this is bbc news. the headlines at seven. hundreds more people are urged to leave their homes in lincolnshire because of flooding, brought on by heavy rain. going around to people knocking on the door and then they drop the sandbags, just basically helping people and doing what we can do. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british—iranianjailed in iran — begins a new hunger strike in protest against her imprisonment. her husband gives his full backing. isaid, i said, well this if you are going ona hunger i said, well this if you are going on a hunger strike i think it's time that i should as well. i'm not going to leave you alone in it. police are investigating after 3 people were killed in separate attacks in london in the last 2a hours. a mass is held at

notre dame cathedral — for the first time since a fire destroyed the roof and spire two months ago. and four—time tour de france winner — chris froome posts this picture from his hospital bed — and says he's fully focused on getting back to his best after his high—speed crash. good evening. hundreds more people have had to leave their homes due to severe flooding at wainfleet in lincolnshire. two months of rain has fallen on the area in just two days. the raf was deployed, after fears that repairs to banks of the river steeping were giving way. from there, luxmy gopal has sent this report. from the air, you can see the vast

extent of the flood waters, the river steeping swollen after two months of rain fell in two days. more flooding is expected, and around 600 homes have been evacuated. this is the second time rebecca and jodie have had to move. you have got where all the electrics have to dry out, because you can't put them back on, so it is like being in emergency accommodation that you are going to be setting up a new home, when you know that your home is under water. and it is so hard. it is horrible. the environment agency says the river could breach at points where its flood defences are vulnerable. an raf chinook returned today to help shore up the bank. it is this stretch of the river steeping that is expected to burst its banks, and that is why the raf chinook behind me has

been flying back and forth with bags of sand and gravel to try to plug any breach. volunteers have travelled for miles to help the flood defence operations. for the past three days, we have just had to rescue a 97 year lady, as i say, just drop in sand bags of come on the door, dropping sandbags, just basically helping people, doing what we do. emergency crews will continue to monitor the river levels, but for now residents don't know when they or their families, four—legged or otherwise, will be able to return home. luxmy gopal, bbc news, wainfleet. matt warman is the local mp for the area and joins me now from wainfleet in lincolnshire. i understand that you have been speaking to the environment secretary, has he promised you any help? he said that anything the environment agency once we will

have. we are currently building one of the biggest pumps in the country and we have two of them here and used at this level to hopefully pump the water away. extraordinary weather like this is nothing new, it's becoming a regular occurrence for many of the residence it would be nice if there were not flooded in the first place. is your party going to look at the wider picture when it comes to these floods?” to look at the wider picture when it comes to these floods? i think we have to see what could have been done better. for here that means primarily saying could the banks of the river bend better maintains that there were not breaches? ultimately we do have an extraordinary amount of water into days, an extraordinary amount of rain and it's reasonable to say the system should have been able to cope with extreme events but would you have to look at what more

we can do to enhance the system we have so it could cope with the really extreme event like we have seenin really extreme event like we have seen in the last two days. when you read that three helicopters dropped 271 bags of ballasts to repay the bank of the river and had to return as that was not holding the water, it does leave you wondering if this took the local rescue services and emergency services and authorities by surprise, would that be an unfair assessment? from what i've seen i think that would be unfair and at this time yesterday we were very confident and the experts were very confident and the experts were very confident they have more than done enough. they've been cautious and overcompensated that what happened overcompensated that what happened over the next few hours was that the edges of the repairs they had done started to look like they were not going to hold and so they took a cautious approach to see if more could be done in those repairs did

hold. it is sensible to take that approach and put the investment sorry, you can hear so the rather noisy coming past. it's normal to ta ke noisy coming past. it's normal to take that approach does a better safe tha n take that approach does a better safe than sorry. you are right, obviously and could more of it have been done on day one, but we have seen been done on day one, but we have seen huge amounts of resources put into this area by the environment agency taking a better safe than sorry approach. it is devastating to have your home and business destroyed by floodwater and it can ta ke destroyed by floodwater and it can take months to get your house and your business back on its feet. what support are you offering to your local constituencies in the months ahead? i was elected in 2015, i have inherited the constituency and we are coping with wrangling the

insurers two years later. i'm a very keen to get on to the association of british insurance and get onto people so that the clean—up and dealing with insurers goes as quickly as possible when we get there. right now a big check of my job is talking to the environment secretary and making sure that every resource they get here it gets is better as possible. the local mp dealing with hundreds of families being evacuated and much more on the bbc news website. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — the british—iranian mother jailed in iran on spying charges — has begun a new hunger strike, in protest at her imprisonment. she's been held since 2016 and denies any wrongdoing. her move comes at a time of escalating tension, with the united sates accusing iran of a series of attacks on oil tankers in the gulf of oman. our world affairs correspondent caroline hawley reports. these are the moments before nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe's arrest more than

three years ago at tehran airport. she thought she was heading home with her young daughter when she was approached by iran's revolutionary guard then accused of espionage than sentenced to five years in jail in a case that has been called a mockery of justice. just a few days earlier, they'd been enjoying a holiday together with herfamily in iran. hello, sweetheart! today in london, friends and relatives gathered to celebrate gabriella's fifth birthday, with her on the phone from tehran. # happy birthday, gabriella # happy birthday to you... but richard ratcliffe won't be eating the cake himself as hejoins his wife in solidarity on an open—ended hunger strike. she called him from jail this morning to say she'd

started to refuse food. she had been quite tense and distressed and angry in previous phone calls, distraught. actually, today she was quite calm she'd made the decision, she'd sent a letter due to the judiciary, and she was quite nervous, but also come. this is a desperate move by an ordinary couple caught in extraordinarily complex international politics. the case is intricately connected to the difficult relationship between the uk and iran, a relationship that has got even more fraught. two days ago, two oil tankers were attacked in the gulf of oman, one of the busiest waterways in the world. the us and britain are blaming iran, tehran denies any involvement, the labour party says the evidence behind it is not clear, but it has dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the region. our message to iran is, whatever the disagreements you might have with the united kingdom, there is an innocent woman at the heart of this, she just wants to get back together

with her daughter gabriella, to reunite that family, please show that you have humanity, show that you have a heart, let nazanin come home. this morning, jeremy hunt met richard ratcliffe. he has praised the family's bribery, but there is concern that the latest trouble in the middle east will do nothing to solve his wife's plight, as they embark on a joint hunger strike aimed at bringing their family back together. caroline hawley, bbc news. no news on response from that imprisonment, but there has been a report issued by the student news agency is and a and they were reporting that iran has some of the british ambassador to tehran after britain said it blames the country for the attacks on the oil tankers. according to them the meeting with the foreign ministry official, iran

strongly criticised britain possible ona strongly criticised britain possible on a subtle stance regarding the attacks and no other country but britain has supported american accusations over the attacks. just remind you, the british foreign secretary a statement yesterday blaming the attacks on iran and the islamic revolutionary guard saying no other state or non—state actor could have been responsible. iran has and continues as you can see it to deny involvement in these attacks. much more in the bbc news website and as a developing story is likely to be reported on in the newspapers as well. are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers — our guests joining mew tonight are broadcaster, penny smith and john rentoul, chief political commentator, independent dojoin us if you can. rivals competing to be the next leader of the conservative party — and prime minister —

have dismissed suggestions they should withdraw and allow an uncontested ‘coronation' for the frontrunner boris johnson. they've been campaigning for the support of party members at a meeting in london. our political correspondent nick eardley was there. blink and you'll miss it, boris johnson arrives at the first leadership hustings for tory activists. in here, he told them he is a winner, and he is undoubtedly the man to beat, but his rival say a coronation would be a mistake. that would be a complete disgrace. the public deserve a chance to look at these leaders. mrjohnson's opponents insist this is not over. we had a coronation last time, didn't work out well, so let's not make the same mistakes again. michael gove say it's all to play for. the leadership hustings have been taking place behind closed doors, and that will change tomorrow at the first televised event, when five of the six candidates,

minus mrjohnson, will attend, but ultimately those standing for the leadership know that it is people like me once here, party activists, that they have to convince. do you think the wider membership are listening, or it is boris and that is it? no, i think they are listening. it was always going to be borisjohnson for me, but i am now not sure who would be the second option. i had thought i was close to making up my mind, but i have got more of an open mind after today. still listening to your pitch? they were, yes! the fight to be our next pm on. to beat this man, though, won't be easy. nick eardley, bbc news. do you have any questions for the next prime minister? on tuesday bbc one will be hosting a live election hustings between all the candidates left standing for conservative leader — and one of them will be the person who moves in to downing street.

their debate will be shaped by your questions — and we're asking you to submit them in advance. email have your say at bbc.co.uk with your question and include your name and contact number if you're interested in asking it live from your local bbc studio. full special coverage of course here on the bbc news channel. the health secretary, matt hancock, has ordered what he called ‘a root and branch review‘ of hospitalfood — after 2 more patient deaths were linked to a listeria outbreak. a total of 5 people are now known to have died. production has been halted of the sandwiches and salads thought to have caused the outbreak. leigh milner reports. five people have now died after eating hospital sandwiches and salads containing listeria. two lost their lives here at the manchester royal infirmary, another at aintree hospital. it's not yet been revealed where the other two patients died, but public health england has confirmed that seven trusts across the country have been affected.

the food standards agency ourself are trying to identify how this could have got in to the food chain. that is going to take some time to do. but what we have done is taken steps to make sure that the product is no longer distributed and therefore the public and the nhs patients are safe. the health secretary, matt hancock, has now called for a review of nhs food. in a statement, he said... listeria typically causes mild food poisoning, but can prove fatal if people are already seriously ill. the first patient affected showed symptoms on the 25th of april. suspect salads and sandwiches were withdrawn on the 25th of may. public health england first warned about the outbreak on the 7th ofjune. the good food chain, which is being linked

to the outbreak, has since voluntarily ceased production. as investigations continue, public health england insist any risk to the public remains low. leigh milner, bbc news. let's talk now to stewart mckenzie from the hospital caterers association... thank you for talking to us. it's a volu nta ry thank you for talking to us. it's a voluntary organisation, isn't it? to celebrate the 70th anniversary and my understanding is that yourjob is to promote, develop and help improve catering in our hospitals so i would like to know are you surprised by this outbreak of listeria in our hospitals? yes, i am surprised. i'm also concerned about the food supply chain in terms of other supply chains in england and it's been quite fragmented. far too many companies providing them in the nhs and we need clear standards and

robust governments around the standards to ensure we have full quality food safety of all commodities. a lot of us watching that now thought it was already in place and we had nothing to worry about. i think within our hospitals we don't have anything to worry about, the concern is actually the external supply chain that provides products to us and i think this is an isolated incident however, it still deep consideration and deeply concerned by this outbreak and their thoughts are worth the families affected by this tragedy. we welcome the announcement today and will support that i believe the food standards agency need to conduct this review swiftly to ensure the safe and balances are in place. do you think it could? and possibly could. but i very much hope it does

not. in terms of the outbreaks there's been no occupation period so there's been no occupation period so there could be further outbreaks and in the current situation we are getting near the end of the incubation period so hopefully it will not happen. all products from the particular companies and the immediate risk is very low. stuart mckenzie there from the hospital caterers association. police are investigating after three people were killed in separate attacks in london. a man in his 30s died after being stabbed in tower hamlets earlier this afternoon. it follows the deaths of two teenagers yesterday evening. it comes after police made 1a arrests — following four separate attacks in london which left two teenagers dead and three men injured, in the space of 12 hours. our correspondent ben ando is here. you have been following all of these developments, what is going on?

you have been following all of these developments, what is going 0mm seems like quite a disturbing surge of violence as far as we can tell and the police are saying so far they are all not connected to each other in any way and complete independent. the first was yesterday afternoon and run reports came in for it a stabbing in the ambulance crews attended. they were unable to save a teenage boy at a scene and six males aged 60 to 19. the shooting took place in armed police responded and again a teenage boy it was found with gunshot wounds and he died at the scene, and there have been four people investigated in connection with that. all of them age 16 and 17 so very young. about about two o'clock a in coming from tower hamlets and the lengths bury a stage where a man was found with sta b stage where a man was found with stab wounds and they were fatal wounds come at the moment the police say they have no idea what was behind that killing. it's going to lead to scrutiny and questions

however the police are being properly resourced and whether you have control of not just properly resourced and whether you have control of notjust london but other cities and towns in britain. it's something that will cause great concern and the mayor of london city said he was sickened by these killings and in fact they bring, we calculate, to around 56 the number of fatal homicides in london this year. worth bearing in mind that last year the number was 77, so although this was very serious it is still put into context not as bad as it was this time last year. the exam board edexcel has launched an investigation into how part of an a—level maths paper was leaked online. blacked out images of two questions were shared on social media, ahead of the exam yesterday. pearson, which runs edexcel, said the images were circulated "in a very limited way," and that pupils would not have to re—sit the paper. the leader of hong kong has

suspended the introduction of a new law that would allow extraditions to mainland china. the controversial proposals prompted huge street protests, including one last sunday where organisers said more than a million people took part. from hong kong — rupert wingfield hayes reports. fellow citizens and members of the media... as she stood alone at the podium, carrie lam must have known every pair of eyes in hong kong was watching her. after a week of mass street protests and running battles between protesters and police, would she or wouldn't she back down and drop the widely hated extradition bill? i now announce that the government has decided to suspend the legislative amendment exercise. not a withdrawal, then. so is this just a trick to pacify the protesters? it has nothing to do with an intention or wish to pacify. how could i restore, as fast as possible, the calm in society, and how could i avoid any more law—enforcement officers

and ordinary citizens being injured? the fear of more angry protesters returning to these barricades is what has prompted carrie lam and her administration to make what is clearly a major climb—down. this is not a temporary pause to the extradition bill — this is an indefinite suspension. nevertheless, it may not be enough to prevent very large crowds from coming out here again on sunday for another huge show of discontent. on wednesday, the police just... this young protester and many of his friends will be out there, and possibly thousands more like them. they want the bill completely withdrawn, but for them it is about so much more. we don't trust the government. we don't need a small victory. we want to cancel the bill, but not temporarily. and i don't want to see hong kong to be invaded by a totalitarian government.

the problem for passionate young hong kongers like this is that communist china isjust 16 miles away across the harbour. somehow they're going to have to learn to live with that fact. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in hong kong. chris froome has posted a picture of himself recovering in hospital after his crash in france. posting on his instagram account, he says he's ‘on the road to recovery‘ following a six—hour operation in st etienne. he sustained multiple injuries including fractures to his neck and leg crashing at a0 miles per hour while testing the course at the criterium de dauphine. a roman catholic mass has been held at notre dame cathedral in paris for the first time since a fire destroyed the roof and spire two months ago. about 30 worshippers took part in the service, which was held in a side chapel, because the main structure hasn't

yet been declared safe. both worshippers and clergy had to replace their usual head gear with hard hats. amanda knox has spoken of the pain of what she called "being tried by the media" over the murder of the british student meredith kercher, in italy in 2007. an emotional ms knox told a conference in modena that she feared being attacked and even charged again. it is ms knox's first trip to italy since being cleared of the murder afterfour years injail. the italian film and opera director franco zeffirelli has died at the age of 96. in a career which spanned over 60 years some of his best known work included the taming of the shrew starring elizabeth taylor and richard burton and hamlet with mel gibson and glenn close. lizo mzimba looks back at his life operatic music

franco zeffirelli made his name as an opera director, on stage and occasionally on—screen. opera taught him how to deal with highly strung and highly talented performers. it is a simple as that, holding their hands. really dealing with vulnerable people. really charming little kids. they can't believe their luck and they are afraid. his experience proved useful when he made a film with a famously temperamental couple, richard burton and elizabeth taylor. i will not! sweet rest come to thy heart as that within my breast. his film version of romeo and juliet

was nominated for an oscar but was controversial. olivia hussey, then just 15, appeared topless. franco zeffirelli, who started out as a stage and screen designer, was sometimes attacked for self—indulgence and sentimentality. but jesus of nazareth, made for television, showed a different and more austere side to his work. if my kingdom were of this world, my followers would have fought to prevent me from being captured. in 2004, he was given an honorary knighthood. he had always been an anglophile. in terms of the country, i would like to see it married with my country, with italy. and i manage to make this marriage happen with my work. and and by association with british talent. such a traditional honour meant a lot to a director renowned for his love of formality, opulence and beauty.

reporter lizo mzimba. tens of thousands of cricket fans are converging on manchester this weekend as india take on pakistan in the world cup. both sides have large british fan—bases and there were half a million ticket applications for the match, meaning old trafford which has a capacity of 25,000, could have been sold out 20 times over. the game is expected to attract a worldwide audience of over half a billion — making it one of the biggest sporting events of the year. secunder kermani has been speaking to some of the many pakistanis who will be watching the game. there were cheers as pakistan took on australia earlier this week. but the night ended in disappointment for these fans in islamabad as their team narrowly lost. the passion inspired by matches against india, though, is on another level. is it a big deal to beat india? it's a pretty big deal, and notjust because it's

india versus pakistan, but because, you know, like, real madrid versus barcelona, it's sport rivalry so that makes it very exciting as well. sunday's game will be the first between the neighbours since a conflict in february that saw pakistan shoot down and capture an indian pilot. i'm sorry. i'm not supposed to tell you that, sir. this advert, spoofing his interrogation video in which he politely refused to answer questions, whilst sipping tea, has attracted both laughs and some criticism. you can leave now. ok, sir. for most fans, though, cricket is a rare opportunity to unite the two nations. i think primarily we have the same culture and i think cricket can be used as a bridge between the two countries, for peace and for stability throughout

the subcontinent. i think irrespective of who wins, at the end of the day, a good game and peace is what matters most. pakistan—india games have at times produced some of cricket's greatest moments. players know tens of millions will be watching. there's a massive amount of pressure, and now that india—pakistan games don't happen so frequently, there's more pressure. i feel someone who is in good form would probably be looking forward to doing well against india, because if you do well against india, you could be a hero overnight. on sunday, grounds like this will be deserted. because of tensions between the two countries, it has been years since pakistan and india have been able to play against each other in front of a home crowd. cricket fans will hope that can change some day soon.

now it's time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. interruptions are likely tomorrow at old trafford. the worst of the rain is easing a way eastwards. the western side of scotland, rain working up towards the northern isles. tomorrow we are close to this area of high pressure but it is this area of high pressure but it is this area of high pressure but it is this area of low pressure that continues to be the dominating feature. there will be showers across northern ireland, wales and south—west england but soon extending across much of england and into scotland as well. through the afternoon showers becoming less frequent across east anglia but where we get those heavy