this is bbc news. the headlines at six: the labour leader sir keir starmer prepares to reshuffle his team after the party's disappointing performance in the elections — he's already removed his deputy angela rayner, as campaigns chief. that's what you do in leadership — you take responsibility, you don't scapegoat goat and blame others, you take it on the chin. the? scapegoat goat and blame others, you take it on the chin.— take it on the chin. they are hard calls, but — take it on the chin. they are hard calls, but it _ take it on the chin. they are hard calls, but it is — take it on the chin. they are hard calls, but it is for _ take it on the chin. they are hard calls, but it is for him _ take it on the chin. they are hard calls, but it is for him to - take it on the chin. they are hard calls, but it is for him to choose l calls, but it is for him to choose the team — calls, but it is for him to choose the team he wants and gets people in the team he wants and gets people in the positions he wants us in. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, warns it would be "completely outrageous" for the westminster government to block a second independence referendum. the government is expected to end the advice against hugging each other, as part of the relaxation of lockdown rules in england. and the government is calling on the rail industry to fix disruption on some of britain's busiest rail lines, after small cracks were found

in some high speed trains. and coming up this hour — united beat aston villa to keep premier league title celebrations in the blue half of manchester on hold — more on that in sportsday at half past six. good evening. the labour leader sir keir starmer is in the process of making changes to his top leadership team in the wake of results from the english local elections — sacking angela rayner from her campaigning roles for the party. she remains its deputy leader. sir keir is expected to announce a reshuffle after a series of disappointing results from english councils — and the loss of the hartlepool constituency to the conservatives. but he's been accused of trying to shift the blame for the results.

our political editor laura kuenssberg has the latest. tense and tight—lipped. is removing angela rayner as party chair you taking responsibility? no rest this sunday. is this the first of many changes, mr starmer? after some awful election results, keir starmer has edged out his deputy angela rayner as party chair, sparking a messy dispute — was she sacked or offered a differentjob? — with no clarity from the leader's team. some labour mps around the country are baffled and angry. we need to know this is an individual that has a game plan for taking us forward. and at the moment, that isn't clear. so i think he needs to up his game. shadow ministers hanging by the phone to find out about their job. leaders do make those decisions, they're hard calls, but it's for keir to choose the team he wants and get people in positions he wants us to be in. others demanding much faster change. we cannot saunter our way back into power, we have to show-

the country that we get the message we were told and act _ absolutely decisively. labour took a hammering in many areas they used to treat as their own, losing durham council for the first time in 100 years. but there were good results in wales, some celebration, with progress in west sussex, even areas like oxfordshire. but there seems to be bitterness, not this affection, at the party's top level. instead of making tories miserable, labour today has been clouded by this spat, the opening move of a reshuffle that has gone wrong. what public relations genius thought this was a good move, on the very day, actually, we were having successes? instead of strengthening their grip and power, up in the leader's office, keir starmer�*s team has been holed up for hours, stuck over what to do, rather than making calls to announce a new and, they hope, improved shadow team. these elections were the first for labour with keir starmer

in charge and the first since the party received a drubbing in 2019. there were some pockets of progress, but overall the picture was still tough, so this shuffling and shifting of his top team was meant to be part of an effort to show he can change and he's decisive and determined that the party can punch their way out of this slump. but instead, it's been a day, for labour, of delay and dispute. when what voters see is political parties scrapping with each other, the temptation can be just to turn away and block out the noise. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. nicola sturgeon has told borisjohnson its a matter of when, not if the scottish people get a chance to choose if they want independence. she made the comments in a phone call to the prime minister this afternoon. the cabinet office minister michael gove says the first minister nicola sturgeon should focus on economic recovery from the pandemic. she says she will do that — but there is a clear mandate for another vote with a majority

in the scottish parliament for pro—independence parties. here s our scotland editor sarah smith. nicola sturgeon congratulating some of her brand—new msps who will bolster the pro—independence majority in the next scottish parliament. confident she has a strong mandate for an independence referendum, she still might face the hurdle of a legal challenge from a uk government. will you see them in court if you have to? the snp won the election on a commitment for a referendum when we are through the crisis and even that selection overwhelmingly and in any normal democracy, that would be expected. for now she is clear, her priority is dealing with the pandemic and she is to meet the prime ministerfor a covid summit. nicola sturgeon doesn't intend to take any steps towards a referendum in the near future. although she does plan to pass legislation through the

scottish parliament to authorise another vote on independence. if the uk want to stop that, they may have to challenge in court, whether the scottish parliament has the legal authority to authorise that referendum. the uk minister, charged with keeping the kingdom united, is in scotland are swerving questions on a legal challenge to any referendum. the priority at the moment is not court cases, it is not independence legislation, it is recovery from the pandemic. to be fair to the first minister, during the course of this election campaign she said it was the single most important thing that we should all be concentrating on. we should work together as a team uk in order to deal with the pandemic. is scotland allowed to leave the uk? it is. through a legal referendum which would allow people to make that choice. votes cast on thursday appeared to show voters in scotland are split roughly 50—50

on the question of independence. anyone eagerfor another referendum will have to be patient. this result makes it more likely, but not imminent. i would like it to happen soon, but i am prepared to wait a few more years. everything has changed since 2014, with is being taken out of the eu so i would like to see another independence referendum. maybe it is a case of hanging on and getting ourselves - sorted and when we are in a good place, then yes. i but right now we are in a pandemic, no. l on that, there is widespread agreement, no referendum during a covid crisis. but in the months and years to come, a political and possibly legal battle over the future of the united kingdom is looming. sarah smith, bbc news. i asked torcuil crichton, westminster editor of the daily record, when an independence referendum might happen.

well, it's a long road to a referendum, i think, well, it's a long road to a referendum, ithink, because, as michael gove said earlier this morning, the uk governmentjust don't want to go there. whenever nicola sturgeon says referendum, they will say recovery. when the snp say constitution, they will say cash. the uk government is trying to draw the scottish government now onto the ground of covid recovery and a united kingdom summit meeting that borisjohnson is calling. at the same time, nicola sturgeon wants to draw the uk government into a big fight in the supreme court where the uk government would have to strike down a referendum bill from the scottish government. it would not be a good look on borisjohnson, it would look like a denial of democracy. the uk government has

started boxing clever. it hopes the scottish government will do its job for it. the scottish though scotland cap mike act of 1998 doesn't allow the scottish government to stage a referendum on its own. it is outside the con —— competence of the scottish government to do that, and the uk government hopes the scottish government's law lord would tell nicola sturgeon that you can't do this, so they would hope they can put a legal obstacle in the part of a referendum even before it gets to the supreme court. meanwhile, they are going to love bomb and hug scotland, and i think with douglas ross, their new scottish leader in the parliament, they are going to be a bit more muscular and bullish about defending the union. the favourite to become police and crime commissioner in wiltshire has been told he's unable to take up thejob, even if he wins monday's election count. the conservative candidate jonathon seed has an historical

criminal conviction which makes him ineligible for thejob. dan 0'brien is bbc radio wiltshire's political reporter. dan, tell us what has happened here at what is the background? in wiltshire, it's an incredibly conservative county, so going into this election, the conservative is obviously the favourite to win. however, we have learnt this afternoon that the conservative candidate, jonathan seed, has been told by conservative party had quarters that he has been disbarred —— headquarters that he has been disbarred from taking up this job, relating to a driving offence that dates back 30 years, an offence he says he did declare the party when he put forward his candidacy for the job. he told us in a statement that the party considered this to be ok and not something that would bar him

from taking up the post. however, that situation has now changed and he tells me he has withdrawn his candidacy. those votes are going to be countered tomorrow here in wiltshire. when we expect to find the result. quite what happens then is a little unprecedented. i can imaaine is a little unprecedented. i can imagine it _ is a little unprecedented. i can imagine it is. _ is a little unprecedented. i can imagine it is. it's _ is a little unprecedented. i can imagine it is. it's a _ is a little unprecedented. i can imagine it is. it's a long - is a little unprecedented. i can imagine it is. it's a long time | is a little unprecedented. i can i imagine it is. it's a long time ago for that offence to have been committed, but it does make him ineligible, as you say. what is the likelihood, then? will it have to be rerun? . ., . , ., likelihood, then? will it have to be rerun? . ., . , , ., likelihood, then? will it have to be rerun? .. . i, rerun? the chances are, yes, to sum it u- rerun? the chances are, yes, to sum it up briefly- — rerun? the chances are, yes, to sum it up briefly- the _ rerun? the chances are, yes, to sum it up briefly. the problem _ rerun? the chances are, yes, to sum it up briefly. the problem is, - rerun? the chances are, yes, to sum it up briefly. the problem is, you - it up briefly. the problem is, you see, we've never had a situation where a candidate has been found to be ineligible after votes have been cast. it has happened a couple of times before with police commissioners, where you are not allowed a previous criminal conviction of that sort, but that has come to light during the campaign, so candidates have had to drop out. as far as we are aware, it has never happened after votes have

been cast, so under electoral law, the votes still have to be counted tomorrow, and assuming he wins, which, to remind you, this is wiltshire, so a conservative is most likely to win, and assuming he doesn't take up the post, can't take up doesn't take up the post, can't take up the post, it does not automatically move to the person who comes second. that is not how elections work. it would need to trigger a whole new election, but the process and timeframe for doing that are incredibly unclear. in the meantime, i understand that the existing police commissioner, he was due to retire, his post, as far as we are aware, cannot be extended beyond the next three days, when he is due to leave office. it has already been extended by a year, so wiltshire police face the prospect of a period without a police commissioner, but the circumstances of what happens next, frankly, we don't know yet. of what happens next, frankly, we don't know yet-— of what happens next, frankly, we don't know yet. dan, thank you very

much. hugging is likely to be officially allowed in england again when the government makes an announcement tomorrow on the next stage of lockdown easing, from may the 17th. the changes on household mixing will be most significant since the rules were introduced last year. but we're being urged to use common sense and keep close contact limited. here's our science editor david shukman. remember this, the comfort of a hug? well, for more than a year, we've been warned against it because of the risk of transmitting the virus. but now, with fewer infections and many more people vaccinated, it seems to be the moment for a cautious return. we've seen an absolutely extraordinary success of both the vaccine programme and also the suppression of cases as a result of this very prolonged lockdown which we've had, and so i think it is time — based on the very careful modeling that's been done — to start relaxing some of those restrictions. so will people rush to hug again

or might they hold back? in newcastle this afternoon, we found a range of views. it's brilliant. yeah, really looking forward to that. couldn't help but wanting to hug my friends here at the table. i've never been a big hugger myself. people know that about me, so i think it won't change much. i will be cautious, but i really am looking forward to hugging - the parents and the in—laws and stuff that we haven't i done for a long time. they need it as well, so, yeah, it'll be really nice. _ the prime minister is reported as saying that we need to use our common sense when it comes to hugging, so what exactly does that mean? well, an infected person can release the virus through their breath, so here's the scientific advice. limit the number of people you hug — just those who mean most to you, not everyone you meet — keep it short — that'll reduce the chances of the virus being passed on — and try to avoid being directly face—to—face. in any event, scientists say a lot depends on exactly who it is you're hugging. if you're a grandparent hugging a grandchild, and the grandparents are fully vaccinated, that's probably quite a low—risk

activity most of the time. but it would worry me if we were advocating we can hug all of our friends every time we meet again, because i think that's going to perpetuate an awful lot of additional close contact that could still spread the virus. the pandemic has meant new ways of behaving — elbow bumps, for example. but while life in the uk is now set to become a bit more normal, it's far too early for that in much of the rest of the world. david shukman, bbc news. and the latest government figures show there were 1,770 new covid infections in the past 2a hours and 2 more deaths have been recorded. more than 35 million people have now had theirfirstjab. that's over two thirds of the uk's adult population. and more than 17.5 million people have had both jabs, meaning over a third of all adults are now fully vaccinated. the headlines on bbc news:

the labour leader sir keir starmer prepares to reshuffle his team after the party's disappointing performance in the elections — he's already removed his deputy angela rayner, as campaigns chief. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, warns it would be "completely outrageous" for the westminster government to block a second independence referendum the government is expected to end the advice against hugging each other, as part of the relaxation of lockdown rules in england. the government has called on rail operators to "urgently set out a comprehensive plan" to resolve the ongoing disruption to services due to cracks found in some trains. rail disruption is continuing for a second day after services were cancelled across the uk due to cracks in some trains. 183 hitachi trains were taken out of service yesterday as a "precautionary measure" after the fault was found. great western railway and london north eastern railway say distruption is due to continue into the coming week. 0ur correspondent katy austin is outside king's cross station in london.

well, there are still some cancellations on lner services this afternoon, and disruption is likely to spill over into tomorrow, but grayson clap —— but great western railway is worst affected with over 90 of these trains, and it could only run about a tenth of long distance services today. it is asking passengers not to travel tomorrow either, and we don't know how many days it will take before disruption comes to an end. we still don't know how many of these trains are going to need repairs. the government has said this afternoon it has asked hitachi to set out a longer term strategy for repairs. police investigating the death of community support officer julia james have been granted more time to question a man in his 20s. 53—year—old ms james was found dead on 27 april in woodland near dover. she'd suffered serious head injuries. police arrested a man from the canterbury area on friday.

our correspondent simonjones is in aylesham and he gave us this update on the investigation: this is day 13 of the murder investigation. the man arrested was detained on friday evening at around 9:30pm and today officers have been granted more time to question him, an additional 36 hours. and that means they can continue to question him until tomorrow evening. now, at that point, they will have to decide whether to release him, charge him, or they could apply for another 2a hours to question him. today there has been a large amount of activity at this property close to the murder scene. we have seen forensic officers inside the house, coming and going, taking out objects from the property, carrying out a search of a skip, looking at the garden, they have been taking up paving slabs. we do not know whose house it is but the police have confirmed the searches are connected to the murder investigation. julia james was killed on tuesday of last week. she had been working

from home that day. she took her dog for a walk when she was attacked. officers are continuing to appeal for information and want to hear from anybody who might have seen anything suspicious that day between 1pm and ll:30pm. police say particularly local people may have noticed someone strange or acting in an unusual manner, perhaps to the extent that they might have crossed the road to avoid that person or perhaps decide to take a different path. police want to hear from anyone who felt that way. there are hundreds of officers in this investigation. kent police are getting support from otherforces, too, and the national crime agency. and the family are saying theyjust hope there is progress in this case soon. the body of a newborn baby has been found in a canal in north west london. police say the baby was found in the grand union canal in the harlesden area earlier this afternoon. officers say an investigation is under way and are urging

the baby's mother to seek medical assistance by dialling 999. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has defended the actions of police after a second night of violence in and around jerusalem's old city. tensions have been high with palestinians protesting against planned evictions from homes in eastjerusalem. last night's violence came after thousands had prayed at the al—aqsa mosque compound on the most holy night of ramadan. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell reports. 0n the most sacred night of ramadan, this is how prayers ended — with israeli police using stun grenades, palestinians throwing stones injerusalem's old city. today, israel's prime minister blamed extremists. translation: we will enforce law and orderl decisively and responsibly. we will continue to ensure freedom of worship to all religions,

but we will not allow violent unrest. it followed some of the worst violence in years on friday, with clashes right by the al—aqsa mosque bringing international condemnation. tensions have been running high for weeks, with nightly clashes in the eastjerusalem neighborhood of shaikh jarrah. palestinian families here are locked in a long—running legal battle to stop jewish settlers taking over their homes. it's become a rallying point for palestinians, with the militant group hamas warning israel it's ready to act. despite delays in that case, this week looks set to remain volatile. it's nowjerusalem day, when israel celebrates gaining control over the city. they have a flag march which comes through the damascus gate, waving israeli flags, far—right nationalist israelis. that's always seen as a provocation, and there's fears that could lead to yet more violence.

and what happens here matters. jerusalem is always at the heart of the israel—palestinian conflict. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. the first funerals for the victims of a bomb attack at a school in the afghan capital kabul have been held. more than 60 people — mainly young girls — died in the explosions that went off as they were walking out of the school gates. the victims are mainly from the shia hazara community who have been targeted by miliant groups in recent years. earlier, i spoke to our south asia correspondent secunder kermani, who described how badly affected the region has been over recent times. so many places in afghanistan have endured so much pain, but this particular neighbourhood in the west of kabul has suffered repeated attacks by the islamic state group because it is from members of a shia minority.

is have attacked mosques, cultural centres, sports hall, tuition centres in the past. as you say, funerals have been held today so far at a hilltop cemetery overlooking kabul, and the majority of the victims were teenage girls, students at the school, from poorer backgrounds who whose families would have worked hard to give their daughters a better chance at life, and instead they were killed when a car bomb exploded outside the gates yesterday afternoon, followed by two more blasts. this particular violence is against a context of increasing attacks and unrest ahead of this proposed us troop withdrawal. we've seen a spike in violence over the past week. last weekend was when the final tranche of american and nato forces in afghanistan,

around 10,000 troops, they formally began withdrawing from the country, and that process will be completed by september. the start of that withdrawal has coincided with an increase in attacks largely by the taliban against afghan government forces. there were civilians inevitably caught in the middle of that. even if this attack has been carried out by islamic state, which is separate from the taliban, many people are expressing a lot of anger towards the taliban also might because they are contributing through their attacks also out to the general instability in the country. there is a lot of anger and frustration directed at the afghan government because of its ability seemingly to protect ordinary people. russian president vladimir putin has overseen moscow's traditional victory day parade, which this year marks the 76th anniversary of the defeat of nazi germany. more than 12,000 troops, and a cavalcade of tanks, aircraft and weaponry took

part in the event in moscow's red square. the ceremony coincides with a time of strained relations with the west and in a speech, president putin said that russia would firmly defend its interests. 0ur moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg, has been watching the parade. yeah, it's always a major event here. in the west we talk about world war ii, the russians talk about the great patriotic war, 1941—16, and they secured victory, the soviet people secured victory at an enormous human cost of the 27 million soviet citizens were killed in that conflict. so what happens on victory day is that russia remembers the victims, it honours the heroes, it celebrate a victory. but also, with the display of military might you see on red square, and we saw it again today, the kremlin sends a clear message i think to the outside world that russia has muscle, russia is a military superpower

today, and in the light a very clear message of the tension you can see increasing between russia and the west, all the talk of a new cold war, that is a message moscow was keen to get out and when president putin delivered his short speech on red square today, he didn't mention the united states or nato, but he did talk about there's no forgiveness orjustification, he said, for those who have aggressive plans, who push anti—semitism and russophobia. and this word, russophobia, anti—russian sentiment, is something you hear a lot mentioned by russian officials who accuse the west of anti—russian feelings. more than 400 athletes, including us athletejustin gatlin, are taking part in a test event at the olympic stadium in tokyo. it's hoped this will show everyone that the olympics can take place safely injuly. but there are concerns, as parts ofjapan are under a recently extended state

of emergency due to the number of coronavirus infections in the country. rachel stanton reports. on your marks, get set, and go. athletes here in tokyo are preparing for the upcoming 0lympics. due to happen injuly, more than 11 test events have taken place to make sure the games can go ahead after they were cancelled last year as a result of the pandemic. translation: they had social distancing. - and every time we touched something, they sterilised it. i thought the organisers were being very attentive and had good anti—virus measures in place. but not everyone feels the same way. there are concerns about the games being given the green light. translation: honestly, we are all so scared - of getting the virus. we understand that we will not be able to take part in the race if we get infected here, so, to be frank, i am taking part in fear.

athletes aren't the only ones to voice their concerns. "no olympics" — that is just one of the signs here outside the stadium. and more than 200,000 people have signed an online petition hoping the event will be called off. |translation: covid-19 infections are important in tokyo and osaka, with many severe cases. so i would like the money from the games to be used in hospitals instead. despite opposition, world athletics president sebastian coe insists it can all be held safely. the covid protocols, particularly that world athletics have developed over the last year and a half by our health and science teams, who are extremely good at this, have consistently helped deliver events in a safe and secure environment. with daily cases topping 7,000 for the first time since the beginning of the year, the battle against the virus is far from over. but with covid restrictions

in place across the country, the government is hoping to rein in the surge of infections and that, byjuly, the most famous international sports competition can bring back some normality to our lives. rachel stanton, bbc news. it's time for the weather with nick. a week of sunshine and showers. temperatures close to the average for the year. overnight, showers continue, particularly in the west, an area of rain pushing through the east of england, where there could be heavy and thundery bursts of rain to come, and temperatures holding up in the range of 7—12 c. rain may head towards the northern isles, especially shetland, later in the day. it turns very wet here. elsewhere, sunny spells but quite a

bit of cloud around. if you catch a shower, it could be heavy, possibly thundery, there could be hailed as well. wales, it will be windiest. averaged speeds of gusts about 45 mph. it is quite pleasant if you get to see some sunshine. a lot of that in east anglia and the south—east. hello, this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines: the labour leader sir keir starmer prepares to reshuffle his team after the party's disappointing performance in the elections — he's already removed his deputy angela rayner as campaigns chief. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, warns it would be "completely outrageous" for the westminster government to block a second independence referendum. the government is expected to end the advice against hugging each other, as part of the relaxation of lockdown rules in england. and the government is calling on the rail industry to fix

disruption on some of britain's busiest rail lines,