‘ dry, ‘dry, not as warm as the largely dry, not as warm as the weekend, but they should be spells of sunshine with temperatures up to 19 or 20 degrees. for september, that's not bad. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... official documents have revealed that the government is examining the tax status of people who are nominated for honours. hmrc is using a traffic—light system to rate their tax affairs. a man has appeared in court, charged with the murder of a mother and daughter, who were stabbed outside their home in solihull. more than two thirds of northern rail services have been cancelled today, in a dispute over driver—only operated trains. the united states has ended its funding for the un's palestinian refugee agency, calling it flawed. the organisation has rejected the criticism and expressed deep disappointment. let's cross now to the capitol in

washington, dc where we are awaiting the start of the motorcade which will bring senatorjohn mccain, the former us senatorfor will bring senatorjohn mccain, the former us senator for arizona who died last weekend after a battle against a died last weekend after a battle againsta brain died last weekend after a battle against a brain gym. mr mccain a great and respected figure across the political divide and we will have coverage throughout the afternoon on bbc news. we have seen motorcycle upgraders, we expect the hearse to move in a little while. we have will have more throughout the afternoon. thank you for your company this morning and throughout today so far. now we will join company this morning and throughout today so far. now we willjoin mike thompson who is meeting five lottery winners from around the world. with prizes now bigger than ever, who hasn't dreams of winning the lottery, and dwelled on what you would do

with all that money? but would winning it big really make us happier? i'm mike thomson, and i'm on a trip to meetjackpot winners around the world in search of an answer, from a once penniless ghanian man who is now becoming a movie mogul. a transgender ex—taxi driver who has transformed her life. to a former canadian beauty queen who is giving it all away. i've come to hull, britain's city of culture last year, to meet one of the country's most colourful and controversial lottery winners. my first task is going to be to get a taxi into town. this looks possible.

hi there, mike thomson from the bbc? yes, it is. tell you what, mike, jump in. i'm assuming that you being a bit of a local celebrity now, you could well be spotted in the open top? not many blonde haired people driving around in an open top car on a day like this. 0nce i'd scratched it, once i'd realised, i had to check it and keep checking it. in december last year, melissa ede bought a scratchcard and got the best christmas present of her life. within three days, my bank balance

went from about £1 to £4 million. melissa, a 57—year—old transgender woman, had struggled to make ends meet working night shifts as a taxi driver. life was hard, wasn't it? life was very, very difficult, yeah. just to live day by day. some days, couldn't even afford to eat. it was a bowl of cereal, just to get by that day. could we perhaps go to where you used to work? definitely, let's go and have a look and let's go see some of my old friends. where from? and where are you going to? ok, no problem, then. thank you. so this is it. so here it is. carmen was one of melissa's closest colleagues at work. how are you doing?

really good. what have you been doing? all sorts. i haven't seen you for a bit. i've been lying low. how come? just have, so much to do. you've got lots to tell me, then. shall we go in there? it went crazy. it did, yeah. everyone... it was everywhere. yeah, i know. have you spent the lot, then? no. haven't you ? i've invested £3 million. i've invested £3 million, i'm paying the house off cash, and then i'm treating some of my close friends as well. and family. and we've still got enough to have some good holidays and that as well. so i'm not as crazy as people thought i was. you know what you're doing, then. i've proved that it can happen to anybody. because if i was ten minutes later

somebody else might have had that scratchcard. after her win, melissa thought she'd reached the end of her struggles. she'd been living in a rundown rented bedroom. when the house of her dreams came up for sale, melissa made a cash offer, and it was accepted. then the sale fell through. i'm out there, i'm in the public eye. a lot of people don't agree with what i do. i don't know, i really, really don't know. everybody thinks that having money solves everything. i'm living proof, it doesn't. even though you've got the money, you can't have everything you want. when the light falls and the darkness draws in, melissa can be found in search of the supernatural. bad spirits, can you please show your presence? can you make one

of the lights flash? you see any spirits in this room that would like to speak to anybody in this room? please, can you give us a sign. melissa met herfiance rachel in a ghost hunting session. it is one of her more unconventional hobbies. make a noise. boo! melissa, i knew you were going to do that. move the ball on the table. touch somebody on the shoulder. for some, melissa's belief in ghosts might make her appear gullible, but she says she is well aware there are some downsides to winning a fortune. one of the problems with winning such a vast amount of money is, who do you trust in your life any more? who is there because they want to be? 0r who is there because you are now a millionaire? it wasn't me who popped the question, it was rachel,

rachel popped the question, and it was just before, luckily for her, just before the lottery win. it was only a matter of a few days. after 15 years working nights as a taxi driver, melissa is used to getting by on very little sleep. even though she spent all night ghost hunting, that won't stop melissa going clubbing later. and as you can see... there it is. hello, what have you got to wear my big night out tonight, then? a nice prom dress in the window. i don't think i can go in a prom dress, do you? pink to make the boys wink. let's have a look. yes, let's see. what do you think? it is surprising what you can find.

and i do know, from past experiences, even people who are into designer labels, you can find them in charity shops as well. why pay full whack for something? no, you can get it for cut—price, and you are also helping out a charity. i am being very, very careful with my money because i think in life, when you haven't had something, you learn to value things in life. after she won the lottery, melissa decided she needed a makeover. years of taking hormones and a violent attack when she worked in the taxi business have caused serious damage to her teeth. now she can finally afford to fix them. i'm going to have that hollywood smile. so, that's something i really, really can't wait for. before winning the lottery, melissa would drive customers around

hull on a saturday night. now she's the customer. money doesn't bring happiness, but it can certainly make you enjoy life more. lottery fever has been transforming lives in africa, too. here, in the steamy bush, around an hour's drive from ghana's second city, it has turned a once penniless movie writer into a veritable movie mogul. action! last year, 25—year—old kwame took a gamble on his football knowledge.

he placed a bet on the scores of 15 matches being played around the world. get them all right, and he would be in the money. kwame sat back and waited for news of the scores to come in. action! kwame had won nearly a million ghanian dollars, the equivalent of more than 2000 us dollars. kwame soon began putting his winnings to good use, ploughing it into music and films. action! he's yet to finish making his action movie but has already made a trailer for it.

kwame‘s life before winning the lottery was very far away from the hollywood dream. ghana's economy is growing, but much of this wealth goes to a minority of the population, and inequality between the rich and the poor is greater than ever. for many people in ghana, winning the lottery is their only hope of making it out of poverty. we have turned off the road and we are now in a slum area where you can smell the open sewers. there are enormous holes in the road. i'm getting the impression that this must be close to where kwame spent most of his life.

in this impoverished slum, few would risk spending the little they have on lottery tickets. only a true optimist would take that gamble. rap music. how times have changed. back in his slum days, kwame lived in a makeshift home with no windows. not bad, is it? kwame, you have gone up

in the world, haven't you? kwame‘s parents advise him about how to spend his new—found wealth. kwame realised that he needed help from his parents so he asked them to authorise any large cheques he might want to write. kwame‘s big win came

on his sister lydia's birthday. but since kwame‘s win, the family has been pestered for money, particularly by some relatives. kwame‘s parents say they want their son to use his money

to secure his own future, and kwame has some very big ambitions. my investigation into money and happiness takes me now to the french—speaking province of quebec in canada. this is the ticket i win with, and this is the photo. it's proof i'm the winner. 57—year—old lottery winner rachel la pierre lives in the town of saintjerome near montreal. rachel won it big in 2013 but chose payments for life instead.

every week, she gets 1000 canadian dollars. that's around 800 us dollars. rachel, a former miss quebec, has tasted riches before. but having won a fortune, most people can only dream of, she is now giving it all away. you know what, money is money. when you get born you don't have anything. you arrive in life. and when you go, you're going with nothing. you know? so you're going with your memories. you're going with what you did here in life. i give that to her last week. rachel uses her lottery win

to fund her own charity. running this has left her with less money than she had before. but rachel believes that by living her dream, she's richer than ever. everybody who brings something here to give it back to somebody, they sign it here their names so you can see all of them. there is children who brought a bike for another child. yeah. we have a lot of refugee families, you know, from the war. they arrive and they don't have any toys, they don't have bikes. we just tried to promote good deeds. so a good deed can be so many things.

it can be a bike today, it can be food, it can be transport to go to the hospital. it can be just listening to somebody on the phone because they're so lonely, it can be so many things. you're welcome, you're welcome. let's go. bonjour. i really need help right now. what kind of help? i'm alone with my four kids and i've just lost myjob. what we're going to do, if you agree, we're going to bring you groceries today. thank you so much. thank you! you've made my day. thank you very, very, very, very much! this pleasant looking neighbourhood seems an unlikely place to find anyone needing help from rachel's charity. butjust around the corner,

a man is living in what used to be his garage before his house burnt down. hello, miley! so how you feel today? not bad. a little bit... con c, consular. a little better than most days. harvey was a successful businessman but then everything changed. soon after his company went bust, he became seriously ill and a fire destroyed his home. it's diabetes, bad circulation. i lost a kidney and my kidneys shut down. before rachel found harvey, he was struggling to survive the freezing canadian winter in this makeshift cabin, and hadn't had a hot shower for months. and i have good news today.

what? this week two persons are going to come to do the tiles in the bathroom. i appreciate it a lot, rachel. i'm happy. thank you. merci. my pleasure, my pleasure. you lose faith in people quite a lot often, you don't believe any more. all of a sudden rachel shows up at my door and i still didn't believe because i'd never asked anyone for anything ever. i never had to. i was blown away, i got to tell you. i really was. i didn't show it because i'm not that type of person, but i was... yeah. you never crossed someone's path for nothing. i believe that.

i believe that too. did you regularly enter the lottery? no, never. that day something... i had that feeling i have to buy a ticket because i was already helping people a little bit, but i was working, i had my kids. i said if i win this means it's going to be for me like a salary. honestly i was not surprised to win. in my mind i was thinking, i have to do it, i was sure about that. so i was just coming to confirm, you win, you were right. rachel grew up in a poor neighbourhood of montreal, but she was soon to leave that behind. what's all this?

some of these mementos, these incredible photographs you've got, presumably all to do with your win as miss quebec? yeah. i win in 1982 and i was sure i couldn't be a miss quebec. it made me realise everything is possible. after being crowned miss quebec, rachel didn't rest on her laurels. she went on to start a successful modelling agency and her wealth began to grow. long before rachel won the lottery, she discovered that money alone would not bring her happiness, so she swapped her luxury lifestyle for the dedicated down—to—earth world of an emergency nurse. i think happiness coming from the heart, 0k? so it's nice to have a new car, a new home, a new everything. it can be really fun.

but with the time i just realise maybe humans need to give to be balanced. i'd imagined that a do—gooding lottery winner like rachel might be a little too saccharine and prone to patronise those she helps. yet they seem to genuinely adore her and i admit to being a bit of a fan myself. i always assumed that happiness forjackpot winners lies in suddenly having mountains of money to do what you like, when you like, where you like. action. freedom from the financial constraints that bind everyone else. but having met all these people around the world who've won it big, i'm no longer so sure.

the thrill of new—found riches seems to fade fairly quickly. international research appears to back this up. academics have found absolutely no evidence that a year after winning, those who hit the jackpot are any happier than the rest of us. the secret it seems to me is to share what you have and help others to live their dreams too. that way everyone‘s a winner. could afternoon. this doesn't look like the uk but it is. the isle of wight. the first day of september, and the first day of major logical autumn. not too bad for many of us. lots of sunshine. the further north and west extensive cloud. thick enoughin and west extensive cloud. thick enough in highland scotland to give mist and drizzle. a few breaks in the cloud if you look closely enough

in the north—east. cloud will tend to break up at times in the west, some glimmers of brightness. the best sunshine always in the central and eastern parts of england. a bit of magic world. temperatures getting to 2425. the of magic world. temperatures getting to 21125. the extra cloud in the south—west of wales but that breaking at times to give the odd speu breaking at times to give the odd spell of sunshine. similar for north—west england and northern ireland. 21 is that brightens up in belfast. scotland extensive cloud and drizzle over the hills. around the coast you can see some brighter spells. more sunshine lifting temperatures to 21. tonight we see areas of cloud across western areas. some drizzle and misty and murky conditions. further east it is clear and a bit cool here but not as chilly as the last couple of nights. further west around 14—16. a similar

day, the best of the sunshine in the east. a bit brighter than today across the south—west, cloudy in the midlands and north east england. temperatures for most 20—211 but further west of breeze, rain later in the day for western scotland and northern ireland courtesy of this weather fronts sinking southeast, northern ireland courtesy of this weatherfronts sinking southeast, a cold front. there is some cold or cool air behind it trying to edge a bit southeast to the start of the new working week. this is monday, split fortunes, moving very slowly south—eastwards, a bit of patchy rain. ahead in the south—east some sunshine and still someone. in the north—west some sunny spells but much cooler and fresher. slightly fresher conditions will spread to most parts of the country as we get into the week but it still will be mostly dry. temperatures 19 or 20.

for early september that is not too bad. this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 2pm: official documents reveal that hm revenue and customs uses a traffic light system to rate the tax arrangements of people nominated for an honour. they are going after schemes of this kind, and individuals who have benefited from them are being held to account, and that is surely right. a man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a mother and daughter — who were stabbed outside their home in solihull.

more misery for northern rail passengers, as more than two—thirds of services are cancelled — in a dispute over driver—only operated trains. the united states ends its funding for the un's palestinian refugee agency — deeming it irredeemably flawed. also coming up — the funeral of us senator john mccain takes place.