tonight at 10pm... the polls have just closed in three important by—elections that are tests of confidence in rishi sunak and his government. counting will soon be underway in uxbridge and south ruislip, selby and ainsty in north yorkshire, and somerton and frome in the south west. i will have live coverage here in the studio of those three crucial by—elections, and of course, all of the build—up to the results. we expect the first by sam. our other main stories tonight... there are mass protests in india as a video emerges showing two women forcibly paraded through a village naked before allegedly being gang raped. supermarkets are told to simplify their pricing for shoppers, but the watchdog denies they're profiteering from rising prices.

and zac crawley hits 189, putting england in a strong in the crucial fourth ashes test at old trafford. in half an hour... on newsnight at 10.30pm. as you hear this, polls are closing in three by—elections. it's a triple threat for number ten, with the fear of the biggest by election reverse for any seeking government in half a century. hello. the polls have closed in three by—elections in england that are important tests of confidence in rishi sunak and his conservative government. the constituences of uxbridge and south ruislip in london — borisjohnson�*s old seat — selby and ainsty in north yorkshire, and somerton and frome in the south west were all won with sizeable majorities by the conservatives at the last general election. but there are real fears within the party that it could lose all three seats.

our political editor, chris mason, is here to explain more. clive, by—elections are a quirky thing — people being asked to elect a member of parliament but not contribute to choosing a government, as happens at a general election. but by—elections are a big deal in making the political weather. do parties think they are on the up or sinking? and that's because they're not opinion polls — they are actual votes, albeit in particular pockets of the country. let's head first to north west london, to uxbridge and south ruislip. we can drop into the queensmead sports centre — no badminton or basketball tonight, but nocturnal arithmetic. this seat was held by one boris johnson, the former prime minister, until he packed it in after mps concluded he'd lied to them. it's a long time conservative seat but labour have had their eyes on it for a while and will face awkward questions if they don't win.

next, we can zip 200 miles up the a1 to north yorkshire, to selby and ainsty. the former mp — a conservative — is a friend of borisjohnson�*s and also packed it in around the time he did. anotherfamiliar scene. another familiar scene. lots of piles of paper and elastic bands. this is how things look at selby leisure centre? — where counters are on the lionel richie shift — all night long. it may well be getting light before the result here. this is a conservative seat with a whopping majority, but labour feel chipper here too. winning here for keir starmer would be a massive moment. and finally to the west country — to somerton and frome. and — you guessed it — we are in another big hall — the bath and west showground, soon to be full of ballot boxes and lots of bits of paper.

the counters look like they are making the most of it before it gets rather noisy later on. another conservative seat until recently — and another where they feel vulnerable. they feel vulnerable in three places tonight. thank you for that. we will hear more from you a little bit later. well, the results of the by—elections are expected in the early hours, and my colleague, jo coburn, will be following all the twists and turns throughout the night on bbc one. i hope you have plenty of coffee to keep you going! i i hope you have plenty of coffee to keep you going!— i hope you have plenty of coffee to keep you going! i have, don't worry, and for all of — keep you going! i have, don't worry, and for all of the _ keep you going! i have, don't worry, and for all of the guests. _ keep you going! i have, don't worry, and for all of the guests. this - keep you going! i have, don't worry, and for all of the guests. this is - and for all of the guests. this is my second so far. we will be live on airjust after midnight, and the counting is starting already and will be well underway, i hope, by then. although the studio looks empty with just myself, it will get a lot busier. joining me we will have representatives from the main political parties, they will be

changing through the night and we will have expert analysis from sir john curtice and also my colleagues at all of the three counts. we will also have commentary from journalists, for the daily mirror and the sun. we will go through the build—up and will expect the first result around three o'clock in the morning. a difficult thing to predict and we will possibly have all three by around liz30am, if i can keep my eyes open until then! back to ou. keep my eyes open until then! back to yom get — keep my eyes open until then! back to you. get those _ keep my eyes open until then! back to you. get those matchsticks out! a final thought from chris. what are we looking out for tonight? the big question tonight isjust how badly do the conservatives do? it sounds quite blunt but they have been struggling in the opinion polls for ages and had a pretty hellish year and so many people are struggling with the cost of living. one party figure said tonight that they expect to lose horribly and

potentially historically in all three seats. they blamed what they called long boris, the sense that the behaviour of the former prime minister are still affecting them. but they are going for expectation management, all of the parties, and two seats, and north yorkshire, they are defending massive majorities. labour are confident they will take what was boris johnson's seat labour are confident they will take what was borisjohnson�*s seat in north—west london but they faced awkward questions about what is known as the ultra low emission zone which plenty blame on the labour at mayor of london so how much does that damage them? selby and ainsty, labour can win a general election and not win seats like this so this is a massive mountain to climb and they're throwing everything at this, three shadow cabinet ministers today and hundreds of campaigners and some of the party so it will be close but others are more confident they can win and that would be a proper political wow moment and the lib

dems in somerton and frome are upbeat and confident they will win and claim they have not done if thousand dollars just today. and claim they have not done if thousand dollarsjust today. so knuckles and cups of coffee all round, the night is young. indeed. many thanrs- _ round, the night is young. indeed. many thanks. chris _ round, the night is young. indeed. many thanks. chris mason. - britain's supermarkets have been told to make their pricing clearer to help shoppers find the best deals. the competition and markets authority warns less than clear pricing could be make it difficult for customers to compare products. however, the watchdog found no evidence that the big chains were profiteering from rising food prices. here's our business correspondent, emma simpson. are grocery prices higher than they should be? the regulator's been taking a look. its conclusion? soaring food inflation isn't down to a lack of competition, and it doesn't think retailers are passing on all their rising costs to consumers either. we haven't seen any evidence that the supermarkets are profiteering on groceries. we do think it's important to keep

this market under review, though. we have heard from some of the supermarkets, some of the retailers, that they're looking for opportunities to rebuild their margins. and we are mindful that we would expect input costs to be falling over the coming months. so we want to make sure that that competitive pressure remains. but it wants to see government action on pricing. that's unit pricing, where supermarkets are required to display the unit cost of a product to make it easier to compare prices. take a look at this. two packs of salmon fillets on the shelf. one is priced in grams, the other right next to it priced per kilo. and when it comes to promotions, the unit price can be missing entirely. unit pricing is completely inconsistent. you might see a price per 100 grams, per kilo, all on the same shelf. that is useless for consumers, but even worse, it's sometimes not there when you have promotions or loyalty discounts. that's why the government need to step in and legislate. but even better, the supermarkets

could fix this tomorrow. tesco's already promised to put the unit price on its clubcard promotions. shoppers welcome more clarity. you do have to do some maths in your head about, is this...are we comparing like with like? i definitely do pay attention to them as if i'm trying to get a good deal when i'm wandering around the supermarket, especially with detergents and things like that. it's like reading the fine print. you don't... it doesn't stand out. you have to pay attention to it. the watchdog says unit pricing provides critical information in this cost of living crisis, and the rules need improving to make sure shoppers get the best deals. emma simpson, bbc news. one thing badly affecting food prices is the war in ukraine. global wheat prices have risen sharply after russian missiles hit ukraine's black sea coast, destroying 60,000 tonnes of grain, and damaging storage facilities. moscow has now pulled out of a deal which had ensured safe

passage of grain shipments, saying it now treats all vessels heading for ukrainian ports, as potential military targets. our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams, has that story. russia is lashing out. three nights of attacks on ukraine's ports and their storage facilities. russia has never been happy about the grain deal, but after the attacks and the rhetoric, is it going up in flames? the deal, known as the black sea grain initiative, was struck almost exactly a year ago. it allowed ukrainian agricultural exports stuck since russia's full—scale invasion to start moving again. ships sailed from three of ukraine's black sea ports along an agreed corridor to a joint coordination centre in istanbul, where all outgoing and incoming vessels were inspected. in the years since, ukraine has exported around 33 million metric tonnes of corn, wheat and other products to destinations all over the world, including countries facing acute hunger.

countries like sudan, ethiopia and afghanistan. and here's what happened to the price of wheat. you can see that it rose dramatically after russia's invasion last year. then, when the grain deal was struck, prices started to fall back. but look here... when russia announced that it was withdrawing from the deal earlier this week, the price started to rise again sharply. and that could lead to higher food costs for all of us. there are plenty of other reasons for global prices to go up and down, but ukraine is a big producer — the world needs its grain. vladimir putin says he won't return to the deal unless the world meets his demands. he wants russia's agricultural bank reconnected to the global payment system, and russia says the deal discriminates against its own agricultural exports. the west says that's not true. the deal could still be rescued. turkey — one of its architects —

sounds optimistic. if it can't be saved, ukraine will once again have to find other ways to get its grain out. but road and rail are no substitute for ships. this precious lifeline is injeopardy. paul adams, bbc news. russia is also imposing new restrictions on british diplomats, requiring them to give at least five days' notice before going on a journey of more than 75 miles. the announcement came as russia's foreign ministry criticised the uk for supporting what it called ukraine's "terrorist actions". our russia editor, steve rosenberg, is live in moscow. what exactly are these restrictions and why have they been imposed? this is all about making life difficult for british diplomat. what the russians are saying is ok, you want to travel around russia? that is fine, but to travel more than 75

miles, you must notify the authorities at least five working days before, and you must give all of the information about your trip, where you are going, when and how you will get there and who you are going to talk to and where you will stay. pretty much everything. the reason? russia says this is payback for britain's hostile actions, it claims that britain has been causing problems for russian diplomats and accuses britain of demonising russia, but what is grating most of all is the fact that britain is way ahead in terms of its support for ukraine. especially military support for ukraine. you should hear some of the anti—british rhetoric in the state media here and from russian officials. a few weeks ago the former russian president said that britain has always been, is now and will always be russia's eternal

enemy. will always be russia's eternal enem . . ~' will always be russia's eternal enem . . ~ ,, will always be russia's eternal enem. . ~ ,, , enemy. thank you. steve rosenberg in moscow. there's been outrage across india after a disturbing video emerged showing two women being paraded through a village naked before allegedly being gang—raped. it happened more than two months ago in the northeastern state of manipur, but the footage only surfaced online this week. there have been deadly ethnic clashes in the region between two tribal communities since may. in nitin srivastava's report, the bbc is not showing the identities of the women. we want! justice! thousands came out to protest. what kind of act is this? let the whole world know what they have done. and it's because of this. the video of a mob dragging and dropping two naked women before pushing them into a field. the women belong to the minority kuki ethnic group.

it was filmed in may, but only now have two men been arrested by police on allegations of gang rape. violence between two ethnic groups, the kuki, most of whom are christian, and the majority meitei, most of whom are hindu, erupted in the region of manipur two months ago. 130 are dead, with hundreds injured and more than 60,000 displaced. india's prime minister narendra modi said this event had brought shame on india. translation: today when i'm standing by this temple of democracy, _ my heart is full of pain and anger. what has happened to these daughters of manipur can never be forgiven. the incident in the state is shameful for any decent society, and it has insulted the entire country. there were fiery scenes in parliament, opposition parties

blaming the ruling bjp, who run the state of manipur, for not doing enough to contain the violence. just last month, i went to report on what was happening in manipur. we are now in a village which is actually 24/7 manned and supervised and guarded by its own villagers. until recently, they had licensed guns, but they have been asked to keep the guns aside by the indian army, which is now protecting all these villages. and all around these hills, almost every second or third villages has seen a round of deadly violence. 28—year—old marina was separated from her husband and she gave birth in a relief camp. translation: we were eating dinner when our village was attacked. - we fled out of the house towards the river. we saw many children were struggling to stay afloat. the next day, we found their bodies.

weeks of violence has created a volatile security situation in the state. however, it is the video of this latest incident which has horrified the nation. women's bodies are once again becoming a battleground in conflict. nitin srivastava, bbc news, delhi, india. for the first time in more than a decade, hospital consultants in england have been on strike. their dispute is over pay, and the industrial action continues tomorrow. thousands of planned operations have been postponed, withjust emergency cover being provided. the basic pay of consultants, who are senior doctors, is £88—ii9,000 a year. but some can earn more for on—call and out—of—hours work. the institute for fiscal studies says in england doctors have seen a i7% drop in pay in real terms on average annual earnings since 2010. the government says its offer of a 6% pay rise is final and urged consultants to put patients first. here are senior doctors — one explaining their decision to go on strike and the other

to keep working. the truth of the matter is that there is currently an open market for doctors across the world. if we want to be leaders, if we want to have an nhs that is a world—leading health service, we need to keep the doctors here. and at the moment, they are leaving. i decided not to strike because ultimately i do not feel patients should — ultimately i do not feel patients should suffer as a result of a dispute _ should suffer as a result of a dispute between doctors and the government. i walked around my dialysis _ government. i walked around my dialysis unit and i was struck by 'ust dialysis unit and i was struck by just how— dialysis unit and i was struck by just how many of them are waiting for things — our health editor, hugh pym, is with me. the strike has just begun, the first time in a decade, any sign that we

may get a resolution sooner rather than later? the may get a resolution sooner rather than later?— than later? the answer, clive, is no, the than later? the answer, clive, is no. the two _ than later? the answer, clive, is no, the two side _ than later? the answer, clive, is no, the two side to _ than later? the answer, clive, is no, the two side to seem - than later? the answer, clive, is no, the two side to seem as - than later? the answer, clive, is no, the two side to seem as far. no, the two side to seem as far apart as ever, and there is another day of strike action by consultants tomorrow. health leaders in england are already looking ahead to action next month, because the bma, representing consultants, has said there will be a two day walk—out in late august. we know the junior doctors have said they will carry on striking every month until a deal is reached, so there is every possibility of at least a three—day strike byjunior doctors in august, and actually there is a strike by radiographers for the first time in this dispute in england next week. and undoubtedly it is having an impact and resulting in the backlog of care continuing to build up in hospitals in england. one leading hospitals in england. one leading hospital told me today that 90% of planned operations had had to be cancelled today and tomorrow, the highest percentage of any day of

these continuing disputes, although for outpatient appointments, it was a little bit less than on some previous days. and we have had patients like one woman who was told in october she needed to see a consultant, it was booked in for today, she waited all those months, and now it has been postponed again, surreal frustration there. we should emphasise this is a dispute in england, but the bma say they are monitoring developments in the other nations. the boss of one of britain's biggest banks has apologised to the former ukip leader nigel farage in the row over why his account was closed. dame alison rose, the chief executive at natwest, which owns the private bank coutts, says comments made about him were deeply inappropriate. mr farage claimed his account had been closed because his political views didn't align with the bank's values, and tonight he said he wants the chief executive to appear before mps. the government has already announced banks will now face tougher rules over the closure of customer accounts. here's our analysis editor, ros atkins.

i got a phone call a couple of months ago to say, "we are closing your account." i asked why, no reason was given. mr farage suggested it was politically motivated. that was late june. by earlyjuly, there was a twist. a bbc headline told us, "nigel farage bank account shut for falling below wealth limit." the bank in questions was coutts — a private bank you can only use with a high level of funds. the bbc story came from business editor simonjack. on twitter he quoted a source who "rejected the notion that the decision to close his coutts account was in any way political". "it was for commercial reasons, the source said. but what the source said wasn t accurate. nor was the bbc headline. we know that because of this. after what's called a subject access request, nigel farage received details of coutts' decision, and released them.

we see coutts noting mr farage's mortgage ending and adding, "the relationship has been below commercial criteria for some time." and these commercial factors can trigger the closing of an account. but in the document, there's more. nigel farage is described as holding "xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views." it says he s considered by many to be "a disingenuous grifter." and this is mr farage's view of that. this bank are behaving now like a political campaigning organisation. for its part, the bank now says, "it is not coutts' policy to close customer accounts solely on the basis of legally held political and personal views." maybe not solely, but the bbc�*s source said politics had nothing to do with it. we can see that it did. coutts considered nigel farage s politics a reputational risk. and well as that, throughout its reporting of this, bbc news has highlighted that it s heard from coutts customers who are below the financial threshold and who still have their accounts. and now, tonight, dame alison rose,

ceo of natwest — which owns coutts — has apologised to nigel farage for the "deeply inappropate comments about yourself in the now published papers." the letter also promises a "full review of the coutts process for how these decisions are made and communicated." and nigel farage has responded. he?says he wants to know if dame alison rose is the bbc�*s source. as is standard journalistic practice, the bbc hasn't revealed the source of its story. mr farage also made this demand of dame alison rose to face mps. i think what needs to happen is the treasury select committee needs to reconvene, come out of recess, and let's give her the opportunity to tell us the truth. one other development — the government is proposing new rules to make sure that if a customer's account is closed, there's more opportunity to appeal and the bank must provide details of the reason why.

ros atkins reporting there. we've recently reported on concerns about hospital "do not resusicate" forms, an end—of—life care decision that can be appropriate for some people. our investigation led to dozens of people getting in touch, with evidence that the system, particularly in england, has significant ongoing problems. some families have told us that patients and medical staff are regularly confused by the process. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has the latest. denise smith was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year. the 50—year—old had a do not resuscitate decision in place, so when her husband charlie felt her take her last breath, he called the ambulance service to certify her death. the call handler turned tound and said, "well, you're going to have to perform cpr." "ok, just repeat this, she has the form." she went, "it doesn't mean anything." "you still have to go through it and do it." under pressure from the call handler, charlie, a trained first aider, started trying to resuscitate his wife.

i felt her ribs breaking below me as i was doing it. it was the most horrific thing i've ever felt in my life. when the paramedics arrived, they read the form and immediately told charlie to stop. following a recent report on this bulletin, dozens of people got in touch with their poor experiences of the system. the blanket use of the forms. as my father was being admitted to a&e, one of the doctors advised us that it was hospital policy that anyone being admitted who was over 65 years of age with comorbidities would not be resuscitated. the pressure to comply. my partner has secondary progressive ms. on every occasion he goes to hospital, the doctors have been very quick to mention dnr. he loves life. i'm absolutely fed up with the mention of dnr. the form is signed but has no reasoning given. none of the boxes have been completed. 92—year—old dennis chilvers has spent much of the last year in kettering general hospital. injanuary, his nephew and next—of—kin dave perry

discovered a "do not attempt cpr" form and his medical notes. though signed by doctors, it was otherwise completely blank. the hospital has since apologised. the fact that the form wasn't discussed with him or me upsets me quite a lot because it's a very important step to take, to say do not resuscitate someone. while england struggles with various do not resuscitate forms, in wales they believe they have a clearer system, having invested in educating both patients and doctors. when families are faced with severe... do not resuscitate, does that mean do not treat? and i think that's what people's basic fear is like. the fact we have a national policy in wales, and we have had it for some time has meant there is better knowledge, better spread of knowledge, better education. ministers in england say they're working to ensure guidance on do not attempt cpr is clear and properly understood, but in too many cases, it seems, there is much work to be done. michael buchanan, bbc news.

the women's football world cup is under way. the opening ceremony took place in new zealand, which is jointly hosting the tournament with australia. 32 teams are taking part, and both host nations have both won their opening games. england play on saturday. jane dougall has more from sydney. blazing through the auckland night, fireworks punctuated the start of one of football's biggest sporting events. maori and first nation dancers underlined the cultural roots of co—hosts new zealand and australia. but as the players emerged, they paused to remember the victims of an unrelated shooting in auckland that morning, which had taken the lives of two innocent people. then a roar as new zealand got the 2023 women's world cup under way against norway. known as the football ferns, they had never before won a match at a world cup, but a dream move, then a one—touch finish. it's wilkinson!

that was sensational. hannah wilkinson with the first goal of the tournament, sparking incredible scenes in front of a record new zealand crowd. they went on to miss a penalty, but it didn't matter. it's history for the football ferns! an historic and poignant win for a defiant nation. there are two countries hosting this world cup, and just a few hours later, australia got their first match under way against ireland. a minute's silence was held here too, but a very different atmosphere as a large irish ex—pat community helped pack out stadium australia here in sydney. and they bore witness to ireland women's first world cup match. the debutants proudly led out by captain katie mccabe. perhaps beginner's luck for them with the news that australia's star player, sam kerr, wasn't fit to play. but luck can change and a physical match brought a penalty for the hosts, which they calmly took.

and sends the majority of the 80,000—plus stadium into rapture! ireland rose up to attack but just couldn't finish. and despite that scare, the matildas had their home victory. jane dougall, bbc news, sydney. it's been a great day for england at old trafford in the fourth ashes test. zak crawley hit 189, as the hosts ended on 384—4. england must win to keep their ashes hopes alive. here's our sports correspondentjoe wilson. remember the days of test cricket where not much happened? watch out, it's england batting. first, this man at his best, mr adaptable, "i'll bat at three" — moeen ali, made 5a. zak crawley changed the game. his ability as a batter can be seen in the reaction of the bowler. did he do that there? it's almost unfair. with no time to lose with no time to lose under relatively cloudless skies, but they do that naturally. under relatively cloudless skies,

england needed to score quickly, england needed to score quickly, but they do that naturally. everything worked for zak crawley. a vindication of his approach, it's why the crowd rise to him, why england keep selecting him. 189 to put england in the lead, and he made the australians look human.