richard westcott, bbc news, luton. that's it from me for now. sport today. —— time now. good morning. i'm tulsen tollet. welcome to sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on the programme: liverpool will take a 2—1 lead into next week's second leg of their champions league play—off against hoffenheim. real madrid prepare to face barcelona in the second leg of the spanish super cup minus cristiano ronaldo. and maria sharapova will play at a grand slam for the first time since her drugs ban ended as she's given a wild card for this month's us open. hello and welcome to the programme where we start with footballing news from the champions league play—off round. five—time european cup winners liverpool will take a 2—1 lead into next wednesday's second leg at home against hoffenheim. the german's were the better of the two teams early on as they created chances but missed a penalty when simon mignolet hardly had to move to make the save. liverpool then struck with trent alexander—arnold's wonderful free kick and a first goal for the l

richard westcott, bbc news, zurich in switzerland.the weigh in a short time ago, floyd mayweather and the mixed martial arts star connor macgregor stood before the crowd where they will go head to head on saturday night. the high stakes show is already being billed as the richest and most unlikely matchup in boxing history. from las vegas, richard conway reports. on face value, it is an unlikely match up. floyd mayweather, one of boxing's all—time greats will, this weekend, step into the ring with conor mcgregor, the 29—year—old dubliner who has never boxed professionally. most experts give him little chance of victory. but then this is las vegas, where the bright lights act as a beacon for those hungry to make their fame and fortune. exact figures are hard to pin down, but both men are expected to earn tens of millions of dollars in the most lucrative boxing match ever staged. what will be the impact for boxing if you were to win? there'll be a new king and that's it. there'll be a new king. they'll begin to study my methods. they'll

our transport correspondent richard westcott has more.ld's biggest insurance companies is deliberately crashing cars. for the first time, they're simulating what driverless vehicles might do when things go wrong, like if the computer was hacked, so the brakes don't work. well, this car is obviously a complete write—off, you can really smell that the airbags have gone off, but all of the sensors are now full of data, telling them what the car did, what happened to the driver here and all of that information will be used to determine how much insurance we all pay in future. not too many rockfalls in britain, but it's a problem in switzerland. there's not a lot a computer can do about this. so what are insurers hoping to learn? we want to demonstrate that we can't have the same accident investigation methods as we had before for autonomous cars. we need to know whether the driver or the car was in charge of driving the car. and that's a key question. if a computer's driving, who'll be responsible for the crash? i don't think people need to w

richard westcott, bbc news, luton.ore than 80 people dead — is officially under way today. it will examine how the blaze started and the actions of kensington and chelsea council. but broader social questions will not be considered. this has led to criticism from the local mp, residents and campaigners, as our special correspondent, lucy manning, reports. hanging from near the top of the tower. there are still remains to be found, bodies to be identified. a crime scene to be investigated. and still, so many questions to be answered. why did it happen? how did it happen? questions the public inquiry says it will look at. the inquiry now says it will examine the cause and spread of the fire, the design and construction of the tower block, including safety regulations, and the response of the fire brigade to the blaze and central and local government‘s response after it. but it won‘t look at social housing policy, or the relationship between residents and the council, and the tenant management association. karim is still

richard westcott, bbc news, luton. marking the 70th anniversary of the country's independence from britain. the division of colonial india into two states, india and pakistan, in 1947, was followed by sectarian violence between hindus, muslims and sikhs. up to a million people were killed. the partition led to the movement of around 12 million people in one of the largest migrations ever seen. many muslims fled east and west out of hindu—dominated india. similarly, millions of hindus and sikhs headed the other way to flee pakistan. reeta chakra barti reports from amritsar. modern—day india has a huge population. it is in a spike in religious violence, directed at muslims. this report contains some distressing footage. this is a day of celebration for india. the indian prime minister, narendra modi, talked of the country's successes — its growing economy, its efforts to tackle corruption and his vision for a secure, developed nation with equal opportunities for all. he knows that there are challenges. he made a point of

richard westcott, bbc news, zurich in switzerland.h korea. according to reuters, the us military says the north korean launches did not pose a threat to north america or. reuters is reporting that there were three short—range missiles. —— north america or guam. hello. i will get to the weekend forecast injusta i will get to the weekend forecast injust a moment, i will get to the weekend forecast injusta moment, but i will get to the weekend forecast in just a moment, but what a night in takes us. dealing with a major hurricane, this is it on the satellite. it is going to hang around for several more days to come, which means the rain willjust keep on coming. this is how it looks on saturday. bright colour showers the intensity of our rain. sunday into monday as well, it is close by. we're talking hundreds of millimetres here. catastrophic, life—threatening fluttering could well be taking place in the next few days. —— luding. 0nto the weekend weather, and some warm sunny spells on the wafer size. the chance to catch a shower. but the

richard westcott, bbc news, zurich in switzerland.ecords. the american boxer floyd mayweather has had 49 fights during his professional career and he's never been beaten. now he's come out of retirement to take on the mixed martial artist, ireland's conor mcgregor. it's a pay—per—view match and it could rake in £550 million. around £175 million, that's how much floyd mayweather will take home. a little less for conor mcgregor, he will have to make do with £60 million. it's all happening in las vegas on saturday night, or rather the early hours of sunday morning here. richard conway is there for us. 0n face value, it is an unlikely match up. floyd mayweather, one of boxing's all—time greats will, this weekend, step into the ring with conor mcgregor, the 29—year—old dubliner who has never boxed professionally. most experts give him little chance of victory. but then this is las vegas, where the bright lights act as a beacon for those hungry to make their fame and fortune. exact figures are hard to pin down, but both men are expected to

richard westcott, bbc news.people affected by devastating floods across south asia. more than 1,200 people are believed to have died. it's thought to be the worst monsoon season in decades, with nearly a million homes damaged or destroyed in india, nepal and bangladesh. sanjoy majumder sent this report. weeks after the worst flooding in decades, a third of bangladesh is still under water. many villages in the northern part of the country still cut off. aid agencies are desperately trying to reach those affected. it's a similar situation across large parts of south asia. the eastern indian state of bihar has been hit the hardest. heavy rain and overflowing rivers have left large areas under water. more than 500 people have been killed here in the past few weeks. tens of thousands of people have lost their homes, and are staying in temporary camps. there's still a lot of water. there's a lot of damage. there's a lot of people still out of their homes. people are surviving and getting on with things as they can. an

richard westcott, bbc news.le were killed, and more than 50 were injured. since then, the nhs has been offering therapy to those who have suffered mental and physical trauma. one of those who died was 29 year old martyn hett. his mother figen murray has been talking to graham satchell, his mother figen murray has been talking to graham satchell, about why she can never return to life as it was before the attack. the tears are never far away really. suddenly you catch yourself thinking, oh my gosh, martyn would have loved this. it‘s a shame he isn‘t there. we are in st annes square in the centre of manchester. it became the focus of remembrance where thousands of people left flowers. figan murray lost her son martyn hett in the manchester attack. she‘s been the therapist for more than 20 years, but she has decided she can no longer do herjob. i don‘t think with what happened to me that i‘ll ever be in a position to offer psychological support to anybody else because i think i‘m so damaged through this. f

richard westcott, bbc news.ded with a merchant tanker near singapore, have found human remains. they were discovered in sealed compartments of the ussjohn s mccain, which was nearing port yesterday when it collided with the tanker. the impact tore a hole in its side and flooded an area where some were sleeping. more than 70,000 people have signed a petition calling on the government to spend more on transport outside of london and the south east of england. it emerged earlier this year that more than half of england‘s annual £32 billion transport budget is spent in the capital. the former chancellor, george osborne, says a northern powerhouse rail network connecting liverpool to hull must be planned for. our north of england correspondent, fiona trott, reports. life beyond westminster. leeds is the uk‘s largest legal and financial centre outside london. but could it be better connected to boost northern businesses? hi dan, are you all right? this online gambling company is one of leeds‘ biggest employers. 50% of

richard westcott, bbc news, luton.a bid to become the first people ever to sail by yacht to the north pole. it's been impossible until now because of arctic ice. but that's melting at an unprecedented rate — meaning the 3.500—mile journey may now be possible. hadow left nome in alaska earlier today. this is the route he and his crew will take in two 50—foot yachts — sailing along the baring strait into the central arctic ocean. they'll then use satellites to plot the best route through the ice during the six—week expedition. our science correspondent, rebecca morelle, reports. setting off into uncharted arctic waters, a pair of yachts attempting a first — sailing all the way to the north pole. a crew of ten and dog, fukimi, have just departed from alaska. led by british explorer, pen hadow, they have a 3,500 mile voyage ahead. for the first time in human history, possibly for the first time ini30,000 years, it is now possible to sail ships into this sea area. it's the rapidly warming conditions in the arctic that have

our transport correspondent richard westcott has the story. quick coffee. good boy.ebecca's commute from taunton to bristol costs £3,500 a year and it's due to go up by £130 next year as most commuters face a 3.6% price rise. there is this gradual erosion of your actual real wealth that's happening to an awful lot of people where you will find that your salary may have gone up but everything else is going up so much faster and so much more that year on year we're all actually, it feels like, worse off. it's not the train companies that set around half of our rail fares, it's actually the government and they've been putting the fares up for years because they want to change who pays for the railways. it's all part of a plan to shift the financial burden away from taxpayers, most of whom don't commute on trains, and on to passengers. fares used to account for about half the cost of running our trains. that's risen to around 65%. across britain, people are facing tough choices. if it goes up, i probably won't even be able to afford to go to work. i will have to get the

richard westcott, bbc news.news. one of the four men who appeared in court over the barcelona attack is reported to have admitted they were planning a much bigger operation. president trump commits more us troops to afghanistan — the move is welcomed by the afghan president. the former owner of bhs, dominic chappell, is to be prosecuted by the pensions regulator, following the high street chain's collapse which saw the loss of thousands of jobs. in a moment, bake 0ff‘s back but will it have the right recipe for success, when it airs on channel four tonight? we'll be taking a sneak peak. hello, i'm egon cossou with a look at the markets. it's been a positive day in europe — especially here in the uk. the ftse ending up in positive territory after yesterday's losses. the same for most of europe. gains also in the us — but its thin trade ahead of the central bankers meeting at jacksons hole later this week. here are some of the stories that have been moving the markets. the government recorded a budget surplus last

richard westcott, bbc news, luton.erra leone's capital, freetown, after mudslides and floods claimed the lives of nearly 400 people. their homes on the outskirts of freetown were engulfed after part of a mountain collapsed yesterday morning. thousands have been left homeless. as our correspondent umaru fofana reports, the authorities are planning mass burials because the mortuaries are already full. 0n the day after, emergency services are still overstretched. inside the central mortuary of the main hospital there are piles of bodies. they are lying on the floor in the open because there is no more space. nearly 100 bodies were brought in on tuesday morning, bringing the total number to nearly 400, some of them limbless. the head of the mortuary says they are completely overstretched and that is not all, as they were trying to sort corpses out, more corpses are being brought in from different parts of the city. even the rescue effort here is challenged. people are believed to still be alive underneath this spot. even i

richard westcott, bbc news.ne desire on the part of ford to try to help on the part of ford to try to help on the part of ford to try to help on the environmental front and how much is, frontally, about shifting more cars? it is a two part ploy, if you like, ford wanted to sell more cars. that‘s always going to be the main crux of any company. i think, also, as well as selling more cars, it isa also, as well as selling more cars, it is a message it the public, to the consumer that they are doing something to try and improve air quality. is that because it is, it is almost a dome know effect. if one company does it, is there a sense in a good way it puts everyone under pressure to do similarly. we have seen pressure to do similarly. we have seen it already. we saw vauxhall and mercedes and bmw have done a similar thing and now ford are introducing a scrappage thing, one of a kind, where they are saying they‘ll take the cars off the road if you buy something that‘s more environ mentally friendly. which is good but

richard westcott, bbc news.pondent at the financial times. ford says it is because they want people to be greener and more responsible. is that really what is behind this? we have seen some of the other schemes, bmw and mercedes, encourage people to buy hybrid vehicles, cleaner vehicles, but encourage people to buy hybrid vehicles, cleanervehicles, but ford wa nts vehicles, cleanervehicles, but ford wants them to buy any new car. some of the other schemes are about scrapping diesel cars that directly contribute to air quality issues but the ford scheme is wider, scrapping petrol cars as well as diesel and there is a difference between petrol and diesel, diesel emitting gases that contribute to air quality in city centres. petrol emits co2 that contributes to climate change so when ford says it is about inner—city air quality, that is not the whole story, it is about getting people to did —— to ditch old vehicles. and a slump in sales? the uk car market has peaked. cells have been falling since april and you ofte

richard westcott, bbc news. course we welcome anything that helps get older polluting diesel vehicles off the road but what we really need to see is a concerted evident by government to do something more coordinated and bigger than this, so something that lasts four months from one vehicle manufacturers and which you can trade in an old diesel vehicle for a new diesel vehicle probably isn‘t going to fix the problem of the air quality. what seems interesting is they‘re pandering so what they see asa they‘re pandering so what they see as a consumer change of direction, consumers are looking at air quality. that clearly is going to drive the whole sector, isn‘t it? absolutely. what we have seen and are hearing over the last few months is there‘s been a drop in sales of new diesel cars and that will be a concern for manufacturers but what we would say to manufacture evers is, well, this is an opportunity for them to make cleaner models, things like hybrids and electric vehicles and to move more into that market beca

richard westcott, bbc news. the top stories.y were planning a bigger attack. a british tourist harry athwol, has been praised, after staying to help an injured child on las ramblas during last week's van attack, ignoring advice from police, to move to safety. president trump has changed policy and committed to sending more troops to afghanistan. the us secretary of state says washington will also focus on anti corruption measures in the country. an update on the markets. look at that green, the ftse up. 15 minutes to go until the closing bell on the nasdaq. all very happy. exactly three months ago, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the end of an ariana grande concert in the manchester arena. 22 people were killed and more than 50 were injured. since then, the nhs has been offering therapy to those who have suffered mental and physical trauma. one of those who died was 29—year—old martyn hett. his mother has been talking to graham satchell, about why she can never return to life as it was before the attack. the tears are never

richard westcott, bbc news.ra costs will be paid for by the tax—payer. ministers say pilots have shown nurseries are willing to provide for extra places. but a leading educational charity is warning that the scheme is under—funded and some nurseries will struggle to stay in business. our correspondent sima kotecha reports. welcome news for working parents. 30 hours of free childcare a week for three and four—year—olds. it makes you feel more empowered to actually go and work full time because you've got the help from the government for the 30 hours. it willjust be beneficial for parents that are trying to go back to work. we just want the minimal support just so that we can work and it not be such a financial strain. more than 300,000 working families are entitled to this childcare, which is double the number of hours they used to get. however, some parents have told us that ever since they've been able to sign up to the scheme, there have been problems. at one point the government's website was not working prop