good afternoon. the transport secretary says it's not for the government to intervene to try to prevent three days of strikes on the railways this week. grant shapps dismissed calls from the rmt union to get involved in the dispute as a �*stunt�* — saying it's for the employers and unions to reach an agreement. mr shapps says the strikes would be an �*act of self—harm'. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, says the government wants the strikes to go ahead to �*sow division�* in society. here's our political correspondent, damian grammaticas.

set to bring the rail network to a grinding halt from tuesday they are the biggest strikes in decades. instead of 20,000 trains on a normal day, just one in five services may run. government says children heading to take exams or patients to medical appointments will face disruption. but under pressure to take part in talks with the unions it says it won't. train operating companies have to settle this. i don't think there is any need for the strikes at all and i appeal directly to people working for the railways, you are being led down a cul—de—sac by the union leadership telling you there is no pay rise when there is, trying to create some kind of class war when there is none to be had. we want people to be paid more, we want to sensible reforms and modernisation of our railways so we can run it for the passengers. the government says it has spent billions propping up the railways in the pandemic and it now wants to see them modernised. the union which was part of the cost of living march

through london yesterday says that means its members are facing a crisis, with inflation set to hit 11% and wages falling behind, living ii% and wages falling behind, living standards too, and the union says modernisation means fewerjobs and longer working hours. we modernisation means fewer “obs and longer working hoursh longer working hours. we are faced with thousands _ longer working hours. we are faced with thousands of _ longer working hours. we are faced with thousands of job cuts, - longer working hours. we are faced with thousands of job cuts, despite | with thousands ofjob cuts, despite what grant shapps said, no guarantee the redundancy won't be compulsory, we have seen thousands ofjobs already go from the railway, they have told our maintenance staff on network rail that 3000 jobs will go. they are going to cut back on the safety regime, they have told us that every single booking office in britain will close.— britain will close. labour, meanwhile, _ britain will close. labour, meanwhile, is _ britain will close. labour, meanwhile, is trying - britain will close. labour, meanwhile, is trying to i britain will close. labour, - meanwhile, is trying to maintain a tricky balancing act. sir keir starmer doesn't want the strike to go ahead, but does he support the unions? he says the government wants a conflict, conservatives see political benefits.— political benefits. the strike should not _ political benefits. the strike should not go _ political benefits. the strike should not go ahead. - political benefits. the strike should not go ahead. but i political benefits. the strike i should not go ahead. but here political benefits. the strike - should not go ahead. but here is the truth, borisjohnson and grant shapps want the strikes to go ahead.

they want the country to grind to a halt so they can feed off the division. instead of spending their time around the negotiating table, they are designing... instead of grown—up solutions, they are pouring petrol on the fire. bud grown-up solutions, they are pouring petrol on the fire.— petrol on the fire. and labour says the government _ petrol on the fire. and labour says the government hasn't _ petrol on the fire. and labour says the government hasn't engaged i petrol on the fire. and labour says the government hasn't engaged in| the government hasn't engaged in talks since march. if no agreement is reached this week it is possible the strikes will not be the last. damian grammaticas, bbc news. meanwhile the biggest teaching union, the neu, has said it will ballot its members on strike action in england unless the government offers a pay rise of more than 3%. the union, which has 450,000 members, will write to the education secretary, nadhim zahawi, this week. any strike would take place in the autumn. voting is under way in the second round of the parliamentary elections in france, with president macron�*s party facing the prospect of being unable to command a majority —

limiting his ability to enact his polices. limiting his ability to enact his policies. he faces a broad left—wing alliance of parties backing jean—luc melenchon. let's cross to hugh schofield who's in paris for us. hugh. you join me outside a polling station in the comfortable 17th arrondissement of paris, and as you can see it isn't exactly humming with activity. in fact they have only been dribs and drabs of people coming here this morning. across the country everything suggests this is going to be an election with a very low turnout. that is a shame because this is an election in which there is a lot at stake. it's the fourth time in two months that the french have been called out to vote. two rounds of presidentials that returned emmanuel macron for a second term, and now this, a chance at the parliamentary elections where his opponents, especially those on the left, to get their revenge. one of the hour isjean—luc melenchon, the 70—year—old veteran

man of the hour isjean—luc melenchon, the 70—year—old veteran of the far left who's forged a new alliance out of four separate parties, including the socialists and the greens. un, deux, trois. cheering his tactical flair and savage and sarcastic attacks on macron have, in a few short weeks, transformed the left�*s chances. now it's an invigorated left and far left rather than marine le pen�*s far right that's become the main opposition. applause for emmanuel macron, this week playing up his presidential role in ukraine, today's vote is crucial. his centre—right coalition should still beat melenchon�*s left into second place, but will he get an outright majority? with turn out once again set to be extremely low, president macron risks losing a lot of his seats in the parliament to the point of having to make deals with other parties like the conservatives, if he wants any of his reform programme to get through.

macron�*s second presidential victory in april was a high point in his career, but is it about to take a downhill turn? whatever happens today, french politics is going to feel different from today with a president probably who is going to be a deal weaker. and in these turbulent inflationary times that does not necessarily bode well. thanks, hugh. the new head of the army has told british troops they need to prepare to "fight in europe once again". in a letter addressed to all ranks and civil servants, general sir patrick sanders, said there was a �*burning imperative' for the army to be ready to fight "alongside allies" to defeat russia in battle. let's speak to our correspondent joe inwood who's in the ukrainian city of irpin. joe — some pretty straight talking here. absolutely. you only have to look around my to the town of irpin, to

this destruction here, to see why feelings are so strong. it was really remarkable language, i thought. it was talking about the need to be ready to engage on the battlefield and mentioned russia by name. we should say this was a letter not intended for public consumption but it was sent very widely so really they must have known this might have come out. in terms of how this will be received, i think here in ukraine, they have been calling for nato involvement in this war but i don't think they are going to view this as a clear indication that the british army will be getting involved. how will the russians view it? i think they will probably take it much the same way. but if this is seen as something of a threat, and it could be, sergei lavrov may echo the expression in an interview last week when he talked about britain was my desire to bring russia to its knees, and he said, "bring it on." the mood music we are getting from across western capitals is that this is a conflict that is going on for the long term, and that they need boris johnson who said it himself today,

to offer military support on an ongoing basis to the ukrainians if they are to hold on in this war in they are to hold on in this war in the east, but also, as you can see here, to rebuild this country because economically they are on their knees. because economically they are on their knees-_ now some of the day's other news. flooding, landslides and lightning strikes triggered by seasonal monsoon weather have left at least 59 people dead in bangladesh and india. rescue teams have been working throughout the region to bring people trapped by floodwaters to safety. many of those who've died in bangladesh were killed by lightning. forecasters are warning the situation is likely to deteriorate in the coming days. the united states has become the first place in the world to allow children as young as six months old to have the covid—i9 vaccine. the move was authorised by the country's national health agency, the centers for disease control and prevention. president biden said parents would be able to book appointments this week. workers at an apple store in maryland have become the first to form a trade union in one

of the tech giant's stores in the united states. employees celebrated soon after the vote passed. they said they wanted to expand their rights and have a say over pay, hours, and safety. workers in at least two other apple stores are also trying to form unions. that's it for now. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 6.35pm this evening. bye for now. good afternoon. the fourth and final round of the us open gets underway in the next hour with an englishman currently sharing the top of the leaderboard. matt fitzpatrick could make it a double at brookline after winning

the us amateur tournament there in 2013 which he says will give him an edge today as he chases his first major. he has a one shot lead alongside american will zalatoris on four under. joe lynskey has been watching the action. in the trees of massachusetts, they are rarely far from the trapdoor. brookline is a golf course thick with hazards. it can bring out new approaches. but one man from sheffield has tamed the conditions. this is matt fitzpatrick, who takes aim here at first win at a major, in the form of his life. this is the course where fitzpatrick won amateur golf�*s biggest prize. now, nine years on, he holds thejoint lead on the last day at one of the great senior titles. rory mcilroy has gone eight

years without winning one and he's due some luck. in round three, he fell back but then recoveed, still in touch, just three shots behind the lead. and all tests of brookline mean on the last day, that could all change. joe lynskey, bbc news england's one day cricketers are back in action in holland following their record breaking innings against the netherlands on friday. a damp outfield delayed the start of the match and that means it will be movers a side. the netherlands won the toss again and, perhaps mindful of england's batting onslaught in the last match they decided to bat first. a few moments ago the netherlands were 19 for one in the seventh over. now tennis and italy's matteo berretini takes on serbia's filip krajinovic in the final at queen's club in around 15 minutes' time. meanwhile they're playing catch up

at the birmingham 0pen after rain forced a delay in play yesterday. that meant an early start for second seed simona halep, who was taking on brazil's haddad maia in the semi finals. maia took the first set 6—3, but halep took the second to level the match let's get the latest from birmingham. these are live pictures. it is for— four in the third set. halep is serving at the moment. you can follow that on the bbc sport website and the app. the winner will play either china's shuai zhang or romania's sorana cirstea who resume their semi final at 1—1. some football news for you now and liverpool have completed the signing of 18—year—old scottish right—back calvin ramsay from aberdeen. ramsay has joined on a five—year dealfor an initial £42 million. he'll serve as trent alexander—arnold's understudy at right—back and willjoin up withjurgen klopp's first team for pre—season.

red bull's max verstappen will start on pole for the canadian grand prix which gets underway around 7 o'clock in montreal. championship leader, verstappen was quickest after the rain affected qualifying sessions and will start on the front row alongside fernando alonso. ferrari's carlos sainz will start third while after all the struggles — there was a surprise fourth place for lewis hamilton in his mercedes. my battery was a little bit low and tyres were hot, and so i didn't get to go quicker at the end. but i'm still grateful for that position. that's the best this year and it's a bit overwhelming. at the end afterwards, i was like, oh, my god, this is a step forward for me. you can follow that on the rest of the action on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. i will have more through the

afternoon. today marks five years since the finsbury park terror attack — when a van was driven into worshippers outside a mosque in north london. one person, makram ali, was killed and nine others injured. makram's daughter — ruzina akhtar — has been speaking exclusively to our home affairs correspondent sonja jessup about her memories of her father and the impact of the attack on the community. this is how makram ali's family remember him, a loving father and grandfather with a sense of fun. he was just a very lively, happy, bubbly person. i don't know anyone like him who's always 24/7 happy. makram ali was murdered five years ago, targeted because of his muslim faith. the attacker drove a van into worshippers outside a mosque in finsbury park. nine others were injured. all i could hear was my sister crying and shouting, "dad, dad!," trying to wake him up. at first it wasn't clear

what had happened. when police moved ruzina away from the scene, she thought her father was still alive, and waited for news. i stayed out that whole night, whole morning, just waiting for someone to say, "he's at this hospital," but obviously, that wasn't the case. makram's killer was taken into police custody, restrained, until officers arrived, by the worshippers he'd just attack. the imam was dubbed a hero but he believes that's because many expected muslims to react with anger. what myself and others did on that night was what any sensible and normal law—abiding citizen would have done. it's a religion that is not one of chaos, not one of — not one of vigilante justice, but one of respect of the law. but london's muslim community felt fear. many had worried islamophobia would increase following the westminster and london bridge terror attacks. after finsbury park, many mosques

tightened their security. i was always wary, my mum was scared to go out of the house. she didn't want to go out of the house because she's like, "i wear a headscarf, what if i get attacked?" the number of islamophobic hate crimes recorded by met police have fallen over the last five years, but one group who monitor incidents say most are never reported. we have seen an increase of 45% of anti—muslim reports _ coming into us in london, - and these reports have got abusive behaviour as the number—one category reported into us, - but threats, assaults, threatening behaviours and discrimination - are the categories that follow. five years on, the memories and the fear remain, but there has also been love and support. people are quick to let you know that they stand with you and that these actions are not supported, and that's comforting and that's consoling.

in the park where makram ali used to play with his grandchildren, there's is a plaque that bears his name. it's been difficult but we move on and we just create better, happier memories as a family, and just do what my dad would have loved. that was sonja jessup reporting. a study commissioned by football's world governing body has found that more than half of all players at the finals of the european championship and the africa cup of nations suffered online abuse. fifa used new technology to assess the scale of the problem, as russell trott reports. england's marcus rashford, bukayo saka and jadon sancho were all targeted online, following their penalty misses in the euro 2020 final, leading to widespread calls for a clampdown on racist abuse and social media. now, a study commissioned by football's world governing body fifa says more than half of all players at the finals of the euros and the africa cup of nations suffered some form

of social media abuse. fifa used artificial intelligence to track almost half a million posts. it found that homophobic and racist comments were the most common. much of the abuse came from fans of the players' home nations. with the world cup in qatar just five months away, fifa said they would work with unions to implement a plan on how to protect players. footballers has worked hard to stamp out racism inside stadiums. 0utside, it has not been so easy. russell trott, bbc news. colombians go to the polls today in the second — and final — round of presidential elections. they will choose between two very different candidates, leftist gustavo petro who has promised more equality — or populist businessman rodolfo hernandez who's been labelled a colombian trump. 0ur south america correspondent katy watson reports from colombia's capital bogota.

they pray a last attempt at salvation and a prayerfor colombia's men. in a country used to decades of civil conflict, even the priests use the language of war. this is a call to action. they're fighting to put men back in control. but this isn'tjust about religious conservatism, it's about political indoctrination. these priests are issuing a thinly veiled warning not to vote for the left. this is the man they're scared of. gustavo petro is a former mayor who promises to tackle poverty. a former rebel, too. if he wins these elections, he'll be colombia's first ever leftist president. and this is the man he's up against.

rodolfo hernandez is a businessman, an outsider, a man who's been called colombia's trump, and a man whose tik—tok videos and womanising have become more famous than his politics. his supporters, though, aren't fazed. translation: |f| had money, i'd - do my own thing if it made me happy. he's a good thing because he's a businessman. he's a self—made man. he's a little confusing. the truth is that a vote for adolfo is against pedro. because we don't want socialism, we don't want these politics that are against the freedom, the economy, we are afraid about petro. for communtiies used to being cast aside, petro's politics are a welcome change. petro's running mate, is a black woman,

also a first in colombian politics. this weekend, their supporters have been out in force trying to convince voters. translation: one of the problems this country has is inequality - in black and indigenous communities and women. and they represent that difference. 0ne's mixed race, one's black, and both believe in inclusion. so often we call elections historic. but i think you can really say that with this vote, because whoever wins, it'll be a real departure from any politics this country has seen before. katy watson, bbc news, in bogota. the indian government has said it is issuing 100 emergency visas to sikhs in afghanistan — a day after their last place of worship in kabul was attacked by islamic state militants. reports say around 40 other applications are being reviewed. at least two people were killed in the assault on saturday — a sikh worshipper and a taliban fighter who confronted

the militants. india's prime minister narendra modi condemned the attack as barbaric and cowardly. afghanistan's sikh community once numbered in the tens of thousands — but after decades of violence, only a handful remain. more now on the story that the united states has become the first country in the world to approve use of the so—called mrna vaccines for children as young as six months. president biden has called it a monumental step. dr peter hotez who's the director of the texas children's hospital center for vaccine development explained what the cdc was recommending. the cdc has recommended use of two different vaccines. either one, eitherfrom moderna, or pfizer, the pfizer vaccine has been released for authorisation with three doses, the first two, three weeks apart, and the third, eight weeks after that. and for the moderna, so far,

it is a two dose vaccine, but moderna reports that there may be a third dose. i think the big issue is going to be how widely accepted these are going to be because, here in the united states, for the 5—11 year olds only about 30% of parents are vaccinating their kids for the 5—ii—year—olds, and that goes down to 10—11% where we are, down in texas and the southern part of the united states. so, we are looking at probably single digit potential uses, for the toddlers and very young kids, and may be a little better in the north—east. so, that is where the battleground is going to be, providing the advocacy and persuading parents of the importance of vaccinating their young children. i think there is an education process. we have to make parents understand why covid is still a serious illness amongst young kids, for instance, we have lost 200—400 kids under the age

of five years from covid. that's a significant amount and actually higher than the diseases that we currently vaccinate them against, with 2000 hospitalisations. so, it is still a pretty serious illness, and covid is still with us so, helping them to understand that, because we have a lot of anti—vaccine activism here in the united states, and the buzz that they put out is that they try to say covid is a serious disease only for the elderly, and that's simply not the case. you see this sharp north—south divide with very low uptake in the southern part of the united states and that's because covid—i9 vaccinations have become so politicised that vaccinations are occurring along such a strong partisan divide so, the geographic distribution very much reflects political realities in that the southern part of the united states are predominantly conservative states, what we call red states, republican majority states.

at the age of 92, most people will probably be taking life at a slower pace — but for eileen daubney, volunteering at her local hospital is how she likes to spend her time. she's been supporting patients and staff on the chemotherapy ward for the past 14 years — only taking a break over the pandemic. now she's back, and our reporter jessica lane has been to meet her. do you need anything? a cup of tea with milk would be perfect, eileen. thank you. yes, darling? at 92, she could be forgiven for wanting to put her feet up, but that's not eileen�*s way. i lost my husband 16 years ago, and i had always been interested, i had been a domestic at different hospitals. so eileen started volunteering here at the cancer treatment ward i4 years ago, and staff and patients say it's the little things she does which makes such a big difference. are you local? where do you live?

i live in boston. we couldn't keep up with her! she's running off toi make another drink. she never stops, always on the go, always has a kind word, and she always says her patients come first. my son—in—law retired. we had a big retirement party and i could tell he was looking at me, and he came over and said i remember you from six years ago, i rememberyou. he said, you give me lots of cups of tea and good sandwiches. it's notjust eileen, there are more than 200 volunteers across lincolnshire's hospitals. bosses want to increase the number to 1,000. everybody comes in the hospital hoping to be fixed or made better but what they take away is the memories of the little things that people did for them, the personal things, and volunteers can deliver that all day long. i'll put them there. i should have brought my trolley. are you all right? fine, thank you.

as for eileen herself, she plans to stay on as a cheerful friend and a helping hand here for as long as she can. that report was from jessica lane. if you're a child of the 1980s, there's a good chance you'll remember pierrot posters. well, pierrot clowns used to be a staple of british seaside entertainment, and a way for young entertainers to get their break into the industry. the tradition has faded in recent decades, but a group of enthusiasts on england's east coast are hoping to change that. crispin rolfe has been to withernsea to see them perform. they're notjust clowns... they're pierrots, and clowning around at the seaside way—back—when is traditionally what they used to do. # 0ne says aye and the other say no # we are three jolly boys all in a row...# once upon a time there used to be more than 500 pierrot troupes around the coastline of britain, and nowadays there's are just a handful.

# just let me be beside the seaside...# which is why in withernsea, they have decided to start their own. well, there's one or two groups that have recreated the pierrots, and i thought we could do a real good job of that, get the costume right, get the performances right with the songs, and the other acting parts in between, so here we are. we've tried it, and up to now it's a success. but what will crowds make of them this summer, up and down east yorkshire coast? it's a good asset from the old times, bringing back the old values of seaside. what do you make of them? they're all right! they're like our- generation, aren't they? when i were growing up, - these were on the telly on that. now they're coming back in places, aren't they? i we're on holiday. so, yeah, it's good. like you say, it's part of withernsea, wherever you want to go, these things bring people in. good on them. this is fantastic. there are so many diverse characters in withernsea.

so much skill, experience, tradition. # daisy, daisy, give - me youranswer, do...# of course withernsea's latest and most modern pierrot troupe is now looking for new members. i have been asked to join them but i'm not doing it, i'm not old enough. the question is, what skills can you bring to their party? there is something you don't see every day. exactly! and they did have spoon players in the pierrot. that's why i wanted to join, because i do like my spoons. crispin rolfe, bbc news. it's father's day here in the uk, and the duke of cambridge has released a father's day photograph to mark the occasion. prince william is pictured laughing with his children during a family holiday, with his arms around prince george, who's eight, and seven year—old princess charlotte, while four—year—old prince louis sits on his shoulders. the photograph was taken in jordan last year. the name of the photographer hasn't

been officially revealed. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear. hello there. a quiet start to our sunday. nothing particularly out of the ordinary to report so far. it was a fresh start and we've got a brisk north—westerly wind, which will make it feel noticeably cooler on exposed coasts today. a few scattered showers in north—west scotland and that northwesterly wind driving a little bit more cloud further south. a few scattered showers by the end of the afternoon lingering across south—west england. 0n exposed north and west facing coasts, noticeably cooler, but we might see temperatures peak into the low 20s in the south east. those showers will continue to lingerfor a time through the night but clearer skies further north — that means those temperatures falling away. it's going to be a chilly start to our monday morning, but a quiet starts to monday. a lot of dry, settled and sunny weather to begin with. as we go through the day, we'll see cloud thickening in the far north west and showery outbreaks of rain entering into scotland and maybe northern ireland by the end of the day. ahead of it, with the sunshine, a degree or so warmer. highs likely of 22 celsius.