not an obstruction ofjustice. when the president performs his constitutional duties, even the fire james comey, which he was entitled to do, orto james comey, which he was entitled to do, or to tell the head of the fbi, stop prosecuting someone, i don't want to see that happening, that would be constitutional as well. he didn't quite do that of course, he just requested the director of the fbi to see if he could let it go. it is a lot softer than, icommand could let it go. it is a lot softer than, i command you to stop investigation. he would have been entitled to say that. president thomas jefferson entitled to say that. president thomasjefferson did that, president lincoln did that. president 0bama

has done a similar thing, directing an investigation to begin. the idea that president trump, who i do not support, the idea that he is trying to stretch existing laws to fit him, reminds me of what stalin was told. he said, find me the man and i will show you the crime and that is not the american way. why would the white house denied that donald trump had asked james comey to let this go if they were not uncomfortable with that original conversation? they should be uncomfortable with it, it was wrong, against the rules, tradition. recently, that developed, so tradition. recently, that developed, so it was wrong. of course he is uncomfortable. but there is a big difference between something being wrong and something being criminal. i'm not defending donald trump's statements, misstatements, attempts

to defend actions that something... what i'm saying is that under our constitutional system, you cannot prosecute and i believe you cannot properly impeach the president for exercising his constitutional power to fire the director of the fbi or even to tell him what to do. under that rationale, can't a president potentially abuse his position? could it be unconstitutional in the spirit, if not the letter of the law, for a president to say that sort of thing? yes, and president nixon went over the line, telling his aides the light to the fbi. if a president tears up a sabena or destroyed tapes, he can be impeached. here we have a president who is exercising his authority. we

don't like the way he exercises it but the president has the discretion to do the wrong thing in the recourse is not to re—elect him or his party. this is a political issue not a criminal law issue. what this means politically may be different to what it means in a criminal sense but do you think, what it highlights isa but do you think, what it highlights is a need for a change in the constitution? absolutely, we should move to the british system, the israeli system, we have an independent director of public prosecutions who could not be influenced by the president. the president can tell the justice department and fbi what to do at the moment. but you don't change something by prosecuting somebody for a crime that didn't exist at the time he engaged in the actions. we will talk about the political repercussions of this but stop talking about whether he committed a crime because there is no evidence

at this point in time that the president committed obstruction of justice. lots of people do believe there is a case to answer and allegations in the white house they need to address. links to the trump campaign and russia in the run—up to the election. you can watch james comey‘s public hearing live. the headlines on bbc newsroom live — all round the country polling stations are open of people vote in the general election. more arrests and raids in east london by police investigating the london by police investigating the london bridge attack. sacked fbi chiefjames london bridge attack. sacked fbi chief james comey will testify before congress later and say that president trump asked him to drop an

investigation into links between the former white house national security adviser and russia. in sport, chelsea striker diego costa could be on his way out of stamford bridge. despite helping them to the premier league title last season. diego costa claims he has been told by his boss via a text message that he is no longer in the club's plans. an all—new british and irish lions starting 15 and alun wynjones will captain the side against the crusaders in christchurch on the weekend. a win would see india all through to the semifinals. 53 without loss after 11 overs. i will be back just without loss after 11 overs. i will be backjust after without loss after 11 overs. i will be back just after 11:30am. the emir of kuwait is in doha to try to defuse the escalating diplomatic crisis between qatar and the gulf states. saudi arabia is leading an air, land and sea blockade by arab

countries in an attempt to strong arm qatar into cutting alleged connections with terrorism and distancing itself from iran. qatar denies allegations of funding extremist organisations. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james robbins is in doha with more. the harshness of the language by qatar's critics has been stepped up. the united arab emirates saying this country qatar is now a main source of terrorism and of the financing of extremism within the region. that is extraordinary and it indicates how far cooperation within the so—called golf cooperation council of which both the uae and qatar our members, has broken down. the qataris on the side continued to deny any accusations, allegations, that they have been involved in financing, exporting religious extremism and

terrorism and they say they are victims of a plot to smear this country, including internet hacks. because they say others in the golf cooperation council simply don't accept qatar wants to pursue an individual, independent foreign policy which of course includes being much closer to iran and others —— van others in the golf would like. the global television channel which many of the other autocratic rulers in this region detest because they think it shines too strong a light on politics in the region, encourages dissent, but also because they believe it also fosters terrorism. aljazeera is still operating of course but the uae is making clear it hopes the station will be either severely reigned in or actually closed down. there are a lot of very big divides in this crisis. the qataris say they will not capitulate or surrender their

sovereignty and on the other side, it is clear its critics feel they have a golden moment to try and bring overwhelming pressure to bear in this country,. a japanese fugitive who has been on the run for 45 years has been arrested. left—wing revolutionary masaaki 0saka was arrested and charged for murdering a police officer during tokyo street protests more than 45 years ago. it's alleged he set the officer on fire using a molotov cocktail petrol bomb. a diamond ring bought for £10 at a car—boot sale has been sold for more than £650,000 at auction in london. the 26—carat cushion—shaped diamond sold for almost double its estimate. the owner bought the ring in the 1980s and was unaware of its real value — wearing it every day for 30 years. the scottish episcopal church will

today hold an historic vote whether today hold an historic vote whether to allow same—sex couples to marry in church. it will be the first anglican church in the uk to allow same—sex marriage but also leave the church at odds with the rest of the anglican community. 0ur correspondent michael buchanan reports. at the centre of what we celebrate here today is the love between these two men. a gay marriage in an anglican church. this one was in the united states. but later today, this scene could become legal in scotland. the episcopal church, the anglican church in scotland, will vote this afternoon on whether to allow gay weddings. this man is strongly in favour. so many people now know young gay couples who want to be married in church and stand up in front of their friends and in front of god and declare their love for one another. gay marriage has split anglicans. the churches of england and wales do not allow it.

but if the vote in edinburgh is passed today, it would allow those in the uk to be married in scotland to the fury of anglican traditionalists. it a questions of the authority of the bible who runs the church. the bible is the supreme authority run by jesus christ. when something like this happens, it is not about the sex element, it is about the authority of the bible that matters. this is one of the defining divisions among anglicans. supporters say acceptance is inevitable over time. today's vote could bring that future a step closer. michael buchanan, bbc news, edinburgh. in the last few moments, some lines coming out of libya about the manchester bomb, salman abedi, the

suicide bomber who of course killed 22 people at the manchester arena. many children were attending the ariana grande concept. the libya spokesman for the libyan counter terrorism unit is saying the brother of salman abedi says he was radicalised in britain in 2050 through the internet and friend. —— 2015. he is saying salman abedi caught the equipment for the attack in britain but didn't know when the attack would be carried out. his brother is also saying salman abedi called his family to ask for forgiveness on the day of the attack. these lines coming from the brother of salman abedi, according to this libya counter terrorism spokesman, including his brother's thoughts that he was radicalised in

britain. in 2015, via the internet and friends. iranian intelligence officials say the militants who attacked the country's parliament had been recruited by the so—called islamic state group, inside the country. the iranian revolutionary guards also accused saudi arabia and the united states of involvement in the violence. the saudi foreign minister says there is no evidence to support that claim. 13 people were killed by the attacks in tehran. with me is rana rahimpour from bbc persian. tell us more about what the iranian intelligence services are saying about is‘s involvement. intelligence services are saying about 15's involvement. a statement has just been released about these attackers. confirming there were five attackers who had joined isis. they haven't mentioned the nationality or the names and family

names. they said they don't want to create tension among the minorities in iran. by the sound of it, they had joined isis at least a year ago, they tried to plan an attack in saudi when they entered iran last year but that attack was foiled. the leader was killed a year ago by iranian authorities. then they manage to come back again and this time, the attack killed at least 16 people in iran. there is also a claim from the iranian revolution regard, alleging saudi and us involvement. what response has there been to that? the response from the white house, finally, three hours after the state department reacted to it, they have shown sympathy towards family members of the people that have been killed but

they also implied iran is responsible for what they called terrorist attacks in the region. the response from the iranian authorities has been quite angry. the prime minister in a tweet, called the white house's statement, repugnant. he said this is not the way to be friends with the iranian people. i think everything is going to get more tense and confrontation between iran and the saudis and ultimately the united states. some very difficult situations for the relationships between those countries. thank you. time for the weather. mixed fortunes across the country today with some seeing heavy rain but others staying largely dry, and this is how it has been looking most recently with a band of heavy rain through south west england, northern ireland, and it continues to push

north through the day, eventually easing across england and wales but sharp showers developing and persistent rain across northern ireland and scotland. central and eastern parts could see little rain if anything at all. the highest temperatures are 19 celsius. it continues to reign across scotland and overnight it pulls northwards. rain and overnight it pulls northwards. ra i n clears and overnight it pulls northwards. rain clears through northern ireland and many places having a dry night, clear spells, and it will be mild temperatures not much lower than 11 or 12 celsius. eventually rain will ease through northern scotland, so many places could end up with a largely dry day. spells and sunshine, and across eastern areas, the temperatures could get up to 21 or 22 celsius. 17 or 18 courseware. goodbye. —— elsewhere. this is bbc newsroom live.

millions of people have been casting their vote in the general election. the first results are expected by midnight. there's extra security at some polling stations because of the recent terror attacks. three people have been arrested at ilford in east london, by police investigating the london bridge attack. two of the men are being held on "suspicion of terrorism" offences. james coney will testify in congress today. that president trust asks him today. that president trust asks him to drop an investigation into links between his former national security

adviser and russia. he said mr trump called the russian probate cloud over him. the scottish episcopal church will decide today on whether to become the first anglican church in the uk to allow same sex couples to marry. a vote in favour would put it at odds with anglican traditionalists. let's go to the sports centre. as promised, lions head coach warren gatland has named another all—new starting line—up for their third tour match in new zealand, as he tries to narrow in on his starting line up for the first test match injust over two weeks. wales skipper alun wyn jones will lead the side against the canterbury crusaders — a team with a perfect 1a wins from 1a games in super rugby. jonathan davies, conor murray, george north and sean 0'brien will all make their first appearances of the tour. chelsea striker diego costa claims manager antonio conte has told him in a text message that he's not part

of his plans at the club. costa spoke to reporters after spain's draw with colombia last night, saying "i am a chelsea player but they do not want me there". he's still only 28, and his 20 premier league goals for the club helped them to the title. manchester city have signed goalkeeper ederson morice for 35 million pounds. he's a big prospect atjust 23, and won the portuguese league and cup double this season with benfica. he said he'd ‘always dreamed' of playing in english football. liverpool striker ben woodburn has pulled out of wales' squad for their world cup qualifier in serbia on sunday. he was set to earn his first cap but he's picked up a calf injury. he's been replaced by another uncapped player, marley watkins, who's just signed for norwich from barnsley. england are without usual captain wayne rooney for the world cup qualifier against scotland this weekend. with questions over rooney's future, the premier league's top scorer last season harry kane thinks he's ready to step up, despite being just 23.

any player growing up as a footballer dreams of being england captain one day and i am no different. but look, it is down to gareth, and he is the manager. we have a lot of leaders in the team andi have a lot of leaders in the team and i think that is important and that's what we're trying to get across, that whoever is captain his captain, but there's plenty of other leaders who can talk and help each other out, and that is the main focus. some of the players hoping to join kane in the seniors in the next few years, the current under 20s, are just 90 minutes away from a world cup final. england play italy in the semis at the under—20 world cup in south korea. despite missing some of their best talent, theirformer manager believes they've excelled. the fact we can send an england team and their baddies without tammy abraham, easy brown, pat roberts,

who were regulars —— and that they are without, and they can perform as well as they have, and they are in the top four and in the semifinal and have a chance of winning it is a remarkable achievement. defending champions india are playing sri lanka in the champions trophy, knowing they'll almost certainly make the semi—finals with a win. they've been put into bat at the oval and are going well in the early stages. 0peners rohit sharma and shikhar darwan have hit a couple of big fours. a short time ago they were 78 without loss off 10 overs. if you were wondering about sir ben ainslie's progress in the america's cup — well there hasn't been any. the day's racing was called off due to heavy winds in bermuda. great britain were hoping to reduce new zealand's 3—1 lead but the delay really helps the kiwis, giving them more time to repair their damaged boat after they capsized on tuesday. that's all sport for now. for some people voting independently, and in secret, can be difficult because of their disability.

the royal national institute of blind people, for example, says that many people with sight loss still rely on others to cast their vote. tim muffett reports on why some believe online voting is long overdue. casting a vote in secret. a fundamental democratic right. but in our mocked—up polling station, asha is showing me problems the royal national institute of blind people says many face. the numbers are in braille. there is a tactile template with the candidates' name. tactile voting templates were introduced in 2001. by law, uk polling stations now have to provide them. but asha and others say that sometimes they do not work. that is now lined up. yes, unfortunately the template used by polling stations is not fit for purpose. we still rely on somebody to read out the names of the candidates and then you still have to trust them that they are telling you honestly where the boxes are.

so you are reliant on somebody else guiding you through the process? yes, and to check you have put the mark in the right place. for some, problems can occur before polling day. ismael has a learning disability, and thinks registering to vote is too complicated. i feel it is difficult when voting, i have to bring my form in and get my colleagues at work to help me fill out the form, because the form is not accessible and it has a lot ofjargon terms and lots of boxes to tick. in westminster, the rights of disabled voters are being discussed at a pre—election meeting. polling stations should be accessible to all. some say that is not always the case. if somebody has not made the necessary provision in advance, you are turning up and you are not getting in. you are guessing, sometimes, as to who you are voting for. what impact does it have

if you are unable to cast your vote? i feel like i'm not part of society. the electoral commission oversees uk elections. not all polling stations will be able to be situated in ideal premises, but what we want to make sure is that local authorities can make the necessary adjustments, so that they can be accessed by all. many say that the blind voting templates are not fit for purpose, that they do not work properly. what do you say to that? big improvements have been made to make sure they provide the right tactile template so that they do fit the ballot paper, and how they will be used in practice so that the polling station staff are familiar with them. the commission wants any problems to be reported. we'd urge anybody who finds themselves in that position to contact the local authority immediately, so it can be put right. but the way that votes are cast is set in law, something that areeq choudary wants changed. webroots democracy is campaigning for online voting. asha has come to meet him. first—time voters born in 1991 have known nothing other

than a world of facebook, smartphones, social media. with online voting, you wouldn't need assistance, you can use your own equipment in your own home. doesn't online voting leave us open to potential hacking, potential security risks? people tend to look at online voting as though you should have 100% security, but that doesn't exist anywhere, online or off—line. we do need online voting to make the democratic process more accessible and inclusive. a radical rethink of the way we vote. some believe it is long overdue. tim muffett, bbc news. a science fiction thriller, which imagines a world where women are more physically powerful than men, has won the baileys women's prize. the power, by naomi alderman, beat five other shortlisted novels. the award is worth £30,000. with me now is naomi alderman, the winner of this year's baileys prize for women's fiction. congratulations, as well as the

money, you get to see it here, the award. i've lifted her up and she is very heavy. just tell us first of all, this sounds like a fascinating premise for a novel. where did the idea come from? i wanted to write about why the differences exist between men and women in the society we live in and societies around the world, and you hear silly ever luke shuey psychology theories that women we re shuey psychology theories that women were better in the savannah picking berries and that is why we don't do so well in top jobs. but i thought to myself, and one thing that people don't talk about is that men are physically stronger than women, more capable of causing physical pain than women, and i wondered what would happen if ijust switched that over. just to say, if it were women who were in the position of being able to cause more pain, how would that change the world? i went into the novel not knowing what i thought

would happen but playing it out through a variety of characters and then just through a variety of characters and thenjust seeing. my through a variety of characters and then just seeing. my thought was, i don't really believe that women would be that much nicer than men. i don't think that women are necessarily nicer and more compassionate than men. i'm not sure the results would always be amazing. thejudges talked the results would always be amazing. the judges talked about your fantastic imagination. was this more a product of pure imagination rather than say a personal experience, or experiences of women you know or had read about? what happens to the women in the novel is that suddenly almost all of the women in the world develop the power to electrocute people at will. this is not something i have had personal experience of and it cannot give you the power to electrocute people, but when i came up with the idea i was going through a painful break—up. i was quite upset a lot of the time and there was one spark point where

i got on and there was one spark point where igot ona and there was one spark point where i got on a cheap train and i saw a poster advertising a film with a photo of a beautiful woman buried sexily crying with a single tear. because i was in this heightened emotional state, something broken by thought, oh, god, what would it take for me to walk onto the tube and see a photo of a sexy man crying? and this is the book that came out of it. altima role reversal, in a way. very much so. —— ultimate. i believe in saying it's no longer going to be the baileys prize because i think it will be a family of sponsors, a group of sponsors. do you think in terms of women's literature, women writers, i should say, that we are ina writers, i should say, that we are in a pretty healthy state in the uk? i know this is really the only major prize for writing by female authors. it is, and it is an important prize

and has a role to play. are we in a better situation than 50 years ago? yes, but is there room for improvement? yes. there are great surveys of who writes and who gets published and reviewed. more women wa nt to published and reviewed. more women want to write novels than men but more men get published and many more men get reviewed. i believe the average is 75% of reviews art of men's books. so we have to look at that and say something is still not quite working there. what has the reaction been from the men do this? women, when i tell them they have the power to electrocute people at will, they have a gleeful look.|j guess men and women might know people they would like to do that too. i'm sure that's true. men tend too. i'm sure that's true. men tend to look at me with a slightly horrified expression, as if i have just wanted to hurt them physically. but when they read the book they suddenly become afraid and understand what it would be to be

walking down an alley late at night, and ifa walking down an alley late at night, and if a woman's silhouette was coming towards them, to feel frightened. they are horrified by that feeling. it feels very different and visceral when you have the experience of physical fear yourself. i wanted with my book to give both genders and experience of what it would be like to be on the other position, and to feel that, through mick —— fiction and imagination for a few hours of your life, to think, how would it be and come back to the world we live in with a new understanding of how it works. thanks for coming on to talk —— to talk about it, and congratulations on winning the baileys prize. the vast majority of children under the age of three haven't visited an nhs dentist in england in the last year. dental surgeons have expressed concern that many parents don't know when young children should have their first check—up. nick quraishi reports. medical advice recommends a child should start dental checkups when they develop their first tooth. yet this analysis of all nhs trusts in england has found a worrying lack of take—up.

in the year to march, just 20% of one to two—year—olds saw a dentist, meaning 80% didn't. 60% aged one to four missed out on a dental checkup during that same period. the faculty of dental surgery is blaming a widespread misunderstanding about when children should have their first checkup, which, according to guidelines, is around six months. in the year to 2016, well over 9,000 children in england aged one to four had teeth extracted in hospitals, often under general anaesthetic. most of this is down to tooth decay, which the faculty consists is 90% preventable. it says, in a system where dental checkups are free for all under—18s, there is no excuse for the findings. in a moment, a summary of the business news this hour but first,

the headlines on bbc newsroom live: all round the country polling stations are open as millions of people vote in the general election. more arrests in raids in east london, by police investigating the london bridge attack. sacked fbi chiefjames comey will testify before congress today and say that president trump asked him to drop an investigation into links between the former white house national security adviser and russia. i'm ben thompson. in the business news, flybe has posted a loss of £20m for last year after struggling with slower customer demand and rising costs. that's a sharp reversal of last year's near £3 million profit. the firm blamed tough market conditions and the cost of upgrading its it systems. ride hailing app uber is underfire again after it emerged that its boss

in asia obtained the medical records of a passenger who was raped by one of the company's drivers. he's since been fired, but shared the information with uber‘s chief executive, travis kalanick. critics say mr kalanick should also now step down. renewables overtook fossil fuels for generating electricity in the uk yesterday. more electricity was generated from wind, nuclear and solar power than from gas and coal combined. the national grid says that, for the first time, more than half the country's electricity supply was coming from renewable sources yesterday lunchtime. growth in the eurozone continued to pick up in the first quarter of the year as the economy shook off worries over of brexit and elections in france. growth in the eurozone came in at 0.6% in the period between january and march. that's up from initial estimates of 0.5%. it suggests the eurozone economy is growing at its fastest pace

since it emerged from the worst of the financial crisis six years ago. anna stupnytska is global economist at fidelity international. good morning to you. let's look at the gdp figures. there is a tendency to look at the eurozone and think it has been struggling of late but it seems to be putting the worries aside and the figures are better than many had forecast. it is certainly positive news, and the eurozone economy has been growing faster than the us, which is not something that is much talked about in the markets. what is also quite positive is that the drivers are not trade, it is domestic demand and consumer spending and interestingly, and this is in line with strong business and consumer confidence that we have seen in the eurozone over the past two months. where is

that confidence coming from? what is it that they know that we don't?” think this is a combination of two factors, the first is better global growth than we have seen over the last year or so. it is mainly driven perhaps by the china stimulus that we saw a few months ago that has really lifted a lot of growth pro bally really lifted a lot of growth probally which has created a more supportive environment for the euro area. and also internal drivers, they are important and that is the ecb accommodations, this kind of extraordinary level of monetary accommodation that the ecb has put together over the last few years has brought some results which is better growth today. i don't want to put a dampener on this, but there are a lot of headwinds and worries for the eurozone is, greece with the debt crisis, and a lot of uncertainty

with elections across the eurozone, and also the general election in the uk. and then there is brexit to continue to come. so is that headwind for what has been robust growth? yes, political headwinds are coming, and there was one which was the french elections, and we can see more structure in france that will be positive not just more structure in france that will be positive notjust for france but the rest of the eurozone. but italy, the rest of the eurozone. but italy, the italian elections, potentially coming issue or next year, that is a big risk, and that is something the ecb will be keeping an eye on. really good to talk to you. president trump's plans to ease regulation on us banks will have dire consequences. that's the warning from the former congressman who oversaw major reforms after the 2008 financial crisis. barney frank even had the dodd—frank act named after him. and as the house of representatives gets set to vote on its replacement he's been speaking to mariko 0i.

what they are talking about undoing is those that stop institutions from getting so indebted that the government is faced with a choice between paying taxpayers money to bail out their debts, or letting them go under and causing a crisis. do you agree with some of the proposals made by the act? you yourself have said there were m ista kes yourself have said there were mistakes in the dood—frank act you would like to change? mistakes in the dood—frank act you would like to change ?|j mistakes in the dood—frank act you would like to change? i believe that the $50 billion level we set to be in the superjurisdiction was too low. that was the mistake we made at the time. there is a barter —— bipartisan coalition in the senate may be ready to raise that to 125 billion. i think that the small banks should get some explicit relief. there were rules we did not think that would apply to them, but

they are concerned about them and they are concerned about them and they spend a lot of money showing they spend a lot of money showing they are not hurt by them, so there would be a bipartisan consensus to do that. beyond that, everything the republican bill does is to roll back the rules we put in place to stop irresponsible behaviour. that will be one to watch as the concern over regulation in the us gets under way. flybe shares up, despite that loss of £20m. but as we've discussed, largely the result of slowing demand and the cost of a new it system. flybe says moves it will cut back on expansion plans to deal with that demand slowdown. investors seem to like what they've heard this morning. remember at the close yesterday, shares in flybe are down 25% this year. brent is back up, and there were concerns pushing up the price of

oil, and that is what the interest rates are doing. you up—to—date. more later. nations responsible for much of the world's ocean plastic pollution have promised to start cleaning up their act. at a united nations oceans summit, delegates from china, thailand, indonesia and the philippines said they would work to keep plastics out of the seas. some of the promises are not yet set in law and environmentalists say the measures proposed are not nearly urgent enough. roger harrabin reports. plastic, plastic everywhere. fragments of plastic litter have even been ingested by tiny organisms at the very bottom of the sea. here is the source of much of the pollution, the rivers of asia, where the consumer economy has developed faster than systems to cope with waste. the big polluters say they are going to clean up their act. there is enormous momentum now from governments, from citizens and from business, to take on the horrendous plastic problem in the seas, because we see sea birds full

of plastic in their stomachs and we see our beautiful beaches, where we want to go for a swim, being so polluted. china says it will improve the way it deals with waste. thailand is putting a plastic control programme in place. indonesia is educating children to stop throwing away plastic. all of them are looking for new materials, so we don't use so much of the stuff. greenpeace says there is some progress, but not nearly enough. it's election day and dogs have turned out in force at the polling stations across the uk and predictably the hashtag #dogsatpollingstations has become a social media trend. this is phoebe in manchester waiting patiently outside her polling station. richard walker tweeted this pic

with the caption, someone's taking voting very seriously! roo goodwin says decisons are made by those that show (p)up. sprocket says vote! jane martinson says, there's a queue to vote but the dog has started to blend in. mads the dog says: had to let big human & little human vote for me. i went in and helped them decide. jodie doubleday says he and his dog were up early and casting our vote in canterbury. i know the dogs trust have been helping us out with some pictures, so keep them coming in. we will try to get some more in for you. time to ta ke to get some more in for you. time to take a look at the weather. if you

wa nt take a look at the weather. if you want aired after the polling station soon, here is the weather for you. the weather has been a little bit rough with the rain for many and some of us have woken up this morning to seems like this, wet conditions across south—west england and wales, but for others, mainly dry and a lot of cloud. this was essex earlier one of the counties that received very little rain in the day, and some other source sparkling sunshine this morning but it's not been lasting longer. the rain and cloud that has been drifting north will arrive here over the coming hours, but the rain should eventually start to clear from england and wales, and behind that band of rain, sharp showers but much of england and wales having a better afternoon, spells of sunshine, but longer spells in northern ireland and the rain getting into scotland as well. this is four p.m., and now for some sharp, heavy showers pushing in. and very little rain and some

brightness. across wales, north—west england, some of the showers turning heavy, and some persistent rain. a cool feel through scotland with the breeze and rain. there will be further showers across england and wales. and it clears from northern ireland and then there will be clear spells and drier spells, but watch out for heavy showers later in the night. it will be a mild night with temperatures not much lower than ten or 11 for england and wales. a band of rain starts to ease across northern ireland and scotland finally starts to ease, then a day of sunshine and showers, showers most frequent through the morning but they should ease off in the afternoon and there will be some places that stay largely dry with 22 celsius possible across england and generally warmer day across the country. we look to the west as we head towards the weekend and low pressure is approaching. please

don't write off the weekend. there will be rain around but not all the time. it looks like the band of rain on saturday will be concentrated across west and south western areas. as you head further east, a chance of staying dry, humid feel and temperatures up to 21 or 22 celsius. it moves eastwards through sunday and for the latter half of the weekend we are in a showery regime. a brisk westerly wind, but such is the nature showers, not everyone will see them. wet day on saturday, sunday looks better, and the best of the sunshine and warmth will be across eastern england. lord this is bbc news and these are the top stories

developing at midday — polling stations around the country are open as millions of people vote in the general election. more arrests in raids in east london by police investigating the london bridge attack. sacked fbi chiefjames comey will testify before congress today and say that president trump asked him to drop an investigation into an links between the former white house national security adviser and russia. renewable energy sources generated more electricity than coal and gas in the uk for the first time. also in the next hour — inside afghanistan. the bbc gains rare access into helmand province — and life under the taliban. translation: this is the local hospital — it is funded by the government but lacks supplies. there's no female doctor

or child specialist — you can't even have a chest x—ray here. fossils found in africa suggest humans walked the earth at least 100,000 years earlier than previously believed. good afternoon. it's thursday june 8th. i am annita mcveigh. welcome to bbc newsroom live. polling stations are open across the country — as millions of people go to cast their votes in the general election. they'll close at 10pm this evening, with the first results due before midnight. police say there'll be increased security at some polling stations — with armed officers in some areas. joining me now from westminster is our political correspondent alicia mccarthy. bring this date with what has been

happening so far. finally we are here after 50 years of arguing and debating. we have seen all the major party leaders already go to the polls, theresa may, jeremy corbyn, nicola sturgeon, leanne wood, paul nuttall, tim farron. they have all cast their votes one way or another. there are 650 seats up for grabs. rules on election day means we can't talk about party's policies today but there are 3301 candidate standing and 986 of those are women. the polls close at 10pm tonight and we expect the first result come just before 11pm. traditionally that is one of the seats in sunderland that declares first. we will get a nexit poll just after declares first. we will get a nexit polljust after 10pm declares first. we will get a nexit poll just after 10pm and declares first. we will get a nexit polljust after 10pm and then the results will begin to roll in overnight with the bolt coming in the middle of the night and so by this time tomorrow, we should know the outcome. 650 seats in the house

of commons up for grabs. christian fraser has been looking at some of the numbers. it's a numbers game, a general election and there are some big numbers for us to consider this time around. here's the biggest of them all — 46.9 million people eligible to vote. a million more people on the register. there's been a surge in fact in places around the country, up to 10%, particularly in student areas. turnout last time around, slightly down on 2010 — 66.4%. but that's by no means the lowest. you have to go all the way back to 1918, to the end of the first world war when the turnout was 57.2%. up and down the country, there are 50,000 polling stations give or take, a maximum of 2,500 voters per station. you will see them in libraries, in schools, there is even one this time about in a launderette in 0xford. polling began at seven o'clock this morning, it will close tonight at 10pm.

don't worry if you get there very late and there is a queue, so long as you are there before 10pm, you will be allowed to vote. and don't worry if you don't have your voter registration card, your name and address will suffice. once you get into the polling booths, you will have a card like this in front of you. candidates will be listed in alphabetical order. just put a cross in this box here next to whichever candidate you're choosing. don't put a squiggle or a dot or a tick because there is a danger your ballot will be considered a spoiled ballot. you will be aware that there is always this rush once the polls have closed for particular polling stations to declare. that title has gone to houghton and sunderland south, six times running. the last time they declared at 10.48pm, 48 minutes after the polls closed. 650 constituencies up and down the country. that's the magic number — 326 for a parliamentary majority. the conservatives had 331 in 2015.

you should get an idea of who is going to win probably around the early hours of the morning. if you can't wait up, then by the time you get up for your breakfast, you should know who will be walking through this famous black door, probably followed by larry the cat. and just a reminder that the bbc‘s main election programme, fronted by david dimbleby, starts at ten o'clock tonight. you can watch the full coverage of the results as they come in. police investigating the london terror attack have made new arrests in ilford, east london, following raids involving armed officers. the men aged 27 and 29 have been held on suspicion of the preparation of terrorist acts. 17 people have now been arrested in connection with saturday's attack and five remain in custody. meanwhile, the times newspaper has released cctv footage

of what appears to show the london bridge terrorists in the days before the attack. it's believed to be the first time the three men have been placed together before saturday's attack in which eight people were killed. 0ur correspondent sara smith is at scotland yard for us this morning. bring us up to date. overnight, there were two lots of arrests, one of them connected to the london bridge attacks and one not but both connected with terrorism. around 10pm last night, officers from the met‘s terrorism command unit went out and arrested two people in the street in ilford and another person, all men, another person at a house nearby. they are being held at a police station in south london for

questioning. two of those arrested after suspicion of preparation of terrorism iraq acts, and one for drugs. —— suspicion preparation of terrorism acts. three men also arrested in the 30s in new and waltham forest, also held for questioning. not connected with the london bridge investigation but they we re london bridge investigation but they were arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism offences. the investigation here is still a long way from over. what has finished is the very sad task of finding out all the names of all those who have died. police say they now know the identity of all eight victims. they had a casualty bureau set up at new scotland yard and they took 3500 calls in the days after

the attack. that has now closed. we have also heard this morning from a british transport police officer who was one of the first on the scene, responding to calls for help after the attack. he was seriously injured himself, stabbed in the face, head and leg. he said, to be seriously u nwell and leg. he said, to be seriously unwell in hospital. today, he wanted to say thank you to his fellow officers who ken davy at the time and they said —— he said they saved his life. he said he was overwhelmed at the response since the attack, the best wishes that have been coming into him. he added he was sorry he could not do more and he said, iwant sorry he could not do more and he said, i want you to know, i did everything i could. thank you. very moving words from that police officer. one of saturday nights attackers had viewed the videos of a radical american preacher, according to his friend. well, that preacher is from the town of dearborn in michigan, where our correspondent,

aleem maqbool, tried to catch up with him. to please the enemies of allah and the enemies of mankind. ahmad musa jibril, an american, and one of the most popular online voices among brits who go to fight with so—called islamic state. i'm telling you facts. he calls forjihad and preaches separation of muslims from non—muslims or kafir. hours ago, masses of the ummah, ourummah, were joining with the kafir in the new year celebration. a former friend of london attacker khuram butt says it wasjibril‘s videos that helped to radicalise him. the preacher himself is a free man, living in michigan. well, we have been trying to speak with jibril about his preaching but for now, at least, he's a pretty hard man to track down. his neighbours, though, have told us they thought he was nice and friendly and said they had no idea he

produced such videos. but the fbi did know. it tried for years to put away jibril but never managed to find that he had actually broken the law. he is very smart, as many of these folks are. they know there is a line they can go up to and not to cross that line. but talking generally about killing people, making jews orphans, that is not enough? unfortunately, in this country it is not. ahmad musajibril has been a nuisance to muslims in this area as well. he will come and say things to imams sometimes, that you are out, separated from your vision, this is not the way, that you are just bluffing. even imams in the area say they have called for action against him. freedom of speech stops at speech but when you have someone act upon it, this is crossing the line. that should not be.

do you think there are others, even in this community, coming close to that line? there are many of them, many of them. the internet is full of them. here, stopping those who are not quite caught crossing from preaching hate to actively supporting militants is tough. even if they potentially inspire violent acts. but that is notjust a problem for this community and certainly not just an issue for the us. the manchester suicide bomber was radicalised in 2051 living in britain, his brother has the prosecution is in libya. salman abedi killed 22 people at a concert in manchester last month. speaking

to an anti—terrorism investigator in tripoli, where he was arrested following the attack, his brother also said salman abedi had bought equipment for the attack in britain though he did not know where it would take place. one of the most dramatic moments of the trump presidency to date will unfold in congress today. the former fbi director, james comey, who was sacked by mr trump, will give evidence about his relationship with the president. he has already had his opening statement published online. in it he says the president repeatedly asked for his loyalty. he also says mr trump urged him to drop an inquiry into his national security adviser michael flynn, who had just been forced to resign. rajini vaidya nathan reports from washington. oh, and there's james. he's become more famous than me. there was a time when president trump had nothing but praise forjames comey, but a firm grip injanuary turned into a firing in may. the president sacked the fbi director, reportedly calling him a nutjob and more. he's a show boat, he's a grandstander.

the fbi has been in turmoil. you know that, i know that, everybody knows that. most people know the president's version of events. now, james comey will go public before the senate with his. just like his testimony in march, it all comes back to russia. the fbi, as part of our counter—intelligence mission, is investigating the russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the trump campaign and the russian government. 0n the eve of his appearance before the senate, james comey released a written statement. he said the president isn't being investigated by the fbi as part of the russia enquiry, confirming statements made by mr trump in the past. i said, if it's possible, will you let me know, am i under investigation? he said, you are not under investigation. butjames comey did say that over a private dinner injanuary,

he was asked by the president for his unwavering support. "i need loyalty, i expect loyalty", he said the president told him. the white house has denied this. but how far did he expect that loyalty to go? mr comey says he was asked to drop the investigation into ties between the president's former national security adviser michael flynn and the russians. he said mr trump told him "he is a good guy. i hope you can let this go." i think we're principally interested in learning whether the president took steps to interfere or obstruct the investigation in any way. there is no evidence the president asked for an end to the enquiry into russia but mr comey said mr trump told him it was a cloud over him. it's not just congress which is looking into the trump campaign's ties to russia. there's also an ongoing fbi investigation. in the saga of washington politics, james comey‘s testimony

is a must—see moment but it's just one act in what is becoming a long and drawn—out political drama. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, washington. joining me now is our washington correspondent laura bicker. this is probably the most awkward thing as far as president trump is concerned, that he will be talking about, is his assertion that the president asked him to let this go, referring to the investigation into michael flynn. that'll be the most awkward moment but of course, donald trump and his lawyers havejumped on the fa ct and his lawyers havejumped on the fact that james comey and his lawyers havejumped on the fact thatjames comey in this opening written statement does say on several occasions that he reassured the president he was not under investigation. the most awkward moment for president trump today will be that recount of the conversation between james today will be that recount of the conversation betweenjames comey today will be that recount of the conversation between james comey and the president, when he asked to see

his way to letting michael flynn go, letting him go. that is whatjames comey remembers and what he wrote down in his memo. when it comes to letting the investigation go, james comey then writes in his memo that he didn't see it as him asking him to drop the wider investigation. in the potential russian meddling in the potential russian meddling in the us election and alleged collusion with the trump campaign. that is why he did not pass on the information to the attorney general jeff sessions. it is clear the former fbi directorfelt jeff sessions. it is clear the former fbi director felt awkward. jeff sessions. it is clear the former fbi directorfelt awkward. he felt uncomfortable. because he then goes to the attorney generaljeff sessions and asks not to be left alone with the president. it will be very interesting to see how the president reacts to this, whether he will be tweeting about what is being shown on live television. as i mentioned my introduction, this being watched so eagerly. i

understand bars are opening early, people can go in and watch this. the networks have cleared their schedules. this is going to be wall—to—wall. you will not be able to escape it. the bars opening early. they are offering shots at this time of the morning, just after 7am, for $5. if you want to, you can watch this wall—to—wall, but it is a real blockbuster moment. if you read the written testimony james comey has released early, it shows first of all that he is a savvy washingtonian, he knows how to play this. secondly, it is breathtaking when all put together. anyone who has followed this saga over the last few months, there were no new details in there, but put together in the seven pages, it can be breathtaking. then there is the

towering figure from the fbi, walking through the corridors of the capital and sit down in front of the senate intelligence committee and read it in his own words and then will follow a question and answer session from senators. there will be difficult questions forjames comey no doubt. why didn't he pass on this information to anyone in the department ofjustice information to anyone in the department of justice and information to anyone in the department ofjustice and why did he feel the need to reassure the president? surely that was going too far. there will be awkward moments forjames comey as well. thank you. laura bicker in washington. it is 80 minutes past 12. —— 18 minutes past 12. the headlines on bbc newsroom live — all round the country polling stations are open as millions of people vote in the general election.

more arrests and raids in east london by police investigating the london bridge attack. sacked fbi chiefjames comey will testify before congress later and say that president trump asked him to drop an investigation into links between the former white house national security adviser and russia. let's get some all sport now. the lion ‘s head coach warren gatland has named another all—new starting line—up for the third tour match in new zealand. as he gets closer to revealing what his starting team will be in just over two weeks. welsh skipper alun wyn jones will lead the side against the canterbury crusaders. they have 14 victories from 14 games and super by victories from 14 games and super rugby this season. chelsea striker diego costa claims manager antonio co nte diego costa claims manager antonio conte has told him in a text message

he is not part of his planned that the club. costa spoke to reporters last night, saying, i am a chelsea player but they do not want me there. he is still only 28 and he has 20 premier league goals for the clu b has 20 premier league goals for the club last season which upped them to the title. —— which helped them to the title. —— which helped them to the title. —— which helped them to the title. this player won the portuguese league and cup double and said he always cleaned up playing in english football. liverpool striker would burn has pulled out of the qualifying match against serbia. england will be without the usual captain wayne rooney for the world cup qualifier against scotland this weekend with questions over his future, the premier league's top

scorer last season harry kane thinks he's ready to step up and take the armband despite only been 23. as a player growing up, as a footballer, you dream of being captain one day andi you dream of being captain one day and i am no different. we have got a lot of leaders in this team and i think that is important. it's what we're trying to get across, whoever it is captain is captain and there are plenty of other leaders who can talk and help each other out on the pitch and that is the main focus for us. england under 20 is already behind in the world cup semifinal in italy. the winners will play venezuela in the weekend's final after their victory over uruguay. defending champions india have made a great start in the match against sri lanka in the champions cup trophy. a victory will almost definitely secure them a place in the next

round. rohit sharma hasjust secure them a place in the next round. rohit sharma has just been caught on 78. that's all the sport for now, a full round—up at around 1:30pm. for the first time ever, more electricity in the uk has been generated by renewables and nuclear power, rather than by a combination of coal and gas. the national grid says that at lunchtime yesterday, more than half of the country's electricity supply came from sources like solar and wind power. ditch—macro with me isjennifer webber, director of renewables in the uk. it just webber, director of renewables in the uk. itjust nudged over the half mark, supplied by renewable energy.

a landmark moment. very much so and one for us all to celebrate. using our natural renewable resources, we're not using imported fossil fuels and it is also a cleaner way of reducing the power we need to power our computers and lights etc. is it is reliable and as constant a way of supplying us with our power needs? we can't have windy and sunny weather every day. we cannot but the efficiency levels of our wind turbines are getting higher and higher. as new developments are made. also, there is a lot of development happening with things like storage. we have over 50 members involved in storage, which means when we are producing power, we can store it when needed and

essentially, every time we produce power, and we're not using, for example, imported gas, it means we are saving it for days when perhaps the reduction isn't so high. so, it is getting that supply and being able to store that, that is really the big thing you are looking at in the big thing you are looking at in the renewables sector, so you can have a ready supply of power for those days when the weather isn't helping you to generate more power? yes, and they correlation of that and having an electricity mix will mean there's certainly a lot any worries and a national grid have said they are more than happy with being able to manage a variable technology. in some ways it is handy for them because they can ramp up and down power when it is needed as opposed to the traditional system where we have big fossil fuel systems and if one of those went up, you were really in trouble. can we

say when renewable sources of energy can regularly generate more electricity than traditional sources? i think at the moment, across the entirety of last year, we powered 25% of the uk, using sources like wind and solar. i think this will continue to grow. i wouldn't wa nt to will continue to grow. i wouldn't want to put a year's date on it but i think we are seeing more and more development and the way things have developed, the costs have come down for example, i think you don't want to make predictions because they will be outlived. what are the economic issues you are looking at, for example, what is the impact of this in terms of costs for consumers? yesterday, we saw the cost of power generation drop right down for each unit because of course when we use wind or solar, that cost

per unit is free, it is not like buying gas or coal. in the longer term, this will be cheaper than relying on imported fossilfuels. thank you very much for that. the scottish episcopal church will hold a historic vote this afternoon, on whether to allow gay couples to marry in church. if the vote is passed, it will become the first anglican church in the uk to allow same—sex marriage. but it will also leave the church at odds with most of the rest of the worldwide anglican communion, as our correspondent michael buchanan reports. at the centre of what we celebrate here today is the love between these two men. a gay marriage in an anglican church. this one was in the united states. but later today, this scene could become legal in scotland. the episcopal church, the anglican church in scotland, will vote this afternoon on whether to allow gay weddings. kelvin holdsworth is

strongly in favour. so many people now know young gay couples who want to be married in church and stand up in front of their friends and in front of god and declare their love for one another. gay marriage has split anglicans. the churches of england and wales do not allow it. but if the vote in edinburgh is passed today, it would allow those in the uk to be married in scotland to the fury of anglican traditionalists. it a questions of the authority of the bible who runs the church. the bible is the supreme authority run by jesus christ. when something like this happens, it is not about the sex element, it is about the authority of the bible that matters. this is one of the defining divisions among anglicans. supporters say acceptance is inevitable over time. today's vote could bring that future a step closer. michael buchanan, bbc news, edinburgh. a diamond ring bought for £10

at a car—boot sale has been sold for more than £650,000 at auction in london. the 26—carat cushion—shaped diamond sold for almost double its estimate. the owner bought the ring in the 1980s and was unaware of its real value — wearing it every day for 30 years. a daring 88—year—old has set a new record as the uk's oldest female wing—walker. betty bromage, who lives in a retirement home in cheltenham, took to the skies strapped to the wings of a vintage biplane. the former nurse beat the record she set last year, flying at 200 feet and travelling at up to 130 miles per hour! betty said afterwards it was a "bit windy" and a "bit wobbly" but she had thoroughly enjoyed it. i think that's an absolute

understatement, well done to betty! let's get the weather now. a bit ofa a bit of a breeze around and some cloud as well. some outbreaks of rainfor cloud as well. some outbreaks of rain for some of us but not everywhere. much of england and wales will continue to see showers into the afternoon. particularly from around the bristol channel the wash. —— around the bristol channel, up wash. —— around the bristol channel, up towards the wash. most of the showers dying way across eastern parts of the country. still showers in the west of england and wales and across the north west of scotland tonight. temperatures ten to 13 degrees. sunshine and scattered showers and the showers will drift eastwards during the day on friday. quite a good chance of avoiding no showers. 0n the weekend, low

pressure on the way. wringing some rain in the north and west, particularly during saturday. it should clear the lever sunshine and showers on sunday. this is bbc newsroom live with annita mcveigh. the headlines: millions of people have been casting their vote in the general election. the first results are expected by midnight. there's extra security at some polling stations because of three people have been arrested at ilford in east london, by police investigating the london bridge attack. two of the men are being held on "suspicion of terrorism" offences. the sacked fbi director, james comey, will testify in congress today that president trump asked him to drop an investigation into links between his former national security adviser and russia. he says mr trump called the russian probe "a cloud" over him. the scottish episcopal church will decide today on whether to become

the first anglican church in the uk to allow same sex couples to marry. a vote in favour would put it at odds with anglican traditionalists. for the first time, more electricity has been generated from renewables than gas and coal combined. the national grid said more than half of the country's electricity supply came from renewable sources at yesterday lunchtime. for some people voting independently, and in secret, can be difficult because of their disability. the royal national institute of blind people, for example, says that many people with sight loss still rely on others to cast their vote. tim muffett reports on why some believe online voting is long overdue. casting a vote in secret. a fundamental democratic right. but in our mocked—up polling station, asha is showing me problems the royal national institute of blind people says many face. the numbers are in braille.

there is a tactile template with the candidates' name. tactile voting templates were introduced in 2001. by law, uk polling stations now have to provide them. but asha and others say that sometimes they do not work. that is now lined up. yes, unfortunately the template used by polling stations is not fit for purpose. we still rely on somebody to read out the names of the candidates and then you still have to trust them that they are telling you honestly where the boxes are. so you are reliant on somebody else guiding you through the process? yes, and to check you have put the mark in the right place. for some, problems can occur before polling day. ismael has a learning disability, and thinks registering to vote is too complicated. i feel it is difficult to register when voting,

i have to bring my form in and get my colleagues at work to help me fill out the form, because the form is not accessible and it has a lot ofjargon terms and lots of boxes to tick. in westminster, the rights of disabled voters are being discussed at a pre—election meeting. polling stations should be accessible to all. some say that is not always the case. if somebody has not made the necessary provision in advance, you are turning up and you are not getting in. you are guessing, sometimes, as to who you are voting for. what impact does it have if you are unable to cast your vote? i feel like i'm not part of society. the electoral commission oversees uk elections. not all polling stations will be able to be situated in ideal premises, but what we want to make sure is that local authorities can make the necessary adjustments, so that they can be accessed by all. many say that the blind voting templates are not fit for purpose,

that they do not work properly. what do you say to that? big improvements have been made to make sure they provide the right tactile template so that they do fit the ballot paper, and how they will be used in practice so that the polling station staff are familiar with them. the commission wants any problems to be reported. we'd urge anybody who finds themselves in that position to contact the local authority immediately, so it can be put right. but the way that votes are cast is set in law, something that areeq choudary wants changed. webroots democracy is campaigning for online voting. asha has come to meet him. first—time voters born in 1991 have known nothing other than a world of facebook, smartphones, social media. with online voting, you wouldn't need assistance, you can use your own equipment in your own home. doesn't online voting leave us open to potential hacking, potential security risks? people tend to look at online voting as though you should have 100% security, but that doesn't exist anywhere, online or off—line. we do need online voting to make the democratic process more

accessible and inclusive. a radical rethink of the way we vote. some believe it is long overdue. tim muffett, bbc news. more now on the expected testimony by the former director of the fbi. james comey is due to give evidence, in a few hours' time, to the senate intelligence committee. he'll give details of his conversations with donald trump, who sacked him while he was overseeing a probe into whether russia colluded with his team during the presidential election campaign. i asked alan dershowitz, the eminent american lawyer and emeritus professor at harvard law school, whether president trump had committed obstruction of justice we have a different constitutional system we have a different constitutional syste m tha n we have a different constitutional system than the british because you have a director of public prosecutions who is independent and we have an attorney and fbi that work for the president, the unitary

executive, and they look at the big constitutional picture. the president can direct the fbi agent to prosecute somebody or not somebody —— not prosecute somebody. when the first george bush decided he wanted to cut off the investigation of the iran—contra matter he simply pardoned caspar weinberger, his formersecretary matter he simply pardoned caspar weinberger, his former secretary of defence. he said the president had stopped the investigation and stifled it, but that is not an obstruction of justice. stifled it, but that is not an obstruction ofjustice. when a president performs his constitutional duties either to fire james comey, or to pardon flame, which he could have done, or to tell them to stop prosecuting flynn, that would be constitutional as well. but all he did was request the director of the fbi and see if he could let it go, which is a lot softer than i command you to stop the

investigation. but he would have been entitled to command him. president thomas jefferson did been entitled to command him. president thomasjefferson did that. president thomasjefferson did that. president lincoln did that. president lincoln did that. president 0bama has done a similar thing, directing an investigation begins. the idea of singling out president trump, who i do not support, i voted enthusiastically for hillary clinton, but trying to stretch existing laws to fit him, that reminds me of what stalin was told. the head of the kgb said, show me the man, and i will find you the crime. and that is just not the american way. why would the white house denied that donald trump had asked james comey to let this go if they weren't uncomfortable with that original conversation? they should be uncomfortable with it. it was wrong and it is againstjustice department rules and against the tradition. so it was wrong, and cause he is uncomfortable but

there's a big difference between something being wrong and something being criminal. and i am not defending donald trump's statements, misstatements, attempts to defend actions that are sometimes indefensible. what i am saying, as a constitutional law expert, under the constitutional law expert, under the constitutional system you cannot prosecute, and i believe you cannot properly impeach, a president for exercising his constitutional power to fire the director of the fbi or even tell the director of the fbi what to do. he would have to pay a political price. under that rationale, kante president potentially abused his position? would it be unconstitutional in the spirit, if not the letter of the law, to have a president say that sort of thing? and president nixon did go over the line. he told his aides to lie to the fbi. if a president tears up a subpoena or destroys tapes or does a criminal

act, an independent criminal act, he can be impeached, but here we have a president who is exercising his authority. we don't like the way he exercised it, but he has discretion to do the wrong thing and the recourse is not to re—elect him or not re—elect this party. this is a political issue, not a criminal law issue. more briefly and broadly, what this means politically might be different to what it means in a criminal sense, but do you think what it highlights is a need for a change in the constitution? absolutely. we should move to the british system, the israeli system, the system on many other countries where you have an independent director pub —— director of public prosecutions, but under the current executive, the president can tell the justice department and executive, the president can tell thejustice department and fbi what to do. we need to change that, but you don't change something by prosecuting somebody for a crime

that didn't exist at the time he engaged in the action. we have to talk about the political repercussions of this, but stop talking about whether he committed a crime because there is no evidence at this point in time that the president of the united states committed an obstruction ofjustice. and you can watch james comey‘s public hearing live here on the bbc news channel at 3 o'clock. the fight to drive the taliban out of afghanistan cost the lives of hundreds of british soldiers, many killed in fighting in helmand province in the country's south. but two years ago, shortly after the troops came home, the taliban took back many of the areas british soldiers had liberated. since then, little has been known about what life is like under the taliban. until now. the bbc‘s auila atrafi recently gained rare access to musa qala, the group's de facto capital in the region. we have just entered taliban

territory. we didn't have do travel far, wejust had to get territory. we didn't have do travel far, we just had to get off the territory. we didn't have do travel far, wejust had to get off the main road and we were in. we passed through one place where so many british soldiers fought and died. we are heading for musa qala. alitalia van minder is always with us. —— our tally ban minder. the muslim market looks like any in afghanistan but there are no women. and there are other signs of the influence of the taliban. these are munitions ca ptu red taliban. these are munitions captured from the national army. 24 bullets each, an ak—47, 25 cents each. we leave the market and head for the local high street. it is religious studies, and only boys get

an education. our comey insists there are other lessons —— our taliban minder insists there are other schools that girls can go to, just not here. but things are not all as they seem. the taliban used to burn schools down, but now they are running them, funded by the central government. it is not just it is notjust schools that the taliban are running. this is the local hospital and also funded by the government. but it lacks supplies. there is no female doctor or child specialists for a child chest x—ray here. the next day we meet the taliban spokesman. they remaina meet the taliban spokesman. they remain a deeply controversial organisation in afghanistan, responsible for many deaths. but

they claim their approach to governance has changed. the taliban still have strict rules. 0ne teenager says he got 40 lashes for watching a bollywood film. but the rules are not always enforced. after four days in tally ban territory, it is time to leave. the taliban have proved very effective in terms of fighting, now they have ca ptu red in terms of fighting, now they have captured huge territories in helmand province and now they have do govern them, and that is the next challenge for them, how much they willjoin in with the modern world, and how much they will reject. the emir of kuwait is in doha

to try to defuse the escalating diplomatic crisis between qatar and the gulf states. saudi arabia is leading an air, land and sea blockade by arab countries in an attempt to strongarm qatar into cutting alleged connections with terrorism and distancing itself from iran. qatar denies allegations of funding extremist organisations. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james robbins is in doha with more. the harshness of the language by qatar's critics has been stepped up. the united arab emirates for instance saying this country qatar is now a main source of terrorism and of the financing of religious extremism within the region. that is extraordinary and it indicates how far cooperation within the so—called gulf cooperation council of which both the uae and qatar are members, has broken down. the qataris on their side continue to deny any accusations,

allegations, that they have been involved in financing, exporting religious extremism and terrorism and they say they are victims of a plot to smear this country, including internet hacks. because they say others in the gulf cooperation council simply don't accept qatar wants to pursue an individual, independent foreign policy which of course includes being much closer to iran than others in the gulf would like. also includes of course being home to the aljazeera global news television channel, which many in the region, many of the other more or less autocratic rulers in this region detest because they think it shines too strong a light on politics in the region, encourages dissent, but also because they believe it also fosters terrorism. al—jazeera is still operating of course but the uae is making clear that it hopes the station will be either severely reigned in or actually closed down.

there are a lot of very big divides in this crisis. the qataris say they will not capitulate or surrender their sovereignty and on the other side, it is clear its critics feel they have a golden moment if you like to try and bring overwhelming pressure to bear in this country to get it to fall into line. military officials in myanmar say wreckage from an air force transport plane which disappeared over the andaman sea on wednesday has been found. ten bodies, including those of a child, were discovered about 35 kilometres south of the town of launglon. the chinese—made aircraft was carrying 122 passengers and crew, most of them soldiers and their families. iranian intelligence officials say the militants who attacked the country's parliament had been recruited by the islamic state group, inside the country. the iranian revolutionary guard also accused saudi arabia and the united states of involvement in the violence. the saudi foreign minister says

there is no evidence to support that claim. 13 people were killed by the attacks in tehran. all round the country polling stations are open as millions of people vote in the general election. more arrests in raids in east london, by police investigating the london bridge attack. sacked fbi chiefjames comey will testify before congress today and say that president trump asked him to drop an investigation into links between the former white house national security adviser and russia. the vast majority of children under the age of three haven't visited an nhs dentist in england in the last year. dental surgeons have expressed concern that many parents don't know when young children should have their first check—up. nick quraishi reports. medical advice recommends a child should start dental checkups

when they develop their first tooth. yet this analysis of all nhs trusts in england has found a worrying lack of take—up. in the year to march, just 20% of one to two—year—olds saw a dentist, meaning 80% didn't. 60% aged one to four missed out on a dental checkup during that same period. the faculty of dental surgery is blaming a widespread misunderstanding about when children should have their first checkup, which, according to guidelines, is around six months. in the year to 2016, well over 9,000 children in england aged one to four had teeth extracted in hospitals, often under general anaesthetic. most of this is down to tooth decay, which the faculty insists is 90% preventable. it says, in a system where dental checkups are free for all under—18s, there is no excuse for the findings. humans walked the earth more

than 100,000 years earlier than was previously believed, according to new research in the journal, "nature". the fossilised remains of five people, which were found in north africa, are thought to be more than 300,000 years old, prompting a major re—think in how and where homo—sapiens evolved. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh explains. the face of one of the very first of our kind. bone fragments of the very first homo sapiens. the discovery of these fossils were presented at a news conference in paris. they have completely changed the theory of how modern humans evolved. the common wisdom that there is probably some sort of garden of eden in sub—saharan africa, 200,000 years ago, with humans similar to us emerging rather rapidly. but what the works in djebili have

shown is that we have to push back in time much further the age of origin of our species. human remains in ethiopia, kenya and tanzania suggested that east africa was the cradle from which our species first emerged. that was 200,000 years ago. but the discovery of 300,000—year—old human fossils in morocco suggests that modern humans began to emerge much earlier. and not just there. stone tools found across the continent suggest that homo sapiens were all over africa at the time. this is a scale of the earliest known human of our species, and this is a modern human. you can see that their faces are practically the same, apart from the slightly pronounced brow ridge. there is another difference. the earliest human has a slightly smaller brain. scans of the skull published in the journal nature suggest that our brains and other

features evolved gradually, over hundreds of thousands of years — rather than our species emerging rapidly as a finished article. it took longer to make homo sapiens in evolutionary terms, in genetic terms, in behavioural terms. and probably the process was complex. different parts of africa were probably involved. at times morocco could have been important and at other times it may have been east africa or southern africa. there was no single place where homo sapiens became us. the search is now on for fossil species in africa who could be even older. the history of humankind is being rewritten. failure is something we often shy away from, but that could be slowly changing. a museum of failure has just opened in sweden. it's filled with products that have flopped. the aim is to show that failure is good.

our correspondent richard galpin was at the opening. the doors of the world's first museum of failure being opened. it is the brainchild of this man, samuel west. it is the brainchild of this man, samuel west. he is a psychologist on a mission to show people here and around the world that failure should be celebrated, because it is part of the process leading to successful innovation. and amongst those studying the weird and wonderful things on display here, there seems to be genuine enthusiasm about the whole concept. i love it. i think it is fantastic. the focus on failure, which we normally try to hide under the carpet, to actually expose the failures is the only way to true innovation, i think is fantastic. before the opening party i was given an exclusive tour of this unique

museum by its director, samuel west. there are obviously a lot of exhibits here, about 70 in total? 70 different products and services. do you recognise that? google glass. a failure because they didn't take privacy issues seriously enough. another food innovation over here. mcdonald's. $300 million invested on a luxury burger that didn't work out. what success have you had in persuading companies to review their failures and hand over their exhibits to you? zero! what does that make you think? itjust really drives home the point of how sensitive an issue failure is, and to what an extent we are willing to go to hide it. as for my favourite exhibit here, that was easy. incredibly, this was marketed as a beauty mask. as you can see inside,

there is a whole load of electrodes with gel on them, and if you put them on yourface, you get electric shocks which apparently make you more beautiful, but i can tell you, it is very unpleasant. the hope is that with the opening of this museum, failure will be seen in a very different light. it's election day and dogs have turned out in force at the polling stations across the uk, and, predictably, the hashtag #dogsatpollingstations has become a social media trend. this is phoebe in manchester waiting patiently outside her polling station. richard walker tweeted this pic

with the caption, "someone's taking voting very seriously!" roo goodwin says decisons are made by those that show (p)up. sprocket says vote! jane martinson says, there's a queue to vote but the dog has started to blend in. mads the dog says, "had to let big human & little human vote for me. i went in and helped them decide." jodie doubleday says he and his dog were up early and casting our vote in canterbury. thank you for sending in those lovely pictures, and keep them coming. special coverage of the general election starts here on the

news channel and bbc one at 9:55 p-m-, news channel and bbc one at 9:55 p.m., and this afternoon we have coverage of the big senate intelligence committee hearing where james comey, the sacked fbi director, will give evidence. in a moment, the news at one with simon mccoy. we can say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. first, the weather with sarah keith lucas. good afternoon. it's been a bit of a grey picture out there so far today, with some outbreaks of rain across many parts of the country. here is the scene taken by one of our weather watchers in surrey a couple of hours ago. fairly cloudy skies. there is some sunshine to be seen across northern parts of scotland, but for many of us, low pressure is the driving force of our weather today. it's moving in from the atlantic, so we've got these weather fronts here producing outbreaks of rain. as we head through the afternoon, there will be some heavy bursts of rain across northern ireland, parts of scotland, too. for england and wales, the rain that we saw this morning will become more showery in nature across the south—west of england up

towards the midlands and southern wales, too. towards the south east of that, many places should avoid the rain, staying largely dry for the likes of kent, the london region. 17 or 18 degrees here. there will be a bit of brightness breaking through across parts of wales and northern ireland into the afternoon, but equally, still some showers. heavier bursts of showery rain across northern ireland, where we could see some lying surface water. and for much of scotland, too, outbreaks of rain. the far north of scotland still keeping hold of a bit of sunshine through the afternoon into the evening. now, this evening, that rain does push its way northwards across scotland, becoming quite persistent in the northwest. elsewhere, across the country, clear skies and a scattering of showers, particularly across the western half of england and wales, too. some of those showers quite heavy overnight. but temperatures holding up to around 10 to 13 degrees. through the day tomorrow, we'll start off with those showers across western parts of the country. later in the day, they'll break out in central and eastern parts as well. the far north of scotland keeps some outbreaks of rain and some cloud, but there will be some brightness in between the showers elsewhere. and in the sunshine, we will see highs of up

to around 22 or 23 degrees. improving from the west later in the day. but then, the next area of low pressure is waiting in the wings as we head through into the first part of the weekend. i think through the day on saturday, we will see some patchy rain across parts of scotland, some heavier rain for parts of northern england and wales, as well. so the north—west of the country will see outbreaks of rain, whereas further south—east, you are more likely to stay dry here. 22 degrees or so. quite a breezy feel to the weather, i think, on saturday. for the second half of the weekend, the low pressure is still not far away. the isobars clearly tight. but there will be fewer showers around. it will be a day of sunny spells, scattered showers on sunday and top temperatures up at around about 23 degrees. bye for now. new video emerges of the three london terrorists — filmed outside a gym days before the attack. the footage, which has been passed to police, shows them joking, laughing, and hugging five days before they killed eight people and injured many more. more arrests overnight, following raids involving armed

officers in east london. we try to track down the american radical preacher whose videos were watched regularly by one of the london terrorists. 29 people are still in hospital after the attack, which left eight people dead. all of them have now been named. also this lunchtime: polling stations have opened across the uk as millions of people cast their vote in the 2017 general election. a television and political blockbuster — sacked fbi director james comey prepares to give evidence over the trump campaign's links with russia. 0vertaking fossil fuel — for the first time more of our power