today at 5: the russian journalist reported murdered in ukraine appears to be alive and well. arkady babchenko, seen here in a news conference today, was said to have been shot dead. now the ukrainians say it was staged to expose russian agents. translation: as far as i know, this operation was prepared over two months. i was made aware one month ago. it was made aware how the guys worked, how they dug things up like buffaloes. we'll have the latest from kiev and moscow on this remarkable turn of events. the other main stories on bbc news at 5. the grenfell tower inquiry hears of a grandfather who sacrificed his own life to shelter six people in his top—floor flat. the transport secretary severely criticises the rail industry over the introduction of new timetables. belgian police say the gunman who killed three people in liege yesterday killed someone else the night before the attack. a court hears allegations that a former youth football coach

in southampton and peterborough was a "serial abuser of teenage boys" for many years. and the american comedian roseanne barr apologises for a racist tweet which abruptly ended her television show. it's five o'clock. our main story is the extraordinary turn of events in ukraine, where a russian journalist reported to have been murdered yesterday has appeared alive and well at a news conference in kiev. the journalist arkady babchenko, a critic of the russian governmment, was said to have been shot dead at his home yesterday. but today the ukrainian security chief said the incident had been staged by the security service to expose russian agents operating in ukraine. our correspondent richard

galpin has the latest. last night, it was announced that the russian journalist and last night, it was announced that the russianjournalist and kremlin critic arkady babchenko had been shot dead in the ukrainian capital, kiev. it all looked very real, with police on the scene and quotes that he'd been shot in the back as he returned to his apartment. the ukrainian government soon blaming russia. but this afternoon, he was, the man who was supposed to be dead in fact still very much alive and looking rather well. the ukrainian security service claiming this was part of an operation to catch russian assassins who were allegedly plotting to kill mr babchenko. translation: as far as i know, this

operation was prepared over two months. i was made aware one month ago. over this month, months. i was made aware one month ago. overthis month, i months. i was made aware one month ago. over this month, i saw how the guys worked, how they dug things up like buffaloes. over this month, we we re like buffaloes. over this month, we were in constant contact. we thought things through and worked out the details. the result of that became the special operation, as a result of which one person has been detained. mr babchenko claimed that the operation had led to other big a cts the operation had led to other big acts of terror which had been thwarted. he also apologised to his wife are putting her through hell. at this mysterious turn of events, moscow has said it is happy that mr babchenko is now still alive. but he is now reportedly being closely guarded. several kremlin critics who have sought century in ukraine have been attacked in the past. richard galpin, bbc news. lets get some reaction to this. in a moment we'll talk to our correspondent steve rosenberg in moscow. first let's go to anastasia gribanova in kiev. first of all, what sense are people

trying to make of this events? what is your reading of things? everybody is your reading of things? everybody is extremely perplexed, shocked and relieved at the same time, because it is quite miraculous thing for one journalist be declared dead and then alive in terms of one day. so the emotions are very mixed, but as we know, he is alive, he's well, and everybody in ukraine like the ukrainian president, petro poroshenko, is praising the ukrainian security services, who could prevent this plot from being committed, and the journalist from being killed. so this is rather surreal, and there are so many details which are questionable, so many details of how it could been

organised and how all the details could have been worked out. but what we see, there is a person well and alive, and many people say that is the only thing which matters now. thank you. we will go live to moscow and talk to steve rosenberg. what are people saying about this turn of events today? there is total surprise here. the russian foreign ministry has said that it is glad that arkady babchenko is alive, but they said the ukrainian authorities used this story from propaganda. the head of the foreign affairs committee, the upper house of the russian parliament, he said this was a crazy provocation by the ukrainian authorities. and the chief editor of the newspaper where mr babchenko once worked, he said this was a provocation not only against russia but a provocation against the journalistic community in general. and just one thought here on how this affects the kind of way that people are seeing relations between

moscow and kiev. what is your reading of the kind of dynamics there today? i don't think that will affect the moscow/ kiev relationship. it is already bad, there is no sign of it getting better. but this bizarre twist doesn't really come close to describing what we saw today. arkady babchenko reported dead yesterday and turning up alive and well in a news conference in kiev today has certainly caused a lot of surprise here in moscow. steve rosenberg, thank you very much. it is six minutes past five. the final commemoration hearings for victims of the grenfell tower fire have been taking place at the public inquiry into the disaster. one family paid tribute to a grandfather who sheltered several people from the blaze in his top—floorflat, describing him as a ‘modern—day moses'.

once the hearings are complete, the inquiry is due to begin hearing formal evidence next week. 72 people died as a result of that blaze at the block of flats in west london lastjune. from the inquiry in west london, our correspondent tom burridge reports. seven days of tributes have painted a graphic picture of life inside g re nfell tower. a graphic picture of life inside grenfell tower. it has also laid bare the scale of the tragedy, and again today it has been harrowing at times as relatives have recanted those desperately painful moments, the final moments when their loved ones were trapped inside the burning building and unable to get out. raymond bernard lived in grenfell tower for raymond bernard lived in grenfell towerfor more raymond bernard lived in grenfell tower for more than 30 years. he would have celebrated his 64th birthday last week. my beloved ray was my modern—day moses, my hero. if you were to ask anyone who knew him and who lived in grenfell tower or the surrounding area, they would tell you that ray was a kind, gentle, compassionate man.

his dog marley died alongside him and the bodies of seven of his neighbours were also found in his top—floor flat. there was no way down to escape, the only alternative was to head towards the top floor. there, they met ray and took refuge in his flat. the positioning of the bodies of debra, jessica, berkti and biruk were on my brother's bed with my brother resting beside the bed on the floor. there was a video message from his 84—year—old mother, who never imagined burying her son. raymond was one of my best children, and he passed away from an accident and i really miss him very much. # still waters run deep...

this was raymond's memorial service, his family left angry and bewildered. death should have taken my brother naturally, he should not have been killed in this way. he did not deserve to die by suffocation, cyanide poisoning and ultimately burned until his remains are no more than 30% of who he was. sakineh afrasiabi, a beautiful mother and grandmother. she loved the queen, putting an image of herself alongside the royals. she had moved into grenfell tower reluctantly. she was disabled and after a long wait for social housing was offered a flat on the 18th floor. her family say she was failed by the council. we've come to the conclusion that it was not only the horrifying fire that took my mother's life that night. the discrimination and failure in duty of care by the housing allocations team which resulted in a vulnerable, physically disabled

and partially sighted pensioner to be housed on the 18th floor of a tower block equally took the life of my mum. brave tributes and harrowing memories of a night which ended and ruined so many lives. the inquiry knows it needs the confidence of the loved ones of those killed in the months to come. tom burridge, bbc news at the grenfell tower inquiry. this afternoon we were told that kareen khalufi was not able to get a visa to make it to britain to pay tribute to his sister who was killed. the inquiry was told that he did geta killed. the inquiry was told that he did get a visa at the last moments, but he wasn't able to make arrangements terms of accommodation.

the inquiry was told that they apply for a visa for him to make his tribute to his sister five months ago, but it was only granted two weeks ago. there were also moving tributes from many other people today, including a personal message from a man whose wife was killed in the fire. i am ripped up to pieces. i feel like i lost the fire. i am ripped up to pieces. ifeel like i lost my the fire. i am ripped up to pieces. i feel like i lost my world. the fire. i am ripped up to pieces. ifeel like i lost my world. every friday i go to the cemetery and i sit down and i talk to her for two hours. i know she's listening to me andi hours. i know she's listening to me and i know she loved me to the max, god bless her. she's waiting for me in the next life. every time i talk about her, i feel her soul. in the next life. every time i talk about her, ifeel her soul. i in the next life. every time i talk about her, i feel her soul. i wish in the next life. every time i talk about her, ifeel her soul. i wish i was there that night. she sent me to the moscow, but i wish if i was there. i wish not to witness this pain that i'm going through. the inquiry will hear a mountain of

evidence as it tries to establish what happened, and ensures that lessons a re what happened, and ensures that lessons are learned, but carrying the confidence of the loved ones of those killed will be crucial throughout. tom burridge, thank you very much. let's stay with the inquiry and what it's dealing with. police have confirmed: the london borough of kensington and chelsea, the local authority responsible for the area which includes grenfell tower, is planning to replace thousands of doors in its houses and flats to improve fire safety. it comes as an independent report into last year's fire has criticised the council for its response to the disaster. our correspondentjames waterhouse reports. as fire crews battled to put the fire out at the tower, on the ground people were already looking to give. whether it was food, clothes, supplies or even shelter. now a report, commissioned by muslim aid, working with local charities,

has found these displays of human compassion formed the front line of the response to the fire. it found the reaction by authorities, mainly kensington and chelsea borough council, was weak and lacked direction or coordination. that, says the report, left local volunteers with often no experience of aid work trying their best to help, often overwhelmed. the authority says it will not comment on this until the main public inquiry into what happened is finished. but it has announced plans to replace its fire doors in its social housing across the whole borough. there is a big meeting next week. it reckons 4,000 new ones are needed, costing around 5.5 million. the reason? failed safety tests. councillors say the doors at the grenfell tower didn't block fire for the required 30 minutes. despite these measures, today's focus at least is on what did not happen in the wake of the blaze, like a council helpline not being set up and charities having

to plug the gaps. there is also a warning in the report that a tragedy like this could play out again. because of factors like climate change, vulnerability to terror attacks and the inherent risks of life in crowded, unequal cities. there was complete chaos. i have been to many disasters around the world as an aid worker and i really did not expect to find this level of chaos and chaotic response in west london. so i think what we need to reflect on is that the local service actors again are the ones that are part and parcel of that provision and that response. in the days that followed, there wasn't a single person with a clipboard and hi—vis that we could turn to and get some answers from, or some direction, or some organisation. it was in fact the amazing hundreds of volunteers and the numerous anchor organisations in our community that came out and provided support and relief for us. in response, the council said, "we are committed to learning

the lessons from the grenfell tragedy and therefore we welcome this report as part of the learning process." but the charities say the lessons of this report are clear. in the aftermath of a disaster like this the community should be at the centre of the response, not considered as an afterthought. james waterhouse, bbc news, at the grenfell tower. it's a quarter past five. there are reports from north yorkshire of a helicopter crash this afternoon. police have confirmed that the pilot of this helicopter which crashed in the field in north yorkshire has died. the location of the crash we think is near boroughbridge. we are told there were no passengers in the helicopter. and so far the police have not identified the pilot. the investigations are still going on. but they have confirmed in the past

few minutes that the pilot of the helicopter died in the crash, with no one else on—board the helicopter itself near boroughbridge. any more matt, i will bring it to straightaway. and with that, let's bring you up—to—date with the other headlines. the russian journalist arkady babchenko, reported murdered in ukraine, appears to be alive and well. the ukrainians say his death was staged to expose russian agents. the grenfell tower inquiry hears of a grandfather who sacrificed his own life to shelter six people in his top—floor flat. the transport secretary severely criticises the rail industry over the introduction of new timetables. and in sport, most are will be fit for the world cup, say the egyptian fa. his shoulder injury is expected to only keep him out for three weeks. novak djokovic chitch through to the third round of the french open after winning today, he beat a spanish qualifier in straight sets.

and the challenge cup semifinals will be played back to back at the same venue will be played back to back at the same venue for the first time this year, with bolton's macron stadium hosting the games in august. more on those stories just after half past five. i7 17 minutes past five. the transport secretary chris grayling has criticised the rail industry, accusing it of collectively failing passengers. in a letter to mp5, mr grayling said the imposition of new timetables more than a week ago which caused widespread disruption left travellers facing ‘wholly unacceptable' problems. our assistant political editor norman smith is at westminster for us now. even in terms of sometimes strong words used by ministers, how would you classify this letter?|j words used by ministers, how would you classify this letter? i think it reflects the level of disruption and chaos that commuters have suffered and are continuing to suffer because

of this botched timetable which has resulted in hundreds of services being cancelled or delayed or altered, and that has prompted mr grayling to speak out in this very forthright terms, condemning the entire railways industry, in particular network rail, who he accuses of overrunning and delays on infrastructure projects and engineering work which he believes has had a knock—on effect on the train companies, giving them less time to put in place the new timetabling which in turn has left even less time to negotiate with the unions, to get revised crew rotors in place and to get drivers in the right place and to get trains in the right place and to get trains in the right place, and all that put together has resulted in this situation where, as i say, commuters still are facing considerable disruption with no early end in sight, and the signs are the disruption is going to continue for

some time yet. a lot of debate recently about the nature of this franchise system. it is a hybrid system, and mr grayling has been talking about getting tracks and trains closer together, however you might define that. what is the shape of that debate now? there is now a growing feeling on all sides is that the current setup of the railways simply isn't working and is delivering for passengers, which is why we know labour have made renationalising the railway is one of their core pledges, but on the conservative side, too, there are now mounting calls to bring together at railtrack and the train companies. mr grayling has talked about trying to integrate the management more, but clearly it is not working, and there has now been criticism of mr grayling himself for not taking a more direct role. the rail unions demanding that theresa may sack him, accusing him of being inactive, failing to get a grip,

washing his hands of the crisis, and they say mr grayling ought to take much more radical action, including taking back the franchises of some of those companies who are responsible for the botched new timetables. norman, thank you very much once again. norman smith with the latest on the rail debate at westminster. 20 past five. the man who killed two police officers and a civilian in the belgian city of liege yesterday is suspected of killing someone else the night before the attacks. the country's interior minister said the gunman had a murdered a former prisoner he met while injail. his motive for yesterday's attack isn't clear, but the incident is being treated as terrorism. our europe correspondent damian grammaticas has the latest. they were colleagues, both police officers, both murdered in cold blood. on the left, soraya belkacemi, a single mother who leaves twin 13—year—old daughters as orphans. on the right, lucile garcia, recently married with a 25—year—old son. and new footage taken during the attack yesterday.

the voice is the woman filming shouting at the attacker down on the street. he's on the right. moments after shooting the policewoman and a young man in the car he's brandishing a gun. as soon as realises, the woman retreats. and just a few minutes later she is filming again, armed police have now arrived. you can see them advancing cautiously up the street. the attacker is hiding in a school. he runs out firing. gunfire. this morning, belgian prosecutors gave more details. the fact police were targeted means they are now treating this as terrorism. the facts are verified as terrorist murder and attempted murder. ajudge has been put in charge of the judicial investigation. he ordered an autopsy on the body of the three victims as well as the toxicological examination of the perpetrator. it's seen as terrorist murder, the prosecutor spokesman

eric van der sypt said, based on the fact the perpetrator shouted several times "allahu akbar" and information that the man was in touch with radicalised people while in prison. speaking on belgian radio this morning the belgianjustice minister said he felt responsible for the event. translation: i feel responsible because i am responsible for the prisons. the question is, should this man have been released on prison leave? it is a real issue because in his wish for a suicide he took with him three innocent people. it deserves a self—conscious examination. in the city of liege, people have begun to sign a book of condolences. the questions for investigators are whether the killer planned this as an act of terror and should he have been stopped from being released from prison before carrying out his murders? damian grammaticas, bbc news, brussels. a court has heard that a former youth football coach was a "serial

abuser of young teenage boys". bob higgins, who worked at clubs including southampton and peterborough united, denies 50 counts of indecent assault between 1971 and 1996. our correspondent katy austin is at salisbury crown court. that's right. today the court heard that bob higgins was a talented, highly regarded youth coach. he had worked at southampton football club coaching their youth team from the mid—705 to the late 1980s. he later worked for peterborough united until 1996. thejury was worked for peterborough united until 1996. the jury was told he worked for peterborough united until 1996. thejury was told he had carried out a widespread campaign of sexual abuse against many of those in his charge. the court was told that his behaviour patterns included abusing boys when they were in his command touching them when they stayed overnight at his house. the

prosecution said he operated with a systematic and all pervasive pattern of grooming behaviour, gaining the trust of boys and their parents. the young victims who desperately wanted a career in football idolised bob higgins, allowing, the prosecution say, a predatory paedophile to act with near impunity. in one example thejury heard, one boy had said that he had been told by bob higgins not to tell anybody about allegations about what had happened to him because higgins had enough contact in football to ensure that he'd never play football again. bob higgins denies all the allegations against him, and the case is expected to continue for up to eight weeks. katy austin, thank you very much, katy austin, thank you very much, katy austin, thank you very much, katy austin at salisbury crown court. a 15 year old boy who died after a stabbing in wolverhampton last night has been named by his grandfather as keelan wilson. police were called to the merry hill area of the city after reports of disorder involving young people.

our correspondent phil mackie is in wolverhampton. another teenage life lost to stabbing. keelan wilson lay dying in the street behind me, you can see where the police was standing, around 11 o'clock last night. paramedics tried to save him but he died in hospital. he is the second teenager to have been fatally stabbed in the west midlands this month, ozil pemberton was killed in sutton coldfield a few weeks ago, and there has been a surge in knife crime in the west midlands, just as there has in other cities across the uk. the driver of the taxi which is covered in a blue tarpaulin happened to be picking up affair last night, and he described seeing an altercation between a group of youths who arrived and assaulted keelan, the friend managed to escape on the taxi driver himself was cut. we have scenes of crime officers investigating round here. we have

also heard from chief superintendent jamie who is in charge of policing in wolverhampton. she appealed for information about the attack but also had very strong message about knife crime. this isn't unique to wolverhampton or the west midlands. it is happening in cities across the country. we needed to stop. if we don't stand up together and do something about it, it will get worse. we can't do it on our own. we need the community to help us, we need parents to help us, and we need young people to help one another to stop this cycle of violence. she also said it is time for parents to sit down and talk to their teenage children and say, don't carry a knife. teenagers are often carrying weapons, they believe they hold of but they often use and more young lives are being taken all the time. she also urged the community to come forward and give information, she believed that people around will know he was involved in that disorder last night, she said they

will know who is responsible for keelan ‘s death. we heard from keelan ‘s death. we heard from keelan ‘s death. we heard from keelan ‘s grandfather who described him as an angel and said that when he was nine or ten years old, he had grown his hair long and had it cut off the charity, raised £500 for great 0rmond street. it is another sad loss for another community as we see this beginning of a surge in knife crime again. phil, many thanks for that. it is 27 minutes past five. we will have the headlines at the moment, but let's have a look at the weather. we still have this same mix across the british isles, glorious sunshine and temperatures responding across parts of scotland, but elsewhere you have to contend with a chance of thunderstorms, and we are not done with this mix just yet. storms earlier in the day across the

midlands and wales have gradually swung their way further north. the re m na nts of swung their way further north. the remnants of those getting into northern ireland overnight, and it is going to be a close night, temperature is widely stuck in double figures. and then the new day, just watch out, don't be fooled in the south by a dry start, because these thunderstorms will again roll in from the near continent. further north again you have the best of the conditions, and certainly the driest of the conditions. i urge you to make the most of that, but look at this, here we are on friday with yet more in the way of heavy and thundery showers getting into western parts of scotland, maybe northern ireland, too. some are little further south, but the further south and east you are, the dry your day will be. this is bbc news — the headlines. the russian journalist arkady babchenko — earlier reported murdered in ukraine — has appeared alive and well at a press conference hosted by the ukrainian security service.

the ukrainians say they staged his death to expose russian agents. the grenfell tower inquiry hears of a grandfather who sacrificed his own life to shelter six people in his top—floor flat. the transport secretary severely criticises the rail industry over the introduction of new timetables. belgian police say the gunman who killed three people in liege yesterday killed someone else the night before the attack. a court hears allegations that a former youth football coach in southampton and peterborough was a "serial abuser of teenage boys" for many years. and the american comedian roseanne barr apologises for a racist tweet which prompted a us network to cancel her popular tv show.

the chief executive of the icc says they're yet to receive the full information relating to match—fixing allegations made in that aljazeera documentary. david richardson has told the bbc they're meeting the television company in the next couple of days... and admits the sport is being targeted. we are certainly aware of these groups of corrupt criminals, basically, around the world who are trying to get advantages when it comes to betting on cricket. our whole strategy has been about making sure we disrupt their efforts. education of players has increased tremendously now to the extent

that the target at the highest level is very difficult for these guys and that is what we are seeing and we are very much aware of their going to target the next level down, domestic leagues, even lower, third—grade cricketers, almost producing their own events they can fix themselves, that is the kind of level they are stooping to. we will fully investigate so we can say with confidence there is nothing to it or there is something we should worry about and we will take action. england captain eoin morgan has been named in the one—day international squads to play scotland and australia next month despite fracturing his finger on sunday. morgan chipped a bone in the end of his finger while fielding for middlesex... but should be fit for the one—off odi in edinburgh. wicketkeeperjos buttler will be rested against scotland... with sam billings replacing him in the 13—man squad. this year's rugby league challenge cup semi—finals will be played back to back as a double—header at bolton's macron stadium. last year's winners hull fc are one of the contenders again.

the quarter—finals take place this week, starting tomorrow. the semi—finals will be broadcast in a five hour show on the bbc on the first sunday in august. we'll have more for you in sportsday at half past six. as we've been hearing, a russian journalist who was reported to have been shot dead in ukraine earlier today has appeared alive and well at a news conference in kiev. arkady babchenko — a critic of the russian governmment — was said to have been shot dead at his home yesterday. but today the ukrainian security chief said the incident had been staged by the security service to expose russian agents operating in ukraine. our security correspondent frank gardner is here. is it too ambitious to make sense of

this? it is a pretty murky story, the net result is that i think ukraine does not, well from this. this will play into the hands of moscow because it allows them to say this is a news and was fake news that this was a sovereign government trying to fool the world and in fact effectively building the world that russia had organised the assassination of a prominent kremlin critic. it turned out he was not assassinated. even his wife was fooled and went through hell of this. so on the one hand they may well have thwarted a plot by somebody to attack this guy but the net result is this is fake news and ukraine is obviously a huge critic of moscow and this allows moscow to say look, a lot of the stories i

just made up for the look what happened in ukraine. remember there is this ongoing spat between london and moscow over what happened in salisbury with russia denying the behind that and calling it fake news. when something like this happens it will strengthen their hand. just to bring up online from the foreign office in the past few minutes saying of course it is good news that the russian journalist arkady babchenko is still alive but the point remains that the russian authorities have been targeting independent journalists for many yea rs independent journalists for many years simply for opposing the kremlin. such is trying to push back i suppose at the kind of line some people have in putting out today not least in moscow. the russian foreign ministry has reacted quickly to this, the foreign ministry spokeswoman said the fact that he is alive is good news, if only every story ended like this but she said that propaganda lies at the heart of this. and i think she has a point,

information warfare is a vital part of any kind of conflict and russia is in conflict with ukraine through eastern ukraine and i think that this does not show the ukrainian government in a good light. the light to the world over this but however well—meaning their aim to try to protect this journalist and to flush out anyone who they said was trying to kill him, there are a number of documented deaths in ukraine of kremlin critics, there have been people who have disappeared or been killed in russia. then of course there is alexander litvinenko who was poisoned here on the streets of london in 2006. so there a track record but every story, every incident should bejudged on its own merit independently of track record and in this case i think that this is going to muddy the waters and confuse things and the fact that he isa confuse things and the fact that he is a journalist for whatever reason

was a willing participant in a fake news story is probably going to undermine his credibility to some extent. he is very respect to the followers but this is a strange episode. and you just alluded to this, the journalist himself, inevitably there will be lasting and persistent questions about him now. he is an extraordinary guy, straight out of the pages of a spy thriller, he fought twice with the russian army on the side of the russian army in chechnya and then went on to become a war correspondent. he is only a1, and very much respected by his followers. he writes for an anti—kremlin organ, he seems to have been a strange recently from a lot of russian comics because he has become a little bit extreme. i think this will be taken by even some of his friends is one step too far. frank, thank you very much.

let's talk now to arkady ostrovsky, russia editorfor the economist and author of the invention of russia: from gorbachev‘s freedom to putin's war. thank you forjoining us. what is your take on this and again speaking asa your take on this and again speaking as a journalist, what do you make of this? i think it is a pretty sad story. in one way obviously as the foreign office says and as any of us would feel, it is good news that he is alive. sad in a way that it shows that trickery, fake news, all this stuff, the absurdity which russia has relied on in its war against ukraine actually is now bearing fruit and has infiltrated ukraine itself. with those kinds of friends

you do not need any enemies, frankly. it undermines the credibility of ukraine and shows the degradation of the authorities and away and i think it is beyond the pale of permissible actions for any journalist or any state. but this is a good example of how basically absurdity and pha ntasmagoria a good example of how basically absurdity and phantasmagoria becomes reality. undermines the truth. it is an example of total disregard for reality and truth. looking at the kind of reaction, can you think of a kind of reaction, can you think of a kind of reaction, can you think of a kind of logical path which should have led the ukrainians and their security service to attempt this kind of tactic and think it might work? i'm not sure, really, this u nfortu nately work? i'm not sure, really, this unfortunately is not the first time we have seen fake news being used on both sides of this conflict and this should not muddy the waters. russia was the first to invade ukraine, to

annex crimea, this is particularly distasteful to me because it is coming ata distasteful to me because it is coming at a time of a report being released by the dutch authorities into the death of 298 people in the mh 17 crash over ukraine. in a letter the relatives of those victims wrote the russian people they say you may not think so but we are real, russia has been using contradictory accounts trying to muddy the waters to basically undermine the very notion that true success and we now see this is not just a russian phenomenon but we see it in america, in ukraine. but this is particularly disrespectful i would say to the relatives of those who died in that crash who were com pletely who died in that crash who were completely innocent victims and if

ukraine tried to undermine russia, it only undermined its own credibility. we mentioned reaction but what is your sense right now a few hours after this news began to come out of the kind of response globally to what has been revealed? i think every one thinks the same that this is completely bizarre. and slightly crazy and this i'm afraid is what war does to you. he was a very brave, is a very brave man, a war reporter, he was also soldier one point. a story of a journalist being drawn in this bizarre way into combat and into conflict, i think the reaction of the world will be one of puzzlement and i think that this has done a huge disservice to any country or to the professional

journalism which is trying to describe until the realities, a huge disservice done to the government and particularly including the government of this country because of course russians now will take up this line and say the ukrainians staged this, the sanctions which the west has imposed on russia are about ukraine. where is the evidence that for example the assassination attempt on sergei skripal and what followed that was not staged as well. so i think this is a huge disservice to any journalist who well. so i think this is a huge disservice to anyjournalist who is desperately trying to work its way through his or her way through the fog of disinformation and a disservice to the government trying to stay sane. good to talk to you a thank you forjoining us today. let's return to the

grenfell tower inquiry — the final commemoration hearings for the 72 victims have been taking place. it's due to begin hearing formal evidence next week. the inquiry into the fire is split into two phases: the first will examine how the blaze developed and the second will look at the construction, refurbishment and management of the building. let's take a look at a timeline of events. the inquiry was formally launched on the 1ath of september by the chair sir martin moore—bick, exactly three months after the fire. last monday saw the start of nine days of emotional commemoration hearings where relatives and friends paid tribute to their loved ones. evidential hearings will start next week and testimony from expert witnesses will be heard from the 18th ofjune.

we'll hear from the firefighters who worked on the scene later that month. and closing statements for phase one of the inquiry will be made by core participants at the end of october. let's discuss some of this with martin howe, whose law firm represents many of the victims. martin also spoke on behalf of five bereaved families at the inquiry. first of all a sense of what the initial phase, the commemoration phase has achieved for the families? it has been incredibly important. it is part of the evidence and forms pa rt is part of the evidence and forms part of the evidence going forward. it is important for the families and their loved ones that their stories are told. it would be wrong if this became 72, just a number or

statistic as each person who died, they have had their story told we have seen grief and sorrow. all told with great dignity and great poise and with great love by the families of those who had died. an important clarification there because many people assume that the commemoration hearings albeit very important, why not part of the formal process of evidence gathering at usa it is very much part of that process. it is and thejudge has made that much part of that process. it is and the judge has made that clear and much part of that process. it is and thejudge has made that clear and he has listened to these accounts with huge and quick attention and has also made his own comments and been profoundly moved by them. it has created what i think is a proper bridge between the community and those who survived including the families of those who died and the enquiry. and what has it done for the kind of trust or faith that there affected have in the enquiry itself, the had many questions

initially about whether they trusted the process and whether it would lead to that conclusions and a proper look at what it is, what had gone on. the judge as i said was clearly moved and has listened to it without fail and ta ken clearly moved and has listened to it without fail and taken every story into account and has spoken to each family at the end of each commemoration. and i think that has built a bridge and after all he is a man, a married man, he has his own children and grandchildren and you cannot listen to the stories and not be moved by them. let's talk about the structure of enquiry going forward , the structure of enquiry going forward, the scale and extent of it obviously is pretty impressive in terms of what it is trying to take on, notjust terms of what it is trying to take on, not just what terms of what it is trying to take on, notjust what happened in the firebird the building. what are the

main challenges in terms of the way that it works? it is an enormous enquiry, the amount of documentation involved runs into hundreds of thousands of pages of documents for the soul to master that and to sift it and work out what is relevant is an enormous task. it has to be taken big bits of enquiry will open with state m e nts big bits of enquiry will open with statements from council, that is next week and opening statements will be made by the various corporate expense who then will hear briefly from the experts and they will outline what their findings are so farand will outline what their findings are so far and they will hear evidence from the firefighters and the fire services. then by september we will hear from those who survived and those who lived in the area around and they were witnesses to what happened. because phase one is to find out what happened on the day, and then by the end of this year we expect the chair to give an interim report, if matters arise that are

clearly needing urgent recommendations steps can be taken to ensure that housing around the country indeed internationally is made safer and then he will make those recommendations. after that we go into the second phase, likely to begin at the beginning of next year, thatis begin at the beginning of next year, that is more technical and questions about building design, planning permission, the regulations themselves. the nature of the cladding that was wrapped around the building. we had questions again at the start about transparency, whether all of this, all the evidence sessions would be in public or whether some would be behind closed doors. as far as i'm aware everything is transparent and that is the intention of the enquiry, it is the intention of the enquiry, it isa is the intention of the enquiry, it is a public enquiry, and investigative enquiry, not their to make any criminalfindings or investigative enquiry, not their to make any criminal findings or civil findings against the parties, it is their to get to the truth and every

indication from the enquiry team and judge is that they are driven by that. and given what you stared - what you said, is there any part of the contributions of what we've heard, some of them very painful and moving, any part of that which shared new light on what had happened? which may have already changed the version that everyone has been used to customer there is a time and place for everything and this has not been the time and place to investigate the details of what happened minute by minute. this has been, the stage has been really to put details and family details against those who actually died. so it is not in important in the investigation, was this a breach of regulation, was that a window or

cladding that failed, this has been to put people at the heart of this enquiry and make the foundation right to take it forward. and given what you've seen so far and given what you've seen so far and given what you've seen of the enquiry and its organisation so far, how confident or hopeful are you that it will produce a report which will command respect and confidence where it needs to be commended which is amongst those people who have been affected ? amongst those people who have been affected? i'm sure it will, that is what we all hope for. their advisers involved who are absolutely committed to ensuring no stone is left unturned. thank you very much. italy is still struggling for a way out of the political stalemate that's gripped the country since inconclusive elections in march. the populist five star movement has suggested a renewed attempt to form a coalition with the right—wing party — the league — although it's leader has said he'd prefer a new set of elections. our correspondent

jenny hill is in rome. what is the latest on the political turmoil? we still do not know the president of italy has been holding a series of talks today aimed at trying to end the deadlock. let me recap, back in march we had these inconclusive elections, to the best performing parties, the populist parties have been trying to form a coalition government and their plan was scuppered by the italian president when he refused to rubber—stamp the appointment of finance ministerfor the eurosceptics who has spoken openly in the of his criticism of the euro, he does not like the idea of italy being in the currency. that has led toa being in the currency. that has led to a row which bear in mind one of the party leaders the impeachment of

the party leaders the impeachment of the italian president and has reverberated well beyond this country and its borders, stoking european financial markets and causing concern and division at the highest levels of the eu. that of course is because the key players in all of this are determined to characterise what has been happening here is a bit of a battle between on the one hand the populists of europe and on the other hand the eu elite and on the other hand the eu elite and establishment and that is why the this is so bitter. so tonight it looks as though italy is looking at two choices, either those two populist parties trying again to form a government which is a cce pta ble form a government which is acceptable to the italian president, or we're looking at fresh elections and all the uncertainty that that entails. thank you for that. the american comedian roseanne barr — whose popular tv show has been cancelled by abc because of a racist tweet — has apologised to the hundreds of people who've lost theirjobs. the network said that likening

a former black adviser to president obama to an ape was ‘repugnant and inconsistent with its values'. ms barr has said her tweet was unforgiveable and she regretted it. this report from our correspondent james cook in los angeles contains flash photography. mom, can i have some money? i don't know. mom, can i have some money? i don't know, can i have some money? roseanne barr fronted a tv sensation. housekeeping! a hugely popular sitcom from the 19805 and ‘90s, which made a triumphant return this year. "beep!" that didn't go through. i heard a beep. millions tuned in to see a sympathetic portrayal of white, working—class, trump—supporting america. it came crashing down in a vitriolic twitter tirade. roseanne barr's nastiest slur was aimed at an african—american political opponent. she was referring to valerie jarrett.

i think we have to turn it into a teaching moment. iam fine. i worry about the people out there who do not have a circle of friends and followers who come to their defence. ms barr also attacked hillary clinton and her daughter chelsea, and she falsely called the billionaire investor george soros, who as a jewish child survived the occupation of hungary, a nazi. that tweet was shared by president trump's son, donald trump jr. ms barr issued a partial apology, but it wasn't enough for the abc, who called her commments. .. roseanne's downfall was clearly her own doing, but it's likely to strengthen stereotypes in a divided america with each side accusing the other of intolerance and hatred. let's catch up with the weather. a

real mishmash on offer at the moment across the british isles. not so cheery for some areas with cloud and rain and coastal fog. cheery for some areas with cloud and rain and coastalfog. and we keep some of those elements going over the next few days. some warm sunshine, not all doom and gloom. the remnants of the heavy showers and thunderstorms today gradually moving through the borders and over towards northern ireland to finish off the night. a really close night as we conclude into the small hours of thursday. a little bit of uncertainty about how fast and far north and west these thunderstorms will come but they will come for the

southern half of the british isles, further north some low—level cloud around the coasts again but for many maybe not just around the coasts again but for many maybe notjust as much full on sunshine as the past few days but not too bad at all but make the most of it was through friday we think the centre of gravity of the thunderstorms is moving further north and generally speaking the further south and east you are the more likely it is that you will see a fine day. if you catch one of those thunderstorms, just take care. as the first stage of the grenfell inquiry nears its end — a grandfather is called a hero for giving refuge to others. raymond moses bernard was among 16 people remembered today — his body was found with several neighbours in his top—floorflat our moses, our hero. sadly, where there is nojustice there will be no peace, i will neverforget, i will never forgive. after a charged and highly emotional

two weeks of tributes to the victims, we'll look at where the grenfell inquiry goes next. also tonight. the surreal moment a russian journalist who was reported murdered — turned up alive and well. the two police officers who were among three killed in belgium yesterday — it's revealed the gunman murdered