big majority and we are defending a big majority and we are defending a big majority and we know what the numbers are. obviously this has been a period of extreme political turbulence and anything can happen in a by—election. it is midterm, so that is going to be problematic as well. but who knows? we think it the will be close. i have been out with the local candidate, claire holmes, it has felt good on the doorsteps, but we are in strange times. if has felt good on the doorsteps, but we are in strange times.— has felt good on the doorsteps, but we are in strange times. if you were to lose all three, _ we are in strange times. if you were to lose all three, what _ we are in strange times. if you were to lose all three, what would - we are in strange times. if you were to lose all three, what would your . to lose all three, what would your message be to fellow mps who are thinking of putting pen to paper to the 1922 committee or such like? well, i think the public know full well the nation is facing challenging times and internationally these are challenging times. the message is we have to work and get euro—head our head down. i haven't felt a sense that the labour party was pulling

people into them. i sense a sense of frustration, particularly in the cause of the by—election, the sitting mp walking away has been a sense of disappointment and that is putting it quite mildly. i would say it is all about making sure we get our head down, work our way through these difficult times.— these difficult times. obviously the bi icture these difficult times. obviously the big picture from — these difficult times. obviously the big picture from your _ these difficult times. obviously the big picture from your boss - these difficult times. obviously the big picture from your boss is - these difficult times. obviously the big picture from your boss is that i big picture from your boss is that he keeps talking of these five tests. do you think they're landing? one mightargue tests. do you think they're landing? one might argue that the five tests, you know in fact he points to problems some of which were contributed to by previous administrations that were conservative and that he says he is trying to fix. do you think the public buys this sort of marking your own homework?— public buys this sort of marking your own homework? yes, i think the tests chime — your own homework? yes, i think the tests chime with _ your own homework? yes, i think the tests chime with the _ your own homework? yes, i think the tests chime with the content - your own homework? yes, i think the tests chime with the content of - your own homework? yes, i think the tests chime with the content of the i tests chime with the content of the in box i have had as a constituency mp in a neighbouring constituency and with what i have been hearing on the doors. but i think it has been

primarily on the doors not heavy on policy, but concern on the economy, people have been recognising that we have had plague and war and we have inflation and we have to get ourselves through that. it has been about who we will have as our local champion and reflecting in that case the reason why we are having the election. d0 the reason why we are having the election. , ., ~ election. do you think the conservatives _ election. do you think the conservatives now - election. do you think the conservatives now have . election. do you think the conservatives now have a| election. do you think the - conservatives now have a problem election. do you think the _ conservatives now have a problem in farming communities? i4541431111 conservatives now have a problem in farming communities?— conservatives now have a problem in farming communities? welll haven't experienced that _ farming communities? welll haven't experienced that on _ farming communities? welll haven't experienced that on the _ farming communities? welll haven't experienced that on the doors, - farming communities? welll haven't experienced that on the doors, no. l farming communities? welll haven't experienced that on the doors, no. i | experienced that on the doors, no. i have actually experienced some of the most strong support from that community. but i think that frankly this is going to be an election where, who has made the connection with the local people. that will be the determining factor and i'm pleased with the way claire has been a first class candidate.— a first class candidate. thank you for 'oinin: a first class candidate. thank you forioining us— a first class candidate. thank you forjoining us andrew _ a first class candidate. thank you forjoining us andrewjones. - a first class candidate. thank you forjoining us andrew jones. that 1 a first class candidate. thank you l forjoining us andrew jones. that is forjoining us andrewjones. that is all from us for tonight. we didn't

get in touch with mr simmonds there in uxbridge. mark will be here with the full result and reaction to those by—elections. you can stay up and watch the bbc news by—election special on bbc one just after midnight. if you going to bed, it is good night from us.

breaking news from around the world 24 breaking news from around the world 2a hours a day this is bbc news. 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. alison rose, who's 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. he's now said he wants the chief executive to appear before mps. the government has already announced that 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 5 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 5 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 are 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. that coutts considered nigel farage 5 politics a reputational risk. and well as that, throughout its reporting of this, bbc news has highlighted that its 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 mp�*s. 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. votes are being counted in three importany by—elections in england, that are being seen as tests of confidence in rishi sunak, and his conservative government. the constituences of uxbridge and south rice—lip in london— borisjohnson's old seat, selby and ainsty in north yorkshire, and somerton and froome in the south west, were all won with sizeable majorities by the tories, at the last general election. with sizeable majorities by the tories, 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, explains why these results are important for the parties.

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. lots of piles of paper and elastic bands. this is how things look at selby leisure centre? — 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. conservatives feel vulnerable

in three places tonight. the pentagon has been releasing more details of the soldier who entered north korea — but it seems there's an awful lot they don't know. private travis king went through the demilitarised zone on tuesday. he had been due to fly back to the us to face a disciplinary hearing — but managed to avoid boarding the plane. pentagon spokesperson sabrina singh gave this update. so in terms of the escorting to the plane, this was someone that was going as private king, i should say, was going from one duty station. he was leaving a deployment and going back and returning home to his home base or his home station. so when he was escorted all the way up, he was they were only able to escort him up to security. and when he got to the gate, he did confirm that he was near the gate.

and in terms of i'm sorry, your second question was on? do you have any better visibility on? there's about half a day where you don't know where he was. so we have the army has launched an investigation into this incident. it's going to be led by army counterintelligence personnel and they'll be conducting this in coordination with us forces korea. so we are at this moment right now, i can't tell you more about his whereabouts. that's something that the investigation would revealjust to see if anything's changed. has north korea responded to any outreach from either the us or from another country acting on our behalf about his welfare? unfortunately, no. we have not heard any communication or correspondence from the north koreans on this incident. the women's world cup has kicked off — with both of the co—hosts, new zealand and australia, playing their opening matches. new zealand beat norway 1—0 — their first victory ever at the women's world cup finals. and australia overcame the republic of ireland by the same score —

with a penalty from steph catley. the game in auckland was overshadowed by a shooting shortly before the game, in which two people were killed. six other people were injured in the incident at a construction site — and the gunman is also dead. new zealand's prime minister said it was not being treated as an act of terrorism, and there was no risk to the tournament. i m joined live in sydney by heather garriock. heather is a football australia board director and optus sport football expert. she is one of the most decorated players in australian women's football. thank you forjoining us on the programme. firstly, how do you think of what the first coal host nations played? it of what the first coal host nations -la ed? ., , of what the first coal host nations -la ed? . , ., ., of what the first coal host nations -la ed? ., .,, played? it was great to see the

close hose _ played? it was great to see the close hose new _ played? it was great to see the close hose new zealand - played? it was great to see the close hose new zealand get - played? it was great to see the close hose new zealand get a l played? it was great to see the i close hose new zealand get a win against one of the top teams in the world in norway stub was a great start to the tournament and open inserted me and to be here in sydney inserted me and to be here in sydney in front of a crowd of over 75,000 screaming australian fans, for the matildas to win1—0. a fantastic start to determine end date have been exceptional so far.- start to determine end date have been exceptional so far. some people have said there _ been exceptional so far. some people have said there seems _ been exceptional so far. some people have said there seems to _ been exceptional so far. some people have said there seems to be - been exceptional so far. some people have said there seems to be two - have said there seems to be two of us really is right now. one that is very excited about the tournament and another that has no clue it is taking place. do you think football become more popular in australia after this question mark? absolutely, when you have the workup on your doorstep. football is not the number one sport but i'm sure we have converted a lots of friends. the beauty of hosting a woman's workup is in the 64 games and the

majority of those games are in australia. australians love to win and love sport in general, so i'm sure we'll have lots of converted fans. i wouldn't say they don't know about football here in australia, it's more about having other options within rugby and other sports as well. it's buzzing here in australia, one of the best moments in sporting history here last night and to be part of it was incredible. we were just showing some pictures of them very excited fans here. looking ahead to later today when the philippines would be playing switzerland. what are the philippines chances of winning? the philippines chances of winning? tue: philippines, we know them very well, ourformer philippines, we know them very well, our former coach philippines, we know them very well, ourformer coach as put philippines, we know them very well, our former coach as put them in a dream run for the philippines. first time they have qualified for the

workup. the group is quite open and the philippines have a good structure and it would be a promising game. i can't wait to watch it and call it.— watch it and call it. briefly, before we _ watch it and call it. briefly, before we let _ watch it and call it. briefly, before we let you - watch it and call it. briefly, before we let you go, - watch it and call it. briefly, before we let you go, i - watch it and call it. briefly, | before we let you go, i want watch it and call it. briefly, - before we let you go, i want to ask about the place where woman's football is, lots of people talking about the pay gap at the moment, what do you have to say about that? we are headed in the right direction, you can see the commercial value we have, the crowds are building but there is a pay gap and we know that, and it's about bridging that gap. i think the fever has done a good job in this tournament and as promised in for your time there was a country to that gap. it will take some time but there's much to look forward to on there's much to look forward to on the west h. i’m there's much to look forward to on the west th— the west h. i'm sorry to interrupt heather, we're _ the west h. i'm sorry to interrupt heather, we're out _ the west h. i'm sorry to interrupt heather, we're out of— the west h. i'm sorry to interrupt heather, we're out of time, - the west h. i'm sorry to interrupt| heather, we're out of time, thank you forjoining us on newsday. thank you forjoining us on newsday. thank you forjoining us on newsday. thank you for watching newsday.

hello. in the south of europe, the heat wave continues and in other parts of the world, the unsettled weather continues. in fact, little change is expected over the next few days. further showers rather cool, and if anything, it'll turn wetter and windier through the weekend. let's have a look at the big picture across our neck of the woods. here's the jet stream and the satellite image. the jet stream pushes weather systems in our direction. and notice that we're also north of the jet stream in that cooler air from the northern climes with the heat to the south across the mediterranean. and there will be a fair amount of rain heading our way this weekend. in fact, this is the rain accumulation over the next few days. and notice these darker blues, even some teal colours there indicating rainfall in excess of 50 millimetres. that's about a month's worth of rainfall in just a couple of days. so wet and windy weather on the way this weekend. here's the morning.

temperatures of around about 8 to 13 degrees celsius with scattered clouds, a few sunny spells, but also showers through the course of the morning, into the afternoon, the showers will become more persistent across northern ireland, parts of scotland and northern england. i think the best of the weather will be the further south you are, and also in the extreme north of scotland, temperatures between 15 and 21 degrees on friday. now the changeable, the unsettled weather may well affect the sporting events over the next couple of days. certainly the cricket and the golf and more especially on saturday with that low pressure heading our way. and here it is on the weather chart. you can see the low pressure swings in with its weather fronts, quite a few white lines, those isobars here, pressure lines, so strong winds blowing into gale force winds around some of these south, western and western approaches. and then that heavier persistent rain spreading across many parts of the country.

not everywhere, the north of scotland could actually get away with some sunshine and temperatures in stornoway could well nudge up to about 17 degrees. but further south with the cloud and the rain, it could be around 16 degrees or so. so it certainly won't feel like the end ofjuly. and then sunday, eventually that low pressure pulls away. but it's a slow process because that weather front is extensive and i think more cloud and certainly some showers at least expected on sunday. and the unsettled relatively cool summer weather continues into next week. bye bye.

hi, i'm levi with the ketchup. cohorts are strictly upbeat