this is bbc news i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 7pm: a major powerfailure across many parts of the uk — affecting trains, airports and traffic lights. thought to be caused by a problem on national grid's network. growth fell by 0.2% in the three months tojune, but the chancellor says the fundamentals of the economy, remain strong. a churchwarden found guilty of murdering an author he had tricked into changing his will. now police warn he'd drawn up a list of future targets. here is a cold calculating devious man who took pleasure from inflicting both physical and mental torture on his victim.

the family of a policeman who survived a "frenzied" machete attack, say they're proud of his bravery. and coming up — we'll be taking a look inside kashmir as tension continues to rise between india and pakistan over the disputed region. major power failures have been reported across large areas of the uk, affecting homes and transport networks. large parts of england have been affected, including london, the south—east, the north

west, and other parts of the country. the uk power networks says the outage was due to a failure on the outage was due to a failure on the national grid. in the past half an hour, the national grid has released a statement, saying, we experienced issues with two power generators causing loss of... the power cut has caused a knock—on effect on the friday night rush hour, with disruption across the nail work —— rail network. lner trains are telling passengers not to travel and network rail are warning of delays. then ando has the latest. national grid say the problem has been resolved. they are saying the system has returned to normal but we're not entirely sure what the problem was. they say they were issues with two

generators, do they mean power stations? they failed ? generators, do they mean power stations? they failed? what are they talking about? we are not clear on that. certainly while the system is returning to normal, things are not retu rna ble returning to normal, things are not returnable —— returning to normal for everybody up and down the country. this has been hugely disruptive, for lots of people, vertically travellers on the rail network, largely powered by electricity. lner trains are telling people not to turn up to king's cross, they are suggesting you wait and travel tomorrow if you can, they said tickets will be valid for tomorrow if they are dated today. other parts of the network are having problems, st pancras international, the midlands, southern trains, gatwick express services and handling services all having problems. on top of that, lots and lots of traffic lights have failed. in some areas, people are reporting that drivers are basically coping, a little bit more haphazard, other areas have large trafficjams and police may have to be deployed to manually direct traffic through

these junctions. we to manually direct traffic through thesejunctions. we mentioned earlier a hospital had been affected by the outage as well. in ipswich, there was a trouble —— problem where there was a trouble —— problem where there was a power failure and the back—up generator failed to come on, which caused a serious concern. my understanding is that has been sorted out now. thank you very much. our reporter is at king's cross station for us now. michael, lner trains are saying don't bother travelling, what does that mean to some of those traveller standing behind you? you may wonder why 70 people are standing behind me and that is because king's cross station is now officially closed. network rail have just tweeted at king's cross station is closed because of overcrowding, and i'm not surprised, when i went in earlier it was crammed with hundreds and hundreds of people, possibly well over 1000 people in there, staring up at those destination boards which all said

delayed or cancelled. when you look online now, all trains from king's cross are delayed or cancelled until at least 9pm tonight. lner trains are telling people not to travel tonight. they will be able to use their tickets and services tomorrow, but this is one of london's busiest stations, with commuters, but it is not just them who stations, with commuters, but it is notjust them who are affected, it is the middle of the summer holidays, it is peak tourism here in london, and for many people looking to travel today, they simply cannot leave the capital. there aren't any trains. also families are stranded here. i spoke to a group of skies who are meant to be going up to newcastle, they can't get anywhere and one of their girlfriends is stuck on a train getting into london, so it is notjust getting out that is a problem. we have heard that it was two generators that cause this issue and caused power outages at different locations across the country but certainly at king's cross here tonight, it is an incredibly difficult situation, with

hundreds and hundreds of people having nowhere to go and not knowing quite what to do. very quickly, look at the road traffic around king's cross, is that all running smoothly? the traffic is running smoothly, although there are huge queues for taxis. obviously, that is the only way people are going to get out of here at the moment, because as i said the station is closed. traffic does seem to be moving normally earlier. earlier, transport for london were saying some of the traffic lights were working and i was causing delays on junctions a different rise across the capital but that does seem, roundhay rallies, —— around here at least, traffic does seem to be moving smoothly, apart from a much longer line than normal at the taxi rank. thank you very much indeed. this is bbc news. for the first time in six and a half years, the uk economy has shrunk.

it fell in the three months from april tojune this year by 0.2%. the contraction in gdp, or the total value of goods and services made and sold by all sectors of the economy, was worse than some had expected. but the chancellor, sajid javid says the fundamentals of the economy remain resilient and strong, and he's not expecting a recession. however, concerns over brexit and a global economic slowdown are affecting trade and business confidence. so, what does the fall in growth mean for us all? here's our economics editor, faisal islam. this is a stockpile, reams of printing material, plastics, inks shipped into this leicester food labelling company to beat the last brexit deadline. this across tens of thousands of british warehouses boosted the economy before march and took away from it between april and june helping leave the british economy shrinking for the first time in years. for now it isn't generally expected the uk is in its first formal recession, that is two consecutive

quarters of the year where the economy gets smaller, since the great financial crisis a decade ago but this is the first shrinkage over a three—month period for six and a half years when the crisis in the eurozone was raging. the first quarter of this year was flatter by the effect of millions of pounds of stock piling which explains some, not all of today's weakness. the question now is what happens in the next three months? what a welcome for a new chancellor of the exchequer who played down his shock on a visit to the national grid. no one will be surprised by a today's figures, there was a general expectation growth in this quarter would be slower than the previous quarter and the important thing is the fundamental of the uk economy remain very strong. can you rule out a recession? i'm not expecting recession at all, and don't take my word for it, there isn't a single leading forecaster that is expecting a recession. the east midlands is a hub for logistics and freight and these

lorries and giant storage sheds is an economy trying to deal with the prospect of more fundamental changes to the way this country trades. the government's argument that the disappointing numbers down to the fact that in warehouses up and down the country they had to wind down the extraordinary level of stockpiled parts and products for the brexit that never was in march but this is only part of the story. a recession although not likely is now possible. the economy far from turbo—charged at a sensitive point. here in nottinghamshire the chancellor was meeting apprentices and acknowledged a brexit factor in the numbers but not a jolt from the rising chances of no deal in october. most of all we want to bring certainty which is why we must leave on october 31 and if that means leaving with no deal, that is the way it's going to be.

it is the certainty of no deal that is impacting on certainty, that is what the bank of england has said. businesses want certainty around brexit. but what sort of certainty? the labelling boss says he is fed up of stockpiling and he has delayed investing to fit out his new factory. we went through this before march and now between march and october, we have had a lot of unstable, uncertainty, and the cloudy skies are upon us again. we can't move forward or back, we are stuck in a rut, that's where we are. expectation is britain avoids a formal recession by growing but with the pound tumbling again nothing seems too certain in the british economy. a 28—year—old churchwarden has been found guilty of murder, after tricking his victim into changing his will. ben field manipulated peter farquhar who was 69, duping him into a relationship

and then lacing his food with drugs and neat alcohol. however field was found not guilty, of the attempted murder of a retired headmistress who was 83, and whom field also admitted, he'd tricked into a relationship. tom symonds has the story. a respected former teacher and novelist, peter farquhar rendered helpless. he had suffered falls, injuries, he had no idea what was going on. that second voice is the man who talked his way into peter's life. despite the age difference, his student, ben field, promised to marry him while secretly lacing peter's food with drugs and neat alcohol, killing him slowly for his money. here is a cold, calculating, devious man, who took pleasure from inflicting both physical

and mental torment on his victim. yeah, evil. peter even dedicated a book to field. in return, field tried to convince people he had dementia, and then peter was found dead. alcohol was suspected. suspiciously, he had signed his home over to ben field. but field wasn't done. three doors down from the house where peter lived, he found another elderly victim. and the deception started again. a sexual relationship with ann moore—martin, 57 year age gap. he targeted her religious beliefs, bizarre messages started appearing on her mirrors. ben field had planned it all in his notebook, and, then, this. hello, i'm thinking of withdrawing all my accounts, money held in my accounts. £27,000. but ann also told her niece

what was going on and the police got involved. they found out about field's abusive relationships. they exhumed and re—examined peter's body. the jury today found ben field had suffocated him. he had already admitted defrauding peter and field. field's friend, martin smith, was cleared of charges that he'd helped. in a statement read by the police, peter's family said there were lessons to be learned. if people hear the story, we hope they are very, very careful if somebody unexpected walks into the life of a loved one when that loved one is vulnerable and lonely. there must be other people out there like ben field and we wouldn't want anyone to have to go through the things that we have. in the quiet village of maids moreton, this was a chilling case. two devout but vulnerable people mentally and physically exploited. sadly, ann moore—martin also died of natural causes. ben field, his picture hanging over her dressing table, had blighted her final years.

tom symonds, bbc news, oxford crown court. president donald trump has said us congressional leaders are having serious discussions about tightening up background checks on gun ownership. but the president has not addressed calls to control wider access to weapons, following two mass shootings this month. i spoke to senators, in some cases, friends of mine, pretty hardline senators, hardline, and when i say that, i say it in a positive way, hardline on the second amendment, and they understand, we don't want insane people, mentally ill people, bad people, dangerous people, we don't want guns in the hands of the wrong people. i think that the republicans are going to be great and lead the charge, along with the democrats. let's speak now to our washington

correspondent, chris buckler. chris is there for us on the screen. meaning, intelligent background checks, what do they look like, chris? certainly, it means president trump is —— considering new legislation when it comes to downs, and it is about flagging up people who are potentially dangerous, who do have criminal records. there are gaps in the legislation and it means that frankly some people can get access to guns without having background checks carried out on them. and that is something that he wa nts to them. and that is something that he wants to address and wants to deal with, he says, at this stage. although i should issue some caution because around this time last year, you will remember in the aftermath of this shooting and parkland in florida, the high school there, there was also talk about changing

dumb laws, about bringing tougher legislation, about doing background checks, and of course after all the talk that never happened. democrats are concerned that while the president is saying this and some republics are saying they should be changes, the same time, they are not saying that the senate, the conway should be recalled, and for example, the take a look at the republican majority leader, mitch mcconnell, he says we can leave this for the summer says we can leave this for the summer discussions. that means they will be a lot of talk but not a lot of action. president trump also went on to say this isn't a question of the nra, republicans, or democrats, but surely a lot of it is the —— about the nra, they are so powerful in this, what is their position? the national rifle association, which is this very, very powerful gun rights lobby, some would say there power has diminished in recent months but at the same time they are a powerful

group and they do fund a lot of election campaigns and with an election campaigns and with an election coming up, that is something president trump will be thinking about very carefully. he has been in contact with the nra, he said he has had discussions with them, and he has been pretty upfront and saying that their views should be respected and represented any discussions. however, there is potentially this danger that president trump ends up in a confrontation with the nra, they are against background checks and they are saying they want —— and he says he was them forward. there was a moment last year when president trump was inside a room with victims and survivors of gun violence and he was saying very clearly he was going to do something. he then spoke to the nra, a matter of days later, and in reality nothing emerged. the fact that he is even saying that their views have to be represented, the fa ct views have to be represented, the fact that he is still the mother national rifle association, it gives

you an idea of how important the president thinks they are and ultimately he will consider davies as well and potentially that means any changes to legislation, any tighter restriction on grounds could ultimately end up being blocked. the headlines. a major powerfailure across many parts of the uk effects homes and the national grid says the problem is caused by two generators and was now result. growth fell by 0.2% in the three months to june but the growth fell by 0.2% in the three months tojune but the chancellor says the fundamentals of the economy are still strong. a church warden found guilty of murdering an author he tricked into changing his will is found guilty. a man has appeared in court, charged with the attempted murder of a policeman in east london. the officer, pc stuart outten,

is in a serious but stable condition in hospital, after being stabbed several times with a machete. today his family have been speaking about how proud they are of his bravery. here's richard lister. police constable stuart outten, hailed as a hero after a machete attack which could have killed him. the 28—year—old has been a policeman all his adult life. his family said today he had been "overwhelmed" by the level of public support. it was on this east london street that pc outten was set upon after stopping a van suspected of having no insurance. despite horrific injuries to his head and hand, he subdued his attacker with a taser. 56—year—old muhammad rodwan from luton appeared at thames magistrates‘ court this morning charged with the attempted murder of the young policeman and possession of an offensive weapon in public. muhammad rodwan was in court for less than five minutes. he stood to give his name,

his date of birth and to confirm that he is british. he said he had no fixed address and there was no application for bail. he remains in custody and will now face trial at the old bailey. he'll return to court next month. richard lister, bbc news, at thames magistrates‘ court. a 14—year—old girl who died after she was pulled from the sea in essex has been named by police. malika shamas from luton was rescued along with two of her teenage relatives in clacton on sea on yesterday. an 18—year—old man remains in hospital in a critical condition whilst a 15—year—old girl is in a stable condition. borisjohnson says preparing for a no—deal brexit will be his top priority, and that it will also be the top priority for the civil service. in a letter to all civil servants, the prime minister called on them to make "rapid and urgent preparations" for leaving the eu with no agreement.

it comes as the labour leader jeremy corbyn has called on the uk's most senior civil servant to intervene if mrjohnson pursues a no—deal brexit in the middle of a general election campaign, when mps will be powerless to intervene. here's our political correspondent, jonathan blake. he couldn't be clearer... we need to get brexit done by october the 31st. the prime minister has promised brexit will happen by the current deadline, with or without a deal. no ifs, no buts. today he told civil servants preparing for no deal will be their top priority, and that while he wanted an agreement with the eu, he recognised that might not happen. a no—deal brexit is what the labour leader and others don't want. they're worried parliament could be left powerless if the prime minister holds a general election after the uk has left the eu. sojeremy corbyn has written

to the head of the civil service, sir mark sedwill, seeking urgent clarification of whether that would break government rules. he says forcing through a no—deal brexit during an election campaign would be an unprecedented, unconstitutional and anti—democratic abuse of power by the prime minister. and asks for confirmation that in that scenario, the government should seek a time—limited extension to the brexit process. if we can't have a prime minister who will do the decent thing, who will behave honourably, we have to go around him and say to the head of the civil service, you've also got duties here that you must adhere to. so how could we end up there? when mps get back here from their summer break next month, it's expected the government will face a vote of no—confidence. if it loses and a new government can't be formed within14 days, that would trigger a general election. the prime minister decides the timing of that, and if, as downing street appears prepared to allow, it's held after october

the 31st, the uk would have already left the eu. so what if brexit happened during a general election campaign? during the pre—election period you cannot have radical changes of policy. the difficulty forjeremy corbyn‘s position is the default position is that we leave the european union on october the 31st. the man whosejob it is to prepare for a no—deal brexit wouldn't be drawn on the timing of any election but said again the uk would leave on october the 31st. that is the date that has been agreed between the eu 27 and the uk. i don't want a general election because i believe it's important we get on with delivering brexit. many in parliament are determined to stop a no—deal brexit. the government is adamant there will be no further delay. jonathan blake, bbc news, westminster. more now on the economy, as for the first time

more now on the economy, as for the first time in six and half years, the uk economy has shrunk. it fell in the three months from april to june this year, by 0.2%. well, joining us now to discuss this is chris williamson, chief business economist at ihs markit, which produces surveys and other economic indicators worldwide. hejoins us now from exeter. thank you for sticking to us here at bbc news. many people will be confused, the fundamentals are strong but the economy has contracted —— what is going on?” think in reality, the fundamentals are strong. the uk does have world leading businesses, whether they are law firms or engineering firms, or banks, world—class industries. but the problem at the moment is they

are constrained, paralysed, almost, by uncertainty, uncertainty and the political and environment with brexit and hence the economic climate that surrounds that. in that environment, companies are just not willing to invest and spend money at the moment. surely, the rest of the world, because they are indicators that the global economy isn't doing that the global economy isn't doing that well either, you know, when you look at some of the larger economies, you are saying in the uk it is brexit, what about the rest of the world, then? no, brexit is adding to this world problem. but, importantly, if we look at the rest of the world, the rest of the world is still growing, the us grew at 0.5%, which shrank by 0.3%. the euro zone grew at a rate of 0.2%. the pa rt zone grew at a rate of 0.2%. the part of the global economy that is contracting is manufacturing and this is the symptom earth trade wars, the us china trade wars, for

example, hitting us exports. so, uk manufacturers are struggling alongside those international manufacturing problems but the difference in the uk is that our service sector, which ranges from banks to hairdressers to accountants, banks to hairdressers to accou nta nts, growth banks to hairdressers to accountants, growth there has virtually ground to a halt now. it is still going strongly in germany, the us, spain, france, in all these countries they are still getting support from the service part of the economy to offset some of the manufacturing weakness, the uk is not seeing that. also seeing our construction sector turned down sharply because people are unwilling to spend money on building stuff, whether it is shops or factories or even houses at the moment because of this uncertainty. so, brexit is not the only problem but it is exacerbating the international trade

slowdown. chris, obviously, some of the factors that have been used to explain this contraction have been the stockpiling, as businesses prepared for brexit earlier in the year, surely the same thing will happen as we push towards the 31st of october and we will have a second contraction and hence a recession? how do you forecast this? because thatis how do you forecast this? because that is part of your company's remit. indeed, yes. in the first quarter ahead of the brexit deadline at the end of march, everyone was stockpiling, building up safety stocks instead, in case of any supply disruptions from a no—deal brexit. so, when the deadline came and went, the extension to october the 31st, this inventory building has gone into reverse, so that was a big factor contributing to some of the manufacturing weakness in the second quarter. there are expectations that we will once again

see companies build stocks higher in the third quarter which may mean that we avoid a recession. a recession is two consecutive quarters of decline, we have had one in the second quarter, we may not get another one in the third quarter because of the stock building, but that will be a false signal, really, and don't forget that all of this money being spent on warehouses to put stock in, it is just wasting money, it is money that should be invested by companies into more productive means. it is money that is being spent on warehouse floor space. one of the other problem is we've got, of course, is that earlier in the year when companies we re earlier in the year when companies were stockpiling, there was plenty of warehouse space at one of the key problems we are hearing now is that around october, that is one of the peak times when warehouses are getting filled with everything that we like to buy for christmas, so there is a simple lack of space, physical space, to store stuff like additional manufacturing imports.

this is one of the concerns, that we may be ill—prepa red, this is one of the concerns, that we may be ill—prepared, in which case we may not super stock built and we may see gdp decline so a technical recession. yes, it has been described as a perfect storm, as we headed towards christmas. thank you very much for speaking to us. goodness, time to catch up with a razor. some parts of rain had been a lot of rain. the winds had been strengthening as well and as we go through tomorrow, we can expect further heavy downpours and also some very strong further heavy downpours and also some very strong winds, particularly in central and southern areas, the wind is strong and ghastly, but again through england and wales. using a touch in scotland. lots of showers being flung in from the south—west. as we go through tomorrow, we see quite a few showers and thunderstorms across the southern half of the country, they will whizz through quite quickly,

given the strength of the wind. northern ireland, scotland, the winds will be lighter and the showers will be slower and could give localised flooding. gusts up to 50 mph in a land, stronger around the coast, that could cause travel problems and issues for outdoor events. it will turn cool mineral. —— on sunday, it will turn cool in the north.

this is bbc news with me, lukwesa burak. the headlines: a major powerfailure across many parts of the uk — affecting trains, airports and homes — has now been resolved. growth fell by 0.2% in the three months tojune, but the chancellor says the fundamentals of the economy remain strong. a churchwarden found guilty of murdering an author he had tricked into changing his will. the family of a policeman who survived a "frenzied" machete attack say they're proud of his bravery. the electoral commission says britain needs laws "fit for the digital age", to take into account the rise of companies like facebook and google. the independent body, which regulates party and election finance, is calling for greater transparency

and more powers to investigate campaign spending. here's our media editor, amol rajan. are you going to vote liberal on thursday? certainly, yes. very good, very good. and my boyfriend. not so long ago, the most effective political campaigning took place face—to—face and door—to—door. such campaigning still has its place, of course, but today, the persuasion machines of social media offer a more efficient route to voters. in just the past month, conservative spending on such ads has boomed, fuelling rumours of a snap election. what's the attraction of social media platforms like facebook to people who have a political message they want to get across? it's really incredibly low cost and it's really easy to use. anyone sitting on their own can open a laptop, they can create a page, they can start advertising to very small, very targeted communities that they want to reach out and engage. so, the barriers in terms of getting involved are just so much lower now. the leave campaign in the brexit referendum was masterminded by dominic cummings — played here by benedict cumberbatch

in a channel 4 film. there is a new politics in town, one that you can't control. he's now a senior adviser in number ten. in 2017, he articulated his digital strategy. we sucked in data on the precise same basis that facebook marketing allows. and, then, we had, therefore, large sub—samples of the overall polling samples, which you could actually rely on, and then you could take the data and plug it straight back in to facebook. but this is about much more than one man or one plebiscite. social media companies, like facebook and its subsidiaries, are radical extensions of the 20th—century advertising industry. they're giant persuasion machines that provide campaigners, whether commercial or political, with thousands of data points that enable very cheap micro—targeting. but the perennial question is, who regulates this stuff? i don't understand why

the government is taking so long. i think we should be looking at emergency legislation to bring our electoral law up—to—date to at least establish the basic principles that the same requirements that exist on a poster or on a leaflet should exist in an online ad on facebook as well. there is a regulatory void here. the information commissioner said it regulates use of personal data but has no role in regulating the content or the money. the advertising standards authority said, "any ad intended to influence voters would be unlikely to be covered by our rules." and the electoral commission, which regulates political finance but not content, say they want new powers in this arena. we've been calling for changes to the law, to make political campaigning online more transparent, and to make the funding of it known much quicker than it currently is. we think that absolutely needs to happen so that the voter can know where the money is coming from. technology always outpaces legislation. the trouble is, social media now threatens to undermine the very democracy it

once promised to improve. amol rajan, bbc news. let's speak to helen margetts, who's professor of society and the internet at oxford university. thank you for speaking to us here on bbc news. first off, what in your opinion is the reason behind this mismatch between traditional regulation of political ads and this, the need for online political ads? in some ways, we have seen a lot of change very quickly. ten yea rs lot of change very quickly. ten years ago, social media platforms weren't really part of our political system and now they are completely intertwined with every political activity that we go, so i suppose it's not surprising that we need to do some institutional catch—up. but we really need to do it and fast. and there's quite a lot of things that the electoral commission in particular, quite profound changes that need to happen to the electoral

system, commission committee powers that it has the legal powers that it has, and the resources it has a. who do you think should be doing the regulating? the electoral commission, the information commissioners‘s office? they are not interested. they have all had a tendency to say it is not them. i think it should be the electoral commission, but i think the regulators should work together, and we are increasingly seeing that. because all regulators have to deal with platforms in one way or another, they are working together in terms of how to deal with that, and then needs to happen. those three regulators do need to work together. at the electoral commission really needs a sort of, it needs a change in focus. is very much focused on money, as one of your previous interviewees mentioned, social media advertising can be quite cheap but it may not,

the money spent on it may not be the issue. he needs to think about what issue. he needs to think about what is going on with the elections. we are not used to this endless campaigning, for example. we have seen campaigning, for example. we have seen the leave. eu campaigning, for example. we have seen the leave.eu campaign pumping out advertising on social media since the referendum. and that is really not scrutinise at all because the other thing that the electoral commission focuses on his political parties. and of course, on digital platforms, and a lot of activity from great organisations which are not quite little parties, arts quite an interest group, and not really scrutinise. can you give us an example? many people will be saying, what sort of regulations are we talking about? what would they look like? first of all, the issue of transparency, actually knowing who is placed in that. what is the

organisation behind it and what is the organisation behind it? some details about the organisation. that's important. we also need more transparency, so that the regulators themselves can kind of do research to understand the scale and scope of these ads, so the social media platforms need to release data that the regulators can work with to understand what is going on. i think thatis understand what is going on. i think that is quite important issue. facebook have gone some way. they've introduced a sort of political ads archive, but there's been a lot of controversy about whether it's actually usable for research purposes. it's that transparency bitterly import. people need to know they are seeing. 0k, helen margetts, thank you. police in malaysia are continuing their search for a girl

from south london who's been missing since sunday. the family of 15—year—old nora owarang say they remain hopeful after police refused to rule out what they called a "criminal element". from malaysia, here's our south east asia correspondent, howard johnson. daybreak over the berembun forest reserve. more than 250 search and rescue workers have been scouring the jungle for nearly a week to no avail. nora! nora went missing from the dusan resort last sunday, the morning after she'd arrived for a two—week holiday with her family. herfather, sebastien, raised the alarm after he discovered her bed was empty and a window to the villa open downstairs. today, loudhailers channelled a message from nora's mother, meabh. "nora, darling, i love you, i'm here." today, police were handing out these leaflets in the local town of pantai, five minutes away from where nora went missing at the weekend.

this is the sixth day of the search and rescue operation, and police are well aware that time is running out to raise awareness, to find out more details of what might have happened to nora. in the town's main mosque, a special prayer service was held to offer the community's support to the parents of nora. the police said they had continued to scan the jungle using thermal recognition drones and they also scotched rumours that nora's footprints had been found. there is no footprint of the missing person found yet. and so the search and rescue effort continues. tomorrow, it'll be exactly a week since nora was last seen. howard johnson, bbc london, pantai, in malaysia. thousands of pro—democracy activists are staging a rally at hong kong's international airport as part of three days of protests. activists are wearing black shirts and sitting down in the arrivals hall.

they have created banners criticising the hong kong authorities and the territory's police force. the protests started earlier this year over a proposed extradition bill and have now extended to democratic reforms. chief executive of hong kong carrie lam told reporters these actions were damaging the economy. they do not mind destroying hong kong's economy. they have no stake in the society which so many people have helped to build, and that is why they resort to all this violence and obstructions, causing huge damage to the economy and to the daily life of the people. so, i am indeed very worried about this situation, and that's why i appeal for calm, calmness, and rationality to help us to overcome this situation, and this is also the consensus here of 33 members from the business sector,

that they have told us during the session we just had with them. our correspondent stephen mcdonell is with protesters at the airport. as hong kong gears up for another weekend of unrest, the city's leader, carrie lam, has promised many more arrests if we see yet more of these running street battles between demonstrators and riot police. in terms of the demands of these protesters, one is to have an independent inquiry into the police. carrie lam said today there will not be an independent inquiry, because the police are carrying out their own investigation. but, really, what this has become now is a push for democracy. what these people want, their key demand, is to be able to change who their leader is. they are today no closer to achieving that. carrie lam's showing no sign that she's moving in that direction, nor is beijing. however, as you can see,

these activists are also showing no inclination that they're prepared to give up yet. why are you here protesting today? what do you want? basically, we are in the middle of the movement. we're trying to get the government to withdraw their extradition bill. and also, we want democracy because we realise that this is an authoritarian government, and we need our voices to be heard by the government. and that's why we are here, because we need all the help we can get from internationally, and we want to spread our message to the world — to the us or to europe, any country that might help us internationally — that they can put pressure to the chinese government and tell them that they need to give us what belongs to us. we're trying to raise awareness, to let the travellers here know what's happening in hong kong, because if they're visiting hong kong, we need to let them know

what the city is experiencing. india has told pakistan to keep out of its internal affairs, as tension continues to rise over the disputed region of kashmir. today, some mosques were allowed to open in the indian administered parts of the territory after a communications blackout and lockdown that's been in place since sunday. kashmir is claimed by both pakistan and india, with the two nuclear—armed neighbours controlling different areas of the state. but last week, delhi revoked the limited autonomy of the territory it administers, taking away its special status. for some observers, the move fits the populist agenda of india's hindu nationalist prime minister, nahendra modi, as kashmir is india's only majority—muslim state. our correspondent yogita limaye is one of the few international journalists in kashmir.

she's sent us this report from the city of srinagar. tensions in kashmir are beginning to rise. young protesters have been coming out in many areas, pelting stones at security forces and jeering at them. soldiers fire lead pellets and tear gas to disperse the mob. voices that have been suppressed for days have begun to be heard. this was a spontaneous march by men who had just offered friday prayers. they walked through small alleys because they cannot go out on the main roads. translation: in every part of india, people are celebrating but they don't know that our hearts are bleeding. we are crying. we are under siege.

translation: we have been completely betrayed. they put a gun to our heads and told us that a few people in the government have decided our fate. earlier, inside the mosque, too, there was sloganeering. and the cleric also made a speech about the issue. it is the first fridays in the government removed this region's special privileges. while most of the bigger mosques were closed, in some places people were allowed to go out and pray. however, phone and internet lines remain cut off and separatist leaders have been moved out of kashmir. top politicians from the region remain under house arrest. the indian government taking no chances, luring the situation here could spiral into widespread unrest. yogita limaye, bbc news, srinagar.

well, let's get some more on what is happning in kashmir. victoria schofield is the author of kashmir in the crossfire, and joins us now via webcam. thank you for speaking to us. first off, is what i minister modi duncombe is illegal and why is he doing it now? it is an interesting point, and i think they're going to be challenges in the supreme court of india. it is a tricky situation becausejohnna of india. it is a tricky situation because johnna and ——jammu and kashmir... the body thatis ——jammu and kashmir... the body that is in control of this is not sitting. because of this, this article 370 and article 35 will be revoked. i don't think we have heard the end of it. there will be

challenges and there will be moves to undermine what the prime minister has done. that said, he has a huge mandate in india, it is huge mandate in parliament, and he has set what he has done and is going to be very difficult for those trying to challenge him in india. what this cashmere —— what does kashmir have that india wants? this is all about property rights. is this a land grab? in certain extents, it looks like a land grab but actually, dickel 35 a, part of a sub—clause effectively of article 370, this all comes from the partition in 19117. this comes back to the hereditary state subject order, naturally explains why the

british never owned land, because the maharaja at that time really begged for this order to go through so begged for this order to go through so you didn't have british, at that time, coming up and buying up all the beautiful land in the valley of kashmir. it's a very small place when you put it in context of the largest state, roughly 90 miles long, 25 miles wide. it's not a very big area. the citizens have guarded the hereditary state subject order because they don't want them to find, rich indians from other parts, coming and buying holiday homes and living in kashmir. by revoking this article, it will have the potential to change the demographics. just how much, because we've already seen widespread protest in pakistan, does

the subject of kashmir mean to indians was north of delhi —— mean to indians? north of delhi... there were other problems in india, and they don't necessarily focus on what is going on in kashmir, and there are other areas, all over, deprives. ithink this movie is resonating because, in parts of india, there has been this feeling, this long—standing feeling that kashmir hasn't managed to have this special status and it should be integrated. and this is why you get reports ofjubilation integrated. and this is why you get reports of jubilation and integrated. and this is why you get reports ofjubilation and approval throughout the rest of india, that finally is being brought like any other area into india. any talk about things resonating. pakistani voices say this goes beyond the two

countries. geopolitically, they say it matters to the world. why does it matter? i think it remains to be seen matter? i think it remains to be seen how much it matters to the world. it's true that this has come ata time world. it's true that this has come at a time when the world is very busy on other aspects, but i think what pakistan is referring to is that according to the un, the state, and that is notjust the valley, thatis and that is notjust the valley, that is on the indian side and a very narrow pa rt that is on the indian side and a very narrow part of land, in pakistan, that is all a disputed state. it is on the un as such. that is why pakistan was a it matters to the world, because if there is a constitutional change in an area which is disputed territory, then it should effectively matter to the world but as we know, pakistan has

had a long—standing interest in what goes on in kashmir. and there is also a human and cherry and aspect which is important to underline, that there have been, has been a very heavy military presence for the last 30 years. consequently, there has been human rights abuses. this is an issue that concerns notjust the local area and the local government, but it concerns every humanity, because we are effectively concerned with what happens with other people's human rights. what about the reaction from the international community? pakistan has put calls out there for voices to be race. president trump in the past has offered to mediate, a pakistani minister has recently travelled to china. should they be doing more? again, it's a difficult situation because, as you heard, india maintains the state is an integral part of india and that of

its internal affairs. this is where there's always been a sticking point. most especially in terms of resolution of the issue. india maintains it's a bilateral issue with pakistan and it does not want any mediation or third—party interference in any way whatsoever, it is quite difficult for a third party to interfere if they have not been invited in. we in britain, as we know, were quite happy to have the united states come in in terms come in relation to northern ireland. you require an invitation before you mediate. 0k. victoria schofield, thank you very much indeed. thank you. the number of people dying from an asthma attack is at its highest for more than a decade in england and wales. analysis of official data suggests 1,400 people died from an attack last year — an increase of a third since 2008. the charity asthma uk says too many lives are being cut short

by a lack of basic care, such as inhaler checks. here's our health correspondent, dominic hughes. nearly five million people in england and wales suffer from asthma, which can cause coughing, wheezing, a tight chest and breathlessness. treated properly, it should be easy to manage, but the number of asthma—related deaths is now at a ten year high. it may be a result of people not getting really good very basic care, which we know is a problem. i think there is an issue of complacency. people with asthma don't themselves take it terribly seriously so i think that's an issue, and then maybe things like weather and different weather patterns and pollution that could be also causing and led to those deaths. so i think it's really difficult to pin it down to one thing. more than 1,400 people died from an asthma attack last year. that's equal to two and a half people out of every 100,000 dying from asthma. the number of deaths is up by 8% when compared with the previous year.

overall, more than 12,700 people have died from asthma in england and wales over the last decade. there is particular concern over the impact of air pollution on the health of children. nhs england says a third of childhood asthma cases are linked to poor air quality. ella kissi—debrah died in 2013 after suffering a series of asthma attacks. her family believe air pollution contributed to her death. a lot of people still do not know about the impact of air pollution. i think all the urban cities across the uk have issues with asthma. manchester, birmingham, all over. so there needs to be a whole programme of education in school and out of school about the impact of air pollution on young people's health. asthma uk acknowledges there are signs that care is getting better. nhs england says it's worked with asthma uk to improve standards, but it warns the link between air pollution and asthma shows the challenge is not one the nhs can meet on its own.

dominic hughes, bbc news. let's catch up with the weather. good evening. the weather is looking decidedly turbulent in the next 2a hours or so. turbulent in the next 2a hours or so. heavy downpours and very strong winds. your bbc local radio station will keep you up—to—date with any develop its where you are. this beautiful swirl of cloud, this is an unusually deep area of low pressure for this time of year. it is bringing not only the very strong winds but also a real rash of heavy, sundry downpours. these continuing to push northeastward as we go on through tonight. some clear spells in between the winds, picking up all the while, but for scotland and northern ireland, the winds will be using compared with what we have had during today. quite a muggy, humid

field. here is our area of low pressure as we go into tomorrow. to the south of that low—pressure system, the white lines, the isobars squashing together. that always means that we can expect some very windy weather. the winds strung us across central and southern parts of england, wales as well. the showers that pop up here should with through pre—quickly. further north, the winds will be lighter across many parts of scotland and that means the showers and thunderstorms that you crop up could be quite and could give a lot of rain in some locations. some locations. some of those also affecting northern ireland. further south, you can see the black wind arrows, they show the wind gusts. some spots and then seeing gusts in excess of 50 mph, 60 mph ora seeing gusts in excess of 50 mph, 60 mph or a touch more for some coast and hills. that could cause some disruption to quite unusual for this time of year. temperatures on saturday afternoon between 19 and 23

degrees. as we go to saturn ed comeau keep those brisk winds across the south. we keep areas of wet weather in places as well. those winds will only slowly ease as we head through sunday. stays quite blustery for a time, and then even though the winds to ease, this winter and northwesterly. areas of what weather, some showers pushing southwards and eastwards, but your afternoon temperatures in aberdeen and belfast just 1a afternoon temperatures in aberdeen and belfastjust14 or 15 degrees. a little warmer further south.

this is bbc news. the headlines at eight. a major power failure across many parts of the uk affecting trains, airports and homes national grid say the problem was caused by two generators and has now been been resolved. growth fell by 0.2% in the three months tojune but the chancellor says the "fundamentals of the economy, remain strong." a churchwarden is found guilty of murdering an author he'd tricked into changing his will. now police warn he'd drawn up a list of future targets. here is a cold calculating devious man who took pleasure from inflicting both physical and mental torture on his victim.