with the opening ceremony taking place across the city this evening. sir keir starmer is visiting berlin where he's expected to say the uk has a "once in a generation opportunity to reset" its post—brexit relationship with europe. the british prime minister was welcomed by german chancellor, olaf scholz. they'll begin negotiations on a new treaty, designed to deepen trade links and boost defence co—operation between london and berlin. anand menon is professor of european politics at king's college london and director of the think tank, uk in a changing europe. a short time ago i asked him how starmer can improve trade links with germany considering the trade restrictions. i think there are things they can do. there are issues within

the competence of national governments to do with visas, length of stay, for instance, where certain things can be negotiated. but you are right, overall in terms of the big barriers to access to the european market, including the german market, that will require a negotiation with the european union. so there are certain things they can do on the economic side with the germans today but the big picture is a european picture and that trade agreement that borisjohnson signed with the european union back in 2020. in terms of that conversation with the european union, is that what the labour government want to do, or is this just a softly softly approach and just a realignment of what was a rather turbulent relationship when the conservatives were in power? to be honest, i don't know any more than you do about what they intend to do. it's clear they want to improve

bilateral levers with key european statesmen. today in germany with olaf scholz. keir starmer will be visiting emmanuel macron in paris. you can see a warming of those bilateral relationships. i think the big difference with what we saw from the conservatives is political pressure comes from the opposite direction. for the conservatives, the members and conservative voters, was for a more distant relationship with the european union and that's what conservative politicians kept promising. for the labour party, the vast majority of labour members and voters want to see closer relationships with the european union. in a sense this rhetoric about resetting is partly intended to assuage the fears of labour voters and try to convince them that keir starmer will try to improve relations with europe as a whole. do you think when it comes to brussels itself, are they open and happy about this? they are open to a negotiation that gives them what they want, i think.

so brussels wants to talk to the uk about a youth mobility scheme, allowing people under 30 to come and work and study here. to date, the uk government hasn't appeared very enthusiastic about that. i think we should also bear in mind that we are simply not a priority for the european union any more. for negotiators in brussels and many in member states brexit is done, they have bigger fish to fry, problems with migration, the budget, all sorts of things are a priority in a way that we simply no longer are. we are expecting keir starmer and his german counterpart, chancellor scholz, to make a live address. we have a live page monitoring the situation. we think there will be a live address, when they speak in around half an hour, and we will bring that to you. we have a qr code

that we will bring you, where you can access the latest on that keir starmer, 0laf scholz meeting in berlin before the uk leader then travels to france ahead of the paralympics. 0ne travels to france ahead of the paralympics. one of the main topics of conversation between sir keir starmer and 0laf scholz is also migration. just to let you know we have some breaking news coming to us from our correspondent simonjones, who says that migrant crossings, 526 migrant crossings in eight boats were counted. these are the first arrivals in a week following a period of windy weather. 0ur correspondent saying it now takes this year's total to 19,820 people. those figures from our correspondent simonjones, who monitors this closely. eight boats were brought to dover yesterday. 0n those boats, 526

migrants making the crossing from france to the uk. they were brought to dover, the first arrivals following a week of windy weather bringing up that total number this year of people making that difficult journey, a very lethaljourney for many, to 19,820. this is something that no doubt uk prime minister will be discussing, migration, with the german leader, head of that press conference we are expecting in around 25 minutes�* time, which we will bring you on bbc news. here in the uk... doctors are calling on the government to ban flavoured and disposable vapes to protect children against what they say is a "growing epidemic". a bill aimed at restricting the sale and marketing of vapes, especially to children, ran out of time to pass into law under the last government. the british medical association says bold action is needed.

here's our health reporter, michelle roberts. according to the latest estimates, around 8% of 11—17—year—olds vape. although it's already illegal to sell e—cigarettes to anyone under 18, the british medical association says more needs to be done, and quickly, to protect children and young people from a vape epidemic. the bma wants disposable vapes and all flavoured ones to be banned. it's also calling for curbs on how vapes are marketed and sold, similar to cigarettes, with plain packaging and products kept behind the counter. if you're stopping smoking, you need a tobacco—flavoured vape to just transfer from one to another. there is no need for any of the colourants or any of the flavourings that we see at the moment. we don't want to see them advertised in an open forum. there's no point in having a shiny bubble gum flavour. it'sjust about

providing a quick aid. providing a quit aid. the uk vaping industry association agrees that stronger measures are needed to cut off the supply of youth vaping and illicit products, but it fears bans could lead to people using the black market and harm stop—smoking progress. what we'd like to see, and have been campaigning for many years, is to see an introduction of vape licensing for both retailers and wholesalers. that would include things like robust age verification processes, for instance. then also, we need to combine that with increased fines. and we'd like to see, as an industry, minimum fines of £10,000, for instance, for anyone caught selling to a minor. in february, the conservative government introduced a tobacco and vapes bill, which aimed to restrict access for children, but not adult smokers trying to quit. however, parliament was dissolved for the election before the law could be passed. when labour took over, it announced that it would reintroduce the bill.

the government says it's always been clear that children and adult non—smokers should never vape, and that the tobacco and vapes bill will stop vapes from deliberately being branded and advertised to appeal to children. michelle roberts, bbc news. two men will appear in court today charged with murder and attempted murder after a fire killed a woman and her three children at their home in bradford. 29—year—old bryonie gawith, and her children denisty, 0scar, and aubree, died last wednesday. 44—year—old mohammed shabir and 25—year—old calum sunderland will appear at bradford magistrates�* court later today. all social workers should have mandatory training in how to spot coercive and controlling behaviour — according to the domestic abuse commissioner for england and wales. nicole jacobs made the comments after she was shown evidence from a bbc investigation, which found social work students may

not receive specific training on how to detect this kind of abuse. anna collinson reports. he wouldn't like me going out with work colleagues. if i didn't get the housework done, he would ridicule me. it's about controlling every movement of that person's life. it's like a really slow tap dripping. the more you try and push back against that person's rules, the more dangerous it became for you. domestic abuse isn't necessarily about the physical violence, it's about that power and control. we're calling this women amelia. she wants you to see her face, hear her voice and listen to her story for the first time, but identifying her would put her in danger. he would tell me that i was useless, and then i started to believe it. she says for years her partner subjected her to coercive and controlling behaviour. unfortunately, there was one day i wasn't able to get the tea on the table at the right time,

and that was probably the worst night of my life. just looking at you now, i can see it's still so raw for you. yeah. are you able to talk about it? he just completely lost it, started beating me, punching me to the stomach. my daughter was screaming hysterically. he grabbed me by the throat. everything went black. the next thing i remember is waking up on the kitchen floor. i think there's many men, women and children out there who are experiencing coercive control. samantha billingham is a survivor of this controlling abuse and now supports others. perpetrators, whether male and female, are very, very clever. so they don't necessarily only control the survivor, they also control the professionals as well, including social workers. amelia left her partner but she claims controlling abuse and trauma had a huge impact on their children and she

desperately needed help. i wasn't listened to. he fed the social workers with lies, he charmed them. when she turned to children's services, she felt she was being blamed. i was called a bad mum several times. i was put through so much. social workers knowing the warning signs of coercive control, what difference would that have made to your family? services that are supposed to help probably caused our family more trauma. i don't blame the social workers, i blame the system they work for, i blame the training provided to them. amelia has shown us written evidence of abuse allegations made to authorities. in birmingham, these social workers are getting focused training. let's not dig what's just - on the surface that we can see. let's ask questions. make the wrong call and they know there can be serious consequences. am i saying something that

will trigger this person? will it increase the risk to the mother and the child? always constantly worried about that. if i get it wrong as a professional, a woman might die. she might be killed by her partner, by the abuser. how would you describe the training you had in terms of coercive control when you were at uni? i think it was very poor. i remember having one lecture on domestic abuse. it was a very quick one hour. i had pretty much no mention of coercive control during my training. it makes a huge amount of your workload, doesn't it? how much would you say? probably 90, 95% of my work is based on... wow. yeah. almost very case has an underlying issue of domestic abuse. they also gave us a sa—page powerpoint... we asked universities of evidence of how they taught coercive control to social work students. there's one slide which talks about coercive control. this is it. laughter.

oh, my god. it's a picture of a man and woman in a passionate embrace. this is absolutely giving the wrong signal. samantha billingham agreed to look at our freedom of information request findings. around a third of universities do not provide specific training on controlling and coercive behaviour. what's your response to this? i can tell a bit by your face. i think it is really dangerous and really shocking we are not talking about coercive control when we talk about domestic abuse. that should be at the forefront of a social worker's mind when they are going into these homes. social work england, the regulator which inspects these courses, says they meet professional standards for safe practice and they are preparing new guidance on coercive control. my dream was to become an artist. i obviously lost that dream because of the relationship i fell into. now i am slowly building myself back up. improved understanding of coercive control could save many more lives. thank you so much for your time. thank you. well done.

it is something i will never be able to get over but i can try and bring change so that injustice isn't done to another family. that report by anna collinson, and you can see and read more about that report on our website. more than 4000 athletes from around the world are in paris for the start of the paralympics. the opening ceremony begins on wednesday evening in paris. as with the olympics, it will be held outside a stadium for the first time. athletes will take part in what's being described as a "people's parade" — travelling past some of paris's most iconic landmarks, located along the route between the champs—elysees and the place de la concorde. spectators can watch for free along the route, before the official parade in front of ticket—holders at

the place de la concorde. 0ur disability correspondent nikki fox has sent this report from paris. there's a real buzz in the city. paris is getting ready to host its second major sporting event in under a month. the party continues. it's time for the paralympics. archie! hiya, good to meet you. hello, how are you? archie is so excited, he's already arrived. you are in it for the long haul, you are staying for the whole thing? i'm so excited. i really cannot wait for the games to actually start. we're all in that little bubble that nothing else matters but sport. and i wish it could be like that all the time. but it's paris. it's back with a bang. we're all ready to get started again. someone who's been to more

paralympic games than most, as an athlete and a presenter, is tanni grey—thompson. right, tanni, is this going to be the best paralympics of all time? i am so excited about the paris games. i really hope it's going to be the best paralympics of all time. london raised the bar, but i don't want it to be the best games ever. i want it to be one of the best. but it's really important for the movement, for the athletes, that we keep evolving, and i think france has the potential to do that. we're on the cusp of something really special. do the athletes sit around and eat tarte tatin with a nice, sweet little drizzle there? no. you see, in competing days, you couldn't touch this, so... in the build up to the games, there have been concerns from charities here in france about how the hundreds of thousands of disabled fans will get around the city. money has been spent on making sure all buses and trams are accessible. there'll be more accessible taxis and there'll be shuttle buses taking people to and from the venues.

wheelchair racer sammi kinghorn is going to be busy. she's competing in four events this year. yeah, i'm so excited to go in there and just hear that roar. i just want to enjoy this whole experience. and more spectators will get to enjoy the competition, because this year a record number of broadcasters from around the world will be covering the paralympic games. but sammi wants to see more parasport on tv throughout the year. do you think that we are getting closer to sort of equality between the olympics and the paralympics? i think we're getting there with some things. i think there's still obviously a disparity, and there always will be, i think, which is really sad. i'd love to say, oh, i don't think there'll ever be, i think we'll always be equal. and i would love that. um, but it's hard, i think, because we don't have the same sponsorship and the same money, and that's the kind of thing we're fighting for. and i think because we're not on the telly all through the year, people can't relate to us. for the organisers, these games are a real chance to change attitudes.

we truly believe that it could be a revolution also for france, because that will be the first time that this country will deliver the paralympic games in our country, and maybe the first time that they will be also confronted to so many people with disability. the paralympics is a world class, highly competitive event, but it's also an opportunity for disabled people to have their moment in front of a global audience. nikki fox, bbc news. sally hurst is in the french capitalfor us. a lot of excitement about the opening ceremony. what can we expect? opening ceremony. what can we exect? �* , , ., , expect? it's definitely heating up here in paris. _ expect? it's definitely heating up here in paris. like _ expect? it's definitely heating up here in paris. like the _ expect? it's definitely heating up here in paris. like the olympic. here in paris. like the olympic 0pening here in paris. like the olympic opening ceremony, the paralympic 0pening opening ceremony, the paralympic opening ceremony, the paralympic opening ceremony will also be held outside a stadium for the first time. you will rememberfor the

olympics the athletes went along the river seine in the pouring rain. they have sunshine and dry weather tonight, they will go along the champs—elysees to the place de la concorde. the details of what will happen there are under wraps at the moment but we know the theme is called paradox. it's about disabled bodies in all their forms. called paradox. it's about disabled bodies in all theirforms. they called paradox. it's about disabled bodies in all their forms. they want to start a conversation about disabled bodies and inclusivity. about 50,000 people are expected to line the streets. it will be quite a party tonight. line the streets. it will be quite a party tonight-— line the streets. it will be quite a -a toniaht. . , ., , ., party tonight. certain years and the excitement is _ party tonight. certain years and the excitement is no _ party tonight. certain years and the excitement is no doubt _ party tonight. certain years and the excitement is no doubt building - excitement is no doubt building there. . ., , , excitement is no doubt building there. . . , , ~ excitement is no doubt building there. . , . ., there. yeah, absolutely. we are here at paralympicsgb _ there. yeah, absolutely. we are here at paralympicsgb house, _ there. yeah, absolutely. we are here at paralympicsgb house, and - there. yeah, absolutely. we are here at paralympicsgb house, and there l there. yeah, absolutely. we are here| at paralympicsgb house, and there is at paralympicsgb house, and there is a sense this could be a big moment for the paralympics movement. we were talking tojonnie peacock the other day and he said the feeling he's getting now compares to how he felt before london 2012 which of course was a breakthrough games for the paralympic movement. gbr is sending 215 athletes to this games. among them are a mix of paralympic

superstars we know likejonnie peacock, hannah cockroft. and also 81 debutants. we have iona winifred, who at 13 is the youngest member of the team and she is already a double european champion. she will be hoping for a medal too. a mix of people to look out for. the medal target uk sport have set is between 100, and 140 medals will stop it may sound a lot but when you think we were second in the medal table in the last two games, that is very achievable and we will certainly see achievable and we will certainly see a lot of medal winning moments in the next few days.— the next few days. let's hope so. and ijust — the next few days. let's hope so. and ijust13. _ the next few days. let's hope so. and ijust13. i — the next few days. let's hope so. and | just 13, ifeel_ the next few days. let's hope so. and | just 13, | feel old! _ the next few days. let's hope so. and | just 13, | feel old! to - the next few days. let's hope so. and ijust 13, i feel old! to put i the next few days. let's hope so. and | just 13, | feel old! to put it| and ijust13, ifeel old! to put it in context, how important are these games for the wider paralympic movement?— games for the wider paralympic movement? . , ., movement? really important. jonnie peacock was — movement? really important. jonnie peacock was saying _ movement? really important. jonnie peacock was saying london _ movement? really important. jonnie peacock was saying london 2012 - movement? really important. jonnie peacock was saying london 2012 was | movement? really important. jonnie. peacock was saying london 2012 was a breakthrough moment for the games in terms of the crowds it attracted and in terms of raising the profile of the paralympic athletes and putting

them on a level with their 0lympic counterparts. at rio there were financial problems. at tokyo, the covid—19 pandemic. so there is a real sense that this game is really needs to fly to make the paralympic movement have the boost it needs. we spoke to dave clarke, ceo of paralympicsgb earlier, and he said that if there is one thing they can achieve here, if we all stop talking about london 2012, because we will see new names coming through, new faces, and this will push the movement on as it needs to. sell? movement on as it needs to. sally hurst, we — movement on as it needs to. sally hurst. we are _ movement on as it needs to. sally hurst, we are looking _ movement on as it needs to. sally hurst, we are looking forward to it and enjoying it. head of the paralympic 0pening and enjoying it. head of the paralympic opening ceremony, thank you very much. much more on our website was that i want to take you to one of our main stories today because we have a live image from one of the refugee camps in the

occupied west bank. this is in light of what we are being told, at least nine palestinians have been killed in the occupied west bank in what israel are saying is a counter operation movement. this is a refugee camp in thejordan valley where we are being told palestinian officials say five people were killed in an air strike in this particular refugee camp and six others reportedly died in a drone strike. we are watching the live shot from this refugee camp. medics say ambulances have been struggling to reach the wounded after those alleged israeli drone strikes. we are monitoring the situation there in the occupied west bank as we monitor this live shot and those

images, we have analysis and explanation as to the background of all of this also on our website. if you're a dog owner, you might feel a sense of pride in getting your pet to sit on command, maybe even a bit smug if you can teach them something more advanced like rolling over. well, jason smawfield—huby and his dog, hope, have taken their training to the next level and won gold at the dog agility world championships in belgium. 0ur reporter, simon spark, has been to meet them. injune, we saw the preparation. good girl. representing team gb for dog agility in the first ever senior competition held in belgium. it's the first time a competition has been run internationally, specifically for the over 55s and over 65s. jason was in the over 55s category, and hope was in the fluffy, cute small doggy category, with some serious obedience and serious speed needed. but then, the practising was over.

run! i walked into the building. it was absolutely huge. never run my dog in front of so many people before, and the atmosphere was absolutely electric. but, on the start line, you forget about everything else, and it's just you and your dog. she was clear in every round, in all four rounds. her worst placing was a third. so, we had a number of silvers and a couple of bronzes. come on! but if hope hoped for a win... stop, stop, stop, stop, stop! yes! come on. ..she got one. come on! yes! i didn't know i'd won the title. i came out, i knew i'd got a clear round, but the noise from, say, my friends on the balcony was absolutely incredible. and i still didn't believe it. i don't cry a lot, but i was absolutely bawling my eyes out. especially when two people came

to congratulate me and cuddle me. so now it's our turn to see this gold medal performance close up. whee, whee, whee, whee, whee, whee! you're looking at the first ever gold winners of the over 55s title of the senior open agility world championships. there's no other dog agility trainer in the world that can boast that category of win. and no other dog quite like hope. yes! super girl! congratulations to hope. we are monitoring the live shop in berlin where we expect the uk leader sir keir starmer tojoin his german keir starmer to join his german counterpart. keir starmer tojoin his german counterpart. the flags are there, they will be making a speech following that discussion earlier

today regarding a treaty. now it's time for the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. we've had some heavy showers this morning, particularly so across wales and southwest england. now, as we go through today, the weather front responsible for that will still be with us. here it is here — it's moving northwards and eastwards. it's the dregs of yesterday's weather front. and then we have another one coming in across the northwest, introducing some heavy showers for northern ireland and western scotland. and you may well hear the odd rumble of thunder from those too. but in between these two areas, a lot of dry weather, some sunshine, areas of cloud floating around at times, but it will feel quite warm in the southeastern corner. we could reach 28 degrees today, fresher across the northwest where we're looking at 15 to about 18 degrees. now, through this evening and overnight, everything pushes into the north sea. we'll have clear skies for a time, but then further showers come in across northern ireland and also western scotland, accompanied by breezy conditions. and it's going to be a fresher night tonight than it was last night. 0vernight lows, 9 to about 13 degrees. so we start tomorrow on a largely dry note with some sunshine,

but we'll have the showers continuing across northern ireland, pushing eastwards across scotland. we could even see a few getting into northern england. but move southwards, we're into drier and sunnier conditions and we're looking at highs up to 23. so as i mentioned, feeling fresher. then as we move through the week, on friday, we could start with a little bit of mist across parts of scotland, northern ireland and northern england, but again, a lot of dry weather around. there'll be areas of cloud coming in from the north sea, at times with an onshore breeze, and temperatures 14 to about 24 degrees, so those temperatures slowly starting to come up. then into the weekend. high pressure still firmly in charge of our weather. this weather front here could bring some showers into southern

england later on sunday and overnight into monday. but on saturday, first of all, still a lot of dry weather around. fair bit of sunshine. some cloud at times coming in from the north sea and up from france. that may well affect the temperatures. looking at 22 degrees as our top temperature in london, 21 in glasgow, and then as we head into the outlook period, for sunday, starting with some mist and fog as well. it's later on sunday we could see some showers coming in, but a lot of settled weather too, with a few showers as we head through the new working week.

live from london, this is bbc news. prime minister sir keir starmer is visiting berlin where he wants to reset the uk's relationship with europe here is the scene live in berlin. israel is carrying out a major military operation in the occupied west bank. 11 people are reported to have been killed. this is the scene near the al—fara refugee camp where the israeli army operation has been taking place. space—x says bad weather has

postponed the polaris dawn mission after technical issues earlier in the week. hello. the british prime minister is in berlin where he's expected to say the uk has a once in a generation opportunity to reset its post—brexit relationship with europe. sir keir starmer was welcomed by german chancellor, 0laf scholz. they'll begin negotiations on a new treaty, designed to deepen trade links and boost defence co—operation. germany laid out the red carpet at the german chancellery for the british prime minister — who will head to paris later the british prime minister is in berlin where he's expected for talks with french president, emmanuel macron, on thursday.