hundreds of veterans gather in normandy for a day of commemorative events, honouring those who helped liberate europe and change the course of world war two. the prime minister gives her thanks to the veterans, and tells them june 6th 191m was a day when they helped build a better world. these young men belonged to a very special generation, the greatest generation. a new memorial is unveiled to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, paid for with money

raised by veterans. don't say i'm a hero. i'm no hero, iwas lucky. i'm here. all the heroes are dead, and i will never forget them as long as i live. the french and us presidents are also in normandy to pay tribute. donald trump tells veterans, "our debt to you is everlasting." i'm here in arromanches, where today's events began at 6:26 this morning — the exact minute the first british troops landed on the beaches in 1944. also this lunchtime... in london, prince harry meets chelsea pensioners who were on the beaches of normandy 75 years ago. a devastating blow for bridgend, as ford confirms it's closing its engine plant there — 1,700 jobs are under threat. and an independent inquiry is launched into the running of a failed nhs trust, amid concerns 150 deaths were not properly investigated.

and coming up on bbc news... australia struggle against the fiery west indies bowling attack at the cricket world cup, as both look to continue their 100% start to the tournament. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. hundreds of veterans have gathered in normandy to mark the 75th anniversary of d—day. theresa may and the french and american presidents have been attending commemorative events across northern france to honour those who fought in one of the most momentous operations in military history. june 6th, 1944, was a day that changed the course of the second world war. a lone piper marked the moment the first british

soldiers went ashore. naga munchetty is in the town of arromanches, where many of today's commemorations are taking place. naga. thank you very much. commemorations are beginning and have been taking place across northern france. today's events began here when a piper marked the moment the first soldiers went ashore. graham satchell has the story of the day. last post plays they gather perhaps for the last time. today, a chance to remember the dead and to pay tribute to those still alive. the veterans in normandy today, the last survivors of the greatest generation,

who liberated europe from the tyranny of nazi rule. news archive: this is it, they are on the beach, plunging waist deep into the sea... 75 years ago, the world held its breath as the first landing crafts made their way onto the beaches. it was the biggest naval invasion in history and the fighting was fierce, chaotic. the lads were going down the ramps and getting knocked off by the machine gun. young fellows who we were talking to minutes before the machine guns were taking them. they were in the water being rolled over by the tide and you wanted to get them out, but we couldn't. we couldn't help them. you can't describe it. lowering the ramp onto bodies of gis, you didn't know whether they were alive or dead. it used to give me nightmares.

at 6:25am this morning, a lone piper played a lament. it was the exact moment british forces started their attack 75 years ago. piper plays just along the coast, a new statue. it shows three ordinary soldiers fighting their way up the beach. the prime minister, theresa may, and french president, emmanuel macron, joined normandy veterans for the inauguration. these young men belonged to a very special generation, the greatest generation. a generation whose unconquerable spirit shaped our post—war world. if one day can be said to have determined the fate of generations to come, in france,

in britain, in europe and the world, that day was the 6th ofjune, 1944. much of the money for this statue has been raised by veterans, in particular 93—year—old harry billing, a sapper in the royal engineers, who landed on gold beach onjune the 6th. they say i'm a hero. i'm no hero. i was lucky, i'm here. all the heroes are dead and i never forget them as long as i live. there are commemorations across normandy today. this is bayeux cathedral and the service of remembrance, bayeux the first city to be liberated. when my life is over and i reach the other side, i'll meet my friends from normandy and shake their hands with pride.

the american cemetery at coleville—sur—mer next to omaha beach. of all the allied forces on d—day itself, the americans saw the heaviest losses here. atjuno beach, canadian veterans also remembered the fallen. singing. bayeux cemetery. there are more than 4,000 servicemen buried here, most of them british. it is by far the hardest place for the d—day veterans to come. crowd sings.

each veteran invited to lay a wreath to remember their brothers in arms, the men who paid the ultimate sacrifice. they shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them. we will rememberthem. as you saw, there were moving scenes in that ceremony at bayeux ceremony where many of the fallen were buried. robert hall is there. this is a very important day, a day

when they can have peace and quiet to remember people they lost and the thousands of others who they didn't know but who they also come here to remember. as they left bayeux cathedral, there was another moment which has become a tradition. i can show you pictures of that because a small number of veterans chose to parade through the narrow streets, through the sunshine down to this cemetery. it's something they wanted to do. the number of veterans may be falling but the warmth of the reception is on changing. the communities around here and in neighbouring villages have never forgotten the day of liberation and every time the liberators come back to walk down the street that a lot of them came up in 1944, people of all ages turn out to express their gratitude and it is so important to the veterans that they are there and they do still feel that bond, a

friendship. and of course the french themselves lost an awful lot of people. the damage to these communities, the bombing, the destruction and loss of life was never forgotten. talking to vetera ns, never forgotten. talking to veterans, they are full of praise for the communities that do pass this baton on and remember a link that exists between events so long ago. this afternoon all of the vetera ns ago. this afternoon all of the veterans will travel on to arromanches, an important moment where i'm told, as has become a tradition, we didn't have that five yea rs tradition, we didn't have that five years ago but it is back, they will parade onto the square with their families and carers to take their places above the beach that many of them know so well. another important moment and perhaps a chance before they head back to their hotels or back to the ship to look out across

the beach away from the noise and think back to a day which has lived with them for 75 years. back to you. robert, thank you. that is being set up robert, thank you. that is being set upjust here robert, thank you. that is being set up just here in arromanches as we overlook the beach. you can hear the military bands playing, and as you referred to, the camaraderie between the citizens and veterans is plain to see and very humbling. anna foster is in the d—day 75 memorial garden on the hill overlooking arromanches. this is a real vantage point, you can see why hundreds of people have turned out here to look at the extraordinary view, the remains of the old mulberry harbour that sits off the coast at arromanches. they are also here for the opening of the d—day 75 garden which until a few weeks ago was at the royal chelsea flower show and it has been moved by the army, painstakingly picked up

piece by piece, and transferred here to the arromanches hilltop in normandy. this is modelled on bill bendel, carved from a single piece of stone, one side of him featuring his medals, then a few steps away the ghostly figure of him as a 22—year—old man made from thousands of washers welded together. there 15 stone plinths where people can reflect a nd stone plinths where people can reflect and look out to sea and every single detail is important. everything has been thought of, even the flowers, the sea thrift flowers in shades of pink and purple, the last thing the allied soldiers would have seen as they left english shores in the first thing they would see as they headed up the beach into normandy to start the battle which continued for weeks and ended ultimately in victory. they hope this will be a place where people can continue to come and remember, they can take a moment of quiet solace and remember what this place,

arromanches, what this whole normandy coast means 75 years on. and it is very apparent here in the town as well. that's all from here in arromanches. back to you in the studio, ben. thank you very much. the 75th anniversary of d—day has also been marked across the uk. the duke of cambridge has been attending a service at the national memorial arboretum, while the duke of sussex has been been meeting veterans. in central london there was a gun salute from hms belfast, which was one of the first ships to open fire on d—day. sarah walton reports. it was the bang that began the day that changed the war. the opening shots this morning recreated by normandy veteran hms belfast. she led the fleet across the channel 75 yea rs led the fleet across the channel 75 years ago today. once the ship stopped moving, the crew would have known wherever they were however far

down the ship they were that things we re down the ship they were that things were about to happen so tension would have arisen even if they couldn't see anything. they waited and waited and got more and more tense until finally the guns were able to start firing and action began. george stephenson. in london today the duke of sussex joined the chelsea pensioners for their annual founders day parade, amongst them six veterans from the norm d—day landing. asa six veterans from the norm d—day landing. as a service man who has himself fought in a war zone, prince harry shared stories with those who also understand what it means to be also understand what it means to be a soldier. and during the ceremony, the duke praised the efforts of the d—day veterans being cared for at the chelsea hospital, describing them as a constant reminder of the great debt we owe to those who have served this nation. in staffordshire, the duke of cambridge attended a service at the national

memorial arboretum. age means many vetera ns memorial arboretum. age means many veterans will mark the anniversary a long way from normandy but their thoughts are never far from the beaches. sarah walton, bbc news. just coming up to quarter past one. our top story this lunchtime: last post plays. hundreds of d—day veterans gather in normandy for a day of commemorative events, honouring those who helped liberate europe and change the course of world war two. these young men belonged to a very special generation, the greatest generation. coming up on bbc news... england and the netherlands meet for the right to face portugal in the nations league final, after the hosts have yet another match—winning performance from cristiano ronaldo to thank for beating switzerland. in the last hour, the ford motor company has confirmed it is planning to close its engine plant at bridgend in south wales

in september next year. 1,700 jobs would go if the plant is shut. union leaders say it would mean disaster for the workforce and the wider community in bridgend. tomos morgan is there for us now. what is the latest? at 11 o'clock this morning the workers here in bridgend were giving the news following a meeting between trade union leaders and ford bosses in the headquarters in essex. by midday they were sent home to process the news and work has been suspended until next week. ford has blamed a number of reasons for their decision, losses across their entire european operation being among them, but in truth this decision has been looming over this town for some yea rs. for almost a0 years ford has been a bedrock of the bridgend economy. it's notjust engines they produce

here, but also well—paid skilled jobs for the community in south wales. but after decades in this town the american car giant's future here will come to an end by the end of next year. i've got 15 years service in and basically i'm still one of the new boys in the plant, so yeah, absolutely devastating. the thing is quite a lot of us relocated from southampton to bridgend when they left, there going to be anything left, is there? gutted, especially for the youngsters. these are good workers' jobs. four years ago things looked positive. bridgend won the contract to produce a quarter of a million new petrol engines per year, the dragon project, butjust a year later that contract was halved. questions then began being asked about the viability of keeping a factory with almost 2000 employees open with such a reduced workflow. by 2017, the american company projected it may need to cutjobs over the next few years,

and then fast forward to january this year, ford formalised those redundancies with 370 to go in the first phase and almost 1000 by 2021. from the gmb‘s point of view we are absolutely devastated. this is an absolutely massive blow to our members here, their families, the whole of bridgend and welsh manufacturing in general. this is a major, major blow to the welsh economy. baker corp used to be part of ford's wider supply chain in bridgend but over time that work is reduced, diminishing completely by this year. there are a number of suppliers on the industrial estate who rely upon ford for work and obviously it's disappointing news today and obviously it will affect, have a knock—on effect ofjobs at other companies across the estate and obviously the wider region. the welsh government say that almost £140 million of public money has been poured into ford

over the years stop four decades after opening south wales, ford's largest engine production plant in europe will be no more. as you mentioned there, some people had been predicting this announcement today. this decision comes in the same week it was announced that uk car industry had slumped again. brexit unpredictability being blamed by other motoring companies. so are today's job loss is another example ofa today's job loss is another example of a struggling industry in and in certain —— in an uncertain economic climate? back to you, ben. our business correspondent katy austin is at ford's uk headquarters in brentwood in essex. what more are ford saying about the reasons for this closure? this is where the meeting happened today between ford management and union representatives. union reps have been coming out here and telling is

off their disappointment and anger at the decision to consult, ford says, on closing the plant in bridgend. it's a challenging time of change for global car—makers. they are facing stalling sales, they are having to think of turning towards electric vehicles, especially as there more regulations coming in in europe. although ford has spoken about concerns over brexit and the possibility of a no deal in the past it has today said that the proposed closure at bridgend is very much down to it as a company looking to kind of restructure its business, especially to create a sustainable, a stop strong and sustainable ford business in europe, it says, and therefore it is looking to close this bridgend plant and looking to cutjobs this bridgend plant and looking to cut jobs elsewhere in this bridgend plant and looking to cutjobs elsewhere in europe, it has said recently. bridgend has already been told ofjob losses as part of that. it does come at a very sensitive time for the uk's car industry. it's another blow

following honda's confirmation of its decision to leave swindon and also before that nissan saying it would no longer be committing to build some of its new models at its plant in sunderland. so a very difficult day for the uk car industry which was already facing declining investment in the sector and falling car sales. the welsh government has said it will do all it can to mitigate the impact on the economy. katy austin, thank you. an independent inquiry has been launched into the running of a failed nhs trust, amid concerns 150 deaths were not properly investigated. liverpool community health, formed in 2010, ran services for about 750,000 people on merseyside before being taken over last year. the inquiry will look into historic incidents of serious harm and 17,000 cases related to patient safety. sarah campbell reports. more than 750,000 people in merseyside relied on liverpool community health

to keep them well and safe. but from the outset, according to a previously published review, the trust was dysfunctional. obsessed with cost—cutting, patients suffered unnecessary harm. the trust no longer exists, but an investigations by the one which replaced it, mersey care, uncovered cause for serious concern. the critical thing that we have discovered in that year is that there was a not at all rigourous approach. probably through the lifetime of liverpool community health, to the recording of clinical incidents, to the use of data, to rigourous investigations. to make sure that they were closing down the risk of reccurrence of incidents. while liverpool community health was in charge, the bbc understands that at least 150 deaths were not properly investigated. 43,000 incidents were not properly reported, of which 17,000 were related to patient safety.

care at liverpool prison was previously singled out as suffering the biggest clinical failures, with unsafe practices becoming the norm. 20 deaths here were never properly reported. local mp rosie cooper says she saw how first—hand patients were being let down because her father was one of them. staff were trying to do their best whilst feeling very bullied. if anything went wrong, they were disciplined, given letters of concern, so it was very oppressive. it's a very frightening place for people to work. and i still talk to people today who show the scars of that regime of terror. in a statement, health minister stephen hammond said, "we owe it to the patients and families affected by substandard care in liverpool community health to establish the full extent of events and give them the answers they need." the actions of the leadership team and where they may have contributed

to the delivery of unsafe patient care will now also be part of the new investigation. its conclusions are expected by the end of next year. sarah campbell, bbc news. at the inquests into the deaths of the eight people killed in the london bridge attacks, the wife of one of the killers — khuram butt — has been giving evidence. she broke down in court as she described her husband's involvement in the attack. richard lister is at the old bailey for us with the latest. zahrah rehman, who was speaking in court out of the gate of the press, we we re court out of the gate of the press, we were kept in a separate room because of special measures imposed during this inquest, said that she couldn't believe that khuram butt was involved in this attack. she said there had been no signs in their married life, they'd been married in 2013, and she said whilst she knew he was a very strict muslim

and he had strong views about syria she never believed he would want to carry out an attack on his own country. she said that on the day of the attack itself everything seemed normal, that he woke up late, that he spent time with the family, he played with the children, then she said that he had arranged to go off to have a meal with friends, and when he left, she said, there was just a peck on the cheek. she said he didn't even kiss the kids goodbye and he left. that was the last time she saw him. she found out about the attacks with the same news reports the rest of us heard. she said she joined a whatsapp messaging group and was talking to friends about the attack, then went to sleep, and it wasn't until armed police arrived at her flat the next morning she learned her husband was dead and had played a key role in the london bridge attack. then she broke down in court, saying that she couldn't comprehend it. she said, he was living in the same house with me and my kids, how could he do that? she said, even now it's been two years andi said, even now it's been two years and i haven't been able to look at

the victims‘ pictures. and i haven‘t been able to look at the victims‘ pictures. she was sobbing as she was asked did he have any idea he was capable of such a thing. no, she said, i knew it was a possibility he wanted to go to syria but he never expressed a desire to attack it. it was, she said, like we we re attack it. it was, she said, like we were living different lives. richard, thank you. the insurance company aviva has announced it is to cut around 1800 jobs worldwide over the next three years as part of an overhaul to save £300 million a year. the firm — which employs around 30,000 staff — said it would try to keep redundancies to a minimum. the group has also announced plans to split its uk life and general insurance businesses. voting has begun in the peterborough by—election, triggered when the former mp — fiona onasanya — was removed from office by a recall petition. 15 candidates are standing. the polls will remain open until ten o‘clock tonight and the result is expected in the early hours of tomorrow morning. young people in england are increasingly choosing not

to venture to large cities to find work, because of rising housing costs — according to new study. the resolution foundation think tank, which focuses on people on lower incomes, says the number of young people moving house in england to start a newjob has nearly halved in the past 20 years. they say that despite the higher wages available, financial incentives for moving are lower. england‘s footballers take on the netherlands tonight in the semifinal of the inaugural nations league competition in portugal. if they win tonight they could get their hands on their first major international trophy since 1966 in sunday‘s final. but the build up to the game has been mired by ugly scenes, as england fans clashed with riot police in porto last night. mark lowen is there. tell us what has been happening and what are the police saying about it? on the whole it was a relatively

good—natured on the whole it was a relatively good—natu red evening on the whole it was a relatively good—natured evening here in a pretty wintry portugal, when up to 18,000 england fans watched the game last night between portugal and switzerland in the bars here and in the fun zone in central porto. but when portugal went 1—0 up against switzerland a hard core group of england fans began to throw beer bottles. that prompted portuguese police to charge and use but wants to disperse them, cheered on by some local residents here. some of the shopkeepers i spoke to this morning said they thought it was a pity, a shame, to see how england fans had behaved. they said it tarnished the image of football and the calm reputation of portugal. there were fears of widespread violence here because when england took on the netherlands last year in amsterdam in march more than 100 england fans we re in march more than 100 england fans were arrested back then. the fa released a video ahead of tonight‘s match warning against this kind of behaviour, called, don‘t be that idiot. they‘ve released a statement saying the behaviour last night was an absolute embarrassment. there will be thousands of police officers on duty in porto tonight and in the

town about an hour‘s drive away from here, where england take on the netherlands tonight hoping for a place on sunday‘s final. netherlands tonight hoping for a place on sunday's final. mark, thank you, mark lowe in porto. time for a look at the weather. here‘s ben rich. the wind and rain we saw in porto is heading our way. sunshine and showers through the rest of today, then changeable weather as we head towards the weekend. it‘s worth bearing in mind if you have plans over the coming days. some persistent rain across northern scotla nd persistent rain across northern scotland from this weather system and thinned this weather system bringing the rain across portugal is heading our way. a deepening area of low pressure is going to bring some unseasonably windy weather across parts of the british isles and for just about all of us at one point or another over the next few days we‘ll see some pretty wet weather as well. rather an unsettled outlook as we head towards the weekend. through the rest of this afternoon it‘s a sunshine and showers story for most of us. some of the showers heavy,

possibly thundery, more persistent rain across scotland. temperature no great shakes, between 14—19d. this evening and tonight we lose the rain from northern scotland. most of the showers will fade to leave dry weather and some clear spells. it will get chilly across parts of scotland, may be down to 1—2d across parts of the countryside but down to the south the first signs of that approaching area of low pressure, turning really soggy across the channel islands. that rain very quickly will spread across parts of southern england, wales, the midlands. a mucky rush hour to come. blustery winds. the weather continues to work northwards across england and wales, eventually venturing into parts of northern ireland and southern scotland later in the day. for all of us it will turn increasingly blustery at those temperatures pretty disappointing for the time of year, 16 in glasgow, 18 degrees in london. the rain continues to work northwards as we go through tomorrow evening and then down to the south you see these clu m ps