hello and welcome to the bbc news at one. rishi sunak and sir keir starmer will go head—to—head in theirfirst televised debate of the general election campaign tonight. the hour long programme, on itv, will be filmed in front of a live studio audience. it comes as the conservatives have promised to introduce a yearly cap on the number of migrant visas, while labour has accused the tories of letting immigration get out of control. our political correspondent jessica parker has the details. home second conservative say they will reduce migrant visas year by year but the party is haunted by highly visible old pledges to bring immigration down. net migration, the difference between numbers arriving and leaving hit a record high in 2022. ~ ., ., y , and leaving hit a record high in 2022. ~ ., ., , , a, 2022. we are the only party with a credible plan _ 2022. we are the only party with a credible plan to _ 2022. we are the only party with a credible plan to professionally - credible plan to professionally manage migration so that it supports the british economy without putting undue pressure on local communities. the tories have broken so many promises to bring down migration, why on earth should voters believe you now? we why on earth should voters believe ou now? ~ . , ., why on earth should voters believe ounow? . , yr. why on earth should voters believe ou now? ~ ., , ., ':: , ., you now? we have seen a 1096 fall in leual you now? we have seen a 1096 fall in legal migration _ you now? we have seen a 1096 fall in legal migration because _ you now? we have seen a 1096 fall in legal migration because of _ you now? we have seen a 1096 fall in legal migration because of the - you now? we have seen a 1096 fall in legal migration because of the steps| legal migration because of the steps i have taken with the full support of the prime minister since becoming home secretary. of the prime minister since becoming home secretary-— home secretary. labour's refraining from diving — home secretary. labour's refraining from diving into _ home secretary. labour's refraining from diving into the _ home secretary. labour's refraining from diving into the numbers - home secretary. labour's refraining | from diving into the numbers game, promising to bring immigration down, also by saying by how much. {lin also by saying by how much. on immigration, we have to tackle their central_ immigration, we have to tackle their central issue so we have a skilled centre _ central issue so we have a skilled centre of— central issue so we have a skilled centre of this company so we don't have _ centre of this company so we don't have so_ centre of this company so we don't have so many people arriving on work visas _ have so many people arriving on work visas. ~ , ., . ., ., visas. when you cut net migration every year? _ visas. when you cut net migration every year? net — visas. when you cut net migration every year? net migration - visas. when you cut net migration every year? net migration is - visas. when you cut net migration every year? net migration is too l every year? net migration is too hiuh, this every year? net migration is too high, this government _ every year? net migration is too high, this government has - every year? net migration is too high, this government has lost l high, this government has lost control — high, this government has lost control. ., , high, this government has lost control. ., ., ., , high, this government has lost control. ., ., . , ., , control. politicians know many worry about pressure _ control. politicians know many worry about pressure on _ control. politicians know many worry about pressure on public— control. politicians know many worry about pressure on public services - about pressure on public services but that can run up against a demand forforeign but that can run up against a demand for foreign workers and student arrivals. immigration has long been arrivals. immigration has long been a hot button issue in british politics but promises to bring numbers down have frequently ended up numbers down have frequently ended up at odds with reality. the conservatives may notjust be worried about being squeezed by their own record on this topic but now an old political foe as well. are you standing? irate now an old political foe as well. are you standing?— now an old political foe as well. are you standing? we will find out in a moment. _ are you standing? we will find out in a moment, won't— are you standing? we will find out in a moment, won't we? - are you standing? we will find out in a moment, won't we? nigel- are you standing? we will find out. in a moment, won't we? nigel farage esterda in a moment, won't we? nigel farage yesterday announced _ in a moment, won't we? nigel farage yesterday announced he _ in a moment, won't we? nigel farage yesterday announced he is _ in a moment, won't we? nigel farage yesterday announced he is standing . yesterday announced he is standing for parliament and leading reform uk. he says net migration should be zero that seems to rewrite his party's own policy on air to process certain asylum claims of overseas territories. certain asylum claims of overseas territories-— territories. which overseas territories _ territories. which overseas territories would _ territories. which overseas territories would be - territories. which overseas territories would be open l territories. which overseas| territories would be open to territories. which overseas - territories would be open to this? i don't territories would be open to this? don't think territories would be open to this? i don't think it would be terribly practical. i think it is a very difficult policy to work. loath? practical. i think it is a very difficult policy to work. why is it on our difficult policy to work. why is it on your website? _ difficult policy to work. why is it on your website? i _ difficult policy to work. why is it on your website? i took - difficult policy to work. why is it on your website? i took over - on your website? i took over yesterday- — on your website? i took over yesterday. give _ on your website? i took over yesterday. give me - on your website? i took over yesterday. give me more - on your website? i took over i yesterday. give me more than on your website? i took over - yesterday. give me more than 12 hours and i will saw a few things out. ., ., out. tonight in a tv debate, the conservatives' _ out. tonight in a tv debate, the conservatives' rishi _ out. tonight in a tv debate, the conservatives' rishi sunak - out. tonight in a tv debate, the conservatives' rishi sunak and i conservatives' rishi sunak and labour's keir starmer go head—to—head, the two men fighting out to be your next prime minister. both want to show you and on other many issues they can take control. jessica parker, bbc news, westminster. the liberal democrats are promising free personal care for elderly and disabled adults in england. the party says the plan would save the nhs £3 billion a year through reduced pressure on hospitals. the policy would cover costs for nursing care and daily support, including hygiene and medication. a similar scheme has been operating in scotland for the past 20 years. i don't believe that you can fix our nhs and rescue our nhs unless you sort out social care and family care. so what we want to do is to make sure that people can come out of hospital when they're ready to come out, because there will be a care place in a care home, or there'll be a care package at their home and they can afford it and, by the way, crucial to our programme, is we get more carers. so we're also arguing today that there should be a new national minimum wage for carers. scotland's first minister, john swinney, has said his first target will be tackling child poverty if the snp is re—elected to power. he claimed his own party had a "proud record of action" on the issue, and urged the labour leader sir keir starmer to commit to a "westminster reset". labour said improving living standards is in the party's dna. our political editor chris mason joins us now. rishi sunak and sir keir starmer are preparing for the debate tonight, and campaigning remains in full flow? it really is. the two candidates for prime minister are limbering up. if it doesn't feel like a big deal to you because the election is still a month away, it really does feel like a big deal to those two leaders. they have cleared space in their diaries over the last couple of days, they have had colleagues pretending to be their opponents. there had been conservatives pretending to be keir starmer and vice versa. particular lines of questioning, what their attack lines might be, how they might defend themselves against tricky questions either from the audience or the presenter or indeed from their opponent. and they have been circling in and around greater manchester because the debates will be happening here at media city on itv this evening, trying to visit some marginal seats ahead of doing all of that prep. so all of the focus on that set piece moment because of the potential power of these debates to shape things. from rishi sunak�*s perspective, to try and get back in the game because they have been some opinion polls that for the conservatives that have looked really bleak. haifa that for the conservatives that have looked really bleak.— looked really bleak. how risky are the debates? _ looked really bleak. how risky are the debates? really _ looked really bleak. how risky are the debates? really risky. - looked really bleak. how risky are the debates? really risky. the . looked really bleak. how risky are i the debates? really risky. the sheer 'eo ard , the debates? really risky. the sheer jeopardy. there _ the debates? really risky. the sheer jeopardy. there you _ the debates? really risky. the sheer jeopardy, there you are _ the debates? really risky. the sheer jeopardy, there you are live - the debates? really risky. the sheer jeopardy, there you are live on - jeopardy, there you are live on television in front of millions of people for an hour. that is full of jeopardy in and of itself is not secondly, so much stuff can be repurposed and re—burgeoned and turned into a social media clip and a meme that can have a shelf life, a tale that can go on for weeks and weeks or years and years. people still say a nerdy political circles i live in, the "i agree with nick" line which was coined in 2010 when election debates started in 2010. they are now kind of a thing in the uk, not written into law or anything, there is a complicated negotiation between the parties and broadcasters to make them happen. there will be a fair flurry of them in this campaign, the first tonight. the lib dems are not taking part tonight that campaigning continuing for them? tonight that campaigning continuing forthem? ed tonight that campaigning continuing for them? , .,, , for them? ed davey has been in cheadle, manchester, - for them? ed davey has been in cheadle, manchester, and - for them? ed davey has been in | cheadle, manchester, and doing for them? ed davey has been in - cheadle, manchester, and doing the embarrassing dad routine. here he is with some blue blocks, which are meant to symbolise the blue wall, there were seats the liberal democrats would hope to win from the conservatives. when this wall eventually gets built, he is taking his time, look at the angle of it, the whole thing, i hate to spoil the party here, but here we go, it falls over. he should have argued this blue wall is going to collapse. he has liked these stunts, he fell into windermere the other day. he was going down a slippy slide in somerset last week. it is part of their strategy, they are trying to give the impression of having fun in the hope that in the mix of all of it, people kind of know to some of their messages, particularly because they, like the other parties, get squeezed when you get these prime ministerial debates.— ministerial debates. interesting, thank ou ministerial debates. interesting, thank you very — ministerial debates. interesting, thank you very much, _ ministerial debates. interesting, thank you very much, chris. - ministerial debates. interesting, | thank you very much, chris. chris mason there for you there. we want you to help shape how we cover this general election campaign, so if you have a question for a politician or perhaps an issue that you're concerned about. you can get in touch as part of your voice, your vote — by going to bbc.co.uk/news on your phone, tablet or laptop. it's been alleged that the british bank, standard chartered, carried out billions of dollars of transactions for funders of terrorist groups. the claim has emerged in court papers in the us. 12 years ago, they narrowly avoided prosecution by the us department ofjustice for money—laundering, after lord cameron's government intervened. standard chartered says it's confident a court will reject the allegations. what's changed is a year—and—a—half ago, we had forensic capability that allowed us to look under the data that we had, to look deeper within it, and the results were frightening. a newborn baby, who was found earlier this year inside a carrier bag in east london, is the third child abandoned by the same parents. dna tests established that "baby elsa" is the sibling of a boy and a girl, found in very similar circumstances in 2017 and 2019. our correspondent sanchia berg has this report. it was a bitterly cold day injanuary when a baby girl, less than an hour old, was found here in east london. hospital staff called her elsa, after the frozen character. the bbc can now report that elsa has two full siblings, harry and roman. all three babies were abandoned in similar circumstances within two miles of each other. harry was found in plaistow in september 2017, abandoned shortly after he was born. newborn roman came 16 months later, injanuary 2019, in a park close to the roman road, after which she was named. and elsa, also newborn, was discovered this year, a few hundred yards away. all three children's names have since been changed. this is where baby harry was found back in 2017. since then, two of his siblings have been abandoned in very similar circumstances, just hours after they were born. judge carol atkinson said it was very, very unusual for one baby to be abandoned in modern britain. for three babies to be left in this way, by the same parents, was, she said, of enormous interest. i asked one of the leading experts whether she'd come across a similar case. well, i've done research in various ways for over 20 years and the answer is absolutely no. but i personally have never come across three brand—new newborns from the same parents, both parents, it seems. the three children are safe — adopted or in care. their mother has not come forward, despite multiple appeals over nearly seven years by the metropolitan police. they said today their investigation continues. sanchia berg, bbc news. a british—israeli man has been named among four hostages confirmed dead in gaza. nadav popplewell was abducted by hamas on the 7th october. israels military says his body is still being held in the territory. last month, hamas claimed that mr popplewell had died in an israeli strike in april. our middle east correspondent yolande knelljoins us now from jerusalem. what more do we know? well, according _ what more do we know? well, according to — what more do we know? well, according to its _ what more do we know? well, according to its official - what more do we know? well, according to its official tally, . according to its official tally, israel is now saying that more than a third of the remaining 120 hostages it believes are held by hamas in gaza are dead. we had all four of these hostages who were declared dead by the israeli military yesterday, including mr popplewell, all featured alive in previous hamas propaganda videos. that all adds to domestic pressure for a new ceasefire deal that could bring the remaining hostages home and we saw these impromptu rallies in tel aviv and injerusalem last night. the israeli prime minister faces fierce opposition to a new dealfrom within his faces fierce opposition to a new deal from within his own faces fierce opposition to a new dealfrom within his own hard—line governing coalition and we saw yesterday when he was speaking to a parliamentary committee that he was trying to show members of parliament that he is committed to fighting on with the war in gaza to fully destroying hamas, that is one of the aims of this war, he said, and he was basically suggesting that israel could stick to the first of a three stage plan outlined by president biden on friday, which is for a six—week truce, and then resume the fighting in gaza. so today, we have had kattar, a key mediator along with egypt and the us, acting as go—between is for israel and hamas saying it is still waiting for a clear position from israel when it comes to that plan outlined by president biden, noting the contradictory statements they have been from the different ministers. thank you, yolande knell. 36 second—world—war veterans have set sail on a ferry from portsmouth to normandy, to take part in a special service commemorating the 80th anniversary of the d—day landings. the veterans are travelling with a torch from the commonwealth war graves commission, which will feature in a vigil in bayeux tomorrow. danjohnson has this report. these are some of the final few veterans able to make the voyage to normandy to pay their respects and share their experience of what d—day was really like. they got a proper sendoff from portsmouth, escorted by sea and by air on a journey made in recognition of service and in remembrance of sacrifice. i have 32 reasons for going back in those 32 reasons are 32 guys who never came home. i made that promise to myself that every opportunity, i would go back and pay my respect and honour those guys. i do remember my comrades. you never forget _ i do remember my comrades. you never forget your— i do remember my comrades. you never forget your tank crew. honestly, it is very— forget your tank crew. honestly, it is very sad — forget your tank crew. honestly, it is very sad because they are no longer— is very sad because they are no longer with us. if they were with us, i_ longer with us. if they were with us, i wouldn't have to talk, they will do _ us, i wouldn't have to talk, they will do all— us, i wouldn't have to talk, they will do all the talking and we would be making sillyjokes between us and he would _ be making sillyjokes between us and he would have a rough time! be making silly jokes between us and he would have a rough time! laughter we have to do — he would have a rough time! laughter we have to do them _ he would have a rough time! laughter we have to do them as _ he would have a rough time! laughter we have to do them as well— he would have a rough time! laughter we have to do them as well as - he would have a rough time! laughter we have to do them as well as their- we have to do them as well as their fallen_ we have to do them as well as their fallen comrades— we have to do them as well as their fallen comrades because _ we have to do them as well as their fallen comrades because they- we have to do them as well as their fallen comrades because they are l we have to do them as well as their. fallen comrades because they are the ones who— fallen comrades because they are the ones who came — fallen comrades because they are the ones who came home, _ fallen comrades because they are the ones who came home, having - fallen comrades because they are the ones who came home, having seen . fallen comrades because they are the i ones who came home, having seen what they saw, _ ones who came home, having seen what they saw, having — ones who came home, having seen what they saw, having done _ ones who came home, having seen what they saw, having done what _ ones who came home, having seen what they saw, having done what they- ones who came home, having seen what they saw, having done what they had - they saw, having done what they had to do _ they saw, having done what they had to do we _ they saw, having done what they had to do we have — they saw, having done what they had to do. we have to _ they saw, having done what they had to do. we have to remember- they saw, having done what they had to do. we have to remember and - to do. we have to remember and celebrate — to do. we have to remember and celebrate them _ to do. we have to remember and celebrate them as _ to do. we have to remember and celebrate them as they _ to do. we have to remember and celebrate them as they come - to do. we have to remember andj celebrate them as they come and celebrate — celebrate them as they come and celebrate their— celebrate them as they come and celebrate their comrades - celebrate them as they come and celebrate their comrades and - celebrate them as they come and i celebrate their comrades and their mates _ celebrate their comrades and their mates who— celebrate their comrades and their mates who didn't _ celebrate their comrades and their mates who didn't come _ celebrate their comrades and their mates who didn't come home. - mates who didn't come home. d-day— mates who didn't come home. may was _ mates who didn't come home. 0-day was the _ mates who didn't come home. d—day was the turning - mates who didn't come home. d—day was the turning point. mates who didn't come home. j d—day was the turning point of mates who didn't come home. - d—day was the turning point of the second world war, after months of secret planning, an audacious invasion of thousands of landing craft delivering 150,000 troops onto the normandy beaches on the first day alone. they liberated france and set the nazis on their way to losing the war. . . , set the nazis on their way to losing the war. ., . , ., set the nazis on their way to losing the war. ., _ ., , ., ., the war. the legacy of liberation, the war. the legacy of liberation, the le . a the war. the legacy of liberation, the legacy of _ the war. the legacy of liberation, the legacy of freedom, _ the war. the legacy of liberation, the legacy of freedom, the - the war. the legacy of liberation, | the legacy of freedom, the legacy the war. the legacy of liberation, i the legacy of freedom, the legacy of democracy, we run the risk sometimes of taking that for granted and now we are celebrating this focus of 80 years since d—day gives us a real opportunity to think about liberation. to think about the freedoms that we have an democracy we are fortunate to have and to make sure that we continue that legacy and we guard it preciously. those serving king and country today were admiring the bravery of those who went before and generations are out to wave the veterans off. absolutely fantastic and i wouldn't have missed it for the world. yes, i am so pleased we are here. my am so pleased we are here. my grandfather fought in the war for five years— my grandfather fought in the war for five years as well with the maltese army _ five years as well with the maltese army for _ five years as well with the maltese army for the commonwealth, so it is always— army for the commonwealth, so it is always important to remember this. it is emotional, very emotional because — it is emotional, very emotional because they _ it is emotional, very emotional because they are _ it is emotional, very emotional because they are about - it is emotional, very emotional because they are about 98 - it is emotional, very emotionall because they are about 98 now, nearly— because they are about 98 now, nearly 100, _ because they are about 98 now, nearly100, it— because they are about 98 now, nearly 100, it could _ because they are about 98 now, nearly 100, it could be - because they are about 98 now, nearly 100, it could be the - because they are about 98 now, nearly 100, it could be the last. nearly 100, it could be the last time — nearly100, it could be the last time it— nearly100, it could be the last time it is— nearly 100, it could be the last time. it is good _ nearly100, it could be the last time. it is good for— nearly 100, it could be the last time. it is good for the - nearly 100, it could be the last time. it is good for the kids . nearly 100, it could be the last. time. it is good for the kids come history. _ time. it is good for the kids come history. lovely _ history, lovely. and _ history, lovely. and that - history, lovely. and that sense| history, lovely. . and that sense of history, lovely. _ and that sense of handing history, lovely. — and that sense of handing down guardianship of d—day and its legacy is important in this 80th anniversary, acknowledging the advancing years of these veterans and this is just the start of two days of commemorative events, both here and in northern france. dan johnson, bbc news, portsmouth. the time is 13:17. our top story this afternoon... the first tv debate between rishi sunak and sir keir starmer will take place tonight. why the asian hornet is outstaying its welcome. the insect has survived a uk winter for the first time, posing a risk to honeybees. coming up on bbc news: england's defence of their t20 world cup begins this afternoon when they take on scotland in barbados, with captainjos buttler keen to forget their dismal 50 over world cup performance last year. narendra modi looks likely to win a rare third consecutive term as indian prime minister, as his bjp—led alliance is currently ahead in the general election vote count. however, early results show it is falling well short of the landslide exit polls predicted. our south asia correspondent, samira hussain, has this from delhi. cruising into this election, prime minister narendra modi. shouting. fuelled by adulation and a hindu—centric ideology. his main opponent, rahul gandhi — heir of a political dynasty, leader of indian national congress. a coalition with dozens of other political parties to counter mr modi. outside party headquarters, supporters rejoiced, their reliance paying dividends. despite not winning enough seats to form a government so far, they have fared better than expected. it is government so far, they have fared better than expected.— government so far, they have fared better than expected. it is a moment to save democracy. _ better than expected. it is a moment to save democracy. it _ better than expected. it is a moment to save democracy. it is _ better than expected. it is a moment to save democracy. it is for— better than expected. it is a moment to save democracy. it is for saving i to save democracy. it is for saving lives of women, farmers, unemployed youth. lives of women, farmers, unemployed outh. �* ,, �* lives of women, farmers, unemployed youth-_ rahul— lives of women, farmers, unemployed youth._ rahul gandhi'sl youth. translation: rahul gandhi's march across — youth. translation: rahul gandhi's march across the _ youth. translation: rahul gandhi's march across the country _ youth. translation: rahul gandhi's march across the country helped i youth. translation: rahul gandhi's march across the country helped to l march across the country helped to unite _ march across the country helped to unite india — march across the country helped to unite india. he talked aboutjobs for youth, — unite india. he talked aboutjobs foryouth, safeguarding unite india. he talked aboutjobs for youth, safeguarding the constitution. people voted against the government. the constitution. people voted against the government.— constitution. people voted against the government. the mood was more subdued inside _ the government. the mood was more subdued inside bjp _ the government. the mood was more subdued inside bjp headquarters, i subdued inside bjp headquarters, expecting a landslide victory which so far delivered a disappointing result. we so far delivered a disappointing result. ~ ., ., ~' so far delivered a disappointing result. ~ ., ., ~ ., result. we will look into the reasons as _ result. we will look into the reasons as to _ result. we will look into the reasons as to why _ result. we will look into the reasons as to why we i result. we will look into the reasons as to why we did i result. we will look into the i reasons as to why we did badly because there is indeed some disconcerting news from certain quarters, but overall we have done well considering this is third time around. our south asia correspondent, samira hussain, joins us now from delhi. what is the latest information? so far what is the latest information? ’sr far it seems what is the latest information? sr far it seems that the bjp will not be able to make a majority on its own and they will actually need members of its alliance to be able to form a government. everything that has been happening, all of the elections and bow panting, it all comes down to who will be able to control what happens in this building just behind me. samira hussain, thank you. the welsh government has abandoned plans to change the school calendar from next year, after opposition from teaching unions and the tourism industry. one of the proposals was to shorten the summer holiday to five weeks and extend the autumn break to two weeks. the education secretary said postponing the change would let schools focus on other major improvements. a 91—year—old man who became the first patient in england to receive an artificial cornea says having it has made his life "fu lle r. " cecil farley underwent the pioneering eye surgery in february after 15 years of suffering from problems with his sight. now he says his vision is improving. it is hoped that the new technology will cut waiting times for cornea transplants. one of the world's most active volcanos has been erupting in hawaii — for the first time in 50 years. the us geological survey says that the kilauea volcano is in a remote location, and it poses no immediate threat to human life or critical infrastructure. asian hornets have survived the winter in the uk for the first time, meaning the insect that kills bees is likely to stay here for good. dna testing from the national bee unit shows three hornets captured last month in east sussex are off—springs of a nest that was destroyed last november. lauren moss has the details. they're bigger than bees and their buzz is deadly to them. asian hornets have been arriving in europe over the last 20 years, slowly making their way to our shores — in greater numbers last year than ever before. and, for the first time, they've survived over the winter, they're no more dangerous to humans than uk hornets but can be lethal to bees and wasps. a nurse to patient hornets can eat about 11 kilos of insects a year, that equates to over 90,000 heady days of that was the exclusive diets —— a nest of asian hornets can eat. they are a top predator with no natural enemies in the uk, it is another enemy for our honeybees and other pollinators that we could really live without. measuring two and a half centimetres long, asian hornets have dark bodies with a wide orange stripe and bright yellow lower legs. they were more commonly seen in france, but eight years ago nests were spotted in south—east england — mainly in kent and east sussex — with one credible sighting in lancashire. so far this year, there have been 15 sightings, but by this time last year there had only been three. since 2016 there have been 116 sightings across the uk. warmer summers may have encouraged their migration, but our winters could make it more difficult to settle, longer term. we know difficult to settle, longer term. - know the world is getting warmer, 2023 was the warmest on record. uk summers will continue to get hotter but the winter also get warmer and, as a consequence, wetter.— but the winter also get warmer and, as a consequence, wetter. there were more than a _ as a consequence, wetter. there were more than a quarter— as a consequence, wetter. there were more than a quarter of— as a consequence, wetter. there were more than a quarter of a _ as a consequence, wetter. there were more than a quarter of a million i more than a quarter of a million honeybee hives in the uk last year, it sounds like a lot but the population is declining even without the asian hornets frech. fewer bees means that fewer trees and flowers are pollinated, which feed animals all the way up the food chain. experts don't think there's strong evidence asian hornet population is established here yet anyone who sees them is to report it to try and protect the british bee population. lauren moss, bbc news. us presidentjoe biden is expected to issue a sweeping new executive order aimed at curbing migrant arrivals at the mexico border. under the order, officials could swiftly deport migrants who enter the country illegally without processing their asylum requests once a daily threshold is met. more than 6.4 million migrants are said to have been stopped from crossing into the us illegally during biden's administration. buckingham palace has confirmed that a state visit to the uk byjapan's emperor and empress will go ahead at the end of the month. there had been speculation it would be cancelled because of the general election, but it will happen — in what's described as a "slightly adapted form." more acts for this year's glastonbury have been announced, including bands like the zutons and the snuts. they'll be joining the likes of dua lipa, coldplay and shania twain at the festival — which kicks off in just over three weeks. a special event to remember the hairy biker dave myers is being held this weekend, following his death earlier this year. thousands of bikers will travel from north london to his hometown in cumbria, on what's being called dave day. for his wife, lili, it's an opportunity to celebrate dave's zest for life. our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba has this report. over almost 20 years, dave myers became a familiar face to millions. we bought this at the market today. thousands of his fans will be taking part in a special event to remember him this weekend, an outpouring of love from the public that he probably could never have imagined. he didn't have a clue of all the magnitude of what was going to happen, it's amazing to see. i think his energy is still carrying on. i think people have picked up on his energy and it's amazing how it'sjust rolling and rolling. it started with an idea and itjust grew and grew and grew to this magnitude. it's fantastic to see. on saturday, following the smaller event in april, thousands of bikers will travel from london to dave's hometown of barrow in furness with people coming from all over the country to take part. we started the idea shortly after he passed and then my friends started to help me organise different things. the people in barrow in furness, my friends, we used to live there for quite a few years, and my friends in barrow in furness, they helped me organise the local stuff. the authorities in town have been fantastic. going beyond anything to make this event possible. dave and lili met when he was filming the first hairy bikers series in romania. they kept in touch, with lili even making the occasional appearance on the show. sweetheart! oh, i've dropped the glasses... they married in 2011. when he was diagnosed with cancer, both were determined to be as positive as possible. he had this energy about him. he was always a doer, always seeing the bright side of things. right to the end? right to the end. it was the bright side of things. and he had this very unique quality of making the best of everybody around him, so taking the best. he taught me so much about bringing out the best of me. the other significant person in dave's life was, of course, his on—screen partner and decades—long friend, si king, who will also be a big part of saturday's event. actually, we're going to ride side by side on saturday, so that's going to be really emotional and a massive thing for us. yeah. because he's been a really, really great support for me all this time. he's been there with me all the time, yeah. thank you, simon. as well as remembering dave, saturday is hoping to raise huge amounts of money for charity. dave and i have been involved in work with nspcc childline a long time. and we are involved now with the institute of cancer research, given the fact that dave went through what happened in the past couple of years, and, yeah, we hope to raise as much money as possible to help other people in this position. an event that promises to truly honour dave myers' legacy. lizo mzimba, bbc news. a reminder of our top headline this afternoon. rishi sunak and sir keir starmer will go head—to—head for the first time in a televised debate tonight, as the election campaign continues. as the 80th anniversary of d—day approaches, we hearfrom one veteran about his memories of the normandy landings. we'll have a full forecast in the next half hour, but it's time now for a quick look at the weather. here's ben rich. good afternoon. the uk had its warmest spring on record, now we are into meteorological summer and temperatures are dropping. some colder air digging temperatures are dropping. some colderair digging in temperatures are dropping. some colder air digging in behind this bunch of clouds and rain, that drain clearing to a mix of sunshine and showers but temperatures by the end of the afternoon, if anything, dropping away. it will get cold enough over the next few days that some of the showers over the highest ground could contain sleet and snow. we stick with that cool feel throughout the west of the week, but i will have more details later in the programme. —— throughout the rest of the week. rishi sunak and sir keir starmer will debate some of the key issues facing the uk — and their plans to address them — in front of a live studio audience this evening. the televised debate is the first time they'll go head to head in this general election campaign. our political correspondent alex forsyth can show us around the studio. so there is something that could be quite significant happening in the election campaign tonight. it is the first debate between rishi sunak and keir starmer, and i can show you the studio where it is taking place. this is where all of the action is going to happen. so up on that stage there, you're going to have the host of this debate, julie etchingham from itv, and you're going to have rishi sunak and keir starmer on those two podiums. and we can take a little look around because these chairs, a little later on, are going to be filled with a live studio audience. there's going to be about 80 to 100 people, and some of the audience are going to get a chance to put their questions to the two candidates for that job of prime minister. we just need to watch our step and i will take you up here onto the stage itself, where it's all going to take place. so the way it's going to work is this is going to be the podium at which the host is going to stand. julie etchingham is going to moderate the debate. and then behind me, you will see the two podiums where you're going to have keir starmer and rishi sunak. now, you can expect those two men, clearly, they're going to have been prepping for this debate for the last couple of days. they are going to be asked questions, i suspect, about the key themes of this campaign — so the nhs, the economy, immigration, national security. they're going to be trying to navigate this debate without any slip ups. now, you might ask yourself, "why is there so much hype around these tv debates?" well, they can sometimes produce really pivotal moments in an election campaign. they can also set the mood and the tone. and don't forget, of course, that they provide an opportunity for real scrutiny of policy and position. and you must remember, standing at those two podiums a little later this evening will be the two men who are vying to be the next prime minister of the uk. so if you want to watch it, you just might learn something about what they stand for. alex forsyth. of course, tonight's debate will feature a lot of claims and counter—claims. to help you cut through the spin, bbc verify�*s nick eardley has been looking into some of the statistics. hello, yes, the first head—to—head tonight, a big moment in the campaign. but which claims can you trust and which can't you? bbc verify is going to be here tonight looking at exactly that. we don't know exactly what's going to come up, but we've been preparing — based on some of the claims that we've heard from keir starmer and rishi sunak in the past few days. and i wanted to mention a couple of things, that if you hear them tonight, you should cast a sceptical ear over. let's start with the economy. it's a key battleground. both parties have made big claims about what the other�*s policies would mean. so what are the facts? well, this is what the conservatives are claiming — that there's a £38 billion gap in labour's spending plans and to fill it, taxes will have to go up. it's worth being sceptical about this figure, though. it's based on treasury calculations, but the assumptions come from political advisers and some of them are questionable. for example, that doing things through the public sector is always a lot less efficient. labour have a claim of their own that we wanted to scrutinise. this one — that the conservatives have £71 billion of unfunded spending commitments. again, a big dollop of caution on this one. it includes an assumption that the conservatives will scrap national insurance. the tories have said they'd like to do that eventually, but not any time soon, and they say they won't do it unless the money is available. so when you hear both of these claims you know politics is at play, both parties are trying to persuade you that they'd be better at handling the country's money. but the most important figures aren't necessarily these ones, they're the ones we'll get in the manifestos later this month when we'll scrutinise it all again. one other thing i wanted to touch on quickly, a question that might come up tonight — is the economy moving in the right direction? rishi sunak wants to persuade you yes. keir starmer wants you to be more sceptical. let's look at two measures of this. one — here — inflation, because it's true to say that inflation has gone down significantly since rishi sunak became prime minister and he will want some of the credit for it. labour will question how much you feel it in your pocket. another way of looking at where the economy is heading is economic growth, because it's true to say at the start of 2024, there was economic growth — economic growth of 0.6%. but that was after the uk officially entered a recession at the end of last year. and when you look back a bit, the picture is a lot less positive, certainly when compared to other major economies like the united states. so keep this in mind tonight. there will be a lot of these sorts of claims flying about. we'll have a look at them. we'll explain a bit more tomorrow across the bbc. nick eardley. still to come on today's programme... hearing gunfire from the normandy beaches — one veteran is sharing his d—day memories as the 80th anniversary approaches. but now it's time to join our colleagues with the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday, with me, will perry. here's what's coming up: selection decisions loom large for england and scotland, who have just a few days to finalise their euro 2024 squads. england's cricketers start the defence of their t20 world cup trophy shortly, against scotland — we'll hear from both captains ahead of the match. and the oldest water sport in the world — we'll see the great britain team going to the outrigger world championships in hawaii in august. welcome along to sportsday. decision time is approaching for gareth southgate and steve clarke. by friday night, they must reduce their squads down to 26 players, which for the england boss, means losing nine from the initial 33—man training squad he named in may. last night's friendly win over bosnia and herzegovina, as well as another warm up match against iceland on friday, will be pivotalfor some players on the periphery, ahead of that deadline to confirm the squad travelling to germany and southgate is keen to make sure it's a fair process. we understand the significance for all of the players. we are giving it the respect and consideration it deserves to make the fair, right decisions. decision time is approaching for scotland boss steve clarke too. this great che adams strike helped them to a 2—0 win over gibraltar yesterday, maybe relieiving some scottish anxiety about their forward issues after lyndon dykes was ruled out with injury. but former scotland winger pat nevin told the football news show they shouldn't neccesarily be worried about who plays upfront. for, you know, almost 20 years, there's not been an absolute natural goal—scorer in the squad. and certainly, lately, that's been the case too. lyndon dykes has done a good job, but he is not a natural goal—scorer that scores a lot of goals at international level. you could say the same for che adams as well. but it's not all about those players scoring the goals. we get a little bit overexcited about that. lawrence shankland has come into the squad. he is more of a natural goal—scorer, but it's a big step up to do it at international level. but what scotland have had is a very, very tight back unit, and also players that can score from different areas. and that's the difference. hear more from pat nevin on the latest episode of the football news show, looking ahead to the upcoming european championships. that'll be on the iplayer later today. all four of the home nations will be in action in the women's euros qualifying today. northern ireland host portugal, while wales play ukraine in poland. defending champions england are third in their group and go into their game in st etienne off the back of a 2—1 defeat at the hands of france last friday, knowing that victory is essential for qualification for next summer's tournament. we always want to win games, and, of course, it would really help us to put us in a better position when we win the game. and, of course, that is how we approach it and we think with the experience we have on friday, we feel comfortable that we can get a good result. scotland are much better placed, top of their qualifiying group at the halfway stage. but because of the ongoing conflict in gaza, scotland are in hungary to play their return fixture against israel behind closed doors — just as it was four days ago when scotland won. it makes us feel good to see that position on the table, that is probably where we expected to be. but it's not that straightforward sometimes in the qualification. so we are there, we want to stay there at least at the end of... on tuesday night to make sure that we stay there, and then to be ready and prepared for the last campaign. so here are those four games for the home nations this evening. stay across the scores on the bbc sport website. you can listen to england's match in france on 5 live from 7:00 tonight. england and scotland's t20 world cup gets under way in just over an hour's time. jos buttler�*s side are the defending champions, and they'll be hoping the tournament goes better than their 50—over title defence — where they won just three of their nine matches and finished seventh. the england captain was keen to forget about the last tournament, when he spoke to our reporter henry moeran. i'm just focused on this tournament. i'm really excited for it. my team's in a good spot, and that's all we are looking forward to. what have you learned from going into that previous world cup, to this one? i'm focused on this world cup. in terms of your side, do you know what your team is for tomorrow? no. what are you looking for? i know it's. .. look, i'm pretty ecstatic with what we are trying to do as a team. i don't need to sit here and tell you. we've played some very good cricket in the last few years, and i think people are now not taking us lightly. we are not to be underestimated. we've got some great cricketers who've been playing alongside these guys in franchise cricket, so they know what our guys are capable of. i don't like the word free hit but, yes, we've got nothing to lose. we come into the game knowing that we are the underdog, but why can't we go and take them on headfirst and create history? in the early hours of this morning, afghanistan were comfortable winners in their first match at the tournament, with their opponents uganda falling way short of the target of 184 to win — bowled out forjust 58. so that's a 125 run victory for afghanistan. the netherlands also take on nepal this afternoon. amateur athletes for gb's outrigger teams are currently training nine times a week as they prepare for the world championships in hawaii this august. described as the oldest water sport in the world, it's a form of canoeing, which started with people travelling between polynesian islands like hawaii. it's now a global sport with professional squads...but the british team are self—funded. our reporterjames dunn went to meet some of them, as they trained in sussex. it's a small sussex club embracing a sport steeped in polynesian history, and it's riding a new wave of worldwide popularity. it's the oldest water sport in the world, really. it's kind of how the polynesians track from one island to the other. and it's now this world championships. there's clubs all around the world. the canoes are built out of carbon. it's attracted athletes from a range of sporting backgrounds, including former london irish rugby player wes horcroft. we've got a pro surfer in the team, a national 800 metre runner. i've always wanted a water sport that gave me what rugby gave me. you know, the working for each other and in the boat of six, the harder i work, the more the team benefit. originating in the polynesian islands, everything about the sport harks back to its heritage, including the language. there's an armour on the side of the canoe needed to stabilise the boats once made from hollowed—out tree trunks. in these, you don't capsize you "huli". the hawaiian word for turn. if your head doesn't come to the surface, i'm going to dive down and dig you out. right? in these six—man teams, alternate seats paddle on alternate sides and the person in the middle seat tells everyone when to change. got about 200 metres so far. my shoulders are absolutely screaming and you find yourself just begging to hear that sound from the front of the boat, which means that you can finally change side. the world championships came to london in 2022. last year, it was samoa. in hawaii this summer, gb will face island nations like tahiti, where outriggers are sporting superstars, and they'll have to train accordingly. first thing that happens when we went to trial, they bring in a former olympian. it's an old boy in his 805, tells you you're expected to train nine times a week on top of work and life and family life and everything else. he actually tells you that the committee have said up to nine times a week, but he would have made it 11. come january, we all dedicate a lot of time to training and yeah, well _ hopefully we're going to do all right. come back with some some silverware. the competition in hawaii will be fierce, but the mood here is buoyant. maybe they can sail away with a medal. james dunn. bbc news. shoreham by sea. to the french open now where world number one iga swiatek is currently in the last four. she will play american coco gauff, who is through to the semis after beating two—time wimbledon runner up ons jabeur this morning. gauff came back from a set down to go through two sets to one. later on, in the men's singles, number two seed jannik sinner will take on grigor dimitrov. and that'll be followed by the third seed, carlos alcaraz, facing stefano tsitsipas for a place in the semi finals. that one you can listen to on 5 live and bbc sounds from 7:20 tonight. you can stay across all those games. also the build—up to the men's euros which start in ten days today. selection dilemmas for the squads. goodbye for now. let's go to our health correspondent sharon barbour. sharon, what impact is this having on nhs services? it isa it is a critical incident, it is ongoing. we understand it happened yesterday but last night staff not only at kings but guy's and saint thomas's and quite a number of other major hospitals across london are being impacted as a result of the cyber attack. being impacted as a result of the cyberattack. it being impacted as a result of the cyber attack. it has affected pathology services but that also has a major impact on places like accident and emergency because they need urgent blood cells to treat patients, notjust blood results but a range of results they need. it is deeply impacting blood transfusions which have had to stop at some of these hospitals. some patients are being moved, some test results being sent out, but it is a major incident having a huge impact on hospitals across london. it will put pressure on the hospitals because many are operating at capacity, it is one of the largest it incidents to happen across the nhs. sharon, thank you. eu elections will take place this week — and europe's role in supporting ukraine is high on the agenda. poland has a long border with the country, but russia and belarus are its neighbours too — and poland's prime minister is highlighting the threat posed by russia. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford reports. all along its northern border, poland is on alert. because on the other side here is kaliningrad, russian territory that's heavily militarised. poland has taken the threat posed by its neighbour very seriously ever since the full—scale invasion of ukraine. its constant warning is that vladimir putin won't stop there, so poland now plans to spend millions tightening security. prime minister donald tusk is making russia a big issue at the european elections. reinforcing poland's border, he said, was about telling the enemy to stay away. and in polish schools, there are new security drills — getting prepared in case of an emergency. first lesson, evacuation. the training is run by soldiers with the territorial defence. it's partly about building confidence in the armed forces, partly learning skills to cope in a crisis. the teenagers we met here had no doubts why they were doing this. we are in danger. i'm worried about that the war come to poland. russia is near to us and they could attack us, i think. but fearing moscow doesn't always mean help for kyiv — not to those who spoiled this grain from ukraine at the polish border. the polish countryside is often a place of strong feelings, not all of them positive about the eu or kyiv. mariusz has been farming since he was 18, but he says ukrainian goods are starting to flood the market here, undercutting local produce and threatening his livelihood. translation: it looks like ukraine i is fighting a war on two fronts - l one with russia and the other against polish farmers, an economic and agricultural war. if this continues, we willjust perish. we have no chance. it's not the economy, though. it is security that's poland's big theme at these elections. the message, that living next door to russia remains a risk, and that all europe needs to remain on guard. sarah rainsford, bbc news, on the polish—russian border. ahead of this week's 80th anniversary of d—day, 36 veterans — who all played a part in the momentous operation — have set off to normandy this morning. as they set sail from portsmouth, a wreath has been laid to remember those who died during the landings. john maguire has been speaking to d—day veteran ralph. here is his story. atjust 17 years old and working as a butcher in landlocked nottingham, ralph mcclure volunteered to sign up and join the royal navy. i didn't want to be in the army, i wanted to go to the navy. but why the navy? i don't know, ijust... just thought that... just that i fancied that, just what i wanted, i wanted to be, wanted to be a sailor. bit of saltwater in the blood, maybe, somewhere? possibly, somewhere. there somewhere. we're meeting ralph alongside his granddaughter, the actor vicky mcclure. in common with many veterans, he never spoke about his role on d—day, but when he began to open up, the two of them travelled back to normandy and to the towns ralph helped to liberate. it was only really in the recent years that we've found all this out. he's my granddad, that's all i've ever known, you know, mint humbug as i walked through the door, football, you know, the usual sort of stuff. so when this did come about and we did start learning more about his time in the second world war, it... yeah, it was news to me because i didn't learn about it at school, i was really clear about that. ijust, you know, ithink it's so important. there is a handful of people left now that were there that day, and he's one of them. and it's so important to keep this history really, really... you know, it's important for kids and for everybody to know about the history. on d—day, as the allied invasion of northern france began, ralph was the signaller on board one of these — a landing craft tank. this is the last surviving lct as they were known. it sits outside the d—day story museum in portsmouth. ralph has a vivid memory of climbing down from the bridge when he heard the metallic pinging sound of german snipers' bullets hitting the metal of the craft around him. i was going down, you could hear "ping, ping, ping." i thought... "they're after me, them snipers!" and they got german snipers in the houses, in the houses there, so i dropped and threw myself into where the. . .where the tanks had been. and once you're in the lower deck, they couldn't get at you. i was all right. oh, these are bits... these are bits of the landing that you can't, don't forget, sort of thing. now this... ..is all you was allowed. you see, its 14th of the sixth. that's all you was allowed to send home after landing. and after so many decades of reticence, he's now happy to recount his story to help us better understand exactly what happened, and why. it's so important, we can't rewrite history, we mustn't rewrite history, we have to tell it as it is. and it's so important that people like my granddad and other veterans are able to recall it. and i'm sure there's many out there that haven't felt able or wanting to do that. so any kind of information we can have that pulls in that history to keep it alive, because it's so important, that's why we're here. you know, we have to remember what that day meant for everybody. do you feel like a hero? if i called you a hero, what would you think? well, as i say, to me it was a job. it was to be done, and you did it to your best ability. and having said that, that's about it. i thought you might say that. yeah! 80 years on, and ralph is one of the few remaining voices. and today he speaks notjust for himself, but for his more than 22,400 comrades who can't talk to us. those who never made it home. john maguire, bbc news, nottingham. now it's time for the weather with ben rich. good afternoon. we are into meteorological summer but the weather will not feel particularly summer like over the next few days. some cloud and rain sinking south and east now, behind that, parts of northern ireland and scotland seeing some sunshine but also shallower clouds. it is a mixture of sunshine and showers that takes us through the next few days. some of the showers could be wintry over the highest ground in scotland, it could be cool but also quite breezy. here is the cloud and rain pushing south and east across england and wales, clearer skies but without a scattering of showers and cool air sinking south and east to the rest of the afternoon. temperatures over the next few hours for some will start to drop away, just 9 degrees in stornoway by five o'clock, perhaps 19 still in london. the rainbow push across the south—east corner into the first part of the evening, buying that we will see clear skies overnight, some showers into northern and western parts of the uk but under those it will be a much, much night than last night, even into single digits in towns and cities, it could get down to 1 degrees in the highlands, i suspect some sheltered spots will go all the way to freezing. in the north of scotland, if you look close enough you can see some snow, that it's a sign of the winteriness we expected the showers, only above around 800 metres elevation but some sleet and snow over the tops of the mountains, we will see lots of showers tomorrow across the northern half of the uk tomorrow, not so many further south, winds relatively light and not feeling too bad in the sunshine but quite windy further north and west. temperatures around 11 to 17. typical temperatures for this time of year would be around 15 to 20 so below average temperatures and we have not had many days of those recently. low pressure in charge over the next few days, close to the centre of the lower across the north of the uk quite a few showers, still hints of winteriness over the highest ground on thursday, not as many showers further south, dry weather and spells of sunshine per temperature is still a little below power. it is similar on friday but we might see some slightly more persistent and widespread rain across scotland. for northern ireland, england and wales, but the cloud, some showers, some sunshine and maybe hints of those temperatures are starting to climb just a little bit less cool into the weekend. still some showers, particularly towards the north and west of the uk, but also a decent amount of dry weather, particularly further south and east. back to you, sally. further south and east. back to you, sall . . ~ further south and east. back to you, sall . . ,, ,., further south and east. back to you, sall. . ~' �* you can keep up to date with all of today's stories on the bbc news channel, and on the bbc news website and app. and, of course, you'll find all the fallout and analysis after this evening's leaders debate. here on bbc one, jane hill will have the news at six. but that's all from today's bbc news at one. enjoy the rest of your day. goodbye. live from london, this is bbc news. major london hospitals are hit by a cyber attack, leading to cancelled operations and emergency patients being moved. rishi sunak and sir keir starmer will go head to head in a tv debate tonight for the first time in this general election campaign. the conservatives pledge to cut the number of visas available to migrants if they win the election. labour say the tories have lost control of the issue. london's king's college hospital confirms cyber attack tests have revealed a newborn baby discovered in an east london park earlier this year is the sister of two other children abandoned by the same parents. early trends in the indian election results show by minister narendra modi eyeing up a third term, but without the landslide he had hoped for. hello, i'm annita mcveigh. thank you forjoining us on bbc news this afternoon. we will get you right up to date with all the general election using just a moment. first i want to bring you some breaking news coming into us in the last few minutes. it is news of another cyber this