this is bbc news. the headlines at four... the transport secretary accuses union leaders of "punishing millions of innocent people" by pressing ahead with rail strikes this week. itjust seems that the union is determined to go out on strike, the rmt, come what may, and i think it's a very sad situation and i call on them to reconsider. as the conflict in ukraine continues, the new head of the british army tells his troops they need to prepare to "fight in europe once again". at least 59 people have died in floods in bangladesh and india, with nearly 6 million people stranded. it's two hours until voting closes in the final round of parliamentary elections in france, with president emmanuel macron facing an alliance of left—wing parties. a photo of the duke of cambridge with his children is released to celebrate father's day.

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. awful for people if they need to get to jobs and to work and to places. like, i've come to visit my son here and if i needed to come back again then, no trains — we're just going to have to put everything behind. i'm going to test cricket next week and to my grandparents and my dad, and i don't think i'll be able to go there any more, just because it's on the sunday, but because saturday's affected and monday's affected, i think the sunday trains will also be affected. if i come directly to hull it _ takes me about one—and—a—half hours, but it takes me four hours due to this strike, - so it's disgusting for me. 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's 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's no pay rise when there is, trying to create some sort of class war when there's none to be had. we want people to be paid more, we want sensible reforms and modernisation of our railways so we can run it for the passengers. the government says it spent billions propping up the railways in the pandemic. 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 standards, too — and the union says "modernisation" means fewerjobs and longer working hours. we're faced with thousands ofjob cuts, despite what grant shapps said. there's been no guarantee that these redundancies won't be compulsory, we have seen 4,000 or 5,000 jobs already go from the railway. they've told our maintenance staff on network rail that 3,000 jobs will go. they're going to cut back on the safety regime. they've told us that every single booking office

in 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. the strike should not go ahead — but here's 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�* re designing attackers. instead of grown—up conversations to take the heat out of the situation, they're pouring petrol on the fire. and labour says the government hasn't engaged in talks since march. if no agreement is reached this week, it's possible the strikes won't be the last. damian grammaticas, bbc news.

scotrail say 90% of trains will need to be cancelled during the three days of action by the rmt union. the dispute does not involve scotrail staff, but it relies on network rail workers to operate signal boxes and maintain track. 0ur scotland reporter, alexandra mackenzie, has the latest from glasgow queen street station there's going to be a lot of disruption here across scotland. there are some passengers here today, but it is looking quite quiet already and yeah, i think you just got it right there, lots of frustration here, and i am joined by someone from scotrail. phil cambell, you're head of customer operations. you're not out on strike but it is going to affect your services. how many services you could be cutting? the uk wide strike will have a significant impact on scotrail and on the days of the strike of the 21st, 23rd on 25th,

we will only be able to operate a very limited service in the central belt, and that will be across five routes so our advice to customers is to plan ahead, only travel if it's really necessary, and nothing further out operating than the central belt. so, when you talk about the central belt, you're talking about that area around edinburgh and glasgow. so what areas will be covered and how many services will still be running for customers going between the two cities? so there'll be five routes. we will connect edinburgh and glasgow. some of those services will run via shotts and falkirk high. we'll also see a service from edinburgh to bathgate, and we'll see larkhall and lanark services. that is around 180 services so around 10% of what we've been operating. we need customers to plan

ahead and understand it is a very limited timetable. it also finishes early in the days will make sure they have not got themselves in a position where they can travel. what about commuters than the rest of the country? dundee, inverness, aberdeen? just no trains for anyone north or southern central belt area? it's very unfortunate. this uk wide strike is affecting all services and the country... those strikes that will be on network _ those strikes that will be on network rail are safety critical like signal people so there isjust no way— like signal people so there isjust no way we — like signal people so there isjust no way we can get these services to operate _ no way we can get these services to operate without people being there and that _ operate without people being there and that is why we are seeing such a reduction _ and that is why we are seeing such a reduction in — and that is why we are seeing such a reduction in services. and it is over three days with a day in between so what are the chances of getting services up and running in the days when there isn't a strike? so the days in between the strike, we will actually start to see the timetable return, but, however, there will be services starting later in the day than they traditionally would and this is just allowing

the train services to get into service again with people to get onto the website can plan the journey, speak to teams in the stations and understand what services are running where and when but the days between strikes will see a slower start up than they do normally, roundabouts 7am as opposed to five in the morning. and your advice to customers, briefly? plan ahead. book on the website. if you need to speak to staff at the stations please do so. 0n the days of the strike, we will have staff available on the stations, still here because scotrail are not on strike and we will do all we can help people and advise. thank you very much. apart from scotrail, cross—border services will also be affected in the caledonian sleepers well. it will run sniper that will be the last one this week and customers are being advised to check the website and caledonian sleeper customers will get a refund if they were planning to travel later this week. just a handful of train routes will run in wales during the strikes. although transport for wales are not involved in the dispute, the vast majority of lines rely on network rail signallers.

these passengers in wrexham shared their thoughts on the strikes it is a pain, to be honest. nothing, really. i can say, yeah, ifeel sorry for them, they want a pay rise, just like the rest of us, but what can you do? we were going to go and visit grace's family. yeah, so we have had to kind of cancel that one! because we can't get down. i get the bus to work i every day to the courts. it goes under the tunnel. i guessed it would be - packed with everyone off the trains and on the buses, but you've just got - to muck on, haven't you? joining me now is steve montgomery, chair of industry body the rail delivery group — which is made up of train operating companies, the rail supply group and infrastructure owners network rail. he's also managing director of first rail. it isa it is a failure of both sides, isn't it, unions and management? we can

only apologise _ it, unions and management? we can only apologise that _ it, unions and management? we can only apologise that customers - it, unions and management? we can only apologise that customers are i only apologise that customers are going to be is inconvenienced as they have been that we have to be clear here that we have been talking to the trade unions a year since the pandemic started and then we started to see a significant drop—off in customers and we are trying to look at how we work together with the trade unions and caveat modernisation and reform of the industry so that we can then try to take less money from the taxpayer and, ultimately, we do want to give our people pay increase, of course, because we understand the difficulties that people are experiencing at this moment in time but we have to get on with reform and that helps us deliver the next phase of giving people a pay rise. what the rmt would say to that pay offer, haven't had a pay rise, faced with thousands ofjob cuts and able to rip up our terms and

conditions in the form of fire and rehire. we been in a lot of... we need to carry out reforms- _ lot of... we need to carry out reforms. we _ lot of... we need to carry out reforms. we really _ lot of... we need to carry out reforms. we really need - lot of... we need to carry out reforms. we really need both lot of... we need to carry out - reforms. we really need both parties to the table and require details and acceptance reform can go ahead and that then allows us to let it go ahead and get a settlement for our staff and make sure we can move the industry forward. strikes are very damaging, for a industry forward. strikes are very damaging, fora number of industry forward. strikes are very damaging, for a number of reasons, obviously to customers but also to industry finances. we are due to lose about 150 million of the strike days and thatjust makes the gap even biggerfor how days and thatjust makes the gap even bigger for how can we try to plug it in stock taking taxpayers money to keep the male strikes. might make a hear what you say about the need for reform and trained —— rail strikes. taste the need for reform and trained -- rail strikeo— rail strikes. we saw inflation is risinu rail strikes. we saw inflation is risin: to rail strikes. we saw inflation is rising to 1196— rail strikes. we saw inflation is rising to 1196 seen _ rail strikes. we saw inflation is rising to 11% seen in _ rail strikes. we saw inflation is rising to 11% seen in a -

rising to 11% seen in a cost—of—living crisis. surely should be offering them some sort of cost of so much pay rates? taste be offering them some sort of cost of so much pay rates?— be offering them some sort of cost of so much pay rates? we do want to offer them something. _ of so much pay rates? we do want to offer them something. we _ of so much pay rates? we do want to offer them something. we have - of so much pay rates? we do want to offer them something. we have to i offer them something. we have to have reform and understand how far the trade unions want to work with us and take the industry forward, modernise the industry. we have got to look at the future of this industry. we have got outdated practices over the years in the industry has been very successful over the years, doubling passenger numbers. we are now in a crisis and we've got to give something back here and try and make sure that we making judgment bringing modern work practices that help stabilise the industry and then move forward again. industry and then move forward aaain. ., ., , industry and then move forward auain. ., . , .,�* again. you are saying if they don't -a full again. you are saying if they don't pay full with _ again. you are saying if they don't pay full with what _ again. you are saying if they don't pay full with what you _ again. you are saying if they don't pay full with what you want... - again. you are saying if they don'tj pay full with what you want... you have to sit — pay full with what you want... you have to sit down _ pay full with what you want... mt. have to sit down and have meaningful discussions and come to some sort of conclusion and get the strikes away and allow us to rebuild the confidence in the railway and bring people back and then we can obviously make sure we have gotten

industry for the future.— industry for the future. these strikes are — industry for the future. these strikes are actually _ industry for the future. these strikes are actually going - industry for the future. these strikes are actually going to l industry for the future. these - strikes are actually going to affect the very confidence you got on the railways, and they? people trying to put off using the railway so what happens this week trying to get to a concert and get up and down the country to see loved ones after the pandemic. they can because of the railway strike. that is going to shatter their confidence in the railways. shatter their confidence in the railwa s. ., , , shatter their confidence in the railwa s. . , , , shatter their confidence in the railwa s. ., , , , railways. that is why it is so difficult to _ railways. that is why it is so difficult to understand - railways. that is why it is so difficult to understand why i railways. that is why it is so i difficult to understand why the avanti of taking these decisions to take people from the damage the confidence the industry further. no one wants a strike and will know that so we really need to train get this reform done —— why the rmt have made these decisions. we can ensure the rmt members get a pay rise. you are sa in: the rmt members get a pay rise. you are saying it — the rmt members get a pay rise. you are saying it is — the rmt members get a pay rise. you are saying it is difficult to understand their position they are saying they can't send your position. it doesn't look like there's any room for compromise. what it does look like is that we are going to face a summer of

discontent on the railways, this could go on for or months. then is room for for _ could go on for or months. then is room for for compromise - could go on for or months. then is room for for compromise and - could go on for or months. then is room for for compromise and we l could go on for or months. then is l room for for compromise and we can work together. people from the rmt who understand the finances... they have to understand that you can't just take taxpayers money and expect to just receive continual subsidies. we've got to try and help ourselves as an industry and involve the pit trade unions and part of our industry but we can resolve it. this is resolvable.— is resolvable. steve montgomery, chair of the _ is resolvable. steve montgomery, chair of the industry _ is resolvable. steve montgomery, chair of the industry body - is resolvable. steve montgomery, chair of the industry body the - is resolvable. steve montgomery, chair of the industry body the rail| chair of the industry body the rail delivery group. and 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—thousand members, will write to the education secretary, nadhim zahawi, this week. any strike would take place in the autumn. the new head of the army has told

british troops they should be prepared to "fight in europe once again" as the conflict in ukraine continues. 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. 0ur correspondentjoe inwood has more from the ukrainian town of irpin, outside the capital kyiv. you only have to look around me to the town of irpin, the 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. it mentioned russia by name. now, we should say this was a letter that was not intended for public consumption, but it was said 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, well, they've been calling for nato involvement in this war, but i don't think they're going to view this as a clear indication that the british army will be getting involved. how would the russians view it? well, i think they would probably

take it much the same way, but if this is seen as something as a threat, and it could be, then maybe sergey lavrov would echo the sentiment he expressed in an interview last week when he was talking about britain's desire to bring russia to its knees and he said, "well, bring it on." all in all, the mood music we're 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 said it himself today — they need to offer military support on an ongoing basis to the ukrainians if they are going to be able to hold on and win this war in the east, but, also, as you can see here, rebuild their country, because economically they're on their knees. the headlines on bbc news... the transport secretary accuses union leaders of "punishing millions of innocent people" by pressing ahead with rail strikes this week. as the conflict in ukraine continues, the new head of the british army tells his troops they need to prepare to "fight in europe once again". at least 59 people have died in floods in bangladesh and india, with nearly

6 million people stranded. good afternoon. tennis, and matteo berrettini has defended his title at queen's club, underlining his wimbledon credentials..the italian second seed beat serbia's krajinovic 7—5 6—4 to claim the seventh atp title of his career. the world number 10 has also claimed back—to—back titles, having beaten andy murray to win the stuttgart 0pen last week. the men's doubles final is under way with britian's lloyd glasspool and harri heliovaara taking on nikola mektic and mate pavic.

you can watch this right now on the bbc sport website and on the app. it is 5—3 in the first set. and beatriz haddad maia has won the birmingham classic — her second title in a week. the brazilian, who won the nottingham 0pen title last sunday, beat zhang shuai of china after she withdrew during the second set. both players had played out their semi finals earlier after rain caused delays yesterday. england's cricketers have been set 236 to win the second one day international against the netherlands and win the three match series with a game to spare. the match was reduced to 41 overs because of rain and the netherlands chose to bat. they were struggling initially — but a score of 78 from captain scott edwards helped the home side to 235—7. in response, england are 21 without loss. red bull's max verstappen

will start on pole for the canadian grand prix which gets under way around seven 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." despite feeling unwell world champion fabio quartararo extended his championship lead to sa points by winning the german motogp. the frenchman snatched the lead from francesco bagnaia at the first corner at the sachsenring. the italian then crashed out with 27 laps to go. quartararo overcame tiredness and coughing during the race to take the victory ahead of compatriot

johann zarco and australia's jack miller. it's all set up for a thrilling finish heading into the final round of the us open, with just four shots separating the top ten players on the leaderboard. home favourite will zalatoris and england's matt fitzpatrick are the two men to catch at the top. zalatoris hit a third round of 67 to move to four under par, while fitzpatrick went round in 68 in a round that included five birdies. victory for either player today would see them win their first major golf title. i think ithink up i think up until southern hills, really, i didn't really appreciate how hard it is actually to win a major. all right, yes, i'm not challenged in any, really, up until then, but i think myself included and people on the outside may be

think it's easier than it is. and for me i think it's... it's been a big change from us pga tour to come here to a golf course i know so well and it's given me some extra confidence. hollie doyle has become the first female jockey to win a french classic race with victory on nashwa in the french oaks at chantilly. doyle became the first woman to be placed in a british classic when she came third on the filly in the oaks at epsom earlier this month. favourite nashwa won from la parisienne in the race which is officially known as the prix de diane. afterfinishing doyle was congratulated by husband and fellowjockey tom marquand, who also rode in the race. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. see you, holly. thank you. flooding and landslides triggered by monsoon weather have left dozens dead and millions stranded in bangladesh and india. rescue teams have been trying to bring people to safety. forecasters are warning the situation is likely to get worse.

0ur correspondent akbar hossain — is in the bangladeshi capital dhaka — told us why the floods have been so devastating for the country. bangladesh's north—eastern region, sylhet and sunamganj district is underwater for the last three days. the whole area has been cut off from the rest of the country by floodwaters. flights to and from in sylhet have been suspended. many british bangladeshis living in the uk are from sylhet region. local people say there is no way to get safe shelter in the area. people are suffering from food and pure drinking water shortage. there is hardly any housing in the region which is not submerged by floodwater. many people have taken refuge on the rooftop due to floodwaters. describing the situation, local people say that cattle and poultry are floating on the water. local people also say that there are not enough boats to rescue those trapped

in the floods. that's why most people cannot go to the shelter. bangladesh's vulnerability to float its well documented usually. people are used to coping with the situation. but this time, the ferocity of flooding in sylhet and sunamganj district has surpassed all previous benchmarks. the army has been deployed to rescue people trapped in the floodwater. shelters have been opened for the rescued people in all government offices and many private buildings. sunamganj and sylhet area was flooded for the second time in a month. this time, the floodwater has taken a terrible turn at a fast pace. rainwater from india's meghalaya region has come down to sunamganj and sylhet region very fast. bbc news, dhaka. 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 a0 other applications are being reviewed. at least two people were killed in the attack 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. voting is under way in parliamentary elections in france, with president macron's party facing the prospect on being unable to command a majority — limiting his ability to enact his polices. he faces a broad left—wing alliance of parties backing jean—luc melenchon. the turnout — at four o'clock uk time — is 38%. hugh schofield reports. 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 for his opponents, especially those on the left, to get their revenge. man of the hour is jean—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? hugh schofield in paris. 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 attacked. 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, "0h, iweara headscarf, what if i get attacked?" the number of islamophobic hate crimes recorded by the 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's 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 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. sonja jessup reporting. the double olympic champion dame kelly holmes has revealed that she is gay. the 52—year—old told the daily mirror newspaper that she had known she was gay since she was 17. dame kelly holmes said she had hidden her sexuality forfear of repercussions while serving in the army.

dame kelly says she feels she can breathe again after coming out. it's father's day, and the duke of cambridge has released a 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. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell. hello. the really hot and humid air has now left our shores, but it's still sitting in place across much of europe and heat wave conditions will persist for central europe into the week ahead. we are now in cooler, fresher air that swept in from the north. this is the boundary between the two air masses, a weather front that will continue to give some showers across southern england on into the evening. through the small hours of monday, though, they tend to drift away to the south. winds fall light across scotland and in sheltered central and eastern

spots, temperatures could even dip down as low as just