mps say vaping is much less harmful than smoking — and e—cigarettes should be offered on prescription as a way of helping people quit. they say the government should consider relaxing the rules around vaping in public. but not all experts agree — we'll hear from both sides of the debate. also on the programme: the collapse of the motorway bridge in genoa — the italian government begins a formal investigation of the company that ran it. house of fraser — just bought out by sports direct — cancels all online orders, in a dispute with its warehouse. the worst monsoon floods in parts of india for almost a century kill more than 160 people in kerala — more rain is on the way. the government promises more money for struggling jails — the prisons minister says he'll resign if the attempt to reduce violence doesn't work. and coming up on bbc news,

manchester city confirm midfielder kevin de bruyne will be out for three months with a knee injury sustained during training earlier this week. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. a committee of mps is calling for the government to throw its support behind vaping as a safe alternative to cigarettes. the science and technology committee says e—cigarettes help tens of thousands of smokers quit every year. but earlier this week, researchers at the university of birmingham warned that e—cigarettes may not be as safe as people think. nearly 3 million people in the uk currently use them. our health correspondent catherine burns reports. they look similar, but this committee says e—cigarettes are substantially

different to conventional ones. they don't produce carbon monoxide or tar. and so the best estimate is that they are 95% less harmful. david holder used to smoke up to 30 a day but hasn't had a cigarette for two and a half years now. he says e—cigarettes helped him to quit. vaping has made a massive, massive difference. my sense of taste, sense of smell, i'm a chef so it's imperative for my job. when i thought i was seasoning food perfectly i was way off. and now i can taste things i never tasted before. i can play with my children, i'm not out of breath. it's just made a remarkable difference. almost 3 million people in the uk use e—cigarettes, and every year tens of thousands of them manage to successfully stop smoking. the committee of mps calls smoking a national health crisis and says e—cigarettes are a golden opportunity to save lives. my message to the nhs is, take this issue far more seriously. we cannot tolerate

the continued death toll of 79,000 people in england alone every single year from smoking. vaping is one route to help problem smokers give up and we should be doing far more to encourage it. we're very lucky in this country to have a health department and a government that really understands vaping and gets behind it as part of their smoking cessation programmes. i think what is frustrating is the fact that the general public think that vaping isjust as harmful as smoking. i think getting that public health message out there is the most crucial thing we can do. just this week, a study from the university of birmingham criticised vaping, with research showing it sped up the death of lung cells and may trigger lung diseases later in life. what we would caution is that to replace smoking with e—cigarette use is not a risk—free alternative. and our research has shown that there may well be significant health risks associated with prolonged e—cigarette use.

e—cigarettes are still relatively new. they've been in the uk for just 11 years now. the committee says there needs to be more research into the effects of using them in the long term. catherine burns, bbc news. our health editor hugh pym is here. you wonder, reading this report, will people be confused, where will it go from here? it is a big talking point. this mps's report has made it even more so point. this mps's report has made it even more so today among smokers, people who go in for vaping and everything. the main thing is to ta ke everything. the main thing is to take on board the evidence out there that this does help smokers quit. the 470,000 people according to the report moving from smoking tobacco onto vaping and then tens of thousands are giving up smoking. that is seen as a huge public health benefit. the report says the nhs

should embrace e—cigarettes and make them available. the mental health trusts who allow patients to use e—cigarettes on the premises in some area but one third of them do not. the smoking cessation clinics run by local authorities that suggest vaping whereas in other areas they don't, so the report is saying there must be much clearer guidance. this is definitely a public health benefit. but are they safe? no one can say for sure. there needs to be more research. we've heard it in the peace and again today but you can't have definitive research for another couple of years because the product has only been available forjust over a decade. and it is possible there could be side effects affecting lungs. but we don't have any authoritative research although there have been reports here and there have been reports here and there that there could be problems. soi there that there could be problems. so i think the answer is do you want the public health benefit which brings smokers of tobacco or do we

wait some time for research and that will affect the lives of people who might have gone on to them? the other point the research raises is making them more available for use in public services, maybe outside train or bus stations. will that affect other travellers who say they don't like the vapour around them? many questions not yet answered but certainly an ongoing debate. thank you, hugh pym, our health editor. the italian government has begun a formal investigation into the private operator of the motorway bridge that collapsed in genoa on tuesday, killing at least 38 people. it's given the company, autostrade, 15 days to report back on how it met its contractual obligations to maintain the structure. the firm insists it carried out the required regular inspections. meanwhile the coffins of 12 of the victims were blessed by a local bishop ahead of a state funeral, due to be held tomorrow. it will be attended by italy's president and prime minister, but some of the bereaved relatives say they will not take part.

0ur correspondent dan johnson is in genoa. they are into a fourth day of chipping away at that huge pile of rubble, shifting those concrete blocks, trying to find the people who are still missing. and also building up a picture of exactly what went wrong here, what brought down that bridge. because every piece that they move is being photographed as part of the investigation. but it's a huge job and still much more work to do. the rescuers are expecting to be here for another two days at least. we still have a lot of work to do because we have to recover all the big things. as you can see, it is not so simple. because we have huge elements. and structural concrete is very heavy to move. do you know how many people are missing? we don't have a short number. we know it's between

10 and 20 persons. and your teams have been working, now, more than three days and nights? how are they bearing up? how difficult is this work? it's very difficult because we are working 28 hours per day. but we have a shift rotation for personnel, we can face with this kind of intervention. there's also a huge area here to be made safe and overnight they've started moving some of the cars and trucks that were stranded on what's left of the bridge. they had stood there since tuesday when it collapsed as a mark of what a lucky escape some people had. but everyone here is aware ofjust how deadly this disaster was. today, they will start burying the dead. about 17 funerals are expected to take place this afternoon. some of those families have said they don't want to be part of the official state funeral that will be held here tomorrow. bitterness and anger really has grown in the aftermath

of this bridge collapse. politicians pointing the finger of blame in different directions. but firmly at the company that was in charge of running this bridge and maintaining italy's motorway network. there have been calls for them to pay for all the costs associated with this disaster, notjust rebuilding the bridge but having people who have had to be moved and compensating the families of the victims. the company itself says it's just too early to draw conclusions. at the moment, the investigation work needs to go on. and that investigation work is very detailed, very difficult and is sure to take some time. that was our correspondent, dan johnson in genoa. the department store chain house of fraser has cancelled all its online orders, because of a dispute with its warehouse operator. the retailer, which was bought out of administration by sports direct a week ago, says it will refund customers who haven't received their goods. 0ne leading fashion brand —jigsaw — has pulled stock out of some house of fraser stores.

our business correspondent jonty bloom is here. when sports direct took on house of fraser they did not take on any debts, just bought it and kept on training. but suppliers have lost hundreds of millions of pounds and one of those suppliers, a logistics company which deals with the online side of the businesses refusing to handle of fraser stores, customers like shown in dalkeith are not certain about where they stand. after placing an order with house of fraser last friday i was expecting my order this week, i've now got a junk e—mail, a generic e—mail i believe they are sending to everyone who placed an order online in the last week or so, advising that they will cancel and refund everybody‘s orders because they can't fulfil delivery. the problem that i have is

that i used a gift card. and when the order went through i assumed everything was fine so i binned the ca rd everything was fine so i binned the card andi everything was fine so i binned the card and i don't know how will get my money back. i have treated them and had no response. i've caught customer service line but u nfortu nately customer service line but unfortunately they are not taking any unfortunately they are not taking a ny calls unfortunately they are not taking any calls at the moment so short of going into the store i'm not sure what my options are. house of fraser says it will refund everyone who has placed an order but a lot of people will be worried. and that is just one example and that is not all about customers. no, jigsaw, one fashion brand, has 20 concessions at house of fraser stores and has started taking unsold stock pot stuck that of the stores. 0thers don't have that option, house of fraser owns the stock. but it illustrates a wider problem, the company owed millions of pounds to

supplier, they lost out when it went bust and they are still expected to serve the new company even though it is somewhere where they have lost vast amounts of money in the past. thank you, jonty bloom. the prisons minister, rory stewart, has said he will resign if his campaign to tackle violence and drugs behind bars doesn't succeed within 12 months. ten of england's most challenging prisons are to be given a total of £10 million to bolster security, improve living conditions and raise standards of leadership. labour has called on the government to go "much further". as the government looks to turn around struggling prisons, our home affairs correspondent danny shaw has been given exclusive access to 0akwood prison near wolverhampton, to see how it's been transformed into an institution inspectors now describe as "impressive". i do it because i feel it is my way of giving back to society. ben has got a job in prison. he is nearing the end of a 19—year sentence for plotting to supply cocaine. he's been at 0akwood for five years. and has become a mentor, a middleman between prison officers and prisoners. basically dealing with problems

and solutions in society. a lot of guys come in with a vengeance against authority. a lot of it has to be empathy. shared experiences. relating your own experiences to the individual. it's about connecting with the individual. and not making anyjudgment. and it's about treating prisoners with respect. 0akwood was one of the first prisons to have in— cell telephone so inmates could keep in touch with theirfamilies. some prisoners can wear their own clothes and staff are encouraged to defuse tension through dialogue. they do not carry batons. batons are weapons, as i see it. i've no time for them myself. that's my own personal choice. i would rather have people engaging with each other and finding solutions than resorting to drawing a baton to resolve an issue. my prison operates without batons very successfully.

but after 0akwood opened, six years ago, staff struggled to keep control. prisoners staged a rooftop protest in 2013 and, a year later, there was a riot. one of britain's biggest and newest prisons was a laughing stock. now, there's a positive mood at the jail, reflected in a glowing inspection report which praised the way inmates are consulted and involved in decision—making. for a man to have gone through working with one of our mentors and come through the other side, it gives us that level of assurance that actually these policies are working. and that we're actually providing a place where prisoners can develop and grow as men. and, hopefully, be released into the community as men with something to offer. and that means being employable. in this workshop, prisoners are assembling parts for a private company, learning skills and getting experience that will help them on the outside. but 0akwood still has a long way to go.

like many prisons, violence has increased. illicit drugs are readily available and incidents of self—harm remain high. try and get in touch with them and they should help you with that. ben, though, is showing that there is hope. prisoners can take the initiative, helping each other to get through their sentence and stay on the right side of the tracks. danny shaw, bbc news, at 0akwood prison. more than 160 people have died in the worst monsoon floods in parts of india for almost a century. many of those who died were caught in landslides in the southern state of kerala. thousands of people are believed to be marooned by the floodwaters, and more heavy rain is expected. yogita limaye reports. the only route out of a flooded home. this child is among several people that have been airlifted in kerala. dozens of helicopters are pulling out as many as they can.

shouting those who can are walking miles to safety. but beyond the surging water, there are tens of thousands who are still stuck waiting to be rescued. the monsoon always brings heavy rainfall to kerala. but locals say this year is different. translation: after 36 years, it's the first time that such flooding is happening here. it's a disaster for the whole population. shelters have been set up wherever possible. locals are volunteering, cooking foods and distributing supplies to people who have been left homeless. cochin airport, the busiest in kerala, is unrecognisable. its runway resembles a river. rescue teams are being dispatched from other airports.

these teams are engaged in basically rescue and evacuation works, medicalfirst response, and they are tackling the situations arising out of landslides, building collapses. and also assisting the state administration, distributing relief materials over there. river levels are rising, the government has been forced to open dam gates. and there's more rainfall expected in the coming days. yogita limaye, bbc news, mumbai. the time is 13,17 — our top story this lunchtime. mps say vaping is much less harmful than smoking — and e—cigarettes should be offered on prescription as a way of helping people quit. and still to come — from one musical legend to another — global stars continue to pay tribute to the queen of soul, aretha franklin. she touched every genre, every

singer was influenced in some way by the way she sang. and they will forever be influenced by her because her voice, her emotion, forever be influenced by her because hervoice, her emotion, her sincerity, is unforgettable. coming up on bbc news there is growing support for danny cipriani, following his arrest as england head coach eddiejones is urged to stick by him. fans around the world are continuing to pay tribute to the queen of soul, aretha franklin, who died yesterday. mourners have been paying their respects at the baptist church in detroit where she began singing as a child — and at sites across the united states. jenny kumar reports.

music: "respect" by aretha franklin today the world is still reeling from the loss of a soul legend. aretha franklin was a distinctive talent. the daughter of a gospel singing mother and baptist preacher father went on to find global fame in a career spanning went on to find global fame in a career spanning six decades. her fellow music greats continue to pay their respects. she isjust consistently great human being. and she always with whatever turmoil may have been happening in her life, even with her illness, she did not

put that on anybody else. she believed, i think, put that on anybody else. she believed, ithink, that put that on anybody else. she believed, i think, that she was doing god's work. and she was. she broughtjoy to doing god's work. and she was. she brought joy to a doing god's work. and she was. she broughtjoy to a lot of lives and her voice, the essence of her will live on windows right now. throughout her career, she turned her voice to a variety of genre. she even learned to sing opera. standing in at the last minute to perform at the grammys. i told her the aria for a private party for our verratti. as fate would have it, she was in new york at the time and he became ill at the last moment and miss franklin was called in 30 minutes beforehand with no rehearsal and sang his

signature aria. i think she brought her voice to opera. she just had such a distinctive sound. you know, you could hear within a measure of any song that it was the queen of soul. overnight, fans gathered to celebrate her life at the apollo theatre in new york where she performed more than a dozen times. in her hometown of detroit flowers have been placed at the church where she sang gospel as a child. here in london, the kingdom choir who performed at the wedding of the duke and duchess of sussex showed their respect. described as a musical genius, with a voice of poetry and

power, aretha franklin's legacy looks set to live on. let's go live to detroit. news correspondent vladimir duthiers is in detriot. what are people saying to you in the city? there has been an outpouring of love, devotion, admiration, mutual respect for the late, great aretha franklin. check out the cover of the local newspaper in detroit. this is the beautiful commemorative headline they have published. this iconic photograph of aretha franklin and the words "eternal respect". that is exactly what was shown here where aretha franklin first started

to sink when she was a little girl. where through the voice she found in gospel music she became the queen of soul. there's been an outpouring of support not just from soul. there's been an outpouring of support notjust from this community but from artists around the world. ca role but from artists around the world. carole king who wrote a beautiful song natural woman sent a message as did paul mccartney and stevie wonder. from detroit, thank you. the former pakistan cricket captain, imran khan is likely to be confirmed this afternoon as the country's next prime minister. his pti party gained the most seats in last month's elections — the country's national assembly now needs to ratify his appointment. 0ur correspondent secunder kermani is in islamabad. bring us up—to—date with the process. what is happening today?-

we speak, members of the pakistani parliament... the line has gone down. you might be able to hear is still? i do apologise. clearly a problem there with the link to islamabad. we will see whether we can get him back, talking about imran khan who is likely to be ratified later this afternoon there in pakistan. we may have more on that later. scientists say they've taken a step towards the development of new strains of wheat — that they say will be able to cope with climate change. an international team of researchers has produced a map of the crops genome — which will help to identify genes associated with features such as drought resistance. critics continue to be concerned about the use of gm technology in food production. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh reports.

wheat is one of the most important food crops in the world. and it's a struggle to produce enough. researchers here are trying to increase yields by crossbreeding varieties with useful traits. it can take up to 15 years to develop a successful strain. but that time could soon be halved. an international team has decoded the dna of wheat. and located the position of more than 100,000 of its genes. without having a map of the genome and, it's been very difficult to achieve the increasing demands that we're getting around the world. but now with the wheat genome, we can now use all the genetic information to accelerate the breeding process and produce better varieties more quickly and that can feed the world towards the future. these are large—scale trials of different strains of wheat. they are carried out by researchers at the international maize and wheat improvement centre near mexico city.

they are trying to develop new varieties for some of the world's poorest farmers. their priority now is to create wheat that is resistant to drought. these plants have been given the same amount of water but you can see that this one hasn't coped so well. that is because this variety has genes that allow it to withstand drought conditions. the wheat genome will allow researchers to carry out what what they are. and so develop completely new strains that are able to cope with the increased heat waves that climate change is predicted to bring. by knowing where all the genes are, researchers can now discover how they work together. they will then be able to use gene editing to develop completely new varieties. we will now be able to select for a whole range of different traits. we could select for disease resistance, we could select for improved yield. we could also select for things like improved nutritional value. the researchers believe

that their map of genes is a vital breakthrough needed to boost production in areas that will be hardest hit by the climate change. and so ensure that the world's growing population will continue to have food on their plates. pallab ghosh, bbc news. spain's king felipe and prime minister pedro sanchez have attended a ceremony in barcelona to remember the victims of a terrorist attack on the city one year ago. 13 people were killed when a van ploughed into pedestrians on the popular boulevard, las ramblas. one person died of their injuries later. eight hours after that attack, a woman was killed in a separate incident in the coastal town of cambrils. finding the right work—life balance is an issue facing many people. now the actress and campaigner emma thompson is calling on employers to take the initiative in addressing the issue. in her new film the children's act

she plays a high courtjudge balancing family commitments with a demanding job. she's been speaking to charlie stayt. my lady, they are ready for you. court rise. fi, shall we talk? excuse me. long day. there is no escaping the fact, this is heavy water. it is grown—up. yes. isn't it? we are so used to being fed quite a lot of formulaic stuff. so i don't want to put people off by saying this is a very serious, make—you—cry film. it is not, actually. but it is one of those things that afterwards, you're going to have a lot to talk about. the applicant has leukaemia. however, the boy's parents are jehovah's witnesses and it is contrary to their faith to accept blood into the system. decisions are made byjudges about life or death. all the time. and we have watched some of those more recently. indeed. all of those decisions about, particularly about babies in situations where there is treatment they can have or can't have, those kinds of decisions,

can you imagine having to make them? that, i think, was the most impressive thing to me about these women who i watched when i was researching this. womenjudges in the high court and the family court that i met are some of the most impressive people that i have ever met. i can get some opera tickets for saturday night. no. i'm dutyjudge all weekend. you can't switch it? two judgments for monday. mm. what? nothing, it'sjust like last weekend and the 50 weekends before that. that is how it is. i mean, everybody knows about work sometimes making it very difficult for you to see the wood for the trees in your private life. but this is kind of different. because her work is so important so of course you can understand that she just hasn't been listening to her husband. it is one of those really big questions that people periodically ask themselves, isn't it? whether work has got too big in their lives. but there are other things in their life have

got left to one side. you work too much, it's no good. we've learnt that the hard way. we don't work too much. have you managed to square that up in your own, you know, work—life thing? you think, now, you have? yes. you have? oh, yes. i mean, i am very lucky now because i can choose much more. so i can choose when to work a little bit more than i used to be able to, but definitely, we are always looking at that. emma thomas and talking to charlie stayt. last month, he made history by becoming the first welshman to win the tour de france — now geraint thomas is to have that remarkable achievement further recognised.