this is bbc news. the headlines: as the kensington council leader and his deputy resign, the london mayor calls for the council to be taken over by a commissioner to restore public confidence following the grenfell tower fire. the former chief of staff to the brexit secretary david davis claims negotiations with the eu are being hamstrung by theresa may's lack of flexibility. a former hospital employee opens fire with an assault rifle in new york killing one doctor and injuring six other people. also in the next hour, on the 20th anniversary of the end of british control of hong kong the chinese president warns against any challenges to his rule there. the singer adele has cancelled her two concerts this weekend at wembley stadium. the lions are ahead

with new zealand's all blacks in their best chance yet to win a test. and in half an hour, the travel show heads to hong kong the trail of martial arts supremo bruce lee. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has written to the prime minister asking her to appoint commissioners to take over the running of kensington and chelsea local authority, which he says has lost the trust of local residents. the council leader, nicholas paget—brown, and his deputy, both resigned yesterday. simonjones reports. after angry protests at the council offices and after a meeting of the council was cut short

following an attempt to ban the public and press.. reporter: were you pressured by number 10 to resign? ..the pressure for the leader got too great. this is a huge human tragedy for so many families. i have decided to step down as soon asa i have decided to step down as soon as a successoi’ i have decided to step down as soon as a successor is i have decided to step down as soon as a successor is in place. as i said yesterday, this is a huge human tragedy for so many families. the task for my successor is to ensure that the strengths would also characterise this place, and north kensington, in particular, are seen to play their part in bringing the community together. but the mayor of london says this cannot happen with a change of leadership from among the existing councillors. sadiq khan says the fire has shown the authority is not fit for purpose. what he called "untainted commissioners", government—appointed experts must be brought in immediately.

he has the backing of one community campaigner who says residents have been ignored for too long. trust in the whole of the cabinet hasjust gone, confidence in the council has gone. they weren't confident in them years ago, while they were complaining and trying to raise these issues, and the aftermath has been disastrous, as we can all see, and new people do need to be put in place that people can be confident in. but one conservative memeber of the london assembly called the idea undemocratic. the communities secretary, sajid javid, said it was right the leader had stepped aside and the government remained focused on providing all necessary support to people affected by the tragedy. simon jones, bbc news. simon has been at the town hall this morning. a couple of days after the fire residents gathered here, some of them ran up the stairs behind me

and got into the council building. they were angry because they felt they hadn't been listened to before they hadn't been listened to before the fire when they raised safety concerns and after the fire they felt they were being ignored by the council and their anger continues to this day. but for the government to impose commissioners, to effectively ta ke impose commissioners, to effectively take over the council, is a step to ta ke take over the council, is a step to take because it effectively means they're removing take because it effectively means they‘ re removing councillors take because it effectively means they're removing councillors who have been elected but it has happened in the past. for example, in rotherham, where commissioners we re in rotherham, where commissioners were sent in because it was considered the council wasn't doing a good enough job considered the council wasn't doing a good enoughjob dealing with child sexual exploitation. but one conservative councillor this morning said the council had been rated as outstanding and she believed the process would begin as early as next week of choosing a new councillor to lead this council. simon jones speaking from kensington and chelsea council offices a short time ago. the former chief of staff to the brexit secretary has said negotiations with the eu

are being "hamstrung" by theresa may's lack of flexibility. james chapman worked closely with david davis, and told the bbc that the red lines set by the prime minister had made his former boss's job very difficult as he conducts talks with the european union. with me is our political correspondent jonathan blake. morning, thank you for coming in to talk about this. tell us exactly what he said, what is his criticism? it's an interesting insight from somebody who wasn't until recently right at the heart of britain's negotiations to leave the eu, he was david davis' chief of staff, as you say, his right—hand man and he has had strong words to say about what seems to be a split or at least a difference of opinion at the highest levels of government around the peram teres of that negotiation. he has given an interview to the week in westminster on radio 4 speaking about what he sees is the difficult position theresa may has put david davis in. she's taken some absolutist positions on particular issues, i am thinking particularly

oi'i issues, i am thinking particularly on the european court ofjustice, she set a red line effectively for a co nfe re nce she set a red line effectively for a conference speech that has hamstrung these negotiations in my view, david davis, there isn't anybody better to be doing this negotiation in my view, he was a tough, resilient operator. there are red lines set for him that make the job difficult. some people will say there is a shock, theresa may inflexible. it's interesting you say it's coming from james chapman. are some people around theresa may irrated —— irritated by this, is this the opening of a leadership bid?m irritated by this, is this the opening of a leadership bid? it is a very different state of affairs to a few weeks ago before the election result when we are seeing cabinet ministers speaking more freely than they would have done perhaps before. yes, a lot of people are saying this is david davis getting excuses in early, before things perhaps may well go wrong or unravel if they do during brexit negotiations and maybe

he has leadership aspirations and he is posturing to put forward perhaps a potentially different brexit than the one theresa may would like. but a lot of people will think, and james chapman is specifically talking about the role of the european court ofjustice, having any kind of jurisdiction european court ofjustice, having any kind ofjurisdiction over the uk and many people who voted to leave if there isjurisdiction and many people who voted to leave if there is jurisdiction what's the point? we are leaving the european union, that's what brexit is about. so there shouldn't be any ties there to any of the european union's many different arms and bodies. but there's been no comment from downing street and no comment from the department for exiting the eu either. intriguing stuff, thank you very much. listeners can hear that on bbc radio 4 this morning or on the iplayer. a doctor has been shot dead and six others were seriously injured, after a man opened fire inside a hospital in new york. the gunman, who was a former employee at the hospital, later killed himself. nada tawfik reports from new york. the bronx—lebanon hospital is normally a place of care and concern but on friday afternoon,

one doctor broke his oath to do no harm. a former employee of the hospital entered the building with an assault rifle concealed under a white doctor's coat. media reports have identified him as dr henry bello. the 45—year—old fired numerous shots on the 16th and 17th floors of the hospital, which struck many doctors on duty. i want to say at the outset, thank god this was not an act of terrorism. it is an isolated incident. it appears to be a workplace—related matter but that makes it no less tragic or no less horrible. immediately, emergency services responded and locked down the building. responding officers went floor to floor looking for the shooter, following a trail of blood. they were told he was on the 17th floor and, once there, they found him dead from a self—inflicted gun wound. one female doctor was found dead and six others are injured. five are in serious condition, and fighting for their lives. there are still many unanswered questions, including how a man was able

to enter a hospital with an assault rifle in one of the few places in the country where they are banned. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. a number of british airways cabin crew are launching a 16—day strike from this morning in a long—running dispute about pay and conditions. the airline says that no short—haul flights will be affected, but it has brought in aircraft and crews from qatar airways to reduce the impact. with me is simon calder, travel editor of the independent. as ever, good to have your insight on this. what's going on? well, the battle lines are drawn, the union have gathered at a football club south of the southern runway at heathrow, they'll be putting some pickets in during the day. they'll also see an awful lot of strange aircraft coming and going, these are the planes that british airways was given permission at 4pm yesterday

afternoon to bring in and normally injuly it afternoon to bring in and normally in july it would afternoon to bring in and normally injuly it would be really difficult getting hold of spare planes, but actually ba was in luck in terms of the timing. qatar airways which owns one fifth of its parent company has a lot of planes, pilots and crew, sitting around idle at doha because they've been banned flying a number of routes in the gulf because of this big geo—political dispute. so passengers this morning enjoyed a luxury service flying to brussels and there have been depart tures to munich and oslo. some people are getting extra space. they might get to start to like it! the heart of this dispute appears to be differences in pay and conditions with different parts of the ba workforce. how has this come about and why is it causing tension? you have to go back to 2010 when the last very bitter cabin crew strike was settled at british airways. as

pa rt was settled at british airways. as part of that was deal ba said anybody we recruit for cabin crew from now on is going tojoin mixed fleet. they're going to be employed on inferior terms and conditions to eve ryo ne on inferior terms and conditions to everyone else. they've been unhappy about the relativities and the unite union to whom many of them belong, say we are getting poverty pay, cabin crew are having to sleep in ca rs cabin crew are having to sleep in cars at heathrow because they can't afford petrol to drive home between shifts. the pay part of it has, after about six months, finally been agreed. what we are looking at now are what the unions say are sanctions applied to strikers because they went on strike, we have had 26 previous days of action, things like the withdrawal of bonuses and straf travel concessions, so these 16 days are saying we are ok on pay but we want those so—called sanctions to be lifted. 16 days of continuous strike action, if it actually lasts that

long, if there isn't a deal before it ends, what sort of longer term impact will it have on the airline? well, ba says it's really cancelling a handful of long haul flights well, ba says it's really cancelling a handful of long haulflights every day but of course anything which gives the passenger the idea that theirflight gives the passenger the idea that their flight might be disrupted is very dangerous for the bottom line ofan airline very dangerous for the bottom line of an airline particularly for airlines, who might be switching to other rivals. thank you very much. world leaders are gathering in strasbourg for a day of events designed to commemorate the life of the late german chancellor, helmut kohl. he died on june 16th, at the age of 87. mr kohl — who oversaw germany's reunification — was seen as one of the driving forces behind closer european integration. let's go to our correspondent hugh schofield who's in strasbourg. the eu effectively is claiming this asa the eu effectively is claiming this as a statesman to celebrate, can you explain why many who support the european union project see him as

such an important player and i wonder how it's gone down perhaps in germany and indeed in some of the other eu countries? well, the first pa rt other eu countries? well, the first part of the question is simple, kohl is regarded as the giant who oversaw germany during this crucial period of european history which was the late 80s and early 90s. he was in power for the uniification of germany. it was his vision and grasp of the potentials of a moment, of a window of opportunity in 1989, 1990s that saw german uniification through, you have to cast your mind back to that period that i remember clearly, it was not at all obvious that it would happen, there were voices that were deeply opposed, even people opposed to communism and the rest of it, felt once communism had fallen away, not necessarily would the two germanys reunite and

it was his grasp of the moment at the end of 1989 through 1990 that changed all that. he could see if he didn't act quickly the window might close, russia might start putting objections, europe might start putting up ongs objections so he moved very quickly with that, and within 11 months of the berlin wall coming down there was one germany which was an incredible achievement but the second part of that, linked to it, married to it because it's inextricable from it was the anchoring of this greater germany in anchoring of this greater germany in a more integrated europe and that was also part of his achievement with 1992, the maastricht treaty and so on, setting in course the path towards a single currency which he saw as an absolutely essential part of the new europe. for him, of course, monetary union had to go hand in hand with political union and there perhaps we see a failure

of his vision because with the euro that came into being it was not one accompanied by the political union which he thought was necessary and the story of the euro ever since is well known. but nonetheless, disregarding that clear problem with the euro his achievement in that period was monumental and created the europe we know today. as for the reaction around the continent, of course, it's one of, you know, great honour, tribute, a sense that this was a man who was there at a time europe was feeling confident and going places and a feeling encapsulated by macron and hopefully his new relationship with angela merkel, that maybe there is another moment now to seize in europe's history, and in that sense, kohl's legacy can be built on as merkel and

macron they hope form this new bond and relationship. it's going to be and relationship. it's going to be an interesting day with high—profile guests attending, including the british prime minister, of course. thank you for now. the chinese president, xijinping, says his government won't tolerate any challenge to its sovereignty in hong kong. mr xi was speaking at a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover of the former british colony to china. his comments came as several pro—democracy activists were arrested after clashing with both police and pro—beijing demonstrators. juliana liu reports from hong kong. an historic day for hong kong. government officials, including the incoming chief executive, gathered for the flag—raising ceremony marking 20 years since the city was handed from the uk to china. here she is being officially sworn in by the chinese president. she is the first woman to hold the position of

chief executive. and is vowing to restore trust in the local government. translation: we will provide more opportunities for young people to discuss, debate and participate in politics to deepen their understanding and trust for the government and to make them future leaders for our society. the president repeated china's commitment to the one—country, two systems formula that guarantees hong kong's freedoms but also had strong words for those calling for self—determination or outright independence. translation: any attempt to endanger china's sovereignty, challenge the power of the central government, or use hong kong to carry out sabotage activities against the mainland, is an act that crosses the red line and is not permissible. this was the scene on the streets outside the building where the inauguration took place. hong kong is a deeply divided

city between those who want more democracy and those who want greater integration with china. it's too soon to say whether mrslam will be able to bridge the gap. she's talked about trying to heal divisions in society because she does inherit a polarised city and polarised public opinion but it's unclear how she will be able to succeed in doing that. she started out as a popular career civil servant but in the last few years her reputation has really changed. she's now widely seen as a beijing loyalist which complicates efforts to bring disparate groups together. scuffles like this are visible exa m ples of scuffles like this are visible examples of competing visions for hong kong. the differences are so great that they're unlikely to be resolved any time soon. our china correspondent stephen mcdonnell isjoining me now from hong kong's victoria park

where rallies are taking place. apart from this particular protest have celebrations gone to plan?|j should have celebrations gone to plan?” should tell you about this protest where i am standing, obviously you can see a big tropical storm has just hit and yet it hasn't dampened spirits. we are seeing thousands of protesters. it's ha rd spirits. we are seeing thousands of protesters. it's hard to tell how many pro—democracy protesters have joined this particular demonstration. it's been coming through for about two hours now. so there is a quite a division between those who say beijing hasn't upheld its end of the bargain and has threatened this city's unique freedoms and those, especially in the business community, who are more aligned with the government in beijing. we heard from the chinese president today that the people shouldn't panic here, you know, 1—1, two customers experiment, formula, will stay in place. however, he said

that the bottom line was it couldn't threaten the national government sovereignty over hong kong and it will be interesting to see whether if people in the future were to call for independence, these people by no means are calling for independence, they are just wanting their freedoms to be guaranteed and if that's the case they happen to be part of china, most of them. stephen, thank you very much for being with us. we will talk to you again during this morning about some of the other developments there. now it's time for the sport. what a finish in wellington with new zealand a man down having had a player sent off in the first half for the first time in 50 years. they've been trying to hold off a strong finish by the british and irish lions. with three machines to go now, how about this? for the first time they've gone into

the lead, 24—21, thanks to an farrell penalty. the main talking about then a try and crucially, a bit later murray went over, that try was converted and that levelled scores. the lions are now ahead. i will update new a couple of minutes time. gary ballance has been recalled to the england cricket squad for next week's first test against south africa at lord's. the yorkshire captain was dropped after a poor performance against bangladesh in october but he's the second—highest run—scorer in this season's county championship. uncapped middlesex bowler toby roland—jones is also included in the 12—man squad. andy murray's says he's feeling good, despite limping through three hours of practice yesterday. murray has a sore hip and though

he was hitting the ball and serving smoothly, in between rallies he was limping and grimacing. he still plans to begin the defence of his wimbledon title on monday, novak djokovic plays gael monfils in the final at eastbourne later, after beating daniil medvedev. djokovic isn't quite back to his old self, but he hasn't dropped a set this week. british number three heather watson declared herself, ready for wimbledon, after pushing former world number one caroline wozniacki, to three sets in the semi—finals, at eastbourne. she said a run of good results, had left her feeling confident and optimistic. wozniacki will face karolina pliskova in the final. pliskova went through, when british number one johanna konta pulled out. she'd injured her back in a nasty fall during her victory over world number one angelique kerber in the quarter—finals. she's still hoping to be fit for wimbledon — but she won't push it.

it's a big tournament for all of us. it's a big tournament for all of us. it's something that i have to disregard when it comes to my health. my health always has to come first and i am definitely doing everything i can to be ready for wimbledon but definitely taking the day at a time and whatever is best for my health. england'sjodi ewart shadoff is very well placed in the women's pga championship in chicago. she sank five birdies in a blemish—free round of 66, to move to within one shot of the leaders, who are, se young kim and danielle kang. this is the second women's major of the season. castleford tigers continue to dominate rugby league's super league. they held off a strong fightback, from hull fc, to win by 2a points to 22, to go eight points clear at the top of the table, with just three games, of the regular season to play, before the super 8s. chris froome has signed a three—year contract with team sky on the eve of the tour de france. the tour, gets under way in dusseldorf in germany this afternoon — and froome's hoping to complete,

his third straight win, and fourth victory in five years. but he knows it won't be easy. the level of my rivals and the course leads it to be an open race, it's going to be the biggest challenge for me, i am sure. it would be up there, to win a fourth title would be incredible. it would be, i mean, yeah, i don't want... it would just be... unreal. good luck to chris and the rest of the riders in the tour de france that starts in germany. that's all the sport. you can keep up to date with all those stories on the website. we may be able to hear cheering... some of the sport team here, ican cheering... some of the sport team here, i can tell new the last few seconds i am looking at confirmation, for the first time since 2003, new zealand have lost a match in wellington, they've been beaten by the british and irish lions, 24—21. in the end, having a

man down really made the difference, you felt. the lions found gaps to score two crucial second—half tries before the match was eventually won by the boot of owen farrell with that late penalty. any nails left by mike hen son on the bbc website there? that was before the crucial last penalty went over. so the lions have squared the series with the deciding test to play. a lot of pride has been restored. we must not forget that first half moment, the first time in 50 years, new zealand had a man sent off. in the end, perhaps that told. truly a case of putting the boot in. mike, thanks very much. princes william and harry will attend a private service later to re—dedicate their mother's grave, on what would have been princess diana's 56th birthday. she is buried at herfamily home, althorp house, in northamptonshire.

our royal correspondent, peter hunt reports. september 1997, and the last public moments of a funeral that transfixed a nation and indeed a world. this was diana princess of wales being brought home to althorp house, near northampton, where she'd lived as a teenager and where her ancestors had lived for generations. with no cameras present, the princess was buried on an island in the middle of an ornamental lake at the heart of this vast private estate. the precise location of her grave has never been made public. the area is being redesigned in her honour in this 20 years ago, diana's ex—husband, prince charles, was there with their sons and her brother and sisters. 20 years on, the future king will be missing, as he is in canada with his wife, the duchess of cornwall.

with his father absent, prince william will be joined at today's very private ceremony, by his wife, kate, and their children, george and charlotte. they will attend a service for a mother—in—law and a grandmother they never met. for william and harry, who were just children when diana died, this is the start of a difficult time as they remember their mother, a mother who they say smothered them in love. today at her grave they will reflect and say prayers. peter hunt, bbc news. a brand new photograph of her majesty the queen has been released this morning, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of modern canada. the queen, who is canada's head of state, is wearing the platinum brooch set with diamonds on her left shoulder, if you look closely you can spot it. it's been worn by the queen mother and more recently the duchess of cambridge. prince charles and camilla are celebrating canada day

during a three—day tour. it's been exactly 10 years since the smoking ban was introduced in pubs and other licensed premises in england. it hasn't been popular with everybody, but campaigners say the legislation has helped two million smokers to kick the habit, as our health correspondent sophie hutchinson reports. over a decade ago, lighting up in restaurants, pubs and bars, in fact, any enclosed public space was the norm but all that changed with the ban in england on this day, in 2007, bringing it in line with the rest of the uk. smoking rates are now at their lowest ever recorded in britain — there are nowjust over eight million smokers. according to cancer research uk, that means 2 million people have given up cigarettes since the ban. the proportion of 16 — 2a year olds who smoke is nowjust17%. an all—time low.

what we are after is a smoke—free generation. we are part—way there. we see the smoking rate in younger people dropping more quickly than other age groups. we see them using e—cigarettes more as an aid to quit smoking than others, and that seems to be particularly helpful. as well as the range of nhs stop smoking services that we've got that can help them. but pro—smoking capaigners have criticised the ban, saying it has led to the closure of more than 11,000 pubs in england. public support for smoke—free areas has grown, however. a yougov poll today suggests just 12% of people would like to see it overturned. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. adele has been forced to cancel both her shows at wembley because she has damaged her vocal cords. ina

damaged her vocal cords. in a series of tweets she said defence devastated and heartbroken because the shows were the biggest of her life so far. she admitted she struggled vocally earlier in the week. on wednesday she also told fans that this tour could be her last. let's look at the weather prospects from louise. a cloudy start for many of us full you can see how the cloud is breaking up and that will be the story for much of the country into the afternoon, particularly in england and wales where there will be decent sunny spells. a decent weather front will bring showery outbreaks of rain