much for sharing your you so much for sharing your thoughts on that story, it is a privilege to have you on bbc news. you are watching bbc news. this is bbc news, the headlines... nurse lucy letby is sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison — for murdering seven babies — and attempting to kill six others. manchester united forward mason greenwood — who had charges of attempted rape and assault against him dropped — leaves the club. southern california is hit by torrential rain — in the first tropical storm there for 80 years — a state of emergency is declared.

lucy letby will spend the rest of her life in prison. she has lucy letby will spend the rest of her life in prison. she has been given a whole life order, a sentence reserved for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes, passed by a judge at manchester crown court. it judge at manchester crown court. it was said she had to engage in a cool was said she had to engage in a cool, calculating and cynical campaign of child murder. letby refused to appear in the dock so she didn't hear statements by bereaved families, nor did she hit the sentencing itself. fin families, nor did she hit the sentencing itself.— families, nor did she hit the sentencing itself. on the seven offences of— sentencing itself. on the seven offences of attempted - sentencing itself. on the seven offences of attempted murder, j sentencing itself. on the seven l offences of attempted murder, i sentence — offences of attempted murder, i sentence you to imprisonment for life. because of the seriousness of your offences is exceptionally high, i direct_ your offences is exceptionally high, i direct that the early release provisions do not apply. the order of the _ provisions do not apply. the order of the court. — provisions do not apply. the order of the court, therefore, is a whole life order— of the court, therefore, is a whole life order on — of the court, therefore, is a whole life order on each and every offence. _ life order on each and every offence, and you will spend the rest offence, and you will spend the rest of your— offence, and you will spend the rest of your life — offence, and you will spend the rest of your life in prison. that

offence, and you will spend the rest of your life in prison.— of your life in prison. that is the we of your life in prison. that is the judge- just _ of your life in prison. that is the judge- just getting _ of your life in prison. that is the judge. just getting a _ of your life in prison. that is the judge. just getting a statement| of your life in prison. that is the - judge. just getting a statement from the home secretary, suella braverman, we have a tweet on the screen. she goes on to say that she is getting regular updates on the wider investigation and she thanks them for their work so far on this horrific case. earlier i spoke to conservative mp, sir robert buckland, and asked him whether defendants who had been found guilty should be compelled to appear at their sentencing hearings.

there was the terrible case of olivia pratt—korbel, murdered in liverpool, and her murderer refused to come into the dark. there have been a few of the cases like this. it seems to be a case in serious cases where defendants wash their hands and absent themselves from proceedings, adding grievous insult to the terrible injury that has been caught to the families of the victims, particularly in this case. that is why i think we have got to be constructive. we have got to think of ways, if a defendant isn't present in court, then there are consequences for that, or ways in which the defendant has no place to hide, hence my suggestion that we look at live television and sound links into the cell, where the defendant might be finding, where, in effect there, they would have had to listen to proceedings.

i think the government is right to move to change the law. i hope they can do that quickly. i appreciate that this is not a straightforward situation and we certainly don't want a position where defendants, in effect, are controlling things again, by refusing to come up from their cells, perhaps being violent or resisting security officers, and in effect controlling proceedings in a way that i think would be unacceptable. we have got to get the balance right here. i covered some of the end of the letby case, and every day she would appear before the jury and the judge, when the jury was sent out for another day of deliberation. i saw her there. she was often accompanied by a police officer. she often looked down, she was behind some glass. she appeared every day then. why is the law such that she has to turn up for that, but she doesn't have to turn up for sentencing? the law does allow trials to go on in the absence of a defendant who refuses to come up from the cell. sometimes defendants are manipulative and think that by not coming into the dock, they can hold things up and prevent the case from taking place.

there are provisions to allow that. there is a particular imperative here, where you have got, notjust thejudge handing down the sentence and explaining to the world at large, but in cases like this, the victims themselves, either giving evidence or having statements read, about the impact of the offending upon their lives. that is what letby refused to allow to happen today in her presence. that has been described as cowardly, i think it is, but i think it is really a slap in the face to those families. that is why we should be doing everything we can to make sure that, in cases like this, as the lord chancellor says, the defendant should find the sentencing words ringing in their ears when they spend time in prison after the sentence is passed. we discussed this with our previous guest, danny shaw. you have offered some suggestions about how this could work, including, perhaps having a video link into the sale of the a video link into the cell of the

defendant. this would be rather than forcibly bringing them into court. yes, and indeed video links are used everyday in our courts for defendants who are in prison, rather than bringing them all the way into court for a short hearing. some sentences are passed where defendants are on video link. this is nothing new, but i think danny's point about whether people like letby, who have got a whole life sentence, should have a disadvantage when it comes to parole applications, i think that has merit there, or in letby�*s case, a transfer from a high category prison to a more open environment, i think looking at the way parole works could be one way of doing it. another way could be to extend the law of contempt of court, which could deal with defendants who are perhaps facing lesser sentences. that would be an additional punishment that the court could impose. there are options here that the government, i am sure are considering, and i look forward to seeing the proposals as soon as possible.

you have been calling for a change for a long time now. why has your party only announced it is going to do it today? to be fair, the predecessor announced he wanted to change the law. there is a bill going through about victims at the moment. the government say they want something in the king's speech. i appreciate that you have got to think carefully and weigh up all the options to make sure the reform is a meaningful one, that actually makes a difference. that is what i am sure is being considered and he and the victim's minister will be working on this and i look forward to seeing something from him. a new ai tool reveals how much you age prematurely because of a lack of exercise, poor diet, drinking and smoking. doctors know our hearts can be older or younger than your actual age. the new tool tells them exactly by how much.

the aim is to find ways to reverse heart aging and so reduce the risks of many age—related conditions such as stroke and heart disease. our science correspondent, pallab ghosh had his heart age assessed by the new tool. these are heart scans of a 61—year—old person. but the chances are that the heart itself has aged prematurely because of their genes or unhealthy lifestyle. but even experts can't tell from the scan how much damage has been done. so professor declan o'regan has developed a software tool that uses artificial intelligence that reveals just how much the heart has aged. there are already plenty of ways to assess how healthy our heart is, through scans, blood pressure, ecgs. but these just give you a snapshot, and can vary from day to day, month to month. but this new ai technique is different. it can give you an accumulated total of all the bumps and scrapes your heart has had through lack of exercise, poor diet,

smoking and drinking. let's see how i get on. the first step is to have an mri scan after some gentle exercise. machine: breathe out and hold your breath. | the scientists record pictures of my beating heart and the movement of my blood vessels. this is compared with the completely healthy hearts of 5,000 people of varying ages. an hour later and i'm given the answer. i'm 61. but how old is my heart? it says that your heart age is 63. oh, well, that's a bit older than i actually am. so how does that figure? what should i do? exercising enough, watching your weight, smoking and so on. and of course, we're interested in looking at treatments that might slow down ageing or might reduce the effects of ageing. and these sorts of scans can quantify that and see how effective those treatments might be in the future.

the heart age could be calculated from simple ecg measurements of the heart's electrical activity. the researchers say in the scientific journal nature communications that it could be done quite easily in gp surgeries. we need to supercharge research, research like this, which can open new biological avenues into new treatments, potentially drugs, that could identify somebody who seems to have features of premature ageing of their heart and their blood vessels, and actually be able to treat it with drugs that mean you never develop heart diseases at all. how fantastic would that be? and here is the next step. 256 sensors are measuring heart activity. it produces what is, in effect, a digital copy of his heart, showing how the electrical activity is causing it to beat. these digital experiments will transform the way we conduct health care. it will be possible for scientists

to use these resources to test the impact of drugs, new cardiac devices, lifestyle interventions, and importantly, to predict each individual�*s personalised risk. heart research is now in the digital world, with al and machine learning techniques already developing the next generation of treatments to keep us healthierfor longer. pallab ghosh, bbc news. and pallab ghosh is with me now. 0nly only a few weeks ago we did a story about how artificial intelligence can read your brain. now it can check your real or actual heart age. how is it revolutionising medical science at the moment? revolution is the word. science at the moment? revolution is the word- you — science at the moment? revolution is the word. you talked _ science at the moment? revolution is the word. you talked about _ science at the moment? revolution is the word. you talked about the - science at the moment? revolution is the word. you talked about the brain l the word. you talked about the brain being analysed, now it is the heart. it is all aspects of the body. you can basically reproduce the heart in a computer. that means you can try

out different things, different drugs, different therapies, and you can work out what your actual heart age is to an accuracy that has been unprecedented. this will mean that you get a direct diagnostic of what your own heart is like, and i have to say, mine was a couple of years older, mine was a couple of years older, mine was a couple of years older than i really am. i thought i hadn't been exercising enough or having the right diet and so forth, and itjust shows you that a bit of exercise, a bit of living healthily, can make a bit of difference. what the researchers now want to do is find out how much of an impact that can have and whether your heart age can have and whether your heart age can be reversed. i might be able to have a heart that is younger than me if i do the right things. we have a heart that is younger than me if i do the right things.— if i do the right things. we need to net ou to if i do the right things. we need to get you to do _ if i do the right things. we need to get you to do a _ if i do the right things. we need to get you to do a few— if i do the right things. we need to get you to do a few laps _ if i do the right things. we need to get you to do a few laps around . if i do the right things. we need to | get you to do a few laps around the newsroom! how advanced is this technology? whenever we do a story about al in health it is one project

here, one there. how expensive is this hot technology? it is here, one there. how expensive is this hot technology?— this hot technology? it is pretty exoensive- _ this hot technology? it is pretty exoensive- it — this hot technology? it is pretty expensive. it is _ this hot technology? it is pretty expensive. it is affordable. - this hot technology? it is pretty expensive. it is affordable. mri scans are expensive, but simple ecgs, which you can get a doctor's surgeries, can be fed into computer. it is not expensive, it is just a computer programme. this means it could be available to everyone. is it as a tool that all researchers can use to find out whether certain drugs or treatments are working. the bottom line is identifying the people that do have premature ageing, and why, and it is probably down to a handful of genes. if we can get those genes which seem to be acting properly, then more of us could have hearts younger than ourselves, ratherthan could have hearts younger than ourselves, rather than slightly older. at ourselves, rather than slightly older. . , ., ., ourselves, rather than slightly older. . ., ., ,, ourselves, rather than slightly older. �* ., ., ~ older. a younger heart, thank you very much — older. a younger heart, thank you very much for— older. a younger heart, thank you very much forjoining _ older. a younger heart, thank you very much forjoining us. - older. a younger heart, thank you very much forjoining us. it - older. a younger heart, thank you very much forjoining us. it is - very much forjoining us. it is scary to think how much artificial intelligence is changing the world we live in. around the world and

across the uk, this is bbc news. bright colours, music, and plenty of laughter. the festival is marked in a big way, just once a year. today is a very special day, signifying harvest. we are known as a pharmacist so around this period is when we have these celebrations. this is a ceremony. we celebrate every crop. yams is a central theme. yam is what we used to signify every other harvest. amongst the festivities, food, dancing and masquerades, with a huge emphasis on dress as part of the culture.

this is bbc news. to the us — where a state of emergency has been declared in southern california, after the first tropical storm there in more than eighty years. some 26 million people are under flood warnings. water has overwhelmed drainage systems and flooded roads. 0ur reporter courtney bembridge has more details. parts of california have received almost a year's worth of rain. let's look at a few areas in particular. los angeles, palm springs, death valley and las vegas in nevada. starting in la, these pictures were uploaded to snapchat, showing the hollywood hall of fame. you can see heavy rain there. another hollywood iconic location is universal studios, also affected by the storm. and this is palm springs, known normally for its hot and sunny weather.

not now. california's governor said that in a single hour, palm springs received more rain than ever before. next we go to sheep canyon, just south of palms springs. you can see mudslides there and also mudslides in death valley, which is normally known for extreme temperatures. the desert has been hit by very heavy rain and flooding there too. we have also seen flooding in victorville, and residents there said they watched the floodwaters get higher and higher before making the tough decision to leave their properties. let's have a listen to what they said. all that started within an hour or two and itjust kept piling up, and the water kept coming further back up the street, just more and more. lives can't be replaced, material objects can. it is betterjust to replace the house, fix whatever gets damaged than risk someone drowning over something that is avoidable. california's governor gavin newsom

has also given an update warning that this is not the only crisis affecting the state of california right now. there is an old ancient curse that loosely is translated to, "may you live in interesting times." these are certainly interesting times. tornadoes, lightning strikes, wildfires. i walked out of the 0es, office of emergency services in san bernadino, i checked my phone and learned about an earthquake that originally came in at 6.0. it seems to be closer to 5, 5.1. there were over 13 aftershocks. these are certainly interesting times. neighbouring nevada has also been hit. these pictures are from las vegas. hundreds of flights into the city have been cancelled as severe flooding continues there. so — major problems in both california — and nevada. cbs news correspondent

michael spencer sent this report from san clemente near los angeles. we are about 60 miles south of los angeles, to give your viewers some perspective as to where we are, and what officials are worried about right now continues to be that rain. the national weather service has issued a flash flood warning for los angeles. we are seeing a heavy amount of rain in the san gabriel mountains. we are talking about half an inch to an inch per hour. officials in southern california are worried about what that rain might do in terms of flooding, in terms of landslides, and mudslides. they have cancelled school today in los angeles, as well as in san diego. this storm did bring with it some wind but the major concern here is really all of the moisture, not only in southern california but as you mentioned, in arizona. we have seen some heavy rain and in places like las vegas

and nevada they have seen a lot of heavy rain and flooding as well. emergency workers in canada are still battling epic fires. more than 400 fires have been burning. across western canada, more than 35,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. weather presenter sarah keith lucas — sent this update on the effect of heat domes:

the long lasting heatwave that is gripping parts of southern europe, including france, is in part down to the formation of a heat dome. we have got hot and dry ground. as the sunshine hits the ground the air rises but gets trapped underneath this slow—moving area of high pressure, and with descending air in high pressure, it squeezes that hit air, compressing it, and it warms further. the white arrows is the jet stream, towards the north of this dome of heat. it is stopping cool air and rain bearing systems from moving through across the region. with the jet stream sitting further north across france, this is the temperature anomaly. the red colours show the areas significantly above average in terms of temperature. some areas in the rhone valley are about 15 degrees above average. this is the hottest spell of weather front so far this summer and it comes particularly late in the season. looking at the city of lyon, very hot, 40 degrees in the next few days. we have got some cooler conditions on the way by about friday onwards. that is it for this hour. we have more and all of the day's news, including the latest on mason

greenwood's departure from manchester united, and the latest on the sentencing of lucy letby. that is all in the bbc news website. stay with us here on bbc news. you're watching bbc news. potholes are the bane of all road users — and dangerous for many. today it's emerged the number of pothole—related breakdowns is at a five—year high. the aa says the wet weather injuly has contributed to the increase. the number of breakdowns thisjuly linked to potholes was up by a fifth compared tojuly last year, according to the aa. more than 50 thousand vehicles brokedown last month. that's compared to almost 42 thousand last year. so far this year, the aa has attended over 360 thousand pothole related incidents. it says that "2023 is looking to be one of the worst on record for pothole damage".0ur transport correspondent, katy austin, reports. that is the sort of pothole damage

they see that this garage in hampshire. they see that this garage in hampshire-— they see that this garage in hamshire. _ ., , hampshire. this year has been quite bus with hampshire. this year has been quite busy with damaged _ hampshire. this year has been quite busy with damaged wheels - hampshire. this year has been quite busy with damaged wheels are - hampshire. this year has been quite l busy with damaged wheels are coming in, more than others. we have had the aa and rac bring on quite a few vehicles. , ., , ., ., vehicles. customers have also noticed a _ vehicles. customers have also noticed a pattern. _ vehicles. customers have also noticed a pattern. i— vehicles. customers have also noticed a pattern. i think - vehicles. customers have also noticed a pattern. i think it. vehicles. customers have also noticed a pattern. i think it is| vehicles. customers have also i noticed a pattern. i think it is the worst year— noticed a pattern. i think it is the worst yearfor— noticed a pattern. i think it is the worst year for potholes _ noticed a pattern. i think it is the worst year for potholes and - noticed a pattern. i think it is the| worst year for potholes and some have _ worst year for potholes and some have been— worst year for potholes and some have been very bad. it worst year for potholes and some have been very bad.— worst year for potholes and some have been very bad. it seems to be widespread- _ have been very bad. it seems to be widespread. sometimes _ have been very bad. it seems to be widespread. sometimes you - have been very bad. it seems to be widespread. sometimes you are . have been very bad. it seems to be | widespread. sometimes you are like have been very bad. it seems to be i widespread. sometimes you are like a dodgem _ widespread. sometimes you are like a dodgem the — widespread. sometimes you are like a doduem. �* �* widespread. sometimes you are like a doduem. ~~ ., , dodgem. the m says it saw a big increase in _ dodgem. the m says it saw a big increase in pothole _ dodgem. the m says it saw a big increase in pothole -related - increase in pothole —related call—outs this summer, and thinks that the weather, in particular the very soggyjuly, is to blame. the motoring group believes that is because pop idols make potholes hard to spot, meaning drivers are more likely to hit them. it thinks the rainy weather hindered the progress in repairing the roads. i do rainy weather hindered the progress in repairing the roads.— in repairing the roads. i do think that what is _ in repairing the roads. i do think that what is different _ in repairing the roads. i do think that what is different this - in repairing the roads. i do think that what is different this year i in repairing the roads. i do thinkj that what is different this year is that what is different this year is that pothole season seems to be lasting longer. normally, by august, you would argue that most of the potholes should have been filled after the springtime. that hasn't happened this year. ads, after the springtime. that hasn't happened this year.— after the springtime. that hasn't happened this year. a local council sa the happened this year. a local council say the rising _ happened this year. a local council say the rising cost _ happened this year. a local council say the rising cost of— happened this year. a local council say the rising cost of the _ happened this year. a local council say the rising cost of the materials

used to fill potholes, coupled with extreme weather, is making it harder to keep roads in good condition. irate to keep roads in good condition. - need a proper investment, and that is where we have called on the government to start investing, just in our road network, the existing road network, asking for 2p in every pound, to be invested back into the road network. it is pound, to be invested back into the road network-— road network. it is not any motorists _ road network. it is not any motorists who _ road network. it is not any motorists who suffer. - road network. it is not any i motorists who suffer. hitting road network. it is not any - motorists who suffer. hitting a pothole can be dangerous for cyclists. the department for transport said it was investing more than £5 billion over five years, to help local authorities maintain their highways, and had brought in new rules to stop utility companies leaving potholes behind after carrying out street works. at the moment it seems many road users are having a bumpy ride. spain is celebrating its world cup victory after beating england in the final on sunday.

the spanish team were in high spirits as they returned to their hotel. their win was well deserved on the night. this was the england team — leaving the airport in sydney — after that narrow 1—0 defeat. the final was watched by millions of people around the world with the tournament hailed as another step forward for the women's game. 0ur reporter sergi forcada freixas has been following all the reaction to the match in madrid. the spanish national team is on its way back to madrid with the winning trophy. they are expected to land here later today and there is a party organised for them in an area that can host up to 20,000 fans. there will also be a winning parade. the final was watched by nearly 9 million people in spain, making it the most watched women's football match ever in the country. on sunday, many spaniards erupted in joy after la roja won the world cup, with people waving the nationalflag, chanting, and just enjoying the moment. while the celebrations were intense, they were quite short, as they only lasted for a couple of hours or so.

maybe because it was too hot here in the afternoon. there have been plenty of messages congratulating the team, from royalty to politicians or other sport people. and many here have been touched by a story about spain's captain 0lga carmona, who scored the winning goal in the final. after the match, she was told that her father had died a few days earlier. he passed away on friday after a long illness, and herfamily decided not to tell her about it so she could focus on the final, a game that turned her into a world champion, and for which she was named the best player of the match. now let's bring you some breaking news that has just come into us from the us. we have had a notice here saying that tropical storm warnings have been cancelled, but flooding and rain threat remains into monday. thatjust and rain threat remains into monday. that just coming and rain threat remains into monday.

thatjust coming in from california, that all tropical storm warnings have been cancelled. that comes after we have been reporting that a state of emergency had been declared in southern california. that is after the first tropical storm in the state for more than 80 years. we have been reporting that some 26 million people were under flood warnings and water has overwhelmed draining systems and flooded roads, but breaking news that the tropical storm warning has been cancelled. staying with the weather, let's go to tomasz. tomorrow scattered showers with plenty of sunny spells as well. having said that, there is thick cloud and some outbreaks of rain across the north—west of the country. this move when the system has swept into northern ireland and scotland, so through the course of

the evening and night, close to this area of low pressure, it will be raining at times. the south of the countries under the influence of a high so skies will be generally clear. the weather front moves in to the north—west, a spell of showers, a stronger breeze as well, but most of england and wales should have dry weather overnight. the early morning temperatures, whether you are in the north or south, will be around 14 or 15 degrees, a fairly mild start to tuesday. closer to the low pressure here, which is to the north of scotland, thick cloud at times, a scattering of showers. i think the south of the country, and the south—east, will be generally dry and bright, if not sunny, and every bit as warm as monday. highs of about 25 in london and norwich, 21 about 25 in london and norwich, 2! expected in liverpool and about 20 orso expected in liverpool and about 20 or so in belfast. tuesday is also going to be very warm across much of europe. here in the uk, typically in the 20s, but further south across the 20s, but further south across

the channel we are hitting 40 degrees in places like lyon. back to the uk, mid week we have about spreading into the north—west of the country, perhaps of the western areas of the uk. dry and bright weather will always be further east and south. again temperatures in the mid 20s so similar temperatures most days. in the north—west around 19 or so. is this warmth going to last? the low pressure and the jet stream right over us towards the end of the week, so anything south of the jet stream is pretty hot. anything north of the jet stream, and more or less underneath it, is generally on the cool side. underneath it, is generally on the coolside. it underneath it, is generally on the cool side. it is expected to call off as we head towards the end of the week, through the weekend, and into next week. no longer the mid 20s in the south, it will be closer to 20 or so. the high teens are still expected further north.

goodbye.

this is bbc news. i'm anna foster, live outside manchester crown court. the headlines: nurse lucy letby is sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others. this was a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder involving the smallest and most vulnerable of children. this is the moment lucy letby is driven away from manchester crown court to begin life behind bars. after refusing to appear in the dock. manchester united forward mason greenwood, who had charges of attempted rape and assault against him dropped, leaves the club.

and more than 20 million americans are under flood warnings, as storm hilary brings torrential rain to southern california. hello. this is bbc news. i'm in a foster, live outside manchester crown court, where in the last few hours the nurse lucy letby has been told that she will spend the rest of her life in prison. letby did not appear in the dock for the sentencing remarks by thejudge today. she was brought here to court but she chose to stay in the holding cells and not to face the families of her victims, who read out a series of distressing impact statements. they talked in great

detail, emotional detail,