PM will not seek to block Andy Burnham in by-election

The BBC understands the prime minister will not seek to block Andy Burnham from becoming a candidate for the seat of Makerfield - after Labour MP Josh Simons said he would be standing down for him. Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel has urged the US to lift its oil blockade, hours after rare protests over worsening power cuts on the Communist-run island. And are children in the midst of a reading crisis? We speak to the outgoing Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce.