british diplomats, accusing them of spying. it comes as sir keir starmer arrives in washington for talks with president biden. they'll discuss president putin's warning that allowing ukraine to strike russia with western weapons risks a wider war. a panel of people, chosen to reflect the population of england, has backed a change in the law to allow people who are terminally ill to end their life. ukraine says that a russian attack on the sumy region of the country has killed two people and injured six more. this is a developing story. it comes after the kremlin warned the use of western—supplied missiles

for strikes by ukraine on russian territory, saying it risked escalation of the conflict. today, russia has revoked the accreditation of six british diplomats, accusing them of spying. state security service, the fsb, said their activities had threatened national security, but did not name any of the diplomats. it said the move was a measure against multiple unfriendly acts and had what it called documentary proof confirming london's coordination of an escalation in the international political and military situation. it's not clear whether the diplomats are currently in russia. one russian tv channel aired footage claiming to show them leaving the country. the foreign office here in london has yet to comment. lord peter ricketts is a former top diplomat and former uk national security adviser. he says russia has timed the expulsions to send a message to the uk. absolutely no doubt, the timing is too coincidental. this is russian punishment for the uk being seen as a cheerleader for supplying weapons to ukraine. and the reasons they give

in their statement are completely trumped up. we are told the russian spy agency has documents from a department in the foreign office which say that the task of the embassy is ensuring russia's strategic defeat against ukraine. well, surprise, surprise, that's been british declared policy for 2.5 years. so this is a trumped—up story to create pressure on the british government. as you would imagine, have much more on their story on our website, every latest developments, lots of analysis and reaction and we are monitoring any updates we have from conversations between sir keir starmer and president biden in washington, who will be talking about this at the top of the agenda. the prison population of england and wales fell by more than 2000 in the week of the mass release of prisoners at 40% of their sentence. figures published in the past hour show that the weekly prison population was down 2188

on the previous week. with me is our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford. arguably, no surprise given what we were seeing at the beginning of the week that this population has fallen?- population has fallen? exactly the result the _ population has fallen? exactly the result the government - population has fallen? exactly| the result the government had wanted by releasing all of these prisoners at 40% of their sentences rather than 50%. the prison population this morning stood at 46,333, down more than 2000 in a week. this was something is developed by the labour government when it came into power injuly but by august of the prison population went up by 1000 so in fact, if you look across a piece from the beginning of august, they've only actually reduced they've only actually reduced the population by 1000 from the top level, so it's not as good as it might have been because

of the writing and disorder over the summer.- of the writing and disorder over the summer. even while we are witnessing — over the summer. even while we are witnessing that _ over the summer. even while we are witnessing that mass - are witnessing that mass release, that question over how much time the government has bought itself is still really important. 1 bought itself is still really important-— bought itself is still really imortant. ~ ., important. i think it was an idea that — important. i think it was an idea that they _ important. i think it was an idea that they may - important. i think it was an idea that they may be - important. i think it was an l idea that they may be bought themselves 18 months before the rating up against the maximum population again with the mass release this week and the one scheduled for october. i think because of the increase prison population just from the writing this summer there is a sense that that amount of time they have bought themselves has come down closer to a year. these things are fairly unpredictable, we don't know how good the courts to be next yearin how good the courts to be next year in terms of recovering from the pandemic but certainly do not bind themselves ten or 15 years headroom, it is a matter of a year or so. when we talk about _ matter of a year or so. when we talk about that _ matter of a year or so. when we talk about that next _ matter of a year or so. when we talk about that next mass - talk about that next mass release, notably on the same

terms as this one? {iii release, notably on the same terms as this one?— terms as this one? of the release — terms as this one? of the release this _ terms as this one? of the release this week - terms as this one? of the release this week for - terms as this one? of the release this week for fourj terms as this one? of the - release this week for four sick people with sentences of less than five years or four years or less for violent offenders. the next release will be for people with sentences over five years, people with sentences up to ten years will be coming out at the 40% stage rather than 50%. so it's a different kind of prisoner. we hope not serious, violent offenders, thatis serious, violent offenders, that is what the government's intention is but there are always odd cases that fall through the cracks so there will inevitably be at high risk prisoners being released in octoberjust as prisoners being released in october just as they were this week as well. octoberjust as they were this week as well.— in the uk, the first so—called citizens jury on assisted dying in england has backed a change in the law to allow people who are terminally ill to end their life. the jury of 30 people spent

eight weeks listening to expert evidence and campaigners, and concluded it should only be an option for those who are terminally ill and have the capacity to make their own decisions. our medical editor fergus walsh has the details. away from the placards and the protests, the citizensjury was intended to produce a measured response to this highly sensitive issue. jury members were selected to be representative of the makeup and the views of the population, which meant most were already in favour of assisted dying at the start. by three to one, the jury voted in favour of the law being changed to allow assisted dying for those with a terminal condition who have the capacity to make their own decisions. the lethal drug could be self—administered or given by a health professional. ashok was part of the jury and says they were given time to explore the issue in depth.

it was an amazing experience and it was nerve—racking. it was sensitive. it was like a mixed emotion to be part of this actually, because it is a very sensitive topic to be deliberated. ourjury members wanted terminally ill people not to suffer and prolong the agony, and to have the option to choose to die in their own country rather than going abroad to die. a minority ofjurors were concerned that assisted dying could be misused without adequate safeguards. there was near—universal support for more funding for palliative care. we know that policymakers want to have more evidence about what the public think. they want to understand the richness, the detail of people's views and understand where, for example, people want to see safeguards and other considerations around, for example, palliative care. opinion polls have consistently shown overwhelming public support for assisted dying in the uk. the prime minister,

sir keir starmer, has said he's committed to giving mps a free vote on the issue at some point. private members bills have already been introduced at westminster and at the scottish parliament, holyrood. the isle of man and jersey, which pass their own laws, are already on track to introduce assisted dying. but throughout the british isles the impassioned debate on this key issue will continue. at my thanks to fergus was there and we will pick up this conversation with the social worker we saw in that report. and ceo for care not killing, a uk—based alliance group against assisted dying, dr gordon macdonald.

we saw you there speaking to fergus walsh, tell us a little bit about that process of being on that jury bit about that process of being on thatjury and coming to that conclusion. it is a very difficult conversation that you as jury members difficult conversation that you asjury members on difficult conversation that you as jury members on this citizens jury as jury members on this citizensjury had. it asjury members on this citizensjury had.- asjury members on this citizensjury had. citizens 'ury had. it was i reall citizensjury had. it was i really difficult _ citizensjury had. it was i really difficult situation l citizensjury had. it was i | really difficult situation to be in because it is highly sensitive and a highly debated topic over the last two decades. it was not easy for us to arrive at the decision, most of the people came in being on the fence but we discuss the risks and benefits for voting for and against assisted dying. there were a lot of case examples discussed and a lot of panel discussions and people are coming from different backgrounds, all walks of life, talking about the personal and professional experience to assisted dying and how they went through it in their own personal experience. it was not arriving at the decision, it

was going through the process of understanding and critically analysing and weighing the pros and cons of everything to arrive at the decision, along with fellow jury members. arrive at the decision, along with fellowjury members. this with fellow “my members. this 'u of with fellow 'ury members. this juryofso— with fellowjury members. this jury of 30 peeple _ with fellowjury members. this jury of 30 people spending eight weeks discussing this, painstakingly analysing it. dr gordon, you have concerns about the make—up of the jury? gordon, you have concerns about the make—up of thejury? i the make—up of the jury? i wouldn't expect a jury to have predetermined views on the subject _ predetermined views on the subject. i'm not questioning a shock's— subject. i'm not questioning a shock's integrity in terms of his approach to this but the point — his approach to this but the point is, _ his approach to this but the point is, you would make the point — point is, you would make the point of— point is, you would make the point of having a jury that had clearly — point of having a jury that had clearly not a predetermined view — clearly not a predetermined view one _ clearly not a predetermined view one way or the other, that is the _ view one way or the other, that is the way— view one way or the other, that is the way a _ view one way or the other, that is the way a jury should operate. if you use the process of saying — operate. if you use the process of saying we should have two thirds — of saying we should have two thirds or— of saying we should have two thirds or three quarters of the

'ury thirds or three quarters of the jury members in favour at the start, — jury members in favour at the start, that _ jury members in favour at the start, that clearly calls into question— start, that clearly calls into question the result at the end of the — question the result at the end of the day, because it's unlikely— of the day, because it's unlikely you are going to get any other result than support. asok, — any other result than support. asok, is— any other result than support. asok, is that a fair point? were the members on yourjury arguably having a predetermined view? is that something you sensed? ., , ., ., , , sensed? the last vote happened on the last _ sensed? the last vote happened on the last day, _ sensed? the last vote happened on the last day, face-to-face. i on the last day, face—to—face. i came in on the fence because i came in on the fence because i do understand that had a preconceived idea before, having been guided by my own beliefs, but i never knew anything otherjury members anything other jury members throughout anything otherjury members throughout the process has an idea beforehand. they probably had an idea but it was not shared until the last minute. but it was caught in a fair way as far as but it was caught in a fair way as farasi but it was caught in a fair way as far as i was concerned, because nobody influenced any decision throughout the jury process. it was fair and it was

also, the information was given for us to make an informed decision in the end. dr gordon, are ou decision in the end. dr gordon, are you satisfied _ decision in the end. dr gordon, are you satisfied with _ decision in the end. dr gordon, are you satisfied with that? - decision in the end. dr gordon, are you satisfied with that? is i are you satisfied with that? is important to stress that the citizens jury will help to inform but it doesn't have any legal standing. inform but it doesn't have any legalstanding. i inform but it doesn't have any legal standing.— legal standing. i think that's a really important _ legal standing. i think that's a really important point - a really important point because what we consistently see is — because what we consistently see is when politicians who do have _ see is when politicians who do have a — see is when politicians who do have a legal standing, they make — have a legal standing, they make law and they are conscious of their— make law and they are conscious of their responsibility, so if we have _ of their responsibility, so if we have this discussion in the abstract, _ we have this discussion in the abstract, we see this in opinion— abstract, we see this in opinion polls and i suspect in the citizensjury opinion polls and i suspect in the citizens jury process too, the citizens jury process too, the public generally don't want to say— the public generally don't want to say no— the public generally don't want to say no to people for things and we — to say no to people for things and we generally have an approach saying, if it doesn't affect— approach saying, if it doesn't affect me, who am i to impose my view— affect me, who am i to impose my view on— affect me, who am i to impose my view on someone else? but that is— my view on someone else? but that is different from legislating and when you legislate and you are a politician and you've got day in, politician and you've got day in. day — politician and you've got day in, day out, you fine people being —

in, day out, you fine people being failed by the system, by public— being failed by the system, by public services that are waiting _ public services that are waiting just smarter years for an operation, who can't get access— an operation, who can't get access to _ an operation, who can't get access to palliative care, you are conscious of your responsibility not to introduce something which can't be protected. it's easy to say we should _ protected. it's easy to say we should put safeguards in but the problem is that the safeguards very quickly get seen — safeguards very quickly get seen as— safeguards very quickly get seen as barriers to access and -et seen as barriers to access and get remove. the safeguards don't — get remove. the safeguards don't actually work in practice. that's why politicians in our experience over — politicians in our experience over about 20—odd years in sicily— over about 20—odd years in sicily decide they don't want to do— sicily decide they don't want to do this. because they don't think— to do this. because they don't think it's _ to do this. because they don't think it's not a good idea in principle, _ think it's not a good idea in principle, because they realise when — principle, because they realise when they think it through that it's more — when they think it through that it's more difficult than it appears. it's more difficult than it appears-— it's more difficult than it appears. it's more difficult than it aearshh.“ , appears. jacques, what's your understanding _ appears. jacques, what's your understanding as _ appears. jacques, what's your understanding as to _ appears. jacques, what's your understanding as to what - appears. jacques, what's yourj understanding as to what your conclusion will be, how that will feed into letting politicians understand what people are feeling about such an issue, which is really impassioned and people really feel strongly for and against

it? ., feel strongly for and against it? . ., ., , it? law in the uk do not permit --eole it? law in the uk do not permit peeple to _ it? law in the uk do not permit peeple to die — it? law in the uk do not permit people to die but _ it? law in the uk do not permit people to die but allow- it? law in the uk do not permit people to die but allow people | people to die but allow people to refuse treatment. if a patient is refusing treatment, then they go through the pain for a longer period of time and this is in the law, where people are not allowed to choose assisted dying. that doesn't make any sense to me as a jury member because we should be given the option. i think people should be given the option, they should be given the information. if you have do not resuscitate in place and advanced decisions in place, i think we should also be an option for the people out there so they can make an informed decision and be empowered to take control of their own life. dr gordon, that option a shock then was describing is for those who are terminally ill and have the capacity to make their own decision. does that make you feel more comfortable?

the problem is that definitions of terminal illness can be very broad — of terminal illness can be very broad in— of terminal illness can be very broad. in scotland, the bill in the scottish parliament, the definition can apply to people have — definition can apply to people have years or even decades to live because the condition does not have — live because the condition does not have to have you imminently dvind _ not have to have you imminently dying i— not have to have you imminently dying. i think the other issue is, it's— dying. i think the other issue is, it's easy to say people have _ is, it's easy to say people have to _ is, it's easy to say people have to have capacity, but what has happened in practice is at the boundaries get blurred, see how people in belgium and the netherlands who don't have capacity, he cannot give consent, being euthanised without— consent, being euthanised without giving explicit consent. there is a study from belgium — consent. there is a study from belgium which showed that, about— belgium which showed that, about 25%, i think it was, or people — about 25%, i think it was, or people coming in for assisted death— people coming in for assisted death not giving their explicit consent _ death not giving their explicit consent. that's troubling. dr consent. that's troubling. gordon and consent. that's troubling. d gordon and also jacques consent. that's troubling. li gordon and also jacques kumar, who was on that assisted dying

citizens jury, who was on that assisted dying citizensjury, thank who was on that assisted dying citizens jury, thank you for taking the time to talk to us about what is a very difficult subject and we appreciate your time. pope francis is heading back to rome at the end of the longest trip of his papacy. the pontiff, who is 87, ended his 12—day tour of the asia—pacific region in singapore, where he met young people at a roman catholic college. on thursday, he expressed concern for singapore's rapidly ageing population and its migrant workforce, centred in the construction and domestic services industries. my colleague steve lai gave me his analysis of the pontiff's 12—day trip there's certainly a lot of ground to cover and he certainly covered a lot of topics as well. just to get you up to speed with what he did here in singapore yesterday, he sat alongside singapore's president to address the country's leaders, diplomats and heads of civil society. and then he celebrated mass with 50,000 people at the national stadium. today was far less grand but perhaps equally meaningful. he started by visiting the sick and elderly,

who you referred to just now, elderly residents from several homes for the aged, where he thanked them for their prayers and asked them to continue to pray for the church and for humanity as well. you mentioned he met with some young people as well. there are some interreligious dialogue at the catholic junior college here, including over 600 participants from 50 schools. the pope gave his thoughts on a range of questions asked, including how to harness the opportunities of ai and managing the risks it poses through disinformation of different groups. he said, a young person has to be a critic but you have to be constructive with your criticism, as it can also be destructive. he also said that young people should use social media to move forward but not to be slaves of it. he called for sincere dialogue between young people of different faiths, likening religions to languages and that all lead to god. he also asked young people to have courage to move forward and respect dialogue and different faiths. that dialogue, or interfaith dialogue, is something that was a theme that came

up throughout his trip here to the asia—pacific, whether that's papua new guinea or timor—leste or indonesia, where he started his trip. that was very much a message that he wanted to bring home. let's bring you some breaking news, and a high courtjudge has quashed the decision to grant planning permission for what would have been whitehaven, in cumbria. the uk's first coal mine in 30 years at whitehaven, in cumbria. the proposal by west cumbria mining had been given the go—ahead by the previous conservative government in december 2022. but legal challenges were submitted by environmental campaign groups, who claimed the decision was flawed. the high court judge the high courtjudge quashing that decision to grant that planning permission for what would have been the uk's first coalmine in 30 years. researchers say they've solved the mystery of the origins of the seismic signal that

shook the earth for nine days last september. they have pinned it down to a massive landslide which caused a tsunami in a remote fjord in greenland. the risk of these arctic landslides is increasing because of climate change, according to scientists, as victoria gill reports. a land continuously carved and moulded by vast glaciers. but in one fjord in the east of greenland, a seismic event has transformed the landscape here forever. we're seeing here a simulation of how this seismic signal travelled around the world. when we run this, we'll start to see this wave. this animation shows the signal that baffled scientists for nine days in september of last year. the dots are seismic monitors around the world, picking up vibrations from something happening in greenland. at the same time that scientists were puzzling over that, a team working in greenland received a report of a large tsunami in the east of the country. these photographs show what caused it — a huge

landslide into this fjord. look at the mountain top in this image. taken before the event. and look at it afterwards — the top of the mountain is gone, collapsed into the fjord, taking part of the glacier with it. the scientists analysed the depth and shape of this narrow 200 kilometre long fjord, and that revealed why the tsunami the landslide caused reverberated around the world for so long. the wave was essentially trapped. the energy of that wave just can't escape, so that wave has tojust keep bouncing back and forth, sloshing back and forth in the fjord. itjust can't go anywhere. never before has such a long duration large—scale movement of water — over nine days, in this case — been observed. remote as it is, this is a location that cruise ships do visit — fortunately, no vessels were in the area when the landslide happened — but scientists say the risk of these events is increasing with climate change. this glacier was holding up the mountain. over decades, it melted and thinned, and eventually millions of cubic metres

of rock simply collapsed. it's a destructive side effect of climate change that was felt around the world. residents of a village in south wales are battling a mysterious infestation of flies, saying they can't open their windows or eat lunch in peace because of the constant presence of the insects. our wales correspondent hywel griffith has been to bettws, near bridgend, to find out more. the common housefly. all too common, it seems, in the homes of bettws, south wales, where residents say they've been inundated by thousands of the insects in recent weeks. at the local pub, regulars come armed with swats and sprays to keep the flies at bay, but it feels like a losing battle. here, you can have that. i'm not having it. you can start swatting for me. melanie's had to stop serving meals — she just can't stomach seeing the insects.

if i see a fly on a piece of food, that's it, it's done. it's gone. and it's just been a constant... the door opens here, a punter will come in but 20 flies will follow. it's... it's very difficult, very difficult to keep on top of it. the village has had problems in the past, but never on this scale. there are tales of children having to eat under mosquito nets. one family said they counted 205 flies in just 45 minutes. captured on camera, home—made traps have helped, but what residents really want is for the problem to end. this year has been exceptional, and i wouldn't call it activity, i would actually call it a fly infestation. and as you would see, social media is awash with horrible images of the volume of flies currently being found in people's homes. environmental health officers have been investigating. so far, they've not determined the source of the swarm,

but here, they can't wait for their village to become a no—fly zone. breaking news on the tour will be reporting that russia has revoked the accreditation of six british diplomats. to accuse them of spying. we have just had a response from the foreign office saying that these accusations are made by russia against our staff are completely baseless. it adds that russian authorities revoked the diplomatic accreditation of six uk diplomats last month following action taken by the uk government in response to russian—state directed activity across europe and the uk. we are unapologetic about protecting our national interest. the statement goes

on, just to remind you, in my month of the government imposed various measures against the russian embassy in response to the growing russian threat. the foreign office there, a spokesperson saying that the accusations which were made by the fsb against the six members of staff are indeed completely baseless. that reaction coming in and that is also on our website as well. if you want to get the latest reaction to this developing story, that revocation of the accreditation of six british diplomats in russia, much more on our website as well. now, the term time has started for many children around the world, but in gaza, getting education has become a much more difficult, if not impossible, mission for many because of the ongoing war. i spoke to awatef sheikh, ceo of the ajyal foundation for education, a uk based charity helping children in gaza. children have been out of school since october 2023, so losing at least

an entire year of learning. not only learning, psychological and social development. very few are getting some support but the entire school population in gaza didn't have access to education since october last year. the impact with that is obviously understandable but how are the children? when you're talking to your people on the ground there, how are these kids coping? these are kids that have been displaced numerous times. if you allow me, i'm going to share with you some statistics about the mental health condition of children in gaza. 90% of children are suffering from ptsd, and this was before the war in october. 79% were experiencing bedwetting, 59% of children exhibit the act of mutism. 90% of children are experiencing high levels

of emotional distress when they are separated from their parents. again, this is before the war started, and we have the experience and conditions for children now and throughout the year have been far worse. the testimonies we get from parents when we speak to them to gather testimonies about how the children are coping, they are being skittish, irritable and highly fearful. the children are waking up multiple times per night screaming and showing several years of regression in their behaviour and development. the mental health impact on children is beyond measure in gaza. much more on our website, i'm backin much more on our website, i'm back in a moment.

hello again. you may have noticed it was pretty cold this morning, the earliest september frost across england and the temperature down to —2.7 degrees in yorkshire this morning. through the next few days, that colder air disappearing. you notice on this air mass picture, we switch to a southwesterly by saturday and into sunday, so the temperatures rising, we won't see that frost again for a while. for today, staying pretty sunny for the rest of this afternoon. a few showers affecting northern scotland, perhaps some down the north sea coast as well. more cloud across northern ireland later but otherwise, with light winds and that sunshine, feeling pleasant, milder than the last few days. through tonight, the cloud increasing across scotland and northern ireland. the southwesterly wind picking up with rain pushing in and, crucially, because of the southwesterly wind and that cloud, temperatures perhaps staying in double figures, so a much milder night compared to last night. whereas, for england and wales,

with clearer skies, perhaps chilly but not as cold as this morning. sunshine to greet us first thing across england and wales. the cloud increasing across scotland and northern ireland with rain and turning gusty here as well. temperatures up a little, up to 19 celsius, but in that sunshine in the south east, feeling pleasant. sunday, the wet weather across northern areas moving southwards gradually on this weather front. during the day, rain in scotland, northern england into wales. it will take a while but will eventually push into the far south. for much of a day, dry with sunny spells. as rain clears northern areas, some sunny spells and temperatures up by a degree or so with that milder air pushing in from the atlantic, up to 20 degrees. next week, high pressure becomes dominant and that keeps the weather settled through the week. there will be sunny spells, dry

weather around and temperatures up to 23 celsius, more typical for the time of year in september. bye— bye. live from london. this is bbc news. russia revokes the accreditation of six british diplomats, accusing them of spying. the uk foreign office says these claims are 'completely baseless'. it comes as sir keir starmerssed arrives in washington it comes as sir keir starmer arrives in washington for talks with president biden — they'll discuss president putin's warning that allowing ukraine to strike russia with western weapons risks a wider war. football matches between

villages in south—west china have captured the attention of the nation — greatly boosting local tourism. and, david beckham joined mourners at the funeral of former england football manager sven—goran eriksson in sweden. welcome to bbc news. hello i'm kasia madera. we start this hour with news from the war in ukraine, where reports from the northern region of sumy say that a russian guided bomb has killed two people and injured six others, including a child. the attack comes as the kremlin warned that the use of western—suppled long—range missiles — by ukraine — against targets inside russian territory — would escalate the conflict to a new level. in moscow, kremlin officials have today revoked the accreditation of six british diplomats, accusing them of spying. russia's state security service, the fsb, said their activities had threatened

national security, but did not name any of the diplomats.