this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 2pm: tributes are paid to dame tessa jowell, who has died at the age of 70. former prime minister tony blair is among those who have praised her contribution to public health and the london 2012 olympics. she did everything with the same passion, determination, verve, ability and charm, so she was a unique politician but she was a really dear friend. indonesian police say a mother and father and their children carried out the three church bombings that killed at least 11 people. theresa may reaffirms her commitment to leaving the eu customs union, as ministers consider options for trading post—brexit. also in the next hour — israel lifts the trophy at this year's eurovision song contest. singer netta takes top points with her song toy, a song inspired by the me too movement — but a stage invader during the uk's performance causes drama at the lisbon event. keeping up the family business —

tommy charlton, younger brother of football legends jack and bobby, takes to the pitch for england in walking football. and at 2:30pm, we catch up on the latest developments in westminster with the week in parliament. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the former labour cabinet minister dame tessa jowell, who campaigned to raise awareness of brain cancer following her diagnosis a year ago, has died. she was 70. a leading light in tony blair's government, tessa jowell was also instrumental in bringing the olympics to london in 2012. this morning, mr blair praised her courage and dignity in publicly confronting her cancer,

saying her efforts to raise awareness were "a lasting tribute to a lifetime of public service." leila nathoo looks back at her life. the games of the 30th olympiad in 2012 are awarded to the city of london. the words they wanted to hear. london had won the contest to host the 2012 olympics and it was tessa jowell who championed the bid from the start. i am tessa jowell, olympic minister. she went on to oversee preparations for the games. and laid the foundations for the capital's greatest sporting event. tessa jane helen douglas jowell. worker and counsellor. she was then one ofjust 60 female mps in the commons. a new labour stalwart,

tessa jowell was a popular figure in all circles, but was one of tony blair's strongest supporters. her impact on politics was enormous. everything she touched, she turned to gold in some way, whether it was advancing equal pay for women, starting surestart, which is an immense programme for children in our country, or of course bringing the olympics to britain. and she did everything with the same passion, determination, verve, ability and charm. after spells as public health and then education minister, she joined the cabinet in 2001 as culture secretary, overseeing the relaxation of gambling and licensing laws and persuading her colleagues to back the olympic pitch. tessa jowell continued to serve on labour's front bench under gordon brown and after the party lost power in 2010. she left the commons in 2015 and stood to be labour's candidate for london mayor, though she lost out to sadiq khan. not long after entering the house of lords, ladyjowell revealed

she had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. she later gave a moving speech to peers about her condition. in the end, what gives a life meaning is not only how it is lived but how it draws to a close. dame tessa jowell, who's died at the age of 70. tributes for dame tessa jowell continue to be shared on social media. conservative mp anna soubry tweeted, nicky morgan has said... her daughter—in—law

ella woodward tweeted... and david beckham has posted this image on his instagram account, saying: the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has been speaking about her legacy. i think in government, pushing for surestart, which made such a

difference to so many children's lives, the idea that all our children can achieve things together, and you bring the family in as well, so it is that sense of community, she brought that to it. that is one of hergreatest achievements. the other was working with a very wide range of people to help bring the olympics to london and see it all the way through, and i have neverforgotten her earnestly speaking at a meeting with the parliamentary labour party about how well we will do at tae kwon do. i am pretty sure that 99% of the people in the room did not have a clue what that was. but she said that with such conviction, yes, absolutely, very good. she had a great determination in sport, and you look at the playing field now, young kids out on a sunday morning, playing football, that is a good legacy. asjeremy as jeremy corbyn asjeremy corbyn explained, one of the major policy reforms tessa jowell worked on and described as her greatest achievement was sure sta rt, her greatest achievement was sure start, the national childcare programme. we can speak now to the former director of sure start, naomi eisenstadt.

thank you forjoining us today. your thoughts initially on the loss of dame thoughts initially on the loss of da m e tessa. thoughts initially on the loss of dame tessa. well, i am tremendously sad. tessa made an incredible contribution to sure start but also, as someone contribution to sure start but also, as someone who entered the civil service to do sure start having never been a civil servant before, i was absolutely terrified and what i valued most was her incredible kindness to me, her encouragement to me, her willingness to help me through what was and could have been a very difficult transition from the volu nta ry a very difficult transition from the voluntary sector into government. i mean, my best quote of tessa's was, "i want to smell the babies." she so wa nted "i want to smell the babies." she so wanted it to be a bad mothers, fathers and babies and i think we achieved that because of tessa. —— be about mothers, fathers and babies. what did she bring to that role? she had a social worker

background and also understood just because you are living in poverty doesn't mean you are not a good pa rent doesn't mean you are not a good parent and don't want to be a good parent, so have attitude towards sure start, she was very close with david blunkett and tessa and david worked brilliantly with sure start together, about bringing community together, about bringing community together, reducing social isolation, so she brought a social worker feel, but not about family dysfunction, much more about family support. you have described the support she received from her. is it something that you saw throughout her career as you watched it, her supportive role towards women, other women? funnily enough, i was again remembering the treasury official who also sadly died some years ago, norman glass, saying there are very few ministers for whom i have a jump in my step when i am about to see her, so it wasn'tjust women, it was men as well. she just worked

beautifully with us and was on the one hand incredibly supportive and one hand incredibly supportive and on the other hand very clear about what she wanted to achieve and that is what you want from a minister. did she keep in touch once she had moved on? well, yes, in two ways. relatively recently, the last few yea rs, relatively recently, the last few years, when tessa was hoping to be the labour mayoral candidate for london, she and i were meeting frequently about how we would design a childcare system for london and, also, her daughter was very involved in work with refugees, in particular refugee children, and asked me for advice on what is the best way to do that. so we did made the last few yea rs. that. so we did made the last few years. she spoke very passionately about sure start. a number of years ago, there was an article in the guardian newspaper where she said it was her proudest achievement. is

that something that she continued to speak about? 0h, that something that she continued to speak about? oh, yes, i mean, in the sense that when she was thinking about being mayor of london, it was how can we recreate sure start for london? and certainly there was a review of childcare for lambeth and southwark that tessa chaired and i was on that review, so she continued her interest in early childhood when she was in the house of lords and i welcomed the opportunity to continue working with her on it.|j welcomed the opportunity to continue working with her on it. i am hearing a lot about her loyalty and her common touch. what was she actually like to work with at close quarters? fantastic. very warm, very friendly and, you know, just really silly things, like the first big conference we had that david blu nkett conference we had that david blunkett was speaking at an gordon brown was speaking at and tessa, of course, was speaking, we had a whole line—up of ministers and i was

com pletely line—up of ministers and i was completely terrified and as tessa got out of the ministerial car, the first thing she said to me was, "you look gorgeous." and that reduced all of my fear in a second, she knew exactly what to say at the right moment and as i say, although i entered the civil service in mid—career, i wasn't young, i was very nervous and tessa was very nervous and tessa was incredibly helpful. we hear a lot about her steely determination, particularly in pushing through london's bid for the olympics. did you see that steely determination in operation? well, certainly i saw it in her attitude towards babies and young children and of course because my contact with her was very much about children and children's issues, i didn't realise there was a sport connection, so i was rather surprised and then astounded and impressed with her commitment to both. naomi eisenstat, former director of sure start, thank you very much for sharing your memories

of dame tessa jowell. very much for sharing your memories of dame tessa jowell. thank you, i welcome the opportunity, i really loved her. remembering dame tessa jowell, who has passed away at the age of 70. and we have got some breaking news concerning the two britons that were kidnapped a number of days ago in the democratic republic of congo, which was in the national park just republic of congo, which was in the national parkjust along the border with rwanda and uganda. we are getting some news that... concerning those in >> amber—macro: britons kidnapped. just to bring you that in a moment, a little bit of confirmation for you. —— those two britons kidnapped. we understand they have been released. we will bring you more on that in a moment, to stay with us,

just a few details to concern. at least ten people have been killed and more than a0 injured in bomb attacks on three churches in indonesia. police say the attacks were carried out by the members of one family, including four children — one a girl aged nine — who blew themselves up at the three sites. rebecca henschke reports. a wave of blasts, timed and coordinated to hit those coming to sunday mass. at least ten people have been killed and more than a0 injured authorities say the work of one family. the mother, with two daughters, blew herself up at one church. the father and sons at the other two. translation: from our information from the east java provincial police, there are three churches so far which were attacked, including on diponegoro street. indonesia's intelligence agencies says islamic state inspired group jemaah ansharut daulah, orjad, is believed to be behind the bombings. today's church attacks come just days after police ended a riot and hostage taking by convicted

terrorists at a maximum security facility outside of the capital, jakarta. five police officers were killed by the inmates in the 36—hour—long siege, sparking the president to call for calm. translation: i need to emphasise that the nation and all the people are never afraid and will never give the slightest room to terrorism and also to efforts to undermine the security of the country. indonesia is largely a tolerant, pluralist nation. but there is concern about rising intolerance. rebecca henschke, bbc news, jakarta. more details coming to us now about the release of the two hostages in the release of the two hostages in the the ranga national forest in the democratic republic of congo. ——

virunga. the ambassador has said they have been released unharmed and thanks to the drc authorities, the icc and and the virunga authorities ball up their efforts. delighted with the release but thoughts remain with the release but thoughts remain with the release but thoughts remain with the virunga stapp who lost a colleague, arranger that was travelling with the party and boris johnson, foreign secretary, has also issued a statement saying i am delighted to announce that two british national is held hostage in the democratic republic of congo have been released. he goes on to pay tribute to the authorities, the dcr authorities and the congolese institute for nature conservation for the tireless help during this terrible case and to conclude the statement, it goes on to say my thoughts are now with the family of the virunga park ranger, who was killed during the kidnapping and the injured driver and the released british nationals as they recover

from this dramatic incident. there have been instances of other kidnappings in the area and some military presence as well where this incident had taken place, so the two britons, we are hearing, have been safely released unharmed. theresa may says people who supported leaving the eu will get the brexit they voted for and reaffirmed her commitment to britain leaving the customs union. she's moved to reassure voters in a sunday newspaper article as her cabinet considers two different options for our future trading relations. but this morning, while appearing to back the prime minister, the environment secretary michael gove admitted he had doubts about a customs partnership with the eu, as tom barton reports. once again, with her cabinet divided, the prime minister is defending her approach to brexit, telling voters in a sunday times article, "you can trust me to deliver", adding on the most difficult issue, "we will leave the customs union",

but acknowledging there will have to be compromises. the prime minister has laid out a very clear flight path for us. today the minister sent out to defend that position wasn't being very supportive. michael gove appearing to back comments by the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, that the prime minister's preferred option, a customs partnership with the eu, was crazy. boris pointed out that because it's novel, because no model like this exists, there have to be significant question marks over the deliverability of it on time. more than that, what a new customs partnership requires the british government to do is in effect act as the tax collector and very possibly the effective delivery of regulation for the european union. the reason these arrangements matter is because the uk wants to avoid the introduction of customs checks here at the border between northern ireland and the republic. the irish deputy prime minister making it clear today that using technology to solve the customs problem would lead

to a hard border and ireland's only acceptable option would be a customs partnership. in our view, if we can have a shared customs territory through some kind of customs partnership, which is british government language, we think that can be the basis of a negotiation to find a way forward. labour backs staying in the customs union and says the government's approach to brexit has been a shambles. we are in a farcical situation at the moment. nearly two years after the referendum, the cabinet is fighting over two customs options, neither of which frankly are workable, neither of which are acceptable to the eu, and if either of which was put to the vote in parliament, they would probably not carry a majority. theresa may will meet her most senior ministers for a breakfast meeting on tuesday as she tries to find a solution that the cabinet, parliament and the eu will accept. the headlines on bbc news:

former labour cabinet minister dame tessa jowell has died at the age of 70. she was diagnosed with brain cancer last may. two british tourists kidnapped in the democratic republic of congo have been released unharmed. the foreign office has confirmed. a mother and father and their children are responsible for three church bombings that killed at least 11 people in indonesia, police have said. dozens of eu nationals are suing the uk government are suing the uk government for damages amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds, after they were illegally detained and deported for sleeping rough. two years ago, the home office began systematically removing european nationals sleeping rough here, despite many having the right to be in the uk and being in work. the high court ruled last year that the policy was illegal. a french national born in chechnya,

who was on an anti—terror watchlist. a blade. police lashed out with a blade. police flooded the area near the opera house and witnesses say officers first tried to taser the subject and then fired two shots. translation: the attacker came around the corner of the street with blood on his hands, holding a box cutter, very aggressive, came with his arms open, with an angry gesture, came straight the policemen. the policemen were shouting for him to put his arms down, drop your weapon. they tasered him twice. he managed to sort of isolate one of the policemen, i suppose, as the policemen were trying to encircle him and one of them ended up between the car and them ended up between the car and the street and ended up getting pushed back a bit and as the attacker when faheem, i heard two

shots. the perpetrator was neutralised by police when they intervene. translation: according to witnesses, the attacker shouted allah hu akbar when he attacked with a knife. given the aggressor's mode of aggression, the aggressor's mode of aggression, the authorities are investigating. the attacker was born in the southern republic of chechnya. the source said his parents are being questioned. islamic state group has claimed responsibility, saying it was targeting countries of the coalition which fought against it in the middle east. translation: france's absolutely determined not to yield in any way to the threats issued by attackers. our response will be firm and clear. president macron said his thoughts we re president macron said his thoughts were with the victims and their loved ones. over the past three yea rs, loved ones. over the past three years, a string ofjihadist attacks

across france has claimed the lives of almost 250 people. as the investigation continues, the police will remain on high alert. two britons who were held hostage in the democratic republic of congo have been released unharmed. our reporter louise dewast is in the kinshasa — which is the capital of the democratic republic of congo. just update us on the latest. when they have been released, what more can you tell us? good afternoon, we know they have been released... sound issues since friday morning when the attack happened in virunga national park in the eastern congo. the foreign secretary boris johnson the eastern congo. the foreign secretary borisjohnson thanked authorities and park rangers for

working with them to resolve this incident and they did pay tribute to the ranger, one of the rangers that was killed in the attack on friday and the driver who was accompanying the british tourist who was injured as well in the attack. so that is the information we have right now and the ambassador also announced this on social media just a few seconds ago. we just missed the first part of your answer there. i will just we just missed the first part of your answer there. i willjust very quickly ask, do we know the identities of the two britons? we do not know the identity of the two british tourists yet. we do know that the ranger that was killed, the congolese ranger that was killed was buraka, but we do not have confirmation on the british officials. was there a ransom paid?

we do not know that either. as we mentioned in previous reports, ransoms mentioned in previous reports, ra nsoms are mentioned in previous reports, ransoms are frequent in kidnappings in this part of the world and in this country and this part of the country. we have no confirmation yet on whether or not a ransom was paid in this case. thank you very much. electoral officials in iraq say fewer than half of eligible voters took part in yesterday's parliamentary election. with more than 90% of the votes counted, turnout was 4a.5% — the lowest since multi—party elections were first held in 2005. results are due to be announced tomorrow. a song inspired by the me too movement triumphed at eurovision last night. the song toy by netta won for israel on a night when britain once again failed to trouble the scoreboard much. and our entry surie had to recover from dealing with a protester who stormed the stage

during her song, as david sillito reports. # forever, remember. eurovision, and the uk's surie was more than halfway through her song when suddenly a protester appeared and grabbed the microphone. nazis of the uk media, we demand freedom! seconds later, the mic back in her hand, it was as if nothing had happened. # through the storm. the protester, who has invaded other british tv programmes in the past, was taken into police custody. the whole crowd gathered round. like, the response of eurovision, it was just amazing. she carried on, went through, finished like a true brit. so douze points for an extraordinary recovery, but not quite enough to make a splash on the eurovision scoreboard. but, for israel, exultation at netta's victory. clucking

# look at me, i'm a beautiful creature. netta's joyful clucking, in a song inspired by the #metoo movement, ended up being an convincing winner when the public‘s vote came through. israel wins with 529 points! for netta, who said she was overwhelmed to even make it to eurovision, it was more than clear just how much this meant to her. thank you! i love my country! next time, jerusalem! david sillito, bbc news, lisbon. a picture of the queen's official consent for prince harry's marriage to meghan markle has been released. the formal record is handwritten by one of the crown office's own artists, and signed "elizabeth r" by the queen. it will be presented to the couple after their wedding next weekend. and i could really put the pressure

on byrne and ask about the weather next weekend. but how is it looking at the rest of this weekend? i have only got a minute, i couldn't possibly get all the way to next weekend. actually, at this stage, it doesn't look too bad but we will keep a close eye on it between now and then but as far as things go for today, a nice looking day in many places, good spells of sunshine around, a bit different around north—east scotland, some outbreaks of rain here and through the afternoon, the cloud breaking up for eastern england end here, some clouds out west and the small chance ofa clouds out west and the small chance of a heavy shower in northern ireland. tonight, under clear skies, it will turn chilly, some cloud into the far west and also into the south—east but in between, towns and cities will be down to three or 4 degrees, a bit lower in the countryside, even a touch of frost. tomorrow, we are being invaded from two sides. this area of cloud pushing into the south—east, this

one towards northern ireland and western scotland. each of these could give a few splashes of rain but in between, some good spells of sunshine, temperatures 19 or 20. tuesday will be warmer still, could be up to 23 and a week as a whole doesn't look too bad, mostly dry with spells of warm sunshine but the middle of the week will be a little bit cooler. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. three people, including two british tourists, have been released after being kidnapped in the democratic republic of congo. the group was captured in the virunga national park on friday, a guide was killed in the ambush. tributes have been made to dame tessa jowell, who has died at the age of 70. the former labour cabinet minister was diagnosed with a brain tumour in may last year. indonesian police have said a mother and father and their children carried out three church bombings that killed at least 11 people in the country.

theresa may has reaffirmed her commitment to leaving the eu customs union. it comes as ministers consider two alternative options for trading post—brexit. now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello and welcome to the week in parliament. coming up: peers inflict a string of defeats on the government over the eu withdrawal bill and tempers fray. if anybody is undermining the government at the moment, it's the foreign secretary rubbishing the prime minister! the government says sorry for the uk's part in the kidnap