we talk to sir lenny henry about his new children's book on haircuts and heritage and how humour helped him combat school bullies. the people that were gathered round said, "oh, leave him alone, he's funny." and suddenly, i realised that humour could be my sword and my shield. after that people left me alone because i was lenny, the funny one. and it kind of saved me, really. ever since old sue hit the road in the 1940s, coach travel has been popular and remains so to this day. i have come to this coach company to find out about the economic benefits it brings to towns and cities across the uk. in sport, 18 months to win the world cup. thomas tuchel will start as england manager injanuary and there's only one job to do. good morning. some rain to clear

this morning and then for all of us it's going to be a day of sunny spells and scattered showers, but wet and windy weather is coming our way on friday and more especially on sunday. all of the details shortly. it's thursday 17th october. our main story. the singer and former one direction member liam payne has died in argentina, aged 31. police in buenos aires said he fell from a balcony at a hotel in the palermo area of the city. a large group of fans has gathered outside the building. our culture correspondent, charlotte gallagher reports. liam payne, a music superstar who found fame whilejust liam payne, a music superstar who found fame while just a teenager. he lived his entire adult life in the spotlight. sometimes struggling with the pressures of celebrity. this is the pressures of celebrity. this is the hotel in buenos aires where

police say the singer fell to his death from a third—floor balcony. officers were already on the scene, following reports of an aggressive man who may have been under the effect of and alcohol. outside the hotel, fans were in disbelief. i needed to be here. i found out the needed to be here. ifound out the news, in my home, after i came from the homework. i needed to be here, present, and to know this is real, today this is real.— today this is real. when i read about this. — today this is real. when i read about this, like, _ today this is real. when i read about this, like, my _ today this is real. when i read about this, like, my heart - today this is real. when i read - about this, like, my heart stopped for a _ about this, like, my heart stopped for a second. about this, like, my heart stopped fora second. i about this, like, my heart stopped for a second. i couldn't believe it. like, _ fora second. i couldn't believe it. like. i_ for a second. i couldn't believe it. like. i felt— for a second. i couldn't believe it. like, i felt really saddened by the news _ like, i felt really saddened by the news so. — like, i felt really saddened by the news. so, as quickly as i could, i took— news. so, as quickly as i could, i took the — news. so, as quickly as i could, i took the bus_ news. so, as quickly as i could, i took the bus and i here. it�*s news. so, as quickly as i could, i took the bus and i here. it's such a loss. i'm took the bus and i here. it's such a loss- i'm 20 _ took the bus and i here. it's such a loss. i'm 20 years _ took the bus and i here. it's such a loss. i'm 20 years old, _ took the bus and i here. it's such a loss. i'm 20 years old, one - loss. i'm 20 years old, one direction _ loss. i'm 20 years old, one direction has _

loss. i'm 20 years old, one direction has been - loss. i'm 20 years old, one direction has been a - loss. i'm 20 years old, one direction has been a part. loss. i'm 20 years old, onej direction has been a part of loss. i'm 20 years old, one - direction has been a part of me since _ direction has been a part of me since i— direction has been a part of me since i was _ direction has been a part of me since i was eight _ direction has been a part of me since i was eight years- direction has been a part of me since i was eight years old. - direction has been a part of me | since i was eight years old. they meant. — since i was eight years old. they meant. they— since i was eight years old. they meant, they mean, _ since i was eight years old. they meant, they mean, they- since i was eight years old. they meant, they mean, they meantl since i was eight years old. theyl meant, they mean, they meant a since i was eight years old. they- meant, they mean, they meant a lot to me. _ meant, they mean, they meant a lot to me. every— meant, they mean, they meant a lot to me. every of— meant, they mean, they meant a lot to me, every of them. _ meant, they mean, they meant a lot to me, every of them. he _ meant, they mean, they meant a lot to me, every of them.— meant, they mean, they meant a lot to me, every of them. he had posted on social media _ to me, every of them. he had posted on social media that _ to me, every of them. he had posted on social media that it _ to me, every of them. he had posted on social media that it was _ to me, every of them. he had posted on social media that it was a - to me, every of them. he had posted on social media that it was a lovely . on social media that it was a lovely day in argentina. this was liam payne at ia, auditioning on x factor in 2008 for the first time. # fly me to the moon. two years later, he was back again. # cry me a river. and soon to become one fifth of pop music phenomenon. # you don't know you're beautiful. one direction. liam, zayn malik, harry styles, louis tomlinson and nile heron, released hit after hit, toured the world and have millions of devoted fans. in 2015, they went

on and indefinite hiatus. liam, like his bandmates, launched a solo career. and had a child with the girls aloud singer cheryl. to the outside world he was living the pop star dream but liam also struggled with his mental health and addiction to alcohol. the with his mental health and addiction to alcohol. , ., to alcohol. the problem we had in our band and _ to alcohol. the problem we had in our band and i _ to alcohol. the problem we had in our band and i don't _ to alcohol. the problem we had in our band and i don't blame - to alcohol. the problem we had in| our band and i don't blame anyone for this, our band and i don't blame anyone forthis, it our band and i don't blame anyone for this, it would seem like i'm whining, whatever, but it seems to me the best way to secure us no matter how big we got was to lock us in our room and what is in our room, mini bar. and so i thought, i will have a party for one. and then you look back and you think, how long have you been drinking, and then you are like, jesus christ, how long. just a few weeks ago he was pictured dancing at a concert. one direction fans are logged for a reunion. today those fans are mourning the death of

their music icon. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. those who knew liam payne during his time on x—factor have paid tribute. presenter, dermot o'leary posted on instagram, saysing "the worst news. i remember him as a 1a—year—old turning up to audition on the x factor, and blowing us away singing sinatra. hejust loved to sing." singer olly murs says "this news is devastating, i'm lost for words. we always had a good laugh when we saw each other, sometimes the catch—ups were only short and sweet but when we did, it was mostly about how annoyingly good his hair always looked, or our love for becks, the old x factor days and the tour we shared together." and rylan clarke tweeted "extremely sad news. very tragic and so young. rest in peace liam." our music correspondent mark savage joins us now. morning. i understand recently you interviewed liam payne? hat morning. i understand recently you interviewed liam payne?— morning. i understand recently you interviewed liam payne? not that it recentl , it interviewed liam payne? not that it

recently. it was _ interviewed liam payne? not that it recently, it was before _ interviewed liam payne? not that it recently, it was before the - interviewed liam payne? not that it| recently, it was before the pandemic by 2019. but i always remember him, in that interview and when we met on red carpets and during the one direction days, he was very quietly spoken, very self—assured, and very sincere about music and about his ambitions and a very open about the struggles he had with mental health and alcohol. he told me once about how his family and in those close to him had become incredibly worried after he woke up with cheryl, the singer with girls aloud, because of the amount he was drinking, and he actually spent a year off the trick. recently he completed another 100 days of sobriety that he told fans about last year. he was always a very warm and caring individual, and he was the one in one direction who tended to take care of the others. he was the one he was put in charge of calming everything down. there were a real shock today. because he

had always felt like a rock within that quintet. had always felt like a rock within that quintet-— had always felt like a rock within that cuintet. . ~' , ., ~ ,, that quintet. thank you, mark. seven minutes past — that quintet. thank you, mark. seven minutes past six _ that quintet. thank you, mark. seven minutes past six is _ that quintet. thank you, mark. seven minutes past six is the _ that quintet. thank you, mark. seven minutes past six is the time. - that quintet. thank you, mark. seven minutes past six is the time. taking l minutes past six is the time. taking a look at the use of social media, there has been a lot of pressure on companies to be better when it comes to protecting younger users. the pressure coming from the regulator this morning, yes. the head of the communications watchdog ofcom has warned social media companies that they will face punishments if they fail to comply with legal safeguards to ensure children are kept safe on their platforms. the changes come into force in the spring, and could mean fines and endorsement action. our technology editor zoe kleinman has this report. graphic violence, sexual abuse, grooming and self—harm. just some of the types of horrendous content children have been exposed to on the world's most popular online platforms. in some cases, it has resulted in tragedy. he was 1a and a normal child and didn't have any mental health, or not that we knew of.

he was just a regular, happy, normal child. and in april 20, sorry, 2022, two years ago, um, i came home and our world had changed. sophie died by suicide at 13. when i went on to her social media, there was a barrage of really distressing material on her ipad and on her phone. from december, it will be the responsibility of the tech firms to try to put a stop to that here in the uk. what we're aiming for is for younger children not to experience what some of today's teenagers and indeed, you know, adults in their early 20s have experienced over the last ten, 15 years. and i can just assure you that at ofcom, we are so intent on making a difference here, we are going to use all the powers we have at our disposal. those powers include large fines and even banning services in the uk, which fail to accurately risk assess

how much harmful content is on their platforms, whether any children at all might see it, and then implement changes, including age verification for all, to ensure that they don't. the online safety act doesn't come into effect until the spring, but some tech firms have already sprung into action. instagram, for example, has limited interactions on its teen accounts, and both snapchat and tiktok say they've clamped down on age verification. and today, ofcom has brought forward consultations on addressing harmful material towards women and girls. specifically, data from an online abuse helpline found that nearly three quarters of all threats to share intimate images affected women. but some would like to see the online safety act go further. i'd like to see ofcom change its approach to be far more ambitious in what it's expecting of these platforms. the online safety act provides a minimum, but we must interpret that in a way that focuses

on the systems that these platforms are using, notjust individual pieces of content. it took years to draft the online safety act, and some argue that it's already out of date. ofcom will now have to move fast to keep up with the rapidly evolving tech sector. zoe kleinman, bbc news. lebanon's prime minister, najib mikati, has accused israel of deliberately targeting local officials in air strikes that have killed 16 people, including the mayor in the southern city of nabatieh. israel said it was targeting members of hezbollah. it comes as the un says an israeli tank fired at one her of its watchtowers yesterday. our middle east correspondent hugo bachega is in beirut. . hugo, good morning. what has been the reaponse — . hugo, good morning. what has been the reaponse to _ . hugo, good morning. what has been the response to these _ . hugo, good morning. what has been the response to these latest _ the response to these latest attacks? a, ~ the response to these latest attacks? ~ ., attacks? morning. about the nabatieh attack, the israeli _ attacks? morning. about the nabatieh attack, the israeli military _ attacks? morning. about the nabatieh attack, the israeli military said - attacks? morning. about the nabatieh attack, the israeli military said it - attack, the israeli military said it had targeted infrastructure being used by hezbollah yesterday in that

part of the country, it describes those sites as command centres and weapons storage facilities but it has not commented specifically about this attack on the local authority building, and it has not really explained why a functioning government building was considered to be a legitimate target. they probably knew the local authorities were still working in the building. about the universal attack, they said two cameras were destroyed as a result of the attack, and they said, in a statement, they received direct and apparently deliberately fired by the israeli military. the israeli military has rejected similar accusations in the past, it has not reacted to this particular incident. we have seen a number of incidents involving israeli soldiers and the un in the last week a growing criticism of the un by the israel

forces, some people saying unifil is useless. just days ago, a unifil forces spokesman said if you take all of the incident into consideration, there are grave concerns about what israel could be trying to achieve here.— trying to achieve here. thank you, hu~o. the disasters emergency committee, made up of 15 british aid agencies, have come together to appeal for funds to help millions of people affected by the escalating crisis in the middle east. the dec says humanitarian needs in gaza and elsewhere are overwhelming. the uk government says it will match the first £10 million of donations made by the public. president zelensky will address european leaders in brussels later today to lay out his plans to end russia's invasion of ukraine by the end of next year. he will also ask for extra military support, and fast—tracked nato membership. a number of cabinet ministers have written to the treasury to express

concern about spending cuts to their departments, which could be included in the budget later this month. the chancellor, rachel reeves, is understood to be looking to raise £a0 billion. our chief political correspondent henry zeffman is in westminster. henry, morning to you. do you have any sense this stage about which departments could be affected? morning. all of them to some degree. we spoke yesterday about how that very big number, the so—called black hole, £22 billion, had now become £a0 billion. that's the amount of money that rachel reeves has told her colleagues she needs to find before the budget in less than two weeks' time. most of that gap will be filled by tax rises, and we have talked before about how the government appears to be quite suggestive about a rise in capital gains tax and a rise in national insurance for employers, but some of that will have to come from spending cuts. there are some departments

which are protected, areas like health, which means they are less likely to be cut as hard as others. there are other departments where there might be quite severe cuts, at least relative to the rate of inflation. so some of the ministers who have named as being uneasy in use —— newspaper report on the justice secretary, angela rayner the deputy prime minister who is also responsible for local government. none of those who have been named deny they have been making representations in letters to the prime minister about the severity of these cuts but downing street say this is just a these cuts but downing street say this isjust a normal prebudget negotiation process. no one is denying the abnormality of the scale of the spending challenge for the government. this isjust a negotiation over the budget for the next financial year. once this budget is over, very quickly the government is going to start negotiating spending for the next three years. for most of the time

until the next general election. if you thought this was a tough negotiation, just wait for what is coming soon. negotiation, just wait for what is coming soon-— negotiation, just wait for what is coming soon. women between the ages of 50 and 70 are being urged to attend their breast—screening appointments after it has emerged more than a third did not take up the offer last year. more than two million eligible women have not been screened in the last three years, according to nhs england. nhs breast screening uses x—rays, known as mammograms, to look for cancers that are too small to see or feel. britain's top architecture award the stirling prize has been given to the designers of the elizabeth line in london. the railway network was opened in 2022 and runs across london, between its suburbs in the east and west. the royal institute of british architects called it a "flawless, efficient, beautifully choreographed solution to inner—city transport".

they certainly light the sound of that! ~ 4' t