joe lynam, bbc news.ise her on brexit. writing in the mail on sunday, he says such a commission could "hold the ring for the differences to be fought out" and "draw much of the poison from the debate". good news this afternoon. we've seen some more cloud breaks than expected. good news for holiday—makers. , sorry, the gardeners, not the holiday—makers. there is some rain on the rave. most will be dry. a few showers across scotland. easing down, temperatures in the teens. it does feel a bit fresher than the weak squad. and to deny cloud remaining will be dotted across northern saughton. the way from towns and cities, colder. single figures across southern areas. increasing cloud from the west through the day. initially the day in northern ireland, heavy rain taking us into the evening. the rain will spread its way eastwards. it's a week for gardeners. some heavy rain at times. breezy and cloudy, too.

joe lynam, bbc news.ew used the stars and the ocea n swells the crew used the stars and the ocean swells to guide it, the same techniques as were used hundreds of yea rs techniques as were used hundreds of years ago. it was an emotional farewell at the start of an epic voyage around the world. cheering. first ports of call, the islands of tahiti and samoa, where the crew were welcomed ashore by their pacific cousins. in new zealand, the crew of hokule'a were welcomed with a traditional maori greeting before learning about their shared cultural history. onto australia, where the boat sailed around the coast from sydney, visiting several different cultural and environmental sites, including the great barrier reef. the trip from australia to bali was a difficult one for the crew, due to poor conditions, but also marked the first time the canoe had ventured further than the pacific ocean. sailing into south africa after a brief stay on the island of mauritius meant the hokule'a had successfully sailed 10,000

joe lynam, bbc news.ieved to have killed at least 60 people. the blaze has spread through the centre of the country, during an intense heatwave. nearly 600 firefighters and 160 vehicles have been dispatched to tackle it. many of those who died were trapped in their cars. portugal has declared three days of mourning. our correspondent alison roberts reports. people flee as the flames move in. the fires that have spread across this mountainous part of portugal have destroyed everything in their way. dozens of fires started yesterday amid hot and dry conditions that this fire hit has claimed so many lives. translation: we were inside the house, the fire was all around us. the firefighters came to get us out because we could hardly breathe. the house must have burned for sure. 700 firefighters are battling this blaze while hundreds more is ourfighting elsewhere. 30 deaths and injuries occurred along the same highway. officials were visibly shaken. the prime minister said it was the worst ever such tragedy in

joe lynam, bbc news.t staff have been drafted in to manage the response to the grenfell tower fire after criticism of kensington and chelsea borough council. church services are to take place across the country today, to remember those affected by the blaze. the queen's speech to parliament next year is to be cancelled to allow mps more time to scrutinise brexit legislation. it's being described as an "unusual move". sport now... and for a full round up, over to the bbc sport centre. india have won the toss and chosen to field against pakistan in the final of the champions trophy final. these were the scenes outside the oval ahead of the clash between the arch rivals. the game is a complete sell—out with hundreds of millions also watching on tv all around the world. the match is under way. pakistan are currently 56 without loss. india ran out easy winners when the two sides met in the group stages. will it be a repeat this time round? after day three at golf‘s us open, england's tommy fleetwood remains fi

here‘s our business correspondent joe lynam. the images of the week for ba.stomers fairly and refund legitimate expenses, but consumer advocates say that is not enough. in a letter to the chief executive, which? says compensation should be automatic for passengers out of pocket. they should not have to apply directly to airlines for a refund. it says an automated system would save time and money for ba as well as prevent companies from making profit from the misery of others. people are entitled to money but they are not given it automatically. passengers are often not realising what they are entitled to. the airlines can easily pay compensation because they know what flight you were on and what you are entitled to and we think that should be the rules. in other sectors, in energy and water, you are automatically paid compensation if you do not receive services. in response, ba said it had put additional resources into its call centres to process claims quickly as possible. one group that is not out of pocket are investors in ba‘s parent company iag. its shar

joe lynam, bbc news.7 people. 18 of the victims died whilst trying to escape in their cars in an area north of the capital of lisbon. several firefighters are amongst the 59 people reported as injured. the prime minister antonio costa said, that this fire was "the greatest tragedy we have seen in recent years in terms of forest fires". the cause of the fire is currently unknown. earlier, our reporter alison roberts joined us from lisbon and said the extreme temperatures seen on the continent in the past few days will have contributed. very high temperatures in the last few days, there have been some thunderstorms, but not in pedrogao grande, which is where this fire took place, but there were lightning strikes, and the prime minister suggested that this may have been the cause of the fire. this spread rapidly overnight, and that could have been part of the problem. this is a thickly forested area, so some roads passing through our vulnerable. this seems to have been a majorfactor. as you mentioned, 18 peo

our business correspondent, joe lynam, has the details.oducts, like cocoa or bananas, are grown in some of the world's poorest countries. to help almost 50 of them expand their economies, the eu already allows them to export their goods tariff—free into europe. now the government has confirmed that this will be maintained after britain leaves the eu. it means products such as bananas, sugar and coffee should not be any more expensive for uk households when imported after 2019. the uk imports almost £20 billion a year tariff—free from 48 developing countries, including haiti, ethiopia, bangladesh and sierra leone. exports of arms and defence equipment are not included in this trade agreement. we want as we leave the european union to be champions of globalfree trade, pointing out that it has already taken more people out of poverty in the last 25 years than in the whole of human history up to that point. we've got to keep that momentum going, we've got to get the big economies opening up and we've got to give the opportunities to the develo

joe lynam, bbc news.number of sailors missing after a us navy destroyer collided with a container vessel off the coast of japan have been found. an investigation is under way to establish how the collision occurred with the philippine vessel in the middle of the night. earlier, the commander of the us 7th fleet, vice admiraljoseph aucoin, gave this update. so this was a severe emergency, but the ship's crew was swift and responsive, and i can't tell you how proud i am of the crew for what they did to save the ship. so, through the heroic efforts of the ship's crew, they prevented this ship from foundering, or even sinking last night. they were able to save the ship, and they were able to bring it back earlier, our correspondent told me it was not clear how this happened. the question has come right from the very start, how did such a sophisticated warship, one of the most sophisticated warships anywhere in the world, collide with a large container ship in calm, clear weather, albeit at night. the answer t

joe lynam, bbc news.und of the country's parliamentary elections. president macron's en marche party is predicted to win up to 80% of seats, as our paris correspondent, hugh schofield, reports. president macron, here voting in last sunday's first round, is within an ace of pulling off the second part of his quiet revolution. if all goes as expected, he is about to secure the biggest makeover in decades in france's parliament, the national assembly. it's notjust that his en marche! party looks set for a crushing majority, the actual candidates are very different from what went before. half are totally new to politics. half are women, which means the new parliament is likely to be one of the most feminised in the world. the opposition parties, meanwhile, are preparing for the worst, which, in the case of the socialists, could mean a total wipe—out. so great is the president's predicted victory that the big problem may be the lack of opposition. can that, some ask, be good for democracy? emmanuel macron says

joe lynam reports. two more italian banks bite the dust.t enough profit, banca popola re dust. excessive debt and not enough profit, banca popolare di vicenza and veneto banca have collapsed. the good parts of the banks were handed over to banco intesa sanpaolo. the italian government effectively giving a gift of almost 5 billion euros. they have also set aside a further 12 billion euros in case even more banks go bad in future. the italian state intends to and will probably manage to recuperate some of the costs in the medium term. don't forget that the state that bought the assets are defined as the bad bank. they use respected european regulations in the best way possible, using all measures which are possible, using all measures which a re often possible, using all measures which are often difficult to implement at the european level. this is the third such banking failure in the yearin third such banking failure in the year in italy, after another bank needed a state bailout around christmas. that was a loud that bank was deemed vital

been close since she became prime minister, 11 months ago, any alliance will come at a price, as joe lynamomic terms, they are less developed than the republic of ireland or the uk. it has low levels of productivity and is heavily dependent on the state. those sectors apart from the state that it relies on our tourism, manufacturing, and food. and they need large supplies of low skilled labour, mostly from eastern europe, especially poland. and if britain is to lead the single market, and that is the stated policy, then the dup may ask the conservatives for an exemption when it comes to the free flow of labour to northern ireland. on top of that, they will want london to pick up the $450 million a year that brussels seems to belfast in agricultural subsidies. and that comes on top of the $1 billion a month that london fans already to belfast. and then there is the political bribes, or poor, as it is known as. they will want more investment in infrastructure. that means that their roads and rail projects, which might otherwise be uneconomical, will be built, and will not be shut down. those

joe lynam, bbc news.ment officials say at least 100 people are reported to have been killed and dozens more badly injured when a lorry transporting oil burst into flames in punjab. 0ur pakistan correspondent secunder kermani joins us now on skype from kharachi. secunder, what more do we know about what has happened? what we believe to have happened is an oil tanker was driving outside the city in the central province of punjab in central pakistan when it overturned, we're not quite sure of the cause of the accident but after it overturned it began to leak out fuel, local people came to try to collect some of that fuel, at which page the fuel caught light in a large explosion. i've seen footage and pictures from the scene that showed dozens and dozens of charred bodies and charred vehicles by the roadside because so many people were trying to collect fuel, that's what explains the large death toll. local army helicopters had been used to try to transport the casualties to nearby hospitals and the blaze is

joe lynam, bbc news.ays it intends to double the length of the new parliamentary session to two years to give mps the maximum possible time to scrutinise brexit legislation. the unusual move will mean next year's queen's speech will be cancelled. the government says the decision was part of measures to build the broadest possible consensus for brexit. a forest fire in central portugal has killed at least 2a people. 16 of the victims died in their vehicles when they became trapped as they tried to escape the flames. nimesh thaker has more. a deadly mix of their heat wave have fanned the flames. now threatening to engulf homes, burning uncontrollably, this fire is already one of the worst forest fires in portugal in decades. more than 20 people have died, most of them trapped in their cars. a number of people were reported to be missing. translation: it was a big tragedy. we've already identified 2a victims but this number could rise. all of those who died were on a road in the same fire at the same place.

joe lynam, bbc news.stonbury debut on one of its smallest stages, ed sheeran will be closing the festival as the top billed act later on this evening. last night the us rock band foo fighters finally had their chance to headline at pilton farm two years after an injury meant they were forced to pull out of the festival. 0ur entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba is there. a headline set by rock band foo fighters... here he is, jeremy corbyn! he wasn't one of the headline artists, but perhaps unsurprisingly he drew one of the biggest crowds so far. do you know politics is actually about everyday life. the labour leader was always going to be a big draw for a left—leaning audience at a festival like this. jeremy corbyn's appearance is another demonstration of his current popularity with young people in particular. among the day's musical highlights, a vibrant, energetic katy perry. and liam gallagher advocating don't look back in anger to those who died in the london and manchester terror attacks and the g

our business correspondent, joe lynam, has the details.ntries. to help almost 50 of them expand their economies, the eu already allows them to export their goods tariff—free into europe. now the government has confirmed that this will be maintained after britain leaves the eu. it means products such as bananas, sugar and coffee should not be any more expensive for uk households when imported after 2019. the uk imports almost £20 billion a year tariff—free from 48 developing countries, including haiti, ethiopia, bangladesh and sierra leone. exports of arms and defence equipment are not included in this trade agreement. we want as we leave the european union to be champions .,;:; zzi‘aeaizt— 2;— 215 2:55?" f§§7§§e€eee— 5? 353, {2&7 the! fag-l“ 2952.5; i‘; q; ewes-j —— ————— — ———— 7, ., ~ the? 55544; 527575" ewe—j —— ,,.,. — . 7, ,, .. an the labour leader was always going to be a big draw for a left—leaning audience at a festival like this. jeremy corbyn‘s appearance is another demonstration of his current popularity with young people in pa

joe lynam with some of the details as we know them so far.s david owen, chief european economist at the investment banking firm. nice to see you, welcome to business live. running through some of the issues, so much to ring and throwing about whether a deal has been done with the dup. to start off where we are economic league, this comes amid are economic league, this comes amid a changing economic picture, both for the uk a changing economic picture, both forthe uk and a changing economic picture, both for the uk and northern ireland, they are really struggling. yes, the wheels have been coming of the uk more recently, and we had some very disappointing figures in the first quarter which seem to be carrying on into the second quarter. in terms of northern ireland it has significantly underperformed. even scotla nd significantly underperformed. even scotland in recent years. i think with the dup there will be a lot more spending with the north america economy in particular. but it is sort of just about struggling out economy in particular. bu

time for a look at the big business stories of the week, and joe lynam is here to take us through themh the fallout of the systems failure at the weekend but that does not seem to put off investors. the latin term for horrible week could possibly apply here, the shares have not collapsed, the iag shares are up 396 not collapsed, the iag shares are up 3% on the week and up 1% today alone so 3% on the week and up 1% today alone so investors obviously think there will be no long—term repercussions. we all thought that the start of the week the reputational damage would play very badly but it's not been the case. let's move on to the ftse 100, a pretty big week, record highs earlier today, what's going on? 100, a pretty big week, record highs earlier today, what's going 0mm spiked at the start but then fell back a little bit, what is happening is related to the currency. if you area big is related to the currency. if you are a big ftse100 company you are not just focused on are a big ftse100 company you are notjust focused on the united kingdom you are a global player and if you are earnin

joe lynam, bbc news. now on bbc news, it‘s time for meet the author.s of the time, horror and instinct for survival, family loyalty, above all perhaps, bravery. welcome. what made you decide to go back to territory that you‘ve explored as a novelist before, namely the events in the holocaust? well, my first novel covered that territory. to be honest, it‘s quite personal. i‘m of german heritage. and although i thought it was very important to write about, i wasn‘t in a hurry to return to it. however, the times being what they are, i have felt myself finding parallels with the 1930s in current events far too often. and just by coincidence, i was writing another novel entirely, in fact, and by coincidence, i ended up reading a case study of a man who was a german engineer and who did not hold with the nazis. he regarded the nazis‘ rise to power with dismay. in fact, he did all he could to avoid the draft. the way he avoided the draft was to use his engineering qualifications to get himself stationed with the construction corps. that‘s really the mainsprin

joe lynam is here. we start with something that happened today, the gdp figures.st one quarter. we hope it will start to grow a bit in the quarter we are in at the moment. the worrying thing is the savings ratio. this is the amount of money we set aside, a percentage of our disposable income we set aside. it is at the lowest ever, 1.7%. if you have got £100 at the end of the month, you spend all of it but £1 70. that is worrying. it could suggest that people are burning through their savings in order to maintain their living standards. there are other aspects at play. interest rates and all that kind of stuff. it is worrying for some economists. google, as we have been reporting to hit by the hugest fine by the european union. remind us fine by the european union. remind us what they have done? if you type m, us what they have done? if you type in, for example, black tables... us what they have done? if you type in, for example, black tables. .. not something i would normally do! the first names you get our shopping options for black tables and they are sponsored

time for a look at the big business stories of the week, and joe lynam is here to take us through themngly, specially the ftse 100 vote but they recovered strongly, specially the ftse100 which is 70% higher than it was a year ago. a lot of the reason for that is because the companies listed are giant multinationals so the own money outside the uk mostly they're bringing back hard currencies are they bring back stronger dollar and stronger euro is so their profits look bigger on their balance sheets which means their shares increase. the narrow focus of the ftse 250 in which smaller countries listed was not as good and yet still 13% on the year. overall we have seen the pound is down 15 to 16% so things are weaker, inflation rising and at the moment the snapshot is britain is the wea kest moment the snapshot is britain is the weakest growing economy in europe but it has been far more robust in terms of shares than people thought. let's turn to oil, the price of oil is falling again. glut of supply. there was too much oil and demanded that a certain level when supply goes up, the price i

here's our business correspondent joe lynam. the images of the week from ba.ng for flights, some of which ended up being cancelled. the compensation bill could exceed £100 million for the airline. ba says it will treat customers fairly and refund legitimate expenses but consumer advocates say that is not enough. in advocates say that is not enough. in a letter to the chief executive it says it compensation should be automatic for patients out passengers out of pocket. they should not have to apply directly to airlines for a refund. an automated system would seem time and money for ba as well is prevent companies from making profit from misery of others. people are entitled to money but they are not given it automatically. passengers are often not realising what they are entitled to. the airlines compete compensation because they know what's what you we re because they know what's what you were wrong and what you are entitled to and we think that should be the rules. there are other sectors in energy and water where you are automatically paid compensation if yo

joe lynam, bbc news.eople have been hospitalised after taking a "particularly potent" form of the drug, mdma. police said the drugs are known locally as "magic" or "pink champagne" and come in crystalform. a 26—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of supplying class a drugs and remains in custody for questioning. a beach in majorca was closed yesterday after a blue shark sent bathers running out of the sea. the shark — thought to be about eight foot long — was spotted near swimmers close to magaluf. photos appear to show the shark swimming towards a group of people. it has now been captured. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. lots of messages about her knee replacements. i have a constant burning pain and i can't have pressure on my stomach, worse than having a caesarean section. and pete is 49. he had the operation when he was 34. his problems in that area have affected his bowel severely. he is still having extensive tests next goes back to see the bowel surgeon in the middle ofjuly. 0ur go

our business correspondent joe lynam has more.st popular ingredients like bananas and cocoa grown in some of the well‘s most porous, economies. the er allowed them to export their goods tariff free. products such as bananas, sugar and coffee should not be any more expensive for uk households when imported after 2019. the uk imports almost £20 billion a year tariff free from a8 developing countries, including ethiopian, bangladesh and sierra leone. export of arms and defence equipment are not included in this trade agreement. we want, as we leave the european union, to be champions of european free trade, pointing out it has already taken more people out of poverty in the last 25 years than in the whole of history up until that point. we have to keep that momentum going. we have to keep that momentum going. we have to get the big economies opening up and we have to give the opportunities to those developing countries, to trade their way out of poverty. assuming britain quits the european customs union as one of the eu, it will be f

our business correspondent joe lynam reports.er few years. it says growth this year will be 1.5% but dip to 1.3% next year before rising slightly back to 1.5% in 2019. it expects inflation to peak at 3.4% this year, and hold back company investment. but it thinks growth in exports and the construction sector will be higher this year than previously thought. the biggest changes to our forecast revolve around the economy, we think growth will remain flat over the next three years and around inflation, which is going to spike higher before we see some relief. exports will do well this year, but less well in years to come. so we do face a situation where our growth is pretty anaemic, not as good as it could be, and certainly is not as good as other countries around the world. the bcc has urged the government to spend more on infrastructure, especially broadband and mobile phone connectivity, and described the british road network as heavily congested. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: the democratic unionist party has signed a deal

with me is our business corresondent joe lynam.consumers to a risky and expensive deal with uncertain benefits. the government‘s case for proceeding with the deal last september was not clear cut. and while it will be several decades before it is known of its value for money, what we concluded as the government didn‘t do enough to consider the costs and the risks of the deal. if the government had decided to invest half the money, this project is £18 billion. what the national audit office are telling us it if the government decided to stump up half of the money, that would cut the strike price of the guaranteed price the government would have to pay edf and this chinese company, but it in half to around £50 per megawatt hour. at over 30 years or 35 years is a chunk of change. and it said it didn‘t really look at the alternatives to doing business with edf and the chinese company. and that will lead to problems. the nuclear industry see the alternative to getting a guaranteed source of electricity, the alternatives are limited, bec