hello and welcome to the programme. we start this hour in the united states where five people have been charged over the death of the friends star matthew perry. the 54—year—old actor was found dead in a hot tub at his home — with the powerful anaesthetic ketamine in his system. those charged include the actor's former personal assistant, two doctors who are accused of supplying the star with the drug and a woman known as the "ketamine queen." emmy vardy reports from los angeles. hey, i got you a present.

oh, my goodness, where did you hide it?! to fans, matthew perry, best known as chandler bing, was the funny character from friends who'd made no secret of his flaws. he'd struggled with drugs and alcohol throughout his career. i'm in control of the first drink and so i do all these things to protect myself from not having the first drink. at the time of his death, he was said to have been undergoing therapy for depression, taking small doses of ketamine. but when he was found in the jacuzzi at his home, the levels of the drug in his body were much higher. the five people facing charges are alleged to be part of a criminal network supplying the drug, including two doctors, who used the actor, say law enforcement, as a way to make money. these defendants took advantage of mr perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves. they knew what they were doing was wrong. were doing was risking great danger to mr perry, but they did it anyways. the desperation that led perry to these individuals was not. met with help as it should have been from the doctors, - but instead it was met with exploitation. - exploitation by those - have should have guided him towards help. matthew perry was charged 2,000 for a dose of ketamine worth around $12.

the doctors are accused of acquiring the drug and falsifying medical records. one of them, writing in a text, "i wonder how much this moron will pay?" and matthew perry's personal assistant has admitted injecting him on the day he died. investigators say why looking into the actor's death they uncovered a drug supply network involving a dealer known as the ketamine queen in hollywood and say other suspects in connection with the operation are continuing to be investigated. 0ur north america correspondent, peter bowes gave me more deatils about the charges and the investigation. we heard an extraordinary amount of detail at that news conference earlier involving the los angeles police department and federal agencies, as well, about the five individuals who are alleged to have essentially helped matthew perry take this drug

of ketamine, which is a legal drug but legal if it is used in medical terms, with doctors monitoring an individual in low doses for depression, for anxiety. but in this case, matthew perry was provided with dozens and dozens of vials at a level which ultimately killed him. and we are learning that two doctors, matthew perry's personal assistant and a woman called the ketamine queen, an alleged drug dealer based in los angeles, and a fifth person who described as a broker, were all involved in this chain of events. in this chain of events to get matthew perry those drugs when, as we heard at this news conference, he fell back into addiction. i think a lot of people had hoped that matthew perry's problems with drugs and alcohol were behind him. indeed, he had talked about that being the situation, but it seems we really are just learning now that his problems were still very deep problems and that he

had to quote one of the prosecutors, turned to unscrupulous doctors. who knew because of their profession knew that these drugs were potentially very, very dangerous, but did this because they could earn money, a lot of money from matthew perry. peter, matthew perry's struggles were widely known, but he was also very much loved in the community and for his role on friends. what's been the reaction to these new developments? and that's what makes this all the more tragic, because matthew perry, as you say, much love for his role in friends, certainly here in los angeles as a beloved character in hollywood. he'd been very honest about his problems. he'd written about it and clearly reacting in social media, you can see that many of his fans are devastated by this new turn of events because when he died, there wasn't any suggestion of any criminal activity. just that he had died of an overdose of this particular drug.

drowning was also a factor, and coronary disease was also an issue as well. but to learn of this extensive alleged network of individuals who essentially enabled matthew perry to continue or indeed restart taking drugs, perhaps a new drug to him that he'd been using to get his depression under control. but to use to an extent that ultimately killed him, that is, for so many people, just a tragic situation. now to the middle east — and as the latest ceasefire talks take place in qatar, its been claimed we've reached a stark milestone in the human cost of the gaza conflict. the hamas—run health ministry says the number of palestinians killed there has surpassed 40,000. it's a number that's disputed by israel. the figure does not distinguish between civilians and fighters. but a majority of the fatalities are said to be children, women or the elderly. the un has previously found the figures from gaza to be reliable. some experts have said the actual number of those killed is likely to be far

higher, with thousands buried under rubble. and medical researchers have also pointed out many more could yet die from indirect causes, such as disease and hunger. hussein ibish is senior resident scholar at the arab gulf states institute. he told me he's not optimistic about the talks in qatar having a successful outcome. i would say i'm less pessimistic than i have been about other rounds. i do think both sets of leaders are strongly in favour of continuing the fighting in general, and i think they think they're getting gaining from it politically, but they would gain a lot at a low cost to that broader interest of of feeling the war should go on for them if they did agree to a temporary ceasefire, retrieved prisoners on both sides with the political benefits that go with that, and took the time to regroup their militaries, because the war is changing now from an israeli drive

from the north to the south, focussed on destroying large targets of value both to hamas and to gaza society generally, because this is a, you know, a war against gaza to court and to regroup their forces for the emerging war of insurgency versus counterinsurgency all over gaza in little bits and pieces. that's the war hamas was looking for, i think, when they launched the october 7th attack. i think netanyahu at least is happy to give it to them. so they might agree to a pause. but then they would, i think, almost certainly go back to fighting. well, any pause would have to come with some form of agreement. but hamas aren't even taking part in these talks. well, yes, that's a very good point. i do think that they are in an indirect way, in the sense that they're diplomatic leaders in qatar.

you know, uh, are easily, easily able to follow what's going on. and the real leadership in gaza can influence things one way or another. in other words, that's not, uh, absolutely dispositive about the potential for an agreement. 0n the other hand, by killing the lead hamas negotiator and diplomatic chief and titular chief, ismail haniyeh, in iran a couple of weeks ago, um, israel really kind of showed or at least netanyahu showed, that he is more interested in vengeance and, you know, sort of symbolic victories rather than an agreement to free the hostages. 0n the other hand, he might want to go ahead anyway if he can get a deal he likes. well, israel has not confirmed or denied any involvement in that killing. just to say that. but on israel's side, is there any other evidence to suggest that they do want to pursue a ceasefire? i mean, by all intents and purposes, their stated goal is to eradicate hamas and that doesn't come about by stopping fighting. well, no. and in fact, i'm sure

that the netanyahu government at this point would not agree to an open—ended ceasefire. the ceasefire that's on the table is about six weeks long, and the israelis have put a whole bunch of new conditions about not withdrawing from strategic areas like the philadelphia corridor and the rafah crossing just south of rafah and on the egyptian border. they don't want to leave that area and other strategic areas. and the other condition is they want to be free to resume fighting as soon as the clock stops ticking on the six week pause that might be on the table. and that's different than the biden plan, which said that as long as both sides are living up to their agreements, the ceasefire should go on after phase one looking for an agreement for phase two. but the israelis are not explicitly saying absolutely not, they want to start fighting again or have the option to as soon as the six weeks are over. and, you know, again, this makes it harder

to reach an agreement, but hamas might be open to that. i wouldn't be 100% sure this can't happen. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. a source has confirmed to the bbc that british challenger 2 tanks have been used in ukraine's surprise incursion into russia. moscow has set up a council to co—ordinate the response to ukraine's continuing offensive in the kursk region. earlier, ukraine said it had established its first military office inside russian territory. president biden has joined other world leaders in calling for new elections in venezuela, after last month's disputed vote. mr biden said he supported the suggestion by brazil and colombia for another presidential poll. but the venezuelan opposition has criticised the idea. it says it beat nicolas maduro, and accuses him of fraud. maduro rejected the comments from the us and brazil.

internet entrepreneur kim dotcom has lost his long battle to avoid extradition from new zealand to the united states. the authorities in the us say he made his fortune from digital piracy on the now—defunct file—sharing website megaupload, which he founded in 2005. mr dotcom has said he had no control over what users uploaded to the site. sweden's public health agency says it has recorded the first case of a contagious new variant of mpox outside the african continent. on wednesday, the world health organization declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak in the democratic republic of congo that has since spread to other countries. mpox, which was previously known as monkeypox, is transmitted through close contact. magnus gisslen from the public health authority of sweden says the country is well prepared to handle a potential outbreak. this is a person that has been travelling in the areas

where the clade i of mpox is spreading, and when coming to sweden, he was very quickly diagnosed and isolated and contact tracing was starting. so so that is where we are now. so there is no indications that we do have any secondary cases right now. but that's sort of the most important thing is to not have a spread from this case to other cases. even so, it is alarming, i guess. how prepared do you think sweden is in terms of, you know, treatment capabilities for mmpox? you know, treatment capabilities for mpox? i think we are very well prepared. and i mean, there are vaccines against mpox, and we do have anti—viral drugs against mpox. and i can say one thing that, i mean, this is one case in sweden, and i mean, it is very probable that we will see more cases in europe in the near close time. so it's important for all countries to be aware that this can happen for people coming from those countries and to to take the actions needed.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

the biggest party in thailand's coalition government has chosen the daughter of the billionaire former leader, thaksin shinawatra, to be prime minister. paetongtarn shinawatra's nomination will be put to a vote in parliament later on friday. the announcement was made a day after the constitutional court dramatically dismissed srettha thavisin as prime minister. it accused him of a gross violation of ethicsearlier this month, the court ordered the dissolution of move forward, the country's most popular party, over its election pledge to reform thailand's strict lese majeste law. let's pick up with some anaylsis. i'm joined now by aim sinpeng — the thailand country coordinator at the sydney southeast asia centre.

thank you forjoining me to talk about this today. paetongtarn shinawatra looks to be the nominee, what is the main thing to understand by her given herfather�*s main thing to understand by her given her father's history with thailand. . given her father's history with thailand. ,, , given her father's history with thailand. . , . given her father's history with thailand. ,, , ., ., , ., thailand. she is a household name. thailand. she is a household name- her— thailand. she is a household name. her nomination - thailand. she is a household name. her nomination make sense. she is young, likeable and she is much more likely to be agreeable on things rather compared to her colleague which was much more a seasoned politician, much older. and i think her choice is actually going to help in the favour especially with the rise of dissent and resentment on what happens with the move forward party. happens with the move forward .a . , happens with the move forward .a _ , ., happens with the move forward party. given what happened to the move forward _ party. given what happened to the move forward party - party. given what happened to the move forward party and i party. given what happened to l the move forward party and now they have been dissolved, what do you think the reaction will be for the vast number of people that voted in thailand now find themselves with a frame that was not voted for. this really happened a year

ago. the resentment continues. this has been a pattern of type politics as well. so the best we can hope for in a situation like this is hopefully, the governing coalition made the right bet that choosing paetongtarn shinawatra is actually going to help reduce some of the tension a bit because she is very much the kind of person that supporters of the move forward party would like. young, educated, she is quite progressive, actually and likeable so hopefully that will help stamp any future short—term political crisis like protests that may occur in thailand. ., ., �* , like protests that may occur in thailand. ., , ., , thailand. you don't see any opposition _ thailand. you don't see any opposition to _ thailand. you don't see any opposition to her _ thailand. you don't see any| opposition to her nomination that? , ., ., , that? there is already opposition _ that? there is already opposition from - that? there is already opposition from the l that? there is already - opposition from the opposition side, but there has not been from the coalition governing side. ~ . ,

side. what will be the challenges _ side. what will be the challenges she - side. what will be the challenges she will i side. what will be the i challenges she will face side. what will be the - challenges she will face if she is to succeed in this nomination and become the prime minister? the nomination and become the prime minister? , , , , minister? the biggest issue in thailand right _ minister? the biggest issue in thailand right now _ minister? the biggest issue in thailand right now harvey - minister? the biggest issue in thailand right now harvey andj minister? the biggest issue in i thailand right now harvey and a lot is riding on this policy is the digital wallet one and a really needs to nail that next to get it working successfully and i think that would buy up some of the resentment going on in thailand because everyone is worried about the economy with the rising cost of living everywhere around the world. [30 everywhere around the world. do ou everywhere around the world. do you think that would resolve these concerns and thailand will be able to move forward with paetongtarn shinawatra? with paetongtarn shinawatra ? the with paetongtarn shinawatra? the grievances of the lack of democracy in thailand and operation of to court is not resolved and has not been for decades but thailand has been able to move forward and i think the parties of the coalition government have every interest to keep this government to a filter because they are really worried about

they are really worried about the opposition particularly the new party, people's party which is basically the move forward party so they will band together against all kinds of differences in order to make sure they can stay in power until the next election. thank ou so until the next election. thank you so much _ until the next election. thank you so much for— until the next election. thank you so much for your - until the next election. thank you so much for your insight l you so much for your insight into this developing story. we will be following this developments in thailand throughout the day here on bbc news look for updates here. hurricane ernesto is heading for the caribbean island of bermuda, having crossed puerto rico where it left more than half of homes and businesses without power. ernesto, which grew into a category—one hurricane on wednesday, is continuing to strengthen with gusts of up to 140 kilometres an ahour — ahead of its expected landfall in bermuda on friday. puerto rico's main power supplier that almisti million customers did not have access to electricity oernight. forecasters predict it could become a major hurricane in the next 48 hours. ernesto is the fifth named atlantic storm to occur this season.

if you're looking for a new holiday destination — and you have a taste for adventure — how about north korea? the country is to re—open to western tourists this december for the first time in nearly five years, according to international travel companies. north korea sealed its borders at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. before that, around 5,000 foreign visitors came every year on tightly controlled trips — most of them from china. tourists will get to see the sammy—jee—0n region which has been seeing major redevelopment in recent years. western nations hope this latest change may be a sign of a broader reopening by pyongyang — including to diplomats and aid workers. so how much of north korea might any new tourists really be able to see? jean lee is the former associated press bureau

chief in pyongyang. we've seen some russian tourists, i should mention, visit north korea earlier this year. they did go to a ski resort that's on the east coast, and they sent some schoolchildren to a camp on the east coast. now the december trips are to the far north, to samjiyon and to mount paektu, which is the sacred mountain. it's actually featured in the painting behind me, if you can see it. and it is very interesting. it is very remote, which means that the north koreans will be able to really control what it is the north, the visitors see and control the interaction between the foreigners and the north koreans. so i would say it's a baby step, but i will say that i'm not surprised that they're sticking to this part of the country. kimjong—un, the leader of north korea, has invested quite a bit in building up this area because it is an area that is part of his family mythology. the mythology is that

his father was born there that his father, his grandfather, fought there against the japanese. today marks the their liberation day from japanese colonial rule. and so these are very important sites to their propaganda. and i should say he's been investing in this. hopefully some of the towns that you see in the painting behind me have also been renovated as part of this process, but it's a lot of money that's been poured into a very remote part of north korea. the australian breakdancer raygun says the backlash to her 0lympics performance has been "devastating". the dancer, whose real name is rachael gunn and who also lecturers in breaking at an australian university, said in a social media video that she didn't realise competing would "open the door to so much hate". gunn lost all three of her round—robin battles in paris, which were widely ridiculed online, by a combined score of 54-0. it was the first time

breaking has appeared as an olympic sport. i just want to start by thanking all the people who have supported me. i really appreciate the positivity and i'm glad i was able to bring some joy into your lives. i didn't realise that that would also open the door to so much hate, which is frankly pretty devastating. the duke and duchess of sussex have arrived in colombia as they began their four—day tour of the south american nation. harry and meghan are being given a full security detail throughout their visit — for what has been dubbed a diy royal tour. colombia's vice president, francia marquez, said she was inspired to ask the couple to visit the country after being moved by their netflix documentary. they visited a local school and joined a summit, in collaboration with their archewell foundation, about creating a healthier digital landscape. taylor swift has been back on stage — this time in london — a week after her concerts in vienna were cancelled after a suspected attack was uncovered.

the singer performed the first of her five night sell out show at wembley — which will bring her european tour to a close. our music correspondent marc savage was there. 92,000 fans poured into wembley stadium dressed in tassels, sequins and ball gowns, as taylor swift returned to the uk. this was her first time on stage since an alleged terror plot against her shows in austria last week. some fans who missed out when those concerts were cancelled managed to make it to london. i was just so devastated and the whole city really did have an air of depression. there was kind of a cloud over the city, but i managed to get very last minute tickets last night, finished work early today, ran here, and i'm here now. there was increased security at wembley and fans who didn't have tickets were warned to stay away. that didn't stop some of them gathering outside to sing along. and they were just as enthusiastic as the fans who managed to get inside.

everyone is so friendly. all the friendship bracelets, the amount of people that stopped and said, happy birthday and wanted to swap wristbands. anywhere you go at any taylor swift thing, at any event, everyone isjust, it's just like a community. i think that she is, like, so sisterhood, like, she joins every single girl here. i really think she is like - an idol because she has been through so much and then she still, like, _ rises like a phoenix. on stage, taylor chose to celebrate her music and herfans rather than dwell on recent events, and there was a special treat in the shape of a surprise appearance from ed sheeran. she plays another four nights at wembley before the eras tour returns to north america for its final leg. when it ends in december it will have taken more than $2 billion in ticket sales alone. mark savage, bbc news.

thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. business is up next. hello there. the summer holiday season is in full swing, and if you have plans for the weekend, well, it looks likely that the weather is going to behave itself. it will be largely dry, sunny and pretty warm. now, we have got a little bit of rain clearing away from the south and east as we speak and this area of low pressure to the far north—west. that's at risk of driving in a few isolated showers, chiefly to the north—west of the great glen, and here, a brisk wind with it as well. but elsewhere, a lot of sunshine. any early morning residual cloud will ease away from the kent coast. the sunshine break through and temperatures should peak between 15 and 20 degrees in the north, highs of 25 in the south. that comes at a cost if you are a hay fever sufferer. certainly across england

and wales, we are likely to see high pollen levels through friday afternoon. but as we go into the start of the weekend, we'll have clear skies across england and wales. still a bit more of a breeze and a few isolated showers to the far north—west. but that means during the early hours of saturday morning, under those clear skies, temperatures will fall away to single figures in a few spots. so a slightly fresher, more comfortable night for sleeping. but we've got high pressure building in from the south and west, quietening things down. again, that low to the far north could still drive in just one or two isolated showers, but on the whole, it's a dry picture for many of us through the weekend. we will be chasing cloud amounts around, particularly with that south—westerly wind. some cloud lapping onto west—facing coasts. here, not quite as warm, but these temperatures are where they should be really for this time of year, ranging generally from mid—teens in the north to the mid 20s in the south. then on sunday, scattered showers are likely to be continuing into the far north

and west, maybe one or two through the irish sea — very fleeting, few and far between. we keep the sunshine for most. and once again, if you are planning any outdoor activities, the weather should behave itself then into next week. there is a potentialfor weather fronts to push its way into the far north—west. just how much rain we'll have in the south—east corner is really subject to question. here is where we're likely to see the driest of the weather, but a little more unsettled further north and west, and as a result, not quite as warm. take care. bye— bye.

alibaba's sales and profits fall in the second quarter, as chinese consumers cut back on spending. plus — football season is back, as asian fans gear up for the return of the english premier league. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. chinese tech giant aliababa reported weaker—than—expected quarterly results. revenue and profit for april tojune came in below expectations, with the latter falling 27% from the year before. the company has been grappling with stiff competition from the likes ofjd dotcom and

temu owner, pinduoduo. a more cautious chinese consumer also not helping boost sales. china tech analyst rui ma explained how alibaba plans to turn things around. i think ali baba has as you mentioned, is i think ali baba has as you mentioned, is dealin- i think ali baba has as you mentioned, is dealin- with i think ali baba has as you mentioned, is dealin- with the mentioned, is dealing with the relatively sluggish economy in china and cautious consumers. it has faced really stiff competition from the tempo owner —— temu. in prioritising its business. it struggled through its reorganizations, we can see to to keep some of those costs under control. tell us a little _ those costs under control. tell us a little bit _ those costs under control. tell us a little bit more _ those costs under control. tell us a little bit more about the new strategies been. what are the upcoming projects for ali baba to get it back on track? before the vice chairman got back as the chairman,

reprioritizing