this is bbc news. i'm alpa patel. our top stories: the prince of wales tells an enquiry he never sought to influence a police investigation into an anglican bishop convicted of child sexual offences. a six—year—old boy dies after being shot with a pellet gun ata dies after being shot with a pellet gun at a house in east yorkshire. president trump says he has performed an economic miracle after figures indicated the us economy was growing at its fastest rate in four yea rs. we are the economic envy of the entire world. no meet the leaders of countries that first thing they say, invariably, is mr president, so nice to meet you, and graduations on your economy. also coming up, soaring heat and thunderstorms caused travel chaos in parts of the country, with rail services and flights cancelled. and from extreme heat to extreme

hail. the heatwave begins to break after weeks of high temperatures. and a blood moon in the sky, as the longest lunatic lips of the century ta kes pla ce longest lunatic lips of the century takes place tonight. —— luna eclipse. and at 11:30pm we will take an in—depth look at the papers with oui’ an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers. stay with us for that. hello, and welcome to bbc world news. the prince of wales has told an inquiry that he at no stage sought to influence a police investigation into a bishop, who was later convicted of paedophile offences. in a written statement to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, prince charles wrote that he'd been friends with peter ball, the former bishop of gloucester, between the 1970s and 1990s.

but he said he was unaware of his crimes, and felt "deep personal regret" at being misled. peter ball, who is 86, was jailed in 2015 and released in 2017. he is too ill to give evidence to the inquiry in person. sophie long reports. and what hurts our hearts most... peter ball was a senior figure in the anglican church of the decades. —— for decades. he was bishop of lewes from 1977 until he became bishop of gloucester in 1992. he was a man with friends in high places. prince charles attended his installation and invited him to his home. but in 1993, peter ball resigned his position and accepted a caution for gross indecency. any message for the victims? i'm very sorry. it wasn't until 2015 that he was convicted for abusing 18 teenagers and young men and jailed. today, while prince charles was at raf marham, he tried to distance himself from the man he once called a loyal friend.

in a letter read out to the inquiry by its senior counsel, he said he had ceased contact with mr ball when he was found guilty of serious offences against young people. it remains a source of deep personal regret that i was one of many who were deceived over a long period of time about the true nature of mr ball's activities. clarence house said prince charles didn't know about the caution until 2009 and he said he hadn't been aware that a caution carried an acceptance of guilt. one of ball's victims, who wants to remain anonymous, told me he did not feel that was good enough. i felt very let down by prince charles. we have been fighting for 25 years for this inquiry. and the fact that prince charles did not come out and say that he was absolutely devastated as to what had happened to us was hurtful. in 1997, peter ball and his brother were found this house in rural

somerset, then owned by the duchy of cornwall. prince charles wrote to him, saying he longed to see him settled somewhere that gave him peace and tranquillity. the two men exchanged letters over two decades. "life continues to be pretty nasty for me," ball wrote to the prince. "it seems my accusers still want to continue their malicious campaign". "i wish i could do more," prince charles wrote later, "about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated." two years later, the prince calls one of ball's accusers "a ghastly man", adding, "i will see off this horrid man if he tries anything again". in his letter to the inquiry, prince charles said he did not recall whether this was in reference to an individual accuser or a member of the press. prince charles said he hadn't been aware of the true context and details of the complaints against peter ball until his trial in 2015. he said during the 1980s and ‘90s, there was a presumption you could take people such as bishops at their word,

but he was clear that he never sought to influence the outcome of a police investigation into peter ball, nor did he instruct any of his staff to do so. sophie long, bbc news, south london. earlier, our royal correspondent nicholas witchell explained how prince charles will be reacting to this. knowing what we know now, for prince charles to have written as he did in 19 -- 1995 charles to have written as he did in 19 —— 1995 expressing sympathy for the "monstrous wrongs" supposedly done to bishop ball is undoubtedly embarrassing. this suggests a degree of maybe two, a disinclination not to ask proper questions about why he had to resign as bishop of gloucester. but that is a 2018 perspective. we must remember that in the 1990s, many people and many institutions were failing to ask proper questions, the bbc included,

aboutjimmy southwell. we must also remember that bishop ball was extremely well—connected within the establishment. lawyers for some of the victims have said that among the establishment there were people who exhibited a wilful blindness towards his behaviour. in the case of prince charles, two things we should remember, i think. charles, two things we should remember, ithink. first charles, two things we should remember, i think. first of all, he is keenly interested in faith. he is attracted to charismatic man of faith. he said bishop ball was interesting and engaging. the other thing i think we should remember is that in the mid—19 90s prince charles felt he was being unfairly criticised by the media, and i think that may have made him unduly sympathetic to this charismatic figure who said he was being victimised by the media and others. certainly, today, within clarence house, there is deep regret, as the prince said in his statement, there is frustration and there is anger that the good faith which was invested in this man was so grievously betrayed. nicholas witchell reporting there. a

six—year—old boy has died after being shot with a pellet gun at a house in east yorkshire. stanley metcalfe was visiting relatives in the village of sprightly at the time. sta nley time. stanley metcalfe loved football, here showing his support for his local team, whole city. he was starting the summer holidays by visiting relatives in the small rural village of sprightly when a pellet gun went off. stanley was rushed to hospital but died of his injuries. humberside police say it is not clear how the six—year—old came to be shot. we are still investigating the circumstances of what exactly happened. the initial indications are that this was a tragic accident involving a pellet gun. we have not made any arrests in connection with this incident but we are speaking to a number of family members to assist us with our enquiries. today the family home was cordoned off with police working

inside and out. it is understood sta nley was inside and out. it is understood stanley was with elderly relatives at the time of the shooting. humberside police say that although not all such weapons require a license, they are working to establish whether the pellet gun involves needed one, and if so, whether its owner was registered. sta nley‘s whether its owner was registered. stanley's family are being supported by specialist officers. friends and neighbours have described the shooting as a surreal tragedy. the us economy is growing at its fastest rate in four years, pumping president trump to describe it as historic. growth rose to 4.1% between april and june, driven by strong between april and june, driven by strong consumer between april and june, driven by strong consumer spending and a surge in exports as firms rush to beat new trade tariffs imposed on the us. the white house hopes the strong economy will divert attention from the controversies surrounding alleged russian involvement in the 2016 election. with more, here's our north america editorjon sopel. the sun shone and donald trump

beamed as he basked in the warm glow of these latest economic figures. this is what he promised the american people and now, 18 months or so into his presidency, he can say this is what he's delivered. these numbers are very, very sustainable. this isn't a one—time shot. i happen to think we're going to do extraordinarily well in our next report next quarter. i think it's going to be outstanding. i won't go too strong because then if it's not quite as good, you won't let me forget it. the economy is powering ahead but these figures don't take account of the trade war launched against mexico, china and the european union and the retaliation taken against us products. and though donald trump says the economy is set fair, the effects of the tariffs are yet to feed through. i think there will probably be a lower number in the next quarter of data just because there will be some give—back. we had a temporary surge in exports

and that is not going to happen, that is people buying stuff ahead of the tariffs going up. the other reason why these figures are such a welcome tonic is it allows the president to try to shift the conversation away from russia, a subject which took another murky twist last night. the white house believes that people will be much more interested in their wages, livelihoods and the state of the economy than they will be in whether there was collusion between donald trump and the russians over the last election. michael cohen, his long—time lawyer and personal bag carrier, has let it be known that he is prepared to testify, that donald trump was lying when he said he knew nothing about meeting held at trump tower before the election, with a kremlin linked official promising to dish dirt on hillary clinton, a potentially explosive claim. donald trump's current lawyer was sent out to do a number on the ex—lawyer. nobody that i know that knows him who hasn't warned me that if his back is up against the wall, he will lie like crazy because he's lied all his life.

but this was rudy giuliani just a couple of month earlier. the man is an honest and honourable lawyer. the president entered the fray this morning, saying: thank you very much, everybody. mr president, are you going to go to moscow? as donald trump left the south lawn, there were no shouted questions about the economy. it was all russia. the issue thatjust won't go away. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. today was set to break records for the hottestjuly day ever. instead, high temperatures gave way to hail storms and heavy rain in many parts of the country. it has been causing problems with rail services, especially in the north of england. in london... in surrey... in york... and in norfolk. the summer heatwave breaking in spectacularfashion. after weeks of baking temperatures, the met office issued an amber warning for heavy rain and thunderstorms, over fears

possible flash flooding could pose a risk to life. police have been warning of the dangers of wild swimming. a 13 —year—old boy remains missing in clacton and the body of a 17—year—old boy was found in a quarry lake in warwickshire. we were called at around 6:30pm last night, after concerns were raised for a 17—year—old boy who was reported to have entered the water. formal identification has yet to take place, but next of kin have been informed. earlier today, lightning caused severe destruction across the east coast mainline, after it damaged signalling equipment in york. it is absolutely stiflingly hot in here. there is no air conditioning, we have had no information about the air conditioning and the buffet is closed, there is nowhere to get water. the extreme weather led to travel problems for eurotunnel passengers. the heat causing issues with air conditioning and carriages. we spent approximately five hours waiting in queues. there was nowhere to go, there was no refreshments, there was no updates. but in margate, those who could, took to the beach to enjoy the weather. the kids are off school, it is a lovely day, a day off work, you just want to be in the sunshine at the beach. you still always have to come out to the beaches,

like i said, because of this heat in london, it is not very nice. there is the pool that i really like and the weather is very hot. and that heat is set to come back at the end of next week. chi chi izundu, bbc news. well, we will find out how many of the papers tomorrow have been covering the weather. some talk of climate change being to blame in some of them, i can tell you. we will bejoined some of them, i can tell you. we will be joined tonight i rachel comely from the newspaper city am and robert fox from the evening standard. dojoin and robert fox from the evening standard. do join us just after the headlines at 11:30 pm. five people, including a four—year—old boy, have died in a road crash in north—east scotland. it happened on the a 96 just before midnight. five others were injured. the tangled, horrific aftermath

of a fatal late—night crash between two vehicles on one of scotland's busiest roads. for much of the day, police remained on site. the debris a sign of the efforts made to free those injured. a few hours earlier, emergency services, including the coastguard helicopter and locals, had worked together in the darkness to help those caught up in the collision. the dreadful scene faced by emergency responders was both distressing and extremely challenging for everyone involved. i would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who made valiant attempts to save the passengers' lives. their efforts cannot be underestimated. i would also like to thank members of the public who came across this terrible incident and phoned the emergency services, and provided first aid and comfort. the minibus had been carrying italian tourists. two of them, including a four—year—old boy, were among those who lost their lives. the three passengers in the car also died.

it's believed they were friends who lived locally and had been returning from a social event. this is clearly a truly horrific road traffic accident. everyone i've spoken to in the local community are shocked and find it hard to take in just how many people were affected by this accident. it is not yet clear what happened here. investigators will now be trying to piece together why this crash occurred, and why so many lives were lost. lets just have a look at the latest headlines he bbc news now. prince of wales tells an enquiry he never sought to influence the investigation into an anglican bishop, accused of child sexual abuse. president trump claims is america's policy is not working as us economic growth it is an annual

rate of over 4%. the faster since 2014. -- hits. -- rate of over 4%. the faster since 2014. —— hits. —— fastest. austria's chancellor has told theresa may it is important to avoid a high brexit. the two leaders have been meeting in salzburg, where mrs may also used a meeting with her czech counterpart to push for greater collaboration with the european union. arriving for a night at the opera, at the end of yet another bruising brexit week. theresa may is finally starting her holidays with mozart's the magic flute, in the city of his birth. she's the guest of austria's chancellor, sebastian kurz. in a session of talks earlier, she tried to persuade him to urge a softer brexit stance

from the entire eu side. but, at this particularly tense moment, both deliberately said very little publicly. and i hope that we can find a way that also after the brexit, the relations between the uk and austria and the uk and the european union remain very strong. we are delivering on the vote that the british people made. they chose to leave the european union and we will deliver. so, could austria prove to be a british ally? this is a country both highly conservative and eurosceptic. hostile to migrants from outside the eu, but not to freedom of movement inside it. tonight, austria's foreign minister told me brexit has pushed her country deeper into european unity. the current uncertainty of what brexit will be like, has in a different way shaped

austrian public opinion, that people have become a little bit more pro—eu than they used to be. a little bit more supportive of the 27? exactly. it doesn't look like theresa may got much comfort from the czech prime minister either. another leader she's been meeting here. some other eu leaders may be sympathetic, but, and it's a big but, when britain says you must blink first, they tend to stand solidly together and say no, after you. so, for mrs may, tonight's mozart, a serious fairytale, offers an escape and her holiday in italy does start tomorrow, but it's only an interval before the hardest bargaining britain has ever faced. james robbins, bbc news, salzburg. the government is terminating its contracts with private firms wanting probation services in england and

wales after admitting they are not providing value for money. —— running. the service was split in two by the then justice running. the service was split in two by the thenjustice secretary chris grayling in 2013. there are currently 21 contracts with companies to supervise low and medium risk offenders. now, although private contracts will end in 2020, two years early, and that is at a cost to the taxpayer £170 million. —— off. lunch, shortly to be served in this community centre. but back in the kitchen, the staff are also serving sentences. this is community payback. you have criminals working him. is that a bit odd, what do you think about? it is great, to be honest. yes, it is. i have been sent

here because a benefit fraud so obviously, it is payback, isn't it? the fact they have been tastier, it is amazing place. you know, when you have been convicted with something, you have to do your time and it is the best way you can do at. this is privatised probation, the government contracted out to engage new ideas to getting criminals out of crime but it has run into trouble, in particular the natural trouble. these companies are paid to each offender they persuade not to reoffend, but the courts have been sending fewer of them, partly becausejudges and sending fewer of them, partly because judges and magistrates are uncertain as to whether these sorts of schemes work. sure, since the new system was introduced, 2% fewer criminals have been reoffending, but those who do i reoffending more often. the chief probation officer says staff cuts mean they get less

attention. a good proportion actually have been supervised by telephone, telephone only contact, andi telephone, telephone only contact, and i have long argued that that is just unacceptable. but you do not change people by not engaging with them and not meeting them and not seen them stop right thenjustice secretary chris grayling came up with the privatisation plan. mr grayling is comparable, he drove his two against advice, he refused to listen to the experts. he refused to even listen to his own internal risk assessments that said there was an 80%, 90% chance of failure, so he bears a lot of responsibility. and so for years and fourjustice secretary slater, a lot of rethinking about the rehabilitation companies. support needs to be better than it is at the moment and i think, to be honest, it has been a bit mixed. there are some areas where they are working much more effectively than others, and i think that we need to make sure that we

raise standards across the board. so he is terminating the contract two yea rs early in he is terminating the contract two years early in 2020. private companies will still be involved in future but they will be given tougher standards to ensure they get more criminals out of crime. millions of people around the world are gazing starwood is the night to catch the longest lunar eclipse. —— gazing at the stars. passing through the shadow of our own planet. in the darkest skies, stargazers took in the view of the moon during the longest lunar eclipse of the century. 0ur natural satellite spent one hour and 43 minutes cast spectacularly red, as it was totally eclipsed by the earth. the moon is passing right through the centre of the earth's shadow, so it is where the earth's shadow is at its widest and so it lasts the longest.

the only light from the sun that can reach it is actually the light that has been filtered through the earth's atmosphere and that is why it goes this beautiful dusky red colour. at the same time, our solar system neighbour, mars, will be as close as it is possible to be to the earth on its own journey around the sun, significantly improving our view of it. this recent picture captured by the hubble telescope shows the detail of a dust storm on the red planet. much of the uk is being covered by cloud but if even pockets of sky clear, the end of the eclipse could be visible until around midnight. and during that time, a partially red moon will appear in the same south eastern skies as a bright red mars, so at least the weather has some time to perhaps grant us a glimpse of this celestial show. victoria gill, bbc news. that last shot was not filmed tonight, there is no way. i am joined by professor of space and

climate science at university couege climate science at university college london. hejoins me now from guildford. had he seen its? no, u nfortu nately guildford. had he seen its? no, unfortunately not. it is rubbish, isn't it? too much clout. yes, there isn't it? too much clout. yes, there isa isn't it? too much clout. yes, there is a bit too much clout and it is rather near the horizon as well. i was lucky enough to see mars though. of course, that they were both beautiful than bat there was just too much cloud tonight u nfortu nately. too much cloud tonight unfortunately. —— cloud. too much cloud tonight unfortunately. -- cloud. if you are ina get unfortunately. -- cloud. if you are in a get blocked by buildings as well, don't you? that is right, so being on here would be the best thing but of course, there is no point really if it is cloudy. nevertheless, there could be pockets of places that might be possible to see it, so it is certainly worth having a try. but the last couple of nights, it is actually been fantastic seeing mars because mars is very bright in the sky. the moon

was also very bright in the sky last night and the night before, at a little bit further over the miles. at the moment, if only we could see it, the moon and mars are quite clear. the moon still with a partial lunar eclipse, so partially read and partially white on the surface. mars is glowing red, much smaller but of course very bright, looking like a bright red star. mars is a fantastic object, of course, anyway, any day of the year, but at the moment mars is particularly interesting because there is a big dust storm on the surface of mars, which means that the 0pportunity rover cannot be operated at the moment, the discovery rover is operating and the orbiter operating. but of course mars is exciting because we know of underwater lakes and water as well, it is back in the headlines as well. yes, absolutely. just two days ago, the european space agency commission

announced that they had found under the liquid polar caps —— under the, liquid water. we are going to be doing that ourselves, we have rover thatis doing that ourselves, we have rover that is going to be launched in 2020 and arrive in 2021. that will be drilling underneath the martian surface to find signs of life. we're really excited about the mission and that result actually makes even more excited that we will see the possibility of life on mars, so that isa possibility of life on mars, so that is a fascinating mission to come. back to the moon. in layman ‘s terms, why is it doing what it is doing tonight? well, the son, mars and the moon are all in the line, which means that the earth's shadow is cast onto the moon. —— the sun, the earth and the moon. bluelight

scatters quite effectively, but the red light just scatters quite effectively, but the red lightjust goes straight on and so this red light is going on to the moon ‘s service, and the moon glows red. if you are on the surface of the moon and looking at the earth, back at the earth, it would actually see read all around the earth's, i think that is a wonderful thought, and that is the light that is making the moon read at the moment. and that is the light that is making the moon read at the momentm and that is the light that is making the moon read at the moment. it is like a prison —— prison effect, isn't it? the bluelight scatters in the atmosphere, that is why we see a blue sky and, on the earth, but the red just goes straight through basically and we can see that on the surface of the moon. there are other lunar eclipses, although it is cloudy tonight, there are about

three orfour a year. cloudy tonight, there are about three or four a year. actually, we have another one in the uk have we can wait untiljanuary and of course, hopeful cloudless skies then. it has been fascinating talking to you, i will let you get back outside. yeah, i'm going to have another look. some people have been lucky enough to catch a side of the blood moon eclipse. let'sjust have a look at a collection of images now, these are from around the world tonight. it still continues to fascinate. and the weather does as well here on earth. nick has the week ahead. friday's thunderstorms sport and into the heatwave which lasted for most of the week, with temperatures above 30 celsius. this weekend will feel much cooler, especially where it has been so hot. it will be breezy than we have had recently. a look and feel this weekend will be

quite different to what we have a new suit. —— been used to. 0n on saturday, still to begin with, some heavy and bunbury rain around, especially through eastern parts of scotland, clearing northwards. sunshine and showers following behind, some of those have been pondering, especially into northern ireland. the temperatures colours indicate that temperature drop off, most noticeable where it has been