resistance from the right of his party. and the world's largest digital astronomy camera is now complete. it's capable of producing approximately 1,000 images a night. scientists hope to use it to study dark matter and the distribution of galaxies. in exactly two weeks' time, we'll be raking over the results of the local and mayoral elections in england, and the police and crime commissioner vote in wales, for what they might tell us about the coming general election. there are 11 mayoral contests taking place from london to liverpool and beyond. tees valley is currently held by a conservative mayor — but the result there is likely to be significant for the two men vying to be prime minister. newsnight�*s nicholas watt

reports from tees valley. an icon of a vibrant an icon of a vibrant industrial an icon of a vibrant industrial past, now out of action, symbolising area struggling to find its feet. tees valley, and infinite hercules in its day, a white capital of imake income is now clearing a site of past glories and looking for new ventures. a painful process with economic decline, alongside pockets of affluence. that has placed this area on the national map, and now a mayoral contest with high—stakes mayoral contest with high—sta kes from mayoral contest with high—stakes from the two main parties. a poster boy of the red bull, after his narrow win here in 2017. re—elected in a landslide in 2021, ben houchen is now hoping to buck the national

trend. a local labour stalwart, hopes to win back what was once a heartland for his party, and a winnerfor heartland for his party, and a winner for chris heartland for his party, and a winnerfor chris mcewan heartland for his party, and a winner for chris mcewan would ease keir starmer�*s pass nationally. and the lib dems outsider, placing the outsider of child poverty at the heart of his campaign. 0ver outsider of child poverty at the heart of his campaign. over the past decade or so, tees valley felt neglected by the party that thought it was the area's champion. so voters delivered a series of bloody noses to labour, try electing a conservative mayor and then injecting labour from the conservative mayor and then injecting labourfrom the prized parliamentary seat of hartlepool in a by—election, the lowest of low points. —— injecting labour. that is why this may or context reverberates further beyond here, the tory win, and rishi sunak will grab a lifeline. a labour win and keir starmer will believe that he is on a roll. , , ., ., , ,

roll. this is the headline grabber. if rishi sunak _ roll. this is the headline grabber. if rishi sunak holds _ roll. this is the headline grabber. if rishi sunak holds on _ roll. this is the headline grabber. if rishi sunak holds on to - roll. this is the headline grabber. if rishi sunak holds on to this, i if rishi sunak holds on to this, then that is what he will be trumpeting, he does have that indefinable quality to reach out to these form areas that borisjohnson one, so that is big for him, but to overturn 873% share of the vote last time around for labour, it would be a massive triumph, to show that they really are coming home to their former heartlands, so just talking to various people out on doorsteps, they say it is incredibly close, and they say it is incredibly close, and they are all wary for their own sites, but nobody is really predicting the win here. find predicting the win here. and offerin . s predicting the win here. and offerings from _ predicting the win here. and offerings from the _ predicting the win here. and offerings from the party's —— parties vying for the top spot, from ben houchen, a highly personal campaign, with no mention of the conservative party, other than in the small print. and then bold claims about building a hospital and delivering more international flights. ben houchen hails thousands ofjobs, created at tees works, the

old redcar steelworks which closed in 2015, no mention of a recent review, which criticised oversight of the multi—million pound project with 28 recommendations for greater transparency. for labour, a more conventional party campaign with more modest pledges, on free town centre parking and a £2 cap on train and bus fares. from the lib dems, a pledge to deliver £25 million per yearfrom pledge to deliver £25 million per year from early years dislike for an early years support programme. showing off his plans to his leader. bennett meets the test commit when he says he will do something, he does it. people say that he couldn't save the airport, but he did. people said they wouldn't be a free port, but he delivered it. people said there was no way that steel—making will come back to teesside, he has made it happen, he embodies that teesside fighting spirit and he has made things happen. this is obviously a really difficult time

for the conservative party, but i think ben is perhaps the one person who can rise above it.— who can rise above it. labour's candidate _ who can rise above it. labour's candidate believes _ who can rise above it. labour's candidate believes he - who can rise above it. labour's candidate believes he can - who can rise above it. labour's candidate believes he can tap. who can rise above it. labour's i candidate believes he can tap into the potential of this former industrial behemoth. i the potential of this former industrial behemoth.- the potential of this former industrial behemoth. i was raised here. i've industrial behemoth. i was raised here- i've got _ industrial behemoth. i was raised here. i've got my _ industrial behemoth. i was raised here. i've got my mum _ industrial behemoth. i was raised here. i've got my mum in - industrial behemoth. i was raised| here. i've got my mum in redcar, industrial behemoth. i was raised - here. i've got my mum in redcar, my stepmum _ here. i've got my mum in redcar, my stepmum in_ here. i've got my mum in redcar, my stepmum in middlesbrough, brought up my three _ stepmum in middlesbrough, brought up my three daughters in darlington. i've worked here for most of my working — i've worked here for most of my working career, in the nhs, what is this place _ working career, in the nhs, what is this place for me because make it as a place _ this place for me because make it as a place of— this place for me because make it as a place of immense opportunity. it is also _ a place of immense opportunity. it is also a _ a place of immense opportunity. it is also a place with challenges, but it is also— is also a place with challenges, but it is also a — is also a place with challenges, but it is also a place with accessibility to many things. i often — accessibility to many things. i often talk about, from coast to country. — often talk about, from coast to country, we have marvellous beaches, and we _ country, we have marvellous beaches, and we have _ country, we have marvellous beaches, and we have countryside on our doorsteo — and we have countryside on our doorstep. that is what it means for me. . ., . ., , me. renewed confidence from the lib dems who sat — me. renewed confidence from the lib dems who sat out _ me. renewed confidence from the lib dems who sat out the _ me. renewed confidence from the lib dems who sat out the last _ me. renewed confidence from the lib dems who sat out the last contest. i dems who sat out the last contest. we see all areas as being very

receptive to our court level message, i've been out knocking on hundreds of doors, speaking to a huge amount of people, and we have had an excellent turnout from volunteers. in the region, at the moment, durham county council has a lib dem leader, we are really making a difference to local people's lives all over the place, this isjust the next step in our process. its, next step in our process. a commanding presence at heart of an electoral battleground which may soon command the nation's attention. you can get more details on who is in the running for the thames valley mayor, —— tees valley mayor, and what that consists of on the website. there are mayor elections across other parts of england and of course local elections, plus those elections for police and crime commissioners, both in england and wales. full details on all of those, whether there is an election going on in yourarea,

whether there is an election going on in your area, you can check on the bbc news website or app. we will have full coverage of those elections here on bbc news. staying in the uk, a financial watchdog is warning firms they must have their houses in order before new regulations aimed at protecting victims of fraud come into force in october. the payment systems regulator says traditional high street banks have made significant steps in refunding victims in recent years, but smaller, online—based money transfer services — or so—called electronic money institutions — still have a long way to go to catch up. earlier i spoke to dan whitworth, from radio 4's money box programme, who's been looking into this. this comes down to protecting victims of fraud. the way the regulator wants to do that is to incentivise banks, to incentivise so—called electronic money institutions, to hold them liable for victims' losses, to incentivise them to essentially better protect them and stop fraud happening in the first place.

so what is an electronic money institution? well, some of the best and well—known of those are brand names like wise, tide and revolut and it is those that the regulator wants to up their standards to help protect people, and fundamentally it comes down to people i've been speaking to, a lady called carol alexander who is a victim of fraud who had £80,000 stolen from her bank account and from her emi about a year ago. the bank account refunded within 2a hours, and apologised, and it took her an 18—month fight to get the money back from her emi, from her electronic money institution. she just talked me through the kind of impact that had on her. the difference between the bank and emi, electronic money institution, was like night and day. the bank where professional, they sent me _ the bank where professional, they sent me details of a rate access scans, _ sent me details of a rate access scans, they told me that was what

had happened, and the emi had basically— had happened, and the emi had basically no systems in place. in a carol's case. _ basically no systems in place. in a carol's case, they _ basically no systems in place. in a. carol's case, they apologise for the stress that she suffered, and say that they have made vast progress, and have put lots of changes in place since that case. you can see the wide disparity, that is what the reggae to want to sort out with these changes are due in october. so what are the changes and what will this mean for consumers? it is really good news, because the changes that come into force, the 7th of october, they will be mandatory. at the moment, there is a voluntary scheme that some high—street banks, most of them have signed up to, but these new regulations, they will be obligatory. they will cover nearly every single payment made in the uk, so much more protection for customers. they won't cover transactions that are foreign, going overseas, so international transactions and the white have transactions and the white have transactions which involve cryptocurrency. there will be a

limit on how much people can get refunded, forging £15,000 and the amount to be reimbursed will be split between firms, 50—50, so 50% of a refund will come from the sending firm or the sending bank and 50% of the refund will come from the receiving bank. that is a really, really big step forward from where we are at the moment, and a regulator told me that they want what they called an equivalence of service. what that means is they want all the victims to be treated the same, regardless of where they keep their money, so big news for consumers, formal protections, because these regulations, they will because these regulations, they will be obligatory, mandatory, but from the 7th of october, lots more protection for fraud victims in the uk. ,, ., ., , protection for fraud victims in the uk. .,, i. protection for fraud victims in the uk. so, as you said, these news -- new rules — uk. so, as you said, these news -- new rules come _ uk. so, as you said, these news -- new rules come into _ uk. so, as you said, these news -- new rules come into force - uk. so, as you said, these news -- new rules come into force in - new rules come into force in october. what should people do in 0ctober. what should people do in the meantime if they are worried about being a victim of fraud quiz maker should be very careful, you should be suspicious of any cold calls or any fishing text messages.

carol, you have from there, she was targeted after she fell victim to an energy rebate scam one half years ago. —— phishing. fraudsters will prey on any witnesses, they will exploit any weaknesses, so people need to be very careful, speak to people, speak to family, friends, so if you are a bit suspicious, remember, no bank, no police force, hmrc, they will never ask you —— never ask you to move money to a safe account, so always be very circumspect. an app designed to reduce disruption for people travelling from the uk across the channel will not be ready in time for a new eu border scheme, according to the boss of the rail firm — eurostar. under the much—delayed entry exit system, non—eu citizens will need to register fingerprints and a photo at the borderfrom 0ctober. the app is meant to replace passport stamping by allowing passengers

to scan their fingerprints remotely and prevent long queues. with more on this is our bbc reporter — esyllt carr, whojoins me from our london newsroom. just remind us, what is the purpose of this new eu border scheme? this is the entry — of this new eu border scheme? this is the entry exit _ of this new eu border scheme? ti 3 is the entry exit system, as you said, and it is designed to streamline those movements of people in and out of the eu, and the eu says to improve security, and keeping track of who is coming in and out. it will mean those coming from non—eu countries, including britain, will have to provide some extra information at the border and thatis extra information at the border and that is a photo, passport details and fingerprint information as well. there will be an extra amount of admin and there has been lots of issues with this, meaning the scheme has been a delay. it was due to come into effect in october, 2022, but it is now due to start in october this year. is now due to start in october this ear. , ., ., , ., ., , , year. there is going to be an app which will help _ year. there is going to be an app which will help people _ year. there is going to be an app which will help people apply i year. there is going to be an app i which will help people apply before getting to the eurostar, or to

dover, to cross the channel. why is thatis dover, to cross the channel. why is that is not ready in time? this i dover, to cross the channel. why is that is not ready in time?— that is not ready in time? as i say, there has been _ that is not ready in time? as i say, there has been concerned - that is not ready in time? as i say, there has been concerned about i that is not ready in time? as i say, i there has been concerned about how this is going to work, with all the extra admin at the port and an app thatis extra admin at the port and an app that is being developed by the eu has been proposed as one of the ways that this could be made much smoother. that is because people would be able to use the app to input or import some of this data remotely before they get to the border. as we have heard this week from the boss, the chief executive of eurostar, she has told the bbc that they are not expecting that app to be ready before october. we don't know exactly when the app is expected to launch, but some groups say it may not be until summer 2025. that means that for much of the industry, they aren't having to prepare for those new border checks to go ahead, regardless of whether the app is ready or not. haifa to go ahead, regardless of whether the app is ready or not.— the app is ready or not. how are eurostar. _ the app is ready or not. how are eurostar, and _ the app is ready or not. how are eurostar, and the _ the app is ready or not. how are eurostar, and the others, i the app is ready or not. how are eurostar, and the others, for i eurostar, and the others, for example, preparing for those delays with the app? the

example, preparing for those delays with the app?— with the app? the chief executive of eurostar told _ with the app? the chief executive of eurostar told the _ with the app? the chief executive of eurostar told the bbc _ with the app? the chief executive of eurostar told the bbc that _ with the app? the chief executive of eurostar told the bbc that they i with the app? the chief executive of eurostar told the bbc that they are l eurostar told the bbc that they are making preparations, building an extra 48 kiosks at the terminal at st pancras station to help facilitate some of those checks. she said for her, the priority is about preparing a customer flow, said for her, the priority is about preparing a customerflow, making sure there is as much staff, as many staff as possible, as much space for customers to cross the border. there is no doubt, she said the app would have made things smooth as they are still expecting that to come on board at some point. there has been lots of concern in other parts of the industry about how this is going to be managed at the port of dover, with several ferry companies having said that they are worried of the impact of long queues created at the border, at dover, and that that could have a knock—on effect on the tourism industry, local businesses and the communities around those areas. they have even been called for that 0ctober date to be pushed back even though it has already been significantly delayed. there are

preparations under way but this is an issue which has sparked a lot of concern in the industry about how to manage it, when it does finally happen. manage it, when it does finally ha en. . ~' ,, manage it, when it does finally hauen. . ~' , manage it, when it does finally hauen. . ~ , . the biggest indoor arena in the uk has its final test event today before officially opening next week. co—0p live in manchester has a capacity of 23,500 — 500 more than the previous record holder, manchester arena. rick astley will put the venue through its paces this evening. 0ur entertainment correspondent colin paterson has been watching the final preparations. the new co—0p live in manchester with a capacity of 23,500. it's the biggest indoor venue in britain and, as you can see, the finishing touches are still being put in place, which is why i have to dress as one of the village people. to show us round tim leiweke,

the boss of oak view music group, who raised £365 million in private finance to get it built. we have about 1,600 workers on site today. we could get almost 10,000 people on this floor. if you yell, go ahead and give it a yell. 0h! no echo. this is my favourite room that no one ever gets to see. these are all going out to the largest bar in the uk. this is all beer? this is all beer. the artist comes to the stage... out of their dressing room. yeah. does their prayer, all together. going on right onto the stage here. that's it? that's it. and this is where the stages will be built. the stage is here — no signs, no advertising, no scoreboards, no led boards. all gone, because they hurt the acoustics of the experience. this is about the artist, it's about music and it's about their direct relationship with their fans being right on top of them.

"hello, manchester!" how about, hello, uk! acts asked to play in the next couple of months include stevie nicks. # welcome to the hotel california.# the eagles for the final five uk shows ever. and on the 14th of may, manchester's elbow have a hometown show. it's wonderful getting another arena in manchester. it's a purpose—built music venue, so you don't have to worry about all the seating behind you. this new venue probably needs a bit of scuffing up, so we're looking forward to our fans coming and doing exactly that. i'd say we've graffitied most of the dressing rooms we've ever been in, yeah. and the really good trick

is it's got a high ceiling, it's like getting a human pyramid to get up there, some pizza and scuttling up to the top with a biro. but with two small music venues closing every week in the uk, i wanted to know if a very big one co—0p live had any plans on how they could help. do you worry about the future? because that is where your next generation of headliners comes from. we're here to be a part of the community. i'm not here to take your ticket. i'm here to make this a better place to live and inspire you. and i'm here to bring a new enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit to what we do as a company here that will include theatres and clubs once i get this beast open. and colin patersonjoined me earlier from the arena together with the general manager. it opens officially on tuesday, with the british comedian peter kay doing a stand—up set, but tonight there is a test of it — about 7,000 people will probably be coming in tonight to make sure that everything works. i can speak to a man who's

going to be busy today. this is garry roden, the general manager of co—0p live. this is a big one for you. a very big one, yeah. the testing process is incredibly important to what we're doing here. but as you can see, we're about to open europe's largest new arena, which we're incredibly excited about. now, explain about what makes this difference. well, aside from the size, we can do 23,500 people in the round. if you look around, this is in completely a black bowl. so it's been designed around the idea of these kind of like small music clubs of the old days, but on a massive, massive scale. and then on top of that, we've got this incredible acoustic treatment that goes all around, there's four layers of it on the roof. there's panelling all around the walls. it's almost like a radio studio in here. what surprised me was this is 23,500 people, the biggest in the uk, but it feels quite intimate when you look up at the very final seats. apparently, they're 23 metres closer to the stage than in comparable arenas around the country. yeah, the architect did an incrediblejob here and the floors are a lot wider. traditionally, a lot of the arenas

that were built in the �*90s when ice hockey was meant to launch in the uk and be a big thing. so the angles are all very, very different, whereas this has been built with music first and music in mind. how can there possibly be enough demand for two venues of over 20,000 capacity in manchester? well, we're already demonstrating that with the line—up that we've got. we've got over 55 shows already on sale now. we've sold nearly, getting close to 700,000 tickets, which is insane. i mean, we don't concentrate on what our friends are doing down the road in manchester at a0. we're focused on bringing more artists from all around the world here. so we're very, very confident that we can get that. we're going to be doing between 120, 150 events a year here, and manchester can. you know, what we're doing here is more about kind of, you know, separate improving things from that london—north divide. and so we'll be taking shows, notjust from the a0, but also from all around the uk and bringing more shows to the uk as well. and in the report, there are guy garvey from elbow who plays here in may, says the venues are a little too pristine. he thinks he'll graffiti the dressing rooms. no, he won't. not on my watch!

we spent a lot of money on those dressing rooms and they look absolutely beautiful. what he's going to expect when he gets there is, i mean, like a luxury hotel room. we've gone to town. the artist experience here is absolutely paramount. harry styles is one of the investors and he has helped design them. absolutely. and that's again, when you look at this black box, people that are in the suites, they have to come out and you won't see anybody being entertained in the back. everyone's going to be watching. and the other thing about this bowl is there's no advertising here. there's no distraction between the artist and the fans. so there'll be a really intimate moment without all the distraction that usually goes on in arenas. there are some big acts playing in the next few months. i was mentioning the eagles, stevie nicks. which one are you particularly excited about? 0h, listen, i'm a child of the �*90s. my first album that i bought on cd was definitely, maybe, so the fact that liam gallagher, i mean, here, definitely maybe my my second son charlie, his middle name is noel. so i won't tell liam that! but but no, 0asis for me is the soundtrack to my youth. and that would be a big moment for me, for sure. and finally, tonight's rick astley, the test event. someone has to be the person to do the first stage dive at this arena.

i hear you're volunteering. not a chance. i don't... i don't trust myself. i think i'll be running around, you know, making sure that everything is working as planned and supporting my incredible team that are getting this thing off the ground. gary roden, general manager of co—op live, thank you very much forjoining us on this very busy morning. yes, it all gets under way in earnest on tuesday with peter kay, with that test event tonight. and i'm going to have anotherfew hours of trying to persuade gary we wanted to bring you some calm this saturday morning, so here it is — listen to this... birdsong. that is the sound of one of the uk's most endangered species of bird, the nightingale. if it sounds familiar, that may be because it has also been widely used in the music of famous artists and composers throughout history. it is one of many you can now stream after an initiative by major platforms to recognise the sounds of nature as an artist

in their own right. 0ur reporter laura foster has been to hear it for herself. birdsong. you'll always hear a nightingale before you see it. but it could be a while before you spot one. the first sound, usually the beginning of a song, is a kind of a long, continuous tone, and then they go into, like, really fast, so it goes... he whistles. and then "chop, chop, chop, chop". and if you're lucky, you'll get this close. at this time of year, the male nightingale is singing because it's showing off — it wants to find a mate. and it can be as loud as a motorbike engine when it's doing that. now, when it does find a partner, it will quieten down, but it will still pipe up every now and then in order to

protect its territory. you look at the nightingale, they don't look much, and the male looks pretty well identical to the female, so it's not about plumage and showing off in that respect — it is about your vocal gymnastics that you can do. and they do that to an amazing effect. the female on the other side, sounds like a small frog, really, it doesn't make much of a song at all, and it's very rarely seen. fingringhoe wick nature discovery park is one of the first places the nightingales come across when they fly home from spending the winter in africa. its brambles and thickets provide a fortress for one of the uk's most endangered birds. nightingales have been declining at such an alarming rate. it's said that we've lost 90% of the nightingale population in the last 50 years or so, so it's really important that they have a place like this nature reserve that they can come to during their breeding season. in fact, this is believed to be the most concentrated population of the nightingales in the uk. if people want to encourage nightingales where they live,

what can they do? first advice would be let nature in. so let the stinging nettles grow, let the spiky stuff appear, like the brambles and the dog—rose, all the stuff that us humans really don't like. for good reason — it stings us, it cuts us, it pricks us. actually, nightingales love that. the denser it is, the more you can't see through it, the happier they will be. from the end of next week, the park will be open for guided tours at dusk, when the birds will be at their most vocal. laura foster, bbc news. what a lovely sound. rowers at oxford university will today name one of their boats �*river action' in honour of a campaign group which aims to hold water companies to account for river pollution. it comes amid concern over high levels of e.coli in the river thames during last month's 0xford and cambridge boat races, when one rowerfell ill before the race. now it's time for a look

at the weather with matt taylor. hello. it's been a lovely day so far for many, but there's a bit of a chill noticeable out of the sunshine. and if we look at our chart, temperatures compared to normal for the time of year, the blue colours indicating across eastern parts of the uk and into much of europe showed temperatures below average this weekend. big departure for europe where we've seen record breaking heat so far this april. it's because of a change in pressure patterns. to the south and east, low pressure dominating quite stormy at times here, but to the north and west with us, a rare glimpse of high pressure at last. that means for most, we continue with a dry story through today. there's a few isolated showers. eastern counties of england, cold breeze here as well, thick cloud with some drizzle pushing into the north of scotland later. and it builds up generally speaking, but across these sheltered western areas, it stays sunny and pleasant

in that sunshine to 13 to 15 degrees, compared to a chilly 7 to 10 degrees in the east. 0ne crumb of comfort, i suppose, across some northern eastern areas is that pollen levels, tree pollen that is, is low to moderate, but creeping up to high this afternoon across parts of the southwest. into this evening and overnight, we've got some showers across the south east for a while, but many places dry. biggest exception, central and eastern scotland will see the cloud pick up, outbreaks of rain and drizzle, a bit more cloud as well more generally through tonight, so not as cold as the “4, —3 we saw last night. there will be an isolated touch of frost around, particularly in the sunnier west to begin with. a lot more clouds, though, across central east of scotland, outbreaks of rain, of drizzle that could push into the isle of man, cumbria, northumberland, north lancashire. the clouds will be variable across the rest of england. across the rest of england, wales some sunny breaks, but quite a breeze to east anglia. in the southeast, that wind particularly blustery around canary wharf for those taking part in the london marathon. but by and large, a dry story.

13 degrees on the eastern coast, but look at that, northern ireland, 18 degrees possible out towards the west. now through into monday after a chilly start, cloud will spread its way southwards across the country. rain to begin with in northern england, north wales, that rain will spread its way southwards and eastwards through the day. further north, we'll see a little bit of sunshine breakthrough just one or two showers. warmest conditions in around central scotland at 16 celsius, but a chilly 9 to 13 degrees across parts of england and wales, and staying cool through this next week.

live from london, this is bbc news. iran downplays friday's presumed attack by israel, with the foreign minister describing the weapons used as "children's toys" that had caused no deaths or damage. a multi—billion—dollar ukraine aid bill moves one step closer to being passed by us lawmakers. a man who set himself on fire outside the court in new york where donald trump's hush—money trial is taking place has died. and it's checkmate for a nigerian chess master, as he sets a new world record —

playing for 60 hours non—stop. hello. i'm nicky schiller. welcome to the programme. we start this hour with the tensions in the middle east. iran's foreign minister has downplayed israel's involvement in the recent attack on his country, describing the weapons used as "children's toys". hossein amir—abdollahian made the comments in an interview with us media. he said israeli microdrones used in the operation had caused no deaths or damage, and dismissed it as a "desperate attempt" by israel to "make a victory out of their repeated defeats". he said iran would respond at the "maximum level" if israel acts against its interests. tehran's muted response to friday morning's events has raised hopes that tensions between the countries can be dampened, and a wider escalation averted. our first report is from our north america correspondent, will vernon.