today at five, ready to roar. england's lioness is just 90 minutes away from reaching the women's world cup final. and a few hours‘ time they will be taking on the united states of america, defending champions, three times winners and the number one ranked team in the world. we will be finding out how the world cup as energising women‘s football at every level. boris johnson and jeremy hunt go to northern ireland in their battle to be our next prime minister. both incest the backstop cannot be part of any future brexit deal. the union comes first of course, the solution must be for the whole uk to come out in its entirety from the eu. the

principle is the backstop which transfers into following eu customs tariffs until the eu give us permission to leave the customs union. that is not acceptable. va nessa union. that is not acceptable. vanessa feltz, claudia winkleman and zoe ball all break the rest of top ten highest—paid bbc presenters as the corporation tries to tackle the issue of equal pay. china reacts with fury to the protests in hong kong. it says demonstrators who stormed the parliament work trampling the rule of law and warns britain and united states not to interfere. the stowaway who fell from this plane into a london garden. the body felljust one metre away from somebody who was sunbathing. and the british number onejohanna sunbathing. and the british number one johanna konta sunbathing. and the british number onejohanna konta is safely through till the round two after a straight sets when in her opening match at wimbledon.

it is 5pm, our main story, just three hours from now, england‘s lionesses will be fighting it out for a place in the women‘s world cup final. standing on their way the united states of america, three—time world champions. the crowd of more than 50,000 is expected that the game with millions more watching on television. my colleague clive mhairi is in lyon for us this evening. thank you. i hope you can hear is over the pa they are testing out the system for a highly anticipated match. this magnificent stadium, as you say 50,000 fans will be here to hopefully, for the

english side at least, see the lionesses go one step further than they did four years ago in canada, playing japan in that semifinal match where they lost, didn‘t get to the final. heartbreaking for the team, but a real sense of self belief in the lionesses this time around that they can go one step further despite the fact they are playing the world number one on the defending fifa world champions the usa. let‘s get the latest. the ancient sport of water jousting is a french tradition. it is about keeping calm, picking your moment and knocking your opponent off their perch. england will also try to be the last one standing in lyon. phil neville‘s side arrived in the city with the weight of history on their shoulders, but it hardly seems a burden. this will be the biggest game of their careers and they are ready to embrace it. commentator: here is lucy bronze! what a goal.

much depends on england‘s right back. lucy bronze was the talk of the tournament after her goal against norway. her manager described her as the best player in the world, and not for the first time. it is becoming like white noise now. i think he said it two weeks after i first met him, to be honest, that now people are talking to me about itand i am like, i know, he keeps saying it to me. it‘s getting a little bit annoying! he always wants to challenge me to be the best, to do the best, to do more — to do more and i think it brings the best out of me. england have reached the semifinals in three consecutive major tournaments. now they need to take that next step. standing in their way is a formidable opponent. the usa are the world‘s number one side, they are defending champions and they have already ended the dreams of the hosts. commentator: rapinoe for two. the usa have a swagger about them. perhaps no one more so than megan rapinoe, who commanded their quarterfinal against france.

she is one of three players tied on five goals, along with her us team—mate alex morgan and england‘s ella white. the race for the golden boot is heating up. i would love someone on our team to win the golden boot. right now, megan rapinoe has put the team on her back from spain to france and it is going to take players like that and a couple of individuals each game to step up. england have already lifted one trophy this year. going toe to toe with the usa in their own tournament to win the she believes cup. now they have their sights set on something much bigger. it‘s not good enough we just get to a semifinal and we go home, or play a bronze medal match. this england team now want to win. they are not scared to say it. they believe they should be winning, which is different. it is a step forward. england can‘t afford to wilt in the heat. there is a feeling this tournament is building into something special. but they know the last leap is always the hardest to make.

i should say it has been a slow burn, stuttering but successful start against the scots, 2—1 in the opening game, and then the temple has increased as the side has increased gears, and the hope is tonight that from an england fan‘s point of view they will be in cruise control. phil neville, the manager, saying that the lionesses will have failed if they don‘t beat the usa tonight, oi’ if they don‘t beat the usa tonight, or will be seen as a failure. he is putting huge pressure on his team? it is incredible. you would think having got through the early rounds, got to the semifinal of the global tournament that you could say, be self—satisfied, and you are playing the number one ranked team in the world, the americans way ahead of most of the other sites on the

planet. but phil neville, and that is why he was brought in, a proven winner himself as a footballer and instilling in the side that they can ta ke instilling in the side that they can take on and beat anyone, that they should be fearless and it is all down to 90 minutes, and insisting that getting to the semifinal is not good enough and you should get to the final is something the players will take to heart. they will take it as encouragement and hopefully go on and do the goods. thank you indeed and very good luck to the lionesses this evening, kick off at 8pm. 0nce stay with is because at 5:45pm we will be at the fan zone in london, chatting about the rise of women‘s football at every level. the two conservative party leadership candidates have been facing questions from party members at a hustings in northern ireland with brexit dominating the agenda. boris johnson said the irish backstop negotiated as part of theresa may‘s

brexit deal is unacceptable and jeremy hunt also said it would be impossible to have a deal which includes the current provision for a backstop designed to prevent a return to a hard border in ireland. they both want to be the prime minister who takes the country out of the eu. and they are in the part of the uk which in many ways is on the brexit frontline. the union comes first, of course, but i believe that we should not be faced with that choice. and the solution must be for the whole uk to come out. yesterday, i met representatives from the northern ireland farmers' union, the food and drink federation, people from the border towns around newry, and they talked to me about their concerns about a no—deal situation. the border is almost invisible, but looms large in the contest for no 10. everyone involved in the brexit negotiations has agreed on the aim. they want the border to remain, in essence, as it is at the moment. open with traffic

free—flowing and no checks. but there has not been agreement on how you achieve that and it has become the biggest sticking point in the whole process. the most controversial part of the current withdrawal agreement is the backstop that would guarantee no hard border if there is no big free trade deal between the uk and eu. it would mean the whole of the uk would share customs arrangements with the eu, and northern ireland would follow a number of european rules on trading goods. borisjohnson thinks the issue should be dealt with in trade talks after the uk leaves. we should have a standstill, protract the existing arrangements and use that time, whether it is an implementation period or whatever, to do the trade deal and sort out the facilitations we will need. jeremy hunt also wants rid of the backstop. the principle is the backstop which traps us into following eu customs tariffs until the eu give us permission to leave the customs union.

and for a brexit vote that was about bringing back sovereignty to parliament, that is not acceptable. both he and mrjohnson have suggested technology could help to avoid checks on the frontier. but the eu said it will not reopen negotiations and the backstop must stay. this expert warns the challenge is not getting easier. changing prime minister does not change the reality of brexit. the choices that are difficult that the prime minister theresa may has had to face remain the same. the border brainteaser remains unsolved. finding a solution will be one of the toughest tasks for the new man in downing street. following the hustings event this afternoon boris johnson following the hustings event this afternoon borisjohnson travelled to meet the dup leader arlene foster in stormont. during his visit he was given a tour of the historic building‘s assembly and senate

chambers. arlene foster has refused to back either candidate in the process but has said the brexit deadline has to be met. just to say that at 5:30pm we will be talking to two journalists from belfast and dublin about the conservative party leadership contenders plans for the irish border. the cabinet office is investigating whether senior civil serva nts investigating whether senior civil servants told the times newspaper that they thought jeremy servants told the times newspaper that they thoughtjeremy corbyn was too frail to become prime minister. at the weekend it was reported that government ministers had questioned his fitness to govern and jeremy corbyn may have to stand down because of health issues. more emotional testimonies from people infected with hiv and hepatitis as the enquiry into the contaminated blood scandal moves to scotland. an estimated 3000 people were affected with tainted blood products in scotla nd with tainted blood products in scotland in the 19705 and 805.

victims and their families will be giving evidence during the two weeks the uk wide enquiry i5 giving evidence during the two weeks the uk wide enquiry is in scotland. the scandal has been labelled the worst treatment di5aster the scandal has been labelled the worst treatment disaster in the history of the national health service. our scotland correspondent has the latest on this from edinburgh. and there has previously been an enquiry in scotland? there was the penrose enquiry which took 5ix was the penrose enquiry which took six years to reach its conclusions and cost £12 million and it was branded a whitewash by victims, it heard from only a handful of people who had suffered and couldn‘t compel witne55e5 from outside scotland to give evidence and made only one small recommendation at the end, concluded that little could have been done differently. this enquiry feel5 been done differently. this enquiry feels a little different according to those victims giving evidence. the chair 5aid to those victims giving evidence. the chair said he would be

frightened of the conclusions that could draw and he wanted to make it a5 acce55ible could draw and he wanted to make it a5 accessible as possible. he also 5aid a5 accessible as possible. he also said people would come first and would be at the heart of this enquiry and that was evidenced by what we heard today. what did the enquiry here today? the first witness to give evidence was alison bennett and her son was diagnosed with severe haemophilia when he was ten months old. she said he had a very happy childhood and lived a normal life mo5t very happy childhood and lived a normal life most of the time. he was receiving treatment at a hospital in manchester and tests carried out when he was a teenager showed of the 16 children who were receiving similar treatment, 60% of them had been exposed to the aids viru5. alison bennett topped at the enquiry of her son‘s response when he heard he had hiv. he was very upset. he learned that he had a potentially fatal one treatable condition and it

manifested in those early years when he was 15 and 16, he was hugely angrya he was 15 and 16, he was hugely angry a lot of the time, though very happy in between times but not surprisingly he was extremely angry. alistair died when he was 22. there was no mention of aids or hiv on his death certificate. alison bennett 5aid death certificate. alison bennett said she had a gut feeling there had been a genuine attempt to obscure what had happened and his cause of death. the enquiry then heard from a second witne55, death. the enquiry then heard from a second witness, a gentleman who was not told he had hepatitis c which was likely linked to infected blood products until nine years after being diagnosed. he said he believed there was a coalition of secrecy around the scandal, a coalition he believed involved government departments, health service profe55ionals. he said he believed

more on this day could have led to better treatment and saved lives. thank you. our latest headlines now on bbc news. england have the chance to make history at the women‘s world cup this evening when they face the defending champions the usa for a place in the final in france. bori5 john5on place in the final in france. bori5 johnson and jeremy hunt make their pitches to be the next prime minister to conservative party members in northern ireland. three women have made it into the top ten of the bbc‘s highest paid presenters for the first time. and in sport, he lost the first set of the match but roger federer i5 lost the first set of the match but roger federer is through to the second round of wimbledon. a5 roger federer is through to the second round of wimbledon. as you heard from ben, under three hours until the big kick—off in lyon when england take on the defending champions usa in the women‘s world cup 5emifinal5 and it is the start of the women‘s caches. england who

we re of the women‘s caches. england who were at one stage 19—11 have been bowled out for 177. all those stories for you at 5:30pm. an investigation is under way after a suspected stowaway fell from a passenger plane into a london garden where a man was sunbathing. police say the stowaway fell from the kenyan airways flight heading from nairobi to heathrow airport. not the man head on the landing gear and it has raised more questions about airport security. a warning that this report does contain an image that some of you may find distressing. this is the kenya airways flight caught on camera on sunday. the plane was high in the sky over south london. a man believed to have hidden in the landing gear compartment at nairobi airport fell. his body landed in this property‘s back garden. and this photo shows extensive damage caused to a

concrete path where the body fell. according to a neighbour, the body, believed to be ofa man, hit the ground just a metre from a man who rents this property, who was sunbathing at the time. the man stowed away in the undercarriage of the plane would have fallen some 3,500 feet. given the impact, the tenant at this property is lucky he wasn‘t hurt or even killed. the flight left nairobi at 7:19am on sunday. it landed more than eight hours later at 3:42 p m. just minutes before that, police were called to clapham, where a body had fallen in someone‘s backyard. hiding in the undercarriage just before take—off should be incredibly hard. security checks like these at nairobi airport increased after 9/11. typically, a pilot or engineer will carry out final checks roughly 45 minutes before take—off.

and he would have had to climb up as quickly as possible along this bit of metal and into the rear arch. but after a similar incident a few years ago, a bbc reporter shows in this documentary how someone could do it. but getting inside is the easy bit. to survive an entire flight in a part of an aircraft which isn‘t pressurised, someone would have to cheat an almost certain death. the undercarriage bay is outside the normal pressurisation of the aircraft. so they are subjected to freezing temperatures and very little oxygen. in addition, they can be crushed by the undercarriage coming up. the chances of survival are very remote indeed. i would say it is almost nil on a long haul flight. additionally, because they will pass out at high altitude, on the approach to land when the pilots lower the gear, they are not hanging on, so if they had survived the crushing end of the cold temperature, they then fall to their death. the identity of the person who fell

has not been released. british police are not treating it as suspicious. but there are questions over how he made it on board at nairobi airport. some water, food and a bag were found in the undercarriage of the plane where the person hit before take—off. what happened is a major breach of security and the man had next to no chance of surviving the flight. we can go to clapham in south london and speak to an aviation consultant and speak to an aviation consultant and former airline pilot. thank you for joining and former airline pilot. thank you forjoining us. you were saying how unlikely it is to survive that kind of thing. is it possible at all even ona of thing. is it possible at all even on a short—haul flight to survive in the landing gear compartment? on a short—haulflight the landing gear compartment? on a short—haul flight it is possible to

survive if the aircraft isn‘t trying to hide, below 25,000 feet typically, and also for the reduced flight typically, and also for the reduced flight time of an hour or an hour and a half, there is a reasonable chance the stowaway could survive, but they still have to hang on for dear life when the gear comes down. they also have to survive when it goes up they also have to survive when it goes up on they also have to survive when it goes up on the initial take—off and a number of stowaways have been crushed when that happens. this isn‘t the first time it has happened but how unusual is it? in london, we have had about four of these since the year 2000. there have been 99 in the year 2000. there have been 99 in the world since 19117 as studies show of stowaways who have fallen from aircraft, and those who have recorded, no doubt there will have been those not recorded, but it is not that common. it does show up the tremendous security issues if someone had got access to an

aircraft. do you think the airport, whether nairobi or anywhere else, that security officials at those airports should be doing more to stop this kind of thing happening? indeed they should. i have to say i have been to nairobi and the airport is like all major airports, very large, the fence around it is not particularly substantial and it is possible to enter from nairobi national park, so that is a weak point, i would also the draw factor of emigrants who want to want to come to this country. the board on lorries and cross the mediterranean so the an aircraft is another way of doing it. if the person has any form of technical knowledge they will know that this is highly risky, almost certain death to attempt it, so it is very sad and tragic that if you young men will attempt to reach this country and the undercarriage

ofan this country and the undercarriage of an aircraft. and our other checks just before the plane takes off to see if there are stowaways on board? as mentioned in your report, about 45 minutes before every departure, the operating pilots will do a walk around and check the aircraft for any form of damage but they are also supposed to look inside the undercarriage bay, but not specifically for stowaways, but they would notice a stowaway if they look carefully on the undercarriage bay. the nose bay is harder because somebody would have to squat down underneath the gear doors to actually look straight up into the bay. thank you for being with us. aviation consultant and a former airline pilot. thank you for your time. the director general of the bbc says the broadcaster has turned the corner on gender pay. corporation‘s annual report has revealed that three of its top 12

highest paid stars are women, zoe ball, vanessa feltz and claudia winkleman. in all, 75 stars received more than £150,000. the pay announcement comes at a different time for the bbc, already under fire for the decision to scrap free tv licences for over 75 is unless they receive pension credit. good morning, radio superstar listeners. when the bbc first revealed the pay if its stars, the top ten was entirely male. things have changed. zoe ball is now one of three women in the list of highest—paid stars. alongside claudia winkleman and vanessa feltz. how does it feel being on the top earners list? i‘m not quite sure how these things are calculated and i‘m not certain that it‘s an accurate assessment of who is actually earning what. indeed many famous faces

are not on the list. those employed by bbc studios do not appear but what it does show that the number being paid over £150,000 has increased from 64 to 75. all at a time when nearly 3 million pensioners are about to lose their free tv licences. i understand the dilemma of somebody who is thinking, i am having the licence fee taken away from me, of course i do. i understand that. £154.50 a year is a lot of money for people. 0n the other hand, what comes back from our consultation is, we also want to make sure that you have got stars you want to watch, want to listen to on the bbc, and that includes gary lineker. yes, gary lineker remains the highest paid star, on £1.75 million. but even if every star‘s pay was cut below £150,000, you would still save only about £20 million. the cost of tv licences is about £740 million.

however, after months of protest about the pay gap between men and women, things have begun to change. it was a mixed bag. 0n the positive front, there was a significant drop in the gender pay gap, on the negative front, there was a substantial increase in the overall payments to presenters to 158 million. that against the background of the bbc's decision to pay for only 1.5 million licenses from next year has been hugely controversial. so, the pay gap has begun to shrink. but the issue of star pay and a rising talent bill does ask some awkward questions at a time when nearly three million pensioners are about to lose their free licenses. david sillitoe, bbc news. nigel farage‘s brexit party have staged a protest at the start of the new session of the european parliament in strasbourg. the

party‘s 29 meps turned their backs during the opening ceremony when the european union anthem was played. we can talk now, to the brexit party mep for the south—west of england ann widdecombe. what was the point of this? the point is very straightforward. we won't stand for any country's flag ransom but the eu is not a country are a nation. it is a federal superstate which hasn't been voted for by any of the nations so been voted for by any of the nations so what we were saying as we turn out so what we were saying as we turn our back on this institution. you turn your back on this institution but don‘t mind being a member of it? we are a member of it simply in order to get britain out, to try and

resist any further intervention in out resist any further intervention in our affairs. we don't know what is going to be proposed this session and to encourage if we were ever to be so lucky that it came up anything which reduced their intervention in out which reduced their intervention in our affairs. there is a very major point in being in the european parliament but it is a parliament, not part of a superstate. there was another protest by liberal democrat meps at the same session. they were wearing t—shirts saying stop brexit, wearing t—shirts saying stop brexit, we can see them. one of your brexit party meps said that that was childish sixth form nonsense. why is what you did, turning your back on this anthem, not exactly the same? why is that not childish sixth form nonsense? you have just why is that not childish sixth form nonsense? you havejust been why is that not childish sixth form nonsense? you have just been very selective in your quote. the front of their t—shirts that say stop

brexit but the backs of their t—shirt said something very different, involving an extremely vulgar word which i am not going to repeat. and that is what we find so offensive and childish. it wasn't the fact they wanted to stop brexit, we know that, nothing new, it was going into the european parliament with shirts with an obscenity on it. that is what you are objecting to, the obscenity, not the actual message of stop brexit. what would you say to those people who think that what you did, turning your backs on the european anthem, was also childish sixth form nonsense?” have already told you exactly why we did it. i can also tell you we have had volumes of support for what we did because what we did was symbolic. we didn't make a noise or disrupt anything. we didn't parade around in the shirts with swear words on them. we just turned round to say we reject this. that is

perfectly reasonable. can i ask you, as the tory leadership contest continues, borisjohnson, jeremy hunt, who do you want to win? of course, it is very interesting that jeremy hunt has become more hardline on october 31. i suspect it had something to do with the brexit rally that took place in birmingham la st rally that took place in birmingham last sunday. i suspect that one of the things, i know, that one of the things we are doing is scaring the major parties. so if you want me to choose between those two it is not myjob andl choose between those two it is not myjob and i don't have a vote and i was thrown out of the conservative party. but i would hope that whoever gets it will actually honour the 31st gets it will actually honour the 3ist october. i would have said that is more likely to be boris but now i am not so certain, withjeremy hunt suddenly becoming a convert to no

deal if necessary. thank you for being with us. let‘s see what the weather is doing. it is actually not doing very much which for some of us is italy. an area of high pressure sitting across the uk with a lot of dry weather and plenty of sunshine and fair weather cloud bubbling up through the course of the day but much of that is now dissolving as the afternoon highs ebb away and in the evening the temperature sits comfortably in the high teens. here we are this evening with some patchy cloud, more of a breeze across scotland and solid cloud arriving by the end of the night. clear skies to the south means it could turn chilly across parts of southern scotland and england and wales, those of 3—4, so pretty fresh for the start ofjuly but wednesday dons with plenty of

sunshine and through the day we see the cloud to the north bringing more persistent rain to the western isles and highlands but elsewhere a fine story with sunny spells and the temperature pea ks story with sunny spells and the temperature peaks in the high teens across the central belt, up to 22 in the south—east. you are watching bbc news. our latest headlines. england have the chance to make history at the women‘s world cup tonight when they face the defending champions the united states of america for a place in the final in france. borisjohnson in the final in france. boris johnson and jeremy hunt in the final in france. borisjohnson and jeremy hunt make their pitches to be the next prime minister to conservative party members in northern ireland. three women have made it into the top ten of their bbc‘s highest paid presenters for the first time. an investigation is under way after a stowaway fell from this plane.

now with the latest sports news. a certain football match this evening in france. two and a half hours until the big kick—off in lyon. england facing the usa, the reigning world champions, on bbc one later on. i work reporter is page aside for us. they is the best side in the world, we know all about the united states, but up against a very hungry lionesses team. this world cup has shown that anything can happen. germany went out in the quarterfinals and they we re out in the quarterfinals and they were one of the favourites to win this competition and italy, who hadn‘t been to a world cup for 20 yea rs, hadn‘t been to a world cup for 20 years, managed to get you with the quarterfinals, so i don‘t see why england would not fancy their chances against the usa because even usa pundits say the gap between them has narrowed. i spoke to lucy bronze yesterday and her confidence was

really, really encouraging. she was talking about how she had never lost at her home stadium, which is where the semifinal is going to take place. phil neville has described her as the best player in the world. she certainly wasn‘t a player of the match against norway. that kind of confidence can be quite energising, can‘t it? it can be quite addictive. england‘s squad is the fittest it has ever been. they are number three in the world. phil neville would not have taken this job had he in the world. phil neville would not have taken thisjob had he not believe that england could notjust get to a final but win it. someone who was involved in the last women‘s world cup was alex scott. she said she believes england can go one better. now a semifinal is not good enough, it is not good enough that we just get to a semifinal and play for a bronze medal match, this england team now want to win, they are not

scared to say it. they believe they should be winning, which is different, it is a step forward. we have got to this stage three times ina row have got to this stage three times in a row so you need to go one better now and i love that they have the confidence to say that. they usa are also feeling confident going into their semifinal match and why shouldn‘t they? they are the defending champions, they are number one in the world. there has been possibly more usa fans than england fa ns possibly more usa fans than england fans but tonight this stadium is going to be packed. it is expected to bea going to be packed. it is expected to be a sell—out, 57,000 fans, and you can see behind me the page is looking pretty lush. it has been watered already but fortunately they have turn the sprinklers off now. a bit ofa have turn the sprinklers off now. a bit of a mixed day for the british players at wimbledon. eight in first—round action so it would have been a big ask for them all to get through to the second round. john, johanna konta reached the semis a

couple of years ago, not much to bother her today. no, she came through in straight sets. when there was a british players who featured on day two of the wimbledon championships. easy progress forjohanna konta, which she will be pleased about in light of the difficulties she has had on grass courts in the lead up to wimbledon. she looked comfortable out there, straight sets, a semifinalist in a couple of years ago. martina navratilova saying she thinks she is playing better than she did when she reached the semis here so, who knows, perhaps she can reach the final. some real big stories as well, dan evans is also through. the only casualties today, katie swan and james ward. there has been some huge matches in the singles, not least on centre court where we have seen roger federer

progress. serena williams in action at the moment as well. on court number one now, rafael nadal is currently in action. he is hoping to book his place in the second round and he is up against ajapanese opponent. he is looking comfortable at the moment after taking the first set 6—3 and he is 3—0 ahead in the second. he often struggles at times to make the transition from the clay in france to the grass at wimbledon but no problems yet. and let‘s not forget, they have been some notable casualties already. the likes of dominic team went out today. with those potential players who were going to rival the likes of novak djokovic, roger federer and rafael nadal, they have gone out, so it is opening up. thank you very much. elsewhere,

their women‘s ash is under way. the first match is at leicester. australia won the toss and opted to feed. —— field. england made a disastrous start. but england recovered to reach 177 all out. australia have just started their innings and they have made 11 runs from their first three overs. we will have much more for you at 6:30pm. thank you very much. let‘s take you back now to the conservative party leadership race because the two candidates have been facing questions from party members in northern ireland with brexit dominating. borisjohnson said the northern ireland backstop negotiated as part of the theresa may deal is unacceptable. jeremy hunt said it would be impossible to have an eu

withdrawal deal with the current backstop agreement. let‘s quickly remind ourselves what it is. the backstop really is a position of last resort to prevent new checks or controls on the irish border after brexit. it would come into force if an agreement cannot be reached. it would keep the e uk inside the eu‘s customs union and leave northern ireland in the single market for good but critics fear the uk could become trapped in the arrangement for years. let‘s discuss this now with the deputy editor at belfast newsletter, and mark hennessy. then, first of all, i think you were at these hustings, what was the mood, what was the atmosphere and what did you make of it? it was a very

interesting event because it was very small. they were about 150 people there at the very most. i think the conservatives have a 400 members in northern ireland. and yet it was very significant. it was significant that northern ireland got the next prime minister over, whoever that is. it was also significant for the eu in that we got a little more clarity on what they think. they both were pretty emphatic against the backstop. boris johnson was particularly emphatic. he used the phrase for the withdrawal agreement, it is a dead letter. but they were asked about a range of things. they were asked about china, about students, about ca re about china, about students, about care homes, you could even say that they were not grilled enough on the backstop. one thing that boris johnson was not asked was, you were so scathing about the backstop when you came to the conference in belfast last november and then ended

up belfast last november and then ended up voting for it with jacob rees—mogg, so it was a polite reception, it was a warm reception and they were pretty clear about the backstop and they were pretty clear about the commitment to northern ireland. mark, news editor of the irish times in dublin. having heard that and having heard the hostility from both contenders to the backstop, what is being made of that in dublin? publicly, nothing, and privately, probably not a great deal more because all of our principles are in brussels, dealing with the european council where they are choosing the next leadership for europe over the next five years. having said that, all of the signals would be that their words are not a surprise. johnson has been pushing this line very hard and jeremy hunt has no choice but to do so if he has any chance of persuading the tory

rank and file membership, so both of them are boxing themselves in in ways that will prove to be very difficult afterwards. if their intention as of now is to create a situation where the uk goes out on a new deal, they are pretty much setting the ground for it. and ben in belfast, is that how people in northern ireland see this? heading towards and no deal?” northern ireland see this? heading towards and no deal? i don't know if people see it heading to a new deal but certainly borisjohnson talked about a wto exit in very relaxed terms. jeremy hunt made clear that he was open to the possibility of no deal but people here, i think they was not alarm in the audience. one of the most interesting things at the end of it is that i asked people how they felt who had done better, not who you voted for, who do you

think did better, and i spoke to 64 people, 27 of them said jeremy hunt and 23 said borisjohnson and 14 said neither, so the surprising thing in that was thatjeremy hunt was very well received. a lot of people have boris stickers and he is clearly the front runner butjeremy hunt held the audience and they liked him. boris johnson hunt held the audience and they liked him. borisjohnson had laughed and was well received by the audience as well but i didn‘t hear anybody expressing at the end alarm about no deal. of course, these are conservatives in northern ireland and they are overwhelmingly pro—brexit over here. and mostly anti the backstop. so the message on the european union vent down very well. and mark hennessy, i hear what you say about the political class not saying very much about this leadership contest but can you hazard a guess at which of the two

contenders the irish government would prefer to see win? well, if you talk to people privately in government, there is a certain liking for perhaps the style of johnson at the social level. some people thought that might give them an opportunity to create some sort of ground whereby action could be taken of ground whereby action could be ta ken afterwards, but of ground whereby action could be taken afterwards, but when you have to candidates, one led a campaign he didn't believe in and the other who is now trying to lead a campaign he didn't believe in and both trying to get support from people who always believed in the idea of brexit, that means all of these people are going to be incredibly doctrinaire in the weeks to come and it is simply not good enough for people to be fleshing out ideas about technological solutions when at no point has a credible case being made that these can work. this is not a row that dublin sought to have but

we are being faced with a choice where we can have either a border on the island of ireland or second class membership of the european union and we are finding a situation where our nearest neighbour thinks we are being awkward when we say thank you very much but we are not having that. good to talk to both of you. thank you very much for being with us this evening. let‘s get more now on the women‘s football world cup. england‘s lionesses taking on the united states of america this evening for a place in the final. a crowd of more than 50,000 expected in lyon. millions more watching on tv. england beat norway 3—0 in the quarterfinal with a uk record—breaking audience of 7.6 million. we can talk to the ceo of women in football, which aims to

improve women‘s representation at all levels in the game and to bring about a change in attitudes to women working in the industry. thank you very much for being with us. how much is this tournament and the lionesses‘ success doing to transform the game in this country? i think it is a huge step change. millions of people are seeing on their tv what millions —— many of us have known for many years, this is an exciting, skilful gail —— game, and hopefully there are young girls up and hopefully there are young girls up and down the land saying, i want to play football too. that goal was extraordinary. some of the technique, some of the goals have been wonderful. is there an issue about how much it is being played in schools up and down the land? we we re schools up and down the land? we were delighted to see that the fa recently pledged a campaign that we run to bring the opportunity for every schoolgirl in england to play football, which is wonderful. they

work very closely with barclays on this, they commercial partner, we have a football foundation building grassroots facilities run the land and making sure that girls and women‘s football is part of every application for funding, so women‘s football is part of every application forfunding, so it is happening. we probably just application forfunding, so it is happening. we probablyjust need to do more of it and have more resource going into it. hopefully now the case for that will be easier to make. is it fair to say that in the united states, for example, who with the lionesses are playing this evening, that women‘s football is bigger, more girls play it at a younger age? it is absolutely fair and they have had a few decades head start on us. why is that? when the game landed there in the 705, it did not come with the cultural baggage it did yet where it was very much regarded as a men‘s game. there was also a piece of american legislation which, to cut a long story short,

guaranteed good funding streams into all women‘s sport, so they have had few decades in advance of us to get ahead, but fingers crossed, if anybody can beat that team, i absolutely think the lionesses can. is it absolutely think the lionesses can. isita absolutely think the lionesses can. is it a questionjust absolutely think the lionesses can. is it a question just of attitude or funding as well? i think it is both. all these things line up in one virtuous circle. we have seen attitudes change, we have seen the end product on our screen, so everything is changing at the same time and we just need to make sure that that process of change keeps going. thank you very much for coming in. fingers crossed for this evening. our reporter is at battersea in south london for us this evening where fans will be gathering to watch the game. iam in watch the game. i am in the middle of battersea park. a few early arrivals. we are

expecting 2000 people here. kick—off is still two and a quarter hours away. you may hear the tennis on the big screen at the moment. straight after the coverage finishes, they will be switching onto the football from leon. i have got a couple of england fans down here. emma, you are the coach of a girl‘s teen and you have followed lots of world cups in the past. have you noticed a different mood this time around? yes, more people are interested, more people want to see it, more people want to access football. there is an absolute at the moment, there is an absolute buzz for women‘s sport and it will keep increasing. why are people buying into it more? good question. i think they have got the backing of the fa, you have got phil neville, the players interacting with fans and supporters, and other organisations like sponsors have bought into it as

well. have you watched much women's football before this world cup?” would say i was aware of it but this season is the first one i have really been watching. what pulled you into it? i moved towards wimbledon, where chelsea ladies play, so i started going they weakly watching their games, and really got into it. what is your prediction for tonight? i think a comfortable england win. hopefully an england win, iwill england win. hopefully an england win, i will say to— one. england win. hopefully an england win, i will say to- one. confidence down here. hopefully we will see huge crowds around the country. if we get to the final against the netherlands or sweden on sunday. fingers crossed from an england perspective. absolutely. we will take 1—0. you are watching bbc news. the chinese government has condemned the protests in hong kong as an

undisguised challenge to its rule by violent offenders. yesterday, pro—democracy demonstrators stormed the parliament in hong kong, occupying its chip chamber and scrawling graffiti on the walls. china‘s state media has denounced the protest as mob violence and warned western powers against interference in chinese internal affairs, but here, jeremy hunt has said the authorities in hong kong must not respond to what happened yesterday with repression. they were already trying to repair the damage done to hong kong‘s battered parliament. but these protests have inflicted other wounds, deep wounds, which will not be easily healed. thousands of young hong kongers besieged the building yesterday, saying they did not want to be part of china. a seemingly leaderless protest powered by social media and anger. they even took over the chamber, where normally it‘s the city‘s politicians in control.

one demonstrator told us why he was there. i think it‘s important for us to show what we are fighting for. and we are willing to risk ourfuture, in a sense, to fight for what we are doing. today, when we met this architect again, he tried to defend what happened. nobody wants to step over that line, if there is such a line, and i think the one that steps over the line first is the hong kong government. they have been ignoring us for so many years. their administration is getting worse. they are pushing us towards the edge. but beijing condemned the protesters as violent criminals and told the world not to interfere in its business. translation: the violent storming of the parliament building in hong kong and the indiscriminate damage to parliament's facilities

is a serious illegal act that trampled on the rule of law and damaged public order. we strongly condemn this. the former british colony has not seen anything like this in the 22 years since it was handed back to beijing. the uk has condemned the violence, but says it happened for a reason. we urge the authorities not to use what happened as a pretext for repression, but rather to understand the root causes of what happened, which is a deep—seated concern by people in hong kong that their basic freedoms are under attack. hong kong‘s police, who deny claims they lured protesters in by simply standing by, say they are now gathering evidence for future prosecutions. and the prospect of hundreds of young citizens being put on trial is likely to generate yet more anger in a city already in turmoil.

let‘s discuss what is going on in hong kong and china‘s reaction with the director of the university of oxford‘s china centre. furious reaction from beijing as i suppose you would expect after the scenes we saw yesterday, the storming of the parliament and graffiti daubed all over the walls. there is, but there is an element of what you might call bad cop, good cop, because the statement from the beijing authorities was extremely strong, saying this was vandalism, hooliganism, but the chief executive of hong kong made a more measured statement in which he did condemn the violent destruction of property but also talked about they had a peaceful, much larger demonstration, and this is probably a sign that there is a desperate search for some sort of compromise going on because of the last thing the authorities wa nt of the last thing the authorities want and most of the protesters want

is for this kind of confrontation to break out again. because we have seen hundreds of thousands of people protesting on the streets and the number who went into the parliament building, who smashed through the glass doors, was only a few hundred, a very small minority. it was tiny, and there is a growing sense among protesters that they were almost tricked into doing it because by doing this foolish action, they made it about the description of property rather than the larger protest about what is seen as the degradation of civil liberties in hong kong. some of the protesters said they have not got any choice now. explain to us exactly why they are so worried, in particular about this extradition law, but in general about the future of democracy in hong kong and their civil rights. the problem with the extradition bill is that it would grant the right to the chinese

judiciary and judiciaries from other countries to extradite citizens of hong kong without there having any proper system of appeal. that illustrates a wider point which is, for the first time, write that exist now for hong kong residents would be taken away, so it is not a question of adding to their rights, it is taking away, and the wider issue is that question of china‘s democratic ams or non—democratic aims for hong kong. at the moment there is democratic representation. many peel feel it is not possible to push back definitively if beijing really wants something to change in hong kong and they feel more and more that is a very difficult situation. and in the end, we hear all about one country, two systems, in the very long run, is that what we are going to end up with? is hong kong ultimately are not just with? is hong kong ultimately are notjust going to be subsumed into

china? this is the central conflict thatis china? this is the central conflict that is going on at the moment. there is still more than 28 years to go before the suppose it integration of the two countries. at the moment it doesn‘t look as if hong kong is going to move towards integrating with the more liberal china but hong kong‘s residents to see more desperate to make sure the liberal whites they have now are preserved. and these protests, will theyjust continue? not immediately. i think eve ryo ne continue? not immediately. i think everyone is looking for a pause at the moment but these anniversaries come round once a year, there are other occasions when people gather in the streets, so the hong kong authorities will be looking for quiet and calm dialogue with the protest groups as quickly as possible. thank you for that analysis. good to have you with us. that is just about it from me. i am going to leave you with a look at the latest weather forecast.

a lot of fine weather to come for us through the remainder of this week and into the weekend. we will see a little bit more in the way of real full on thursday affecting northern scotla nd full on thursday affecting northern scotland but for most of us it is a fine story with sunny spells. we did see a little bit of infill today but most of that cloud is now dissolving away again as i temperatures tale away again as i temperatures tale away into the early evening. temperature setting in the mid to high teens. a pleasant evening with some late sunshine. quite clear skies, it could turn quite chilly across rural wales, northern england and southern scotland. to the north—west, some rather more solid cloud just tipping into the north of the country on wednesday. the weather front will bring some rain into the western isles and the highlands of scotland. elsewhere, a fine story with long spells of sunshine. top temperatures in the high teens. up to 22 in southern

england. wednesday into thursday, we hold onto our fine weather. in fact, write their way through this week, we have seen an interrupted play through wimbledon and that is the way it is set to play. a great start to the tournament. and here is the height that we have to thank for the warm weather. thursday we start to dangle in this cold weather and that is going to bring some more meaningful rain, may be an inch of rain, forthe meaningful rain, may be an inch of rain, for the higher ground of scotland. it will feel cooler. to the south, the high still hold steady, up to 26 and seven fairly strong sunshine. thursday into friday, the cold front sinks its way south. not much in the way of rainfall out of that front. but it does apply mass into a northerly airspace at the end of it week and start the weekend. it will continue

to bring some thicker cloud into scotla nd to bring some thicker cloud into scotland and perhaps north sea coasts on friday and that northerly breeze sets up. aberdeen, 18 tomorrow, down tojust 12 breeze sets up. aberdeen, 18 tomorrow, down to just 12 on saturday. and in london, we saw 34 last saturday, we are looking at 22 by the time we get to the start of the weekend, but for most of us these are pleasant temperatures and there is more fine weather to come in our outlook.

in two hours‘ time, the lioness his ta ke in two hours‘ time, the lioness his take on the usa in the most important match in english women‘s football. success would mean a final place for an english senior side for the first time since 1966. it is an exciting time, especially for me, it is my first semifinal and i cannot wait to go up against the best. as england fans gather here in lyon, millions will be watching all the drama back in the uk. also on the programme tonight: police try to identify the body of a man thought

to bea identify the body of a man thought to be a stowaway who