this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 8pm. families and doctors will no longer need to go to court, if they agree to end the life of a patient, in a persistent vegetiative state. northern rail reinstated most of the services it suspended after a new timetable led to severe problems, but passengers still face more cancellations. votes are being counted in zimbabwe's first presidential and parliamentary elections since robert mugabe was ousted. it's been over four years since malaysian airlines flight mh370 dissapea red. today investigators released a report into what remains one of the greatest mysteries of the modern age. one of the largest luxury fashion brands opens it's doors to us, as we take an exclusive look at max mara's archives. good evening and welcome.

the courts will no longer have to decide if life saving support should be withdrawn from patients who are in a persistent vegetative state or who are minimally conscious. providing both families and doctors agree, food and liquid can be stopped to allow such patients to die. until today's ruling by the supreme court, it has often taken years for cases to drag through the courts, increasing the anguish of the families of the thousands of people affected, being kept alive in nursing homes and hospitals through medical intervention. sophie hutchinson reports. cathy renson—brink‘s brother matty was severely brain—damaged in a hitand run accident when he was just 16—years—old. he then spent eight years in a vegetative state. she says the family had to go through the painful

process of asking the court to allow food and water to be withdrawn so that he could die. and that's one of the difficult things about going to court, i had to swear an affidavit saying that i wanted my brother to die. i didn't want my brother to die, i wanted him to get better but i wanted him not to have been knocked over in the first place but i couldn't have any of those things and that's the thing for all the families in this situation. they don't want to have to go to court to say that they want someone to die. they want them back and if they can't have them back they don't want them in a nursing home for years and years and years. today's landmark ruling by the supreme court means that when families and doctors agree, they will no longer need to seek permission from judges. that means they can decide whether life—sustaining nutrition can be withdrawn from a loved one in a persistent vegetative or minimally conscious state. today's ruling is hugely significant for potentially thousands of families who find themselves in some of the most tragic situations. those who agree with doctors that their loved ones should be allowed to die.

they can now make that decision in the quiet of their home in hospital or elsewhere without the strain of having to go to court. it's estimated there are tens of thousands of people living in a vegetative or minimally conscious state in the uk. patients with almost no prospect of recovery who are kept alive with artificially administered food and water, some for decades. those who represent families have welcomed the new ruling. it's a really good decision for a sensible and compassionate society, to allow doctors and families to get on and make decisions on behalf of their patient in their best interests. the hillsborough victim tony bland was the first patient in england who the courts allowed to die by having food and water withdrawn. since then there have been 100 such cases and some are concerned that removing the safeguard of asking the courts‘ permission could be dangerous. these decisions are very difficult, they

need to be made by specialists. diagnoses are often wrong, the courts have overturned decisions before, and this is why we feel that this severely compromises the lives of these vulnerable patients. but where there is disagreement between families and doctors, the courts will still have the final say. cathy is adamant, though, that if court can be avoided, it's a kindness. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. well, let's speak to doctor richard huxtable, who's professor of medical ethics and law at the university of bristol. dr huxtable joins us live, via webcam, from bristol now. a very good evening to you. do welcome today's ruling? i do. it is a civil ruling and not entirely surprising one, if we go back, as

your report mentions, the first ruling involving a patient in a vegetative state. the court mayor said asa vegetative state. the court mayor said as a matter of good practise, similar cases should continue to come before the courts. but if we look to those decisions that have come before the courts, and we noticed that the great majority had indeed resulted in the same decision, that is the decision to stop the tube feeding and there were people asking, quite understandably, why be allowed these patients and these treatments? biscuits he restoring a measure of consistency. you are saying then in some ways it was case of tony bland that changed the landscape. that was back in 1989. so why has it taken until now for this decision to be taken? that isa very for this decision to be taken? that is a very good question. i think there was a degree of feeling towards what might be legally and perhaps even ethically the most sound policy or position on all of this and we have reached that point over the intervening decades where

the courts decision became fairly certain, fairly predictable, so there was a degree of comfort, with there was a degree of comfort, with the courts and amongst the courts so they felt now was the time, that was they felt now was the time, that was the case before them, a time to rule as they did. there will be people, presumably, who would say it is possible for someone in a persistent vegetative state to, for their brain function to improve and therefore, this is wrong. what do you say to those people? there are in science as in medicine, uncertainty. there will be uncertainties, that is not to say that today's ruling removes any safeguards. we can look for example to the legal principles underneath the ruling, divided by the medical capacity act of 2005 and that signals very clearly the decisions to be made in the best interests of the patient. it involves looking to the science, to the medicine, but also involves looking to wider factors, as the

views of the family. particularly about what the patient might or would have wanted. there is one protection. another would be a great many hospitals have what are called clinical ethics committees. they are there to advise the ethically difficult cases and of course the courts themselves. they are not going anywhere. they signalled very clearly today if there is a difficult case with this agreement or dispute or uncertainty, they can be called on to make the decision. are you saying you are satisfied that there are enough safeguards to protect particularly vulnerable people? it feels like there is a framework for those of safeguards but i think we need to remain vigilant of course. if people are concerned, they need to have these discussions. an encouraging signs include the fact that medicine seems increasingly to be moved towards shared decision making, decisions between the patients and professionals but also professionals and the families of patients like these today. there are protections

there, but we should remain vigilant andindeed there, but we should remain vigilant and indeed as a society, we should continue to discuss the ethical interest there. how are they best serve? how are people best protected? really good to talk to. thank you so much for your time. thanks. we will find out how this story and many others are covered. in tomorrow's front pages at 10:45 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are james rampton, who's the features writer at the independent, and the political commentator, jo—anne nadler. rail services in the north of england that were scrapped in may during a timetable shake up have started to run again. but angry commuters have still faced cancellations and delays across manchester, merseyside, lancashire and yorkshire. 0ur correspondent danny savage is at preston station and explains how the new timetable has gone down. it was back in may when they introduced that new timetable. it was followed by chaos. they cancelled dozens and dozens of services. introducing emergency timetable until today.

when they tried to put 75% of those services backend. we have been talking to commuters across the area about how they found the last few weeks and today. just after seven this morning, lorna fitzpatrick is waiting in burnley for her daily northern service to leeds. it arrives on time, but lorna says the new timetable means more stops and more passengers. i have this dread every single morning because i know the train is probably going to be late and i'm probably not going to get to work on time, as usual. on behalf of northern, i would like to apologise... every single aspect of my life revolves around the strain and i am just absolutely sick of it. at the end of my tether. it has such a massive impact on my life, in my professional and my personal life and i cannot be the only one in the situation. northern says and more gradual introduction of its timetable will ensure a more stable and reliable service. but again, today, the delays

and cancellations, the mayor of greater manchester says enough is enough. today, i have called on the prime minister to intervene, because passengers in the north cannot keep winning the daily lottery of turning up at the train station, hoping that they will be able to get to work on time. they deserve much better than this. and that was reflected at this company in manchester, who are having to build their working day around the delays of staff commuting on northern. there is usually lots of calls, at half eight, saying they're going to be delayed, they are going to be late. it's a bit of a chaos, rearranging meetings. so, if we have got to pitch, we're going to be trying to win new work, it's having a huge impact on us being able to win new business and grow. northern blamed the shortage of drivers for the chaos back in may. they say training has now happened. the unions disagree. you are operating services over time. that says to me and to our members and i expect to passengers, that we have not gotten the staff in the first place. there were certainly fewer complaints on

social media about the trains today, but the commuters we met believed the real test will be in september. and that is because that is when they will introduce the other 25% of services, which will add. which they have not put back into place yet. that will happen in september. that is when the commuters will turn en masse after the summer holidays as well. we have repeatedly asked since last week, northern railfor its interview on camera, they have declined to give one. the funeral has taken place of dawn sturgess who was poisoned by the nerve agent novichok in wiltshire three weeks ago. among those attending was her partner, charlie rowley, who was hospitalised in the same poisioning. miss sturgess died after coming into contact with novichok which may have been discarded during the attack on the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter in march. jon kay reports. killed by novichok. today, dawn sturgess was remembered as an innocent victim and as a fun—loving mum of three. her private funeral service included

james blunt‘s song beautiful dawn and the track from fame, i'm gonna live forever. it is a very emotional experience. the vicar who conducted the ceremony told me dawn‘s11—year—old daughter was among those to address the congregation. she just said how much she loved her mum and how much her mum had loved her. which resulted in a round of applause from everybody in the crematorium, just to say how marvellous she had done that and how courageous she had been. the vicar said despite earlier advice about possible contamination risks, he was able to touch the coffin during the blessing and pallbearers carried it into the crematorium as normal. charlie rowley, who was poisoned with novichok at the same time as his partner, sat on the front row as family and friends paid tribute to the ali—year—old. i'd like people to think of dawn not

in a sad sort of sense, in that she has passed, but in a happy sense in that she was a lovely person and very helpful to anyone who was in need of help. tonight, work continues here to establish where the couple came across the deadly poison. meanwhile, the hostel where dawn sturgess had a room is in the process of being reopened. at her funeral, prayers were said for this entire community, where so many are still in shock. john kay, bbc news, salisbury. more than 50,000 people have now fled their homes in california, as twelve thousand firefighters battle to contain a number of wildfires which have swept across parts of the state. eight people are now known to have died, including four firefighters. the blazes in california are among around 130 major fires currently burning across the us and canada. james cook sent this report from lakeport in northern california.

the fire season is no more. california is now ablaze all year round. in the past six years, not one month has passed without a major wildfire here. just now, 17 are burning up and down the state, causing problems for battalion chief paul fleckenstein and his team. the fire that's coming up behind us is a little enthusiastic right now. it's reacting to the wind and the fuels. it's coming up from the bottom below us, mostly the thermal column is carrying it up, it's catching the brush, you can hear it cook off the moisture, that's the crackling part. then it's picking up the embers and throwing them kind of where we are not looking for them to go right now. across north america, tens of thousands of firefighters are battling to save life and protect property, setting controlled burns like this one and hacking away at the undergrowth to try to deprive the wildfires of fuel. it is relentless and

often dangerous work. quite how dangerous was underlined again with the death of brian hughes, the 33—year—old captain of the arrowhead hotshots. he was fighting this blaze near yosemite national park when he was struck by a falling tree, the fourth firefighter to die in california's current wildfires. this is the latest threat, fire advancing on the town of lakeport, adding to the evacuations. 50,000 people in the state have now fled their homes. but staying can be deadly. in the mountains of shasta county, where this village was reduced to ashes, police say they found the body of someone who had refused to leave. these pictures of the fires sweeping in were filmed by a helicopter pilot. they show it jumping the sacramento river, leaving two young children and their great—grandmother among the dead, and the fear here is that this is what the future looks like.

james cook, bbc news, in northern california. the headlines on bbc news... the supreme court rules legal permission will not be needed to end care for patients in a permanent vegetative state trying to get back on track, after months of passenger misery, northern rail reinstates most of its cancelled trains. the polls have closed as millions vote in zimbabwes first presidential election since robert maugabe was overthrown last year. sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's hi there. think you very much. tyson said he hasn't talked with the bbc champion for a fight later on this year. there is some flash for tariq

ricci coming up. here he made his return to the rink after nearly three years out last month and he is scheduled to fight francesco again in three weeks' time, in belfast. it has been long linked to a fight with anthonyjoshua a dilfer has been long linked to a fight with anthony joshua a dilfer that has been long linked to a fight with anthonyjoshua a dilfer that has yet to be signed. soak fury has taken the initiative. i can revealthat negotiations are being very strong for december. we're almost done with this deal. but i will not be looking over francesco. he is going to get me the right. the right fight and the right work to prepare me for this. andy murray says it will be like starting from scratch when he faces the kinsey mcdonald in the first round of the washington open tonight. you remember, he pulled out of wimbledon on the eve of the tournament because he was not ready. this will be just his third tournament since having surgery in january and is first on a hard

court. the good thing is when you're at the top of the game it is not easy to move up one spot. like if i wina easy to move up one spot. like if i win a couple of matches, 300 or 400 spots in a week which is nice. hopefully i can get back up there quickly but it sort of feels like i'm starting from scratch again. obviously not being in that position since i was 18, so i am looking for tools. it is going to be hard but it should be fine. silvers and continue for thomas after he won the tour de france and he could soon be rewarded with a new contract. you can see there, celebrating with thomas in paris, says the only thing left to negotiate with hamas is the salary, which will be going up. he said the tea m which will be going up. he said the team don't have a problem paying for performance. england opener alastair cook says he has sympathy for rashid who is involved in a country row. the leg spinner has been picked for

this match, despite, he has not played a first—class match in almost a year. he'll need a red bull contract next season if he is to continue his career. i can understand why it has caused a bit of fuss. i think we will does get on with it. you just have to get on with it. you just have to get on with it. you just have to get on with it. look at the positives and slightly different style of spinner. with a little bit of mystery to him. he is bawling really well. we should be excited about it. really what is happening in the outfield stuff, the role yorkshire stuff, we should be concentrating on the positive rather than the negative, and as i keep repeating, the circumstances we are. they have completed the signing of alexander from newcastle, the 20—year—old played for serbia at the world cup this summer. he scored 12 goals in 17 appearances last season. he now moves to craven cottage permanently for a fee of £22

million. meanwhile, manchester city says their new signing, it could be available to play against chelsea in the community shield this weekend. he has moved earlier this month and injured his ankle in a preseason against munich over the weekend, a scan has shown there is no significant damage. finally, lionel has been using some rather orthodox training. have a look at this. he is showing off his skills with his a ptly showing off his skills with his aptly named dog hulk, he is back to training with barcelona tomorrow. there will be a few defenders out there who know exactly how that dog feels. and that is all the sport for 110w. feels. and that is all the sport for now. back with you in sports day at 10.30.join me for now. back with you in sports day at 10.30. join me for that. we will look forward to it. in zimbabwe the polls have closed in a general election that marks a new era for the country, the first since its former leader, robert mugabe, was forced to step down last year after almost forty years in power.

there were long queues at polling stations where the main opposition party is hoping to defeat the ruling zanu pf party. our africa editor fergal keane reports from the capital harare. just a year ago, they believed democracy was a sham. a rigged exercise. designed to keep an ageing tyrant in power. but today felt like something very different. african laughter and the high hopes of long—suffering people. i would like if everyone was employed today, i would like some clinics to have medicine. i would like people to go to school. more schools, more clinics, morejobs, for everyone. this day, i'm very hopeful for a new zimbabwe. i'm very happy that i'm able to make a change, my decision is being considered for zimbabwe. so i'm happy and hopeful.

it was peaceful across zimbabwe. in the rural areas of matabeleland. and in midlands province, where the man who overthrew the old regime cast his vote. once an enforcer for robert mugabe, he's gambling voters will thank him for bringing change. i'm happy that the process of campaigning was peaceful and voting today is peaceful. i have no doubt that the end process of the entire electoral process will remain peaceful. in the capital harare, stronghold of the opposition movement for democratic change, its young leader nelson chamisa arrived at a local school to vote. he's campaigned energetically for months. how's it going? is it going well?

very good. very good, he said. nelson chamisa just after voting. it is chaotic, but it is democracy. as zimbabwe has never known it before. a few moments later, i caught up with him again. will you accept the result, even if you lose? i've told you that we are not losing in this election, we are winning this election. so i'm not interested in impossibilities. so you're confident? we will win this election. that is a free and fair election. particularly in the rural areas. it is a done deal. to try and ensure it is free and fair, hundreds of local and international observers have been deployed. as an observer, are you happy, broadly, with what you have seen? yes, so far, so good. and we trust that it will end like this. the coming days will reveal the winner and may prove the ultimate test of zimba bwe's democracy. fergal keane, bbc news, harare.

it remains one of the great mysteries of the modern age. four—and—a—half years ago, a boeing 777 took off from kuala lumpur airport and disappeared, with 239 people on board. today, investigators trying to determine what happened to malaysia airlines flight 370 have released a new report, but it sheds no fresh light on why the plane vanished. narendran's wife chandrika was on board the missing flight. he was in malaysia, where the report was presented today and said it didn't tell the families anything new. ifi if i were to summarise the reaction. it has been a disappointment, a feeling of, a sense of feeling deflated. and a sense of regurgitated what we already knew all this while. at the end of the

day, the big questions remain. so there is no end in sight for the families as i see it. because we still do not know what happened, why it happened, who or what were responsible and so we are exactly where we were on the 8th of march, which there was a plane that took off and back and disappeared. david gleave, is an aviation safety investigator based at loughborough university. earlier, he told me what he thinks could have happened to mh370. we know that the aeroplane took off. asa we know that the aeroplane took off. as a guide to the border between the air traffic control system of malaysia and across to vietnam, it disappeared off the radar screens. after that, it made at climbing turn and then proceeded west as opposed

to heading northeast, and then undertook a very strange series of manoeuvres and then ended up in the southern indian ocean. the investigations as i understand it has said they cannot rule out a third—party being involved. in your opinion, how likely is that?|j third—party being involved. in your opinion, how likely is that? i am fairly convinced that all the mechanical and electrical defects that could have gone on would not have led to that flight path. it would be an extraordinary series of circumstances in order to get that plane to move in a particular way. therefore it is likely to be human and it was likely it was a human onboard interfering with the plane's controls towards the end of the flight, controls towards the end of the flight, so i am fairly convinced somebody from the flight was manipulating the aeroplane. does that lead you to the conclusion it would have been the pilot or the copilot and what do we know about them? much more likely it would be somebody with significant aviation technical knowledge. originally they said they had been through all the

passengers and the crew and those psychological profiles showed up. that is not mentioned in the report about the passengers. the group were givena about the passengers. the group were given a good whitewash there in terms they say there was absolutely nothing wrong with them, no change in domestic circumstances, bank account information, it has been looked at, not significantly in debt or anything like that. it leaves it open to interpretation. to carry out those particular manoeuvres then someone would have to have at least a good degree of aviation training. three pieces of the plane had been found. do they offer us any clues? they confirm it is in the southern indian ocean which is a good start. the model he was right. after that, the flapper on which is the big piece that was first found, the damage is consistent with what i would expect if someone had hijacked the aeroplane, intention for murder suicide or some political statement by somebody else, and then crashed into the water. not ditched. i do not think the aeroplane would be ditched because that might flow and

survive. beacons might go off, so i think it has to be crashed into the water and sinks. the damage is consistent with what i would expect a seat. very briefly, do you think we'll ever know what happened? just time and money. if we had the money, then we can find the aeroplane and solve the mystery. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. it becomes confined to sheppard later on. a few other showers largely fading away but some will continue to deny, especially towards the southern counties of england and wales. it will be another mild night, not quite as muddy as last night. it is down to single figures, no early risers across the southeast, east midlands, could see a spell of heavy rains towards the early pa rt a spell of heavy rains towards the early part of the morning commute. that will clear away quite quickly. a few isolated showers further west but for many, dry and sunny in the morning, into the afternoon, producing a few lighter showers

tomorrow, parts of western scotland and northwest inland especially. quite a breezy when in western scotland, and temperatures 30 seconds of the areas of low to mid 20s. as you go into tuesday, mostly dry, the shows will continue in the northwest of scotland, but for many on wednesday, warming up and warming up on wednesday, warming up and warming up further across the south, to thursday. hello, this is bbc news with rebecca jones. the headlines. families and doctors will no longer need to go to court if they agree to end the life of a patient in a persistent vegetative state. critics say the decision by the supreme court should only be made by professionals, but some patients' families welcome the change. after misery for commuters, northern rails time—table shakeup has been scaled back as services begin running again. but passengers yet again face further cancellations. the polls have closed as millions vote in zimbabwe's presidential election. it's the first time in forty years that robert mugabe isn't on the ballot.

eu onlookers described voting in some areas as ‘totally disorganised.‘ it's been over four years since the missing malaysian mh370 aeroplane disapea red — today investigators release a report into what remains one of the greatest mysteries of the modern age. the television regulator ofcom has announced that it won't re—advertise the licences of 13 local tv stations. an executive producer for one local tv licence joins us to discuss what this means for the future of local tv. millions of people across england are unable to book an appointment with a gp outside of working hours — despite targets to offer extended access to doctors by october. analysis of official figures by the bbc shows that more than five million people — or 10% of registered patients — had no access to gps outside

of normal working hours. but it's a postcode lottery — giles latcham has this report from herefordshire, where all patients are able to access extended opening hours...but only if you're able to travel to a special hub. so just relax, and just tense those quads for me. gp meets patient, a cornerstone of the nhs, but in herefordshire, this is an appointment you might have on a weekend, or weekday evening. this doctor helped set up the company which provide sout of hours access to gps that the government promised patients four years ago. partly because we were one of the initial pilots that was incentivised to set the scheme up, before everybody else, we have had a bit of a run into it, but we are at 100%. so in this sparsely populated county, how do you provide 100% access to gps out of hours?

in herefordshire, they have three hubs. one in hereford itself, offering evening and weekend appointments, others in ross on wye in the south, and leominster in the north. but if you live 15 miles away from hereford, in ledbury, for example, accessing out of hours doesn't feel so easy. i guess when you live in a kind of smaller town like ledbury, you kind of expect to need to go a little further. you can't really expect it. do you mind travelling 20 minutes or so to herefore to do that? well, no, if it necessary, it's necessary. i do drive, but i am at an age where i don't like going into big cities. the chairman of a patient pressure group says that without a car, many in the elderly population will struggle to get to an out of hours hub. the difficulty in herefordshire is access to it. it is a very rural county, with very poor public transport, and if people don't have their own transport, they are reliant on lift

from friends or neighbours, they certainly wouldn't get there by bus. it depends, doesn't it? where you live and what your circumstances are, to what extent you can access gps out of hours? it is, striking that balance between getting really good access, and not having to duplicate services in every town and village across the counties. the primary—care landscape is changing, but old financial constraints still apply, and one size does not fit all. giles latcham, bbc news, hereford. a husband and wife from west yorkshire have been sentenced to eight years in total for trying to force their daughter into marriage and threatening to kill her. leeds crown court heard the young woman had described her parents as "monsters." she was told she would be travelling to bangladesh for a holiday. once in a remote village, the victim was told she was to be married to her cousin, before being rescued by armed police. a man acquitted of rape has lost his appeal to remove any reference to the case from his enhanced criminal records check.

the teacher — who can't be named — was found not guilty seven years ago. when he applied for a job following his acquittal, details of the allegation and the verdict were included in his criminal records certificate. the supreme court ruled that the disclosure of the acquittal was proportionate given his application for a job as a lecturer. the home secretary has insisted he does not support the death penalty, but has stood by his actions in the potential extradition of two islamic state group terror suspects. sajid javid came under criticism after it emerged the uk has dropped its demand for assurances that the two men won't face the death penalty if they're sent for trial in america. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh were captured in syria injanuary. an attack on a vulnerable woman in suffolk has been viewed by millions of people after a picture of it was posted online. a group of teenagers threw eggs and flour over the woman while she was sitting on a park bench. people living close to where it happened say

they are sickened by the incident. and there's been an angry reaction online, prompting a warning by suffolk police about vigilante action. five boys have been arrested. alex dunlop reports. three days after the attack you can the deck to the bench. within hours, the deck to the bench. within hours, the attack was seen around the globe. this neighbour lives on the estate. i felt sick when i saw the photograph. the whole state is embarrassed. we are now national news, and not for good things. the ill treating a member of the public, with slight problems in our estate, in our homes and neighbourhoods.

it is just dreadful. jake and joseph say they know some of the boys allegedly involved. i'm shocked. it is not something i want in our community. they've come to our youth club a couple of times, they seem like good lads, getting mixed up in bad stuff. we are not revealing the name of the victim, she is known to be vulnerable and have mental birth 2—mac health issues. she was not hurt but is known to be deeply distressed. police have arrested and bailed 315—year—olds and 217—year—olds who live locally but away from the papers the names and faces now across social media and their obvious they could face reprisals. the incident went viral after a well known bo qiu shared it online. —— a well—known blogger. fearing vigilante attacks suffolk police said, we do not support the gym and is in any shape orform. social media users should note that sharing

images and names that could form pa rt images and names that could form part of criminal investigation can jeopardise the case. that one isolated attack has such worldwide interest shows the power and pitfalls of social media. when the boys next appear before police in august it is hoped that cooler heads prevail. alex dunlop, bbc news, bury st edmunds. ofcom has halted the further rollout of local tv stations. the media regulator announced it has decided not to readvertise licenses in 13 locations. then—culture secretaryjeremy hunt outlined the plans for a more decentralised media landscape, but in a matter of years some of the channels have faced financial difficulties and struggled to attract an audience. let's have a look at the numbers in a bit more detail... there are 13 locations where licences are not going to be re—advertised. and since the initiative launched in 2013... more than 30 local tv

stations have been awarded licenses by ofcom. now let's go to lia nici, chair of the local television network, which represents local channels which have been given licenses by ofcom. she's also the executive producer of estuary tv — and a local conservative councillor. thank you forjoining us.. are you disappointed by this decision by ofcom ? disappointed by this decision by ofcom? not at all. it is a positive decision by ofcom because those 13 stations, the majority of them are of very small coverage and the costs of very small coverage and the costs of setting them up would be extremely high for very small coverage that they would offer. as you say, costs are high. the existing local tv channels really offering value for money?” existing local tv channels really offering value for money? i think they are offering value for money. a lot of the stations run on very small turnovers a year and provide great local news for people. the newsrooms are busy, people want to

engage with the local news agenda we are not even five years old yet as a sector saw from news perspective we are very young. some of them are not producing much local news. they produce the bare minimum and then they tend to show old films most of they tend to show old films most of the time, don't they? each channel has its own programme commitments. each channel has its own broadcast public service commitment, so there will be a variety across the country, as you would expect with local broadcasting they are not all supposed to be a homogenised centrum is offering. they are supposed to be there for local people to watch and get involved with. it depends on what local licence is and what local news stories that are and what people want to get involved with. am i right that some of these stations might have as few as 30 viewers in

one day? i think that number was bandied around by one individual news story by an internet news provider with just news story by an internet news provider withjust one news story by an internet news provider with just one source. i think you will find that over the whole of the local tv sector, this original 14 million homes, there are several million homes being reached every day, every week with local tv, and it is growing. so how many people are watching? there is a big difference between the number of homes reached and the number of people turning on the set to watch. no because which is about how many people watch, the coverage is how many potential homes there are. there's a range of different aspects at the moment, the local television sector has tried them using the broadcasting audience research board as people in the industry will know, that's a national and regional broadcasters. what local tv has found is that it really doesn't fit

the local audience, it doesn't get down into enough granulated figures that we want to be able to talk in detail. we are looking at some technological options at the moment that local tv looks to take on board in the next few months. maybe they can't find the figures because there are not enough of them. moving on, i know people who work in local tv and many are very poorly paid. what do you think of the quality of the news content being produced basically on a shoestring? i think to say that many people are being paid poorly might be far—fetched, some people in entry—level jobs and might be far—fetched, some people in entry—leveljobs and those jobs factor they are doing. and i think talking about the quality of local news we're not the bbc, we are not itv or cnn. we local news for our small areas, so like local radio,

those budgets will be smaller, will be doing local news and local people to make sure we are providing the news they want which is a very different agenda to roger broadcasters like the bbc. do you think we could be having this conversation about local tv in five yea rs' conversation about local tv in five years' time when they have disappear by them? no, ithink years' time when they have disappear by them? no, i think there will still be local news, local tv and people will want to engage with it more and did well make a great facility for local news and our areas. lia nici, it has been great to speak to you. thank you so much. more than four million people in india's north—east state of assam stand to be stripped of their citizenship after they were omitted from a list of recognised voters. india's hindu—nationalist government says they are merely trying to root out illegal migrants. but human rights campaigners believe the government is actually trying to disenfranchise, or even deport, assam's muslim minority. joe miller reports. sumato bano, atab ali

and shahida khatun have always called india home. but now they and dozens of their fellow villagers expect to lose the citizenship they thought was theirs by birth. they fear their land, voting rights and freedom will be next. schoolteacher hasitun is now the sole provider for herfour children. her husband, suspected of being a foreigner, is already behind bars. a target, she says, of a witchhunt against her bengali muslim community. translation: this is our country. i grew up here, i studied here, i got married here, i have land here. how come we are not indians? authorities claim settlers from nearby bangladesh are enmeshed in assam's bengali population, hiding in plain sight,

often with forged papers. to help pinpoint them, all 32 million inhabitants of the state have been forced to produce documents proving that their assamese roots go back to before 1971. but record—keeping in remote areas is patchy, and human rights groups are crying foul. the government says that assam is in danger of being overrun with illegal bangladeshi migrants. but, strangely, no—one can tell us where they are, how many of them there are, or what fate awaits them. all they say is they come here to exploit this vast, fertile landscape. some say as many as 5 million have crossed the porous border into assam and are skewing local elections. but muslim activists say these numbers are deliberately exaggerated tojustify a hindu nationalist agenda, with chilling echoes of a crisis not too far away.

translation: it is nothing but a conspiracy to commit atrocities. they are openly threatening to get rid of muslims. what happened to the rohingyas in myanmar could happen to us here. such fears have been exacerbated by prime minister narendra modi, who pledged to deport bangladeshi "intruders" unless they were hindus. in assam, a fellow party member is clear about his intentions. everybody will be given the right to prove their citizenship, but if they fail to do so, well, the legal system will take its own course. you are saying these people will be expelled? yes. for now, bengali river communities are staying put, hoping hostility towards them subsides after next year's national elections. hasitun says they have always lived peacefully

alongside their hindu neighbours, but now she fears bad news is on its way. joe miller, bbc news, assam. the headlines on bbc news... the supreme court rules legal permission will not be needed to end care for patients in a permanent vegetative state. trying to get back on track, after months of passenger misery, northern rail reinstates most of its cancelled trains. the polls have closed as millions vote in zimbabwes first presidential election since robert maugabe was overthrown last year. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. karl lagerfeld, giorgio armani and donna karan are among the most famous fashion designers in the world. but ian griffiths?

the chances are you have never heard of him. yet the former punk rocker heads up max mara — one of the largest luxury fashion brands. the italian company also has one of the biggest fashion archives in europe. it's not open to the public, but i've been along to have a look. chic, sleek and sophisticated, max mara is best known for its classic camel coats. from the runway to royalty, it's worn by some of the most famous women in the world. max mara. the company was founded in 1951 in reggio emilia, a place better known for its parmesan cheese. its factories are still based in the town. they produce 450 coats a day here, contributing to an annual turnover of £1.3 billion.

meet ian griffiths. he is the creative brains behind the brand. an influential designer, he prefers life behind the scenes, but he's been at the company for more than three decades. this coat is quite a special one for me because it was my first coat for max mara. and he's taking me on a tour of the company's own secret wardrobe. this was bought in new york. it's from 1910 or 1920. this is an original balenciaga coat and we've used it time and time again for inspiration for different collections. the archive is crammed with fashion magazines, sketches and boxes of fabric samples. this archive plunges you into the heart of fashion history. there are 30,000 individual items of clothing here, rails upon rails of them, and notjust by max mara, but by other famous fashion designers as well. have a look at this coat by yves saint laurent which belonged

to the actress audrey hepburn. this coat belonged to coco chanel and was worn by coco chanel. and here's an evening dress byjeanne lanvin from the 1930s, found in a fleamarket. fashion is a bit of an underdog. it tends to disregard itself a little. so much of what we do gets thrown away, but we believe in preserving that culture, because in the future it becomes interesting or even valuable. ian griffiths first became interested in fashion living in manchester in the 1980s. he was a punk, partying in nightclubs and designing his own clothes. you're talking to the guy who used to walk around manchester wearing a wedding veil for normal day wear. 35 years ago there i was making clothing for myself and my mates to go clubbing out of lining material, and now here i am at max mara with 31 years behind me. and he's already working

with his design team on the next collection, inspired by the archive, proving how the past helps fashion face the future. landmarks across wales were lit up in yellow last night to celebrate cyclist geraint thomas' tour de france win. discussions about how to mark the double olympic gold medallist‘s achievement are under way in cardiff, but the champion says he doesn't expect all this to change him. from the welsh capital, sian lloyd reports . the city waiting for geraint thomas to come home. flags have gone up at cardiff castle. behind the scenes, plans are being made to give him a hero's welcome. i am not from wales, i moved recently here. but i am really proud of him.

i think it's great for wales and getting recognition and everything but i haven't seen many things to celebrate it as much in cardiff in the city, so i would like to see more hyped up things for it. ijust think it's amazing that geraint thomas has won the tour de france and it inspires the kids to get onto their bikes. i was watching the tour de france and i want to know when is he coming back to cardiff, geraint thomas. we don't know yet, but when we do we will let you know. all right, thank you. some lucky fans did get to meet him immediately after his win in paris. it's not going to sink in for a while but i am going to enjoy tonight and the next few weeks and looking forward to getting back to wales and seeing everyone. so excited for him, you know. i don't think he really understands what he'sjust done. the whole of wales is behind him. at home they're talking about building a legacy on the back of geraint thomas's win. over the past few years there has been an increase in interest shown by peoplejoining cycling clubs, but that hasn't translated into

people using bikes more every day. there is a gold postbox in the city to celebrate thomas's olympic triumphs. but now they have more ambitious plans. the biggest tribute we could pay to cycling and to geraint is to put in place high—quality cycle lanes and cycling infrastructure so everybody has a chance to cycle in cardiff, not just the champions. that goal will take some time to achieve, but first, this city and its cyclists want to welcome geraint, and the yellow jersey, home. sian lloyd, bbc news, cardiff. 200 years ago today, emily bronte, the author of ‘wuthering heights' was born. she is one of the best known names in english literature, but only wrote the one novel — inspired by the windswept yorkshire moors which surrounded her. our entertainment correspondent, colin paterson has sent this report from the parsonage where emily bronte was raised — and where her life and work is being celebrated. it's a big bronte birthday.

the 200th anniversary of emily bronte, celebrated with poets in fields... yorkshire moors, so bleak and old, inspired the heart of emily. displays of falconry, because emily bronte had a pet merlin hawk, called hero... with events all centred around the parsonage in haworth, where she wrote her only novel, wuthering heights, before dying from tuberculosis at the age of 30. what she's left behind is this incredible, imaginative tour de force of a novel that people have just loved for generations and that continues to inspire artists and writers working today, and that's very much what we wanted to celebrate — her 200th birthday. and people had come from all over. there's this wildness and this beauty to the writing. i don't know, you just get kind of sucked into the story. you've got to come here and pay homage, really, because it puts everything into perspective, itjust brings it all to life. the celebrations have also included the unveiling of a tribute stone out on the moors, featuring a new poem by kate bush — who famously had a number one

with wuthering heights. # heathcliff, it's, cathy, come home now... at the time, she explained her inspiration. i saw a series on the television about ten years ago. it was on very late at night, and i caught literally the last five minutes of the series, where she was at the window trying to get in. who are you? catherine linton. i've come home. and itjust really struck me. it was so strong. then i read the book. you read the book later? yes, i read the book before i wrote the song because i needed to get the mood properly. one little quirk of fate, today is kate bush's 60th birthday. another famous fan is lily cole, who's directed a short film exploring the character heathcliff‘s origins as an abandoned baby — but in a modern setting. why does emily bronte mean so much to you?

the fact that she wrote the book at a time when it was very, very difficult for women to be taken seriously and to become authoresses or authors. the fact that she published it under a pseudonym, ellis bell, has always intrigued me. and we don't know very much about her. she's really a mystery and most of what we know is kind of hearsay and oral tradition. but it's purely the book. that's the reason i'm fascinated by her, that she created that work. and as for what emily would have made of all this? we also know that she was an incredibly private writer and so i wonder if she may have also found this level of scrutiny perhaps a bit intolerable. oh, well. happy birthday, emily. colin paterson, bbc news, howarth. now it's time for a look at the weather. matt taylor has the forecast. another day of lively downpours are some, dry for others, the show them

they were in the coming days but certainly tomorrow like this afternoon you may be dodging dark clouds and some showers particularly across western areas. at the moment low— pressure across western areas. at the moment low—pressure is in charge of the north—west of the uk, a tell—tale sign ofa north—west of the uk, a tell—tale sign of a clump of cloud circulating, each on the focus of wet weather, line from eastern scotla nd wet weather, line from eastern scotland towards the south—west, this is the focus for the wetter weather will be tonight. it'll run towards shetland, later and it will turn wetter for towards shetland, later and it will turn wetterfor some towards shetland, later and it will turn wetter for some across southern counties of england and wales, in between, some clearer skies, single figure temperatures across scotland, ireland and northern england, early commuters across some parts of southern england could get a drenching first thing that that rain moves out of the way quite quickly, sunshine comes out, elsewhere a dry startle most of the few isolated showers, you can see how they clad

generally increases during the day bringing a greater chance of afternoon showers and the breeze picking up but not as strong as it was in the weekend. could get close to gale force in the hebrides and in central scotland and northern ireland are fairly cloudy day. light showers but breaks towards the moray firth, 20 celsius again, clouding of in england after a sunny morning with light showers chiefly across the lake district and lancashire. while there may be one to showers in western england and wales, clear skies more likely, or sunshine and temperatures in the low to mid 20 ‘s. going into wednesday the cloud should break overnight, high pressure will build ahead of this next weather system suffer most areas wednesday will be dry, sunny spells, the best in the south and east, fischer was in the west of scotla nd east, fischer was in the west of scotland and later heavier rain pushing into the west of ireland. try a sunny weather, 20—27d, temperatures on the rise, rising

flood of the end of the week, we will tap into some warm air across western europe, and atlantic influence towards northern parts of the country, just noticed on the city forecast towards south and southeast cambridge blue skies overhead, 30 degrees the high adverse and we could see temperatures climbing even further, 30 degrees possible by the end of the week. hello, i'm philippa thomas, this is outside source. polls have closed in zimba bwe's election, the country's first in nearly 40 years not to feature robert mugabe. young i am very happy to make a change, my decision is being considered for zimbabwe, so i'm happy hopeful. india has stripped more than four million people of their citizenship in the state of assam — mostly bengali—speaking muslims. this video has shocked france — it shows a woman being assaulted on the street after calling out a stranger for harassing her. and remember — if you

want to get in touch — the hashtag is bbc os.