this is bbc news, i'm annita mcveigh, these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. the taliban appeals for international help in afghanistan after a powerful earthquake kills more than one thousand people. we are desperately trying to work with local partners to get through that rubble and see if there are any survivors that we can administer first aid to, get to local hospitals. the second day of rail strikes begins with half the network closed in england, wales and scotland and only 20% of services expected to run. they don't want theirjobs cut, they want a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, they want to defend their conditions whilst dealing with modernisation and of course we need a pay rise. many of our people have not had

a pay rise for two or three years. the more the strikes go on, the more money that costs the industry, the more disruption it causes. that means i have less money available to make a pay award. it makes it harder to get a deal. the european union is expected to approve ukraine as a candidate for membership when it meets in brussels later. borisjohnson arrives in rwanda for a meeting of the commonwealth's heads of government with food security, climate change and the government's migrants policy expected to be on the agenda. the american artistic swimmer anita alvarez has been rescued from the bottom of the pool by her coach, after fainting following her routine at the world aquatics championships.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. afghanistan's taliban rulers have urged aid agencies and other countries to intensify relief efforts after an earthquake that's believed to have killed a thousand people. un agencies are rushing to get emergency shelter, food and medicine to the worst—hit province, paktika, but access to remote areas has been hindered by heavy rain and flooding. frances read reports. cracks in the walls of what used to be a home. whole villages in this part of the country now gone. this, a major disaster. of those who survive, many are now homeless. searches continue in the rubble, but overnight heavy rain and hail has hampered the rescue.

the air ambulance arrives in a remote area, but the response is limited. it's one of only a handful of helicopters left in the country since the taliban returned to power. the hospital beds in paktika's capital, sharan, were full of both the very youngest and the older. this woman survived but she lost 19 family members, and fears she is now completely alone. "seven in one room, five in another, four in another, then three in another, have all been killed in my family. i can't talk any more, my heart is getting weak," she said. here, the injured are treated. doctors say they're worried about food and supplies in the coming days as well as waterborne diseases. the un secretary—general antonio guterres says it's fully mobilised with teams

on the ground to provide initial support. but it's not yet clear what form that will take long term. the country, one of the poorest in the world, was already facing a humanitarian crisis with millions vulnerable to famine. the ruling taliban still international pariahs, and afghanistan's economy crushed by sanctions. translation: we call- on the international community to help because our country alone cannot handle this incident. we want the international community to start working with us at this time, and to continue their cooperation. as emergency food and medical supplies leave for remote areas, aid agencies fear this disaster may be worse than already seen. a lack of communication means it's hard to know the extent of help needed or the damage caused. they can only hope that help comes fast enough. frances read, bbc news.

hsiao—wei lee is deputy country director with the world food programme. she told us about the agency's aid efforts getting under way today. it has been over a day. as of this morning we had teams out there. morning we had teams out it has been over a day. as of this morning we had teams out there. they will be conducting assessments and today we have covered going out. we also have food aid and there will be about 15 fleet trucks going out to the districts that are hardest hit loaded with 170 metric tonnes, and that will include accommodation and they will be able to eat right away. i'm joined now by baroness valerie amos, former under—secretary—general

for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator to the united nations. thank you very much for your time today. afghanistan was a country already facing huge economic problems, huge issues with food security, so in that context, give us a sense of the scale of the issues that face the people affected by this earthquake. this issues that face the people affected by this earthquake.— by this earthquake. this is a terrible. _ by this earthquake. this is a terrible, terrible _ by this earthquake. this is a terrible, terrible tragedy - by this earthquake. this is a | terrible, terrible tragedy and by this earthquake. this is a - terrible, terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to everyone who is affected. it is a remote area, so actually getting to people will be difficult. the people who get their first are obviously local people who will themselves be affected, they will themselves be affected, they will be worried about their own families. and you have a taliban administration that over the last few months has seen the economy spiralling out of control and the

humanitarian situation getting worse and worse. the un and other agencies will do their best, notjust from within the country, but also trying to get help from neighbouring countries. but all of that takes time and speed is of the essence here. with it raining as well, it is going to be pretty chaotic and horrible on the ground. find going to be pretty chaotic and horrible on the ground. and the channels that _ horrible on the ground. and the channels that would _ horrible on the ground. and the channels that would have - horrible on the ground. and the l channels that would have existed pre—taliban, what is the situation like now trying to work with the taliban administration to get people and to get help where it is needed? well, some of those channels are still open. un agencies and other major charities, local charities as well as international ones, didn't leave the country. they found different ways of working. obviously, the sanctions are having an impact and one of the things that

can be looked at is whether or not some of afghanistan was my own frozen assets can be released immediately into these agencies to help that relief effort because getting money to buy the things that are needed is going to be really difficult. the major challenge will be what happens next because this area of the country will have to be rebuilt. how can that happen where you already have a situation where at least half the population are facing a challenge in terms of being able to get the food that they need day—to—day. the health services have imploded, the infrastructure is almost impossible to navigate. so this is going to be a really difficult recovery, given what is going on on the ground now. can you

ut a going on on the ground now. can you put a timescale _ going on on the ground now. can you put a timescale on _ going on on the ground now. can you put a timescale on it, _ going on on the ground now. can you put a timescale on it, baroness? - going on on the ground now. can you put a timescale on it, baroness? thej put a timescale on it, baroness? the health infrastructure is not there, the emergency response infrastructure is not there, so it is presumably going to take a real commitment in a time sense to get these people back on their feet and look after them? it is these people back on their feet and look after them?— look after them? it is really hard to cive a look after them? it is really hard to give a time — look after them? it is really hard to give a time commitment. - look after them? it is really hard to give a time commitment. if. look after them? it is really hard i to give a time commitment. if you think of a country like syria, which i worked on when i was in the united nations, mired in conflict and reconstruction efforts have still not really got off the ground. there are many, many examples. it is much harder to rebuild than it is to destroy. in this case, a massive earthquake, they have to try and find people who may be buried under the rubble. that is the responsibility of the authorities in afghanistan. they have not got the equipment. i can't imagine that

people are trying to find loved ones just using their bare hands. we have to try and get as much help there as possible. people talk about major earth moving equipment but in these early stages you can't really do that because there may be people under that rubble who are alive and we need to get to them. it is painstaking work. i know that everyone, every humanitarian worker, will be doing their level best to give support, to assist, to help, right now. but we also have to be thinking as we do the right now about the longer term stuff. i thinking as we do the right now about the longer term stuff. i want to take you — about the longer term stuff. i want to take you back _ about the longer term stuff. i want to take you back to _ about the longer term stuff. i want to take you back to the _ about the longer term stuff. i want to take you back to the point - about the longer term stuff. i want to take you back to the point you l to take you back to the point you are making about perhaps some of the assets frozen when the taliban took over afghanistan, those assets being released and given to the aid agencies. what with the process be there? ., ., ., ,

agencies. what with the process be there? ., . ., , . there? there would have to be a discussion _ there? there would have to be a discussion in _ there? there would have to be a discussion in the _ there? there would have to be a discussion in the un _ there? there would have to be a discussion in the un and - there? there would have to be a discussion in the un and an - discussion in the un and an agreement reached on how that could be done because the worry would be not wanting to get these assets into the hands of an authority that is not yet recognised by many in the international community, concerns about what that money might be used for. of course, there have been concerns in the past with respect to money going into the hands of terrorist organisations, so there is a security element to all of this. so navigating that complexity is not easy, but there is a way that can be found to help to give this money to those who will help afghans on the ground who desperately need that help. ground who desperately need that hel, ., ,, ground who desperately need that hel. ., ,,�* ground who desperately need that hel. ., ., ~ ground who desperately need that hel. ., ,,~ ., ground who desperately need that hel-. , ., , help. baroness amos, thank you very

much for your— help. baroness amos, thank you very much for your time _ help. baroness amos, thank you very much for your time today. _ help. baroness amos, thank you very much for your time today. former - much for your time today. former undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator at the united nations. here in the uk, more than 40,000 rail, maritime and transport union members from network rail and 13 train operators have walked out for the second of their three planned strikes this morning. half the rail network is closed in england, wales and scotland. only 20% of services are expected to be running, and some areas will have no trains at all. the latest talks between the unions and rail employers were held on wednesday in a bid to resolve the dispute overjobs, pay and conditions but they broke down. the rmt is calling for a pay rise of 7%, while employers have offered a maximum of 3%. the government says it is up to the railway companies to negotiate, but mick lynch, general secretary of the rmt has described the government as a "silent partner" at the negotiating table. the rmt accused ministers of wrecking talks by refusing to allow network rail to withdraw redundancy threats, a claim

denied by the government. another strike is planned for saturday unless agreement is reached beforehand. however, at this late stage, even if action is called off, it will probably be too late to prevent much of the disruption. it comes alongside news that hundreds of gmb members working at heathrow will be balloted over whether to walk out during the summer holiday period. that's at midday today. we'll have more news on heathrow a little later. but first, the government is preparing to publish its proposed change to the law, which would let businesses bring in skilled agency workers to stand in for striking staff. mick lynch, the general secretary of the rmt, says his members don't want to cause disruption. we apologise to the public and the travellers. we don't want this kind of disruption in our communities. we don't want that on our railway. the men and women of our union are standing on picket lines because they need a square deal from the employer. they've got to sacrifice their pay for up to three days this week, they don't want to do that, but what they are determined to do

is get a settlement to the issues. they don't want their jobs cut. they want the guarantee of no compulsory redundancies. they want to defend their conditions while dealing with the modernisation issue. and, of course, we need a pay rise. many other people haven't had a pay rise for two or three years. and of course, that is true of the general public as well. many people in both the private sector and the public sector have also had their pay suppressed. so we are part of the movement that is trying to rebalance that and get a square deal for everyone. steve montgomery is chair of the rail delivery group, which represents rail companies. he says modernisation in the rail industry is necessary to plug the current funding gap. how do we get reform within the industry so that we can start to modernise it and meet the funding gap that we have all spoken about over the last number of weeks? that there is a huge funding gap there and the cost of the industry is now far in excess of the actual revenue that the industry is taking in. so what we are trying to do, working with the trade unions,

how do we modernise and reduce our overall costs that can then allow us in various ways to increase staff's wages but also, ultimately, stop the taxpayer paying more into the rail industry than is necessary? our business correspondent celestina olulode is at paddington. it is looking pretty quiet behind you, the section of the concourse that we can see. what is the situation there?— situation there? well this is usually one _ situation there? well this is usually one of— situation there? well this is usually one of the _ situation there? well this is usually one of the busiest i situation there? well this is - usually one of the busiest stations in the country, but not today. take a look at this passenger aboard. everywhere that you see please inquire, that means the train lines are not working. it is a hefty chunk of services impacted. what we have got is 20% of the trains are running today. if you have a look around the

station, there are people walking about here. some of these people are actually using the london elizabeth line, the london rail line. that was impacted on tuesday with the tube strikes, but not today. that will continue to run throughout the day. in terms of the rail services, 6:30pm is when we expect the train lines to stop running. one train that many passengers are trying to catch is that train to castle cary to get to the glastonbury festival. earlier on i spoke to a passenger and she said she was not overly worried, however, she did leave her house an hour ahead of schedule. she did not do that in previous years because she wants to make sure that she gets to the festival on time. another group of people who could be potentially impacted is to rest. i spoke to two couples today from the us. they say that so far, so good,

but they do worry about what will happen later on in the day. the advice from network rail continues to be don't travel unless you have two. another day of strikes on saturday. two. another day of strikes on saturda . , ., ., ~ two. another day of strikes on saturda . , ., . ~' , ., , saturday. celestino, thank you very much. our correspondent nick garnett is at manchester piccadilly for us. the same question to you, nick. how are thins the same question to you, nick. firm" are things looking the same question to you, nick. firm are things looking there? things are running as much as they wanted them to run. northern rail, which runs the regional services out of this train station, one of the busiest in england, decided to say to people don't travel by train all week, not just on strike days, but the other days as well. they wanted to try and alleviate the pressure that was coming onto the train network when so few trains are running. that seems to have worked so well, the policy of saying don't come to the

trains. but on the other strike day, on tuesday, some of the trains were not busy at all. what they have decided this time as they are running even if you are trains. we are now down to a real bare minimum. there is a train going down south, one going across the pennines, one going regionally into cheshire and manchester airport and sometimes there is one running north as well, but very few services, far fewer than normal. they are running around five services an hour at the moment. normally they run a train every two and a half minutes out of the station. an awful lot of difference to normal. if you look behind me you will see there is a black screen with a lot of yellow. it looks as though things are running smoothly. they are the destinations, but it does not show you that there are very few trains. there are trains to liverpool, reading, york, london and from southampton. the big screen shows you everything. it is going to

on the journey. there are not as many trains as it looks and there are not as many places they are going to, but the fact is those trains they are operating our running. there are 1a platforms here and i looked around a couple of minutes ago and there were three trains in the station. not an awful lot of work here, but those that are running our running to time and people are getting away. most of those people are either day—trippers or people coming back from holiday or people coming back from holiday or going to holiday and going to manchester airport. or going to holiday and going to manchesterairport. but or going to holiday and going to manchester airport. but you have also got international cricket in yorkshire in leeds today and there are people going over there, so that train has been busy in the last couple of hours. but also glastonbury. no trains to glastonbury. no trains to glastonbury from here. down the concourse from me there have been buses and they have been picking up people who are on their way to glastonbury because there is no way to get there by train. lats glastonbury because there is no way to get there by train.— to get there by train. lots of information _ to get there by train. lots of information for _ to get there by train. lots of information for us, - to get there by train. lots of information for us, really - to get there by train. lots of - information for us, really useful. lots of information

for us, really useful. let's get more now on other industries which may see strikes this summer. gmb union members working as heathrow check—in and ground staff will vote today over whether to take strike action, which could result in a walkout during the summer holidays. i spoke to gmb national officer nadine houghton a little earlier and started by asking her why the ten percent that was cut during the pandemic off pay has been reinstated for the bosses but not for those working in check—in and ground staff. i suppose they want to suggest they can't afford it, but the reality is if you can pay it back for the bosses and if you can see wage increases like we are seeing for example for the ceo of iag, which is british airways' parent company, when the ceo expects to pocket a nice hefty pay rise of £4.9 million this year, we don't think it is unreasonable for our primarily women, part—time, low—paid workers to be demanding back the 10% that they had cut from their pay as a result of fire

and rehire during the pandemic. and what is the status of discussions at the moment? have your members been offered any of that 10% back? what ba are saying is they have offered a 10% one—off bonus payment to our members. now, that 10% one—off bonus payment is exactly that, it is a one—off payment, it is not part of consolidated pay, so it does not go into people's pensions and it does not grow as the years go by, it is there and then it is gone. our members have said, actually, we don't want the one—off payment, we want our consolidated payback that you robbed from us during the pandemic when we didn't have any ability to fight back against fire and rehire. ba said, ok, if you want to fight for that 10% back, then we are not going to give you the 10% bonus that we have given to other groups. so they have been doubly impacted by ba's actions. is there any suggestion

that the airline or the airport is going to hire in agency staff to cover thesejobs? good luck to them is what i would say. the industry is on its knees because of staff shortages. it has staff shortages because employers, like british airways, used the pandemic as an opportunity to unethically cut our members' pay and conditions. loyal members of staff that had been with the business for years, that know the job, are no longer with the company and now they can't recruit the staff to get back in and do the job that needs to be done and that is why we are seeing the chaos in the airports that we are currently seeing. and even iag's chief executive acknowledges this himself, the crisis we are seeing in aviation is caused by staff shortages and there is only one answer to that, and there is only one way that ba can get its operation

back to where it is, to being back to pre—pandemic levels, and that is it needs to pay its staff properly, it needs to pay back the money that it robbed from them during the pandemic and it needs to rebuild trust and confidence that is absolutely decimated as a result of its actions. the waiting list for hospital treatment in wales has grown to a new record for the 24th month in a row. the latest data shows that in april 2022 there were more than 700,000 patients waiting for treatment, the equivalent of more than one in five of the welsh population. we can cross to our wales correspondent hywel griffith. that number represents a significant proportion of the welsh population, doesn't it? it is proportion of the welsh population, doesn't it? , ., ., doesn't it? it is the equivalent of more than _ doesn't it? it is the equivalent of more than one _ doesn't it? it is the equivalent of more than one in _ doesn't it? it is the equivalent of more than one in five, _ doesn't it? it is the equivalent of more than one in five, the - doesn't it? it is the equivalent of more than one in five, the entirej more than one in five, the entire welsh population. long waiting lists are not a new problem, but the pandemic period has exacerbated the issues, the lack of capacity,

shortage of staff, and now we are seeing so many people, more than 60,000, awaiting over might use to start the treatment. i spoke this week to a couple of patients who had waited more than four years, and even before the pandemic they faced a two—year wait for treatment. what a two-year wait for treatment. what is the welsh — a two-year wait for treatment. what is the welsh government _ a two—year wait for treatment. what is the welsh government saying about this? when we get responses to waiting lists we usually hear about the pandemic and the impact of that and people who have not been going in for treatment coming forward now, but if people were already on a long waiting list before the pandemic, how is the last government responding to this latest data? the? responding to this latest data? they certainly reference _ responding to this latest data? tie: certainly reference the pandemic responding to this latest data? ti21 certainly reference the pandemic and say the nhs is still recovering from that period. they acknowledge that they were having issues before the pandemic, but things have deteriorated. they also point to their plans for improving services and the investment they say they are making. now, there are things are changing, new operating theatres for

example being built, but they are not operational yet and they need to up not operational yet and they need to up the staff rate. at a hospital i was at yesterday a new shiny theatre ready to go, but they were still recruiting, still on the phone is trying to get the staff and nurses to back that up. may be a long time before we see these figures for hospital operations improve. i should also mention the other figures we have had today, which are on ambulance response times and a&e weights, another difficult problem for the welsh nhs. in both cases there have been marginal improvements, but the figures are still among the worst on record and that causes real concern if someone dialled 999 and they don't get that response soon enough, or if they turn up at the hospital and see a long queue of ambulances waiting to discharge patients. ukraine looks likely to be approved as an official eu candidate country, a first step towards joining the bloc. european leaders are gathering in brussels for a summit in which they're expected to sign off the move. it's not a guarantee that membership

will be granted but ukraine's ambassador to the eu says candidate status will be a huge boost for his country. we can cross live to our correspondent in brussels, jessica parker. jessica, hello to you. the european council president has been talking about the importance of strengthening security and stability, so does charles michelle seeing bringing ukraine in as a candidate country doing that, strengthening the alliance? what strengthening the alliance? what the are strengthening the alliance? what they are doing — strengthening the alliance? what they are doing as _ strengthening the alliance? what they are doing as they _ strengthening the alliance? mat they are doing as they are strengthening the alliance? wist they are doing as they are set to grab candidate status but with a number of conditions, including reforms likejudicial number of conditions, including reforms like judicial reforms, legal reforms, political reforms, anti—corruption reforms, and those things would need to be carried out before negotiations could even begin, which typically take years and years. they are just behind be

setting up a stage for a smaller summit happening before a bigger summit happening before a bigger summit with western balkan leaders, some of whom have been in the queue for a long time, as early as 2005 north macedonia was granted candidate status. that shows it is a long road ahead. but there is this sense, as you are suggesting, that the eu does want to expand its sphere of influence to its neighbouring countries, but, of course, an issue with ukraine at the moment is ukraine is at war, the government is not in control of its whole territory, and the sense today is that this is a political moment, i moment where the eu says it wants ukraine to be in the european union, but that actual prospect leaders have admitted it would be many years, if not decades away. i was speaking to the ukrainian ambassador to the european union and he was saying that some of those bigger reforms probably cannot happen until

there is a stable situation, and and nobody knows when that might happen and what that might look like. nevertheless, this is being seen as a symbolic moment. not long ago diplomats say they could not have imagined that here at the summit ukraine would have been granted candidate status.— ukraine would have been granted candidate status. leaders and foreign ministers from across the commonwealth's 5a countries are meeting in rwanda in a long—awaited summit that was delayed due to the pandemic. borisjohnson arrived in kigali earlier today ahead of the meeting as it brings together representatives of almost a third of the global population. rwanda joined the commonwealth in 2009, but there's been criticism over the host country's human rights record. let's hear from our deputy africa editor, anne soy, who is in the capital of rwanda for the commonwealth heads of government meeting. meetings have been going on since sunday. youth have been meeting here from across the 5a member countries

of the commonwealth and they're having women's forums, there is a business forum and civil society. they have been discussing a range of issues from cervical cancer and access to vaccines, to climate change and the threat to small island nations. the different forms have taken positions on various issues and they are handing those over to the foreign ministers who are meeting today. they will consider all the range of issues that will be placed in front of them and then kind of set the agenda for the heads of government who will be meeting tomorrow. the official opening of the commonwealth heads of government meeting is tomorrow and the summit happens then. find government meeting is tomorrow and the summit happens then.— government meeting is tomorrow and the summit happens then. and we know prince charles — the summit happens then. and we know prince charles is _ the summit happens then. and we know prince charles is attending _ the summit happens then. and we know prince charles is attending the - prince charles is attending the meeting and this is borisjohnson's first visit to rwanda since the announcement of that policy of sending asylum seekers there while their claims are assessed. we understand prince charles has

privately expressed concerns about that policy. do we know if the two men are going to be meeting or seen in public together today? well, we do not know about today. we have looked at the itinerary well, we do not know about today. we have looked at the itinerary of well, we do not know about today. we have looked at the itinerary of both leaders but we have not seen anywhere, where they would be meeting today. they will be meeting tomorrow at the official opening of the heads of government meeting, of which prince charles is representing the queen, who is the head of the commonwealth. and this is an issue that has been controversial, particularly, in the uk, but he the discussion has really been mutant. it is not controversial here in rwanda and both the british and the rwandan government have said that they are determined to carry on with this partnership, and once they have the legal business out of the way, the legal business out of the way, the government is saying it is ready to accept the asylum seekers, so we do not expect that this is going to

be any point of contention in a meeting between the rwandan and the british prime minister. the rwandan president. we will be asking this question to some of the commonwealth heads of government to hear what they have to say about it. fiur they have to say about it. our deu they have to say about it. our deputy africa _ they have to say about it. our deputy africa editor there. as the uk presses on with its plan to send asylum seekers to rwanda, the bbc has heard evidence that, as recently as 2017, refugees despatched there by israel were rapidly deported and are now back in europe. the bbc�*s population correspondent stephanie hegarty reports. it's 2018 in tel aviv and protesters are gathered in the mainn square to rally against a secretive scheme that israel has been running for four years, sending asylum seekers to east africa. this man was one of them. he left eritrea to escape the war in 2007 and moved to israel to claim asylum.

seven years later, his permit was revoked and he was given a choice, go to prison or take $3500 and a one—way flight to rwanda. he chose rwanda. but he was not there for very long. we have spoken to six different people from eritrea who have told us the same story. on arriving in rwanda, they were greeted by officials, and they were taken to a hotel. and within days for some and just hours for others, they say they were forced to cross into uganda and most of them mentioned this man called john.

this man is also convinced that rwandan officials were involved in sending him to uganda. the rwandan government told the bbc it is not aware of any allegations of smuggling against its officials and that it will investigate anyone found to have breached its laws or ethical standards. it is so hard to live. there's no humanity, really. one man we spoke to who did manage to stay in rwanda said he has not been granted asylum seven years later and he is living in a refugee camp. with no chance of a life in uganda, the men continued north to libya and onto europe by small boats. some of them died along the way.

rwanda and israel ran this scheme unofficially and in secret for four years. but in 2018, israel wanted to formalise an arrangement to send people to rwanda involuntarily. but widespread protests broke out and the plan ended up being blocked by israel's supreme court. a spokesperson for rwanda said... the uk home office said...

we can now speak to dr shani bar—tuvia from the israeli refugee rights forum. thank you forjoining us today and those involved in the israeli scheme say that in that case, the arrangement to send people to rwanda actually fuelled the number, increase the number of people coming to european countries. was that the case as far as you are concerned? hello, first of all, thanks for having me. we know that many of the people, some of the people, including the people that i partly heard that you interviewed, i'm sorry, i only had part of it, we know that many of them tried after arriving in rwanda and seeing that they have nothing waiting there and none of israel's promises were fulfilled in ruan to, so some of

them were forced to be smuggled and left rwanda and attempt to find safety, and we know that many of them, because of this situation, try to get to europe. you interviewed some that are managed, we also interviewed some that managed back interviewed some that managed back in 2018 as part of a public campaign against forcible deportation to rwanda and uganda. today, the libyan route the mediterranean route is very well known that it has been locked because of improving cooperation between italy and the eu in general and libya. what is left from the libyan government, but also, the local militia. crossing became much harder, people had much lower chances of actually making it to europe, so many of the people that do leave still today as part of the voluntary scheme, because the non—voluntary ones fail, many that do leave israel today towards uganda

and rwanda, i'm happy to say there are not very high numbers, but people that leave try to find safety around africa because they do not have many choices left. 50. around africa because they do not have many choices left.— have many choices left. so, from our have many choices left. so, from your experience _ have many choices left. so, from your experience of _ have many choices left. so, from your experience of the _ have many choices left. so, from your experience of the israeli - your experience of the israeli scheme, what you think will happen with britain's plan?— with britain's plan? well, it's not because of— with britain's plan? well, it's not because of my — with britain's plan? well, it's not because of my experience - with britain's plan? well, it's not because of my experience with l with britain's plan? well, it's not i because of my experience with the israeli scheme, because the situation in israel is very different to the situation in the uk and europe, in terms of the checks and europe, in terms of the checks and balances that we have in place here, there are fewer and the human rights. the flight that was supposed to flight that was supposed to go to rwanda. there were several attempts

not only by the uk but also by other european countries that attempted to implement the idea that i went another country to deal with my asylum seekers, to pay a country, to take one's refugees, different forms of this idea have been around in europe since the beginning of the 90s, the end of the 80s even, but they were never implemented. this is they were never implemented. this is the closest that we ever got, now the closest that we ever got, now the situation between the uk and rwanda. according to past experience, there is a big chance that it will be blocked, especially if the public protest and the criticism against the uk deal will continue. so, isee criticism against the uk deal will continue. so, i see high chances that this will not be implemented but, of course, i cannot say. it is partly based on the israel experience of rwanda, not because the checks and balances are similar, because i said there aren't, this deal is compromising human rights in

such a way... deal is compromising human rights in such a way- - -— now, let's return to the uk rail strikes. services have ground to a halt across much of britain, as thousands of workers walk out for the second time this week. staff from 13 train companies and network rail including signallers are taking part in the action. the rmt union is locked in a dispute aboutjobs, pay and conditions, but industry bosses say they must also agree to modernise working practices. the government is preparing to publish a proposed change to the law which would let businesses bring in agency workers to stand in for striking staff. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon told us from glasgow how the strike is affecting rail services there. there is only about 10% of services running in scotland today and it's very limited, geographically. there's just one route operating from queen street station, that's where i am now,

that's the service between edinburgh and glasgow and points in between. the service between scotland's two biggest cities. in fact, there are only five routes running within scotland today and they coverjust a small part of what's known as the central belt. there is a limited cross—border service down into england but no trains north of the central belt, no trains to the highlands, no trains to cities including aberdeen and inverness. no trains south into the borders, but i think today, i'm getting a sense that it's even quieter than it was on tuesday. the message that services here in scotland are extremely restricted because of this network rail strike seems to be getting through. there have been a few commuters here but many people are opting to work from home, there's been tourists coming through as well. i spoke a little earlier to a couple coming on holiday from kansas city in the united states. they said they faced delays of four

days getting here in the first place because of cancellations and delays on their flight, so they were pretty calm, actually, about what is happening. they were supportive of the strike and they said, they have had so many cancellations, why not a train strike now as well? let's get more now on the earthquake in afghanistan, which is reported to have killed at least a thousand people. the country's taliban rulers have urged aid agencies and other countries to step up relief efforts. joining us now is zia shahreyarfrom bbc persian. what is the latest you are hearing on the situation in the country? it's been more than 2a hours that the very destructive earthquake hit eastern provinces of afghanistan, bordering on pakistan — paktika. the un has said that convoys have left

kabul and programmes are supplying food to thousands of families in the area. it is a very mountainous area and rainfall was going on, so that also made the mission of rescue more difficult. they are still talking about villages that have not been reached by the organisations as well as the government. so, still the figure stands at more than 1000 people, who have lost their lives and more than 1500 injured. the un is talking about around 5000 houses being destroyed during the last few hours after the earthquake and that also shows the scale of destruction

that the earthquake has caused in these places. so a lot of people still, the local officials are saying that people are still under the rubble is and the rescue mission is still continuing, it might continue for days. [30 is still continuing, it might continue for days.- is still continuing, it might continue for days. is still continuing, it might continue for da s. ~ ., continue for days. do you think that this disaster — continue for days. do you think that this disaster will _ continue for days. do you think that this disaster will lead _ continue for days. do you think that this disaster will lead the _ continue for days. do you think that this disaster will lead the taliban i this disaster will lead the taliban to respond differently and react differently to other countries, now that the taliban leadership is calling for help is mac rare that the taliban leadership is calling for help is mac we talked to the main spokesman _ calling for help is mac we talked to the main spokesman for _ calling for help is mac we talked to the main spokesman for the - calling for help is mac we talked to | the main spokesman for the taliban government last night, late last night and this was a question that we asked. would you have thought that you are in a better position to reach these people if you are recognised by the international community and if you had responded positively to some of the demands that the international community has of the taliban government? his response was that this is a houston

human —— human calamity at this time. we demand all of the countries of the world to reach these people and to help them and leave their political incentives away during this time and, as he said, not mix politics. obviously, the situation has been made worse by the taliban takeover, the poverty that the country is suffering, the hunger, and all sorts of problems caused by the latest economic situation. thank ou for the latest economic situation. thank you for that — the latest economic situation. thank you for that update. _ eight medical staff are to stand trial in argentina, accused of criminal negligence in the death of the legendary footballer, diego maradona, including his family doctor, a psychologist and two nurses. maradona died of a heart attack in 2020 while recovering from brain

surgery for a blood clot. no date has been set for the trial. wendy urquhart reports. prosecutors claim that those who were meant to be taking care of diego maradona, when he was recovering from surgery from a blood clot were woefully inadequate. an investigation was launched after the footballer�*s death, and last year, a panel of 20 experts found that his medical team acted in an inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner, adding that he would have had a better chance of survival, if he had been treated in a appropriate medical facility. diego maradona was widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers of all time and was as large as life off the pitch as to when he was on it. but he had his demons too. he struggled with alcohol abuse for a long time, and in the years before he died, he was back and forth to hospital with health problems.

the medical staff facing charges include his family doctor. they all deny responsibility, but if found guilty, they could be jailed for between eight and 25 years. there was a really scary moment at the world aquatics championships in budapest, when one of the american synchronised swimmers fainted and sank to the bottom of the pool, having to be rescued by her coach. this was anita alvarez during the solo free final, when she passed out under water. her coach andrea fuentes was the quickest to react and dived in and dragged her out of the pool, averting a much more serious incident. the coach has released a statement saying "anita is ok. we sometimes forget that this happens in other high—endurance sports. marathon, cycling, cross—country. we all have seen images where some athletes don't make it to the finish line and others help them to get there. our sport is no different than others, just in a pool. we push through limits and sometimes we find them."

consumer expert martin lewis has revealed that he was recently turned down, after applying to become a member of the house of lords. the founder of the money saving expert website has told the bbc that he believes his bid for a cross—bench peerage was rejected because he was "honest" about the limited time he could commit to the role. he's been speaking to nick robinson on the political thinking podcast: now, you did want a peerage at one stage? yeah, ijust got turned down again a couple of weeks ago, actually. turned down? yes, for crossbench. by who? by the house of lords appointments commission. do you know why? yes, i do. and i was much more annoyed last time because i did this really silly thing and i was honest in the interview. so, i had an interview and they talked about timings and i said, and i said, because i want to be open and transparent, gosh, you got this out of me, i haven't spoken about this before, we talked about most of the time

that the lord sits is about three until ten on a monday, tuesday wednesday and i said to them, look, i need to be straight with you in terms of the hours i can give, and very busy with myjob but most importantly, i have a nine—year—old daughter, and until she is 13, my most importantjob from 6:30pm until 8pm is to be with her and put her to bed. maybe until she is 12, whatever, i don't know. she has not got to that age. and so, i would see my role as being learning for three to five years with limited input, and then, gradually over the next five to ten years, committing more and more time to the house of lords if i became crossbench peer and less time to everything else. that's what you told the house? yes, and the interview, i think, went very well. i got very good feedback but i think that was a stumbling block, although they have invited me to apply again in future. they have turned you down? lord lewis, you could be. yes, it's not about the title but... they have turned you down, despite your expertise, despite the fact that you have a kind of unique place... because i don't think i was willing to give them the time that they felt was necessary to be in the lords. you have been very reasonable

about this, martin lewis, but is there a bit of you that thinks they are as idiotic as the bbc, who looked at you as a young producer and held you back? no, for a couple of reasons. one, because i will be honest, when i got the letter, i breathed a sigh of relief because there is a lot of pressure at the moment and i thought maybe a couple of years is maybe, probably more sensible, and two, because i don't know who they will appointment, but my hope is they will have some good people, who are willing to give more time than i can give at the moment. and you can hear the full interview with martin lewis on bbc sounds and the political thinking website. the islands of saint kilda lie way out in the north atlantic, at the westernmost point of the outer hebrides. they're home to nearly one—million seabirds. now conservationists are warning that the avian—flu outbreak could lead to the extinction of one particular species — the great skua. iain macinnes has been to take a look. it's often said to be on the edge of the world. but even here in st kilda, over 100 miles from the scottish mainland,

the effect of the avian flu outbreak is being felt. it's more than 90 years now since the last st kildans were evacuated from these homes, but the centuries before that, the sea beds that surrounded this archipelago were integral to their way of life. now with avian flu in these islands, there is real concern about the impact it could have on various species on the islands. on the hill above village bay, kilda's seabird ranger is keeping a close eye on great skua territory. they have been badly affected. craig describes this as his most challenging season yet. at the end of last season, i was already worried about the 60 birds that had died, how many more i had missed. i knew that the population was going to be impacted. but it wasn't until i got back, i think was around about the 28th of april, that i found the first dead bird. since then, the number of dead birds has just been increasing every day. that number is now at 120

this year and counting. it's thought across many colonies, including here in st kilda, that between two thirds and three quarters of great skuas have been lost. and with only between 15 and 20,000 breeding pairs worldwide, if avian flu continues to have such an impact, the species' very existence could be under threat. that's alarming and heartbreaking to witness. really, really worrying that this bird that i grew up with for many years now on multiple islands is on the verge of extinction. those on the island are doing what they can to limit any spread, especially to other species. when people do arrive, whether it's on cruise boat or on a day boat, we can have that introductory talk with people to make sure they can are both aware of the situation that we have on the developments that will be ongoing with that, and our biosecurity measures to make sure those are fully in place.

and it may be that we have to restrict areas of the island in future, so asking people to only explore certain areas for their safety and safety of the birds. the outbreak continues to be monitored nationally and internationally, with the risk to human health described as very low. but people are being reminded not to touch dead or dying birds. craig, though, is concerned about the future. the most worrying thing about this is that we don't know how much further it's going to go, how many more species it's going to affect. to see this happening to the birds that i'm monitoring is heartbreaking. i came here to monitor live birds, i take great pride in the work that i do, but it's rapidly becoming a major part of myjob to report dead birds. it's worrying times. that was iain macinnes reporting. a protection zone which was established around the recently discovered frozen wreck of the ship of antarctic explorer ernest shackleton is to be extended from 100 and 50 metres to 500 metres.

the endurance, which had been lost for more than 100 years, lies 3000 metres below the ice of the weddell sea. the rediscovery of the vessel in march was hailed as a major historical breakthrough and conservationists are keen to protect the site from future commercial and touristic exploitation. the glastonbury festival is under way break due to covid. the five—day event in somerset, in the south west of england, will host around 200,000 visitors entertained by headline artists including, sir paul mccartney, billie eilish and, kendrick lamar. festival goers will once again include regulars who return every year. one of them is nina chesworth, who lost her sight since her last visit to glastonbury. abbi smitton went to meet her. this is the tent we are going to be using for glastonbury. she has been used a few times now. usually, in this space,

we would have, this would be open. we have got the two bedrooms here, so this is one bedroom. we would usually have air beds in here but we have decided to use camping beds and it's about being organised and keeping trip hazards out of the way. i have the oil and the washing up liquid bottles here and i put a head bobble around the washing up liquid, so that i know that that is washing—up liquids, because you wouldn't want to mix them to work. —— them two up. making sure that i know where everything is and making things accessible and fun as possible, because that's what glastonbury is about. she will be sharing the trip to worthy farm with her whole family. it is my first time going to glastonbury and i'm really looking forward to the blossoms, glass animals and probably staying in the tent and stuff.

it will be a bit different this year. we will have to give her obviously more support but all of the cane training, she has done really well and learning how to do a lot, so i think she will be fine and all the gadgets and all of the stuff really help but she is doing a really good job and she's going to be good. with glastonbury being so close to our hearts, when we get - to the gates and we are going in, i i do think you are going to havel some sort of moment but that is expected l but we will overcome it. after facing a life—changing few years, nina and herfamily are ready to experience the festival that means so much to her together. if you are watching here in the uk, joanna gosling will be out next. and from me, goodbye for now.

hello, again. although there is a bit more cloud again today across parts of northern and western scotland and northern ireland that has been producing some drizzle, as we go through the day, we expect some bright and sunny spells to develop here. we have got this up front moving north across southern england, it's producing some showers. we have got them already, moving northwards, and some of them will be heavy and thundery. the nature showers is that we won't all catch one and there will be some dry weather and some sunshine, some cloud floating around generally as we go through the day. top temperatures today are likely to be somewhere in northern england at around 20 eight or 29 degrees. widely, we are looking at 13 to 27. pollen levels are high or very high,

except for north and north—west scotland, where they are low and moderate. through this evening and overnight commit continuing with the showers drifting steadily northwards, some will have done might be heavy and thundery. some patches of mist and fog forming as well and it will be humid tonight with temperatures falling away to around 11 and 15 degrees. that leads us into tomorrow. we have got this area of low pressure and approaching weather fronts coming our way. area of low pressure and approaching weatherfronts coming our way. the wind will pick up a touch as well. it will be windier than it has been in recent days. the low pressure signals a change in the weather, it's going to turn more unsettled from here on in. friday, a lot of dry weather, showers developing as we go through the day, some of which could be heavy and thundery. here is our weather fronts coming in. that'll bring more persistent and the rain will start to strengthen as well —— wind. to strengthen as well. temperature is 26 degrees as we pushed on towards the south—east.

into saturday, the low pressure. this weather front wrapped around it bringing in some rain. ahead of it will be some showers and we could see a front back in across the east of kent and east anglia. it will be a windy day across the board with temperatures between 1a and 22 degrees. you can see how the temperatures have slipped a touch. sunday, it will be unsettled as well with low pressure in charge. we're looking at sunshine and showers and some of them will be heavy and thundery, and once again, it is going to be windy.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11. the second day of rail strikes is under way — with half the network closed in england, wales and scotland — and only 20% of services expected to run. they don't want theirjobs cut, they want a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, they want to defend their conditions whilst dealing with modernisation and of course we need a pay rise. many of our people have not had a pay rise for two or three years. the more the strikes go on, the more money— the more the strikes go on, the more money that— the more the strikes go on, the more money that costs industry, the more disruption _ money that costs industry, the more disruption il— money that costs industry, the more disruption it causes, that means they— disruption it causes, that means they have — disruption it causes, that means they have less money available to make _ they have less money available to make a pay award. it is harder to get a deat — it is harder to get a deal. meanwhile, a decision is expected today over whether hundreds of gmb union members — working as check—in and ground staff at heathrow airport — will take strike action.

the taliban appeals for international help in afghanistan — after a powerful earthquake kills more than 1,000 people. borisjohnson arrives in rwanda for a meeting of the commonwealth's heads of government, with food security, climate change and the government's migrants policy expected to be on the agenda. the waiting list for hospital treatment in wales reaches a new record level — more than 700,000 patients were waiting for treatment in april. the american artistic swimmer anita alvarez has been rescued from the bottom of the pool by her coach, after fainting following her routine at the world aquatics championships. #12

more than 40,000 rail, maritime and transport union members from network rail and 13 train operators have walked out for the second of their three planned strikes this morning. half the rail network is closed in england, wales and scotland. only 20% of services are expected to be running, and some areas will have no trains at all. the latest talks between the unions and rail employers were held on wednesday in a bid to resolve the dispute overjobs, pay and conditions — but they broke down. the rmt is calling for a pay rise of 7%, while employers have offered a maximum of 3%. the government says it is up to the railway companies to negotiate, but mick lynch, general secretary of the rmt has described the government as a "silent partner'” at the negotiating table. the rmt accused ministers of wrecking talks by refusing to allow network rail to withdraw redundancy threats — a claim denied by the government. another strike is planned for saturday — unless agreement is reached beforehand. however, at this late stage, even if action is called off,

it will probably be too late to prevent much of the disruption. it comes alongside news that hundreds of gmb members working at heathrow will be balloted over whether to walk out during the summer holiday period — that's at midday today. we'll have more news on heathrow a little later. but first, the government is preparing to publish its proposed change to the law, which would let businesses bring in skilled agency workers to stand in for striking staff. mick lynch — the general secretary of the rmt — says his members don't want to cause disruption. we apologise to the public and the travellers. we don't want this kind of disruption in our communities. we don't want that on our railway. the men and women of our union are standing on picket lines because they need a square deal from the employer. they've got to sacrifice their pay for up to three days this week, they don't want to do that, but what they are determined to do is get a settlement to the issues. they don't want their jobs cut. they want the guarantee of no compulsory redundancies. they want to defend their conditions while dealing with the modernisation issue.

and, of course, we need a pay rise. many other people haven't had a pay rise for two or three years. and of course, that is true of the general public as well. many people in both the private sector and the public sector have also had their pay suppressed. so we are part of the movement that is trying to rebalance that and get a square deal for everyone. steve montgomery is chair of the rail delivery group, which represents rail companies. he says modernisation in the rail industry is necessary to plug the current funding gap. how do we get reform within the industry so that we can start to modernise it and meet the funding gap that we have all spoken about over the last number of weeks? that there is a huge funding gap there and the cost of the industry is now far in excess of the actual revenue that the industry is taking in. so what we are trying to do, working with the trade unions, how do we modernise and reduce our overall costs that can then allow us in various ways to increase staff's wages but also, ultimately, stop the taxpayer paying more into the rail industry than is necessary?

our correspondent celestina olulode is at paddington. hi the there, what impact is it having? we can see there the board which indicates a slot of —— lot of change. which indicates a slot of -- lot of chan . e. ., , , change. that is right. every where ou see change. that is right. every where you see the _ change. that is right. every where you see the words _ change. that is right. every where you see the words please - change. that is right. every where you see the words please inquire, | you see the words please inquire, that means that the train service isn't running, so, a hefty number of trains have been impacted. now, this station, paddington, it is one of the busiest in the country, but take a look here today. that is definitely not the case, now usually on a normal day, 150,000 people are estimated would walk past, along this station and use it. but a decline in foot fall has been the case, because of the strikes, on tuesday, the first day of the

strikes, an estimated 25,000 passengers use this station, so quite a drop there. and in the last few minutes, passengers have been getting on a train to castle carry to get to glasspool festival. but i spoke to a care worker, he told me that he has had to change his shift as a result of these strikes. —— glastonbury. he said he doesn't think the strikes are a good idea. they need to come to an agreement. one service that is running is the london elizabeth line, now thaw is a line for london, london railway line, that has been working fine today, but obviously, on tuesday, because of the tube strike, there were delays, now the message, of course, from network rail is don't travel unless you have to, and there is more delays expected on saturday when the strike continues. thank you

our correspondent nick garnett is at manchester piccadilly for us. what is the situation there? well, it's the same _ what is the situation there? well, it's the same advice _ what is the situation there? well, it's the same advice as _ what is the situation there? well, it's the same advice as it - what is the situation there? well, it's the same advice as it is - what is the situation there? well, it's the same advice as it is downl it's the same advice as it is down in london, don't travel unless you need to and some people do need to, so some trains are managing to run from this station, this is normally one of the busiest train stations in britain, but they normally run round 2,000 trains a day, on strike day, they can only manage about six, there is a train going to york in a few minutes' time. that will be taking people over towards leeds as well because there is international cricket today and a lot of people normally go from manchester, to the... sorry about that. and apologies for lang tunneling was used there. if you look be mind me you will see on the screens, you will see it look as if it is busy, that will is a lot of things going on, that is not really the whole picture. when you look to the right you will see there are six trains an

hour, one is going south, down to southampton, one is going west to liverpool, one is going north to preston and one is going to york as well, that is the one i was talking about and one going every hour down to london. now the other things that as well as the cricket going on in leeds, there is glastonbury, the music festival is running as well and there is lots of people normally go down there from here and can't get there. so what they are doing is taking buses instead, those buses are leaving from outside the train station, there has been a lot of people there, getting down to glastonbury from here, hopping they can have some type of weekend and the weather still stays as beautiful as it is in manchester at the moment. as it is in manchester at the moment-— as it is in manchester at the moment. , ., moment. lucky you, it is not beautiful _ moment. lucky you, it is not beautiful in _ moment. lucky you, it is not beautiful in london. - moment. lucky you, it is not beautiful in london. thank. moment. lucky you, it is not l beautiful in london. thank you moment. lucky you, it is not - beautiful in london. thank you nick. joining me now is david sidebottom the director of transport focus which is the independent watchdog for transport users. thank you forjoining u what has

your assessment been of strikes so far your assessment been of strikes so fa ~ ., your assessment been of strikes so fa . . , ., ., far we have been hearing from passengers — far we have been hearing from passengers who _ far we have been hearing from passengers who are _ far we have been hearing from passengers who are having - far we have been hearing from passengers who are having to l far we have been hearing from - passengers who are having to make different arrangements and there are a number of people who are lie on using trains during the strike days and we are monitoring their experience and particularly making sure that the information they get, the support they are getting at stations, it is good to report there is is a good number of staff supporting passengers as major station, we have seen that from round the country, so that is a good thing. the information provision has been pretty good. we are spot thing, making sure that network rail and train operators pick up on that, but it is important on the days after the strikes when service looks very different to a normal day, trains start later in the day, finish earlier but pushing network rail and the train operators makes sure the information is tipton and support on the day that people travel is best. information and clarity is one thing but it can't mitigate the impact of trains not running. trio. but it can't mitigate the impact of trains not running.—

but it can't mitigate the impact of trains not running. no, and we are heafina trains not running. no, and we are hearing from _ trains not running. no, and we are hearing from people _ trains not running. no, and we are hearing from people who - trains not running. no, and we are hearing from people who have - trains not running. no, and we are hearing from people who have had trains not running. no, and we are i hearing from people who have had to make significant alterations for plan, perhaps rebook a different form of transport, additional accommodation so they are out—of—pocket. and particularly for younger people getting to exams, this week, gcse, we are hearing and experience that people have to make longerjourneys, at an already stressful time. passengers suffer during the disputes and it is clear we encourage the parties to get round the table and resolve it as quickly as possible. you round the table and resolve it as quickly as possible.— quickly as possible. you have mentioned — quickly as possible. you have mentioned some _ quickly as possible. you have mentioned some who - quickly as possible. you have mentioned some who have i quickly as possible. you have j mentioned some who have to quickly as possible. you have - mentioned some who have to get to where they need to go so they have to find other alternatives. a lot of people will be able to work from home, but what would your evaluation be of how things have settled in terms of people having to make alternative arrangements with which, as you say can be very costly. think certainl , as you say can be very costly. think certainly. my _ as you say can be very costly. think certainly, my personal— as you say can be very costly. try “ia; certainly, my personal observation looking at liverpool lime street and

piccadilly, i live and work in the north—west, show round only round 20, 25% of people are using the railway during the strike day, that has been heavily helped by the number of people who can work from home but clearly some can't and they need to travel. i think the, the ability for people toll travel on those days with confidence, making sure that the services are running when they need to be and making sure those trains that are running are sufficiently long enough, enough carriages to make sure if there are particular spikes of traffic, they can cope with passengers and they are comfortable as much as they possibly can be. are comfortable as much as they possibly can be— are comfortable as much as they possibly can be. have you gauged at all the view — possibly can be. have you gauged at all the view of _ possibly can be. have you gauged at all the view of the _ possibly can be. have you gauged at all the view of the passengers - possibly can be. have you gauged at all the view of the passengers who l all the view of the passengers who you have had interaction with, in terms of how they see the strike? 1 terms of how they see the strike? i think it is early days on this, and you know, it is something we might be able to track as things progress, this is, you know, the second of three strike day, i think particularly what we trying to do is understand the inconvenience it is causing to passengers but

particularly those who are having to travel. if this rumbles on into the summer and the parties can find a resolution on that it might be something we look at. in the here and now it is making sure that those who do travel are getting the best possible support and information or if they are altering plans they can get a refund easily and quickly. so what is the situation on that, because it is not completely clear, is it? . ., , ., is it? there could be greater consistency. _ is it? there could be greater consistency, i— is it? there could be greater consistency, i have - is it? there could be greater consistency, i have heard i is it? there could be greater consistency, i have heard of| is it? there could be greater i consistency, i have heard of an example where a passenger travelling up example where a passenger travelling up to the cricket for example, applied for a refund but is travelling back later in the week i think on saturday when there is a strike day and couldn't get a refund. that is not correct. so generally speaking the information is correct and we are hearing good examples of where people are getting refunds easily, if you are travelling on a strike day you can rebook your travel or claim a refund but there are certain circumstances in these things where the

consistency of information, perhaps between the call centres and front line staff needs to be a bit tighter, but we are work on those when we here of those exams. —— hear of those examples. thank you. there are warnings this morning that other industries may see strikes this summer. gmb union members — working as heathrow check—in and ground staff — will vote today over whether to take strike action, which could result in a walk—out during the summer holidays. joining us now from heathrow is our correspondent greg mckenzie. greg. well that ballot will close at 12 noon, greg. well that ballot will close at 12 noon. in — greg. well that ballot will close at 12 noon, in under— greg. well that ballot will close at 12 noon, in under 50 _ greg. well that ballot will close at 12 noon, in under 50 minutes- greg. well that ballot will close at 12 noon, in under 50 minutes and| greg. well that ballot will close at i 12 noon, in under 50 minutes and the results will be revealed at 2pm. now this potential strike action comes as two years ago, british airways imposed a 10% pay cut on all of its staff member, because of the pandemic. people were travelling less and the airline was simply losing millions of pounds a week,

the staff agreed to that 10% pay cut, but this year, the airline reintra, well reintroduced that pay cut. it allowed boss bosses and seven year members to get that back but that simply didn't filter down to the ground staff, so baggage handlers and check in staff didn't have that 10% reinstated. so they have, they are going to the ballots today to strike, to vote whether or not to strike. now that ballot will come back at 2pm,ped and we have a representative from the gmb union. if you can pay it back for the bosses _ if you can pay it back for the bosses and see wage increases like we are _ bosses and see wage increases like we are seeing for example for the ceo of— we are seeing for example for the ceo of mg — we are seeing for example for the ceo of iag which is british airways parent— ceo of iag which is british airways parent company, where the ceo

expecting to pocket a nice hefty pay rise we _ expecting to pocket a nice hefty pay rise we don't think it is unreasonable for our primarily women, — unreasonable for our primarily women, part—time, low paid workers, to be _ women, part—time, low paid workers, to be demanding back the 10% they had cut— to be demanding back the 10% they had cut from their pay, as a result of fire _ had cut from their pay, as a result of fire and — had cut from their pay, as a result of fire and rehire during the pandemic. nowjoanna, in terms of this pandemic. — nowjoanna, in terms of this strike action, orthis nowjoanna, in terms of this strike action, or this possible strike action, or this possible strike action, if the union members vote in favour of strike action, now there is 700 plus members, that action will take place injuly. they have said specifically mid july, which is smack back in the middle of people's summer holidays and this airport here, heathrow it is one of the busiest in the country and the month ofjuly is one of the busiest all year, so that result will come back at 2pm, as to whether or not ba staff here at heathrow will vote for strike action. thank you very much greg.

some breaking new, we are hearing that the independent office for police conduct is going to be re—invest gating the way the metropolitan police handled the deaths of steven port�*s victim he is serving a whole life sentence for the murders of anthony wall gate, daniel whitworth and jack taylor in barking in east london. and he received a life sentence with a whole life order in november 2016 which means he's will never be released. he was found guilty of the murders of four men and also multiple rapes, and so he will never be released but the independent office for police conduct is going to re—invest gate the way the metropolitan police handled the deaths of his victims. the headlines on bbc news...

the second day of rail strikes begins — with half the network closed in england, wales and scotland — and only 20 percent of services expected to run. a decision is expected today over whether hundreds of gmb union members — working as check—in and ground staff at heathrow airport — will take strike action. the taliban appeals for international help in afghanistan — after a powerful earthquake kills more than 1,000 people. we start in afghanistan, where the country's taliban rulers have urged aid agencies and other nations to intensify relief efforts after an earthquake that's believed to have killed 1000 people. un agencies are rushing to get emergency shelter, food and medicine to the worst—hit province, paktika, where many families remain buried in the rubble of their collapsed homes. frances read reports. cracks in the walls of what used to be a home. whole villages in this part

of the country now gone. this, a major disaster. of those who survived, many are now homeless. searches continue in the rubble, but overnight heavy rain and hail has hampered the rescue. the air ambulance arrives in a remote area, but the response is limited. it's one of only a handful of helicopters left in the country since the taliban returned to power. the hospital beds in paktika's capital, sharan, were full of both the very youngest and the older. this woman survived but she lost 19 family members, and fears she is now completely alone. "seven in one room, five in another, four in another, "then three in another, have all been killed in my family. i can't talk any more,

my heart is getting weak," she said. here, the injured are treated. doctors say they're worried about food and supplies in the coming days as well as waterborne diseases. the un secretary—general antonio guterres says it's fully mobilised with teams on the ground to provide initial support. but it's not yet clear what form that will take long term. the country, one of the poorest in the world, was already facing a humanitarian crisis with millions vulnerable to famine. the ruling taliban still international pariahs, and afghanistan's economy crushed by sanctions. translation: we call- on the international community to help because our country alone cannot handle this incident. we want the international community to start working with us at this time, and to continue their cooperation. as emergency food and medical supplies leave for remote areas, aid agencies fear this disaster may be worse than already seen.

a lack of communication means it's hard to know the extent of help needed or the damage caused. they can only hope that help comes fast enough. frances read, bbc news. i'm joined now by shelley thakral from the world food programme in afghanistan. she's at the depot in the capital. thank you forjoining us, tell us what you are doing then? 50 thank you forjoining us, tell us what you are doing then? so we are loadin: u- what you are doing then? so we are loading up truck. — what you are doing then? so we are loading up truck, as _ what you are doing then? so we are loading up truck, as you _ what you are doing then? so we are loading up truck, as you heard i what you are doing then? so we are loading up truck, as you heard in i loading up truck, as you heard in the report, you know, food, we need food like yesterday, these are remote communities that have been badly affected, the areas are mountainous, some of the villages, evenif mountainous, some of the villages, even if you move from village to fajita could take three to four hour, the challenges we face, i have seen a convoy of about six trucks leave, they have dry food on them

and some also some of the very large storage units so the challenge also be bad weather, rain, landslides and also the infrastructure, the roads are pretty impassable, at the best of time, so, not tarmacked, not paveed and that will obviously add time, to this rescue and leaf mission. , time, to this rescue and leaf mission-— mission. so six trucks will obviously _ mission. so six trucks will obviously be _ mission. so six trucks will obviously be taking i mission. so six trucks will obviously be taking a i mission. so six trucks will obviously be taking a lot i mission. so six trucks will - obviously be taking a lot onboard, but in terms of the scale of what is needed, and as you say, the difficulties in them getting there, how quickly do you expect to be able to make a difference? 5018 how quickly do you expect to be able to make a difference?— to make a difference? so 18 trucks in total. i have _ to make a difference? so 18 trucks in total. i have seen _ to make a difference? so 18 trucks in total. i have seen six _ to make a difference? so 18 trucks in total. i have seen six off - to make a difference? so 18 trucks in total. i have seen six off and i i in total. i have seen six off and i know the rest will be leaving in the next 30 minute, the time that it will take to get on the ground is probably about six to seven hour drive down to the affected area, we are hoping to get distributions up and running by tomorrow, and let us

remember, afghanistan has been suffering from a severe drought, conflict, a pandemic, and also now a very severe economic crisis, across the entire country, since the fall of this country last august, in 2021, wfp has been on the ground across all 3a provinces including the two affected province, getting food, so food assistance for these families, is not new, they have been receiving it, what is different now is that families have lost their homes. families have nothing, they are probably in need of shelter, in need of medical supply, clean water as well as emergency food assistance. so, the assessment that is going on right now with or humanitarian agencies is to absolutely look at what is most critical, in the next 2a to a8—hours. critical, in the next 24 to ltlt-hours-_ critical, in the next 24 to 48-hours. ., , , .,, 48-hours. how supportive has the taliban been _ 48-hours. how supportive has the taliban been of— 48-hours. how supportive has the taliban been of those _ 48-hours. how supportive has the taliban been of those efforts, i 48-hours. how supportive has the i taliban been of those efforts, which have been on going, and i mean we

have been on going, and i mean we have heard from the taliban appealing for international cooperation in this. what, how well will everybody be able to work together, do you think? what will everybody be able to work together, do you think? what we need together, do you think? what we need to recognise — together, do you think? what we need to recognise is — together, do you think? what we need to recognise is de _ together, do you think? what we need to recognise is de facto _ together, do you think? what we need to recognise is de facto authorities i to recognise is de facto authorities have been doing everything they can to help the community, the ministry of defence deployed yesterday, the de facto authorities have said to the international community you are here to help for humanitarian assistance, and this is before this devastating eric. last year, —— earthquake. last year we had to absolutely ramp up and scale up, we met a reach of 8 million people, so far, 19 million people have been fed, that is not possible, unless you have the access and that is what the day a facto authorities give us. we work under humanitarian principle, unimpeded access s but

all of that is possible because of that ability to be able to get to some of the very remote areas. and obviously, as we are discussing, that access is now being dramatically hinders for other reasons, in terms of getting the supplies you need, how much is coming through, what else do you need to come from other country, in orderfor you to be need to come from other country, in order for you to be able to take it to the areas that need it? the country afghanistan, like every other hunger spot in the world is suffering hugely because of the conflict of ukraine, commodity prices supply, shipping costs have gone up. that has added an extra burden to how we reach people, we, as wfp we need $1.15 us billion so the uk government has been incredible, the people of the uk have been extraordinarily generous, we urge the rest of the world, we

urge them to not forget afghanistan, to remember the people here, yes, they are resilient, yes they have lived through a lot, but, they are hungry and they really need all of our help and support. thank you forjoining us. the waiting list for hospital treatment in wales has grown to a new record for the 24th month in a row. the latest data shows that in april 2022 there were more than 700,000 patients waiting for treatment, the equivalent of more than one in five of the welsh population. earlier our wales correspodent, hywel griffith, explained how the waiting list has continued to grow. long waiting lists are not a new problem. but the pandemic has exacerbated the issue, the lack of capacity, shortage of staff and so we are seeing so many people, more than 60,000 waiting over two years to start their treatment. i have spoken this week to a couple of patients who have waited more than

four years, patients who have waited more than fouryears, or even patients who have waited more than four years, or even before the pandemic, they had faced a two—year wait for their treatment. the nhs in wales is still recovering from that period. they acknowledge they were having issues before the pandemic, but certainly things have deteriorated. they point to their plan for improving service, and the investment, they say they are making, now there are things changing within the welsh nhs. new operating theatres being built but they are not operating yet. and the staff, a new shinely theatre ready to go, but there were still recruiting, still on the phones trying to get the staff, the nurses to back that up. so maybe a long time before we see these figures for hospital operations improve. i should mention the other figures we have had today which are on ambulance response times, a #2ki689 problem for the welsh nhs. in both case there's have been marginal

improvements but the figures are among the worst on records and that causes concern if someone dialst 999 and don't get a response or turn up and don't get a response or turn up and see a long queue of ambulances waiting to discharge patients. #3 the independent office for police conduct will re—open the watchdog is to re—investigate police officers who failed to spot that there was a serial killer operating in barking in north east london. stephen port murdered anthony walgate, gabriel kovari, daniel whitworth and jack taylor in barking in the space of 16 months. in december an inquestjury said that there were "fundamental the 2 independent office for police conduct will re—open investigation into police officers who missed serial on 18th june 2014 anthony wallgaate

was found dead. it medium—termed he was found dead. it medium—termed he was the first of four people that steven port killed but the police didn't realise until the fourth person had been murdered they had a serial killer in their midst despite warnings from the men's family and friend that something suspicious was going on, the other three men were found within yards of each other in a churchyard in barking, so, we have been through the trial, steven port was found guilty. there was an investigation which they decided no police officers should face misconduct or gross misconduct allegations, which shocked the families, very much. then there was an inquest which concluded in december, and the inquestjury concluded there were fundamental failings in how the police investigated the deaths from the very beginning, so, the independent office of police conduct agreed to

go back and look at what it has done and it has decided its own investigation was materially flawed, that there was new evidence that had come out of the inquest, and from elsewhere, and they are going to convenience gate those officers who failed to catch the serial killer. so what will happen with the investigation what is the scope, is it public, how does it work? it will be a different _ it public, how does it work? it will be a different team _ it public, how does it work? it will be a different team looking i it public, how does it work? it will be a different team looking at i it public, how does it work? it will be a different team looking at it. | be a different team looking at it. one of their major incident teams, they will have to decide whether to go back over everything, or whether to look at really the new information that came out of the inquest and if particular the fact that the police officers gave evidence at the inquest, because in the initial iopc investigation almost all be one of the police officers made no comment, so the iopc have that evidence at least, from the inquest, so, whether they go through everything again, or whether they will really look at the

new stuff and probe round the edges, is yet to be decided. but here we are, you know, more than eight years on, and the investigation into the investigators still isn't complete and the families obviously find that very distressing, put out a very strongly worded statement today, saying that the police also have blood on their hands. now it's time for a look at the weather, with carol kirkwood. hello, again. some flowers don't match ours will be heavy and thundery today but not everyone will catch one, lots of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and areas of cloud although still see a bright or sunny intervals. top temperatures in the north midlands or northern england today. throughout the evening and overnight the progress our showers are making

a move it northwards. still the potential to be heavy and thundery. likely some patchy mist and fog, should not be problematic and feeling humid tonight, temperatures falling away down to nine celsius. any mist that forms will lift rapidly tomorrow. lots of dry weather around, showers developing which will bring more persistent rain across western areas and the winds will pick up and top temperatures of 25 celsius. hello this is bbc news — i'mjoanna goslin — the headlines. the second day of rail strikes is underway — with half the network closed in england, wales and scotland — and only 20% of services expected to run. the independent office for police conduct is to reinvestigate the way the metropolitan police handled the deaths of the men murdered by stephen port.

a decision is expected today over whether hundreds of gmb union members working as check—in and ground staff at heathrow airport will take strike action. the taliban appeals for international help in afghanistan — after a powerful earthquake kills more than one thousand people. borisjohnson arrives in rwanda for a meeting of the commonwealth's heads of government, with food security, climate change and the government's migrants policy expected to be on the agenda. the waiting list for hospital treatment in wales reaches a new record level — more than 700 thousand patients were waiting for treatment in april. the american artistic swimmer anita alvarez has been rescued from the bottom of the pool by her coach, after fainting following her routine at the world aquatics championships. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre. good morning.

we'll start at headingley, where new zealand won the toss on the first day of the third and final test. the tourists chose to bat on a hot day and a flat pitch. but england's bowlers have struck early. stuart broad taking the wicket of opener tom latham in the first over of the morning for a duck. the tourists have moved to 18—1. england already have an unassailable 2—0 lead in the three match series. elswhere, play is under way at eastbourne where there's still plenty of british involvement ahead of wimbledon, which begins on monday. british men's number one cam norrie is first out this morning in his quarter final match with american maxime cressy. cameron norrie has a break of serve in the cameron norrie has a break of serve in the first cameron norrie has a break of serve in the first set. that match will be followed by harriet dart. she's been given a wild card for wimbledon as her superb grass—court season continues at eastbourne. yesterday she won two matches in one

day to become the first british woman in five years to make the last eight there. today, it's a quarterfinal against two—time wimbledon champion, petra kvitova. bad news though, for serena williams. she was through to the semi—finals of the doubles on her return to tennis after a year out. this morning though they've had to withdraw from the competition, after an injury to her partner ons jabeur. the latest pga tour event in the usa will get under way later, with more of the sport's biggest names missing — the four—time major winner brooks koepka is the latest tojoin the saudi backed liv golf series. another four—time major winner, rory mcilroy, isn't impressed with the former world number one. they say one thing and do another. and i don't understand that and i don't know if that is for legal reasons. i have no idea. it is pretty duplicitous on their part to say one thing and then do another thing. say one thing and then do another thin. ., �* . ~' say one thing and then do another thin. .,�* ., ~ ., thing. you're talking about something _ thing. you're talking about something said _ thing. you're talking about something said two - thing. you're talking about something said two years. thing. you're talking about i something said two years ago or thing. you're talking about - something said two years ago or a week ago. the

something said two years ago or a week auo. ., something said two years ago or a week ao. ., ., week ago. the whole way through. in ublic, in week ago. the whole way through. in public, in private, _ week ago. the whole way through. in public, in private, all— week ago. the whole way through. in public, in private, all of— week ago. the whole way through. in public, in private, all of it. _ gareth bale could be set for an unlikely home coming. it seems the 32—year—old has plenty of options, but one is close to home. his representatives have held talks, with championship club, cardiff — the city where he was born. he's available on a free after leaving real madrid, all things going to plan he'll captain wales at the world cup in qatar later this year. there was a frightning moment at the world aquatics championships in budapest, when one of the american synchronised swimmers fainted and sank to the bottom of the pool, having to be rescued by her coach. this was the american anita alvarez during the solo free final, when she passed out under water. her coach andrea fuentes was the quickest to react and dived in and dragged her out of the pool. the coach has released a statement saying "anita is ok. we sometimes forget that this happens in other high—endurance sports. our sport is no different than others, just in a pool. we push through limits

and sometimes we find them." that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories and keep across all the action from both headingley and eastbourne on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. now let's return to the rail strikes. services have ground to a halt across much of britain, as thousands of workers walk out for the second time this week. lorna gordon, our scotland correspondent is in glasgow for us. scotla nd scotland is one of the worst affected parts of the country, 90% of services here have been cancelled. scotrail staff are not on strike but they rely on that what real signallers to keep the trains running around the tracks —— network rail signallers. there are only five

routes running within scotland today. primarily, solely within the central belt and a limited part of the central belt at that, there are a service between edinburgh and glasgow every half an hour, that's the only service running from queen street station here. there are no services north of the central belt or south to the borders and limited cross—border services into england. down the east and west coast main lines. i think it's fair to say it is probably quieter today than on tuesday, the message seems to be getting through that the strike is on and services are limited but it's also fair to say that is mixed opinions amongst people who were turning up here this morning. all turning up here this morning. all last week i was affected as well but luckily— last week i was affected as well but luckily we _ last week i was affected as well but luckily we got the rental bikes in the city— luckily we got the rental bikes in the city that we can use so there's

usually— the city that we can use so there's usually a — the city that we can use so there's usually a lot — the city that we can use so there's usually a lot of bike points around glasgow— usually a lot of bike points around glasgow which has been really handy. it glasgow which has been really handy. it has _ glasgow which has been really handy. it has not _ glasgow which has been really handy. it has not affected us so far but it may from — it has not affected us so far but it may from here _ it has not affected us so far but it may from here on _ it has not affected us so far but it may from here on out, _ it has not affected us so far but it may from here on out, we - it has not affected us so far but it may from here on out, we have l it has not affected us so far but it i may from here on out, we have four more _ may from here on out, we have four more days _ may from here on out, we have four more days and — may from here on out, we have four more days and hoping _ may from here on out, we have four more days and hoping to _ may from here on out, we have four more days and hoping to catch i may from here on out, we have four more days and hoping to catch the l more days and hoping to catch the train _ more days and hoping to catch the train from — more days and hoping to catch the train from here _ more days and hoping to catch the train from here to _ more days and hoping to catch the train from here to edinburgh. i more days and hoping to catch the train from here to edinburgh. find| train from here to edinburgh. and then aet a train from here to edinburgh. and then get a bus — train from here to edinburgh. then get a bus to st andrews. train from here to edinburgh. and i then get a bus to st andrews. until now it's not — then get a bus to st andrews. until now it's not been _ then get a bus to st andrews. until now it's not been a _ then get a bus to st andrews. unit i now it's not been a problem? then get a bus to st andrews. until now it's not been a problem? it's i now it's not been a problem? it's been a problem. we've came from portree _ been a problem. we've came from portree to — been a problem. we've came from portree to glasgow and they cancelled the ferry ride from malik and the _ cancelled the ferry ride from malik and the train, didn't get to go over the glenfinnan viaduct so we just took the — the glenfinnan viaduct so we just took the bus. the glenfinnan viaduct so we 'ust took the bus.i the glenfinnan viaduct so we 'ust took the bus. ~ ., ., , ., , ., took the bus. what would usually do, aet took the bus. what would usually do, net the took the bus. what would usually do, get the train? — took the bus. what would usually do, get the train? now— took the bus. what would usually do, get the train? now i _ took the bus. what would usually do, get the train? now i just _ took the bus. what would usually do, get the train? now i just need - took the bus. what would usually do, get the train? now i just need to i get the train? now i 'ust need to fiaure out get the train? now i 'ust need to figure out how _ get the train? now i 'ust need to figure out how can i i get the train? now i just need to figure out how can i get - get the train? now i just need to figure out how can i get home. i figure out how can i get home. usually— figure out how can i get home. usually work from home but unions are very important so that all i can

say. are very important so that all i can sa . ~ , ., ., are very important so that all i can sa. ., are very important so that all i can say. well, you heard the opinions of --eole say. well, you heard the opinions of people arriving _ say. well, you heard the opinions of people arriving at _ say. well, you heard the opinions of people arriving at queen _ say. well, you heard the opinions of people arriving at queen street i people arriving at queen street station this morning, and they point to some wider issues, the buses have been busier, transport scotland site there has not been a big increase of traffic on the road —— say there has not been a big increase. that would suggest a lot of commuters have chosen to work from home today but you heard the american tourists saying they had trouble getting down from the isle of skye that points to one of the big issues in scotland, the concerns of hoteliers and those in hospitality businesses, some of them report cancellations and we are about to hit peak season, the schools start breaking up for the summer at the weekend and there is a big tourist industry and if these strikes continue to go on there is a real concern about what impact that might have on the bottom line. thank you, lorna.

leaders and foreign ministers from across the commonwealth's 54 countries are meeting in rwanda — in a long—awaited summit that was delayed due to the pandemic. borisjohnson arrived in kigali earlier today ahead of the meeting as it brings together representatives of almost a third of the global population. rwanda joined the commonwealth in 2009, but there's been criticism over the host country's human rights record. let's hear from our deputy africa editor anne soy who is in the capital of rwanda for the commonwealth heads of government meeting. have been going on since sunday. you permitting from across the 54 member countries of the commonwealth, there has been women's forums, there is a business forum and they'd be discussing a range of issues from cervical cancer and access to vaccines, to climate change and the threat to small island nations. the different forums have taken positions on various issues and they're handing theirs over to the

foreign ministers are meeting today and they will consider all the range of issues that will be placed in front of them and then setting the agenda for the heads of government who will meet tomorrow. the official opening of the commonwealth heads of government meeting is tomorrow at the summit happens then. the duke and duchess of cornwall are also in kigali and i asked anne whether borisjohnson was likely to meet with prince charles — following reports that the prince had expressed private concerns about the government's asylum policy. we have not seen anywhere they will be meeting, they will meet at the official open of the official heads official open of the official heads of government meeting tomorrow where prince charles is representing the queen as head of the congo. this issue has been controversial, particularly in the uk, here at the discussion has been muted. it is not —— meeting as the head of the

commonwealth. they have said they are determined to carry on with this partnership and once they have the legal hurdles out of the way the rwandan government says it is ready to accept those asylum seekers. we do not expect that this is going to be a point of contention, in the meeting between the rwandan and the british prime minister, and the rwandan president. however we will be asking these questions to some of the commonwealth heads of government to hear what they have to say about it. and we'll be live in kigali later when we're expecting to hear from boris johnson. the military authorities in myanmar have moved the detained former leader aung san suu kyi, from house arrest to solitary confinement at a prison in the capital, naypyidaw. ms suu kyi's civilian government was ousted in a military coup last year. she's now being tried on multiple charges which have been widely condemned as politically motivated. the european union is expected

to formally approve ukraine as a candidate for membership today. eu officials said they were confident that none of the 27 member states would block the decision during a meeting in brussels. ukraine's ambassador to the eu says candidate status will be a huge boost for his war—torn country. vsevolod chentsov has been speaking to our brussels correspondent, jessica parker. my message is that we need this decision, to give candidate status to ukrainian. it is really important for ukraine to keep fighting, and to keep fighting for ourfuture, so it's an existential challenge for us. you accept that this is a long road. i don't want to... what is long, what is short? let's see. let's move to the next stage and,

you know, that commission suggested certain steps to be implemented by ukraine before we open accession talks. the real integration process will start when the war is over, but in the meanwhile, when they are talking about those recommendations, i see the potential to implement if not, but some of them even now. is that doable while ukraine is at war with russia? judicial reforms and corruption reforms? we are at quite an advanced stage on all of those issues, so we are not starting from scratch, creating anti—corruption infrastructure. definitely the bigger ones, it will be logical to do in the course of reconstruction and a rehabilitation process which will start, i think, immediately

after we have a stable situation. is ukraine getting special treatment here in terms of the speed of which this process is moving? i'm thinking in particular about some countries in the western balkans, they have had candidate status and have been waiting to join the eu for years. we do not accept the idea of the queue. so you are saying, if ukraine jumps the view, so be it? yes, because each state has its own road map, its own path, and if there is a political will, if there is support of the society, business operators, to move forward, to implement reform in a bold and fast way, so why should wait? the nato secretary general said this conflict could last for years. how do you see the endgame here, both in terms of the war and what that means for your

desire to join the european union? we heard a lot of prognosis that ukraine will fall after three days or three weeks. we are still alive and kicking. a british man sentenced to death by a russian proxy court in ukraine, has been told the execution will be carried out. aiden aslin was captured alongside fellow uk national shaun pinner while serving with the ukrainian army, and the pair are accused of being mercenaries. aiden's family in nottinghamshire have called for more to be done to help release them. our correspondent emma vardy reports. it's been an agonising wait for aiden aslin and shaun pinner since being told they face the death penalty. the sentence was handed down a fortnight ago to the two men, and a moroccan national, in an unrecognised court

in an area controlled by russian backed separatists. your son rings to say that he is going to be, he's going to be killed. in a phone call to his mother, aiden said his captors have informed him the execution will go ahead. he was given a month, and time is running out. and aiden was told that he was going to be executed. the uk's foreign ministers called it a sham judgment with no legitimacy. but hopes for a pardon or an appeal to his family appear to be fading. aiden and shaun have lived in ukraine since 2018, appearing here in a documentary made after they became marines in ukraine's armed forces. in a sense, like, it is like my war, because, like, even though i'm not ukrainian, this is on my doorstep. after the russian invasion, they spent weeks defending the besieged city of mariupol, before having to surrender. these are two men who came

here a few years ago, before this invasion started. speaking from ukraine, another member of the marines who served in their unit said the death sentence showed russia's disregard for international law. it's absolutely dire, and at this point i really hope that the uk government, as well as the ukrainian government, is going to step up and figure out some way to negotiate their release. how is this being seen in ukraine? it actually rallies more people behind them, and i guess the ukrainians, they look up to aiden and shaun as heroes. meanwhile, on state sanctioned russian television, they've been shown little mercy. being publicly mocked and accused of terrorism. the uk government says it's deeply concerned by the sentences and it's continuing to work with ukraine to try to secure the men's release. there is believed to be a reluctance to get involved in direct

negotiations with russia, or those who are holding the men in donetsk. president putin, i do believe, has got the power to stop this. i plead, please, let these guys go. for now, their fate appears to remain in the hands of russian backed separatists. aiden's family still hope he may be saved by a prisoner exchange. but fear the situation is becoming more desperate. emma vardy, bbc news. eight medical staff are to stand trial in argentina accused of criminal negligence in the death of the legendary footballer, diego maradona, including his family doctor, a psychologist and two nurses. maradona died of a heart attack in 2020 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot. no date has been set for the trial. wendy urquhart reports. prosecutors claim that those who were meant to be taking care of diego maradona, when he was recovering from surgery from a blood clot were woefully inadequate. an investigation was launched

after the footballer�*s death, and last year, a panel of 20 experts found that his medical team acted in an inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner, adding that he would have had a better chance of survival, if he had been treated in a appropriate medical facility. diego maradona was widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers of all time and was as large as life off the pitch as to when he was on it. but he had his demons too. he struggled with alcohol abuse for a long time, and in the years before he died, he was back and forth to hospital with health problems. the medical staff facing charges include his family doctor. they all deny responsibility, but if found guilty, they could be jailed for between eight and 25 years. consumer expert martin lewis has revealed that he was recently turned down, after applying to become a member of the house of lords. the founder of the money saving

expert website has told the bbc that he believes his bid for a cross—bench peerage was rejected because he was "honest" about the limited time he could commit to the role. he's been speaking to nick robinson on the political thinking podcast. now, you did want a peerage at one stage? yeah, ijust got turned down again a couple of weeks ago, actually. turned down? yes, for crossbench. by who? by the house of lords appointments commission. do you know why? yes, i do. and i was much more annoyed last time because i did this really silly thing and i was honest in the interview. so, i had an interview and they talked about timings and i said, because i would want to be open and transparent, gosh, you got this out of me, i haven't spoken about this before, we talked about most of the time that the lord sits is about three until ten on a monday, tuesday wednesday and i said to them, look, i need to be straight with you in terms of the hours i can give, i'm very busy with myjob but most importantly, i have a nine—year—old daughter,

and until she is 13, my most importantjob from 6:30pm until 8pm is to be with her and put her to bed. maybe until she is 12, whatever, i don't know. she has not got to that age. and so, i would see my role as being learning for three to five years with limited input, and then, gradually over the next five to ten years, committing more and more time to the house of lords if i became crossbench peer and less time to everything else. that's what you told the house? yes, and the interview, i think, went very well. i got very good feedback but i think that was a stumbling block, although they have invited me to apply again in future. they have turned you down? lord lewis, you could be. yes, it's not about the title but... they have turned you down, despite your expertise, despite the fact that you have a kind of unique place... because i don't think i was willing to give them the time that they felt was necessary to be in the lords. you have been very reasonable about this, martin lewis, but is there a bit of you that thinks they are as idiotic as the bbc, who looked at you as a young producer

and held you back? no, for a couple of reasons. one, because i will be honest, when i got the letter, i breathed a sigh of relief because there is a lot of pressure at the moment and i thought maybe a couple of years is maybe, probably more sensible, and two, because i don't know who they will appointment, my hope is they will have some good people, who are willing to give more time than i can give at the moment. and you can hear the full interview with martin lewis on bbc sounds and the political thinking website. a new portrait of the duke and duchess of cambridge, painted by award—winning british portrait artist jamie coreth, has been released today. the artwork, which is the first official joint portrait of the duke and duchess, was commissioned in 2021 by the cambridgeshire royal portrait fund, held by the cambridge community foundation, as a gift to cambridgeshire. members of the public will be able to view the portrait at the university of cambridge's fitzwilliam museum for an initial period of three years, after which the artwork will be exhibited in other community spaces and galleries around cambridgeshire.

the glastonbury festival is under way — after a three year break due to covid. the five—day event in somerset, in the south west of england, will host around 200,000 visitors — entertained by headline artists including, sir paul mccartney, billie eilish and, kendrick lamar. festivalgoers will once again include regulars who return every year. one of them is nina chesworth, who lost her sight since her last visit to glastonbury. abbi smitton went to meet her. this is the tent we are going to be using for glastonbury. she has been used a few times now. usually, in this space, we would have, this would be open. we have got the two bedrooms here, so this is one bedroom. we would usually have air beds in here but we have decided to use camping beds and it's about being organised and keeping trip hazards out of the way. i have the oil and the washing up liquid bottles here and i put a head

bobble around the washing up liquid, so that i know that that is washing—up liquids, because you wouldn't want to mix them two up. making sure that i know where everything is and making things accessible and fun as possible, because that's what glastonbury is about. she will be sharing the trip to worthy farm with her whole family. looking forward to the blossoms, glass animals and probably staying in the tent and stuff. it will be a bit different this year. we will have to give her obviously more support but all of the cain training, she has done really well and learning how to do a lot, so i think she will be fine and all the gadgets and all of the stuff really help but she is doing a really good job and she's going to be good. with glastonbury being so close to our hearts, when we get i to the gates and we are going in, i i do think you are going to havel

some sort of moment, but that is expected i but we will overcome it. after facing a life changing few years, nina and herfamily are ready to experience the festival that means so much to her together. let's ta ke let's take you to rwanda, kigali, where we expect to hear from boris johnson. the audience is gathered for him to address them. he's written in the daily telegraph this week about the immense practical value of being a member of the commonwealth. we will bring you that speech when it begins. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. although there is more cloud today again across northern and western scotland and northern ireland that has produced some end result, we still expect some bright sunny

spells to develop through today. this clutch of front moving across southern england producing some showers, moving northwards and some heavy and thundery. we will not all catch one, lots of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and cloud floating around through the day. top temperatures likely to be in northern england or north midlands. widely looking at 13—27. once again pollen levels are high or very high except the north and north—west of scotland where they are low or moderate. through this evening and overnight you will find continues showers drifting steadily northwards, heavy and potentially thundery with patchy mist and fog forming and feeling quite humid tonight as well. that leads us into tomorrow with this area of low pressure and approaching weather

front coming our way and the wind will pick up a touch in the south as well. windier than recent days. that low pressure signals a change in the weather, turning more unsettled. on friday at lots of dry weather, showers and through the day, some of those could be heavy and thundery. here is our weather front coming those could be heavy and thundery. here is our weatherfront coming in and bringing more persistent rain and bringing more persistent rain and the wind strengthening. 14 in the north, 26 towards the south—east. as we head into saturday here is our low pressure, this weather front wrapped around it bring in some rain, some showers ahead and we could see a front coming back and across the east of kent and east anglia bringing some rain. when the day across the board with temperatures between 14 and 22 celsius. you can see how temperatures have slipped a touch. into sunday, on sunday it will remain unsettled with low pressure

in charge, sunshine and showers. some of those showers heavy and thundery and once again it will be windy.

this is bbc news. i'm joanna gosling. the headlines. the second day of rail strikes is under way — with half the network closed in england, wales and scotland — and only 20% of services expected to run. i was meant to get a train in today and all last week i was affected by it. luckily we have the city bikes we can use. luckily we have the city bikes we can use. the independent office for police conduct is to reinvestigate the way the metropolitan police handled the deaths of the four men murdered by stephen port. the taliban appeals for international help in afghanistan — after a powerful earthquake kills more than 1,000 people. borisjohnson is in rwanda for a meeting of the commonwealth's heads of government with food security, climate change and the government's migrants policy expected to be on the agenda. the waiting list for hospital

treatment in wales reaches a new record level — more than 700,000 patients were waiting for treatment in april. the first official joint portrait of the duke and duchess of cambridge, painted by the award—winning british portrait artist jamie coreth, has been released. more than 40,000 rail, maritime and transport union members from network rail and 13 train operators have walked out for the second of their three planned strikes this morning. half the rail network is closed in england, wales and scotland. only 20% of services are expected to be running, and some areas will have no trains at all. the latest talks between the unions

and rail employers were held on wednesday in a bid to resolve the dispute overjobs, pay and conditions — but they broke down. the rmt is calling for a pay rise of 7%, while employers have offered a maximum of 3%. the government says it is up to the railway companies to negotiate, but mick lynch, general secretary of the rmt has described the government as a �*silent partner�* at the negotiating table. the rmt accused ministers of wrecking talks by refusing to allow network rail to withdraw redundancy threats — a claim denied by the government. another strike is planned for saturday — unless agreement is reached beforehand. however, at this late stage, even if action is called off, it will probably be too late to prevent much of the disruption. it comes alongside news that hundreds of gmb members working at heathrow will be balloted over whether to walk out during the summer holiday period — the ballotjust closed in the last few minutes at midday. we'll have more news on heathrow a little later. but first, the government is preparing to publish its proposed

change to the law, which would let businesses bring in skilled agency workers to stand in for striking staff. mick lynch — the general secretary of the rmt — says his members don't want to cause disruption. we apologise to the public and the travellers. we don't want this kind of disruption in our communities. we don't want that on our railway. the men and women of our union are standing on picket lines because they need a square deal from the employer. they've got to sacrifice their pay for up to three days this week, they don't want to do that, but what they are determined to do is get a settlement to the issues. they don't want their jobs cut. they want the guarantee of no compulsory redundancies. they want to defend their conditions while dealing with the modernisation issue. and, of course, we need a pay rise. many other people haven't had a pay rise for two or three years. and of course, that is true of the general public as well. many people in both the private sector and the public sector have also had their pay suppressed. so we are part of the movement that is trying to rebalance that and get a square deal for everyone.

steve montgomery is chair of the rail delivery group, which represents rail companies. he says modernisation in the rail industry is necessary to plug the current funding gap. how do we get reform within the industry so that we can start to modernise it and meet the funding gap that we have all spoken about over the last number of weeks? that there is a huge funding gap there and the cost of the industry is now far in excess of the actual revenue that the industry is taking in. so what we are trying to do, working with the trade unions, how do we modernise and reduce our overall costs that can then allow us in various ways to increase staff's wages but also, ultimately, stop the taxpayer paying more into the rail industry than is necessary? our correspondentjo black is in stratford—upon—avon for us in the west midlands. joe nan, yes, this is

stratford—on—avon, shakespeare's stratford—on—avon, sha kespeare's birthplace, it stratford—on—avon, shakespeare's birthplace, it is still busy today so it is hard to tell how badly impacted this town is, by the rail strike, i have spoken to an ice—cream vendor near near the river, he is calls costa, he said sales were down 20% and he said that was because of the rail strike. the royal shakespeare company has got richard iii starting tonight. it has total me it hasn't had any requests for refunds as a result of the rail strike and we have just spoken to a rowing boat hire company down the river there, they said it is urn usually quiet. we have spoken to a local museum, the manager says he thinks more children have been coming in, he thinks people have been taking advantage of taking time off and spending more time with the family, so he says he has seen more children come through the door, he has had to switch a few shifts for his staff because some of them travel in to work by rail. but like

i say, lots of people here today have come by coach or have driven, so it is really hard to say how badly shatford has been impacted but of course businesses here and businesses across the country and tourism bosses will worry about the impact, especially in this post covid recovery time, the effect this rail strike will have on businesses. have people been saying to what they think about the strike? i have people been saying to what they think about the strike?— think about the strike? i spoke to one chap who _ think about the strike? i spoke to one chap who flew _ think about the strike? i spoke to one chap who flew in _ think about the strike? i spoke to one chap who flew in from - think about the strike? i spoke to i one chap who flew in from brisbane who was looking forward to coming back to stratford—on—avon, flew into gatwick and was miffed that head to wait for a family member to pick him up. it wasn't a strike day but there was still problem, he wasn't happy about it but most people i have spoken to have come here, in the car, it is an easy destination to

come to in the car or they have come as part of a coach trip booked a long time ago. as part of a coach trip booked a long time ago-— there are warnings this afternoon that other industries may see strikes this summer. a ballot of gmb union members working as heathrow check—in and ground staff over whether to take strike action has just closed. the result will be known around 2pm, with members widely expected to vote in favour. that could mean a walk—out during the summer holidays. gmb national officer nadine houghton told us that workers are unhappy about the wage discrepancy between ground staff and managers. the reality is if you can pay it back for the bosses and if you can see wage increases like we are seeing for example for the ceo of iag which is british airways parent company, where the ceo expecting to pocket a pay rise of 4.9 million this year, we don't think it is unreasonable for our primarily

women, part—time, low paid workers to be demanding back the 10% they had cut from their pay as a result of fire and rehire during the pandemic. the government will today publish its proposed change to the law which would let businesses bring in skilled agency workers to stand in for staff who are on strike. ministers argue that the change , which would need to be approved by parliament , would limit the impact of any future walkouts. but the trades union congress says the plans would undermine workers' rights, and endanger public safety. the business secretary kwasi kwarteng says reforms are needed to provide necessary flexibility i think that the rules we want to get rid of we were introduced in 1973, i think which need more flexibility to make sure that when people unions are holding the public to ransom effectively, agency workers can be used to fill the gaps. i think it is reasonable to do

that. i think it is reasonable to do that. i'm joined now by kate shoesmith, deputy ceo of the recruitment and employment confederation. what do you think about the proposals? brute what do you think about the proposals?— what do you think about the proposals? what do you think about the ro osals? ~ ., �* , ., , proposals? we don't see how they are racticall proposals? we don't see how they are practically possible _ proposals? we don't see how they are practically possible is _ proposals? we don't see how they are practically possible is the _ proposals? we don't see how they are practically possible is the first - practically possible is the first point to make on this, so, it may be a good wish to bring in agency workers but we are not sure where we will source them from, there are not the people sitting round with the skills and the qualifications required to fill many of these roles, we are in a really tight labour market where we have seen employment at a high level. unemployment at the lowest level. labour and skills shortages where recruiters say they can't find people for these posts so there are people for these posts so there are people available do the jobs and our big point is we don't see why an agency worker would want to cross a picket line. why would they want to put themselves in that situation? so thatis

put themselves in that situation? so that is a different factors isn't it. because you were talking about the practicalities of whether there are plenty of skilled workers sitting round, but crossing a picket line is something different. in terms of then, how you would see the prospect of workers who don't require special skills to step in, you have implied you think they would be reluctant to do it any way. you have to look at what happened in the case of p&o, so just a couple of months back we were saying across the piece, businesses were saying it wasn't supportive of the way p&o went about their redundancy programme and how they brought in foreign agency workers to replace those substantive members of staff and the reports that were made at time of those workers not feeling comfortable of what they were brought in to do because they didn't have knowledge of that is who i think that were being employed in that way and so there is no business

gain from this, the reputational risk that this place is on agencies who haven't been consulted on this change in legislation either, it is really important to us and it feels so important that when you are involved in union disputes like this, that the key thing that has to happen, is there has to be an employer and union negotiating, putting in a third party like this will elongate and potentially inflame. ., ~ , ., will elongate and potentially inflame. ., ~ . ., will elongate and potentially inflame. ., . ., ., ., inflame. thank you. we are going to no to inflame. thank you. we are going to go to rwanda _ inflame. thank you. we are going to go to rwanda to _ inflame. thank you. we are going to go to rwanda to hear _ inflame. thank you. we are going to go to rwanda to hear from - inflame. thank you. we are going to go to rwanda to hear from the i inflame. thank you. we are going to | go to rwanda to hear from the prime go to rwanda to hearfrom the prime minister. go to rwanda to hear from the prime minister. 2, go to rwanda to hear from the prime minister. ., ., , , ., minister. how absolutely wonderful to be here in _ minister. how absolutely wonderful to be here in kigali, _ minister. how absolutely wonderful to be here in kigali, for— minister. how absolutely wonderful to be here in kigali, for our- minister. how absolutely wonderful to be here in kigali, for our long i to be here in kigali, for our long delayed family reunion as the commonwealth, and i am sorry to say i missed the dancing last night, jonathan, very good to see you strutting your funky stuff in this way you were, let us hear it for jonathan marland on the dance floor and the weather is absolutely lovely here in rwanda today, but i have to tell you, it is an amazing statistic it is hotter in london, i don't know

why, orso it is hotter in london, i don't know why, or so my staffjust told me. this is a very very timely meeting, as jonathan has just this is a very very timely meeting, asjonathan hasjust said, we have all come out of the misery of the covid lockdowns and look at what is going on in the world today. unfortunately we still see economic pressures and we are seeing spiking in the cost of energy, spikes in the cost of food, and fertiliser, fertiliser. i was talking about this to paul kagame just fertiliser. i was talking about this to paul kagamejust now, what fertiliser. i was talking about this to paul kagame just now, what if there was a miracle fertiliser, of business that grew your business and expanded profits and cut your costs, by 21%? there is such a fertiliser, and i will tell you the ingredient, it is perfectly harmless, it is o

organic, i won't call algal bloom. it is a common language, it is a if mill yahr sense of our system, it is a shared sense of mutual trust, between us, and that fertiliser is called the commonwealth. and it knocks... applause. i can prove it. i can prove it. that fertiliser knocks 21% off the cost of trade between commonwealth member, that is 21% bigger profits if you do dealed between the commonwealth, 21% efficiency without management consultants and now is the time my friends to turbo charge those advantage, over the next five year, the commonwealth's total gdp is forecast to rise by nearly 50% to $19.5 trillion. and these are the

markets superfertilised markets that will power growth and prosperity and create jobs in our country, will power growth and prosperity and createjobs in our country, and will power growth and prosperity and create jobs in our country, and at the same time help to ease those pressures we all face on the cost of living. so, we are going ahead, and in the uk, we are striking free trade agreements across the whole of the commonwealth. we have done australia, we have done new zealand, we are going do a deal with india, we are going do a deal with india, we have signed free trade or economic partnerships with 33 of our commonwealth friends so far, and through the trans—pacific through the tra ns—pacific partnership through the trans—pacific partnership we are aiming for new deals with malaysia and brunei, by the way it's fantastic to's the birth of the african continental free today area. isn't that going to be a wonderful thing? applause. it is going to be the big nest the world. the biggest in the world. 1.3 billion people promising to lift

people out of profit and generate $450 billion for african nations which is far more than africa could receive in development aid, and i massively support that new africa free trade area, i remember the uk helped to found the european free trade area many years ago, which we then got taken over by something called the european union, but never mind that. i don't necessarily advice by the way you turn the african free trade area into a single currency, but i leave that wholly to you, and that will be a matter for entirely for africa, but we want to support this project, and we want to support this project, and we are backing the new secretariat in accra, and as african countries remove trade barriers from their borders, we are making it easier to sell to the uk, because on the 6th july we are launching a new preferential trade system for 65

developing country, including rwanda, and 17 other commonwealth members, liberalising our very philadelphias —— tariff, getting rid of the ones that are vexatious that cost more to collect, than the revenues you get from them. establishing the nuisance tariff, they exist and improving our rules of origin to make it easier for all our countries to benefit, and, what ifeel so our countries to benefit, and, what i feel so strongly about, the commonwealth, is it is notjust about the imports and exports, it is about the imports and exports, it is about the imports and exports, it is about the partnerships that we build, it is about doing more together, to ensure that everyone prospers from the new green industrial revolution, and i saw some of you i am proud to say at the africa investment summit in london, in 2020, you remember that, just before covid struck, a moment of real optimism. i want you to know we are doing the same again next year and i hope to see you again in london next year, and it is great to

announce that the british international investment is british international investment is british international investment is putting £140 million into hydropow other in africa. creating 180,000 job, including here in rwanda, while at the same time, cutting carbon emission, generating electricity for three many people. many african countries, i mentioned the sun in london today it is exceptional, i hope you understand i am not bragging about the sun in london, it is not as consince tent as it is here in africa. many countries are blessed where the ability to power economies entirely by hydroand solar, and wind energy, incredible fact, kenya i couldn't believe this, kenya gets 90% of its electricity

from renewable sources already and they are aiming for 100 percent by 2030. i see a fantastic future for all of us in these initiatives the and all of us, and we with of our clean green northern irish tougher want to be the partner of choice four for our african friends as you transform millions of lives, with infrastructure meeting environmental protection. it is because free enterprise, generates the resources of for bet health, and education, which is what we are trying to do, better outcomes for our people. here in rwanda, infant mortality is down by almost 80%, since the year 2000. nine out of ten people... applause. nine out of ten people have health insurance in this country, virtually

every child goes to school, and that is the kind of future that we want to build together. and all i will say to you in conclusion is we in the uk have the technology, the city of london certainly has the finance, the government that i am proud to lead has the will, and our wonderful wonderful commonwealth, that great institution has the super fertiliser to be be sprinkled across this extraordinary grouping of countries, and above all, to help to forge a new africa. sharing your optimism, that the people of this continent and every member of the commonwealth can thrive and prosper from free trade and free enterprise. thank you all very much. have a wonderful

fantastic time and i look forward to seeing you later. that is borisjohnson speaking in kigali at the commonwealth heads of government meeting in rwanda. it is the first time that this meeting has been held in a new commonwealth member country. rwanda was never a british colony but voluntarily joined the organisation in 2009, and borisjohnson wanting to set out the economic advantages of the 54 member organisation. so that was his speech live from kigali. we start in afghanistan, where the country's taliban rulers have urged aid agencies and other nations to intensify relief efforts after an earthquake that's believed to have killed a thousand people. un agencies are rushing to get emergency shelter, food and medicine to the worst—hit province, paktika, where many families remain buried in the rubble of their collapsed homes. but access to remote areas has been hindered by heavy rain and flooding.

frances read reports. cracks in the walls of what used to be a home. whole villages in this part of the country now gone. this, a major disaster. of those who survive, many are now homeless. searches continue in the rubble, but overnight heavy rain and hail has hampered the rescue. the air ambulance arrives in a remote area, but the response is limited. it's one of only a handful of helicopters left in the country since the taliban returned to power. the hospital beds in paktika's capital, sharan, were full of both the very youngest and the older. this woman survived but she lost 19 family members, and fears she is now completely alone. "seven in one room, five

in another, four in another, then three in another, have all been killed in my family. i can't talk any more, my heart is getting weak," she said. here, the injured are treated. doctors say they're worried about food and supplies in the coming days as well as waterborne diseases. the un secretary—general antonio guterres says it's fully mobilised with teams on the ground to provide initial support. but it's not yet clear what form that will take long term. the country, one of the poorest in the world, was already facing a humanitarian crisis with millions vulnerable to famine. the ruling taliban still international pariahs, and afghanistan's economy crushed by sanctions. translation: we call- on the international community to help because our country alone cannot handle this incident. we want the international community to start working with us at this time, and to continue their cooperation.

as emergency food and medical supplies leave for remote areas, aid agencies fear this disaster may be worse than already seen. a lack of communication means it's hard to know the extent of help needed or the damage caused. they can only hope that help comes fast enough. frances read, bbc news. the independent office for police conduct is to re—open the investigation into police officers who missed serial killer stephen port. the watchdog will reinvestigate the way the metropolitan police handled the deaths of stephen port�*s victims. port was responsible for the murder of four men and for committing multiple rapes. he received a life sentence with a whole life order in november2016, meaning he will never be released. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford told me the case began eight years ago.

on 18th june 2014 when antony walgate was found dead outside the door to stephen port�*s block of flats it emerged he was the first of four people steven port killed, but the police didn't realise until the fourth person had been murdered they had a serial killer in their midst, despite warnings that something suspicious was going on, the other three men were all found within yards of each other in a churchyard in barking, so we have been through the trial. stephen port was found guilty. there was an investigation where it was decided no police officers should face misconduct or gross misconduct allegation, which shocked the families very much, then there was an inquest, which concluded in december, and the inquestjury concluded there were

fundamentalfailings in how the police investigated the deaths from the very beginning, so the independent office for police conduct agreed to go back and look at what it has done and decided that its own investigation was materially flawed, that there was new evidence that had come out of the quipest and from elsewhere and they are going to reinvestigate those officers who failed to catch the serial killer. so what will happen with the investigation, what is the scope, is it public, how does it work? it will be a different _ it public, how does it work? it will be a different team _ it public, how does it work? it will be a different team looking i it public, how does it work? it will be a different team looking at i it public, how does it work? it will be a different team looking at it, | be a different team looking at it, itself it will be one of their major incident teams, they will have to decide whether to go back over everything or whether to look at the new information that came out the inquest and in particular, the fact that the police officers actually gave evidence at the inquests because in the initial investigation, almost all but one of the officers didn't make no comment in their interview, so they didn't give evidence in their evidence, so

the iopc do have that evidence at least, from the inquest, so, whether they go through everything again, or whether they will really look at the new stuff and probe round the edges, is yet to be decided. but here we are, you know, more than eight years on, and the investigation into the investigators still isn't complete and the families obviously find that very distressing, put out a strongly worded statement today, saying that the police also have blood on their hands. the police also have blood on their hands. the waiting list for hospital treatment in wales has grown to a new record for the 24th month in a row. the latest data shows that in april 2022 there were more than 700,000 patients waiting for treatment, the equivalent of more than one in five of the welsh population. earlier, our wales correspodent, hywel griffith, explained how the waiting list has continued to grow. long waiting lists in wales are not a new problem, but the pandemic period has exacerbated the issue —

the lack of capacity, shortage of staff, and so we are seeing so many people, more than 60,000, waiting over two years to start their treatment. i have spoken this week to a couple of patients who have waited more than four years, or put it another way, even before the pandemic, they had faced a two—year wait for their treatment. the nhs in wales is still recovering from that period. they acknowledge they were having issues before the pandemic, but certainly things have deteriorated. they also point to their plan for improving services, and the investment they say they are making. now there are things changing within the welsh nhs. new operating theatres being built, but they are not operational yet. and they need to recruit the staff for it. so at a hospital where i was at yesterday, a new shiny theatre ready to go, but they were still recruiting, still on the phones trying to get the staff, the nurses to back that up. so it may be a long time before we see these figures for hospital operations improve.

i should mention the other figures we have had today, which are on ambulance response times, and a&e waits, another difficult problem for the welsh nhs. in both cases there have been marginal improvements, but the figures are still among the worst on records, and that causes concern if someone dials 999 and don't get a response soon enough, or they turn up and see a long queue of ambulances waiting to discharge patients. a new portrait of the duke and duchess of cambridge, painted by award—winning british portrait artist jamie coreth, has just been unveiled. the artwork, which is the first officialjoint portrait of the duke and duchess, was commissioned in 2021 as a gift to cambridgeshire. members of the public will be able to view the portrait at the university's fitzwilliam museum for three years, after which the artwork will be exhibited in community spaces and galleries around the county. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol:

hello again. today is essentially a day of sunshine and showers. some of the showers being heavy and thundery as they move from the south northwards. but because of the showers, not all of us will catch one. and there'll be a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine around. and although there will be areas of cloud, most of us will see bright or sunny intervals at least. now top temperatures today likely to be in the north midlands or northern england at 28 or 29 degrees. and then as we head on through the evening and overnight, you can see the progress our showers are making moving northwards, still the potential for them to be heavy and thundery. there will likely be some patchy mist and fog forming shouldn't be problematic and it's going to feel humid tonight as well. temperatures falling away between nine and about 15 degrees and any patchy mist and fog that does form will lift quite rapidly tomorrow. tomorrow, still a lot of dry weather around, but you can see some showers developing ahead of this main weatherfront, which is going to bring in some more persistent rain across western areas. and the wind will pick up

in top temperatures 25.

all hello this is bbc news — i'mjoanna gosling — the second day of rail strikes is under way — with half the network closed in england, wales and scotland — and only 20% of services expected to run. the independent office for police conduct is to reinvestigate the way the metropolitan police handled the deaths of the four men murdered by stephen port. the taliban appeals for international help in afghanistan — after a powerful earthquake kills more than 1,000 people. borisjohnson is in kigali for a meeting of the commonwealth's heads of government — with food security, climate change and the government's migrants policy expected to be on the agenda. the waiting list for hospital treatment in wales reaches a new record level — more than 700,000 patients

were waiting for treatment in april. the first official joint portrait of the duke and duchess of cambridge — painted by the award winning british portrait artist jamie coreth — has been released. borisjohnson is boris johnson is in borisjohnson is in rwanda for the heads of government commonwealth conference. he had this to say on the uk policy of sending migrants to rwanda. ., ., the uk policy of sending migrants to rwanda. . ., ., , the uk policy of sending migrants to rwanda. ., ., ., , ., ., rwanda. rwanda has gone -- undergone an absolute transformation _ rwanda. rwanda has gone -- undergone an absolute transformation in _ rwanda. rwanda has gone -- undergone an absolute transformation in the - an absolute transformation in the past couple of decades and you've -ot past couple of decades and you've got the _ past couple of decades and you've got the whole of the commonwealth leaders _ got the whole of the commonwealth leaders here today in kigali which is a very— leaders here today in kigali which is a very safe place, they've gone on in _ is a very safe place, they've gone on in leaps— is a very safe place, they've gone on in leaps and bounds in their progress — on in leaps and bounds in their progress in— on in leaps and bounds in their progress in education and taking the society— progress in education and taking the society forward. and what both countries — society forward. and what both countries have done, the uk and rwanda, — countries have done, the uk and rwanda, is — countries have done, the uk and rwanda, is an immense amount of due diligence _ rwanda, is an immense amount of due diligence on— rwanda, is an immense amount of due diligence on the way things work

both in— diligence on the way things work both in the uk and in rwanda so that everything _ both in the uk and in rwanda so that everything we do is in conformity with human rights and everything that you — with human rights and everything that you would expect. ijust had a great _ that you would expect. ijust had a great talk— that you would expect. ijust had a great talk with polka gamete the president, and he cares passionately about— president, and he cares passionately about this _ president, and he cares passionately about this -- — president, and he cares passionately about this —— i had a great talk with— about this —— i had a great talk with first — about this —— i had a great talk with first time —— paul kagame. he sees _ with first time —— paul kagame. he sees this— with first time —— paul kagame. he sees this as — with first time —— paul kagame. he sees this as an opportunity to fix what _ sees this as an opportunity to fix what is _ sees this as an opportunity to fix what is an— sees this as an opportunity to fix what is an increasing global problem, with a partnership between the uk _ problem, with a partnership between the uk and _ problem, with a partnership between the uk and rwanda it is notjust about— the uk and rwanda it is notjust about migration. actually what, if you look— about migration. actually what, if you look at— about migration. actually what, if you look at the role of the uk in rwanda — you look at the role of the uk in rwanda it— you look at the role of the uk in rwanda it is about education, trade, all sorts— rwanda it is about education, trade, all sorts of— rwanda it is about education, trade, all sorts of things, green technology, financial services, all various _ technology, financial services, all various areas we want to do more together~ —

now let's return to the rail strikes. services have ground to a halt across much of britain, as thousands of workers walk out for the second time this week. our correspondent lorna gordon has been in glasgow for us — and described how scotland was being impacted. scotla nd scotland is one of the worst affected parts of that country, 90% of services here have been cancelled, scotrail staff are not on strike but they are reliant on network rail signallers to keep trains running around the tracks. there are only five routes running within scotland today, solely within the central belt and limited part, at that. there are services between edinburgh and glasgow every half an hour, that's the only service running from queen street station. there are no services north of the central belt or south to the borders and limited cross—border service into england. down the east and west

coast main line is. i think it's fair to say it is probably quieter today than tuesday, the message seems to be getting through that a strike is on and services are limited but also fair to say mixed opinions amongst people who turned up opinions amongst people who turned up here this morning. got opinions amongst people who turned up here this morning.— up here this morning. got the train into day and _ up here this morning. got the train into day and all— up here this morning. got the train into day and all last _ up here this morning. got the train into day and all last week- up here this morning. got the train into day and all last week was i into day and all last week was affected — into day and all last week was affected as well but we have the rental _ affected as well but we have the rental bikes we can use so there are usually— rental bikes we can use so there are usually lots — rental bikes we can use so there are usually lots of bike points around glasgow — usually lots of bike points around glasgow which has been a very handy. it is glasgow which has been a very handy. it is not _ glasgow which has been a very handy. it is not affected us so far but it may— it is not affected us so far but it may from — it is not affected us so far but it may from here _ it is not affected us so far but it may from here on _ it is not affected us so far but it may from here on out, - it is not affected us so far but it may from here on out, we i it is not affected us so far but it may from here on out, we havej it is not affected us so far but it i may from here on out, we have four more _ may from here on out, we have four more days _ may from here on out, we have four more days here _ may from here on out, we have four more days here we _ may from here on out, we have four more days here. we are _ may from here on out, we have four more days here. we are going - may from here on out, we have four more days here. we are going to i more days here. we are going to catch— more days here. we are going to catch the — more days here. we are going to catch the train _ more days here. we are going to catch the train to _ more days here. we are going to catch the train to edinburgh. i more days here. we are going toj catch the train to edinburgh. find catch the train to edinburgh. and then a bus _ catch the train to edinburgh. and then a bus to _ catch the train to edinburgh. and then a bus to st _ catch the train to edinburgh. then a bus to st andrews. catch the train to edinburgh. and then a bus to st andrews. untili catch the train to edinburgh. and i then a bus to st andrews. until now, has it been — then a bus to st andrews. until now, has it been a — then a bus to st andrews. until now, has it been a problem? _ then a bus to st andrews. until now, has it been a problem? it _ then a bus to st andrews. until now, has it been a problem? it has, i then a bus to st andrews. until now, has it been a problem? it has, who i has it been a problem? it has, who came from — has it been a problem? it has, who came from portree _ has it been a problem? it has, who came from portree to _ has it been a problem? it has, who came from portree to glasgow i has it been a problem? it has, who came from portree to glasgow at i has it been a problem? it has, who i came from portree to glasgow at the cancelled _ came from portree to glasgow at the cancelled the — came from portree to glasgow at the

cancelled the ferry— came from portree to glasgow at the cancelled the ferry rides _ came from portree to glasgow at the cancelled the ferry rides from - cancelled the ferry rides from mallaig — cancelled the ferry rides from mallaig and _ cancelled the ferry rides from mallaig and the _ cancelled the ferry rides from mallaig and the train, - cancelled the ferry rides from mallaig and the train, did i cancelled the ferry rides from mallaig and the train, did notj cancelled the ferry rides from i mallaig and the train, did not get to go— mallaig and the train, did not get to go over— mallaig and the train, did not get to go over the _ mallaig and the train, did not get to go over the glenfinnan - mallaig and the train, did not get to go over the glenfinnan viaductj to go over the glenfinnan viaduct which _ to go over the glenfinnan viaduct which i _ to go over the glenfinnan viaduct which i have _ to go over the glenfinnan viaduct which i have done _ to go over the glenfinnan viaduct which i have done but— to go over the glenfinnan viaduct which i have done but i— to go over the glenfinnan viaduct which i have done but i wanted i to go over the glenfinnan viaduct i which i have done but i wanted these -uys which i have done but i wanted these guys to— which i have done but i wanted these guys to see — which i have done but i wanted these guys to see-— guys to see. what would you usually do? i guys to see. what would you usually do? i come — guys to see. what would you usually do? i come and _ guys to see. what would you usually do? i come and get _ guys to see. what would you usually do? i come and get the _ guys to see. what would you usually do? i come and get the train - guys to see. what would you usually do? i come and get the train and i guys to see. what would you usually | do? i come and get the train and get home but now _ do? i come and get the train and get home but now i _ do? i come and get the train and get home but now i need _ do? i come and get the train and get home but now i need to _ do? i come and get the train and get home but now i need to figure i do? i come and get the train and get home but now i need to figure out i home but now i need to figure out how to _ home but now i need to figure out how to get — home but now i need to figure out how to get home.— home but now i need to figure out how to get home. usually work from home but i am _ how to get home. usually work from home but i am pro _ how to get home. usually work from home but i am pro strikes. - how to get home. usually work from home but i am pro strikes. unions. home but i am pro strikes. unions very important. that's all i can say. you heard the opinions of people arriving at queen street station this morning and at the point to a couple of the wider issues, the buses have been busier, transport scotland say no particular uptake of traffic on the roads on tuesday, they will watch closely again today. tuesday, they will watch closely again today-— tuesday, they will watch closely again today. tuesday, they will watch closely auaintoda. ., ., , , ., , again today. that would suggest lots of commuters _ again today. that would suggest lots of commuters have _ again today. that would suggest lots of commuters have chosen _

again today. that would suggest lots of commuters have chosen to - again today. that would suggest lots of commuters have chosen to work. of commuters have chosen to work from home today but the american tourist bet saying they had trouble getting down from the isle of skye and that points to one of the big issues here, concerns for hoteliers and people in hospitality, some of them are reporting cancellations and we are about to hit a couple of the wider issues, the buses have been busier, transport scotland say no particular uptake of traffic on the roads on tuesday, they will watch closely again today. that would suggest lots of commuters have chosen to work from home today but the american tourist there saying they had trouble getting down from they had trouble getting down from the isle of skye and that points to one of the big issues here, concerns for hoteliers and people in hospitality, some of them are reporting cancellations and we are about to hit peak season here, the school start breaking up for the summer at the weekend, a big tourist industry and if these strikes continue that is real concern about what impact that might have on the bottom line for them. let's get more now on the earthquake in afghanistan, which is reported to have killed at least a thousand people. the country's taliban rulers have urged aid agencies and other countries to step up relief efforts. unfreezing taliban assets is still a concern for many countries which have not recognised the new administration as legitimate. baroness amos, former under—secretary—general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator to the united nations, told us more.

there would have to be a discussion in the un and an agreement reached on how that could be done because the worry would be not wanting to get these assets into the hands of an authority that is not yet recognised by many in the international community, concerns about what that money might be used for. of course, there have been concerns in the past with respect to money going into the hands of terrorist organisations, so there is a security element to all of this. so navigating that complexity is not easy, but there is a way that can be found to help to give this money to those who will help afghans on the ground who desperately need that help. there was a really scary moment

at the world aquatics championships in budapest when one of the american synchronised swimmers fainted and sank to the bottom of the pool, having to be rescued by her coach. this was anita alvarez during the solo free final, when she passed out under water. her coach andrea fuentes was the quickest to react and dived in and dragged her out of the pool, averting a much more serious incident. there are just 100 days left to spend the last of the bank of england's paper banknotes, before they lose their legal tender status. they're being replaced with plastic versions, which are more durable. and 160—million 50 pound notes are still in circulation. joining me is sarahjohn, chief cashier at the bank of england. welcome. what is going on with those notes at the moment, then? thafie notes at the moment, then? those notes at the moment, then? those notes have — notes at the moment, then? those notes have been _ notes at the moment, then? those notes have been out _ notes at the moment, then? those notes have been out of— notes at the moment, then? those notes have been out of circulation i notes have been out of circulation probably for a very long time. they are probably in drawers, it may be

under the bed, we don't really know where they are. obviously that is quite a lot of notes and we would encourage people to look in your house for them and use them over the next 100 days. if house for them and use them over the next 100 days-— next 100 days. if they get used a sho can next 100 days. if they get used a shop can take — next 100 days. if they get used a shop can take them _ next 100 days. if they get used a shop can take them and - next 100 days. if they get used a shop can take them and then - next 100 days. if they get used a| shop can take them and then they next 100 days. if they get used a - shop can take them and then they get handed straight back to the bank of england, is that how it works? that is absolutely _ england, is that how it works? that is absolutely right, _ england, is that how it works? ii—�*ué�*if is absolutely right, we take them all out of circulation. in the next 100 days you can use those notes as usual in shops and with businesses. i would encourage people to look around and if you find any please use them. at the end of september they will cease to be legal tender and shops. they will cease to be legal tender and sho s. . ~ they will cease to be legal tender and shops-— they will cease to be legal tender and sho-s. . ~' . ., they will cease to be legal tender and shos. u . ., and shops. taking them. what can you do with them — and shops. taking them. what can you do with them after— and shops. taking them. what can you do with them after that, _ and shops. taking them. what can you do with them after that, can _ and shops. taking them. what can you do with them after that, can you - do with them after that, can you redeem them at the bank? you can. there are still _ redeem them at the bank? you can. there are still options. _ redeem them at the bank? you can. there are still options. many - redeem them at the bank? you can. there are still options. many high i there are still options. many high street banks will still take them after the end of september, if you have an account with that bank. and

you could also return them to us at the bank of england if you go on to our website there are details of how to make a postal exchange. obviously your options are much more limited after the end of september so that is why we are saying to people, there are 100 days still to go so look and see if you've got any and use them within the next 100 days. it is a huge amount of money out there in these notes, how do you know how much is out there? we know every single — know how much is out there? we know every single banknote _ know how much is out there? we know every single banknote that _ know how much is out there? we know every single banknote that goes - know how much is out there? we know every single banknote that goes into i every single banknote that goes into circulation and we know exactly how many banknotes have come back to us at the end of their life. so we got pretty accurate reading on the number of banknotes out there. it's very interesting taking the banknotes out and seeing what has happened to them during their lifetime but it means we know how many are still out there. £14 billion worth. somebody is going to be very lucky if they have a look around the house. £14 billion worth?

in total. £6 billion worth of £20 notes and £8 billion of paper £50 notes. ~ ., ., .,, ., , , notes. wow, ok. i mean, obviously someone may _ notes. wow, ok. i mean, obviously someone mayiust _ notes. wow, ok. i mean, obviously someone mayjust have _ notes. wow, ok. i mean, obviously someone mayjust have one - notes. wow, ok. i mean, obviously someone mayjust have one or- notes. wow, ok. i mean, obviously someone mayjust have one or two| notes. wow, ok. i mean, obviously i someone mayjust have one or two but do you come across people really having that much cash stashed away in that they forgotten about? it can ha en in that they forgotten about? it can happen sometimes. _ in that they forgotten about? it can happen sometimes. something people put money away for a rainy day and they forget where they've put it and they forget where they've put it and they find it years later. banknotes are always worth their face value so evenif are always worth their face value so even if you find that has happened and they are out of, not legal tender any more they can all still be returned at the back and we'll always redeem those notes at face value. we always give face value for banknotes. it happens to a lot of people. this is a great opportunity to see if you have any sitting at home somewhere, we note lots of

people during the covid went and took out some cash to have at home in case they needed to self—isolate. some people may still have that stash of cash and it isn't paper notes now is the chance to get it out. , ., notes now is the chance to get it out. ,, . notes now is the chance to get it out. i. . . , notes now is the chance to get it out. . . , ,., , notes now is the chance to get it out. . . , out. do you have any good stories of --eole out. do you have any good stories of people coming _ out. do you have any good stories of people coming to — out. do you have any good stories of people coming to the _ out. do you have any good stories of people coming to the bank _ out. do you have any good stories of people coming to the bank with - people coming to the bank with previous the forgotten amounts of money that they've realised are longer legal tender? we money that they've realised are longer legal tender?— money that they've realised are longer legal tender? we had a great case that came _ longer legal tender? we had a great case that came in _ longer legal tender? we had a great case that came in not _ longer legal tender? we had a great case that came in not that _ longer legal tender? we had a great case that came in not that long - longer legal tender? we had a great case that came in not that long ago | case that came in not that long ago come into our mutilated notes section because they were so old they were very mutilated and it was actually banknotes issued during the second world war and a shopkeeper, we think, hid them in a box and buried them under the floorboards in the shop and when the house was being renovated these notes came to light and i think there was something like 20 or £30,000 worth of banknotes from the second world war that came to us. it does happen

relatively frequently. this is why we are saying we know people keep these at home sometimes, have a look. . :: ., ;;:: 11:11: ., look. that 20 or £30,000 worth in terms of face _ look. that 20 or £30,000 worth in terms of face value, _ look. that 20 or £30,000 worth in terms of face value, obviously - look. that 20 or £30,000 worth in terms of face value, obviously it i terms of face value, obviously it was worth a lot more back then, and also as their historic value to something like that when it gets returned? we something like that when it gets returned? ~ . ._ , something like that when it gets returned? ~ . , . ., returned? we will always exchange the banknotes _ returned? we will always exchange the banknotes at _ returned? we will always exchange the banknotes at face _ returned? we will always exchange the banknotes at face value. - the banknotes at face value. obviously a very old banknotes can be worth more. i would say this particular set of notes, because they're under floorboards for well over 60 years, they were not in very good condition and would not happen worth an awful lot as second hand—outs i don't think. they were falling apart. very much depends —— second hand notes. depends on the rarity and age of the note but every note will be worth face value. everyone will be scrambling to see

if there's anywhere notes might be stashed. we are talking today about the 20s and 50s, £6 billion worth of 20 and 8 billion or 50s, if they find others that are not longer legal tender, you will still take them? ~ . . ~ them? we will still take them. on our website _ them? we will still take them. on our website there _ them? we will still take them. on our website there are _ them? we will still take them. on our website there are instructions | our website there are instructions for doing a postal exchange, there is a form to fill out to send the matter to us and we'll give you face value back. matter to us and we'll give you face value back-— value back. lovely to talk to you. thank you _ value back. lovely to talk to you. thank you for— value back. lovely to talk to you. thank you forjoining _ value back. lovely to talk to you. thank you forjoining us. - the headlines on bbc news... the second day of rail strikes is under way — with half the network closed in england, wales and scotland — and only 20% of services expected to run. the independent office for police conduct is to reinvestigate the way the metropolitan police handled the deaths of the four men murdered by stephen port. borisjohnson is in kigali for a meeting of the commonwealth's heads of government —

he's been defending his policy of sending migrants to rwanda the european union is expected to formally approve ukraine as a candidate for membership today. eu officials say they are confident that none of the 27 member states will block the decision at a meeting in brussels. taoiseach micheal martin was commenting in brussels ukraine's ambassador to the eu says candidate status will be a huge boost for his war—torn country. vsevolod chentsov has been speaking to our brussels correspondent, jessica parker. my message is that we need this decision, to give candidate status to ukrainian. it is really important for ukraine to keep fighting, and to keep fighting for ourfuture, so it's an existential challenge for us.

you accept that this is a long road. i don't want to characterise what is long, what is short. let's see. let's move to the next stage and, you know, that commission suggested certain steps to be implemented by ukraine before we open accession talks. the real integration process will start when the war is over, but in the meanwhile, when they are talking about those recommendations, i see the potential to implement if not, but some of them even now. is that doable while ukraine is at war with russia? judicial reforms and corruption reforms? we are at quite an advanced stage on all of those issues,

so we are not starting from scratch, creating anti—corruption infrastructure. definitely the bigger ones, it will be logical to do in the course of reconstruction and a rehabilitation process which will start, i think, immediately after we have a stable situation. is ukraine getting special treatment here in terms of the speed of which this process is moving? i'm thinking in particular about some countries in the western balkans, they have had candidate status and have been waiting to join the eu for years. we do not accept the idea of the queue. so you are saying, if ukraine jumps the view, so be it? yes, because each state has its own road map, its own path, and if there is a political will, if there is support of the society, business

operators, to move forward, to implement reform in a bold and fast way, so why should wait? the nato secretary general said this conflict could last for years. how do you see the endgame here, both in terms of the war and what that means for your desire to join the european union? we heard a lot of prognosis that ukraine will fall after three days or three weeks. we are still alive and kicking. eight medical staff are to stand trial in argentina, accused of criminal negligence in the death of the legendary footballer, diego maradona, including his family doctor, a psychologist and two nurses. maradona died of a heart attack in 2020 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot. no date has been set for the trial. wendy urquhart reports. prosecutors claim that those who were meant to be taking care of diego maradona,

when he was recovering from surgery from a blood clot were woefully inadequate. an investigation was launched after the footballer�*s death, and last year, a panel of 20 experts found that his medical team acted in an inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner, adding that he would have had a better chance of survival, if he had been treated in a appropriate medical facility. diego maradona was widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers of all time and was as large as life off the pitch as to when he was on it. but he had his demons too. he struggled with drug and alcohol abuse for a long time, and in the years before he died, he was back and forth to hospital with health problems. the medical staff facing charges include his family doctor. they all deny responsibility, but if found guilty, they could be jailed for between eight and 25 years. consumer expert martin lewis has

revealed that he was recently turned down, after applying to become a member of the house of lords. the founder of the money saving expert website has told the bbc that he believes his bid for a cross—bench peerage was rejected because he was "honest" about the limited time he could commit to the role. he's been speaking to nick robinson on the political thinking podcast: now, you did want a peerage at one stage? yeah, ijust got turned down again a couple of weeks ago, actually. turned down? yes, for crossbench. by who? by the house of lords appointments commission. do you know why? yes, i do. and i was much more annoyed last time because i did this really silly thing and i was honest in the interview. so, i had an interview and they talked about timings and i said, because i would want to be open and transparent, gosh, you got this out of me, i haven't spoken about this before, we talked about most of the time that the lord sits is about three until ten on a monday, tuesday wednesday and i said to them, look, i need to be straight

with you in terms of the hours i can give, i'm very busy with myjob but most importantly, i have a nine—year—old daughter, and until she is 13, my most importantjob from 6:30pm until 8pm is to be with her and put her to bed. maybe until she is 12, whatever, i don't know. she has not got to that age. and so, i would see my role as being learning for three to five years with limited input, and then, gradually over the next five to ten years, committing more and more time to the house of lords if i became crossbench peer and less time to everything else. that's what you told the house? yes, and the interview, i think, went very well. i got very good feedback but i think that was a stumbling block, although they have invited me to apply again in future. they have turned you down? lord lewis, you could be. yes, it's not about the title but... they have turned you down, despite your expertise, despite the fact that you have a kind of unique place... because i don't think i was willing to give them the time that they felt

was necessary to be in the lords. you have been very reasonable about this, martin lewis, but is there a bit of you that thinks they are as idiotic as the bbc, who looked at you as a young producer and held you back? no, for a couple of reasons. one, because i will be honest, when i got the letter, i breathed a sigh of relief because there is a lot of pressure at the moment and i thought maybe a couple of years is maybe, probably more sensible, and two, because i don't know who they will appointment, my hope is they will have some good people, who are willing to give more time than i can give at the moment. and you can hear the full interview with martin lewis on bbc sounds and the political thinking website. the islands of saint kilda in the north atlantic are home to nearly one—million seabirds. now conservationists are warning that the avian—flu outbreak could lead to the extinction of one particular species — the great skua. iain macinnes has been to take a look. it's often said to be

on the edge of the world. but even here in st kilda, over 100 miles from the scottish mainland, the effect of the avian flu outbreak is being felt. it's more than 90 years now since the last st kildans were evacuated from these homes, but the centuries before that, the sea beds that surrounded this archipelago were integral to their way of life. now with avian flu in these islands, there is real concern about the impact it could have on various species on the islands. on the hill above village bay, kilda's seabird ranger is keeping a close eye on great skua territory. they have been badly affected. craig describes this as his most challenging season yet. at the end of last season, i was already worried about the 60 birds that had died, how many more i had missed. i knew that the population was going to be impacted. but it wasn't until i got back, i think was around about the 28th of april, that i found the first dead bird. since then, the number of dead birds has just been increasing every day. that number is now at 120 this year and counting.

it's thought across many colonies, including here in st kilda, that between two thirds and three quarters of great skuas have been lost. and with only between 15 and 20,000 breeding pairs worldwide, if avian flu continues to have such an impact, the species' very existence could be under threat. that's alarming and heartbreaking to witness. really, really worrying that this bird that i grew up with for many years now on multiple islands is on the verge of extinction. those on the island are doing what they can to limit any spread, especially to other species. when people do arrive, whether it's on cruise boat or on a day boat, we can have that introductory talk with people to make sure they can are both aware of the situation that we have on the developments that will be ongoing with that, and our biosecurity measures to make sure those are fully in place. and it may be that we have to restrict areas of the island in future, so asking people to only explore certain areas

for their safety and safety of the birds. the outbreak continued to be monitored nationally and internationally, with the risk to human health described as very low. but people are being reminded not to touch dead or dying birds. craig, though, is concerned about the future. the most worrying thing about this is that we don't know how much further it's going to go, how many more species it's going to affect. to see this happening to the birds that i'm monitoring is heartbreaking. i came here to monitor live birds, i take great pride in the work that i do, but it's rapidly becoming a major part of myjob to report dead birds. it's worrying times. that was iain macinnes reporting. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. although there is more cloud today again across northern and western scotland and northern ireland that has produced some drizzle,

we still expect some bright sunny spells to develop through today. this clutch of fronts moving across southern england producing some showers, moving northwards and some are heavy and thundery. we will not all catch one, and lots of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine and cloud floating around through the day. top temperatures likely to be in northern england or north midlands. widely looking at 13—27. once again pollen levels are high or very high except the north and north—west of scotland, where they are low or moderate. through this evening and overnight you will find we continue with showers drifting steadily northwards, heavy and potentially thundery with patchy mist and fog forming and feeling quite humid tonight as well. that leads us into tomorrow with this area of low pressure

and approaching weather front coming our way and the wind will pick up a touch in the south as well. windier than recent days. that low pressure signals a change in the weather, turning more unsettled. on friday lots of dry weather, showers through the day, some of those could be heavy and thundery. here is our weather front coming in and bringing more persistent rain and the wind strengthening. 14 in the north, 26 towards the south—east. as we head into saturday here is our low pressure, this weather front wrapped around it bring in some rain, some showers in across the east of kent and east anglia bringing some rain. when the day across the board with temperatures between 14 and 22 celsius. you can see how temperatures have slipped a touch. into sunday, it will remain unsettled with low pressure in charge,

sunshine and showers. some of those showers heavy and thundery and once again it will be windy.

many children are said to be among the thousand killed in a powerful earthquake in afghanistan. limited resources are hampering rescue efforts in remote terrain. it's a major challenge for a country which was already facing the world's largest humanitarian crisis. yes, they are resilient, yes they have been through a lot, but they are hungry and they really do need all of our help and all of our support. we'll bring you the latest on the rescue and aid effort — and ask how the international community might respond to the call for help from the hardline islamist taliban government. also this lunchtime. empty stations across england, wales and scotland as a second day of rail strikes leaves many with a limited or no service. borisjohnson defends his plan to send some

asylum seekers to rwanda — as he arrives there for a meeting