tonight at ten, we're live in liverpool — controversy as president zelensky is not allowed to address the eurovision contest. the prime minister says he's disapointesd. as people come here from across europe and around the world, locals say it's a big moment for the city. we are born and bred here, so it makes us so proud of the city. i think it's just - done the city proud, liverpool proud, eurovision proud and ukraine proud! l # instead i wrote a song about how you've done me wrong... # flying the flag for the uk — mae muller tells us

about excitement and nerves. i feel like you can never be 100% prepared for eurovision, you know? ifeel like it's a one—in—a—million, like lifetime experience, but it's exceeded my expectations. also on the programme: a man has been found guilty of the murder of seven—year—old nikki allan in sunderland, following a police inquiry lasting 30 years. former pakistan prime minister imran khan is boiled over corruption allegations. khan is boiled over corruption allegations-— allegations. and a new chief executive — allegations. and a new chief executive at _ allegations. and a new chief executive at twitter, - allegations. and a new chief executive at twitter, but. allegations. and a new chief| executive at twitter, but can allegations. and a new chief - executive at twitter, but can linda yaccarino do what on newsnight at 10:30pm with the us government really run out of money in less than three weeks? plus, the leadership of the world famous christie cancer hospital in manchester is under the spotlight after a recent inspection by the watchdog.

badly handled. transport bosses insist procedures were followed. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at ten, live from the liverpool waterfront on the eve of the eurovision song contest. the uk is, of course, hosting on behalf of last year's winners, ukraine. president zelensky had asked to address the worldwide broadcast tomorrow night, but his request has been denied by the organisers who say it would breach its impartiality — something which downing street has described as disappointing. in a moment, we'll speak to ione wells in westminster on the political controversy, but first colin paterson has more on liverpool's final preparations. all: welcome to liverpool!

one day to go to the grand final — and in the city centre, the length of the queue into the official merchandise shop had passed the hour mark. what are you waiting for? socks! what kind of socks? ukrainian, liverpool. they need to match my turin 2022 socks, need socks. liverpool is seriously busy, already surpassing its target for visitor numbers. i think it's going to be a lot more than 100,000. 100,000 was the aim. that was the aim — smashed it. it's just been full of the most joy and loudness and compassion that only liverpool could show the world, and i'm so proud of the city and so proud of everyone that has taken part in this incredible, incredible event. and this afternoon, this eurovision dance class was part of a programme to make sure that as many children as possible feel involved, with the ukrainian ambassador paying a visit. as it was promised, liverpool done it the ukrainian way. we were joking before

that we were not sure whether we would be able to do it this ukrainian way in ukraine! so that is great, the best of both worlds, the very culturally and musically rich liverpool and the ukrainians who love their songs very much. this woman's eight—year—old son mikhail goes to the school. they fled ukraine last year. it's good that if you can't host it, your friend will host it. it's really good. very warm feeling, like a piece of your home is here now with you, and it's really a huge support. and over at the arena, rehearsals for the final have begun. ukraine's electronic duo tvorchi have been trying out their light show. president zelensky has been blocked from making a speech at eurovision, due to the nonpolitical nature of the event. rishi sunak called the decision disappointing, while labour leader keir starmer said it should be reversed. while back outside the arena... oh, my word, i'm going

to get emotional! ..the volunteers simply do not want eurovision to be over. i thought i loved my city, but i've seen it through a tourist�*s eyes, and it's just beautiful, the most amazing city ever. ijust love it. aren't we fabulous? yeah! i feel i need to give you a hug after that! colin paterson, bbc news, liverpool. downing street has said it is disappointed by the decision not to allow president zelensky of ukraine to make an address during the eurovision song contest, and labour leader sir keir starmer has said president zelensky should be able to give a speech as a defender of international unity and freedom. our political correspondent ione wells is in westsminister. there was no party is apparently an agreement on this one.

that is right, not natural political allies, but prominent political figures from rishi sunak to keir starmer to borisjohnson have starmer to boris johnson have weighed starmer to borisjohnson have weighed in, saying that president zelensky should be allowed to address the contest tomorrow night. he had asked to give a video address, presumably to ask the global audience to support ukraine in its fight against russia, but the european broadcasting union, who run the contest, said that while his intentions were laudable, it would break the rules of the contest, which require it to be nonpolitical. now, its critics would argue that it has already made a political move by banning russia from taking part, and the prime minister's argument is that the values that ukraine is fighting for our, quote, fundamental rather than political. downing street and labour made the comments earlier in response to questions from journalists, earlier in response to questions fromjournalists, but earlier in response to questions from journalists, but that is as far as the political response has gone, because essentially government officials have told me that they have not spoken to the european

broadcasting union, the government has no plans to, it would not be right for the government to intervene, and they argue it is rightly a matter for the intervene, and they argue it is rightly a matterfor the ebu. so no expectation here tonight that the decision will be changed. mil expectation here tonight that the decision will be changed. all right, ione decision will be changed. all right, lone wells, _ decision will be changed. all right, ione wells, thank _ decision will be changed. all right, ione wells, thank you. _ decision will be changed. all right, ione wells, thank you. let's - decision will be changed. all right, ione wells, thank you. let's get i decision will be changed. all right, l ione wells, thank you. let's get the thoughts of our culture and media editor, katie razzall, who is with me by the fan zone, the party still going on. in terms of the bigger picture, we are hosting on behalf of ukraine, this is a huge moment for the city and the whole country. that is absolutely — the city and the whole country. that is absolutely right, _ the city and the whole country. twat is absolutely right, and here in liverpool they are seizing it with all the sequence and fabulousness that the city has to offer, the streets are packed, the speakers are turned up, but it is a huge cultural moment for the uk more widely. we have the competition eight times before, but not for 25 years, and now we are in the global spotlight. tomorrow we expect 160 million people to watch the grand final, a lot of people. as you say, we are

hosting on behalf of ukraine, so it is their opportunity to showcase their culture and history to the world, but also britain's opportunity to remind people of our rich cultural history. music is so intrinsic to the city had a huge cultural export, with more than £500 million a year, so this is our opportunity to show people the great number of musicians who have come out of the country, and then there is the tourism boost that happened in italy, it looks like it is happening here they say, italy hosted it last year. i'd say, in the end, your vision may not be everybody�*s cup of tea, but it is a good news story, so at a time when there is war on various fronts, in ukraine, in sudan, we are in a cost of living crisis, this isjust a week where there is a bit of sparkle, a bit ofjoy, and i'd say in the end we all need a bit of that, don't we?— in the end we all need a bit of that, don't we? absolutely! thank ou so that, don't we? absolutely! thank you so much. _ that, don't we? absolutely! thank you so much, katie _ that, don't we? absolutely! thank you so much, katie razzall. - that's all from liverpool

for the moment. i'll be back later in the programme, but for now i'll hand you back to clive. in the day's other news, a convicted sex offender has been found guilty of the murder of a seven—year—old girl following a manhunt that lasted 30 years. nikki allan was lured to her death in a derelict warehouse in sunderland in 1992. her mother sharon fought long and hard for northumbria police not to give up the search for the killer. david boyd, who's now 55, will be sentenced later this month. here's danny savage. the strongest woman i've ever met. nikki allan's mother leaving court today, overwhelmed with grief, having just seen a man convicted of murdering her daughter more than 30 years ago. yes! yes! this has been a long, emotionaljourney for her family. this is like winning the lottery. it's so sad, but like everything's good from now.

nikki was a shy seven—year—old girl. she was last seen in october 1992, skipping after a man. she was being lured to her death. david? that man was david boyd — 25 years old at the time, now 55. we're part of the team that's re—investigating - the murder of nikki allan. advances in dna evidence found traces of him on nikki allan's clothes. david boyd hid his crime, lying about his involvement and prolonging the family's suffering, knowing all along that he had taken the life of their little girl. nikki lived in a ground—floor flat on this estate in sunderland. her killer lived on the third floor of the block. the whole estate has since been demolished. her body was found dumped in this derelict building, not far from her home.

her mother still remembers that day. your life just changed and nobody... i'm sitting there and i'm saying, "where's me bairn, where's me bairn?" i felt like a zombie, i couldn't move. me sister came in, "what shoes did nikki have on her feet?" i've said, "i can't remember, ican't remember." there was uproar at leeds crown court today when a jury - acquitted a 24—year—old man of murder... - in 1993, another man was tried and cleared of nikki's murder. for three decades after this photo was taken, david boyd thought he had got away with it. one of north east england's most notorious crimes has finally been solved. danny savage, bbc news, newcastle. pakistan's former prime minister, imran khan,

has left court in islamabad more than ten hours afterjudges granted him bail in a corruption case. he was detained on tuesday, leading to violent protests in which at least ten people were killed. imran khan was removed as prime minister last year and blames the country's military leaders for orchestrating his downfall. he's facing dozens of court cases over corruption allegations which he says are politically motivated. yesterday the country's supreme court said his arrest was unlawful and today he was freed on bail by the high court in islamabad. live now to our pakistan correspondent, caroline davies, who was in court. caroline, you've managed to talk to imran khan. what's he been saying? clive, i think defiant probably sums up clive, i think defiant probably sums up imran khan's attitude today. he was met in court by some of his supporters who were chanting slogans, there were journalists and lawyers there too, and the

paramilitaries there to protect him in riot kit, as well as police officers. this was quite an unruly crowd making its way through the complex, occasionally knocking people off their feet. when he arrived in court, during the times that the court was not in session, he allowed journalists to have a conversation with them. i asked him whether he can down to the behaviour that we have seen in the course of the last few days, the violence that we have seen in some parts of pakistan. now, he said he had always promoted peaceful protest, but that he could not be held responsible for what had happened during the course of the last few days because he was in police custody. now, that is not the view taken by the pakistan government here, who do put the chaos that has happened in the last few days, they put it down to mr khan's responsibility. he will appear in court on monday when the bile runs out, but one of the most

significant things is that imran khan has politically survived the course of this way, and there were points where it was not certain what would happen to the pti, his political party, that movement, how it was going to be affected by mr khan being in police custody, but the fact that he has come through to this weekend is being celebrated by his supporters will presumably make mr khan feel even stronger. caroline, thank you, caroline davies in islamabad. britain's economy has still yet to return to pre—covid levels. the latest gdp figures for the first three months of the year show the economy grew by 0.1%, says the office for national statistics. but the value of all goods and services produced in the uk, remains smaller than levels seen before the pandemic. a woman who was hit by a police motorcycle that was escorting the duchess of edinburgh on the day of the king's coronation has been named by herfamily as 81—year old helen holland from essex. her immediate family say they are "shocked and sickened

at her extensive injuries" and are calling for calling for a thorough investigation. ms holland is currently in a coma in hospital. buckingham palace says they are grateful for the swift response of the emergency services and will keep abreast of developments. the government has defended this year's sats tests for year 6 primary school children, saying the're meant to stretch pupils, including the most able. it comes after parents said the sats reading paper left some children visably stressed during the exam and in tears. one mother told the bbc that her child, who loves reading, was unable to finish the paper. a head teachers' union says even some staff struggled to understand the questions. here's our education editor, branwynjeffreys. practising for the end of primary school tests, reading and then answering about llo questions in an hour. but this year, many children struggled to finish. at this halifax primary school,

they encourage children to aim high. 11—year—old aniah is letting off steam playing with her sister. her mum and others at the school say the reading test was tough. she came home and she struggled. she was upset and teary about it. it was more the reading, to be honest. she didn't expect it to be that hard. she's a really good reader. she enjoys reading. she has practised sats papers that she has done and she has found them ok. but this particular paper, she found really difficult. the tests are meant to measure the school's standards, not the pupils', but teachers say some children were left in tears and this birmingham head teacher fears that their confidence could be affected. it was incredibly tough. children who normally absolutely blitz these tests when they practise and get 90% and above were struggling. you could see the colour

was draining out of the staff's faces, and some of the children. we had a couple of children who were in tears. a couple of our real high attainers who love reading and just devour books, were distraught because they hadn't finished all of the questions. that had never happened to them before. we asked the regulator quual about this year's reading sats. in a statement, it said "we routinely monitor the standard and the accessibility of the tests", but there is no further comment on this year's reading tests. schools get pupils to practise for months to reassure them. now parents are having to do that all over again. no concerns have been raised about this year's maths or grammar tests. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. there's been more fighting in sudan, despite the country's rival military factions signing a humanitarian deal they claim will help protect civilians. fighter aircraft have again been in action over the capital

khartoum with reports of loud explosions. these pictures show the aftermath of an air strike on the presidential palace earlier this week. the united nations says 200,000 people have now fled the country, with many more forced from their homes by the fighting. hundreds of civilians have been killed. sudan's rival leaders are former allies — the head of the army, abdel fattah al—burhan, and the paramilitary commander mohamed hamdan dagalo. two years ago they overthrew sudan's government. now they're fighting each other. our correspondent barbara plett usher reports. for nearly a month, sudan's warring generals have been battling for control of khartoum. a brutal power struggle between the army and paramilitary troops. both of them think they can win. but the conflict has trapped civilians in desperate conditions. you're in constant worry that you'll

be laying in bed and a bomb will fall into you and break your building or bomb your house. so every time you hear an airplane, every time you hear a bomb, you'll be on edge, on your toes. despite a week of intense talks, the two sides are still far apart, but they have reached an agreement. they promised to protect civilians and allow delivery of aid. now they have to secure a truce so that can actually happen. they can't even look at each other. in the streets of khartoum it's a battle for survival. there's a constant hunt for dwindling supplies. this is one of the few shops still open. the dead are piling up. the fighting's forced some to dig graves in their gardens. the red cross has been able to collect a few bodies. a truce would allow more to be buried. that's something ashar is thinking about. her grandparents got stuck in the heat of the fighting. her grandfather, a british citizen,

was shot, leaving her disabled grandmother alone at home. weeks of frantic phone calls failed to get help. three days ago ashar heard she was dead. it's quite painful to think that she was alone with no electricity in the midst of... it's really hot in sudan right now, in the midst of a heat. bombs, waking up to bombs, sounds of ammunition. the british embassy was across the road, but azhaar says they didn't respond to her pleas. and the evacuation point was at an airfield her grandparents couldn't reach. if the british embassy is able to bring in cars, evacuate their staff that are stuck inside, surely they can drop off water at least, or surely they can come pick up. it's literallyjust picking up one of your citizens. the fighting still hasn't stopped and at night, power cuts blanket the capital with blackness. unless this deal is serious, things will get worse quite quickly. barbara plett usher,

bbc news, nairobi. the archbishop of canterbury has been ordered to pay £510 for speeding. justin welby admitted exceeding the 20mph limit not farfrom lambeth palace in central london last october. he's also now got three points on his licence. billionaire elon musk has named his replacement as chief executive of twitter. the advertising executive linda yakarino, formerly with the american media giant nbc universal, will take over in six weeks. one of her biggest tasks is to win advertisers back, as james clayton reports from caifornia. it's never always clear when elon musk is being serious. when i asked him about who the new chief executive was last month, this was his answer. i'm not the ceo. my dog is the ceo. behind thejokes, though, it was clear that he needed to find a new chief executive.

he was getting increasingly stressed at having to run three major tech companies — twitter, tesla and spacex. predictably in a tweet he announced a new chief executive, linda yaccarino, the nbc universal exec is the former head of advertising. many of you in this room know me and know i pride myself on my work ethic, but, buddy, i met my match. she is described by colleagues as visionary and fearless and knows advertising inside out. this isn'tjust a stooge that will do elon musk�*s bidding. linda's a very strong personality. she doesn't get roled by anybody. at the same time, elon is one of the world's richest men. he can certainly do whatever he wants and i'm sure he will still have a huge voice in how things move forward. have all the advertisers come back? not all, but most. elon musk has cut a controversial figure since taking over twitter.

he's brought back donald trump, removed covid misinformation rules and fired thousands of staff. it's always hard to predict the twists and turns at twitter but it does appear as though in a few weeks' time this place will have a new boss. james clayton, bbc news, san francisco. rail passengers have endured major disruption again today, in the first of four train strikes in the next three weeks. some rail companies, including transpennine express and southern, ran no service at all as thousands of train drivers in the aslef union took industrial action in their long running pay dispute. there's a separate strike by the rmt union tomorrow, with two more involving drivers on 31st may and 3rd june. the strikes have inevitably affected people trying to make their way to liverpool for the eurovision song contest final. but die—hard fans won't let anything stand in their way, so

let's joinjane in the city for a few final thoughts before the big day. an awful lot of them came early here and the party is very much continuing here at the fan zone. tomorrow mae muller will represent the uk with her track i wrote a song. you'll have to watch all night to see her as she'll be the last of the 26 competitors to perform. our media correspondent david sillito met her on the albert dock near here for a quiet chat — at least, that was the plan. oh, my god. welcome to liverpool and what we thought would be a quiet chat with the uk's mae muller. really sorry. we were waiting and a crowd has built up. that's ok. i don't know what's got out here. no, i love it. no, i wasn't expecting this. however, nothing here stays quiet. welcome to eurovision.

i know. i feel so welcome. look, all these lovely people. cheers. yeah, this is what eurovision does. i love it. i love the whirlwind. i love that it's quite chaotic. i feel like i thrive in chaos. and each and every person that i've come across is so, like, lovely and warm. so it's all very, very... i'm having a great time. and it was at that moment we werejoined by liverpool's eurovision choir... no! ..singing mae's eurovision song. # to work on your mental health... i'm so pleased. i was like welling up. i was like, oh, my god. i feel like moments like that, it kind of reminds you why eurovision is so amazing. it's something different, isn't it? i would have never got that. i don't know. that's something i've never experienced. so that was yeah, that was nice. there's a lot of love here. yeah, i know. i really feel it. i'm overwhelmed.

i really didn't expect it. oh, my god, that was so special. i need to pump up the energy. i need you with me on saturday night. and then it was time for another little surprise. good evening, everybody. ringo here. yes, that's ringo starr. liverpool, because they are hosting the eurovision song contest. no way. and to give mae muller a big peace and love on your big night and we hope you win. oh, my god. is that the real ringo? it's real. do you want to watch it again? yes, i need to take it in. yes, i need to hear him. ringo here, peace and love! ringo said peace and love! he sends me peace and love. david sillito, bbc news. oh, my gosh, thank you! well, the city has really embraced eurovision.

that's how you feel when you walk around. the contest may not be to everyone's taste, but even people who aren't eurovision diehards seem to be getting something from it — as one local man said to me, "it's just about happiness, isn't it?" and it may be called the eurovision song contest, but people come from all over the world to experience it, even from as far away as australia, as i've been finding out today. it's been my dream to come to eurovision. it is the most incredible, joyful, inclusive, creative event you could possibly imagine. it's ourfirst time, it's our first time coming to eurovision and it's hard to believe that we're here. it's just been the happiest experience you could imagine. are you loving it, or do you have to love it because mum loves it? i love it by myself, but it's definitely been inspired by my mother's love of it. and that's definitely become a contagious thought throughout our family. liverpool feels reallyl great at the moment.

everyone is really excited. . everyone's coming together. it's nice to be doing it for ukraine and trying to make it— a really special event. it feels really good. we've been watching eurovision since we were tiny. our dad used to make us scorecards as a family and we would watch. and we remember katrina and the waves winning in �*97 and we remember the uk hosting in �*98. if you had told us then, when we were 12 and ten, that the next time that the uk was hosting on behalf of ukraine, we would get to be here, we wouldn't have believed you. it makes us proud. we were born and bred here, so it makes us so proud of the city as well. actually, we are from ukraine. we really appreciate that liverpool and the united kingdom support ukraine so much. we can get united by music, so thank you, everyone, for that! thank you! what is it about eurovision that

just draws the lgbt community? why is it so important to our community? you can come as you are, you can present how you want to be. it's a form of expression. all done. it's as camp as it comes. from all over europe, - we see the most camp displays of music and dancing and you just feel home, you feel safe. - people have come from - communities where they are not always allowed to be . out and proud and here, we're a very queer city, so you are allowed. - music brings people together, music is love and music is good for the soul. and you can see how mae muller and all the other hopefuls get on in the eurovision song contest grand final tomorrow night at 8pm on bbc one and on bbc iplayer. time for a look at the weather with here's chris fawkes.

liverpool has been blessed with glorious weather today. let's see what the latest is like across the country. it looks like the eurovision party in liverpool is heating up, just in time for the weekend. west was best today with the best of the sunshine, blue skies in cardiff and temperatures reaching 20. different story across the east with this thick cloud moving in. in north yorkshire, only up to eight celsius. with a brisk north—easterly wind, the weather felt pretty much like winter. most places stayed cloudy and cool today but through the weekend it will get a lot warmer with temperatures more typically climbing into the high teens, low 20s, when we have broken the cloud. the cloud is with us for the moment moving into east scotland, most of england and eastern wales. thick enough for the odd spit of rain, maybe the odd patch of mist. temperatures between six and nine. tomorrow we will start a cloud across central and eastern ingrid, east scotland,