this is bbc news, the headlines at 7pm: voters send a clear message to westminster, as the conservatives and labour lose hundreds of seats in the local elections. some of them we re the local elections. some of them were local factors, and some where people probably disagreeing with both parties on attitudes towards the eu. these were always going to be difficult results, elections for us. be difficult results, elections for us. with us nine years into a government. of course, there is the added dimension that we haven't got the brexit deal over the line at. but it was a great line for the lib dems, the green party and over 500 independent candidates, who gained

seats. elsewhere, over 1 seats. elsewhere, over1 million people have been evacuated in india to avoid the onslaught of cyclone fani. winds reaching 125 mph have wreaked havoc around the country was ‘s eastern coastline. —— the country's eastern coastline. —— the country's eastern coastline. good evening. in the local elections in england and northern ireland, in a sign that voters are fed up with the deadlock over brexit. the conservatives have lost more than a thousand seats, and labour has failed to make much progress, at a time when opposition parties usually do well. meanwhile the liberal democrats, who want another eu referendum, the greens and independents, all did well. nearly 9,000 seats

were up for grabs. counting is still under way and the results are changing, but so far, the conservatives are down more than one 1100 and labour around a hundred. the main winners, are the lib dems, who've gained 595 councillors. now if these results were replicated across the country as a whole, the bbc projects the conservatives and labour would both get around 28% of the vote, with the lib dems on 19, and other parties on 25. 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar has all the details. after a tough night, theresa may needed a bit of love. thank you. she didn't need this. why don't you resign?! "why don't you resign?" was the shout. we don't want you. "we don't want you" — it only takes one to spoil the mood. "0ut, out" — they meant him, not her. but bad results needed explaining.

these were always going to be difficult elections for us, and there were some challenging results for us last night, but it was a bad night for labour too, and i think people were sending a very clear message, a simple message, to both main parties, to us and the labour party, just get on and deliver brexit. jeremy corbyn was trying to ignore the grey clouds today. labour did worse than many expected. maybe trying to appeal to brexiteers and remainers failed to please enough on either side. his verdict too — britain needs a brexit deal. didn't mention a referendum, though. i think it means there's a huge impetus on every mp, and they've all got that message, whether they themselves are leave or remain, or the people across the country, that an arrangement has to be made, a deal has to be done, and parliament has to resolve this issue. i think that is very, very clear. how does it feel to be part of a liberal democrat majority?! it felt good for the lib dems,

winning the cotswolds and mole valley and bath and north east somerset, all bounds to poll better than four years ago, but reason enough to celebrate, echo their big message on brexit. i think we are winning the argument, including with many brexit voters who are just absolutely fed up with the way the country is stagnating, and whether they are pro—brexit or against it, i think they buy our argument that we now have to go back to the people. it was the big parties competing to see who'd fare worse than expected. look at these tory faces in chelmsford, where they lost control. your reaction to the results here tonight? well, of course i am in... hard to take on an exhausting, emotional night. no surprise, then, that tory misery provoked more demands for theresa may to go. many of my constituents have said this to me, you know, we need change we need a change of leadership, perhaps the time has now come for that.

not all bad for labour — they took tory trafford, won in places including high peak, but labour's lost control and lost seats that they were expected to win. why? because brexit‘s delayed or because voters want another referendum ? labour's split. the feeling is they have been badly let down by national politicians and labour politicians, and this is the first chance to make this protest, and unfortunately there's a lot of good labour councillors going to lose their seats because of it. whatever deal it is that the conservatives in the end, are able to get through parliament, if they are able to, it should go to a confirmatory ballot so that we can find out from the people, is this really what you want? as for the smaller parties, ukip‘s taken a battering, but the greens are upbeat. there is an element, undeniably, about disenchantment with the two big parties. people are fed up with the way they've handled brexit, there is a cry for clarity, which i think the greens are offering. so plenty more evidence of the disintegration of traditional

loyalties to the two big parties. these were local elections, and many people may simply have shown they are fed up after years of cuts and austerity. but across the country, we have also seen people are as deadlocked as the parties here at westminster on the big issue of brexit. the results may pile pressure on the parties here to somehow break the brexit deadlock, but they've given no clear indication of how the country want that done. this was an angry election, ballot papers used to let off steam, often that it's taken so long to make so little progress with brexit. and as the ballot boxes are stacked and stowed away, there are only weeks before voters get another chance to make their views known, in the european parliament elections — maybe even louder. john pienaar, bbc news. so, the brexit deadlock seems to have been a significant factor in the elections.

in the labour heartland of sunderland, the party suffered heavy losses, but still managed to hang on to control of the council. in bath, the conservatives lost control to the liberal democrats who gained 23 seats. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth reports on the two cities which both sent clear messages, to the main parties. bath and north east somerset has seen a shift in its political landscape. the conservatives did run the council, but last night the surge in lib dem support saw them claim victory here. in this historic city, most people voted to stay in the eu, and while local issues played a part in these elections, there's not a lot of love for how brexit‘s been handled. i think everyone's just fed up with westminster at the moment, for obvious reasons. i think so much has gone on in central government that i think it was, you know, bound to happen, really. this gym—design business relies on trade with mainland europe. its owner comes from a tory tradition but used his two votes in these elections to back

the lib dems and the green party. as a businessperson, we're beginning to feel more let down by the tories whose, you know, party infighting and partisan issues have resulted in us careering towards this hard eu exit. so i guess i'm fairly disillusioned with the traditional parties that i've come from, and what we're really looking for now is a new party in the centre or someone to claim that centre ground. while these were local elections, the liberal democrats' anti—brexit message has clearly had an impact in remain—supporting areas like here in bath. but across the country, voters have turned away from the two main parties. in the north east, sunderland saw labour keep control of the council but with a significant drop in support. i always voted labour since i left school, when i was 18 and you could vote, and there ijust voted conservative as a protest vote against labour, cos labour not doing what people want them to do. mps want a second

referendum, and we don't. from me being a boy, this has been a stronghold for labour, and they're gradually losing seats. and i think the next time it happens, the next election, you'll see a big shift towards ukip, i would think. this coastal city opted to leave, but it wasn'tjust pro—brexit parties picking up labour votes, — the lib dems and greens did too. it's not surprising that people are disillusioned with the two main political parties, because they haven't delivered on brexit. i think they realise that perhaps we need to give some of these smaller parties a chance. back in bath, at the society cafe, local musician nick said the austerity and the economy mattered to him but he thought this election was influenced by one thing. i think there are people who might have chosen differently at the ballot box who chose what they chose purely because of brexit. some activists who suffered local losses have blamed the national picture. many from both main parties hope the message from these elections will be heard loud

and clear in westminster. alex forsyth, bbc news, bath. reeta chakrabarti has been looking at the results from some of the key councils in england, which show how political allegiances have shifted. this has been a really turbulent election, with a lot of council seats changing hands, and the big story has, of course, been the resurgent liberal democrats, some really big gains for them. look at these councils. bath and north east somerset, chelmsford, both gained from the conservatives. i want to show you what happened in chelmsford. the conservatives had a majority of 47 councillors here. look, the lib dems took it with a majority of five. and if i show you the seat change compared to last time, the conservatives lost 31 seats, the lib dems picking up 26, so a cracking result for the lib dems in chelmsford. for the conservatives, they also lost ground in heartlands like folkestone and hythe —

that was conservative, it's now in no overall control, the smaller parties making advances there. better news for the conservatives in north east lincolnshire, they took that council that was previously hung. ashfield, here in pink, that means the independents have won this council. it was in no overall control before, but labour in fact were very strong in ashfield — the independents have taken that. let's look now at labour's performance, they had some real disappointments during this election. darlington has always been labour until now. labour's lost darlington, a real heartland council. similar case with the wirral, and let me take you into the wirral to just show you the pattern of what happened. let's have a look at the share change, this is the change in the share of the vote compared to last time these seats were up for election. look, labour's vote going down by 13%, that will really have hurt. but let's look at the last council on this screen, trafford,

a big metropolitan council that labour has gained from no overall control, they'll be really pleased with that. so overall a quite chastening night, certainly for the conservatives, but also for labour, a really good performance for the liberal democrats, with independents, greens and other smaller parties coming up too. much more analysis on the bbc news website, with live updates from our correspondence across the regions as well. more on that later, here is some other news from the day. a coroner has called for universities to de stigmatise mental health issues, after finding that a first year student at the university of bristol, took his own life. ben murray who was 19 is one of 12 students at the university to die in the last three years. his father has been campaigning for a change in the way colleges approach student mental health. frankie mccamley has more. james murray met his son ben

last may for lunch — that was the last time they ever spoke. later that day, ben, a first—year student at bristol university, took his own life. he was sensitive. he used to look at the things that other people might overlook, like suffering in friends and people around him. whenjames was told about ben's death, he started looking into his son's time at university. what became very clear is that little pieces of the picture were held in different places, different departments, different systems, but when you pulled it together in one place, the picture of ben's crisis seemed to be so clear that you'd think that he stood out. ben was missing lectures, he hadn't paid his fees, and was on the verge of being kicked out. as a parent, the first thing is, well, i can see the crisis, why wasn't i told? since ben's death, his father has worked alongside bristol university to bring in changes.

the vice—chancellor introduced a system allowing staff to contact someone if they have serious concerns about a student's mental health — notjust in the event of a death or serious physical injury. we've probably considered it so far this year in maybe about 15 students. we've actively used it in about five. we think it's an appropriate innovation, given the scale of the mental—health challenges affecting our students, not just here, but across the sector. grace kendrick now leads a weekly running club. she suffered from anxiety, but another scheme at bristol helped her by prescribing mentored exercise. by taking some time away from my studies and putting less pressure on myself to study all the time, it had a really good impact on me. i felt like i actually focused, when i was studying in the library. although schemes like that can help, around half of students who take their own lives are not known to university mental—health services, which was the case with ben murray. now education institutions are trying to come up

with innovative ways to spot students struggling much sooner. charles prince is leading a team looking at how student data can be used to spot those who don't ask for help. they're analysing the digital footprint left when students attend lectures, take out books at the library, or log onto campus computers. the future plan is to build that one student profile, so i can see, based on the analytics, how mental health is playing a role into the student's experience. and that focus on mental health is something universities are finally getting to grips with after being criticised for being too slow to react. the hope now is they can try to intervene before it's too late. frankie mccamley, bbc news. if you've been affected by the issues raised in this story there's more information online go to bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can or you can call 0800 066 066 forfree.

the headlines on bbc news: the conservatives and labour lose hundreds of seats in the local elections, but it is a strong result for the lib dems, green party and independent candidates. 1 million people have been evacuated as india's biggest storm in decades, cyclone fani, brings 170 mph wind. —— kilometres per hour wind. let's bring you more on that cyclone 110w. a devastating cylcone has hit the east coast of india, leaving more than a million people sheltering in relief centres. winds of 120 miles an hour have uprooted trees and brought down power and phone lines. cyclone fani is the most powerful to hit india for several years. 0ur correspondent rahul

tandon has the latest. such was the theory of one of india's most powerful storms in recent times. smashing glass cyclone fani hit the eastern state of adisha with torrential rain and devastating winds of more than 125 miles an hour. —— 0desha it made landfall at eight in the morning in the tourist town of puri. anticipating its impact, authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of people. in the state capital, this crane was brought crashing down. one of india's poorest states now has a huge clean—up operation on its hands. and that's not going to be easy,

where many parts of it are cut off from each other. this is why1 million people were moved into temporary shelters. most of them are now safe, but the question they are asking is what has happened to their homes and what impact will this have on their lives? many villages are now submerged, and flooding is a major concern. and it's not over yet. cyclone fani is now moving towards one of india's most densely populated cities — calcutta. rahultandon, bbc news, bhubaneswar. it's the last full day of business for seven marks and spencer stores, before they shut their doors for good. some are in towns where m&s has been trading for more than a century. the company plans to close at least a hundred stores by 2022, and today its property director, explained that the closures are vital, to protect the retailer's future. our business correspondent emma simpson has more. 1929, and a new m&s store

in bedford, state of the art back then, today it's in its final hours. and shoppers were making the most of what's left. i am absolutely gutted, yeah, i shall miss it terribly, yeah. all the big stores are closing here now, not just marks & spencer's, we are losing so many. it's worrying. the 68 staff are saying goodbye too — although two thirds are being redeployed. it's a building that we've extended on numerous occasions, so it's a bit of a funny shape. it's got lots of columns, which actually makes it really difficult to lay out our clothes, and therefore really difficult for our customers to shop. meet the man in charge of m&s‘s shops — and all the closures too. for this particular store, we are seeing declining sales and we're seeing rising costs. and as i've said, the building is very old, and investing in it is really not viable for the future. closing any store is

difficult, he says. but there's no alternative, as shopping habits change. it is absolutely essential we do this. i think every retailer has got to consider their property portfolio, but for us, where we've not taken action over a number of years, it's absolutely vital we do this now and we make sure we're responding to the market challenges, but most importantly responding to what our customers are telling us they want. so they've come here, a half—hour drive away to rushton lakes, a new out—of—town shopping centre that's pulling the punters in. it'sjust gone 10am, and this car park is already packed. they're streaming in, no wonder m&s decided to open up here. modern, spacious and easy to shop. in bedford, you've got to park, you've got to drive into the multi—storeys, and you've got to park, whereas here, yeah, free parking's much more attractive. it's much bigger, it's much more room, and there's a lot more stock. so what now for the bedford store? it's closing, even though m&s is still liable for another

nine years of rent. but this chain is confident it can be sublet and won't sit empty for too long. emma simpson, bbc news, bedford. a father who was given contaminated blood products which left him at risk of developing an incurable degenerative disease hopes the infected blood inquiry will bring justice to those infected and their families. in an emotional testimony, matthewjohnson told the inquiry that he was given contaminated blood products which left him exposed to the potentially fatal disease cjd. the security minister ben wallace has said he believes the sri lankan prince harry has cancelled the first day of his planned trip to the netherlands next week, because of logistical difficulties for the travelling press. the duke and duchess of sussex are currently expecting their first child. prince harry has cancelled his trip to amsterdam next wednesday. but his trip to the hague on thursday for the 2020 invictus games is still planned to take place.

new research shows that taking anti—hiv drugs can help. a study showed there were no cases of hiv transmission over ten years. 26—year—old matt stokes is hiv positive. the diagnosis was a huge shock and a worry he'd infect others. but this latest study, that taking anti—retroviral drugs prevents any chance of transmitting the virus, is for him and his partner a game—changer. for me, knowing with complete certainty that i can't pass hiv onto anyone with the undetectable level in my blood is hugely reassuring and a huge confidence boost, and also a huge confidence boost to partners. so it's really difficult to overstate the importance

of this finding. the study involved almost 1,000 gay male couples living in europe who are not using condoms, and in which one partner has been diagnosed with hiv and is taking anti—retroviral drugs. over a period of eight years, the study found that hiv was not passed on amongst any of the couples because the drugs suppressed the virus to undetectable levels. essentially, what we've shown has provided conclusive evidence once and for all, if you are hiv positive and on effective treatment, you are sexually non—infectious. your risk of transmitting the virus on to somebody else is zero. i think that's hugely liberating for people living with hiv, that if they are on effective treatment, there is essentially no risk in terms of passing on the virus. all this is raising hopes hiv could ultimately be eradicated. new cases have already been dropping significantly in recent years. for matt and his partner,

as for many others, the results of the study bring certainty and reassurance. but he's hoping it will also help end the stigma of being hiv positive. richard galpin, bbc news. we can now speak to the professor of infectious disease at the university of copenhagen and was involved in that ten year research programme. thank you forjoining us. the programme involved 18 european countries across a long period of time. this is a significant study, isn't it? yes, it was a very difficult study to do, it took a lot of effort by a lot of people. we had more than 80 clinics involved in identifying the couples involved, and then of course, the 2000 gay persons that contributed with very

private information about the year sexual life, so that we could do the research and produce the results that we have today. —— about their sexual life stops now as said in the report, it also creates hope now... the stigma attached to hiv carriers can now end as well. we have to be careful about the messages we send out from studies like this. we certainly do. the premise for the study and the conclusion is based on the fact that you are hiv positive, you are diagnosed and you are on treatment and the treatment is working. in that situation, the conclusion holds. but, we have people who have not yet been diagnosed, they are clearly infectious, so if you have a sexual relationship with that person, you can get infected. and obviously,

some people, if they are diagnosed, have not started treatment or have started treatment very recently, where the treatment has not yet fully controlled replication in the body, in all those circumstances, the results are not relevant, which is why we need to continue to think about if we have casual sexual relationships with others, to use a condom, because it is an effective way of actually preventing you from getting infected with the virus stops now and to the best of your knowledge, . .. have stops now and to the best of your knowledge,... have we got hiv and aids under control? are people listening to the messages that we have sent for so many decades?m depends on where you are. in the segment, in the uk for example, it seems like transmission rates are dropping, which is terrific. but, if you go to ukraine or russia, for

example, we still have hiv behaving as an epidemic, with increasing numbers each year. probably as a consequence of lack of access to antiviral treatment for most people in those countries. so, there is still a lot to do, i'm afraid, even on the european continent, and in particular, in the eastern section of europe, in terms of containing hiv and preventing further spread of the virus to other people in the community. but still, an incredible breakthrough for yourself and your colleagues. congratulations, it is very much appreciated by many people. thank you very much. there have been numerous tributes to the actor who played chewbacca in the star wars films, peter mayhew, who's died at the age of 7a. at 7 feet 2 inches tall, he appeared in five of the films. his screen partner han solo, played by harrison ford,

today said they'd been "friends for life". here's our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba. frustration. despair. occasionally a hint of menace. peter mayhew‘s chewbacca could portray a range of emotions. it wasn't just the millions of fans who found themselves indeed. you must be so brave. he radiated happiness and warmth, he was always up happiness and warmth, he was always up fora laugh happiness and warmth, he was always up for a laugh and we hit it off immediately. we stayed friends for over 40 years. it was back in 1976, the former hospital porter was cast in the movie, thanks to his height. it was worded in the script so that he could simultaneously and

physically portray the character's thoughts, whatever the circumstances. will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way? laughing laugh it up, fuzz ball stops he returned for the 2015 force awakens. although, being in his 70s and limited mobility meant he couldn't manage many of the action sequences. still, for many fans, he simply was one of the great heroes are perhaps cinema's greatest science fiction movies. peter mayhew, who's died at the age of 74 now it's time for a look at the weather. weather is on the change, we have seen the first signs of it, and we have started with a cold arctic air pushing its way southwards. this

weather front will slowly clear, despite the southern counties overnight, still the odd spot of rain here. clear skies elsewhere, allowing the temperatures to fall away, close to freezing in places, soa away, close to freezing in places, so a light frost not out of the question to the north and west. a cold start, maybe some early morning sunshine, not expected to last, particularly to the east. the brisk northerly wind will drive in some showers, some further inland as well. further west, a noticeable breeze, but not quite as strong, so fewer showers. as a result, temperatures perhaps a little warmer. along the east coast, factor in the strength of the wind and it will continue to feel cold. dry and cloudy weather on sunday, and a little brighter on monday. this is bbc news with chris rogers. the headlines... voters sending a

clear message to westminster. conservatives lost over 1000 seats, with activists blaming the brexit deadlock. labour also suffered losses at a time when they should have been making inroads. the party's leaderjeremy corbyn said he admitted voters who disagreed with its backing for brexit had deserted the party. but it was a great night for the liberal democrats, the green party and over 500 independent candidates who gained seats. meanwhile, the blackadder star sir tony robinson has announced he's quitting the labour party after 45 years as a member. he tweeted to say it's partly because of what he called the party's "continued duplicity on brexit, and partly because of anti semitism". more than a hundred million pounds released by india's prime minister to help people in the east of the country affected by a huge cyclone. winds have speeds of up to 125 mph.

scientists warned that madagascar‘s unique while death could be lost forever. —— madagascar‘s unique wildlife. more now on the local elections. the tories were losing more than 1300 seats and 41 councils, overall, but deliver democrats have gained close to 700 councillors for someone surprise success for the liberal democrats was in chelmsford, where the party gained 26 seats to seize control of the council from the conservatives. —— the conservatives. read rosettes out in force, but as the boats stacked up, other political others we re stacked up, other political others were soon being added to the mix. stockton and hartlepool were among the councils where labour lost majority. but independence making many of the gains. in red car, and

the party lost nearly half its counsellors. 13 in total. the party lost nearly half its counsellors. 13 in totallj the party lost nearly half its counsellors. 13 in total. i dig we have a strong track record locally andi have a strong track record locally and i would defend that track record to anybody, but the issue with what we have been resenting with is brexit and national politics. a new man holding the microphone and the power. independent andy preston became the town's elected mayor under the labour also lost its council majority. —— on a day labourer also. there is a huge challenge had but also some amazing things we can do building on the strength of the town. another independent retained hisjob strength of the town. another independent retained his job as elected mayor in copeland, weldon sunderland, conservatives and ukip made gains and labour's expense. everything from the cost of the new civic centre to councillor spending pounds for themselves. people in the

northeast have been waking up to the fa ct northeast have been waking up to the fact that the labour counsellors are not to the job they have been paid to do. for the greens, a breakthrough moment winning their first representation in councils across the region. including here on we're side... a lot of people voted for us that might not have considered the green party before. labour's inquest into a towards 24 hours started early. it's sunderland leader blamed her main supporting mps from his own locale party —— blamed remain for supporting. people wanted a second referendum in this city and its curly impacted on hard—working city and its curly impacted on ha rd—working labour councillors. city and its curly impacted on hard-working labour councillors. lib dems supported their support for remain asa dems supported their support for remain as a selling point. people in our words are really angry that labour won't commit to a second

referendum. i think we're getting a lot of us because of that and very encouraging. labour's long been the front runner in our councils but on this evidence, others are far too closing the gap. —— aren't far too closing the gap. —— aren't far too closing the gap. if you're wondering why that didn't look like chelmsford, it wasn't. it was newcastle. luke walton with that report there. we'll bring that report there. we'll bring that report later. devon and cornwall police has been fined almost a quarter of a million pounds for safety and training failures over the use of a restraint. it follows the case of thomas 0rchard, who died after the webbing belt had been placed across his face. in sentencing the force for a breach of health and safety law, a judge said there hadn't been "sufficient assessment of the risk to detainees", if the response belt was used as a bite or spit guard. ben woolvin reports. police were called to a disturbance in the centre of exeter in 2012. thomas 0rchard, 32, was arrested for shouting

at members of the public and taken into custody. during his detention, mr 0rchard, who had mental health issues, appeared to lunge at officers and an emergency response belt was wrapped around his face to prevent spitting or biting. he collapsed and died seven days later in hospital. devon and cornwall police argued that the restraint had been used about 500 times on other suspects without reports of injury. health and safety is a core principle within devon and cornwall police. and it is very sad that previous excellent record, recognised within the court, has been tarnished. the chief constable said steps had been taking to improve officer awareness of those in mental health crisis, and the orchard family today said the prosecution had improved public safety. investigations over the past six and a half years have highlighted some criminally appalling health and safety practices which desperately needed changing.

we hope, more than anything, that the residents of devon and cornwall will be at least a little safer today as a result of thomas's death. on top of the £234,000 fine, the force has been ordered to pay to pay costs of 20,000. but it says the money will be taken from reserves and it will not delay the recruitment of extra officers. thousands of people have lined the streets of glasgow for the funeral of the celtic and scotland legend billy mcneill. the 79—year—old, who died last month, was the first briton to lift the european cup and won 31 trophies as player and manager for celtic. lorna gordon reports. billy mcneill was one of the giants of scottish football, a man who led his beloved celtic to its greatest triumph and whose role in the game transcended all divides.

everyone remembers billy holding up the european cup in lisbon — what a sight that was. his already imperious presence and stature was magnified by the achievement. the greats of the game past and present came to pay their respects. billy mcneill secured his place in footballing history by leading celtic to a 2—1win against inter milan in 1967. newsreel: merely seven minutes from time came the winning goal. becoming the first british player to lift the european cup. in 1965, mcneill scored the winning goal in the scottish cup final, kick—starting the glory years that would lead them to lisbon. at parkhead, celtic‘s family of fans gathered to remember with sadness and pride the history billy mcneill leaves behind. i was 16—years—old when they won

the european cup and that's why i am here today, for a very, very special man. he wasjust a legend, he was a superb man and i'm so proud to be here to see everybody else. billy mcneill, devoted family man and outstanding player. a footballing legend. the security minister ben wallace has said he believes the sri lankan authorities will be able to deliver "justice" for the victims of the easter sunday bombings. he was speaking whilst on a trip to the capital colombo, where he visited some of the sites of the attacks. secunder kermani reports. prayers and candles in memory of those who died at saint anthony's church in colombo. repair work might have started, but nearly two weeks on, the clock remains stuck at the exact moment a suicide bomber blew himself up here, killing dozens. today, the british security minister, ben wallace,

came to pay his respects and offer uk help with the investigation. we will do all we can, both with the victims... eight britons were amongst those who died in a series of blasts claimed by the islamic state group. there are questions as to why repeated warnings prior to the attacks were not acted upon. but today, the minister said he was confident the investigation would be thorough. the thing i would say is this is not about the sri lankans not being able to do it. they have very good capabilities, and i think those capabilities, shared with international partners, where we can compliment them, will get justice for those victims. where we can complement them, will get justice for those victims. in the aftermath of the attacks, sri lankan's security forces have been conducting nearly daily raids. at this house in a village east of colombo, they find petrol bombs and passports. though it's too early to say if there is any link to terrorism.

the authorities have also been uncovering new information about those involved in the attacks. this suicide bomber had previously spent time in the uk and australia. now, officials believe he also attempted to travel to syria in 2015, whilst others forged links to extremists in india. they went to india, they have come to bangalore, they have travelled to kerala state. those are the information available to us now. and do you know what activities they were doing in kashmir and in kerala? not exactly, but definitely some sort of training or to make some more links towards the organisations outside the country. back in saint anthony's church, members of the sri lankan navy are helping repair the damage done by the blast. it will take around two months before the church can reopen. the grief here is still raw, but this is a country that is beginning to try and move on.

the scale of the tragedy means it will be a difficult task. back to the council elections. 0nce surprising test deliver democrats was in chelmsford, where the party gained 26 seats to seize control from the conservatives. here is ca role from the conservatives. here is carole walker. vince cable arrived at the civic centre to cheers from his newly elected team of councillors for this coming sentiment was notjust councillors for this coming sentiment was not just a councillors for this coming sentiment was notjust a protest but with the revival of. party. sentiment was notjust a protest but with t chelmsford, i party. sentiment was notjust a protest but with t chelmsford, essex, y. sentiment was notjust a protest but with t chelmsford, essex, a here. chelmsford, essex, a story across the country. a large number of gains. the heckle from a passer—by a further sign of the

national failure passer—by a further sign of the nationalfailure to passer—by a further sign of the national failure to deliver brexit. i think it has led to a situation where people are really fed up with the deadlock in government. nothing being done about the future of the health service and social care under funded schools, knife crime and homelessness, these have all been neglected and we want to deal with it. whether —— we want to stop brexit and we want a people's vote. his supporters say the local campaign did also make a difference. we knocked on doors, people are very angry about the situation but not necessarily directing that a liberal democrats. and six has always been seen as a bellwether. i think the politicians from the two old parties will be looking with some trepidation at what's happened here in chelmsford, what's happened across the east of england. 0vernight, there were emotional scenes as the votes were counted. the conservatives lost 31 counsellors dawn mack —— councillors

here. the local was very upset. of course. . . here. the local was very upset. of course... no one disputes why it was happening. the easy answer is brexit. they were hundreds of valid papers, old scrubber notes on them saying, the government is incompetent, brexit. the lib dems success hears even more remarkable when you consider the chelmsford voted leave in the referendum. we put in the spoiled part. you put in the spoiled card. as an objection. some stomach —— do you mind me asking how you voted? independent. voters returned to the polls for the european elections less than three weeks' time. in both of the main parties are braced for more big losses. now on bbc news, it's time

now on bbc news, it's time for newswatch. hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. did sunday's report on spain's election focus too much on the right—wing vox party, who only came fifth, rather than the actual winners? and... what drove this normally garrulous newsreader to silence? first, it's been another big week in politics, with the sacking of the defence secretary, gavin williamson, and thursday's local elections in england and northern ireland. but the way the results of the latter were characterised by the bbc met with the disapproval of some viewers. heather leach e—mailed. ..