the guardian, starmer risks clash with pub firms over a plan for outdoor smoking ban. the daily mail, outrage as starmer removes maggie's put it. apparently he has removed a portrait of mrs thatcher from he has removed a portrait of mrs thatcherfrom herformer he has removed a portrait of mrs thatcher from her former study. he has removed a portrait of mrs thatcherfrom herformer study. —— thatcher from her former study. —— portrait. l, portrait. i, tommy robinson's plan to use sikhs, dues and hindus to turn people in uk against islam. and the fd, vance presses billionaire thiel to get off the sidelines and bankroll trump. and the daily express, has sir keir starmer the death knell of our pubs. i think we're out of time. i think we're out of time. i seem to remember it was gordon brown who christened that room the thatcher room. when i interviewed him, he said, it will be in the thatcher room. make sure you get to the thatcher room. they were very keen point that out. the express not happy about it. i'm sorry, the mail. thank you all very much. that's it from us. christian's here tomorrow. goodnight.

live from london. this is bbc news. a 17—year—old boy has been found guilty of the murder of holly newton, who was stabbed to death in hexham, injanuary 2023. the uk considers a ban on smoking in outdoor gardens. in america, kamala harris, gives her first tv interview, since becoming the democratic nominee, for the white house. there's to be a pause in the fighting in gaza, to allow the vaccination of thousands of children, against polio. there are growing concerns, over the way evidence was presented in the trials of the nurse

lucy letby, found guilty of killing seven babies, hello, i'm samantha simmonds. the grieving mother of a teenage girl who was murdered in a �*frenzied knife attack,�* in northumberland in 2023, has told a court her "beautiful girl, was cruelly taken away." today, a jury found a 17—year—old boy, whom we can't name because of his age, guilty of the murder of holly newton, in hexham. on the night she died, he'd followed her for around 45 minutes, before convincing holly to speak to him. she'd already complained about the boy "stalking" her hours before, and her mother had arranged a meeting with police, that very evening. alison freeman reports. these are the moments before holly newton went into an alleyway with her killer, caught on cctv. the teenager, seen on the right here, stabbed and slashed

15—year—old holly more than 30 times injust one minute in the market town of hexham on the 27th of january last year. the attack was so brutal and sustained that the knife broke during it. holly was taken to hospital but couldn't be saved. this is truly a tragic case, in which a 15—year—old girl, with so much to look forward to in life, has had her future taken away. holly was a very popular girl and is sorely missed by so many. the boy, who was 16 at the time and has autism, had been following holly for 45 minutes before the attack took place. he'd even turned up at holly's house the night before, and a meeting had been arranged with police to discuss his behaviour. they agreed to come out at four o'clock on the friday, so i told holly, and she said, "but i was supposed to be going out with my friends tonight," and she'd begged me for a good... i don't know, half an hour, 45 minutes. "but, mam, i want to go

out, i want to go out." and in the end, the biggest mistake of my life, i'd agreed. the defendant told the court he'd been carrying the knife for more than a week because he planned to hurt himself, not holly, and that he had no memory of attacking her in this alleyway. but today the jury said they didn't believe him, and he was found guilty of holly's murder. he was also found guilty of wounding another boy who tried to help her. the judge took the unusual step of asking holly's mum, michaela, to say a few words to the jury about what her daughter was like. she described a beautiful and funny child who would do anything to make people smile. outside of court, she said more about holly. to think that holly should have been collecting her gcse exam results last week, but instead our baby girl's future was cruelly taken away from her. we are grateful to the many people who have shown their support as we continue to navigate a life without holly in it.

no result will ever bring our beautiful girl back. it was a crime that shocked this small market town — the brutal murder of a schoolgirl. the defendant, who's now 17 and can't be named because of his age, is due to be sentenced at the end of october. alison freeman, bbc news, newcastle. sir keir starmer has confirmed today's reports the government is planning to ban smoking in some outdoor spaces. the prime minister said smoking placed a "huge burden" on the taxpayer, with the cost to the nhs estimated to be around 2.6 billion pounds a year. they are considering extending the legislation that was proposed by the last conservative government, that effectively will ban people under the age of 14 from ever buying a cigarette. the proposals seen by the sun newspaper suggest it could include a smoking ban in pub and restaurant gardens and terraces, in outdoor sports stadiums, children's parks and on the pavements near hospitals and universities. danny savage, has more.

we all know smoking is bad for our health, but plenty of people still choose to do so. so what about the latest idea to restrict it, ban it in pub gardens and outdoor restaurants in england and possibly elsewhere in the uk? we showed the prime minister's views to people in a pub garden. over 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking. that's a preventable death, it's a huge burden on the nhs, and of course it's a burden on the taxpayer. so what do they think? we're all sat having a drink in the sunshine here in york. some people lit a cigarette, and instantly you smelt it. and you don't want to do that? i personally don't want to do that, and i have to say that i'm anti—smoking. unless you're banning it full stop, there needs to be places - for people to have a smoke. but whilst we're eating, i don't particularly want to smell it. i i think it's ludicrous, personally... simon runs the pub — and six others. i think it's another restriction

on hospitality trying to survive. it's going to impact our sales, and it takes away the freedom of choice for people who want to do something outside, where it's ok for them. smoking was banned in enclosed public spaces across the uk about 17 years ago. now it could be potentially stopped out here too, which will please many but frustrate some people. sophie has smoked for ten years and isn't convinced the plan will work. people willjust stop going to them businesses to drink in. they'll go somewhere where they can smoke or...? yeah, they'lljust stay at home or go to their gardens and do it for cheaper. chris wants to give up, and this might help. discouraging the youth from partaking, that's nothing but a good thing. whether that's going to stop them starting in the first place or not, i don't know. in york, local bylaws already forbid smoking in these outdoor seating areas. so they can't smoke sitting there? no. but they can literally come the other side of the barrier here, stand here and smoke

perfectly legally? yeah. policing it can be difficult, though. people try and hide it from us, like they'll stick their cigarette down here, but you can literally see the smoke and you can smell it. and obviously it is a restaurant as well, that's kind of like why we don't allow it, it makes sense to not allow it as well because people are eating, there's kids eating. health authorities say there is no safe level of exposure to second—hand smoke. making it more difficult to light up in public could be on the cards. danny savage, bbc news, york. let's get more on the reaction from westminster from our political correspondent iain watson. nannying, impinging on freedom, cowardly, these are some of the descriptions used by conservative leadership candidates about these proposals. it's worth remembering half of them backed rishi sunak�*s plans to stop the next generation, those born in 2009 and beyond, from smoking completely but they say, look, labour are affecting existing smokers, and certainly some civil

servants in the business department i'm told this raised concern about the impact about these proposals on the hospitality industry and some ministers remain uneasy but what health experts are telling the government is they can cut the number of people claiming long—term sickness benefits, they can reduce health inequalities, they can relieve pressure on the nhs, if they impose more restrictions on smoking. these proposals will go out to public consultation but with labour's big majority and the support of opinion polling, no ifs and no buts, more restrictions are on the way. let's take a quick look through tomorrow's newspaper front pages... starting with the metro which says pub landlords across england are urging the government to stub out plans to ban smoking in beer gardens. the express has comments from the leader of reform uk, nigel farage who warns that labour�*s plan would be the �*death nail�* for hundreds of pubs. the guardian has the same story. the paper focuses on the potential

showdown between downing street and the hospitality industry after it warned curbs on smoking could have a negative effect on the economy. the telegraph leads on government plans to introduce a new law which would allow workers to fulfil their contracted hours in a four day week. the times says the nhs will start going into businesses to give workers mot�*s as part of a drive to cut the number of heart attacks and strokes. the mirror�*s lead comments from a senior cia director who said thousands of taylor swift fans lives were saved when a plot to carry out a terrorist incident in austria was stopped. and, finally the daily mail which directs its anger at sir keir starmer who has removed a picture of the former prime minister, margaret thatcher from the downing street study after reportedly finding it �*unsettling�*. next, israel and hamas have agreed to several three day pauses in fighting, to allow the vaccinations of more than 600,000 children in gaza, against polio. it�*s been confirmed a baby has contracted the disease, the first in the palestinian territory, for a quarter

of a century. lucy williamson, has the very latest. born a month before the gaza war began, abdul rahman has played a role in pausing it — something world leaders have struggled to do. earlier this month, abdul rahman was diagnosed with polio — the first case in gaza for 25 years. the family, nine children in all, live in a camp in central gaza, displaced multiple times from their home in the north. the constant moving disrupted his vaccinations. his mother says others in the camp are afraid and stop their children playing with them. translation: the virus stopped his progress. i he stopped sitting, stopped walking, stopped crawling and stopped moving. i want him to be treated. he wants to live and walk like other children. abdul rahman�*s diagnosis has raised fresh alarm over

conditions in gaza�*s camps. the phased pause in fighting will allow medics to vaccinate more than half a million children in stages across the territory. but the conditions that caused this crisis are worsening, say aid organisations, and their solutions are not straightforward. due to the insecurity, the damage, the road infrastructure and population displacement, but also based on our experience with this kind of campaign globally and worldwide, the three days might not be enough to achieve adequate vaccination. israel�*s prime minister was clear that this was not a ceasefire. the war has so far been resistant to both diplomacy and disease, but preventing another layer of tragedy is seen as one small victory. what the eu�*s foreign policy chief called a drop of hope in a sea of despair.

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin. on day two of israel�*s "counter terrorism" operation across the occupied west bank, the death toll has risen to 17 according to palestinian media reports. it�*s one of the biggest operations in decades and there were overnight raids injenin and in tulkham, where troops say they killed five terrorists hiding in a mosque. the us has urged israel to take "all feasible measures" to protect civilian lives in the west bank. in the us it�*s a big night for kamala harris, the democratic presidential nominee, who�*s given her first major tv interview, since replacing joe biden, in the race for the white house. but appearing alongside her running mate, tim walz, she�*s been attacked for not giving a solo interview, with republicans claiming she�*s dodging scrutiny. sarah smith reports. hi! 0n the road — kamala harris is crisscrossing the key state of georgia. hi! no wonder she�*s smiling, with opinion polls moving in her direction and her campaign

is going very smoothly — so far. a serious tv interview will be a bigger test. in this preview clip, ms harris is asked about recent policy u—turns and whether voters can trust her. the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed. in this memorable interview three years ago, she was asked why she hadn�*t personally visited the southern border. we are going to the border, we�*ve been to the border, so this whole thing about the border, we�*ve been to the border, we�*ve been to the border. you haven't been to the border. and i haven�*t been to europe. i mean, i don�*t understand the point you�*re making! donald trump will certainly be watching. he seems convinced that ms harris will again perform badly on tv. she's barely competent, and she can't do an interview. but i look forward to the debates. i promise to be a president for all americans,

you can always trust me... after a very successful convention in chicago, democrats are delighted with how well kamala harris is performing — much better than many expected. four years ago, she took on mike pence in the vice presidential debates. mrvice president, i�*m speaking, i�*m speaking... and kamala harris will debate donald trump on television next month. joe biden�*s debate against mr trump ended his campaign. these events can make a huge difference to the election. look... if... we finally beat medicare. kamala harris is currently enthusing her supporters, but forced outside of these friendly environments, she will face much tougher tests. ukraine says one of it�*s new f 16 fighterjets, supplied by nato allies,

has crashed, killing its pilot. it was involved in an operation against a russian aerial assault. 0ur europe correspondent nick beake is in the sumy region of ukraine, near the border with russia and gave more details about the accident. this happened on monday morning when ukraine had come under huge aerial bombardment. we�*d known that the ukrainians, for the first time, had used f—i6 jets to shoot down russian missiles and drones. but tonight the news that one of the ukrainian pilots, alexei mares, known by his callsign moonfish, was killed in that effort. the circumstances are unclear. it said that he wasn�*t hit by direct enemy fire, and there�*s an investigation that�*s now under way. but he, along with another pilot colleague with the callsignjuice, had travelled to washington as part of ukraine�*s big effort to be given these f—i6 jets. but now both of those pilots have been killed in action. it�*s also a blow for president zelensky. he personally campaigned to get

these jets for the past two and a half years. he finally got them the first of them just a few weeks ago. and now this has happened. there were these warnings that the russians would target them and also crucially, the airfields from which they take off. and that is why president zelensky has asked once again of his allies that they give him permission to use these foreign made long range missiles so that they can hit further into russia. and president zelensky says if he�*s given that permission, they can prevent these sort of attacks across the whole of ukraine. concerns have been raised by a growing number of experts, about the trials of lucy letby. she was the nurse convicted of killing seven babies in her care and attempting to kill seven others, and she was jailed for life last year. now there have been claims that vital evidence may have been misinterpreted, although others insist the claims are misguided and that the trials were fair.

it comes as lucy letby lodged papers to seek leave to appeal, against her most recent conviction for one attempted murder. gill dummigan, has the full story... guilty. nurse lucy letby is the most prolific baby killer in modern times. lucy letby�*s murder trial last year was one of the longest in british legal history, following a six year police investigation. she perverted her learning to inflict harm, grief and death. six expert medical witnesses and many former colleagues testified against her. you have no remorse. there are no mitigating factors. the case against letby was wide ranging: blood test results showing that two babies had been overdosed with insulin, x—rays indicating air injected into others, an apparent confession note at her house, and a rota which showed her on duty for every suspicious collapse or death.

this is the famous duty roster... this chart was a key part of the prosecution case. so this chart appears to be very convincing. but there are a number of issues with it. a big thing is that it only describes 25 of the bad events that happened in this period. it doesn�*t include any of the events that happened when lucy was not on duty. there were at least six other deaths and other collapses. professor green says he doesn�*t want to cause the babies�* parents any more pain, but the questions have to be asked. the danger is that this evidence can be very compelling to the non—professional, and overinterpreted. another crucial part of the prosecution case were blood samples from babies who�*d collapsed with low blood sugar. they indicated exceptionally high levels of insulin, leading to the charge that letby had deliberately poisoned the babies by adding a synthetic version to their feed bags. the problem is that the method of analysis used was probably perfectly good for a clinical point of view, but not a forensic toxicology point of view. the website of the testing lab

states that if synthetic insulin is suspected, the results should be verified externally. but that didn�*t happen because the babies recovered. i don't doubt that the preterm infants had had low blood sugar, but there could be other reasons for that. others also question the charge that letby injected air into babies�* blood vessels, causing often fatal blockages known as an embolism. at the appeal court hearing, one doctor who co—wrote a paper used by the prosecution in the original case spoke for letby�*s defence. the defence claimed the distinctive rash he�*d outlined wasn�*t that described by witnesses in her case. the defence called no expert witnesses in the original trial. by contrast, six testified for the prosecution, in particular retired paediatric consultant dr dewi evans. dr evans told me that he�*d referenced 18 research papers on air embolism, not just that contested one, and that his findings had been backed up in court by a radiologist and a neonatal pathologist.

0n the subject of the rota, he said he�*d chosen those cases because they were the ones that seemed to him to be either suspicious or unexplained, and that he hadn�*t known at that point that lucy letby had been on duty. the crown prosecution service points out that the court of appeal rejected letby�*s case. there�*s a 58 page judgment explaining why. much has been made of the fact that the case is circumstantial — no one definitively saw letby committing a crime. but some think that�*s missing the point. people often say, well, circumstantial evidence can't prove guilt. that's simply not true. tim 0wen kc has spent a0 years as a defence lawyer. he also co—hosts a legal podcast which has examined the letby debate. a circumstantial case i can be a powerful case, but in order to understand it, . you have to look at the totality. he�*s dealt with many miscarriages ofjustice, but says as this stands, there�*s no proof that this is one. i'm seeing lots of peoplej putting forward theories. they are making assumptions without the solid basis for it. i

but still, the questions continue. now, a letter signed by 2a experts has asked for the forthcoming letby inquiry to take those questions into account. you�*re not saying, though, are you, that you think she�*s innocent? i have no idea whether she�*s innocent or not. my concern is simply about the possibility that this was not a safe conviction. i don't know whether she's guilty or not. i don't think anyone knows except lucy letby. the inquiry is due to start on september the 10th. gill dummigan, bbc news. those representing independent highstreet retailers say they�*re shocked after a bbc investigation found that some dishonest traders, are buying stolen goods from shoplifters, then selling them on in their own stores. the british independent retailers association says the practice adds "insult to injury". it comes as a former prolific shoplifter has told how he regularly stole items to order for retailers. the government is promising new laws to tackle the crime.

jim connolly, has this exclusive report, from leeds. perfume, always a staple. box sets, cosmetics, leather handbags. a big box of lego can be £100. this is ross, for decades one of leeds�* most prolific shoplifters. he says he�*s been clean from crack and heroin for five months and says he hasn�*t shoplifted in that time. previously, he was stealing £300 worth of stuff every day to fund his addiction. i know it�*s in the tens of thousands. you�*ve stolen tens of thousands of pounds? yeah, i�*m ashamed to say, yeah. i think i�*d be a gold medallist if shoplifting were a sport. shoplifting costs the country billions of pounds. what do you think about that? i feel guilty and ashamed. it�*s simply desperation. ross only made money if people were willing to buy stolen goods. "whisky, vodka, bailey�*s, tia maria, honey, cheese, washing tablets and liquid if you can, please, mate." messages from a middleman, daily requests to steal to order.

and even more surprisingly, his customers also included other shops all across the city. if i had a bag full of stuff, i�*d know which shop to go to to sell it on. and we�*d discuss a price, and i�*m out of there with the money. it sounds crazy to say that, doesn�*t it? it�*s the economics, isn�*t it, i suppose. i was the cheapest wholesaler. experts say 70% of shoplifters are addicts like ross, but there�*s no escaping the fact he�*s a criminal — 23 convictions in two decades, including 15 for shoplifting, but he�*s never been to prison. i think it really highlighted the scale of the problem. those representing the high street are worried about this trend of unscrupulous shops buying their stock from shoplifters. for our members, who are hard—working, many of them on the breadline as well, because their business is really struggling, to see their savings in the form of product end up with someone else, that's adding insult

to injury to those people, and you can understand their frustration at the lack of authority and the lack of enforcement to deal with that problem. leeds has been described as the shoplifting capital of the uk — and, yes, rates here are high. but the story of ross and the city in general applies up and down the country. 350 miles away in truro, cctv captures thieves in this shop on a near—daily basis. they seem to be choosing something specific, so this could be _ an instance of where they're stealing to order. _ what really angers him is where he believes some of the stolen goods end up. we were able to follow a chap straight from a theft, - hot on his heels, followed him to the store, actually took - pictures of the cash _ being exchanged and off they went. now, that was the first time - i was able to actually, completely, 100% say stolen goods - are being taken and sold on. the government has promised new laws to tackle shoplifting, but retailers i�*ve spoken to just want to see an end to their profits walking out the door. jim connolly, bbc news.

train driver strikes at london north eastern railway have been called off following last ditch talks between union and company officials. some a50 drivers at the company had planned to walk out every weekend until mid november over what the union said were broken agreements. however, aslef told the bbc late on thursday a "resolution" had been reached and confirmed drivers would "now report for duty as normal". the new england football manager, lee carsley, has named four new faces in his first squad to play next month. carsley, who succeeds gareth southgate on an interim basis, has picked chelsea�*s noni madueke, along with morgan gibbs white, tino livramento and angel gomes for the games against ireland and finland. there are recalls for harry maguire and jack grealish, who both missed the euros, while the defender,kieran trippier has announced his retirement, from the international game. now time for the weather with louise lear.

hello there. despite a few sharp showers in the far north of scotland, thursday was a perfect late summer�*s day. in fact, quite a rarity for august because we had sunshine topping and tailing the country. yes, it was glorious at times. now, it�*s likely that we�*re going to keep that quiet theme for the next few days, despite a little bit of early morning mist and fog around exposed west coasts, an the whole, there�*ll be a lot of sunshine to start the day on friday. cloud will develop as we go through the afternoon, but nevertheless the temperatures will start to pick up quite nicely. we�*re looking at 15—19 degrees in scotland, maybe highs of 2a degrees across south—east england — that�*s 75 fahrenheit. high pressure stays with us into the start of the weekend. it is starting to pull its way north and east, and that will allow more of an easterly flow and this weak weather front could trigger a few sharp showers. so a little more cloud across southern england and a brisk easterly wind making it feel

a little fresher on exposed coast. so west will be best for sunshine and despite that brisk westerly wind — which will be noticeable — in some shelter, it will still feel quite pleasant. so for western scotland we could see highs possibly of 22 degrees, that�*s going to be a similar value to the london area, with the cloud and the risk of a few isolated showers. on to sunday — our area of high pressure continues to move towards norway, and that�*s going to allow the wind direction to change once again, this time more to a south—easterly. so that will tap into some very warm air across the near continent, so it will feel increasingly hot and humid and much of eastern england seeing more sunshine and more warmth on sunday. there will be some cloud further west, but later on in the day that humidity could trigger a few sharp, thundery downpours into the south—east. temperatures, though, likely to peak at 26 celsius. so if you�*ve got plans for sunday evening across southern england, keep abreast of the forecast, the subject potential for change. and then as we go into next week, it looks likely that low pressure will start to centre itself to the far north and west. a lot of uncertainty for the detail,

but it does look likely that this settled story that we�*ve been singing for the last couple of days will change to something a little bit more unsettled.