a sentiment expressed in different ways. on behalf of everyone here, we'd like to very humbly thank you for choosing us over the state opening of parliament. laughter and at the end, it was dame helen mirren who spoke not for the nation of elizabeth i but for the nation which for 70 years has had as its queen elizabeth ii. i therefore speak on behalf of a grateful nation and commonwealth when i give you our sincere and most loving thanks. applause the queen left to return to windsor castle. in 17 days, the main platinum jubilee celebrations will begin in central london, when many thousands more will have a chance to show their gratitude. nicholas witchell, bbc news. stargazers across the world

were treated to a super blood moon overnight. the effect was created by a lunar eclipse, which is when the earth moves between the sun and the moon. time for a look at the weather. here's nick miller. something else in the sky last night, all the lightning that came in a southern england, as captured by some of our weather watchers. stones came out of france on sunday, came to a close, what a lightning show here, and we as they moved further north in the first part of the day. some of the areas with the thunder and lightning last night were treated to some sunny spells and feeling quite warm today. don't put the umbrella away wherever you are this week. we have a low pressure to the west bringing warmth and humidity at times this week, but also with low pressure as you might imagine there will be rain and thunderstorms at times too. the rain this afternoon is in scotland, and into the far north of england. and

with a cool north—easterly wind. for northern ireland, the rest of england and wales, we have sunny spells but also heavy and thundery downpours. we have a thunderstorm in gloucester for example at the moment. you could see a lot of rain in a short time and disruption, though not everybody will. much of wales and the southern half of england turning increasingly sunny through the day. the rain and breeze in eastern scotland. as we get on into this evening, the thundery downpours last to clear away from northern ireland and northern england. rain pushes across the northern isles and then clears, the second part of the night mainly dry with temperatures in some parts dipping into single figures. misty and murky to start the day tomorrow, and murky to start the day tomorrow, and a west east split. rain coming into western part doesn't look like much initially, but into the afternoon notice how through northern ireland, western scotland, wales and england it turns heavier and more widespread. east from that, there will be increasingly sunny

spells to be had and the highest temperatures of the year so far, 26 in the london area with high uv and high pollen as well, and the chance of thunderstorms here to end the day. rain and thunderstorms clear eastwards overnight and into wednesday morning, so a quiet start of the day with the exception on wednesday of some showers and heavy rain moving through scotland. then later on on wednesday, another weather system pushing into northern ireland, and ahead of it the chance of further thundery downpours moving into wales and england. temperatures a little bit lower on wednesday, the sign of things to come later in the week. they trail off gradually with a lot of dry weather on thursday and the chance of further rain and showers on friday ahead of a cooler and fresher weekend with showers around then too. thank you, nick. that's all from the bbc news at one so it's goodbye from me and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc�*s news teams where you are.

good afternoon. time for some sport on the bbc news channel. hello, i'm hugh ferris. liverpool are a little bit closer to manchester city than they might have expected. butjurgen klopp says they're unlikely to get another favour from the premier league leaders. one that would help his team claim the title themselves. pep guardiola's side did come from 2—0 down for the first time in his reign at west ham. but the 2—2 draw at the london stadium means that if liverpool win their game in hand the two teams will go into the final day of the season on sunday just a point apart. but klopp isn't expecting city to provide them with the slip up they need. i don't know when city dropped points the last time, two games in a row. historically. so i don't expect them to drop points but it has no influence on our game tomorrow. in an ideal world we go in the last match day one point behind. that

would be the perfect scenario and that's what we are trying to do. so liverpool's game in hand is at southampton tomorrow night. both mo salah and virgil van dijk are signifcant doubts for the match agaisnt ralf hasenhuttl�*s side — with the southampton boss intrigued by the role they could play in the title race. it is fantastic for the premier league to have such a close title race. everybody is electrified from this battle. and we are now part of this battle. and we are now part of this duel, if you want. we had done ourjob against man city this season, took two points, lost four points against us in the title race, if you want. against liverpool, the first game we lost. so now it is up to us to show again that we can be competitive against a top team. the champions league race will also go down to the final day after spurs beat burnley to go fourth above mikel arteta's arsenal arsenal's game in hand is tonight at newcastle. they'll start it two points behind spurs, so a win would allow them to go back

above their north london rivals as they both fight for one spot. losing a derby is always painful. as well, you learn a lot, probably more than with any victory. it is good to go through those moments sometimes. they understand any difficulty, they are looking forward to playing on monday, have accepted they are by the challenge ahead, because we are now, with everything we have been through throughout the season and how much have to fight to be in this position. everton have confirmed they're assisting merseyside police after brentford striker ivan toney and full—back rico henry said their families were racially abused at goodison park during yesterday's win. toney here, and henry, made the allegations on twitter after the game. everton say: "there is no place in football — or society — for racism."

the former british number one laura robson has confirmed her retirement from tennis this morning at the age of 28. as a teenager, robson reached the fourth round of the us open and here at wimbledon, as well as winning silver in the mixed doubles with andy murray at the 2012 olympics. she says the decision to retire was forced upon her after having three hip operations. i think if i kept thinking that way, i think if i kept thinking that way, i wouldn't now be at peace with the decision. i think that is why it is difficult because for a long time i did think, if i could just get back out there, if i had the chance to compete solidly again. then who knows? but ultimately, what has happened has happened. i think overall, i am a much nicer person from it, from going through all of that, and i have grown so much

through it that i am now ok, and if i keep looking back thinking what if, then i can't move forward. that's all the sport for now. what are you in the next hour. —— more for you. nato officials say moscow's invasion strategy in the east of ukraine may be stalling. it's thought russia may have lost a third of its ground combat troops — and is failing to make progress in the donbas region. meanwhile, one of the biggest ever nato military exercises in the baltics gets under way in estonia today. code—named "hedgehog", the manoeuvres will involve ten countries, including the uk, us, finland and sweden. it comes as nato officials say they're confident sweden and finland will enjoy a smooth accession to the alliance. the two nordic states have confirmed they will apply for membership, ending long—standing policies of military non—alignment. russia has described the move as a "grave mistake with far—reaching consequences". finland's ministerfor european affairs, tytti tuppurainen, spoke to my colleague, joanna gosling. she asked her how she feels

about possible tensions with russia. we are about to make our own decision when it comes to our security and how to provide the best possible security to our citizens, and we are not going to be intimidated are russia and its threats. but on the other hand, we are also doing our best transparency so we're not to sneak into nato without russia acknowledging it, so our president has called mr putin and has told him that we are about to apply for the membership in the alliance. it to apply for the membership in the alliance. , . , , alliance. it is a very interesting wa . es alliance. it is a very interesting wages you _ alliance. it is a very interesting wages you describe _ alliance. it is a very interesting wages you describe it - alliance. it is a very interesting wages you describe it and - alliance. it is a very interesting wages you describe it and it. alliance. it is a very interesting l wages you describe it and it was fascinating to see that conversation reported because so often in international diplomacy, when there are difficult conversations, it is

framed in the context of basically one side telling the other what they think of them, and it's quite confrontational. this sounds to have been almost the opposite, just very straightforward. it been almost the opposite, 'ust very straightforward.* straightforward. it was very straightforward. _ straightforward. it was very straightforward. of- straightforward. it was very straightforward. of course l straightforward. it was very | straightforward. of course it straightforward. it was very - straightforward. of course it was not any conversation we are asking permission from the kremlin, this is our own national decision that we are making as a sovereign country. we do not allow russia to create any spheres of interest, as they requested earlier this year, they want to create and build back spheres of interest in former soviet russia, but we are a sovereign country, we have the right to do our own security arrangements. this is the debate that is right now ongoing in our parliament. we will have a vote later on today or maybe tomorrow, that will settle it, and finland will apply for nato membership.— finland will apply for nato membership. finland will apply for nato membershi. ., . , . membership. you are very much describing _ membership. you are very much describing it _ membership. you are very much describing it as _ membership. you are very much describing it as something - describing it as something defensive, russia does not see it as that, they see it as a threat. do you believe that there will be some

form of retaliation, it has already been cyber things happening towards finland? let been cyber things happening towards finland? , , . ., ., ., been cyber things happening towards finland? ,, . ., ., ., , been cyber things happening towards finland? , , . ., ., ., finland? let us be clear, nato is a defence alliance, _ finland? let us be clear, nato is a defence alliance, and _ finland? let us be clear, nato is a defence alliance, and our- finland? let us be clear, nato is a defence alliance, and our position | defence alliance, and our position is not meant to be against anyone, we are certainly not attacking anyone and not threatening russia in anyone and not threatening russia in any way. so this is our own decision, and russia has told repeatedly that they are not in favour of nato enlargement, but this is our decision that we are about to make, and if they will react in a way that is not appropriate, they will probably somehow manifest their ill will or malevolence but we have been preparing and there is a great show of support to finland, much solidarity from the uk, the united states and germany and we are grateful for that.— grateful for that. when you say react in a _ grateful for that. when you say react in a way _ grateful for that. when you say react in a way that _ grateful for that. when you say react in a way that is _ grateful for that. when you say

react in a way that is not - react in a way that is not appropriate, what does that cover? i mentioned attacks. where along the... so mentioned attacks. where along the... ., , the... so far it has been quite auiet the... so far it has been quite quiet and _ the... so far it has been quite quiet and peaceful. _ the... so far it has been quite quiet and peaceful. there - the... so far it has been quite quiet and peaceful. there are | the... so far it has been quite i quiet and peaceful. there are no threats here in finland, it is part safe. we are in helsinki and there are no signs of any military actions. but this is something russia tends to do and we have been preparing ourselves for that. we are ready for whatever comes on the results of the possibility that russia could simply states the obvious, that we have been so close to nato as one can be without being an actual member. now it is only a sort of confirmation that finland is part of the alliance, and firmly rooted in the west.— rooted in the west. finland's minister for _ rooted in the west. finland's minister for european - rooted in the west. finland's| minister for european affairs. now it's time to take a look at some of the stories making the headlines from our bbc news teams across the uk. fining parents of children who miss school should be done with caution

and could risk pupils withdrawing from school altogether — according to wales' children's commissioner. fixed penalty notices were discouraged during the pandemic, but now the welsh government says they can be issued "in the most extreme cases". it comes amid concern about absence levels after covid. bethan lewis reports. year 11 final push, obviously monday the most important thing is that we are straight on the phone, any absentees that are not here for their exams was monitoring attendance is nothing new, but the pandemic has meant there are extra obstacles to getting all the peoples back in class. -- all —— all pupils. in terms of the pandemic, the biggest thing is the impact it has on young people's mental health. we have seen an increase in the pupils who are feeling more anxious about coming to school, and that school—based anxiety is something we have seen increase in the last two years. routines have been affected. they are happy there is less disruption,

but everyone has had to adjust. it's been difficult getting back into routines, and obviously the rules have been constantly changing inside and out of school. we have to get used to them. i had to get ready faster than i usually would - because with online school- you could go at your own pace. but i've slowly but i surely grown into it. here in cardiff, attendance has been about 90% recently, in line with the wales wide picture, and lower than pre—pandemic levels. but one in ten pupils absent means to many are missing out, says the head. occasional days are having an impact throughout the school year. so there is a real tangible impact if youngsters are not here. it is important they are here for the whole curriculum so we can offer them the support they need to achieve, do well and be supported. the education minister gave schools and councils the green light to find parents if all else fails,

part of a push to ensure that attendance rates improved. the government emphasises it is a last resort and they are a measure to be used with caution, says the children's minister. if fines are used too soon, they can actually have the opposite effect, and it can drive families and children away from school, which is the last thing we want. with masks and other measures gone, schools feel a lot closer to normal, but the impact of the pandemic on attendance looks like it will carry on for longer. bethan lewis, bbc wales today. a campaign starting in wiltshire is aiming to encourage schools to do more to support pupils who are colour—blind. one in 12 boys and one in 200 girls are affected. it's estimated that 80% of those children leave primary school undiagnosed and unsupported during their education. alastair fee reports.

one in 12 boys are colour—blind. in this class it is nathan. the queen was on her way to visit someone very special. at the school in swindon, a special guest, the author and illustrator steve anthony who is also colour—blind. colour—blind children don't necessarily know they are colour—blind and as result could actually fob behind at school could actually fall behind at school because there are so many things that revolve around colours at school. when you explain that to a teacher, they seem to realise. children used to be tested but since 2009 that changed when colour vision screening in schools was removed for the healthy child screening programme. we are at the moment in the middle of planning a session for mp5 to raise awareness of colour blindness and we are to end up setting up an all—party. we have got that meeting in the middle ofjune and fingers crossed that will start to make

bigger changes in society. big smiles. this campaign is being rolled out in swindon but schools across the country are being encouraged to take part. it is hoped it could make a huge difference to a child's education. more work needs to be done to make schools aware of, firstly what colour blindness is, and the different types of colour blindness. but also then what schools can do to put in place support for the children who are colour—blind. alastair fee, bbc south today. there were elebrations in essex over the weekend following sam ryder�*s eurovision performance. he finished in second place with his song space man on saturday night, the uk's highest placing in almost 25 years. old friends and fans of the singer packed into the carpenter's arms to watch the competition in his hometown of maldon. # i'm a space man # i've searched around the universe...#

cheering everyone has been behind sam, it's the loudest and craziest this pub has been in a long time. it's really good to see. fantastic. absolutely incredible voice. one of the best voices i have ever heard. i thought it was - absolutely brilliant. i used to work with him, play football with- him and they couldn't be a nicer guy up there doing it for us and he - absolutely smashed it.

there it is. unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen. we have come second. it's been a great night. he didn't win. we all knew ukraine would win, but sam has done us proud. - the results are not what i would have liked. sounded absolutely amazing. maybe you didn't win, but you won for us. you smashed it. # searched around the universe # been down some black holes # there is nothing but space, man. # and i wanna go home. thank you, all!

kimjong kim jong and has kimjong and has mobilised the kim jong and has mobilised the army to deal with vaccinations of the country battles a wave of coronavirus. state media said mr kim led an emergency meeting in which he rebuked officials, accusing them of failing to distribute reserve supplies. our corresponded gene because he was in seoul with the letters. it is unusual for north korea to be so open about what's happening in the country. of course, we can't confirm a lot of what is being said, we have to take them on their word but the fact they are publishing every day now these deaths and number of cases does suggest that in some way they are trying to speak to the international community, that it is being interpreted here in seoul potentially as a cry for help. but interestingly, help is being offered to them at the moment by the government here in south korea and

by others and yet north korea has yet to respond, yet to ask for help, yet to respond, yet to ask for help, yet to respond, yet to ask for help, yet to accept helpful downwards so it is an interesting situation. north korea do not seem to be ready to ask the help because of course it has no vaccines, it has repeatedly turned down offers of vaccines. countries in asia are marking one of the most important buddhist festivals of the year, vesak day. also known as buddha day, it usually takes place on the first full moon in may, but the event had been disrupted by the pandemic. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri reports. this celebration isn't meant to be done remotely. and yet for these monks, it's the first time they can mark vesak day, also known as buddah day, together since the pandemic began. translation: today it is an important day, . as it commemorates the birth, enlightenment and the great

decease of the lord buddha. celebrated on the first full moon in may, no effort was spared. worshippers in thailand laid out thousands of led lanterns at this temple, to mark the occasion. 21,000, to be exact. some monks were still encouraged tojoin through zoom. the spectre of covid—i9 still hovering over the celebrations. but for those who could join, it was a welcome return. i think it's amazing that we can celebrate again in person, and of course with the right safety precautions, that we can be back here. as i understand the last two years wasn't possible. so i think it's a great thing. celebrations also took place in other parts of asia, in places like bangladesh and even sri lanka, which lifted a curfew for the event amidst deep political turmoil.

fitting for a day encouraging reflection and new beginnings. azadeh moshir, bbc news. the bank of england has warned that inflation could reach 10% by the end of the year. in an attempt to keep that in check, the bank has put up interest rates four times this year. they're now at their highest level since 2009. putting up interest rates makes it more expensive to borrow money, and the idea is that it will encourage people to spend less, and ease the pressures that leads to rising prices. to help explain the basics behind its decision—making, the bank has brought out a new book. our correspondent nina warhurst was invited into the bank of england's gold bullion vault to meet the authors. almost every decision we make — to buy a butty or bring one in, to walk or take the train — they all have an economic consequence.

prices keep rising, savings and wages are standing still. these decisions are feeling more and more important. and it's the job of this place to keep the economy in check and keep our costs of living stable. she gasps oh, my goodness! it's everywhere! rupal and jack are on a crusade to help us understand economics. it's really heavy. and they brought me to quite an exclusive spot. so what are they worth? this one, for example, if i was to... how much is it worth? that today is worth around £600,000. so that's interesting — you say around £600,000. does that change? and why are you wielding bars of chocolate? chocolate bars are a very tasty and a very easy way to explain some economics. so if you think about the price of a chocolate bar — say, a freddo, the chocolate frogs — when i was a child and when rupal

was a child, we both remember them being 10p when we take our pocket money to the shop. and now if you look in the shops, that's 25p — so there's been a huge increase. and that just shows this process that's in the back of everyone's lives called inflation, whereby prices over time just go up and go up. so here's a big question — why don't you just print more money?! yeah, with all these gold bars around us, we could probably all think about putting one in our pocket and walking out the door. the problem, of course, is that while it's quite intuitive to give people more money, and therefore they think they can go out and spend more, that creates inflation, and inflation then erodes the value of money. what do you think would be the damage ofjust printing loads of money for everyone, rupal? well, if we all got £1 million each and then went out and spent it, you'd quickly realise that the price of everything would go up. and so, actually, you'd buy — you'd be able to buy fewer things and that's inflation. yeah. we are in quite an unusual situation at the moment, aren't we? where do you see this ending? there's a lot of uncertainty in the economy at the moment, and that's why it's really important

that people understand what this uncertainty means for them. everyone kind of thinks about economics as long maths equations or nerds in suits, but it's a lot more than that — it's really the economics of day—to—day life. a final question — can ijust take one of these? because you've got absolutely loads of them. what harm can it do — just one? if you make a run, we'll distract the security guard. it's a deal! laughter now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. a taste of summer rather than spring in our weather this week. talking about warmth, humidity and also thunderstorms. across southern england last night there was plenty of thundery activity. storms came out of france, moved to southern england, plenty of lightning, just weakening into this morning. ahead of that, a broad area of rain that continues to track north across scotland today. the same areas that had all the thunder and lightning and downpours last night are seeing some sunshine so far today. keep your umbrella close by.

the story of the weather this week is low—pressure to the west, it around the flow of air containing warmth and humidity but from low pressure weather fronts bringing rain at times and thunderstorms. today the rain is in scotland, although there's sunshine in shetland. a cool easterly wind as well. for northern ireland, wales and england, the afternoon has sunny spells but heavy and thundery downpours, it could deliver a lot of rain in a short space of time. not everybody will catch them. for much of wales and southern england, it will be turning drier and more sunny into this evening. warmer in eastern parts of england, up to around 23. cool in the rain and the onshore wind in eastern scotland. the rain will push across the northern isles tonight as showers and thunderstorms elsewhere fade away. largely dry for the second half of the right, some mist and fog patches. just eastern scotland and north—east england that dip into single figures. a lot of fine weather to begin tomorrow. the story tomorrow is about the rain as it turns more widespread and heavy across western parts,

especially in the afternoon. and a very warm and sunny spell ahead of that across eastern parts, warmer in eastern scotland, but towards the south—east of england the highest temperature of the year so far, around 26. some heavy and thundery downpours across southern and eastern parts going into tuesday evening and overnight. all of that clear through by wednesday morning and we're left with a few showers around to move through scotland especially in the morning. another area of rain will take its time to head towards northern ireland later in the day. ahead of that, warm and sunny spells, showers and thunderstorms breaking out again late in the day through parts of england and wales. temperatures maybe a notch down on wednesday. they trail off a bit more as we go towards the end of the week and after a largely fine thursday, showers and rain again on friday.

this is bbc news. the headlines... borisjohnson heads to belfast to urge the northern ireland assembly to resume power—sharing, as ministers prepare plans to override parts of the brexit deal. ukraine claims its troops have reached the russian border near kharkiv. driving russians away from the city. price regulator ofgem will try to avoid price shocks in the future. i have made timetables to keep myself organised. ifeel have made timetables to keep myself organised. i feel prepared have made timetables to keep myself organised. ifeel prepared but have made timetables to keep myself organised. i feel prepared but at the same time i'm really nervous. and the stargazers across the world

were treated to a truly stunning rare