good afternoon. alfie evans, the toddler at the centre of a long legal battle, has died, nearly a week after his life support was withdrawn. alfie, who would have been two next month, had a degenerative neurological condition. he'd been in a semi—vegetative state for more than a year. on facebook, alfie's parents said they're absolutely heartbroken. our correspondentjudith moritz is outside alder hey children's hospital in liverpool, where alfie was being treated. yes, flowers, tributes, condolences pouring in here at the hospitalfor alfie. his parents say they are absolutely devastated and the hospital, alder hey here, have said that the thoughts are with the family. they say they feel very deeply for them. messages also this morning from merseyside police, everton football club, and from the roman catholic archbishop of

liverpool, who says his thoughts are with alfie and his family and also with alfie and his family and also with the medical professionals here at the hospital, who cared for so long for the little boy. for the first weeks of alfie evans‘ light, easy and healthy, happy and well. but he soon started to develop problems and he was admitted to hospital, where scans showed that his brain was being destroyed. the little boy spent a year in intensive ca re before little boy spent a year in intensive care before doctors said they felt his life support should be stopped. alfie‘s parents kate and tom strongly disagreed with the medical view that there is some good not be helped. is shown the biggest fight and that‘s given others the biggest boost to get through this. the doctors, because they can‘t find a diagnosis think it‘s ok to come to us diagnosis think it‘s ok to come to us and say they are giving up on him. if you‘re going to give up on

him, reassure us and referred him. the couple began a long legal battle. they took their case through all available courts several times in the uk and twice to europe. they‘ve had huge support, initially from a group of mums and children, but increasingly from a growing social media campaign. a self styled alfie‘s army has hundreds of thousands of followers and crowds have turned up to campaign outside alder hey in recent weeks. it hasn‘t a lwa ys alder hey in recent weeks. it hasn‘t always been peaceful. on one evening, the testers tried to force their way inside the hospital said staff had been intimidated translation: alfie's plight has made international headlines, especially in italy. alfie‘s parents wanted to airlift him to rome. tom was granted an audience with the pope and alfie was given citizenship. there was a tweet from the president at the

hospital visit from these polish women. i saw the post yesterday from alfie's father, like, thank you so much, thank you for all the different international community 's. outside the hospital, campaigners kept vigil. whilst inside, after his ventilation was switched off, alfie hong gone for four days. but this morning, in a facebook post, alfie‘s father tom said his son had laid down his shield and gained his wings. outside alder hey this morning, supporters came to leave flowers. alfie‘s pa rents say came to leave flowers. alfie‘s parents say they are heartbroken. they battled for months. now their fight has given way to grief. labour has intensified its calls for the home secretary to resign. amber rudd apologised last night for being unaware that the home office had targets for removing illegal immigrants from the uk. this morning cabinet ministers offered her their support. our political correspondent, jonathan blake, reports. day after day of questions for the

home secretary. was her department to blame for the mistreatment of migrants? whether targets for removing those you illegally? and inevitably, would she quit? it was a question about the broader approach to immigration and her answer that lead to even more pressure on amber rudd. targets for removal, one where they set? we don't have targets for removals. an apology in parliament, the targets did exist but she wasn‘t aware. it was announced that they‘d be scrapped. and then the guardian reported a memo was sent to the home secretary lastjune, reported a memo was sent to the home secretary last june, specifying reported a memo was sent to the home secretary lastjune, specifying a target for the number of deportations in the coming year. silence at first on the home office, then a series of tweets from amber rudd. she didn‘t see the memo but it has been sent to her office. again, she wasn‘t aware of targets, she should have been, and she was sorry. she promised statement in parliament on monday. the home secretary has apologised, saying of course she should have seen it. but you can‘t

be held accountable or responsible for a document she didn‘t see and for a document she didn‘t see and for the decisions she didn‘t take. cabinet colleagues have backed amber rudd and the prime minister has said she has full confidence in the home secretary, but there is no letup in the pressure for her to go.” secretary, but there is no letup in the pressure for her to go. i think she‘s in a very difficult position. i think she‘s hanging by a thread. on the one hand, there may be more to come out, but what we do know is that no one will take this government seriously on the windrush scandal until amber rudd officer resignation. amber rudd has faced serious accusations which in different political times might have prompted a resignation. but i had to go with leave theresa may further exposed to criticism of her record as home secretary. with challenges ahead for the government‘s brexit strategy, it could upset the balance of opinion in cabinet. in the united states, a former police officer has appeared in court, charged with 13 murders and 51 rapes. prosecutors allege joseph james deangelo was the so—called golden state killer,

whose crimes terrorised california in the 19705 and 1980s. james cook reports.