this is bbc news. the headlines at 3pm: the environment secretary, michael gove, suggests the government could support a lifting of the 1% pay cap for public sector workers. council tenants, whose services have been disrupted by the grenfell tower fire, have had their rent suspended. britain is withdrawing from an agreement which allows foreign countries to fish in its waters. also in the next hour: could battery powered planes be the future of flying? we'll take an exclusive look at an experimental electric plane. wimbledon fans soak up the sun as they set up camp in the queue for tickets ahead of the first day of play. and in half an hour: the click team head to los angeles and ask could intense farming in containers solve the world's food problems in years to come? good afternoon and welcome to bbc news.

the environment secretary, michael gove, has suggested the government could support a lifting of the 1% pay cap for public sector workers as calls grow for ministers to ease austerity measures. he told the bbc‘s andrew marr show the government should "respect the integrity" of the independent bodies that review pay for groups including nurses, teachers and the police. our political correspondent emma vardy reports. complaining about seven years of austerity, "not one day more" was the slogan for protesters yesterday. the plan to drive down the deficit has meant year after year of pay freezes and caps for some five million public sector workers. but that could be about to change. the environment secretary, michael gove, said that if independent pay review bodies recommend a rise, then the government should accept it. i think we should listen to the pay

review bodies who govern each individual area of public sector pay. public sector workers have effectively had a 1% cap on pay rises since 2013 and a two year pay freeze before that. there are eight independent bodies which make recommendations to the government about the pay of public sector workers including teachers, police and nhs staff. but the government is not bound by these recommendations. it is up to the prime minister and the various secretaries of state to decide how to respond to their advice. and there has been scepticism over whether the pay review bodies are truly independent. they work under the overall strategy set by the government? they take account of that, but they also take account of other questions as well, including the number of people who are entering the profession, and whether we need to increase pay in order to get the best people in the profession. these pay review bodies have been set up in order to ensure

that we can have authoritative advice on what's required, in order to ensure that the public services on which we rely are effectively staffed, and the people within them are effectively supported. in march, the nhs pay review body warned the cap was putting stress on the health service. this month, we are due to find out the recommendations being made for the pay of police and teachers. we are saying to the pay review bodies, get rid of the 1% cap and give a fair pay rise. i think they should consider giving people a pay rise in line with earnings. it's no longerjust opposition parties who want an end to the long running freeze on public sector pay. now, conservative backbenchers are also lobbying for a change. kensington and chelsea council is suspending rent for residents of buildings around grenfell tower whose services have been disrupted because of the fire.

meanwhile, some campaigners say victims of the disaster could boycott the public inquiry unless its scope is widened. our correspondent simonjones reports. the devastating fire that claimed so many lives has opened up a gulf between residents and the council elected to represent them. is this the first good decision you've made, mr paget—brown? the leader, nicholas paget—brown, is on his way out, but labour councillor beinazir lasharie, who has just returned to her home in the shadow of grenfell tower, says change is needed quickly. now that he's resigned, who's taking responsibility? who's he going to palm this off to? yes, he should resign, but yes, he should take responsibility. people need to be in place to manage what is going on here. as the community mourns the dead, the government says the new leader will be chosen by the council itself. commissioners from outside won't be sent in. but it is warning it will intervene if it needs to. the absolute priority remains looking after the victims,

their family and friends, making sure they get everything they need, and in doing so, when it comes to the local council, nothing is off the table. the council insists the disaster was so huge, any authority would have struggled to cope. but it says it wants to learn lessons. when that new leader has been elected, we have to revise how we've come across, we have to be more proactive. we have to listen more, we have to show the residents that we really are on their side. it's a tough task. and the warning from both the government and residents is, you must get it right this time. reports suggest at least 19 people have been killed and many injured in a suicide bomb attack in the syrian capital of damascas. the attacker struck in tahrir square in the centre of the city. the bomber appears to have been in one of three cars that had been pursued by police. from beirut, sophie long reports.

blown out vehicles in the centre of the syrian capital. the suicide bomber detonated their device just before eight o'clock this morning. the streets near tahrir square in central damascus had been busy, as people here return for their first full day of work after celebrating the end of the holy month of ramadan. the car had been surrounded by the syrian authorities when it exploded, killing at least 19 people, injuring several others. the blast shattered windows and damaged buildings in the area, which has now been cordoned off. syrian authorities say they blew up two other would—be bombers before they entered the city. these state television pictures showed what they say is the damage caused on the main road heading into the city centre. residents are now clearing up the debris left from this, the bloodiest attack in the syrian capitalfor months. it is another day when people here can do little but try to carry on, as they come to terms with further

loss of life. syria is still in the throes of a devastating civil war that has lasted more than six years, killed hundreds of thousands and forced more than a million people from their homes. iraqi forces say they have captured so—called islamic state's main base in mosul after days of intense fighting. the militants have been driven from a hospital compound where several senior is leaders were thought to have been hiding. campbell macdiarmid is a freelance journalist based in nearby erbil. he recently spent several nights embedded with iraqi government troops in mosul and says there are still pockets of resistance in the city. tens of thousands of civilians under is control. they have taken a hospital complex. battling for that for several weeks.

well into retaking the old city. the last bastion of is control. but what you see from the iraqi government, some premature celebration. that gives you an idea of the propaganda. retaking mosul, the second largest city. it has been under their control for three years. the old city is a small part of mosul. possibly 10% of the west side. battle is nearly over. it is a foregone conclusion, it is a matter of time before they can retake that territory. certainly, major blow to maintaining the caliphate. we are going to see other areas of iraq, syria, retaken from is. no longer going to control that territory.

revert back to being a group. we are already seeing some signs of that. we have seen suicide bombers. at liberated areas, ongoing attacks. defeated on the battlefield, but that does not mean we are going to see the end of these attacks in the middle east, further afield. at least 28 people have been injured following a shooting at a nightclub in the us state of arkansas. police say two people are in a critical condition following the incident, which took place around half past two in the morning local time. president trump has lashed out at a growing number of us states that have refused to hand over personal information about voters to a commission he set up to investigate electoral fraud. writing on twitter, he accused them

of having something to hide. our washington correspondent laura bicker explains what might happen next. donald trump set up an election integrity commission back in may. he wanted to look at claims, including his own claims, that voter fraud was widespread across the united states. he believes, for instance, that many people who might have died in the past are still on the electoral roll and people are voting on their behalf. to that end, the commission sent out letters to all the states. they're asking for very personal information about the voters, the 200 million voters across the us. they want their names, their addresses, their birth dates and, crucially, the last four digits of their social security numbers. but some states have real concerns. first of all, they wonder how this information can be kept safe if they send it to washington and they send it to the commission. they say this information would be ripe for hackers. they say the cyber security on it is not safe. others believe that this entire

investigation is unnecessary and violates the privacy of those within their states. so, that's some of the reasons why they are saying they will not comply. let me give you a couple of quotes, from california, for instance, a democrat, the secretary of state there says, california's participation would only serve to legitimise the false and debunked claims of massive voter fraud by the president. it's notjust democratic states who are pushing back. republicans are also saying they will not comply. perhaps the most critical rebuff came from the secretary of state for mississippi, who said to the commission, it can go and jump in the gulf of mexico, and mississippi is a great state to launch from! so, they're not having much luck when it comes to getting this information. that's one of the reasons why donald trump has taken to twitter, saying, what are they trying to hide? he can keep pushing,

the states can keep pushing back. how will this end? we'lljust have to wait and see. britain is withdrawing from an agreement which allows foreign countries to fish in its waters. the government says leaving the london fisheries convention will allow the uk to take back control of access to its fishing rights. daniela relph reports. the uk fishing industry is a multi million pound business. but the government says britain's exit from the european union is a chance to build a new domestic fishing policy. the withdrawal from the london fisheries convention will prevent vessels from france, belgium, germany, ireland and the netherlands fishing within 6—12 nautical miles of the uk's coastline. but it won't be a quick process. britain's departure from the convention will take around two years. environment secretary, michael gove, said triggering the withdrawal from the agreement would lead to a more competitive, profitable and sustainable industry for the whole of the uk. the london fisheries convention

was signed “119611. it currently allows other countries to catch 10,000 tonnes of fish from uk waters, worth approximately £17 million. the government believes leaving the convention will allow britain to take back control of its fishing policy. well, a little earlier, my colleague ben brown spoke to will mccallum, head of 0ceans at greenpeace uk. he said leaving the convention would not in itself deliver a better future for the uk fishing industry. we asked him whether he thought this move would bring about more sustainability for uk fishermen. the main reason we are excited about this is that this shows defra, the new minister, are prioritising fishing. there is a long list of deals to be struck, and we were worried that fishing would not be prioritised, and that those communities who wanted a new fishing policy and more access to fish would once again find themselves at the bottom of the pile.

some people might say this is protectionist, we are stopping other countries fishing in our waters, and they can do vice versa? exactly, what this does is, it gives us the power to do that, but we all know, fish don't respect borders, they are not going to stop at 12 miles... say, uk fishermen can fish now! actually, what this means is, we're going to go into a long drawn—out process of negotiation, and our priorities need to be that we have to have a fair and sustainable fisheries policy. ben also spoke to mike cohen, chairman of the national federation of fishermen‘s 0rganisation, who says that this move isn't solely about sustainability but all part of a much bigger picture. this is not really about creating sustainable fishing, this is about controlling fisheries management in the uk. of course we want sustainable fishing. the fishing industry has the most to lose if we don't have sustainable fishing.

we have been catching these fish stocks for generation after generation, but we want to sustain that into the future. the best way for ensuring that our fish stocks are sustainable is by having control over their management, not having that management dependent on rules which are created under the cfp, which takes a huge amount of time to respond to changes, in the biological changes on the ground. so this should be seen as a great step. because we really can start to rethink fisheries management from the ground up. that is a huge opportunity for us, to do it well this time. the headlines on bbc news: the environment secretary, michael gove, suggests the government could support a lifting of the 1% pay cap for public sector workers. council tenants whose services have been disrupted by the grenfell tower fire have had their rent suspended. and britain is withdrawing from an agreement which allows foreign countries to fish in its waters. and andy murray has said he will be

fit for wimbledon. he has been struggling with that hip problem but is due on centre court tomorrow. new zealand's sonny bill williams has been suspended for four weeks after his red card. and england, on course to defeat sri lanka. i will be back with an update in an hour. we have just mentioned wimbledon. let's stay with sport, and tennis fans are queuing ahead of the first day of the wimbledon championships tomorrow.

thousands, expected to camp overnight. 0ur correspondent jane frances kelly has gone to join some of those hardy fans while they wait. yes. sun is shining. the strawberries, ready. we have got the legendary queueing, and security has been tightened because of the previous attacks. concrete walls to protect fa ns. previous attacks. concrete walls to protect fans. police in evidence. sniffer dogs. bags searched. but thatis sniffer dogs. bags searched. but that is not putting off superfans. two with me. you are not actually queueing today? you havejust come to see some friends? yes. but we will be queueing from tomorrow. we have got ground passes. the rest of

the fortnight, looking forward to that. hoping to see roger federer? we're not going to get centre court. we're not going to get centre court. we willjust take what we can. should be some good matches. you first came here when you were seven. it was raining all day. about seven minutes of tennis! and you have been coming since the 70s? yes. good luck to my friend sue. she always comes. but not this year. not doing too well. and some of you, getting here at one in the morning! keener than

us! some of them have been queueing for two nights. and obviously, you enjoy this campaign? what other place in the world does it? no other competition. not the olympics, not football. and you do not get touts. that is a good thing that wimbledon have been doing. steady stream of fans. it should be an exciting fortnight. thank you. more than 80,000 migrants, many fleeing war and poverty, have arrived in italy the first six months of the year. the united nations high commissioner for refugees has added his voice to those calling for italy to be given more support, as it deals with large numbers of migrants

crossing the mediterranean. sarah corker reports. europe's migrant crisis rarely makes the headlines now but it is far from over. every day, italy is seeing more and more people arrive. most come from africa, fleeing war or poverty and these are the latest to be rescued at sea, exhausted but alive. so far this year, 2,000 people have died trying to reach italian shores and the un refugee agency says it is an unfolding tragedy. in a statement, filippo grandi said: he said europe had to organise a system for distributing migrants urgently. it comes as italy is threatening to close its ports after nearly 11,000 migrants arrived in just five days last month. and the european union says it is ready to do more to help. we are ready to increase

our support to italy, including substantial financial support if needed. all member states now need to deliver and show solidarity towards italy. the situation is said to be unsustainable. at least 200,000 places for migrants have been filled and since 2014 the country has seen half a million migrants arrive by boat. and the dangers are well—known. this man was found clinging to a boat rudder at sea, just one of many thousands rescued by the italian coastguard. and the un is now calling for greater international efforts

to combat the root causes of migration and to tackle trafficking. sarah corker, bbc news. a smartphone system which alerts qualified life savers to someone having a heart attack has been launched for the first time outside of london. the app automatically calls first responders near the emergency, to get them there before paramedics arrive. james roberson reports. there are already hundreds of them in the five counties covered by east midlands ambulance service. hello there. my name's andy, i'm a responder with the ambulance service. what's your name? first responders are drawn from emas staff and trained volunteers and also from the police and fire services and the region's various medical staff. they used to have to be told directly by phone about an emergency, but now there is goodsam. neil white worked on the project. when a critical cardiac arrest is identified, the goodsam system automatically sends an alert to the nearest first responders to get there fast to start cpr. it looks for the nearest

five people within 800 metres of the scene, and alerts those. where it can't find somebody, or the first five people have rejected, it will then look further for the next five people. ambulance and medical staff are aware that at home, in the office, or in the street or countryside, your chances of surviving a heart attack are less than 10%. using the goodsam alert system can increase those survival chances. the reality is that only 8% of people outside of hospital who have a cardiac arrest will survive to be discharged alive from hospital. anything we can do to increase that number by getting their hearts going sooner will increase the chance of those people having a productive life. it's taken four years to develop the system. its use across the world is now growing. already, about 500 first responders are registered across the east midlands to receive alerts. emas hope that number will grow and increase survival rates for heart attack patients. electric airplanes could soon

have a dramatic impact on the world. they're less noisy and less polluting than the ones flying around today, and plenty of experts believe electric engines are the key to building fleets of flying taxis in the future. the bbc‘s been given special permission to fly in an experimental electric plane, which is being shown in the uk for the first time. our transport correspondent richard westcott went for a ride. it's a plane that will revolutionise flight. not the spitfire — this. the efusion looks quite ordinary. until you see it being refuelled, that is. no tanker trucks and kerosene, you just change the batteries. runway 1—0, take off at your discretion. it's an experimental aircraft and the bbc has been offered a rare flight. i mean, the really obvious thing is how lovely and quiet it is. yeah.

you don't get all the vibration. right. it's so comfortable and smooth and everything reacts so nicely. is electric the way it's going, are we going to have electric planes in the future, electric cabs? definitely. we are going to have hybrid electric planes of all different sizes, they go up to 50 seaters. maybe 100. the efusion can fly for about 30 minutes on one charge, something they want to improve. it will top 140mph, and has a range of around 60 miles. i'm going to try an experiment. i'm going to take my headphones off. normally you do that in an aircraft, and it's so noisy, you can't hear yourself think. let's see what it's like when i talk into the microphone. can you hear me ok?

it's actually like being in a car on a motorway. it's a lovely way to see the world. but this isn't just about how we're going to be going on holiday, it's about how we're going to pop to the shops. electric engines are cleaner and quieter, making them perfect for flying taxis. seems far—fetched? well, look at this. dubai is testing an electric air cab later this year. and the giant taxi ride firm uber says it wants customers flying around in just six years. it's been seven decades since the jet engine changed the world. electric engines could have a similar impact on air future. richard wescott, bbc news, in an electric plane. time now for a look at the weather.

most of us have had some decent sunshine, but what about the prospects? the rain is going to affect central areas on tuesday, and thenit affect central areas on tuesday, and then it is going to be hot and humid, particularly wales. the satellite picture, a lot of sunshine, cloudierfor satellite picture, a lot of sunshine, cloudier for northern ireland and scotland. western scotla nd ireland and scotland. western scotland have had some scattered showers. thank you for sending this photograph. overnight, the weak weather front is going to slide to north england, south west, temperatures between 11 and 15 degrees. monday morning, starting with this band of light rain, going to continue southwards and these

drugs. some afternoon showers across eastern and southern england. but behind that, increasing sunshine. much betterfor behind that, increasing sunshine. much better for scotland, sunny spells and sunshine for more than ireland before clouding over in the evening. active pressure, going to bring some rain for tuesday. but that process begins on monday evening, spreading to northern ireland. overnight, the wet weather could mean we see some rain for southern scotland, and also north wales. highs of 24. fresher conditions for more than scotland. stornoway, 16. on hello. this is bbc news, with julian worricker. the headlines at 15:30: zia? iii? {ii 5 23—2? gig-(12? is?“ 51:77? :—:— a: