the family of elianne andam says she was "the light of our lives". more than 70,000 refugees flee nagorno—karabakh as its separatist leader admits the struggle for independence is over. and one of the uk's most—loved actors, sir michael gambon — best known for playing dumbledore in the harry potter films has died at the age of 82. 16—year—old boy has been arrested over the deliberate telling of a sycamore tree at hadrian's wall. welcome to verified live. it's a crime that has made headlines here and shocked london. a teenage girl was killed on a bus on her way to school, stabbed with foot—long knife in broad daylight. it happened in croydon,

in south london. a police investigation is under way and a 17—year old boy is being questioned by police. the victim has been named as 15—year—old elianne andam. herfamily has provided photos of her, and said her dreams have been shattered. flowers and cards are being left near the scene of the stabbing. of all the homicides in england and wales in the year to march last year, 69 of the victims were teenagers aged 13 to 19. 0f year, 69 of the victims were teenagers aged 13 to 19. of that age group in 74% of cases, the weapon was a knife or sharp instrument. 0ur correspondence sent us this update from croydon. the shock and sadness in croydon really is palpable, with people questioning how a 15—year—old girl making her way to school at 8:30am could have been knifed to death. she's been named as elianne

andam and described as being much loved. within the past hour, her family have released a statement. i will read those words to you. they say that their hearts are broken by the senseless death of our daughter. elianne was the light of our lives. she was bright and funny, she had her whole life ahead of her and was aged only 15. she had hopes and dreams for the future and all those dreams for the future and all those dreams have now been shattered, our lives have fallen apart along with that of our wider family. the details in this case are shocking. this was eight yesterday morning that elianne was making her way to school on the number 16 bus. witnesses described an argument taking place between a boy and two girls and elianne was stabbed in the

neck. witnesses say it was a knife of 30 centimetres. within an hour, police had arrested the boy, just after 9:20am yesterday morning and taken into police custody, where he remains today. metropolitan police say they are not looking to speak to anyone else in relation to the incident. he will be able to see the bus just incident. he will be able to see the busjust behind me. forensic officers have been working hard all morning and all day here and the local police thanking the local community in croydon. siren. there is a police cordoned in place on the other side of the road is closed on the westbound direction. i've been here since early morning this morning, speaking to lots of people in the local area including some parents walking their children to school this morning. 0ne parents walking their children to school this morning. one woman told me she didn't know how to explain to

her five—year—old daughter what had happened overnight or yesterday morning. another parent told me she felt croydon was not a safe area of london to be at the moment. just to give you some figures, the girl is the 15th teen victim of homicide in london so far this year. 13 of those victims have been stabbed. as i say, the 15—year—old girl has been named as elianne andam. the separatist leader of nagorno—karabakh has formally ended the territory's struggle for independence. samvel shakhramanyan issued a decree saying that at the end of the year, the republic of nagorno—karabakh will cease to exist. the region is recognised internationally as part of azerbaijan but armenia took control in the 19905 following the collapse

of the soviet union. azerbaijan mounted, in effect, a blockade of a vital route into the enclave in december last year. just over a week ago, azerbaijani forces seized control. more than half the ethnic armenian population has now fled, fearing violence. armenian officials say more than 70,000 people have now crossed their border. many have ended up in the armenian border town of goris, from where our correspondent sarah rainsford gave us this update. there are huge crowds here in the centre of goris this morning, lots and lots of people. tens of thousands have now left nagorno—karabakh and are heading here to armenia. and in border towns like this, there is now a massive aid effort under way. it is notjust the government that is helping out, there is also local businesses bringing donations and local people who are offering rooms and houses for people to stay in. we have seen people arriving here with cars packed full of belongings. there was one this morning that had chickens, a cage of chickens strapped to the roof and a bicycle, a child's bike on top of that.

people are bringing everything they can carry, but of course it is not very much, and so their needs are pretty huge as they arrive here. and there are groups of families, large families, lots and lots of children just sitting around on the grass or in some shade here, getting food, getting some help, but really, their future now is pretty uncertain. they don't quite know where they go from here, but what they do know now is that they won't be going back. in fact, there has been a formal statement by the separatist authorities in nagorno—karabakh, that region that has never been internationally recognised, they have now said that formally speaking, all state institutions there will be dissolved by the end of this year, and that the republic of artsakh, as armenians call it, will cease to exist. people i have been speaking to here have been very saddened by that, but also they are angry. they say they have been abandoned by the armenian government, that they were abandoned, and this was inevitable. they have called it a tragedy because so many people here have actually fought over the years for the right to be in control

of that sliver of territory in the mountains, and now they have had to abandon that of independence. in the last few hours we've been hearing reports that the gb news presenter dan wootton has been sacked by the mail0nline, where he wrote a twice—weekly column. the news comes a day after wootton was suspended by gb news following a live discussion with the actor and reclaim party leader, laurence fox, in which fox made a string of misogynistic and sexist comments about the female political journalist, ava evans. wootton was already suspended by the online publication following allegations that he sent sexually explicit messages to former colleagues. in the last hour we've had a

statement from 0fcom, the regulator of broadcasting in the uk who said they are launching an investigation into this broadcast by gb news. they say they will be arresting under rule 2.3 of the broadcasting code, which says that when applying generally accepted standards, broadcasters must ensure that material that may cause offence is justified by the context. this goes back to a couple of days ago where dan wootton, a presenter was having a discussion with lawrence fox about a discussion with lawrence fox about a debate that had happened on the bbc. ava evans was on that discussion and in the course of their discussion, lawrence fox said, show me a single self respecting man who would like to climb into bed with that woman. he repeated that sentiment in more derogatory way. dan wootton seemed to be laughing and then eventually said, well, she's a very beautiful woman. both

of them have been suspended by gb news. dan wootton�*s contract to write a column with a tabloid newspaper the daily mail has been terminated and now we see that 0fcom the regulator is to launch an investigation into gb news after receiving more than 7000 complaints. and a torrent to really of concern from not only ava evans herself but from not only ava evans herself but from politicians of all colours, many of whom have called the remarks offensive. 0ne describing it as neanderthal. the number of complaints received by 0fcom about this? _, , complaints received by 0fcom about this? , ., complaints received by 0fcom about this? ., ., ., this? so, 0fcom is an organisation which ou this? so, 0fcom is an organisation which you can _ this? so, 0fcom is an organisation which you can complain _ this? so, 0fcom is an organisation which you can complain to - this? so, 0fcom is an organisation which you can complain to directly| which you can complain to directly as a member of the public. they've had 7300 complaints from members of the public. it's not contingent, it's not like you need to get a certain number of complaints for 0fcom to investigate. they can do that independently anyway but it's clear that the regulator is

responding to public concern about the events that happened on gb news. gb news set itself up two or three years ago now as an antidote if you like to what it would describe as the mainstream media in the uk. it described itself as a much more right—wing platform that gives people the opportunity to give views that may not be expressed everywhere. however, it is now being investigated on six different counts by 0fcom. most of those are to do with impartiality. they have for example politicians presenting programmes and there are questions about impartiality. they've also been found to have broken 0fcom guidelines three times. so, tricky times at the moment for gb news. thank you for the update, graham. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news.

the average rate on a five—year fixed mortgage has fallen below 6% for the first time since earlyjuly. new figures from the financial information service, moneyfacts, show the typical rate dropped to 5.99%. that's down from 6.03 yesterday. lenders have been cutting rates after the bank of england ended a run of 1a consecutive interest rate increases. the backlog of serious criminal cases waiting to be heard at crown courts in england and wales has hit a new all—time record. official figures published this morning reveal there were well over 64,000 outstanding cases at the end ofjune — more than double the number in 2018, before the pandemic. millions of people may wrongly believe they are allergic to penicillin according to the royal pharmaceutical society. it says that despite 4 million people recording analogy, 90% are clear when tested. it suggests people confuse antibiotic side effects such as nausea and diarrhoea with a reaction

to penicillin. donald trump's republican rivals for the white house have criticised him for failing to turn up to their latest tv debate. seven candidates battled it out at the party's second presidential debate in california, but trump chose not to attend. according to polls, the former president remains dominant over the rest of the field — by a margin of more than a0 points. one of his rivals, ron desantis, condemned him for failing to show up. where is joe biden? he is completely missing in action from leadership. and you know who else is missing in action? donald trump is missing in action. he should be on this stage tonight. he owes it to you to defend his record — where they added 7.8 trillion to the debt, that set the stage for the inflation that we have. another contender, chris christie, openly mocked donald trump claiming he was too afraid to defend his record.

donald, i know you are watching. you can't help yourself. i know you are watching, 0k? and you are not here tonight, not because of polls and not because of your indictments. you are not here tonight because you are afraid of being on the stage and defending your record. you are ducking these things. and let me tell you what is going to happen. you keep doing that, no one here is going to call you donald trump any more, we're going to call you donald duck. let's work through some of what happened with the debate. live now to leslie vinjamuri, director of the us and americas programme at chatham house, a london—based think tank. thank you forjoining us. i'm sure you were watching the debate. no surprise really that donald trump didn't show up. the other seven candidates would have been trying to distinguish themselves from each other but did anyone succeed at that? ., ., , ., , , , that? there are a number of issues on which they _ that? there are a number of issues on which they tried _ that? there are a number of issues on which they tried to _ that? there are a number of issues on which they tried to distinguish i on which they tried to distinguish

themselves. 0ne on which they tried to distinguish themselves. one is support for ukraine in its war with russia. where we see a diverse range of views. but on a number of issues, there is a sort of seeing who can be tougher and the top campaign issue of courses migration, coming across the southern border where you really see a groundswell of pushing hard on a range of plans for who would in a sense close the border faster, manage it better and prevent illegal migration. another area where you really see convergence, broadly similar views, really see convergence, broadly similarviews, is really see convergence, broadly similar views, is on china where there is a realfocus similar views, is on china where there is a real focus on similar views, is on china where there is a realfocus on being similar views, is on china where there is a real focus on being very tough on china. and that is being linked up to the conversation about striking workers in michigan, who are facing problems of inflation, who face a potential threat of cars

that they are helping to build being turned into electric vehicles in china doing much better in that market and taking theirjobs. so, that tough on china messages actually uniting a lot of the candidates. but i guess a few differences. we see nikki haley, whose female obviously, a tough thing to be in the republican party into date's united states. she is trying to really distinguish herself is experienced on foreign policy. she is a former us ambassador to the un. talking down to five for ramaswamy, saying he is young, he doesn't know what he's talking about —— vivek ramaswamy. saying that he is wrong on ukraine and if you let ukraine go and withdraw assistance all that does is play into the hands of russia which is bad for america. so again, china has access right throughout this debate but age comes

up throughout this debate but age comes up in surprising ways. ramaswamy is being told he's too young by some of those more experienced in that debate. . , . those more experienced in that debate. . ., ., , debate. clearly a lot of points were made about — debate. clearly a lot of points were made about personality _ debate. clearly a lot of points were made about personality and - debate. clearly a lot of points were i made about personality and character but how difficult is it to stay focused on the issues, especially with the looming spectre of donald trump, who is a0 points clear of the rest of the competition. is this a parallel political universe where the other seven candidates are trying to have discussions that perhaps don't translate into political capital? after the last debate it looked like vivek ramaswamy had gained some ground but that didn't necessarily translate in the polls. i that didn't necessarily translate in the olls. ~' ., , the polls. i think nikki haley cained the polls. i think nikki haley gained some _ the polls. i think nikki haley gained some ground - the polls. i think nikki haley gained some ground in - the polls. i think nikki haley gained some ground in the l the polls. i think nikki haley i gained some ground in the last debate and maybe not ron desantis but he's come up a bit more. the numbers of very hard to read in a meaningful way as having any longer term significance, for the reason you say, which is donald trump is so far in front at the moment. by

having him not on the stage, the debates people are speaking over, it's quite hard to listen to if you're used to measured analysis but they are talking about things that would be a very different stage of donald trump was there. but we all know, today these candidates are really at some level competing for two things. one is they are competing to be number two, in case donald trump drops out or is looking for a vp or whatever it might be. but they are also trying to shift the debate, either intentionally or unintentionally. the more people come out, they are talking about the issues. it changes what is considered to be legitimate conversation, whether it's about the southern border, inflation, china, ukraine or a southern border, inflation, china, ukraine ora number of southern border, inflation, china, ukraine or a number of social issues that of course are at the front, of course as we know it's the social,

domestic, economic, political issues that americans will vote on.- that americans will vote on. thank ou ve that americans will vote on. thank you very much- — that americans will vote on. thank you very much. let's _ that americans will vote on. thank you very much. let's stay - that americans will vote on. thank you very much. let's stay in - that americans will vote on. thank you very much. let's stay in the i that americans will vote on. thank. you very much. let's stay in the us. the republican—led house of representatives has begun its first hearing on its impeachment inquiry againstjoe biden. as the hearing got under way republican republicans alleged thatjoe biden had lied about family members overseas business dealings and hadn't taken steps to separate them from his official duties. when he served as vp between 2009 and 2017. let's go live to our washington correspondent. talk us through what's happening today, what is the process that's begun? weill. what's happening today, what is the process that's begun?— process that's begun? well, the impeachment — process that's begun? well, the impeachment inquiry _ process that's begun? well, the impeachment inquiry will - process that's begun? well, the impeachment inquiry will be - process that's begun? well, the impeachment inquiry will be a i process that's begun? well, the - impeachment inquiry will be a series of committee hearings, many conducted by the house oversight committee. that has a republican majority on it of course. it's

chaired by a man who is a pretty robust and pugilistic republican. he opened the session today by suggesting there was a mountain of evidence againstjoe biden which was rebuffed by democrats. they are taking questions from a series of epidemics and forensic patients and could go on for the next six hours. quite what is the point of this? the point is to try and impeach president biden. they are trying to get to a point where they can draw up get to a point where they can draw up what are called articles of impeachment, which could then be potentially voted on by the house of representatives which is narrowly republican currently. the main point of this politically is to put the focus on joe of this politically is to put the focus onjoe biden and his son hunter biden and what the republicans say is their business dealings in the past. democrats will argue that's in order to distract

from the difficulties, the legal difficulties that the main candidate for the republican party donald trump is having on his various cases up trump is having on his various cases up and down the country. to trump is having on his various cases up and down the country.— trump is having on his various cases up and down the country. to date, no resident up and down the country. to date, no president has — up and down the country. to date, no president has ever _ up and down the country. to date, no president has ever been _ up and down the country. to date, no president has ever been forced - up and down the country. to date, no president has ever been forced from | president has ever been forced from the white house through impeachment. we have course had during donald trump's term an attempt at impeaching him as well. what is the political landscape saying about this? ~ , , political landscape saying about this? , , , this? well, impeachment is becoming more frequent- _ this? well, impeachment is becoming more frequent. we've _ this? well, impeachment is becoming more frequent. we've had _ this? well, impeachment is becoming more frequent. we've had two - this? well, impeachment is becoming more frequent. we've had two underl more frequent. we've had two under donald trump, we had won under bill clinton and the one before that was in the 1860s. this is a political weapon coming out of the lock up more often, if you like. and it does allow committees in the house to subpoena witnesses, documents, you can create a lot of noise and fury. that's an important thing in an

election year that's coming up. thank you very much. new rules have been published for what presenters on flagship bbc programmes can say on social media following a row over gary lineker�*s posts. in march, the bbc presenter was suspended for a tweet criticising the government's asylum policy — he was then reinstated after a few days. the report says high—profile presenters should be allowed to express views on issues and policies but should stop short of political campaigning. gary lineker said the new rules were "all very sensible." this is all taking place because of what happened in march when gary lineker was briefly suspended from match of the day because of a tweet. chaos then ensued when commentators and presenters downed microphones in protest. it led to a rather quieter form of football coverage. the offending tweet was a criticism of the government's policy over asylum seekers,

which gary lineker described as "immeasurably cruel" and the language used "not dissimilar to that used by germany in the �*30s." that row was resolved by the promise of a review which we have today, and a recommendation that high—profile presenters outside ofjournalism should be able to express views on issues and policies, including matters of political contention, but stopped short of campaigning in party politics or for activist organisations. the previous guidance said to not take sides on issues which are party, political or political controversies. and this new approach says you can do that so long as you stay to the facts of the issue itself. so that actually is a significant change. all with a great ambition to be fabulous. the bbc has also named certain programmes such as masterchef, where presenters will have to take extra care about what they say on social media when their

programmes are on air. so lord sugar will have to watch what he tweets when the apprentice is on. dragon's den is on the list, but not deborah meaden, only the presenter, evan davis. and chris packham is also not on the list, although he's well—known for his views on environmental issues. these are guidelines, not hard and fast rules. all of news and current affairs, they are absolutely within the bbc, bound by extremely tight guidelines. and that remains. it's important that because i think you can get lost. we've also got general guidelines for the whole population that are clear around civility and bringing the bbc into disrepute. but we had a particular challenge and we've had our challenges around this group of people who are faces of the bbc and present our flagship programmes. so today we've announced that guidance which we can talk about, which clearly says there are some fixed parameters around political campaigning or criticising politicians, but also recognise, i think,

realistically, where we are in terms of their ability to talk about issues they care about. so if you present strictly, you're on the flagship list. so too the antiques roadshow, the radio one breakfast programme and match of the day. in essence, if you happen to be the presenter of a well—known sports programme, think carefully about your tweets when the football is on. the sycamore gap tree was made famous in robin hood prince of thieves. �* , ., ~ ., famous in robin hood prince of thieves. �*, ., famous in robin hood prince of thieves. �* , ., ~ ., ., famous in robin hood prince of thieves. �*, ., ., thieves. let's take a look at some of these striking _ thieves. let's take a look at some of these striking images - thieves. let's take a look at some l of these striking images throughout the seasons. it's really easy to see why this is one of the uk's most photographed trees and why it picked up photographed trees and why it picked

up the award for 2016 tree of the year. it's located next to hadrian's wall in the north—east of england. it was also made famous by its 1991 appearance in the film robin hood prince of thieves. let's take a look at these videos from this morning. you can see the tree lying on its side next to the wall. northumberland national park authority believed that the tree has been deliberately felled. we simply don't know why. we do know that northumbria police have launched a full investigation and they've just arrested a 16—year—old boy. they say anyone found to be responsible can expect to be dealt with swiftly and appropriately. but this has been an iconic part of many people's lives. some have proposed, others have scattered ashes and now this is all that's left of the iconic north—eastern landmark.

that's left of the iconic north-eastern landmark. we'll be back with more _ north-eastern landmark. we'll be back with more including - north-eastern landmark. we'll be back with more including all- north-eastern landmark. we'll be back with more including all the l back with more including all the latest in the business. stay with us on bbc news. hello. storm agnes has swirled away from our shores, but that doesn't mean it's completely plain sailing weather wise. in fact, as we head towards the end of the day, it is going to turn increasingly wet across some western parts. 0n the satellite picture, you can see yesterday's storm system, this curl of cloud pushing away. but another weather system now pushing in from the west — that will turn things increasingly wet. and it's already quite breezy out there. in fact, really quite windy up towards the northwest of the uk. outbreaks of rain developing across some western parts further east, largely dry with some hazy sunshine, 17 to 20 degrees. and then through the evening we will see this band of rain moving across the west of scotland and northern ireland. could be some heavy thundery bursts and some squally winds

and then turning really wet through the evening across parts of wales, particularly south wales, up into the midlands, some parts of south wales could see enough rain for some flooding and some localised disruption. that rain then pushes its way towards the south east corner. behind that, clear skies, further showers racing into the western side of scotland where it will stay really quite windy. temperatures of ten degrees in aberdeen and glasgow, but 16 there in london. a mild night down towards the southeast where this weather front will still be clearing away first thing in the morning. high pressure to the south of us, low pressure to the north that will bring something of a split in weather fortunes. essentially, it's a day of sunshine and showers, but most of the showers across western and particularly north western parts where it is going to stay windy. in fact, gales are quite likely in the far north of scotland. the further south you are fewer showers. in fact, it should stay dry with some sunshine. 18 degrees in cardiff, 19 in plymouth, always a little bit cooler further north, 1a there in stornoway.

now this area of high pressure toppling its way through could give quite a chilly night on friday night. and then for saturday, here comes another weather system, another bouts of wet weather that's likely to push across northern ireland, up into scotland, affecting northwest england, parts of wales, further south and east. it should stay largely dry, perhaps with some sunshine lifting those temperatures to 20 or 21 degrees could actually be even warmer down towards the southeast on sunday. this band of cloud and showery rain across parts of england and wales. further north, a mix of sunny spells and showers, temperatures ranging from 15 to around 23 degrees. bye for now.

these are the headlines on bbc news. please name the 15—year—old girl stabbed to death on her way to school in south london yesterday. the family of elianne andam say that she was the light of their lives. more than 70,000 refugees flee nagorno—karabakh as a separatist leader admits the struggle for independence is over. and one of the uk's most—loved actors, sir michael gambon — best known for playing dumbledore in the harry potter films — has died at the age of 82. let's get a look at all the business news now. thank you very much.