hello. this is breakfast with steph mcgovern and chris mason. ireland is on the verge of history after its referendum on abortion. exit polls suggest a landslide win for those who've been campaigning to end the country's near—total ban on terminations. good morning. it's saturday 26th may. also this morning... harvey weinstein is released on a million dollar bail after being charged with rape as his accusers say it's time for justice to prevail. countdown to kick off. the excitement builds for liverpool fans in kiev. liverpool's fans are preparing to act as the 12th man as they plan to

end real madrid's lead. elsewhere in sport, one briton‘s despair is another‘s joy. chris froome storms into the lead at the giro d'italia as long time leader simon yates, crumbles with two stages left. sir richard branson insists his dreams of space travel remain alive. we'll hear from him as he tells the bbc he's in training to be an astronaut at the age of 67. and matt has the weather. sunshine set to break through the morning. will be misty for many, but be on guard for some thunderstorms. good morning. first, our main story. exit polls suggest people in ireland have voted strongly in favour of liberalising the country's laws on abortion. reports also indicate an exceptionally high turnout, with many people travelling from abroad to cast their vote. the official result is expected this afternoon. our ireland correspondent chris page has more.

this referendum is a significant and symbolic moment for ireland. this country was once regarded as the most socially conservative in western europe. currently, abortions are only legal if a woman's life is substantially at risk, but every year several thousand women go abroad, mainly to britain, to have terminations. voters have been asked whether they want to remove the eighth amendment of ireland's constitution, which says an unborn child has the same right to life as a pregnant woman. people have died because of the eighth amendment and we can't have any access to safe abortion care unless we repeal the eighth amendment. people say that, you know, they're pro—choice and want to repel the eight but they're kind of like blanket statements. people don't say well, what does that really mean? that will give powerfor one human to end the life of another human, and i don't think that that is just. if the majority votes yes, the government plans to bring forward new legislation. abortions would be allowed for any reason until a woman

is 12 weeks pregnant, and in some circumstances afterwards. last night, two exit polls for the irish times newspaper and the national broadcaster rte suggested almost 70% have voted for a change in the law. 68 to 32. 68 to 32, yeah, yeah. applause. counting is beginning this morning, the results expected to be announced late this afternoon. chris page, bbc news, dublin. let's get the latest from chris now at dublin castle. good morning, we have been schooled to be sceptical about excellent polls, but this would have to be very wrong to call it the wrong way in terms of the execrable is. what do we know? that is right, most a nalysts do we know? that is right, most analysts expected that... to give an

idea of the morning papers, the irish times which commissioned one of the poles say they have projected a landslide vote to repeal the eighth amendment. the irish independent confidently predicting. leo varadkar, it looks like we will 110w leo varadkar, it looks like we will now be able to bring forward legislation in the irish parliament to legalise determination of pregnancy for any reason up to 12 weeks, and in some circumstances afterwards where the child is diagnosed with a condition where it is likely to die in the womb or shortly after birth. last night mr varadkar tweeted that looked shortly after birth. last night mr va radkar tweeted that looked like the country would make history. if it is repealed, one question is what will happen in northern ireland, will happen in northern ireland, will it is only permitted if that is a significant risk to the mother.

bail me along tweeted... —— naomi long tweeted. people in northern ireland will strongly disagree, for example the democratic unionist party, the largest party, are opposed to changing the law, but nonetheless if ireland has voted to relax its abortion laws, to liberalise the laws, there will be an increased debate on what should happen in northern ireland. thank you, we will speak to you later. we will be speaking to women on both sides of the debate at ten past eight this morning. more than 4,000 liverpool fans are expected to fly to kiev from the city ahead of tonight's champions league final. jurgen klopp's side take on the current holders real madrid after only entering the competition through the play—off rounds.

some fans have been forced to change their travel plans after two plane operators cancelled four flights this week, however the atmosphere is building in the ukrainian capital. friends of ours have had flights cancelled. they have managed to get rearranged flights and rearranged to get here and stuff like that. we are here, we are ready for it, and we are coming to win it, mate. so emotional, it's been amazing. we've got a great trip. it'sjust exciting. and what's the feeling about the match from the liverpool fans? the fans are going to be shouting and singing. so you're going to win? we're going to win 3—0. 0ur reporter ian haslam is atjohn lennon airport with some of the liverpool fans getting ready to fly out to kiev. i bet they are excited! yes, they are excited, around 4000 liverpool fans flying out today to kiev. they willjoin the 20,000

others out there as liverpool hope to get a sixth european title against real madrid, a site that has more european titles than any other club. these are the people checking m, club. these are the people checking in, around 200. there are more flights going out up until ten o'clock. that is a fist pump of celebration! many of these fans here have been to european finals. where have been to european finals. where have you been before?” have been to european finals. where have you been before? i was in rome in 1984 when we beat them 1—0 in their own backyard, and we hope to win today. we will probably go 5—0 up, then concede four and hang on until the last minute, but that is what it is like being a liverpool fan these days. really looking forward to it. you have been to fail as well? the last one was in wembley against bruges, when king kenny scored 1—0. we're good enough to do

it today. let us speak to joe and bobby. tell us your story. you got tickets from a famous source. yes, we got to thank alex 0xlade—chamberlain forgetting us here. he stepped in to save the day and my four—year—old is off to a european cup final. amazing when something like that happens. you never think it will happen to you. bobby, are you excited? yes! he chants there is some disappointment for some liverpool fans, three flights have been cancelled, so some supporters have been stranded for no fault of their own. but things are

running smoothly today. led to speak toa running smoothly today. led to speak to a representative from the airport. it is a busy day, isn't it? probably one of the busiest in terms of the concentration, 23 flights going between three and the morning and 11 o'clock, on top of all the normal business. what time are the tea m normal business. what time are the team due to fly back tomorrow? we reckon around four or five o'clock in the morning, but that is in the hands of kiev airport. there are liverpool end real madrid fans trying to get out, so we will wait to see what happens. there could be a victory parade, so we will wait and see. is 3.5 hourflight into kiev. will they be celebrating tonight,? kiev. will they be celebrating tonight, ? wane if kiev. will they be celebrating tonight,? wane if you not awake, bobby chanting... alex? —— bobby

chanting...!. president trump has issued an optimistic statement about the prospects of a summit with the north korean leader kim jong—un. just a few days after abruptly announcing that the summit was off, mr trump said both sides were now having what he described as "very productive talks". south korea welcomed the prospect of an about—turn — saying it was watching developments carefully. former hollywood film mogul harvey weinstein has been released on a $1 million bail after being charged in new york with rape and sexual abuse. mr weinstein also agreed to wear a gps tracker and to surrender his passport after turning himself in to police on friday. he denies non—consensual sex and his lawyer said he would plead not guilty. rose mcgowan was one of the first people to go public with allegations about weinstein. he tied with god for thanks at the oscars. and to see that constantly, and to live in that town — i was there by myself since i was 15 — and to see people just lay wreaths at his feet even though they knew, today is a good day.

this is a big strike into the heart of abuse of power and it shows people worldwide, which was what i was hoping the whole time, that this cannot and will not stand. some tsb customers are still having problems making online payments five weeks after the bank first reported problems. a number of current account customers and some business clients are unable to fully access their accounts online or via the mobile app. the bank has also admitted to the bbc that there has been a rise in fraud incidents. the problems started when the bank switched its it systems. sir richard branson has told the bbc he's training to be an astronaut. the virgin boss, who for years has been working on his own commercial space programme, is hoping to take his first trip in a matter of months. ben ando reports. first, it was planes. then boats. then balloons. train horn blares. and then trains.

but 1.5 decades ago, sir richard branson set his sights even higher, creating virgin galactic with the aim of offering affordable space tourism — affordable, that is, if you could afford the $250,000 ticket price. now at the age of 67, sir richard has revealed that he is training hard, ready to be fired into space. i am going for my astronaut training, going for my fitness training, going through centrifuge and other training so that my body can cope, hopefully cope well with it when i get into space. how are you getting on? so far, so good. i like to keep fit anyway, so, but no, i mean, to go into space, if you are going to really enjoy your experience, the fitter you can be, the better. when he launched virgin galactic, sir richard expected to be spaceborne by 2010 but technical problems and the disastrous crash in 2014 in which a test pilot died have caused delay on delay. and the competition is catching up,

with entrepreneur elon musk and jeff bezos, the founder of amazon, now apparently leading a charge to get paying tourists into orbit. sir richard knows in this privatised space race, the countdown is on. it feels like it is getting closer. it feels like it is getting closer. it is the centrifugal training that puts me. goodness knows how fast. if anyone is up for it, richard branson is. kensington palace has unveiled a coat of arms for the new duchess of sussex, meghan markle, following her wedding to prince harry last weekend. the duchess worked closely with the college of arms in london to create the design. it includes elements to reflect her home of california, including the state's flower and the colour blue

to respresent the pacific ocean. —— to represent the pacific ocean. there is also a songbird. the lion supporting the shield relates to her husband, the duke of sussex while the songbird on the right represents the duchess. what we will get a toaster after a wedding. buttock rest of arms. a government programme aimed at protecting afghan civilians who worked as interpreters for the british army has been called a "dismalfailure" by mps. the defence committee says not a single person potentially at risk from the taliban had been resettled in the uk so far as part of what is known as the intimidation scheme.

it called for a more "sympathetic approach" to those who risked their lives to support british forces. if the united kingdom gets the reputation for relieving those people who put their lives at risk to help our soldiers at the mercy of oui’ to help our soldiers at the mercy of our enemies when our soldiers are no longer there to look after them, thenit longer there to look after them, then it will be very difficult in future conflicts to find people, local people, who are prepared to do that. let's speak now to the lawyer lewis kett, who's represented a number of afghan interpreters. good morning. so how is this campaign of yours going, and how many interpreters find themselves bound up in all of this? because it is quite complicated, the scheme is that they might be able to apply for in order to try and stay here. yes, the defence select committee's report merely refers to the intimidation policy, which is about if you are locally engaged who has faced threats, once you have

finished your employment with the uk government, and that's correct means you need the assistance of the uk government, then the intimidation policy is supposed to be there for the uk government to step in and protect these guys, particularly afg ha n protect these guys, particularly afghan interpreters, who are seen as a symbolic value to target by the taliban. looking at what the ministry of defence said on this, they say they recognise the vital role that interpreters of local staff have played, but ultimately, as you know, the government's argument is it has to calibrate who is granted the right to remain in the uk and who perhaps is offered security advice back in afghanistan. do you recognise that there has to bea do you recognise that there has to be a line drawn somewhere? do you recognise that there has to be a line drawn somewhere ?|j do you recognise that there has to be a line drawn somewhere? i think potentially, but the line drawn at the moment is certainly wrong. the test the intimidation policy is these guys are having to show that there is a serious and imminent threat and they have exhausted all

other options to make themselves safe. what we know about afghanistan at the moment is the security situation with uk troops mainly withdrawn is only getting worse, and the taliban are getting stronger, and asa the taliban are getting stronger, and as a result, even though these quys and as a result, even though these guys are no longer under government employment, they are still being threatened, and unfortunately the afg ha n threatened, and unfortunately the afghan government themselves find they are not in a position to protect them, and at this point, there needs to be more investigation into these threats. i think the fa cts into these threats. i think the facts speak for themselves, that no one has come to the uk under this policy. morally, do you see this is britain letting down people who were pa rt britain letting down people who were part of a fighting force, part of a british mission in afghanistan, and promised something that has not come to pass? absolutely. i think all the interpreters have been on the front line with british troops. they have put their own lives on the line, and

it is just that. their mandate families are being threatened and targeted by the taliban, so even just quitting their employment, they are still under risk in afghanistan, andi are still under risk in afghanistan, and i don't think anyone is standing up and i don't think anyone is standing upfor and i don't think anyone is standing up for them. thank you very much indeed, lewis kett, representing afg ha n indeed, lewis kett, representing afghan interpreters. it is bbc‘s biggest weekend, but what has the weather got in store for us? you need a better picture than that, matt! you will need to take a brolly with you. it is overall dry, but there is a risk of thunderstorms, especially for england and wales, during the next couple of days, and they could be quite severe.

we do have some showers across southern areas of england and wales, but they could get heavier across the south—west. it does mean brighter skies developing in the east. a bit of hill fog around this morning, seeing that further north, too, long sunny spells, although some of the cloud will linger around northern and eastern coasts. temperatures around 14 in the far north, but 26, 27 towards the south—east of england. if you are heading off to lourdes, it will be a little bit damp on the outfield for the players today for england against pakistan, some morning rain around at the moment, but gradually brightening up with longer spells of sunshine into the afternoon. this afternoon in swansea we could see some heavy thundery showers which will ease away in the late afternoon, you can see them pushing away on the chart, but as we go into the very end of the day, the storms

in northern france could push towards southern counties of england and south wales, and they could be worse than what we have seen in the day, with the risk of some flash flooding and damaging winds. very much hit and miss, many will avoid the bulk of them, and further north, northern england, scotland, northern ireland, through the night stays dry, mrlow ireland, through the night stays dry, mr low cloud developing, little cooler compared to the muddy conditions we have seen. showers will linger across parts of the midlands, but we will see more storms blossom across southern areas of england and wales, rumbles of thunder and hail, drifting northwards maybe into parts of northern england during the afternoon, but much of the north, scotla nd afternoon, but much of the north, scotland and the far north of northern ireland staying dry and sunny throughout, and it will feel very pleasant indeed. notjust us with the storms, parts of spain, portugal, france also seeing stormy conditions and into bank holiday

monday, there will be a focus for the showers, this time northern england, southern scotland and northern ireland. in southern areas, a brighter day with more sunshine, a little mist and low cloud, hot when the sun is out, throughout this weekend, i think the place to be as northern scotland, the north—west highlands sticking with the sunshine throughout. northern scotland, the place to be. i bet they are thinking, it is not often we find ourselves on the side often we find ourselves on the side of the argument where we have the sunshine! they have done very well this weekend, they won't be complaining. now, let's return to kiev, where liverpool fans are gathering ahead of tonight's champions league final. hugh wolstencroft is there for us this morning. good morning. we have heard already from some of the liverpool fans travelling over, but they are not the only ones. we have

a difficult journey they are not the only ones. we have a difficultjourney to get you, i'm joined by some fans of real madrid, the enemy this evening. where have you travelled from? we have come from mexico. what was yourjourney like? we left mexico around four days ago, and we flew to madrid, stayed in madrid a couple of nights and then we flew from madrid today, and then we flew from madrid today, and then we leave after the game and headed to mexico. to celebrate the next cup! you already have it on your arm, you think there will be a 13th coming? of course! why are you such fans to make a journey across the globe? they are going to win this cup, because in the champions league, railmen —— real madrid can win. what you think of gareth bale this season? he hasn't had a great

season so this season? he hasn't had a great season so far, but i think he will be on fire tonight. do you think he will have parts to play tonight? don't think so. i think bale will get one or two goals. and what do the real madrid fans think of liverpool? are you confident you can beat them? what you make of the likes of mohamed salah? he is perhaps the best player of the season, he is really dangerous, but we have ronaldo, we have bale, we are confident. mohamed salah is going to be a tough matchup. what you think ofjurgen klopp? we love him back in the united kingdom, so energetic and passionate compared to zinedine zidane. do you think you can surprise real madrid? zinedine zidane. do you think you can surprise real madrid ?|j zinedine zidane. do you think you can surprise real madrid? i think he isa can surprise real madrid? i think he is a good coach, but zidane is one step up. and your score prediction? 3-1. 3-1. there you have it, they

are very confident. we will see what happens later on tonight. thank you very much, hugh. and the weather looks nice, too. it looks terrific! i went to kiev to cover an election in december, and it was freezing! in summer it looks lovely. 24 minutes past seven. it's one of the world's most famous sailing series — and is about to dock for its only british stop in cardiff bay. the volvo ocean race takes place every three years and sees teams travel around the globe. this year's event has seen a focus on pollution in our waters. before the boats arrive in cardiff, tomos morgan has been looking at how the welsh capital deals with the tonnes of waste that get washed up there. 0ver over the past seven months, these sailors have raced across the world's oceans. in total they'll have covered over 40,000 miles in the volvo ocean race. their latest

leg sees the seven teams traversing across the atlantic from the us to wales. 0ne across the atlantic from the us to wales. one of the main themes of this year's event has been the impact of waste on our seas, but it is not just impact of waste on our seas, but it is notjust the open water that had its problems. cardiff bay, the next race stopover, has been plagued by waste issues over the years. as rubbish and debris float down the rivers, pollution that would usually go straight into our seas gets trapped by the barrage that encircles the bay, and the authorities are left to clean up the mess. we get an average of 450 tonnes a year of litter and debris coming down the bay, and when i've looked into it in other cities, they don't have anywhere near that kind of problem, so it is a definite issue, and if we can do anything about it, it would be very detrimental. since cardiff barrage was built almost 18 years ago, cardiff harbour authority have collected almost 10,000 tonnes of oui’ collected almost 10,000 tonnes of our rubbish, and the amount hasn't been decreasing year on year. budget

cuts are putting a strain on the services, which means now more than ever before there is more need for community engagement.” ever before there is more need for community engagement. i think probably the most graphic personal experience i had was on the river taff, where we saw a seagull eat a latex glove, which was just horrendous. but that just latex glove, which was just horrendous. but thatjust brought it home that unless we actually start tackling this, it is going to be the i'ioi'iti. tackling this, it is going to be the norm. but there are those that can make use of this rubbish. gareth davies took up furniture making as a hobby a few years ago. and 95% of the materials he uses are recycled 01’ the materials he uses are recycled or reclaimed from around the city. it's all about having sort of the vision, the imagination, to use the materials you come across, you know? there is all sorts of plastics that can be reused, especially tyres and

stuff, which can be turned into lovely seats. gareth has been commissioned to create bespoke furniture for the volvo race village, made entirely out of waste collected from the bay, a way to highlight and to help turn the tide on our rubbish. tomos morgan, bbc news, cardiff. it is amazing what they can make, isn't it? anais novel touch to the front room. what, a big tyre? how big is yourfront front room. what, a big tyre? how big is your front room? that looks more comfy than my sofa, to be honest! it is 7.20 seven. you can't have missed the fact that it's bbc music's biggest weekend — with some of the industry's biggest names due to perform. we'll be speaking to some of them throughout the course of the programme but first let's have a look at what fans can expect. # i'm in love with the shape of

you... #we you... # we all have a hunger... # we all have a hunger... # i say, don't you know # i say, don't you know # you say... # you say... # i'm not too good at goodbyes... # i'm not too good at goodbyes... # she fell under my spell # she fell under my spell # and for the way you make me feel # and for the way you make me feel # you always keep it real # you always keep it real # the players going to play, play, play, the haters going to hate, hate... it is hard not to continue that song, isn't it? that is your earworms in song, isn't it? that is your ea rworms in your song, isn't it? that is your earworms in your mind for the rest of the day! and we are going to be joining lizo and the stars later on. stay with us, headlines coming up. hello, this is breakfast

with steph mcgovern and chris mason. good morning, here's a summary of today's main stories from bbc news. exit polls suggest people in ireland have voted strongly in favour of liberalising the country's laws on abortion. reports also indicate an exceptionally high turnout, with many people travelling from abroad to cast their vote. the official result is expected this afternoon. president trump has issued an optimistic statement about the prospects of a summit with the north korean leader kim jong—un. just a few days after abruptly announcing that the summit was off, mr trump said both sides were now having what he described as "very productive talks". south korea welcomed the prospect of an about—turn — saying it was watching developments carefully. former hollywood film mogul harvey weinstein has been released on $1 million bail after being charged in new york with rape and sexual abuse. mr weinstein also agreed to wear a gps tracker and to surrender his passport

after turning himself in to police on friday. he denies non—consensual sex and his lawyer said he would plead not guilty. rose mcgowan was one of the first people to go public with allegations about weinstein. a government programme aimed at protecting afghan civilians who worked as interpreters for the british army has been called a "dismalfailure" by mps. the defence committee says not a single person potentially at risk from the taliban had been resettled in the uk so far via the intimidation scheme. the ministry of defence said it would take note of the criticism. some tsb customers are still having problems making online payments five weeks after the bank first reported problems. a number of current account customers and some business clients are unable to fully access their accounts online or via the mobile app. the bank has also admitted to the bbc that there has been a rise in fraud incidents. the problems started when tsb switched its it systems. a tide of molten rock has turned a street in hawaii into a volcanic wasteland

as the number of homes destroyed by the erupting volcano soared and authorities told residents to flee a surge of lava. my my goodness. it is extraordinary. it is extraordinary. some 2,200 acres of land have been destroyed by lava since the 3rd of may, in what is likely to be the most destructive eruption of kilauea in more than a century. we have one more main story for you. tight swimming trunks have been rated as the uk's most hated piece of clothing. most commonly known as speedos — of course other brands of trunks are available — more than two thirds of briton‘s surveyed said they couldn't stand them. that includes three quarters of all women. our most famous speedo wearer is probably tom daley,

who you can see here. he is the best pr man you could ever have. some of the other clothes people don't like according to this yougov survey... leather trousers, crocs and jackets with elbow patches. i don't mind the jackets with elbow patches. they had brief flirtation of being fashionable, 30 years ago. i know a man who happens to like speedos, he is with us on the city. they have their purpose, such as synchronised swimming. we should have given a health warning with this bt. a lot of swimming pools in france insist you wear speedos, you cannot wear baggy swimming shorts, they put it down to hygiene reasons.

maybe you get seaweed in baggy shorts! wane maybe we should have said before the video, those of a nervous disposition... but you're fully closed today. letters talk about the champions league. we have someone on a coach who has just gone league. we have someone on a coach who hasjust gone into ukraine, and he realised after he had gone through the channel tunnel and got to poland with his wife's passport. but he has been stopped now, and will not get into kiev. wane he will end up watching it in a pub in poland. so a journey that began in mid

august in hoffenheim, could end in glory tonight, in kiev which is where we find our sports reporter, hugh woozencroft. how confident are the fans that they can repeat the success of 13 years ago? yesterday i spoke to a formal liverpool midfielder from 2005, —— former. they had an amazing victory that was a medical on that night, and destiny might be that word again. jurgen klopp is calling on his team to bring this to the best possible end, stopping real madrid from winning a third consecutive champions league title. it is going to be very difficult. clarence

seedorf is plainly appear in a legends match. i also spoke to spare steve mcmanaman. we all know the team, we all know real madrid, and possibly barring gareth bale, they won't change the style. let us hope it is really entertaining. gareth bale will be hoping he can make a difference and eight. this would be a third champions league title for him. more to come from kiev later. thank you. if you want to follow the match, bbc radio match, 5live have you covered.

kelly cates has all the build up from 5pm and then at 7:45 it is real madrid versus liverpool, commentated by alan green and john murray. to wembley. there's another big match as aston villa play fulham in the championship play off final a match that could be worth £280 million to the winner. the villa boss steve bruce says days like today, make the job worthwhile. it isa it is a lonelyjob, even this morning i am having breakfast on my own. every time i get near the staff, they get up and walk. do i smell? that is just the way it is. you look back at the big occasions and hopefully it is another big occasion. it is only a big occasion if you win. a brit has the chance to make cycling history this weekend, but it's not the one that we expected. simon yates had led for 13 stages, of the giro d'italia, but he fell way down the field in a remarkable the field

in a remarkable stage yesterday, as chris froome stormed into the lead. he's got a 40—second lead, now going into the penultimate stage today, as he tries to become the first british man to win the giro. pakistan remain in complete control of the first test against england, after the second day at lords. they ended the day on 350 for eight, a lead of 166, with four of their batsmen making half—centuries. england, who were bowled out forjust 184 on the opening day, rallied late on, and took 3 wickets, but the visitors remain big favourites to win the first test of the summer. rory mcilroy is in fine form at the pga championship at wentworth he leads after the second round, on twelve under par, three shots ahead of his nearest rival. he produced a seven under par round of 65. can't say the same for thomas pieters of belgium — who couldn't hide his frustration after two dropped shots, through his opening three holes. like a piece of celery, he snaps his clu b like a piece of celery, he snaps his club around his neck. that is not the first time, he also did a similar thing with a driver in 2016.

he says, it is part of me, i get mad, but it fuels me. does he have to hold it like this for the rest of the round? i will be speaking more about rugby later on as well. it's being billed as bbc music's biggest weekend — with huge name stars to back that up. ed sheeran, taylor swift and sam smith arejust a few of those performing in swansea this weekend. it's not just wales getting involved, though — all four nations are getting their own huge event. we're sticking with swansea for now though, where we can speak to our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba. good morning. welcome to swansea for this incredible four—day festival across four sites in four nations. swa nsea across four sites in four nations. swansea has the radio! across four sites in four nations. swansea has the radio 1 festival. each of them is being hosted by

different bbc radio networks. later we will see the likes of ed sheeran, and sam smith. music she's with me right now, jorja smith. you must be excited about later. what is going to be in your set? some new songs, some old songs, lots of music. why was it important

for you to do that video in walsall, where you're from? a lot of people i did —— do not know i'm from walsall, soi did —— do not know i'm from walsall, so ijust did —— do not know i'm from walsall, so i just wanted did —— do not know i'm from walsall, so ijust wanted to go home. you need to look at life withoutjudging at. the director got it really well. you have been working with incredible people. drake, how did that happen? i messaged him on instagram and said i really like your music, and he replied to say he wa nted your music, and he replied to say he wanted to work with me. you also helped with the soundtrack of black panther. yes, i worked with kendrick lamar, and we got on really well. you are a classically trained singer. has that kind of training helped you forbid performances like tonight? kind of, iwas helped you forbid performances like tonight? kind of, i was trained from 11, when i started senior school. i

use the elements now, it is good for breeding and singing high notes. use the elements now, it is good for breeding and singing high notesm has been incredibly exciting year for you. you won the brit awards critics choice. i did not think i would win that at all. i did not expect that. i am very grateful, very honoured. we are representing the uk, so it is great. what do you think the atmosphere will be like year later? hopefully fun, and hopefully it doesn't rain. everyone enjoying themselves. you have a new album coming out. that must be very personal to you. yes, album coming out. that must be very personalto you. yes, i cannot wait, lost & found. i'm looking forward to seeing anne—marie and ed sheeran. have a great set later on.

we will speak about what is happening here and in the rest of the uk for the biggest weekend. back to the studio. is the double foodie thing —— hoodie thing i think. wane i can imagine wearing any kind of hoodie, to be honest. iam sure honest. i am sure i have seen somewhere an act of parliament that says it is a bank holiday weekend, which means it is going to rain somewhere? there is a chance this weekend of heavy and thundery downpours, for sure. but by no means is it a write—off of a weekend. lots of warmth and sunshine rain at times, just the continuing risk of some thunderstorms as i will show you. they will be a little severe, so,

today we have cloud and outbreaks of rain around the seven counties of england and wales. further east, the cloud will break, sunshine through. there will be missed and low cloud elsewhere, and staying a little cloudy around the north—eastern coast. temperatures struggle in the mid—teens. could get up to 27 or 28 in the london area. after some rain in the london area. after some rain in the lords area, the sun will come out, things will dry out. but there is an ongoing risk of showers at swa nsea for is an ongoing risk of showers at swansea for the biggest weekend. feature that could be some thunder as well. they will clear early to mid afternoon, and as we go into the evening we will see more severe

storms move from france into the southern counties of england and across south wales. these could come with flash flooding. away from that, clear skies to begin with. mist and fog forming firm some of you, with temperatures in single figures. 16 degrees as a low—temperature tonight in the southern counties of england. some showers will linger, but it will be through southern parts of uk where we see most of storms develop. a good afternoon in the south—west tomorrow. further north, lots of dry and sunny weather, and feeling warm in the sunshine. how do we compare with the rest of europe? if you're heading to the airport today, there are storms over western areas.

sunshine around the coasts of the mediterranean, but temperatures not much higher than we have here at the moment. a little cooler in the algarve. back to us for a bank holiday monday, the focus shifts, scotland, northern ireland with showers. the far north of scotland fearing not too badly. not a bad weekend for you again. 0dds—on for a drier day across the southern counties. very few showers if any. throughout this weekend it will feel pretty warm. i feel so ifeel so much i feel so much better for seeing that picture of the whole of europe, and seeing the everywhere is getting and seeing the everywhere is getting a bit of that rain! it still looks nice, though. it is 7.40 seven. we're back with the headlines at eight. now on breakfast it's time for newswatch.

hello and welcome to newswatch. a week on from that royal wedding, did bbc news get its coverage right, or get caught up in the fervour? and did important stories like the cuban plane crash and the us school shootings get swept aside? this week provided reminders of two recent tragedies with the opening of the inquiry into the grenfell tower fire and the first anniversary of the manchester arena bomb. it was marked on tuesday by a number of bbc news programmes and reports, and also by a bbc two documentary, the night of the bomb, which traced the movements of the bomber, salman abedi. and the police tell us the place where it was put together was this

flat right in the heart of the city centre, which meant that he didn't have far to go at all. although that programme was widely praised, the chief constable of manchester police wrote an open letter to the bbc accusing the bbc of wholly inaccurate reporting, and showing footage of the aftermath of the bomb which was newsworthy viewing at the expense of the families. he went on: those charges echoed by some members of the public were rejected by the bbc, who said in response:

the issue of respecting or upsetting relatives and friends of the victims also cropped up in the bbc‘s news coverage. alan little's report on the commemoration service contained this line. the tv cameras stayed off the faces of the bereaved, respecting their right to privacy in their grief. that decision was applauded by jack carter. now, what were you viewing last saturday morning?

well, almost 80 million of us were tuned in to the wedding of prince harry and meghan markle. most of us were watching on the bbc, which was widely praised for its coverage of the event. but with a yougov poll last week apparently finding two thirds of britons were not interested in the royal nuptials, not everybody was satisfied. here's the reaction of three viewers to what they saw last weekend, starting with mike ryan's thoughts on the news priorities shown on last friday's bulletins. the final countdown to the royal wedding... my concern is that the most important news of the day was the terrible shooting in america, and the horrible plane crash in cuba, and i feel that those were more worthy and more important then the events of the next day. two thirds of the british

public were not interested in the royal wedding. but you wouldn't have guessed that from the bbc's coverage. if it's frivolous and it feeds the royal soap opera, that's fine. but the bbc has a duty to inform and to do that in a balanced way. but once again it has shown that when it comes to the monarchy, it's got a blind spot. i'm not saying the bbc shouldn't cover it, but it should cover it as part of the new cycle, not as the entirety of the news cycle. those who want to watch the royal wedding could do so on bbc one. those who wanted a full and proper news cycle should have been able to do so on the news channel. and the fact that the bbc didn't offer a choice, i think, it goes against their charter obligations of making sure that they offer programming for every licence fee payer in the country. to discuss how bbc news handled the royal wedding i am

joined by gareth allen, the controller of daily news programmes, and by leo stevenson, one of the viewers who contacted us about the coverage. leo, what was your view of it overall? ridiculously over the top. i couldn't understand how so much saturation coverage of this one event, and in all the days leading up to the wedding, and the wedding itself, could be so ridiculously exaggerated to the point that it pushed out far more important stories, backwards into oblivion, to have a whole day on the saturday dominated on the news channel by this one story, and even so on bbc one as well. how many people can't get bbc one and the news channel? what's that about? can we start with that? it does baffle viewers bbc news was showing exactly the same thing for five hours as bbc one, and if you wanted news there was nowhere to go. except that was news, to be clear... apart from the royal wedding... what the news channel tries to do is different to what bbc one is doing.

bbc one is obviously broadcasting a special event for millions of viewers. what the news channel is trying to do, and does on a daily basis, is the main news, live events, go live to events. this was the main live event. rather than having a totally separate set up that duplicated or was separate to bbc one, it may be sensible as a decision to combine that and run it as one. with a news channel ticker, making sure you can see what other news is happening. but there was no news at all on the new channel from 9am to 9:15pm on saturday except for two half—hour sports bulletins. how can you justify that? i think when the nation, on the day itself, as you said, when millions of people are tuning in for this one even at a time when, yes, there was other news, i totally accept there was the cuba crash and the shooting in america, which we did cover the day before when it happened.

but on the date itself the whole country pretty much felt rapt in this event. the ticker service is an important point. it shows in brief, but constantly, what is happening. people can watch bbc one, if they turn to the news channel they want news and they want more than the royal wedding. you have not explained why... hold on, it is notjust the case that you must always show totally different events. if you are going to the news channel for the news and this is the main live event happening, just as we did with manchester this week and grenfell this week, then you are committing to a story. of course. and i don't deny that of course it pushes other news out. you are making an editorial decision that this is the main thing that we want to look at. leo? whatever happened to choice? you've got to channels covering exactly the same event. for a long period of time. and headlines for days leading up

to it, with everything else that is going on, i don't think this is just a poor editorial decision, this actually flies in the face and erodes the whole purpose of the news channel. the news channel is news, plural. other things were going on of great importance. you know what was going on. and this wedding, i've got nothing against it as an important story, it should have been up there. but to have such enormous saturation coverage like that, i think tv license payers deserve better than that. i am never going to argue that everybody is going to be delighted with how much coverage we gave it, and i'm certainly not going to deny we gave it a fair bit of coverage. no two ways about it, of course we did, particularly on the day itself. but in the buildup to it, while we did do a lot of coverage, we absolutely covered other events as well. if you don't mind me saying so, you've got hour after hour of the most inane conversations and speculation about the wedding dress. what about the brief to educate and inform? and entertain.

well, you are down on the entertainment side, but the education side, even the strap lines on the bbc news channel, every time i turned it on, it had something about the wedding. and the wedding was on top of it as well. i accept, there are certain elements — to me, personally, was i massively interested? not particularly. but millions absolutely were in terms of the fashion industry, it being a british designer, why the flowers are chosen. i think, it is a wedding. inevitably with a wedding there will be a lot of conversations about who is arriving at the wedding, who the stars are. that is still informing. that is still entertaining. there is an argument about how much of that is news. i want to bring up some other issues viewers raised in the week running up to the wedding. that connects to the larger issue about how hard this news was. lots of complaints. viewers saying you are treating thomas markle, meghan's father, and whether he would attend, as this huge story, at exactly the same time the royal family was asking for privacy. why?

we did give him privacy, we didn't send anybody to camp outside his house as many news organisations did. you speculated a lot. when he issued statements, which he did, through tmz, when meghan markle herself issued statements, of course we covered that as newsworthy events. i think that is perfectly legitimate. 0ne viewer says it was not hard news to focus on what was going on within the family. it is hard news if the palace is issuing statements and if he himself is issuing statements in any event, which on the saturday and building up to it, is a big event. of course contributory parts to that are going to be news. the bbc sent a correspondent to los angeles to interview a man describing in detail meghan markle's first kiss, with him, at school, when she wasjust 13. if that really appropriate? no, but we didn't do that. we didn't send a person specifically. we sent a correspondent to do quite an in—depth background piece on, who is meghan markle? now, as part of that, yes, she interviewed the people

in the past of her life. i think that is perfectly legitimate to try to find out, who is this person? there was a massive interest in somebody that most people are still unfamiliar with. we didn't send her to interview the person who was the initial boyfriend, no. leo, a final brief word? that is a good example, i am afraid to say, of how bad the editorial decisions were, that that was included in a major news bulletin at all. i'm sorry, somebody‘s first kiss is about as important as my first kiss. it is just not news. if you marry a princess we may well cover that, actually. i'll let you know. thank you for both of you. and thank you for all your comments this week. you too can appear on the programme or have your thoughts included. do call us or email us. that's all from us.

we will be back again next week. bye— bye. hello, this is breakfast, with steph mcgovern and chris mason. ireland is on the verge of history after its referendum on abortion. exit polls suggest a landslide win for those who've been campaigning to end the country's near—total ban on terminations. good morning, it's saturday 26th may. also this morning... harvey weinstein is released on a million—dollar bail after being charged with rape, as his accusers say it's time for justice to prevail. allez, allez, allez. countdown to kick off. the excitement builds for liverpool fans in kiev.