this is bbc news. the headlines at 7pm... the first televised debate in the race to be conservative leader and prime minister is taking place right now, but without boris johnson. lam here i am here in the spin room at the olympic part studios where the main event is taking place. this is where advisers will take place to cheer on their man. the exchanges on brexit. hundreds of thousands stage another protest in hong kong against proposed changes to the extradition law. the territory's chief executive apologises for the upheaval. i confess we have not been as effective as we would like, to communicate with the people, to justify this very good objective that is worth doing.

more people have been forced to leave their homes in lincolnshire after severe flooding — heavy rain with storms are forecast. tens of millions are left without power in four south american countries, after the failure, of a hydroelectric dam. israel's prime minister — benjamin netanyahu — formally names of a new town in the golan after president donald trump, and india are on the verge of beating their arch—rivals, pakistan, in one of the biggest games in world cricket. good evening and welcome to bbc news. in a crucial week for the conservative leadership race, the candidates are going head—to—head in their

first televised debate. the eventual winner, to be decided next month by party members, will become prime minister. there are six candidates still in the running, with all of them divided, on how best to deliver brexit. the frontrunner, boris johnson, has refused to take part in tonight's channel a debate, saying he'll instead participate in a bbc event, on tuesday. but his rivals claim he's ducking scrutiny, and some say he can't deliver on his promise, to leave the eu in october, with or without a deal. here's our political correspondent, ben wright. he turned up, so did he. de think there is a point to these debates without boris? very much. they arrived for the first tv debate of this leadership race. and all the candidates noticed the front runner was not there. how disappointed are you you did not get to debate with borisjohnson this evening quickly very splendid, i still think he may turn out because he is a great communicator and great debater and i

would like to have a chance to share that. and i would like to have an opportunity to ask him some questions on has planned. boris johnson thought this crowded stage would be too much of a scrum between tory politicians and an empty podium has been put in his place. they will attack his absence and he has done no tv interview since the campaign started but that has not stopped him romping ahead of the other candidates and after the first round of voting last week, he easily topped the whole and four contenders have gone and bibles for boris johnson are trying to break out from the pack. brexit has dominated the contest the pack. brexit has dominated the co ntest a nd the pack. brexit has dominated the contest and jeremy hunt had said that he thought the eu would be willing to renegotiate the brexit deal despite the eu repeatedly insisting they won't. butjeremy hunt did not commit to leaving on october the 31st, come what may.” am not committing to a 31st of october hard stop of any costs because they do not think you can

make that guarantee and if you do make that guarantee and if you do make the guarantee, and if you go with the wrong approach, you are not committing us to nothing other than a hard brexit, a guilt brexit. boris johnson has had the uk must leave at the end of october, whether withdrawal deal has been passed in parliament or not. promises are being made by the people who want to being made by the people who want to be prime minister and there are four weeks to test and interrogate them. been right, bbc news. our political correspondent, matt cole, is in stratford in east london where tonight's debate is taking place. what's happening tonight? how are the candidates dealing with the absence of borisjohnson? how are the candidates dealing with the absence of boris johnson?” think thus far and their answers they are not really mentioning him too much but it is very clear that he is not present, the set up of the cdl is that there are six podiums in the candidates are set out in alphabetical order and when we get

to the podium where he should be, he is not there. the start of the debate it was made clear that channel 4 who are hosting this first televised debate are quite happy if he wants to turn up at any moment to join in and they will let him in. but i do not think that is very likely. no sign thus far and as things stand, he has said that he thought there would be too much of a cacophony for a blue on blue discussion into many candidates and thatis discussion into many candidates and that is why he is not here. i think thus far looking at the debate so far there has been some fisticuffs at the least over brexit in the early stages. rory stewart, lagging behind all of brought applause from the audience from his approach talking about needing to end the competition of the chairs no that he says the other candidates are putting out, and michael gove interestingly taking the approach not just talking to interestingly taking the approach notjust talking to the room by giving many of his answers straight

down the lens of the camera, trying to talk to those far out in the country watching. different approaches to the debate and wendy think they are trying to achieve tonight? the crucial thing is to either shura or orie to build support as of the second ballot on tuesday. you need 33 mp support to get across into the later stages in that boat. —— to shore up support. they did not cross that threshold in there is a's vote and jeremy hunt, they dead. they do not want to lose any. and particularly for rory stewart he needs to pick up some 14 votes at least to get himself into that second round. in many ways yes there is a studio audience and there are people around the country potentially watching but the crucial thing is what are the 300 or so conservative mps saying of the

performance of potential future leaders here. thank you very much. 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 dot co dot 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. 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 nicola bartlett — the political correspondent for daily mirror and broadcaster john stapleton. hundreds of thousands of protestors are back on the streets of hong kong, a day after the territory's chief executive, carrie lam, suspended controversial plans to allow extradition to the chinese mainland. the demonstrators are calling for the proposals to be completely withdrawn,

and some want mrs lam to resign. rupert wingfield—hayes reports from hong kong. in the sweltering heat of sunday afternoon, they came out again in their hundreds of thousands. a sea of black t—shirts, the unofficial uniform of these protests. today they wore no facemasks or helmets and had just one chant. withdraw the bill, withdraw the bill. these are truly remarkable scenes we are seeing in the centre of hong kong, again this afternoon. it is notjust the street but it is jammed with protesters, it is the next one over and the next one be on that. all of these people shouting withdraw the bill, all heading to surround the government offices. this is a

massive display for carrie lam and her government. the message for her todayis her government. the message for her today is what? to stop hong kong people from being to go out and fight with each other, we are one hong kong and not to hong kong's. she said she will... unacceptable, withdraw! we need it withdrew. under the immense pressure from these protests, the hong kong chief executive released a groveling apology. i apologise to the people of hong kong and pledged to adopt a more sincere and humble attitude. as night fell, this sea of protesters around the hong kong government and police were on the best behaviour, no riot shields or helmets but

barriers. public anger here will not be assuaged until the hated extradition bill is gone. to show you the live pictures from hong kong and you can see there are still people out on the streets even though it is very late at night and refusal to give in. sitting down on the road, such as their determination to press home there message. charles parton is a former british advisor on china and a senior associate fellow at the royal united services insitute — a defence and security thinktank. hejoins me now. thank you very much for coming in. how will the scenes of hundreds of thousands of people out and the streets yet again and hong kong... with great distress and it is a manifestation of not only their lack of trust and carrie lam but actually in the whole business of one country

to systems. that trust needs to be restored. how is carrie lam's... how secure is her position now? she has apologise for even proposing the bill. you have to say it looks pretty insecure. i think you can certainly say that she will not get a second term, whether she will leave before them i think is also highly likely. there were nearly 2 million people on the streets and a population of just million people on the streets and a population ofjust over 7 million, thatis population ofjust over 7 million, that is one in four and it is all areas of society from young to old and so when you have lost the trust of your people, i think it is time to probably consider resignation. how democratic what her appointment have been or her successors? how democratic what her appointment have been or her successors7m how democratic what her appointment have been or her successors? it is quite a small election committee, just over 1000 people. a thousand people out of 7 million is not a

very vigorous form of democracy but any hong kong chief accepted to mac executive must be acceptable to beijing but also the people of hong kong. dimension trust between hong kong. dimension trust between hong kong and mainland china and what is beijing's options? in the short term when you have one in four people on the streets, i think that this issue has to be backed away from. it is an issue that has a very serious point in the sense that you cannot have criminals fleeing to a place that has committed serious crimes that they should bejudged has committed serious crimes that they should be judged and has committed serious crimes that they should bejudged and dealt with, the problem of course is this trust and the trusted people in hong kong is not great in the system justice and mainland where the party has declared itself to be above the law. and where there is plenty of

precedent for the party using as it we re precedent for the party using as it were political charges disguised as criminal ones. house up for -- how secure is this 2—party system where hong kong is semi—autonomous and has a different way of doing things? hong kong is semi—autonomous and has a different way of doing things7m has worked reasonably well so far and there have been a few blips along the way but hong kong's whole prosperity and society is rule of law and common law system and so far it has generally worked. that is the past and we have another 28 years to go until 2047 when in theory, the system may change and we do not know how it will change. and it is looking to the future to make sure that this confidence in the rule of law in hong kong is maintained. that is the problem the party has, that is the problem the party has, that

isa is the problem the party has, that is a problem of the chief executive has. how likely is it the you think? as we approach that point, the 2047 weather is supposed to be an alignment where we will see more scenes like this? i think if attitudes and beijing process as they are, and of quest i am not a member but from what i see, from what xijinping has member but from what i see, from what xi jinping has expressed member but from what i see, from what xijinping has expressed in terms of his china dream and what they call the second centennial goal, the anniversary of the founding of the prc, china should be a strong and harmonious country and that implies to me that it would be unified and have a system that is a little bit different than in hong kong or very different. on the other hand it is difficult to see hong kong's prosperity which is still

important in china, continuing and if those two systems are continuing post—2047, i think it will make sense for the beijing government and it would make sense for us to encourage the government and people encourage the government and people encourage the government and people encourage the beijing government to think about it and allowing the systems to continue, and common law systems to continue, and common law system is very different from the law in beijing and you can see how it influences break democratic set and it will be difficult to change the whole thing. a works for the sake of prosperity, like china's, but let it continue to work as my advice are you very much. you are watching bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... the first televised debate in the race to be conservative

leader and prime minister is taking place, but without boris johnson. hong kong's leader apologises as hundreds of thousands stage another protest against plans for an extradition law, which has now been suspended. hundreds of people in lincolnshire still can't go back to their homes because of flooding — descibed by the environment agency as "unprecedented". let's stay with that story now. after severe flooding in lincolnshire, there are fears over the prospect of more heavy rain this week, with storms forecast. hundreds of people were forced to leave their homes at wainfleet after the river steeping burst its banks. this report from our correspondent luxmy gopal.. more than 500 workers have helped with the flood rescue operation but therejob is farfrom over as with the flood rescue operation but there job is far from over as there isa there job is far from over as there is a risk of yet more flooding to come. this is the worst flooding we had seen from rain and living

memory. we are in a situation that 2-3 memory. we are in a situation that 2—3 months of rain has fallen in a short period of time and has fallen in the ground and is overflowing everywhere you can imagine. just over 600 homes have been evacuated and residents are told they should not return until wednesday at the earliest and businesses have been affected as well. i have most things upstairs but all the stuff downstairs is waterlogged and the obvious that now is the because it is an online business, people are still buying and i cannot get down there to get them out. high-volume pumps have been brought in to channel water away. blade defences are holding out for now but in the coming days, that could change. two teenagers have been charged with the murder of an eighteen year old man, who was stabbed in wandsworth in south london on friday. police say mohammed nadir dafallah who's 18, along with a 17—year—old boy, will appear at wimbledon magistrates' court tomorrow. iran has complained to britain's ambassador in the country —

after the uk government accused it of involvement in the attacks on 2 oil tankers in the gulf of oman. the iranian authorities deny being involved. amid the growing tensions, the british—iranian woman jailed in tehran for spying — nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — has begun a new hunger strike. she denies any wrongdoing. simonjones reports. outside the iranian embassy in london, a lone tent symbolising the growing tensions between the uk and tehran. the husband of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, camping outside the building to try to make his voice heard. his wife remains injail following her arrest at tehran airport, after visiting her family three years ago, accused of being a spy, which she has always denied. we are camping out in solidarity with nazanin, she has gone on hunger strike in iran, in prison. you can't see that, but we said if she was going to do it, we'd go on hunger strike here. obviously you can see me, and we're doing it in front of the iranian embassyjust all the time she's going through it,

we'll go through it with her. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe's case is intricately connected with the difficult relationship between the uk and iran, which has just become even more tense. london has accused tehran of being behind attacks on two oil tankers in the gulf of oman, one of the world's busiest waterways. iran says that isn't true — it made its displeasure known in a meeting with britain's ambassador. foreign secretaryjeremy hunt, who met richard ratcliffe yesterday, has urged iran to put any differences aside and show compassion to nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, to allow her to return home to herfamily. for her husband and their supporters the wait continues, with no response yet to the protest from the iranian authorities. tens of millions of people across south america have been affected by what's being described as a "gigantic" powerfailure. some reports suggest much of argentina and uruguay are without mains electricity, while parts of brazil and paraguay have also been hit.

chris buckler has the story. at first light, argentina and uruguay where left in darkness. a massive power outage across both countries left tens of millions of people without electricity and crippled communications and city after city. in argentina, people we re after city. in argentina, people were preparing to go to the polls but with trains halted by the power cuts and the streets all the traffic lights out, several took the decision to temporarily delay local elections. this is a failure on a quite remarkable scale. everything came toa quite remarkable scale. everything came to a halt, elevators, water pumps, everything. we were left adrift. the and i cannot go out because the elevator was not working, i could only go down when the power came back. it with not

just here, it was everywhere. shops have been scrambling to fire up generators in order to save their supplies. energy companies say a limited number of their customers have been reconnected but it is likely to be hours before many have their power restored. authorities are still investigating the cause of these unprecedented problems. like so many others, they are still in the dark. natalio cosoy gave us this update from buenos aires. the traffic lights behind me are blinking as the systems are reset after power it was re—established to this part of town. close to the centre, and has been a few hours since a massive blackout, the first of its kind hit both stomach most of argentina as well as parts of brazil and uruguay. it affected millions of people. it started around 7am local

time and it was still dark and it is winter now here so those who are using electricity to keep their homes were particularly affected as well as for instance, elderly people living up and high—rises. know the pa rt living up and high—rises. know the part that my power is as i had said slowly being re—established here and in other parts of the country. the government says this was due to a massive collapse of the interconnected power grid and they say it might be linked to a problem and a dam in the north of the country. we are waiting for more details on what might have caused this massive power outage. israel's prime minister, benjamim netanyahu, has unveiled a new settlement in the disputed golan heights region, named after the us president donald trump. a sign was unveiled at the entrance of the yet—to—be—built community of ramat trump, or trump heights. mr netanyahu said it was a historic day to appreciate mr trump's

recognition of israeli sovereignty over the golan. israel seized the golan from syria in the 1967 middle east war. meanwhile... donald trump has once again taken to twitter — to criticise the mayor of london, sadiq khan. retweeting a post from the right—wing commentator, katie hopkins, he said "london needs a new mayor asap. khan is a disaster — will only get worse!" mr trump later followed it up with another post, saying: "he is a national disgrace who is destroying the city of london!" the president's comments came after five attacks in london in less than 24 hours left three men dead and three others injured. you are watching bbc news, it is 23 minutes passed. passengers on—board one plane are guaranteed the kind of in—flight entertainment most of us would want to avoid, stalling in the air and spiralling towards the ground. what sounds like a white—knuckle

ride is in fact an airborne lab designed to give aeronautical students a taste of what it is like when things go wrong. the aim, to help them design planes that are safe in the sky. here's our science correspondent, richard westcott. it is an extraordinary lesson in an extraordinary classroom. with very different teachers. should you feel unwell, backs are provided in the seat pocket in front of you. the whole point of having a flying classroom is that the students can experience first—hand some of the strange things that aircraft can do, and now we are about to experience some of those strange things. it starts gently enough, but the downward spiral that doubles your body weight. then the pilots start doing this. three, two, one, go. if you want to design a safe and comfortable aircraft, you need to feel how

it is going to react when things go wrong. this plane is full of sensors that give real—time data to the engineers on board. in fact, many of these passengers are university lecturers, who want their students to experience the ride. we have got a flight to but that isjust on the ground. they do theory, laboratory sessions. this is the real thing. we do a lot of the theory and i teach dynamics and control of aircraft, and we can do that on scale models and wind tunnels, but what a calculation might say is ok, is not ok for a person actually in that vehicle. we had just started to relax when they went for the big one. point the nose up until the plane nearly falls from the sky. then the safety system kicks in and we start to float. some loved it.

some didn't. in their new digital control tower, these aerospace experts say the industries were £35 billion to the uk economy, and the plane is critical for the next generation of engineers. it takes them into flight test regimes that you would never get that experience of, and then they see why it matters. there is nothing like the physical experience to make you realise why something really matters. they now want to raise money to buy a new airborne classroom. tomorrow's plane design will have a lesson they will never forget. i tightened my seat belt, i thought i was well strapped in, and then i thought my head would hit the ceiling because it was so extreme. it really is a fantastic experience. you just don't get this in a simulator.

how do you think students would react to that? it would be the highlight of their degree course. i think it would be the thing they always remembered. got to have a strong stomach. the duke of cambridge has paid tribute to his children and his father on social media today. on the palace's social media account he shared pictures of him playing with his son louis, on a swing, and another of himself in his raf uniform walking on the runway with his own father — the prince of wales. the pictures were shared with the simple message happy father's day. the duke and duchess of sussex also shared a picture of their six week old son, archie mountbatten windsor with a message ‘wishing a very special first father's day to the duke of sussex'. the spice girls ended their sell—out reunion tour at wembley stadium by inviting their mothers and children on stage last night. the group performed their hit singles ‘wannabe' and ‘spice up your life' in front of 80,000

fans in the stadium. as the concert came to a close, the artist known as ginger spice apologised to her bandmates for leaving the group in 1998. # shake it to the front if you're having a good time. now it's time for a look at the weather with phil avery. hello once again given the extent of the rainfall in recent days & past the rainfall in recent days & past the british isles, no wonder that it is looking like this for the rest of sunday. more showers, but with some sunshine in the red stomach makes as well. more persistent rain showing its hand across wells and will gradually drive its way through the north of england and the portion on the front and we will see the new day on monday across the western side of wells and we are off and running into monday and there is some dry weather we had across much

of central and southern southeastern england and further north showers coming and the weather front eventually fizzing away but not before delivering it may be 20—30 mm of rain into wells and to stay sta rts of rain into wells and to stay starts out fine enough to save the northwestern corner of scotland in the showers could turn into thunderstorms and deliver yet more rain.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines. the first televised debate for the candidates hoping to be the next conservative leader and prime minister is taking place right now, but without boris johnson. contenders have clashed over how to deliver brexit. hong kong's leader apologises as hundreds of thousands stage another protest against plans for an extradition law, which has now been suspended. hundreds of people in lincolnshire still can't go back to their homes because of flooding — descibed by the environment agency