an unmarried mother of four wins her legal battle to claim a widowed parent's allowance, after the death of her long—term partner. supreme courtjustices said denying siobhan mclaughlin the allowance was unlawful — the ruling could benefit thousands of families. what siobhan has said from day one is that it's unfair and it's wrong that her children should be treated any different than children whose pa rents a re any different than children whose parents are married and the supreme court today have upheld that. they have said not only is it unfair, it's unlawful. we'll find out exactly what today's ruling could mean for other unmarried couples. also on the programme: health campaigners have welcomed plans to ban the sale of high—caffeine energy drinks to children in england. theresa may, on her trade tour of africa, refuses to say britain will be better off in the medium term after brexit. after resigning from the snp, alex salmond faces criticism for setting up a crowdfunding page to fight sexual misconduct allegations. the payday lender, wonga,

is teetering on the brink of collapse, after announcing it has stopped taking new loan applications. # you say...# and harry sings hamilton — very briefly — after watching the hit musical in london's west end. and coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news, we'll have the latest from the fourth test at southampton where england have made a terrible start against india. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. an unmarried mother has won

the right to a widowed parent's allowance, after taking the case to the supreme court. siobhan mclaughlin was refused the benefit after her partner died in 2014, because the couple, who had 4 children and had been together for 23 years, weren't married. but supreme courtjustices ruled this morning that denying her the benefit was unlawful. the ruling could help thousands of families in a similar situation — as jon donnison reports. john adams died from cancer in 2014, leaving behind four children. their mother and his partner of 22 years, siobhan mclaughlin, was told she was not entitled to widowed parents allowa nce not entitled to widowed parents allowance because the couple weren't married or in a civil partnership. for siobhan, that denied herfamily up for siobhan, that denied herfamily up to 100 a week and just wasn't fair. the commitment was the same.

buemi have the children, they took his surname and his name is on the birth certificates. it was a family unit. they have no say in whether their parents were married or not. what child dies? that was hard. it was hard to think that my youngest was hard to think that my youngest was ten and another child who is also ten in her class, parents were married, could get that. —— what child does? the supreme court has 110w child does? the supreme court has now ruled that is wrong after a legal battle and that the current rule for bereaved parents is incompatible with human rights legislation. what siobhan has said from day one is that it's unfair and it's wrong that her children should be treated any different than children whose parents are married and the supreme court today have upheld that. they have said not only is it unfair, the current position is that to get widowed parents allowance, you must be entitled to child benefit and the

deceased partner has to have paid enough national insurance. crucially, you have to have been married or in a civil partnership. today'sjudgment married or in a civil partnership. today's judgment could mean other non—married parents have been missing out. several crits's partner james died of a stroke in 2015, leaving their three children without a father. he had been the principal breadwinner and was up—to—date on his national insurance contributions. —— sarah's partner. because they weren't married or in a civil partnership, she too missed out on a widowed parents allowance. he was their father in every way. i feel he is now not being treated as their parents and the children aren't allowed his contributions. this would have been money that james would have paid through his national insurance contributions throughout his working life, he was 41 when worked since he 41 when he died, he worked since he was 18. i wonder what happened to 41 when he died, he worked since he was 18. i wonder what -ened to 41 when he died, he worked since he was 18. i u study what -ened to 41 when he died, he worked since he was 18. i w study today's er wened to 41 when he died, he worked since he was 18. i w study today's ruling d to

for receiving bereavement benefits. siobhan mclaughlin's victory means that position could be further challenged in the courts. our legal correspondent clive coleman is here. just how significant is this? how much do we know about how far the ramifications will go? under our constitution, the supreme court can't actually strike down and get rid of legislation said the legislation that puts this restriction on this particular payments to cohabiting couples remains in force. when you get a declaration that the legislation is incompatible with the human rights act, that puts a lot of pressure on government and parliaments to change the law, to change the legislation, so the law, to change the legislation, soi the law, to change the legislation, so i would be surprised if there was no movement for change. the numbers are no movement for change. the numbers a re pretty no movement for change. the numbers are pretty huge. something like 3.3 million cohabiting couples in the uk currently. 1.25 million of those have dependent children. it is

estimated by the child poverty action group that some 2000 families per year are missing out on this benefit over a 10—year period, that's tens of thousands of families. it can be a lot of money, up families. it can be a lot of money, up to £15,000 it is estimated for someone earning up to £15,000 it is estimated for someone earning in the region of £10,000 and then died. a really significant benefit. this families who feel they have missed out on might want to claim this in the future will be hugely encouraged by this ruling today. a public consultation on the sale of high—caffeine energy drinks to children in england has been launched. two—thirds more sugar than other soft drinks, and in some cases as much caffeine as three cans of cola. many supermarkets already operate a voluntary ban. one issue to be decided is whether the ban should apply to children under 16 or under 18, as our correspondent ben ando reports. children are told these drinks

will give them energy, but doctors say drinking them to excess can lead to headaches, sleep problems and upset tummies. evidence from teachers suggest they can even contribute to children becoming unruly and disruptive in the classroom. but more than anything, health experts believe they are part of the reason why britain's children are becoming obese. compared to other soft drinks, energy drinks contain a double whammy of very high caffeine and sugar levels. and children in the uk are guzzling half as much again as their counterparts in europe. in terms of sugar content, its associated with increased risk of type two diabetes, tooth decay and obesity, all things that need to be prevented in children. in terms of caffeine, its associated with lack of sleep, addiction, children feel like they need it every morning. that is why officials say action is

needed. i am open minded as to where the age limit should be, whether 16 or18, the age limit should be, whether 16 or 18, but openly it's about saying these drinks are not appropriate for young people. energy drinks like these are attractive to youngsters, in brightly coloured cans, and often cheaper than regular soft drinks. but the ingredients list tells a different story. each of these cans can contain as much sugar as this, and as much caffeine as this. the caffeine can cause too much stimulation, the sugar — weight gain and tooth decay. as well as hearing from dieticians, doctors and dentists, the government wants to hearfrom the public. i don't think kids should be allowed energy drinks. too much sugar and caffeine. they should be able to get enough nutrition through their food. asa parent, enough nutrition through their food. as a parent, ijust think it's the parent's duty to give these teenagers a good breakfast rather than relying on these fizzy drinks.

if you like, to get them going in the day. the british soft drinks association does not oppose a ban, but believes a voluntary code is enough, stating on its website: this consultation will last 12 weeks and is part of the second phase of the government's childhood obesity plan. already legislation increasing tax on sugar in foods has led to a significant reduction in sugar inta ke significant reduction in sugar intake among children, but critics say it does not do enough. banning the sale of energy drinks to youngsters is, they say, the simple next step in getting england's children more fit and less fat. ben ando, bbc news. 0ur health correspondent dominic hugesjoins me. what sort of reaction has there been

to these suggestions? as you can imagine from the energy drinks producers themselves, pretty hostile. the body energy drinks europe described a ban as arbitrary, discriminatory and said it would not be effective. it points out as ben said, these drinks sometimes contain the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee or the same sugar as an orangejuice or of coffee or the same sugar as an orange juice or apple juice drink. but health campaigners have been broadly supportive, they point out these empty calories, they are linked to tooth decay, to obesity, two diabetes, but also behaviour problems in the classroom. could there be issues, assuming something goes through, could there there be issues, assuming something goes ‘ details, could there

there be issues, assuming something goes ‘ details are uld there there be issues, assuming something goes ‘ details are to there there be issues, assuming something goes ‘ details are to be are there be issues, assuming something goes ‘ details are to be worked out those details are to be worked out over the coming months. you can imagine it might work in the same way that other restricted substances work, for example alcohol or tobacco. they would no longer be available in vending machines for example. younger people may have to produce ajaidee example. younger people may have to produce a jaidee before they can buy ‘ cigarettes or alcohol. —— works for cigarettes or alcohol. —— younger people may have to produce and ide. in terms of the health experts you speak to, do they tell you this is an important move in terms of specifically children's help? it's not going to be the thing that tackles the big issues like diabetes and obesity but it could be one step along the way. british children consume around 50% more of these drinks than their european counterparts. childhood obesity is much higher in europe than it is in the uk -- much higher in europe than it is in the uk —— in uk than it is in

europe. they say this could be one small step along that road. we hear from government sources that the changes coming so it's a case of how they bring these changes in rather than whether. the prime minister has declined to say that the uk will be better off in the medium term after britain leaves the eu. theresa may was asked about brexit at a press conference in kenya, as part of her trade tour of african countries. she replied that the government is ‘pursuing a good trade deal‘ with the eu. 0ur political correspondent ben wright is following the tour, and joins me from nairobi. was she put on the spot here? was she put on the spot here7m was she put on the spot here? it was a very interesting press conference that wraps up this three—day dash around sub saharan africa that the prime minister has been on. most striking was the fact president kenyatta pointed out quite tellingly at the beginning of their remarks that this was the first time a

british prime minister has been decaying kenya for 30 years. he said kenny had changed a lot since then, there are now countries around the world desperately seeking business in this fast—growing economy. he was put on the spot about brexit, asked if he thought it was a big opportunity. he did not, he said what he wanted from brexit was continuity, guarantees, which she got, that kenya's current tariff free access to the uk would continue. he did not think brexit would be detrimental and hope they could be deeper trade ties with britain in the future but the country is also looking at the usa, china, other european countries. he put the uk generally in its place as it talks about global britain. for her part, theresa may sounded strikingly upbeat, confident about the prospects of getting a deal. we're very committed to ensuring for kenya that that duty—free, quota—free access is maintained. so we have already started those discussions. we can't formally put into place future trade agreements, there is a legal issue about our relationship with the european union. so there is a point up to which we are not able to put that

into place, legally, but we continue through the implementation period to operate on the same basis. we are looking to transition arrangements such that there is continuity. that is what is important for business, what is important for traders, that people have the confidence of knowing what the position will be and the continuity of the current arrangements. there's no cliff edge, no sudden disruption to their trading arrangement. that is what we will deliver. i thought that was interesting. theresa may emphasising the need for continuity after the day britain leads. no talk about no deal being better than a bad deal today. this is the last day of her dash around africa this week. next week she is backin africa this week. next week she is back in westminster trying to get that deal with brussels over the next few weeks, trying to sell that if she gets it to westminster, something of a respite from the

political reality back. the former leader of the scottish national party, alex salmond, has resigned from the party to fight allegations of sexual misconduct. mr salmond led the snp into government, and was at the helm during the independence referendum. he strongly denies the allegations, which relate to his time in office. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has said politics shouldn't play a part in the row engulfing her predecessor. catriona renton reports. i heard a rumour... i think we won the election. it was the party with which his name was synonymous, a member for 45 years, leader for 20, seven of those as scotland's longest serving first minister. but following allegations that emerged last week, alex salmond has left the scottish national party. in a statement, he said... last week, it emerged alex salmond

had been the subject of an investigation by the scottish government. two civil servants made complaints of sexual harassment, dating back to 2013 when he was still first minister. the details have been passed to the police. there followed demands from opposition politicians that mr salmond should be suspended by the snp. the first minister and snp leader, nicola sturgeon, has told the bbc mr salmond's resignation from the party is incredibly difficult. this is not really about politics or about party personality. if the rhetoric that we hear, that all of us have indulged in, in recent times about allowing people to come forward and have complaints dealt with fairly and impartially and with due process is to mean anything, then that should apply regardless of politics. alex salmond intends to take

the scottish government to court over the process of how the complaints are handled. last night, he set up a crowdfunding page to pay for this. he has already exceeded his £50,000 target. 0pposition parties have criticised the move, one labour mp suggested people should donate to the charity women's aid instead. alex salmond said he intends to resume membership of the snp if he wins his case. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon is in edinburgh. where does this go next? well, the scottish parliament returns from its summer recess next week, next

thursday nicola sturgeon will be standing in the chamber at holyrood to a nswer standing in the chamber at holyrood to answer first ministers questions. i think it's fair to say that she and the party she leads had been coming under a lot of pressure from opposition parties here to suspend alex salmond following as allegations of sexual misconduct, allegations of sexual misconduct, allegations which mr salmond denies. he was well aware of this, and he chose the timing of the resignation statement very carefully, to take place ahead of parliament returning. indeed in that statement he said he didn't come into politics to facilitate opposition attacks on the snp and he tendered his resignation to re m ove snp and he tendered his resignation to remove this line of opposition attack. whether he has managed to do thatis attack. whether he has managed to do that is not at all clear. he has almost opened another line of attack for opposition parties in hollywood in the crowdfunding campaign he started to fund a legal challenge against the scottish government, a government to use to lead until four yea rs government to use to lead until four years ago. the last time i looked, the figure for the crowdfunding

campaign was standing at around £76,000. 0pposition parties here at holyrood have been extremely critical of it. they have described the fundraising move as astonishing, and unbelievable, and they have urged the public to donate cash to charities working with women who have suffered abuse instead. nicola sturgeon, scotland's first minister and the leader of the snp would not be drawn on the crowdfunding campaign this morning. but she did reiterate her point that they mustn't lose sight of the fact that complaints had been made and must be taken seriously, regardless of who they are against. laura gordon, thank you. the payday lender wonga says it is no longer accepting applications for loans. the firm has been struggling for months, after a government clampdown on payday lenders, and a surge in compensation claims against it. the company says existing customers are not affected. our business reporter manuela saragosa is with me. what is going on here at wonga? what is going on here at wonga7m was set up in 2007. the idea was to

give very easy for people to take out short—term loans, sometimes for 30 days, with very little check on credit. at its peak, wonga had 1 million customers. it was helped along by a very engaging advertising campaign, a very popular advertising campaign, a very popular advertising campaign at the time. at the last count, those numbers of customers we re count, those numbers of customers were down to 220,000 in september 20 17. it also used to be able to charge astronomical interest rates, 4000% or more at one point, for a year. it meant if you had a very small loan, it would grow exponentially very quickly. all of this was very controversial. the regulator stepped in in january this was very controversial. the regulator stepped in injanuary 2015 and clamped down on the business, a lot of payday lenders went out of business. wonga didn't, but had lost a lot of customers and faced a barrage of compensation claims in the aftermath, which have really dragged the company down and brought it to where it is today, that wonga applications, it is assessing its

options, and there are reports there is an administrator lined up, grant thornton, that the companies on the brink of collapse. for existing wonga customers, it has to be said, it is business as usual for now. for yes. thank you. —— for now, yes. our top story this lunchtime: an unmarried mother of four wins her legal battle to claim a widowed parent's allowance, after the death of her long—term and coming up: collecting waste plastic to build a boat made of recycled plastic, one innovative sollution for dealing with pollution on our waterways. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news, we'll look ahead to the england squad announcement — gareth southgate's first since the world cup. myanmar‘s leader, aung san suu kyi, should have

resigned in the wake of the violence against her country's rohingya muslim population. that's the view of the outgoing united nations human rights chief, who's told the bbc that she should have considered returning to house arrest, rather than excusing her country's military. a recent un report concluded that myanmar‘s military should be investigated for genocide — and blamed aung san suu kyi for failing to prevent the violence. 0ur correspondent imogen folkes reports from geneva. conclusive evidence from a un inquiry this week of war crimes, crimes against humanity, even genocide against rohingya muslims in myanmar. so sure are the investigators of the facts, they even named senior military commanders. but in the face of this overwhelming evidence, aung san suu kyi still insists her country is fighting terrorism. the danger of terrorist activities,

which was the initial cause of events leading to the humanitarian crisis in rakhine, remains clear and present today. unless this security challenge is addressed, the risk of intercommunal violence will remain. that was just too much for the un human rights commissioner. for over a year, he has tried to persuade aung san suu kyi, a woman he once deeply admired, to distance herself from her generals. in a final interview before leaving office, he bitterly criticised her stance. she was in a position to do something. at the very least, she could have kept quiet. there was no need for her to be the spokesperson of the burmese military. she didn't have to say this is an iceberg, misinformation, these are fabrications. she could have just stayed quiet, or even better, she could have resigned. she didn't do that. harsh words for a woman once

venerated around the world as a pro—democracy leader and nobel peace prize winner. but human rights groups believe the criticism is justified. aung san suu kyi may now go down in history not as a champion of peaceful resistance, but as a woman who failed to act in the face of unspeakable human rights violations. imogen foulkes, bbc news, geneva. the number of cars built in uk factories fell by 11% last month, compared to the same period one year ago. the latest figures from the society of motor manufacturers and traders show that the number of cars being built for the uk market injuly was particularly poor — having fallen 35%. the trade body said model changes, seasonal adjustments and preparation for stricter new emissions standards were responsible. the 0scar—winning british actress vanessa redgrave has been honoured with a lifetime—achievement award

at the prestigious venice film festival. she was handed a golden lioness in recognition of her contribution to cinema. during her 60 years in film, vanessa redgrave has won one 0scar and been nominated for another six. and at the age of 81, she has already appeared in three films this year. the presentation was made at a ceremony ahead of the festival's opening film, first man — about the run—up neil armstrong's mission to the moon. it's been called a "scourge on the environment" — but what can be done about the plastic waste that's making its way into britain's waterways? 0ne environmental charity has come up with an idea — it's turning more than a tonne of plastic waste, collected from the river thames, into a boat. helena lee reports. a smooth launch for the boat this morning. a boat made, in part,

from plastic picked up from the thames and recycled. these schoolchildren from canary wharf college have been a big part of getting the boat onto the water. they've been out on plastic fishing trips like this one, collecting litter. and there's always plenty for them to fish out. when we fish out plastic, it makes us satisfied that were helping the environment. making the planet better. i think it's quite silly, plastic bottles, when they get thrown away, or plastic bags, they should be recycled and used again. rather than ending up being shipped abroad, the plastic collected by the children ends up here, at this reprocessing plant in dumfries in scotland. we take the bottles, and shred the bottles down into very small parts. and then they are melted, and turned into sections, which are used to make furniture and, of course, the boat. the challenge to create a boat

from recycled plastic was handed to this man, mark edwards. a boat builder with more than 40 years experience making traditional wooden boats. you always look back into history. the method of boat building we use is clinker boat—building, where we nail two planks together, and we rivet it up really, really tight, and it stays there for a lifetime. so, we use that viking technology that got them across the atlantic safely, and back again across the atlantic, to tell the tale. this is the first time the boat has been out on the river to fish for plastic. it's one of two boats in the world made from 99% recycled plastic. and the charity hopes it will raise awareness aboutjust how much letter is in our waterways, and what's fished out from the water can be recycled into something else. helena lee, bbc news richmond. cricket, and england's batsmen have

made a terrible start on the opening day of the fourth test against india. the home side lead the series and this morning chose to bat. but india, who won the last game, are looking to make a comeback, and reduced england to 57 for 4 at lunch, as adam wild reports. with the south coast sunshine, england's indian summer has arrived. destination: southampton. not quite all change, but as conditions are settled, england's line—up is anything but. a few tweaks, a few adjustments to the side, england do still have the upper hand in the series but it's india who arrive here with momentum. with the bat, england of late have been difficult to watch. india's bowling at times impossible to see. keatonjennings losing sight of this one. 0ut before he got in. so, along came the captain to steady the ship. joe root, too,

looking all at sea. he was lucky to survive this appeal, replays showed it was a no ball. his luck didn't last much longer. trapped lbw, england now in some distress. time to stand up, be brave. jonny bairstow batting with a broken finger, sent back to the pavilion with a bruised pride to go with it. if ever there was a time for england's greatest run scorer to remind us what he can do, this was it. but alistair cooke's dismissal was all too predictable. so, too, england's morning with the bat — all too familiar. adam wild, bbc news, in southampton. prince harry has joked about playing his ancestor king george iii, during a visit to london's west end. of the musical hamilton, to raise money for the duke's hiv charity, sentebale. and at the curtain call, the duke didn't pass up the opportunity to break, briefly, into song. # you say...#

cheering and applause that's definitely not going to happen. he did try, but i said no! a round of applause to yourselves for taking part in this evening's activities because you have together raised a huge amount of money to change the lives of thousands of children in botswana. prince harry, last night, after watching hamilton. time for a look at the weather. darren is here. 0ver over the next two days, into the weekend