katie prescott, bbc news.ervative mp, john bercow, has revealed he hasjoined the labour party. in a newspaper interview, mr bercow said the government needed to be replaced, and called borisjohnson�*s conservative party "reactionary, populist and nationalistic". the government says his move isn't a surprise and it's continuing to pursue an ambitious agenda. there have been further warnings of wildfires for much of america's south west as the region battles an intense heatwave. mountain ranges across arizona have been scorched and a state of emergency has been declared in california, where temperatures have climbed above 5a celsius. residents have been urged to stay indoors and limit their use of energy and water after a severe drought left rivers and reservoirs running dry. the athletes' village for the tokyo olympics has been unveiled — just over a month before the start of the games. around 18,000 athletes and officials will be housed in the waterfront village, where residents will be asked to take daily cov

katie prescott, bbc news.d the labour party. in an interview with the observer newspaper, mr bercow said the government needed to be replaced, and called borisjohnson's conservative party "reactionary, populist and nationalistic". the government says his move isn't a surprise and it's continuing to pursue an ambitious agenda. a service of remembrance will take place today to mark the first anniversary of the murders of three men killed in an islamist attack in reading. david wails, joe ritchie—bennett and james furlong were stabbed to death whilst sitting together in a park last summer. a campaign has now been launched to fund a permanent memorial to the trio. armenians are heading to the polls for a snap parliamentary election. prime minister nikol pashinyan called for the early vote to defuse political tensions after months of protests. the opposition blames mr pashinyan for signing a peace accord with azerbaijan after armenia was defeated in last year's war over the territory of nagorno—karabakh. the war co

katie prescott, bbc news.ing with iran in vienna today to discuss how to restore the international deal to curb the country's nuclear weapons programme. the united states says it is willing to continue the talks after the election of the hard—line cleric ebrahim raisi as iran's new president. however, israel's prime minister, naftali bennett, chairing his first cabinet meeting — says the world needs to wake up to the iranian threat after its choice of a new hardline president. his election i would say is the last chance for the world powers to wake up before we are turning to the nuclear agreement and to understand who they are doing business with. these guys are murderers, mass murderers. a regime of brutal hangmen must never be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction that will enable it to kill not thousands, but millions. israel's position will not change on this. with me is bbc persian�*s kasra naji. very strong was there from naftali bennett. tell us more about the incoming ebrahim raisi and iran. lis

katie prescott, bbc news.to manchester.— after it banned travel from scotland to manchester. . , �* . , to manchester. andy burnham says he will demand compensation. _ to manchester. andy burnham says he will demand compensation. it - to manchester. andy burnham says he will demand compensation. it is - will demand compensation. it is double will demand compensation. it 3 double standards, it is hypocrisy. they had done to us exactly what they complain that the uk government does to scotland. i will be writing to the first minister today and asking for compensation for the individuals who might lose holidays and the businesses who might lose the kings. why a couple from salford who are double jabbed who are about to go on a walking holiday to scotland? it is completely disproportionate in my view, we could have come up with an arrangement of the first minister had contacted us. we need an arrangement here. the scottish government cannot impose things on parts of the north of england without any discussion with

katie prescott, bbc news.he next year. the headlines on bbc news... people who are double vaccinated and coming to contact with covid could be spared self isolation. surging coronavirus bookings in the uk is 18-20 coronavirus bookings in the uk is 18—20 —year—olds sign up for the jab in huge numbers. more than 500,000 people in brazil have died from the virus and experts are warning the outbreak they could even worse. let's get this book for you. wells, italy 15 minutes in, so far, so good? —— rollers. wales are taking on italy right now in theirfinal group match of euro 2020 — in a sweltering stadio olympico. there's just over 15 minutes gone in rome and it's still 0—0, after a quiet opening to the game. now wales are already all but through to the last 16. a win in rome would see them win the group but italy are one of the form teams in international football. they're unbeaten in 29 matches. there's full commentary of the game on bbc radio 5 live. still 0—0 in rome. meanwhile, switzerland can finish in the t

katie prescott, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime.children, where more than 120 pupils were caught up in what has been called the worst treatment disaster in nhs history. and up to 10,000 spectators will be allowed into stadiums for the olympics in tokyo, despite fears over covid. coming up on the bbc news channel. a blow for scotland, with news of billy gilmore missing their final euro 2020 group game against croatia, after testing positive for covid. it's a must win match for them if they are to make the next round. as you heard earlier, more than a million people in england booked covid jabs on friday and saturday, after the nhs opened its vaccination programme to all adults. in december, 91—year—old margaret keenan became the first person in the world to receive a vaccine outside clinical trials. she's urged others to get a jab, and is still friends with the nurse who administered hers. they've both been talking to the bbc�*s dan walker. the world famous maggie keenan, lovely to see you. lovely to see you as well. here you are on

katie prescott, bbc news.r three men murdered in an islamist attack in reading exactly one year ago. james furlong, joe ritchie—bennett and david wails were stabbed to death whilst sitting together in a park. ahead of today's event, james' parents have been speaking to nikki mitchell. the gardens are such a lovely place, and if me and jan had been living in reading, it's where we would have been on that saturday evening, sunny day. this has been a tough week after an agonising year forjan and gary furlong. they will be travelling down from liverpool to reading, where their sonjames had built a full and happy life. we will be there for james and joe and david. we'll be there for all of them. the three boys, what happened... it's going to be sad, but it's going to be to remember them all. and just to make sure they will never be forgotten. james furlong, joe ritchie—bennett and david wails were all members of reading's gay community and regulars at the lgbtq+ friendly pub the blagrave arms. it's important that w

our business correspondent katie prescott has this report.. and more and more young people are developing green fingers. amy garcia has been digging around to find out why. pottering in the garden. a past—time once associated with the older generation. but no longer. horticulture is enjoying a renaissance among young people. this group of friends in skipton met through a shared passion for plants during lockdown. connecting a little more with nature. it is good exercise and nice to be outdoors and just learning something new. it is exciting. it sounds so boring. but when you see something actually growing you go "i did that". we were fed up with living and working in the same place so i got the allotment on thursday and i am looking forward to getting stuck in. summer got her plot here in december and is now working through a waiting list of people like her, concerned about climate change and keen to be more green. there is a conversation about what we can do, and the obvious thing to do was to get away from a big monocultures and be a little

katie prescott, bbc news.n representing aviation workers. the british airline pilots association is appealing for urgent action from the government to end restrictions on travel, which it calls "ludicrously cautious." the government says it is working with the sector to navigate the challenges. the best industry estimates at the moment are that aviation will take four to five years to recover. some sectors of the market, for example, some business travel, so, it's a devastating blow to the aviation sector. but that means trouble for the uk economy. if we do not have a thriving aviation sector, then instead of global britain, we will have grounded britain. mcdonald's has announced its recruiting 20,000 more staff across the uk and ireland. the fast food chain insists new staff will not replace the jobs lost throughout the pandemic. it says the additional roles are being driven by plans to open more than 50 new restaurants, over the next year. a service of remembrance will take place today to mark the first anni

katie prescott, bbc news.ld be at risk — that's the warning from a union representing aviation workers. the british airline pilots association is appealing for urgent action from the government to end restrictions on travel, which it calls "ludicrously cautious". the government says it is working with the sector to navigate the challenges. the best industry estimates at the moment are that aviation would take 4- moment are that aviation would take 4— five years to recover and some sectors of the market, some business travel, probably will not recover for longer than that. it is a devastating load to the aviation sector but that is trouble for the uk economy. if we do not have a thriving aviation sector, will have grounded britain. former speaker of the house of commons and former tory mp john bercow says he has changed allegiances to join labour. in an interview mr bercow said the government needed to be replaced, calling boris johnson's conservative party "reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes ev

katie prescott, bbc news. days a week as they go back, and when they do that, these flexible tickets will ensure that people are better off by notjust ensure that people are better off by not just 20%, ensure that people are better off by notjust 20%, by ensure that people are better off by not just 20%, by travelling via likeable season tickets. a much—anticipated declassified report on ufos is due to be delivered to the united states congress by the end of the month. leaked information says no evidence of alien activity was found, but didn�*t rule it out either. the report is the product of a military task force established last year to investigate decades of unexplained aerial sightings in us airspace. sophie long has more. my gosh! they�*re all going against the wind, the wind�*s 120 knots west. an encounter between a us navy fighterjet and an unidentified flying object — or what the pentagon prefers to call an "unidentified aerial phenomenon". look at that thing! it�*s rotating! lieutenant commander alex

our business correspondent katie prescott explains the background., but when you look at who is involved in this private equity firm in this takeover business, it starts to make a little bit more sense. this is a 40—year—old private equity firm, they've made several investments in uk retail in the past, very successful investments, for example, the retail chain b&m from which they made more than £1 million. if you look at their board, it is made up of a former boss of tesco who used to work with the current management of morrisons, so there's lots of reasons why this firm in particular might go for morrisons, which is seen as an attractive proposition, particularly for a foreign firm. uk shares at the moment are quite cheap compared to businesses from abroad and morrisons is doing pretty well. its sales are up 5% in the first—half of this year and it owns a massive property portfolio as well, 85% of its shops are owned and one analyst i spoke to said they're worth about £7 billion. — owned by morrisons. you can see why a firm from the states might lo

our business correspondent katie prescott says the government's traffic light system has frustrated thedifficult period for the travel industry as a whole and not just aviation, i've lost count of the amount of times i have reported of times i have reported on the travel industry, just crying out for more support. when you look at airlines in particular they have kept going through the pandemic by flying cargo rather than people, but there is a shelf life to that and i interviewed the boss of virgin atlantic a couple of weeks ago and he said, we just need to open travel corridors with the us, they are very upset that the european commission has recommended that american travellers can come to europe but yet america here is still on the amber list and when you look at the travel industry as a whole they are not particularly happy with the traffic light system, particularly with how countries switch between being allowed in and being green or amber or red, they say that causes complications to people who want to travel and they released today from a pilot says the government is tormenting

currently can with traditional uk broadcasters like the bbc and itv. 0ur business correspondent katie prescotthat apply to traditional broadcasters should also apply to them. if you try to make a complaint about a netflix programme on the 0fcom website, you get referred to the dutch regulator. 0fcom does have some rules and controls over the likes of amazon prime but they are nowhere near as strict as over the traditional broadcasters and the proposals this week are to look at things like bias and impartiality and accuracy. the culture secretary said in the past that he would like to see some sort of warning for example on the crown, which is the popular show about the royal family saying it is fictional. you can have your own views on that, but the point is he would like to see complaints about programmes like that look that in this country rather than elsewhere. it is a big moment this week for the media landscape and it is looking at levelling up the rows between traditional broadcasters and the new players on the market.— players on the market. thank you very much- _ mcdonalds has announce

katie prescott, bbc news.and will be able to stay overnight at the homes of loved ones, as restrictions on visiting are eased. previously, residents were only allowed to leave for outdoor visits or high—priority reasons, such as medical appointments. but they're now able to leave for more social reasons without having to isolate on their return. that's of course unless they have had an overnight stay in hospital, or unless the visit is thought by the home to have been high risk. let's get more on that news that the organisers of the tokyo 0lympics say up to 10,000 spectators will be allowed at events but competitions could move behind closed doors if there's a surge in covid infections. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes is in tokyo. well, it's pretty much as you say, victoria. they say there will be a cap at each venue of 10,000 dictators. now, it is a little more complicated than that, because there are spectators with tickets they have got through the lottery system, limited to 10,000, but other group

katie prescott, bbc news.oved ones, as restrictions on visiting are eased. previously, residents were only allowed to leave for outdoor visits or high—priority reasons, such as medical appointments, but they're now able to leave for more social reasons without having to isolate on their return. that's, of course, unless they have had an overnight stay in hospital, or unless the visit is thought by the home to have been high risk. and after half past, we'll be talking to three people at a care home in doncaster — the manager, stacey dean, one her residents, janetjohnson, and janet's daughter, cath. the headlines on bbc news: the health secretary says a pilot scheme is under way that would allow those who have received a double covid—i9 jab not to isolate. health leaders call on ministers to speed up plans for a coronavirus vaccine booster programme this autumn. care home residents will be able to enjoy more freedom from today — they'll be allowed to stay overnight with family and friends. today was the original

katie prescott, bbc news.g from south—east england as it brightens up. cloud increasing and into northern ireland we will see outbreaks of rain moving and as the day goes on. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... a public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal hears how dozens of pupils at a school for disabled children died — after being given infected blood products to treat them for haemophilia. what was i, 11, 12 years old? there was no explanation like you get now or anything like that. theyjust said, right, you're having this and i had it. doctors and nhs trusts have warned ministers that they need to start planning now if they want to roll out a covid vaccine booster programme in the autumn. meanwhile, the prime minister says that it is 'looking good' for the lifting of restrictions in england to go ahead onjuly19th. scotland midfielder billy gilmour tests positive for covid — and will miss the euro 2020 match with croatia tomorrow. and the first person in the world to get a covid jab outside of

katie prescott, bbc news.o go through with changes to planning laws, which some fear could make it easier to develop green belt land. the issue is thought to have been a factor in the conservatives losing the previously safe seat of chesham and amersham to the lib dems in a by—election last week. the government says the policy has been misunderstood, and will give communities a say in the planning process. the theft of catalytic converters from cars across england, wales and northern ireland has more than doubled over the last two years, according to research from consumer charity which. the converters — which help to reduce pollution — contain precious metals like platinum and palladium. north wales saw the highest spike in thefts, while the west midlands had the largest number overall. organisers of the tokyo olympics are expected to decide today whether to allow spectators into the games. overseas fans have already been banned from attending the games, which start onjuly 23rd, but home fans are still awaiti

our business correspondent katie prescott is here.he travel industry generally not very happy either, they are still saying this could mean another last summer. those are the words of the british airways boss and the other words we keep hearing echoed by travel industry bosses as this is not enough. easyjet going further saying what are we waiting for? i think there are several issues at stake. when you look at the on the screen list, they are also on a watchlist which means they could switch from green to amber at any stage and it that uncertainty, both for customers who are thinking of holidays, or indeed going to see friends and family but also for the travel bosses because the second point is, it takes a lot of time to ramp up capacity so that they are going to offer more holidays to these places, they need time to big hotels, flights, and i spoke to the boss of thomas cook this morning he said it's really difficult, the changes that, quite short notice make it very difficult for the industry. the other difficult point is they wer

earlier, we heard from our business correspondent, katie prescott, who outlined the reaction from customerses. i think there are several issues at stake. when you look at the countries that are on this green list, they are also on a watchlist which means they could switch from green to amber at any stage and it's that uncertainty, both for customers who are thinking of booking holidays, or indeed going to see friends and family but also for the travel bosses because the second point is, it takes a lot of time to ramp up their capacity so that they are going to offer more holidays to these places, they need time to book hotels, flights, and i spoke to the boss of thomas cook this morning and he said it's really difficult, the changes that, quite short notice make it very difficult for the industry. the other difficult point is they were hoping for some solid announcement about what might happen to people who have been double vaccinated, whether they would be able to go to amber countries without having to quarantine on return. the government said it is planning to do that but exactly when an