this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 8pm. the businessman aaron banks inists all the money he gave to a pro brexit campaign in the run up to the referendum came from his uk businesses, not from russia. i'm telling you it came from a uk company with cash generated in the uk. rock services. 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 recently retired cabinet secretary, sirjeremy heywood, who has died from cancer at the age of 56. in the united states, president donald trump and former president barack obama are both on the road campaigning this evening in a final push ahead of tuesday's mid—term elections and 10,000 flames are lit at the tower of london, launching a week of commemorations marking 100 years since the end of the first world war. good evening and

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 eu 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‘. 0ne mp has accused him of bluster and contradictory and confusing statements. manveen rana reports. 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 am telling you it came from a uk company which had cash generated in the uk. 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 am 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 is 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 am delighted 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 at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the broadcaster, lynn faulds wood, and henry mance, political correspondent at the financial times. 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 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 have ever seen, with the two stairways up each side. we were shouting, "please, can you calm down? i don't want any tragedies happen." we were shocked at first. ijust 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 have 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. 0rganisers 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 agree 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. seniorfigures 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 less than two weeks ago after serving four prime ministers and was regarded as a key influence in shaping modern britain. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake reports. when i launched my leadership campaign... he was the prime minister's right—hand man, putting the government's policies into practice, 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. lord heywood who died today. police are investigating a fatal stabbing in south east london after the body of a man was found this afternoon. it's the third such 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. 0ur correspondentjon donnison is at the scene of the stabbing in bromley 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 laying in the road, a man in distress. they tried to save him, stop the bleeding, but were unable to do so. the 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. leicester city's football players are in bangkok to attend funeral ceremonies for their former chairman. he 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. 0ur 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. in the us, republicans and democrats have begun a final burst of campaigning, ahead of 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. this is the scene at a democrats' rally in the city of gary in indiana, where the former us president barack obama is due to speak. it has been a swing state for many

yea rs. it has been a swing state for many years. they are waiting in anticipation of the arrival of former president barack obama who has been working through the shoe leather in the last few weeks, heavily involved in the campaign and, for the first time, being openly critical of president donald trump in what looks like we'll be very polarised result. you can see the signs for mr donnelly who entered congress in 2006, representing the district of indiana and then he took the seat in the senate in 2012. senators get six yea rs senate in 2012. senators get six years which is why only one third of the senate is up this year but the whole of the house of representatives, every single congressman and congresswoman in the house of representatives is fighting to hold their seat or they have retired and are making way for successoi’s. 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 1 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 headlines on bbc news. 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. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn. good evening. raheem sterling scored twice

for manchester city as they beat southampton 6—1 to return to the top of the league. amazingly, manager pep guardiola says there's still room for improvement. sergio aguero scored his 150th league goal, that was his side's second. david silva and raheem sterling also scored in the first half to make it 4—1 at half time. the england forward who's agreed a new £300,000 pound a week deal — making him the highest paid english player in the league scored another, leroy sane adding a sixth late on. chelsea remain in the hunt, two points off city, as they kept their unbeaten run intact with a three one win over crystal palace. alvaro morata with two goals as eden hazard came off the bench in the second half following his injury. here's their manager maurizio sarri. after the draw i think we had a little bit of trouble, so we needed some maturation, some quality, some personality, and we was lucky today, because eden was on the bench, and so he was, he was able immediately to change the match.

so city on top, two points clear and with a hugely superior goal difference, chelsea are second and liverpool third. all three are still unbeaten. tottenham making up the top four. huddersfield, fulham and cardiff make up the bottom three. huddersfield and fulham meet tomorrow night which aleady looks like a crucial game for both sides in their fight for survival. leeds have returned to the top of the championship after a 2—1 win at wigan athletic. it was an emotional day at the dw stadium, as the club played their final game under the ownership of dave whelan. his family has sold the club to a far east consortium. it looked like it was going to be a fairy tale send—off for the whelan family when reece james put them ahead inside the opening six minutes. but leeds were back on level terms barely three minutes later. pablo hernandez finshing a fine

move from the visitors. the comeback was complete with the second halfjust a minute old. kemar roofe capitalising on a defensive mix—up to walk the ball into an empty net. he won't score many easier goals than that. wayne rooney will come out of international retirement to play for england one last time to honour his record breaking career for his country. england's all time leading goal—scorer will play in a friendly against the united states at wembley later this month. the forward hasn't played for his country in two years, but will win his 120th cap. the match will be called the wayne rooney foundation international in support of his charitable interests. leaders arsenal beat birmingham 3—1 in the women's superleague to maintain their 100% start to the season with seven wins in seven matches. jordan nobbs scored twice to help seal an seventh league win of the season for the gunners. second placed manchester city women also won, beating liverpool 3—0. nikita parris with two goals

to become the league's new all time leading goal scorer with 37 goals, surpassing eni aluko's record. and justin rose has reclaimed golf‘s world number one ranking after victory at the turkish 0pen. he came from three shots behind going into the final round to win in a play—off. both he and china's li haotong finished on 17 under. it's his 19th career win and lifts him back to the top of the rankings for the first time since september. in rugby league, england have clinched a series win over new zealand after winning the second test at anfield by 20 points to 1a. tommy makison of st helens scored a hat—trick of tries, with jake connor claiming the other as the hosts overturned a 111—6 deficit. the victory gives england the series before next sunday's final test in leeds. that's all the sport for now. an adventurerfrom lincolnshire has become

the first person to swim almost 1,800 miles around great britain. ross edgley left margate onjune 1st, 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 is big, isn't it? you tell me — you swam round it. yeah, it's much bigger than i thought. scotland is 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 is 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. we will return to the mid—term elections in gary, indiana, and joe donnelly is about to introduce, we think, the former president of the united states, ba rack think, the former president of the united states, barack obama, who is there to campaign for him ahead of tuesday's elections, so let's hear what he has to say. cheering and applause. cheering and applause.

it is good to be here in indiana.

i love you back. now, first of all, as you may hear, i've been doing a little campaigning but i'm a little out of shape. voice wise. so i'm going to be a little bit horse and i hope you don't mind. thatjust means iam out hope you don't mind. thatjust means i am out there working. the second thing i want to say is at least when i got out of the car my bearings were up a lot. i wasn't watching the game, but i was checking the scores. —— mike bears. third thing, it'sjust checking the scores. —— mike bears. third thing, it's just good to be backin third thing, it's just good to be back in my home area. you know there's something about the

midwest that makes you feel good. people just act midwest that makes you feel good. peoplejust act nice. give it up for a man that we are going to send back to the united states senate on tuesday, joe donnelly. because although i always like a good excuse to come back home, the main reason i am here is to make sure that we send joe donnelly back to the us senate. and in two days, in two days in

indiana you get to vote in what i believe will be the most important election of our lifetimes. i know politicians always say that, but this time it is really true. because america's at a crossroads. the health care of millions is on the ballot. a fair shake for working families is on the ballot. perhaps most importantly, the character of oui’ most importantly, the character of our country. that is on the ballot. we have been a crossroads before.

and each time, ultimately, america has made good decisions. sometimes it's taken a little longer than it should. but when we've made the right decision, when we've chosen the better course, it hasn'tjust happened by itself. it's happened because ordinary folks decided we're going to get off the couch. we're going to get off the couch. we're going to get off the couch. we're going to go and mobilise. we're going to go and mobilise. we're going to go and mobilise. we're going to go and march. we're going to go and vote for a bit of history. and it is because of the efforts of

folks like you that we abolished slavery. and we ended the great depression. and workers won the right to unionise and women won the right to unionise and women won the right to unionise and women won the right to vote. that's why we had a civil rights movement. and they workers' rights movement. and lg bt movement because people fought for it. every time we gain a victory, we move the country in a more generous, more progressive direction, usually there is somebody that's pushing back. wanting to preserve the status quo.