is about to rally democrats in indiana ahead of tuesday's mid—terms, the first nationwide electoral test since donald trump was elected president. cheering and, back on land at last — the man who's become the first person to swim around the entire coastline of britain. hello. good evening to you. welcome to bbc news. the pro—brexit businessman aaron banks has again insisted that all the money he provided for a campaign to leave the european union was generated from his businesses in the uk, and therefore within the rules on political donations. the multi—million pound donation is being investigated by the national crime agency. in a bbc interview this morning, mr banks said the money came from a uk company called

rock services, which he said had "all sorts of revenues". one mp has accused him of bluster and contradictory and confusing statements. here's our correspondent manveen rana. arron banks — brexiteer, businessmen and now the subject of a criminal investigation into the source of the funds he provided to the brexit campaign. as he arrived at the bbc this morning to speak to the andrew marr programme, he faced serious questions about where the £8 million had come from. i would just like to say, absolutely for the record, there was no russian money and no interference of any type. all right. let's follow the money, as it were. i just want to be absolutely clear about that. the electoral commission say they suspect arron banks was not the true source of the £8 million he loaned to brexit campaign groups. mr banks claimed the money came from his uk—based company rock services. however, the electoral commission suspects the money came from the parent company, rock holdings, registered

in the isle of man, which would make it an illegal source of funds under uk electoral law. the money trail was at the heart of the interview with andrew marr. i'm telling you it came from a uk company that had cash generated in the uk. which uk company? rock services. we have evidenced that to the electoral commission. rock services is a shell company. it doesn't generate money. you have just said it is a shell company. we don't see how rock services can generate 8 million quid. are we not in a situation where the electoral commission have referred it? we will explain ourselves, and the accounting that went behind it, and i'm very happy with it. you told parliament that rock services was just a service company. you've told me something very different today. i haven't seen the actual transcript of that. i will go back and look at that, but i'm telling you the source of the funding was rock services. the electoral commission, who have seen the accounts of rock services, claim there were insufficient funds to justify such a large donation. you've not given me an answer. you're avoiding it...

an mp from the select committee that quizzed mr banks says his explanations so far have been inconsistent and full of bluster. it's clear from what mr banks said today that some of the lines that he is now presenting contradict what he told us on the select committee. it's a very confused picture that he is presenting. i think that's quite deliberate. i'm delighted that we are now going to have a forensic analysis and investigation of mr banks‘ affairs. as the criminal investigation gets under way, arron banks can now expect months of financial scrutiny by the authorities. manveen rana, bbc news. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages atio.30pm and 11.30pm for the papers. with broadcaster, lynn faulds wood, and henry mance, political correspondent at the financial times. do stay with us, or indeed if you

are popping up that letter, it's a good discussion to listen to. seven of the eight children injured after falling from an inflatable slide in surrey yesterday have been released from hospital. the slide had been erected at a fireworks funfair in woking, with police declaring a major incident when the children fell. frankie mccamley reports from woking. the aftermath of what should have been a fun evening of fireworks and fairground rides that turned into chaos. we were coming to watch the fireworks... caught up in it all were lucas and henry, both 11 years old. before it happened, i said to my mum i did not feel safe. because, obviously, the air and, of course, it was really busy. the pair were on the inflatable slide in woking park when eight children were injured. it's probably one of the biggest bouncy castle slides i've ever seen, with the two stairways up each side. when we got to the top, we were shouting, "please, everyone, can you calm down? i don't want any tragedies to happen. "

reaction was, shocked at first. just stood there. i could not move for a few seconds. i was just so shocked at seeing all the children just fall from three quarters of the way up to hitting the floor. i was really shocked, because these incidents are quite astonishing. i saw lots of children laying on the ground. it was awful. yeah. i've never seen something quite that bad in my whole life. it was around 7:30pm yesterday when this evening of family fun was suddenly cut short. the park was evacuated as ambulance crews tried to help the injured children. this afternoon, investigators temporarily reinflated the slide to gather evidence and build a better picture of what happened yesterday. as the slide is deflated and other attractions nearby are checked, officials from the health and safety executive, alongside the police, remain on the scene and the cordon is still in place. organisers of the event say they still don't know

how the children fell. we're pretty shocked and distressed by the whole thing. we have a full safety plan for this event, which we agreed with woking borough council. we've used this funfair operator for a number of years. some are now calling for a government review into the regulation of inflatables. what needs to happen is a temporary ban — and i stress temporary ban — on bouncy castles and inflatables in big public areas, until we have updated the regulations, until we have changed the inspection regime and parents can be 100% confident that when their children go on these things, there's nothing to worry about. a reassurance many parents may well be looking for this evening. frankie mccamley, bbc news. senior figures from across the political spectrum have paid tribute tojeremy heywood — lord heywood — the former head of the civil service who has died at the age of 56. he retired from his role suddenly two weeks ago after serving

four prime ministers, and was regarded as a key influence in shaping modern britain. our political correspondent jonathan blake has more. when i launched my leadership campaign... he was the prime minister's right—hand man, putting the government's policies into practise and giving advice on how best to get things done. as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, and in other senior roles, lord heywood has worked at the heart of government for more than 20 years, serving four prime ministers. jeremy heywood was the most outstanding civil servant. indeed, the most dynamic civil servant of his generation. exceptional ability, unimpeachable integrity. as we saw in facing his illness, exceptional courage, also. politicians on all sides have paid tribute. theresa may said... the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, described sirjeremy as... and the former deputy prime minister, nick clegg, said... lord heywood's wife, suzanne,

said he was a wonderful husband and father who could light up any room. i think we started with the 1975 guidance... despite huge influence, he kept a low public profile. described by one former colleague as the most important person nobody‘s ever heard of. but his death, at 56, is a shock to those who knew him well. jeremy, ithink, was a wonderful public servant. and he, ithink, did a huge amount to hold governments together, at very difficult times. i obviously knew him very well, personally, and... ithink, you know, all thoughts with his family. despite his illness, lord heywood worked until recently. some nicknamed him sir cover up for resisting transparency, which he said frustrated him. but he'll be missed, as a man who has had a hand in how the uk has been governed through some turbulent times. jeremy heywood, who died this

weekend at the age of 56. police are investigating a fatal stabbing in south east london after the body of a man was found this afternoon. it's the third fatality in the capital in the past 72 hours. meanwhile, a teenager who died after being stabbed outside a clapham tube station has been named by police as malcolm mide—madariola — a 17—year—old student from peckham. our correspondentjon donnison is at the scene of the bromley stabbing in south east london. three fatal stabbings within a few miles of each other in less than 72 hours. the latest happened in broad daylight around about half past 12 here in bromley, and the body of a man who police believe is just 22 years old is still lying in the road behind me, with forensic officers at the scene. we spoke to a couple who said they were driving up the road when they saw the body lying in the road, a man in distress. they tried to save him,

stop the bleeding, but were unable to do so. ambulance service arrived, and he died just about half an hour later. this is just three days after another fatal stabbing. a 15—year—old was stabbed outside of a chicken restaurant, and then on friday night, just outside clapham south tube station, a 17—year—old, malcolm mide—madariola, also stabbed to death. it brings the total number of homicides being investigated in the capital this year tojust under 120. the metropolitan police say that violent crime in the capital has leveled off. for people living in south london, it probably does not feel that way this weekend. jon donnison in bromley. leicester city's football players are in bangkok to attend funeral ceremonies for their former chairman, vichai srivaddhanaprabha. mr vichai died in a helicopter crash outside the king power stadium

last saturday. four other people were also killed. the team flew out to thailand after their match against cardiff yesterday. our south east asia correspondent, jonathan head, spoke to us earlier from the temple where the funeral ceremony has been taking place. we're on the second day of the funeral. we saw the players arrive here, as you say, directly from that match in cardiff. they got here as soon as they could. just about an hour ago, off a bus, taken straight from the airport. they're not all here, but we sanamie vardy, captain wes morgan, goalkeeper kasper schmeichel, of course, who was particularly close to mr vichai, coming off wearing black suits with other players and officials. and they were taken straight into the temple complex you can see behind me, where the funeral will go on for many, many more days. there are four more rituals over the next five or six days, but then the cremation itself will not be for at least another, well, close to 100 days. they are there today with the daughter of thailand's current king, king maha vajiralongkorn. this is a royally sponsored event. it makes it a very elite and illustrious occasion indeed.

a reflection of vichai's extraordinary business success, and the status he achieved in a relatively short time. he made his money relatively quickly here in thailand, and of the very good networking he had. we've seen, really, the cream of the great and good coming to show their respects for him. but it does not have the same kind of feel as the tributes we have seen back in britain. his sporting success, while many thais have taken pride in it, can't have the same impact as it has for a team like leicester and the people of that city. this is much more of a formal buddhist occasion where there isn't much engagement with the thai public. jonathan head. republicans and democrats have begun a final burst of campaigning 48 hours before tuesday's mid—term elections in the united states. millions of voters will cast their ballot for seats in both chambers of congress, alongside dozens of state governor battles. the democrats say they are optimistic of taking control of the house of representatives, which would have a big

impact on the rest of president trump's term in office. 0ur correspondent jane 0'brien has been at a nfl match in maryland, a state which traditionally votes democratic. she's gauging fans‘ views on the elections, and began by asking fran — a republican supporter — what she thought of the upcoming election. they are very important. for maryland a democratic state. larry hogan has to end. we need a republican in office. maryland has been a horrible state for the past 50 yea rs been a horrible state for the past 50 years stop its crime is out of control and everything is out of control. it's a spending. it's all been democratically run. need a republican in there to straighten it out how much a factor is president trump in the scourge of a factor is president trump in the schedule into huge factor. he's a businessman. it needs to be ran like one. integration is important. that's what needs to happen. i have to pay

for a password to come back and my own country, so i should anyone is baby come in for free was white your democrat. i'm going to ask same question. he's a factor. what matters is these midterms. do you agree with donald trump? vote that way. if you do not agree, do you wa nt way. if you do not agree, do you want his policies have to go through? you but the way that you feel. if you want more change in your community, but for the midterms, local elections. people don't really see that. they see the presidential election and that's not the same. the generation x, millennials and post millennials are currently the majority of eligible voters, but they least likely to vote. it would just... the worse. voters in maryland speaking to jane 0'brien. the former us president barack 0bama is speaking at a rally in the city of gary, stumping for the democrat senatorjoe

donnelly, who come to the end of his six—year term of office, but is hoping to be re—elected on tuesday. he used to be a member of the house of representatives in indiana. interesting heroine of his stump speeches when he first ran for congress back in 2006. one of his key things with the problem ofjobs going from indiana off to china. a popular theme for president trump a reminder that some of these issues do play across supporters of both parties. the unions are very strong in parts of indiana, a big industrial area. consequently, there is always a concern about the loss ofjobs, the death of manufacturing in large parts of the united states. because the jobs could be, the goods to be sourced more cheaply in china and some other countries in asia. that's been a recurring theme for him up. it's in a popular theme for

democrats when they criticise some of the policies of george bush stop some of these issues do recur. joe donnelly, though, thought to have a very good chance on hanging onto indiana. 0f very good chance on hanging onto indiana. of course, the long serving senator in indiana, a victim of the reagan coat—tails. it brought a republican senator in. he lost the nomination because he was not really a flavour of republican who is popular back in 2006. a new candidate thought joe donnelly, popular back in 2006. a new candidate thoughtjoe donnelly, who defeated him, ishould candidate thoughtjoe donnelly, who defeated him, i should say in the point of election. we will hear from joe donnelly and we'll hear from a

barack 0bama joe donnelly and we'll hear from a ba rack 0bama hopefully joe donnelly and we'll hear from a barack 0bama hopefully in the next half hour or so. let's ta ke let's take a look at the headlines on bbc news. it's 17 past 7pm. the businessman arron banks insists his donations to a pro—brexit campaign complied with electoral law and came from his uk businesses. an investigation‘s begun into how eight children fell from an inflatable slide at a fireworks display in woking last night. none suffered serious injuries. tributes are paid to the former head of the civil service, sirjeremy heywood, who has died aged 56. 12 people, including a family of nine, have died in floods and landslides caused by torrential rain around palermo in sicily. italian authorities say that 29 people have lost their lives in fierce storms that have battered the country this week. katie silver reports. it was in this house near palermo in sicily that a family was all but wiped out. nine people died in the incident, from children aged one, three and 15, to their grandparents.

it happened when a small river nearby burst its banks. translation: it's not a good situation. it is something we never would have expected. so much rain in casteldaccia. 0n the other side of the island, firefighters recovered the bodies of a man and woman whose hire car was swept away by a flooded river. another man's body was found in hisjeep. while rescuers are looking for a missing doctor who was en route to the hospital to start his shift. rescue teams evacuated many families from the agrigente area. "we can't go into our homes," she says. "someone lent me clothes. i don't even have underwear. we are devastated. i am speechless. " italy is reeling after heavy rain and gales have hit large parts of the country over the last week. many have died from falling trees,

while a german tourist and an 87—year—old woman were struck by lightning. near a northern city, torrential rain caused a massive landslide, blocking a regional road and cutting off a number of towns and villages. in the region of veneto, which has borne the brunt of the damage, authorities believe it will cost one billion euros to repair and 100 years for the forests to regrow. the destruction has been widespread. all of these regions have been hit by bad weather, from veneto and the piedmont regions in the north to sardinia and sicily, which has been the area most affected in the last 2a hours. the danger now appears to have passed in the north—east but authorities in the south and north west are bracing themselves for more wild weather to come. italy's civil protection agency describes it as one of the most complex weather situations of the past half—century. katie silver, bbc news. the husband of a pakistani christian

woman acquitted of blasphemy after eight years on death row has pleaded for asylum from the uk. asia bibi's husband, ashiq masih, said they were in great danger in pakistan. the supreme court overturned her conviction on wednesday, saying the case against her was based on flimsy evidence, but she has yet to be freed. her acquittal sparked violent protests, and the government has now agreed to try to stop her leaving the country. earlier, we spoke to tom tugendhat, who chairs the foreign affairs committee in parliament. he's calling on officials here and in pakistan to urgently review mrs bibi's safety. well, look, this is an innocent woman who has already spent many years in prison, for something that we wouldn't even begin to consider a crime. and even the pakistan courts say is not a crime, because she didn't do anything. so, i think she should be released. but, sadly, notjust released to home. because, the reality is, as we've seen in recent days, that there is a very great danger

of mob violence. and of her being killed. the governor of punjab, who spoke out on her behalf, was killed only seven years ago. taseer, governor taseer. and a leading member of the cabinet, minister bhatti, was killed in the same year. both of them for speaking out against the way in which this woman has been treated. this is a matter of freedom of conscience and freedom of faith. and we support the freedom of individuals to practise theirfaith, or no faith, all over the world. so, seeing this woman being victimised, because of her christian beliefs in pakistan, is extremely worrying. and i think we should not only be offering her asylum, but we should be making it very clear to the pakistan government that we view this with extreme seriousness. it's been four years since the tower of london captured the public‘s imagination by filling their moat with ceramic poppies to mark the centenary of world war one. to commemorate the 100th anniversary

of the end of the war, each evening from 5pm tonight, around 10,000 torches will be lit by beefeaters, representatives from the armed forces and volunteers. the sea of fire will light up the moat and walls of the tower until 9pm, at which point the tower will be plunged in to darkness, ahead of the floodlights being turned back on. here's correspondent sophie long. the tower of london looking very beautiful this evening. the mode is lit up by individual planes as we approach the centenary of the end of the first world war. little earlier, this evening, at 5pm, a lone blue colour played the last post and a minute's silence was observed. —— a lone bugler. the sacrifice that they made. this is an evolving audio and visual installation. it's called

beyond the deepening shadow: the tower remembers. the first flame was lit by a veteran of the army and the second was lit by a corporal, and air cadet. i'm pleased to say that corporal smith is with me at the tower of london now. that must‘ve been a huge honour. how did you feel the shallow it was a great honour. —— how did you feel? the shallow it was a great honour. -- how did you feel? it was great honour. just made me feel great. it's very beautiful. what do you think of the installation itself? the installation itself is amazing. declining was perfect in way it's set out. —— the planning is perfect. i know you're pleased that you are involved. it must have been quite nerve—racking. it looks beautiful 110w nerve—racking. it looks beautiful now but when you're walking out there, the press lined up, everyone silent, all eyes on you. how did i feel? as i walked up i was shaking.

0nce feel? as i walked up i was shaking. once you get there and you are in the zone, it feels amazing. it's quite beautiful, actually. and how important do you think... you're and air cadet. what does armistice day and remember it mean to you? —— remembrance day. it's a sign of completion, that we've made this far we've managed to our power and stay as we are. independent as a british... and you are 15 years old 110w. british... and you are 15 years old now. you think that you to go on to beatin now. you think that you to go on to beat in the air force could shut up yes, i would like to be a pilot for the royal air force. —— do you think you going to be in the air force? yes. because i've been a cadet for a few years and i've tried my hardest and been there for the cadets, i've just been lucky to be chosen out of my team by just been lucky to be chosen out of am by my just been lucky to be chosen out of my team by my 0c, and it's a great feeling and i'm very honoured. and i

think your mum and dad were here watching, is that right? they are very proud of you just try to keep my calm because i am shaking, terrified. did you have second thoughts? yes. i did not know ifi could do it. i pulled myself together and i managed to complete it. very powerful, as i was watching. thank you so much for joining us this weekend. the installation will be here for the next eight nights, up to and including armistice day. you have a very good view. all the tickets are sold but you can come to tower hill and looked down on the tower and see this beautiful installation. sophie long there at the tower of london. let's go to strasbourg now. a week of commemorations. let's listen in. (music) music

the concert is the beginning of a week of commemorations by president emmanuel macron. his guest this evening... the president of germany. later in the week, he will be hosting german chancellor angela merkel. 0f hosting german chancellor angela merkel. of course, for france and many other countries in europe, this was a much terrible war in terms of the battlefield that stretch between much of the countryside and belgium. many fought and died. some special commemorations. commemorating the african soldiers from france's

former colonies who fought and died in defence of france and belgium. the so—called black army. that will be marked... theresa may will be with president macron on friday and on next sunday, on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour, president will bejoined the 11th month at the 11th hour, president will be joined by a number of world leaders at the arc de triomphe, including president trump, who will be making his official visit to paris. an important week. let's listen to a little bit more of this concert before we leave strasbourg. music that's the scene in strasbourg

cathedral this evening. that concert beginning a week of commemorations for the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war. an adventurerfrom lincolnshire has become the first person to swim almost 1800 miles around great britain. ross edgley left margate onjune 1, swimming for up to 12 hours a day and eating more than 500 bananas. he's been up against strong tides and currents, as well as storms and jellyfish. john maguire went to meet him as he returned to dry land. this is the moment ross edgley set a new world record, became the first person to swim around britain, and set foot on dry land for the first time in more than five months. great britain's big, isn't it? you tell me — you swam round it. yeah, it's much bigger than i thought. scotland's big. people don't realise how big that is. the highs are so high, but the lows are so low. scotland is just amazing, the scenery is stunning. but it is also very humbling, just getting slapped in the face

byjellyfish every single day. it feels weird now to be sort of looking back and reflecting because, for 157 days, i almost didn't allow myself to do that, so now it feels quite nice. swimming twice a day every day for up to 12 hours both day and night, he has battled storms, exhaustion, and waters seething with jellyfish. at margate beach this morning, where he first set off injune, well—wishers who'd followed his progress joined friends and family to welcome him back home. absolutely immense. he's a man who has always had character and has shown that over the last five months. this is the epitome of survival, the epitome of resilience. this is like caveman, feral instincts — dating back to... historic. absolutely historic. what this man has done for these people to support him is absolutely amazing. he is either mad or he knows what he is doing. he lived on board throughout the 2000—mile swim, consuming

more than 1 million calories to fuel his endeavour. as for what is next, ross says he is keen to take on yet another swimming challenge, but that's after he gets his land legs back. thank you. stop it. i'm going to cry. john maguire, bbc news, margate. what an achievement! congratulations to him. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. hello there. 0nce hello there. once we left the winds across northern scotland, it was a fine one. plenty of sunshine. further south, more cloud around for england and wales and even some rain. this next feature moving its way northwards. we could have a damp weather across the west country