and landings from the 3—billion pound carrier while she's at sea. 0ur defence correspondent, jonathan bealets. the largest warship ever built for the royal navy is now preparing to leave portsmouth with 1500 sailors, aircrew and marines on board. hms queen elizabeth which cost more than £3 billion is about to sail to the east coast of america. what the

jonathan beale reports from afghanistan, he his journey country.e. back to the dust and heat of helmand, this the place where hundreds of british troops were killed, and which nearly fell to the taliban when they departed. four years ago, the british left for good, but the americans soon returned, albeit in smaller numbers. now they are on their own, patrolling what was the sprawling british base of camp bastion. it was necessary for us to come back in here a couple of years ago. if that had not happened, i would imagine that helmand would be pretty solidly under the control of the taliban right now. at night, us marines fire illumination rounds to deter any attack, as well as lethal long—range artillery rockets to target enemy positions. by day, they oversee the training of the afghan army, and these soldiers need all the help they can get. their unit has already suffered heavy losses. by day, they oversee the training of the afghan army, and these soldiers need all the help they can get. their unit has already suffered heavy losses. the corps rig

our defence correspondent, jonathan beale reports.e largest warship ever built for the royal navy is now preparing to leave portsmouth with 1,500 sailors, aircrew and marines on board. hms queen elizabeth, which cost more than £3 billion, is about to sail to the east coast of america. what the royal navy says will be an iconic moment in the latest stage of the trials. the first time fast jets will fly off her massive deck. hugely symbolic for the country, very exciting and of course, it was eight years nearly to the day since i was in command of ark royal and we took off the last harrier from the north sea. so eight years later, here we are, getting the first one back. these are the kind of aircraft that will be taking part in the trials. the us has already been flying the new f—35 stealth jet off their warships. two test aircraft will be embarked on the british carriers with british pilots among those who will be conducting 500 take—offs and landings from the deck of queen elizabeth. the royal navy says she and her sister ship, hms p

jonathan beale reports from helmand province. jonathan: back to the dust and heat of helmand. this is where hundreds of british troops were killed, and which nearly fell to the taliban when they departed. four years ago, the british left for good, but the americans soon returned, albeit in smaller numbers.th now they are or own, controlling what was a sprawling british base. >> it was necessy for us to come back in a couple years ago. if that had not happened, i would imagine that helmand would o solidly under the contr the taliban right now. jonathan: at night, u.s. marines fire illumination rounds to deter any attack. as well as lethal long-range artillery rockets to target enemy sitions. by day, they receive training -- they oversee training of the afghan army. these soldiers nthd all the help can get. the unit has already suffered heavy losses. right now it is sitting at about 30%. jonathan: 30% of what it should >> yes, correct. jonathan: that is a worryisn't it? >> it is, but there is time and recruiting, constant advising, and the senior leadership will improve the situ

jonathan beale, bbc news, kabul. stay with us on bbc news. form of football, knows as sevens, and its huge following in in southern india. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later, when the sun set over the bay of bengal. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: tight security in the us capital, as anti—fascist demonstrators outnumber a handful of white supremacists who held a brief rally. grief and anger in yemen ahead of the funerals of children killed in

jonathan beale, bbc news.nt it will be when she leaves. let's take your life to portsmouth now, because she is leaving slowly, and you can see the crowds that have built up around the crowds that have built up around the harbour edge as hms queen elizabeth edges out into the channel. it is extraordinary when you look at some of the figures and fa cts you look at some of the figures and facts associated with this vessel. it is the royal navy's largest ever worship, weighing 65,000 tonnes, and the bill for construction was just over 3 billion pounds. you saw some of the maneuverings it will be involved in some of those fighter jets, those us fighterjets, which is going to be significant when this exercises take place in the atlantic 0cean. exercises take place in the atlantic ocean. the that... 700 crew currently on board. a rather bizarre fa ct currently on board. a rather bizarre fact that also been passed to me about this particular vessel is that there are 155,000 miles length of electrical cable inside that

jonathan beale, bbc news, kabul. 39 civilians — including 12 children — have been killed in an explosiony rebel—held syrian province of idlib. it's not known what caused the blast, but the building is reported to have contained a store of munitions belonging to an arms trafficker. most of the people in the building are believed to have been syrians displaced from other areas of the country. fellow writers have been paying tribute to the british nobel prize winner, sir v s naipaul, who's died at his home in london. his best—known books include a house for mr biswas, a bend in the river and in a free state, which won the booker prize. 0ur arts correspondent david sillito has been looking back at his life. the bookcase had been made at short hills by an out of work blacksmith, who wished to show his gratitude to mr biswas. a house for mr biswas in 1961, established v s naipaul‘s name as a writer. it was inspired by his own life, an oxford educated author, whose roots lay in the indentured indian workforce of the caribbean sugar plantations. i was born in trinidad. all these facets of one's

jonathan beale, bbc news, kabul.ribute to the british nobel prize winner, sir v s naipaul, who's died at his home in london. his best—known books include a house for mr biswas, a bend in the river and in a free state, which won the booker prize. 0ur arts correspondent david sillito has been looking back at his life. the bookcase had been made at short hills by an out of work blacksmith, who wished to show his gratitude to mr biswas. a house for mr biswas in 1961, established v s naipaul‘s name as a writer. it was inspired by his own life, an oxford educated author, whose roots lay in the indentured indian workforce of the caribbean sugar plantations. i was born in trinidad. all these facets of one's background, personality and life have to be explored. in 2001, he was awarded the nobel prize for literature. it was just one of many awards, but sir vidiadhar could also be gruff, prickly, his views on islam and africa ensured he had his critics. he was not afraid of upsetting people. he didn't try to keep the worst aspe

jonathan beale, bbc news, kabul. the headlines on bbc news...n moss side in manchester were likely injured by a shotgun — officers are investigating the incident as attempted murder. nasa's ‘parker solar probe' which will analyse the sun's atmosphere for the first time has successfully launched from cape canaveral in florida. more british troops arrive in the afghan capital kabul to support the country's army in its conflict with the taliban. the government says its planning to introduce new offences of causing death by dangerous or careless cycling. under the proposal cyclists who kill pedestrians would be treated in a similar way to dangerous drivers, who face a prison sentence up to 1a years. cycling campaigners are calling for wider reform of road safety legislation. simonjones reports. kim briggs was knocked over by a cyclist in london in 2016. she died a week later. the bike that hit her shouldn't have been on the road — it was designed for the velodrome, with no front brake. charlie alliston was riding it. he was cleared of manslaughter b

jonathan beale, bbc news, kabul. it is 11:15pm. good evening.ir strike in yemen, after the un demands a credible inquiry into the attack which killed 40 children. police say the 12 people hurt in a shooting in moss side in manchester were likely injured by a shotgun. officers are investigating the incident as attempted murder. nasa's parker solar probe, which will analyse the sun's atmosphere for the first time, has successfully launched from cape canaveral, in florida. still to come: the papers at 11:30pm. sport now. and, for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's chris mitchell. dina asher smith won her third gold medal in berlinjust a few hours ago. it's was a great final night on the track for great britain at the european athletics championships. asher smith, who'd already won the 100 and 200 metres titles, ran the anchor leg in the sprint relay. and she timed her surge to the line to perfection to take the gold for great britain, passing germany, switzerland and netherlands on the way. she becomes the first women since katrin kr

jonathan beale, bbc news, kabul.a brilliant meteor show. it happens every year around this time, and is famous for being brighter than any other meteor shower. earlier, i spoke to keith cowing, editor of nasa watch.com. i asked him where we could see the metor shower. i'm not going to see it here because it is raining but anyone in the northern hemisphere can look towards the north—east, look for a group of stars like a big w, cassiopeia. look down a little bit and if you have been outside long enough and your eyes have adapted, you should see 60 or 70 bright shooting stars coming from that region, called perseus, hence perseid. and what causes this particular meteor shower? there are about a dozen or so bright ones like this every year and usually it is because at some point in the past a comet, this one named swift—tuttle goes around the sun every 120—something years, but it leaves a debris path of ice and rock and the earth passes through it once a year. and when it does, these grains of dirt and ice hit the earth

jonathan beale, bbc news, kabul. rajini: our education system runs on lies -- those are the words from president obama's education secretary arne duncan , who oversaw the country's schools for the better half of six years. hi work," looks at the so-called lies he thinks undermine america's school sintem and the nded consequences that can come with attempts to reform it he joined me a little while earlier. tell us what the lies you write about are. mr. duncan: there are a few of them. we say we value education, b we don't hold politicians at the local level and the state level and national level accountable for increasing accs to pre-k or raising high- rhool graduaties for making college more accessible for -- or affordable. we say we value teachers, we don't pay teachers as professionals can we don't train them as professionals, we don't give them the support they need. maybe the toughest one is i honestly think we inca don't value our children. we value our guns more than our children. we don't keep te m safe. we hi

and diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. and diplomatic efforts 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale, the place where hundreds of british troops were killed, and which nearly fell to the taliban when they departed. four years ago the british left for good, but the americans soon returned. left for good, but the albeit in smaller numbers. left for good, but the now they are on their own, patrolling what was the sprawling british base of camp bastian. patrolling what was the sprawling it was necessary for us to come back in here a couple of years ago. if that had not happened, i would imagine that helmand would be pretty solidly under the control of the taliban right now. at night, us marines fire illumination rounds to deter any attack. fire illumination rounds as well as lethal long—range artillery rockets to target enemy positions. artillery rockets to by day, they oversee the training of the afghan army and the soldiers need all the help they can get. of the afghan army and the soldiers they unit has already suffered heavy losses. the call right now is sitting at about 30%. 30% of

jonathan beale, bbc news. weather and sport coming up a little later.people following the collapse of a motorway bridge in genoa on tuesday has ignited a fierce debate over the safety of italy's infrastructure. the transport minister has begun proceedings to strip the company, who managed the highway, of their contracts. it comes as state funerals for some of the victims will take place later. we can talk now to the italian journalist cristina nadotti, who joins us from rome. can you just explain why it is that some families have opted for the state funeral that was offered to them and others have said no? i'm afraid to say first of all that the number of victims has raised to 41 during the night, four other people we re during the night, four other people were actually found under the debris. the reason why some people don't want what they call a political parade and a showcase is that, well, there are two motives. firstly, people are angry. they are blaming the state and the government for not doing the due control to do maintenance work. the second r

jonathan beale, bbc news, kabul.ularly good one for great britain. over to 0lly foster for the details. great britain have finished second in the medal table behind russia at the european championships. they signed off with more gold medals in glasgow and berlin, where they celebrated a relay double as dina asher—smith completed a hat—trick of titles. ade adedoyin is there for us. european champions with world—class performances. britain's latest generation of stars have shone this week and in berlin, the sprinters and dina continued to dazzle. dina asher—smith comes away by a distance. a third gold, a third bit of history. an incredible bit of history. thanks to these ladies for putting me in such a good position into the last leg. we came here wanting to win and we said there was i'io wanting to win and we said there was no way we would let anybody else win. could the men make it a double? well champions in 2017, despite a late change due to injury, victory was never in doubt. —— world champions. gold for great bri

take off and landings from the £3 billion carrier while she's at sea. 0ur defence correspondent, jonathan bealeing to leave portsmouth with 1,500 sailors, aircrew and marines on board. hms queen elizabeth, which cost more than £3 billion, is about to sail to the east coast of america. what the royal navy says will be an iconic moment in the latest stage of the trials. the first time fast jets will fly off her massive deck. hugely symbolic for the country, very exciting and of course, it was eight years nearly to the day since i was in command of ark royal and we took off the last harrier from the north sea. so eight years later, here we are, getting the first one back. these are the kind of aircraft that will be taking part in the trials. the us has already been flying the new f—35 stealth jet off their warships. two test aircraft will be embarked on the british carriers with british

and landings from the 3—billion pound carrier while she's at sea. 0ur defence correspondent, jonathan bealehe royal navy is now preparing to leave portsmouth with 1500 sailors, aircrew and marines on board. hms queen elizabeth which cost more than £3 billion is about to sail to the east coast of america. what the royal navy says will be an iconic moment in the latest stage of the trials. the first time fast jets will fly off her massive debt. hugely symbolic of the country, very exciting and of course, it was eight yea rs exciting and of course, it was eight years to the day since we took off the last carrier from the north sea. —— massive deck. the last carrier from the north sea. -- massive deck. these are the kind of aircraft that will be taking part in the trials. the us have already been sending aircraft of their deck. british pilots will be conducting 500 british pilots will be conducting 50 0 ta keoffs british pilots will be conducting 500 ta keoffs and british pilots will be conducting 500 takeoffs and landings from the death of queen elizabeth. —— deck of queen elizabeth. it will e