tonight at six — the thousands who sleep rough on our streets — it's been called a national scandal. latest figures on the homeless in england show it's more than doubled since 2010 — we find out what it feels like. it's horrible, it does torture you, and other people walk past you like you're scum because you've had a problem in life. we'll be looking at what's driving this sharp rise in numbers. also tonight: he promised a wall, now he says he's going start building it in months — donald trump sets his plans on immigration control. reliving the horror of italy's avalanche — we speak to a couple who survived — as the search for five of those missing goes on. two girls born with a disorder no—one could explain — now scientists unlock the causes — and offer hope to other families. commentator: it's gold again! the triple triple. it made him one of a kind. now usain bolt loses one

of his record nine gold medals through no fault of his own. and coming up in the sport on bbc news, serena williams says britain'sjohanna konta can be a future grand slam champion, after knocking her out in this good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. there's been a sharp increase in the number of homeless people — with more than half the councils in england recording a rise. on a single night last year more than 4,000 people were sleeping rough — that's according to the government figures. it amounts to a 16%jump on the year before — campaigners say it's an appalling rate. 0ur midlands correspondent sima kotecha reports

now from birmingham — one of the areas with the largest number of homeless people. as the darkness creeps in, the wind chill begins to bite. those who have nowhere to go look for shelter. volunteers roam the streets, making sure nobody has died because of the cold. one of those workers is paul aitken. the young man there, i'm just checking that he is breathing and he is ok. he's fine, he is fast asleep, so i'm not going to wake him up. paul is just checking up on a rough sleeper here. he says he's in a lot of pain, severe pain, in fact. so paul has called an ambulance to make sure he's 0k. he says he was stamped on by a couple of strangers in the middle of the night. minutes later, a paramedic arrived and he was taken to hospital with suspected cracked ribs. he was discharged that day. as dawn broke, a rough sleeper

expressed his frustration. it's horrible, of course it's horrible out here. what are you supposed to do, you have no prospects, you know. it is horrible. it does torture you. and people walk past you like you are scum because you have had a problem in life. the future is bleak. really bleak. there needs to be more help out there. some charities blame council cuts for putting more vulnerable people on the streets. local authority budgets have been reduced by around 20% over the last six years. which they say have led to fewer support services. homelessness is affected by austerity, the cuts that have come down from nationally, the cuts to the nhs, local authorities and also those in terms of benefit caps, that has a huge impact on why people are on the streets. birmingham city council are doing a lot to try to reduce this by partnership work, we are working with key agencies, we are doing outreach, surgeries, and we are actually listening to rough sleepers. at this centre, they come for relief from the cold.

this place is funded through private donations. paul, who was once homeless, came up with the idea. a lot of these guys in here are skilled people that need a break. need an opportunity, need a chance. and i think we all deserve that. we all deserve to have a kick start again. and try to get our lives back on track. and that's why places like this are so needed. the government says by 2020 it will have invested more than £500 million on tackling homelessness. but with a further squeeze on council spending expected in april, there are concerns that hostels and shelters could be closed down. forcing more people to live rough. seema kotecha, bbc news, birmingham. our home editor mark easton is here. what can be done about these rising

numbers? it is not inevitable and we know with political will you can solve it, in 1999 the labour government said there were a certain number of people on the streets and they could reduce it by two years, and they did. they said they would eradicate rough sleeping once and for all, in 2008, they thought they could, and then in 2008 we have the financial crash, policies of austerity and welfare reform were introduced to deal with the economic crisis and critics say, as you heard, that exacerbated the homelessness crisis. the figures for those sleeping rough have been increasing rapidly over the last few yea rs. increasing rapidly over the last few years. a couple of examples. christchurch in dorset, no one star there in 2010 but today ten people are on the streets. —— no one slept rough there in 2010. in brighton, down 144, and that 4000 figure that we have been quoted, that is an

estimate, probably underestimate of the numbers sleeping on any one night across a year. tens of thousands of people are bedding down over the year. there have been schemes, the government is supporting a private members bill which will put a duty on local authorities to try and prevent homelessness. something already exists in wales, and there is some money for that, some, but no one thinks this is the answer to rough sleeping and in the end you have got to find places for people to afford to find places for people to afford to be able to live in. thanks for joining us. now that he is president donald trump is wasting no time in returning to those pledges he made during the election campaign. today he is announcing his plans for immigration control — including the controversial promise to build a wall between united states and mexico. 0ur correspondent james cook reports from the border between the two countries. donald trump's vision of a fortress america was at the heart of his controversial campaign for the presidency. now in office, he faces the challenge of pulling up the drawbridge, by strengthening

and extending the existing barriers on his country's frontier with mexico. ultimately it will come out of what is happening with mexico and we will stop those negotiations relatively $0011. stop those negotiations relatively soon. when will construction begin? as soon as we can physically do it. as soon as we can physically do it. a few months? i would say so, yes. mexico continues to resist any effort to make it pay for the wall. here in the mexican border city of tijuana, business leaders are worried about the impact on trade and sceptical about the president's plans. the problem is that the majority of americans are not really familiar with the border. and consequently the idea of a wall seems to be appealing. we already have one. we call it the tortilla curtain. but the truth of the matter is that, you know, i think that is a symbol. this fence at the pacific ocean is the very start of the land border between mexico and the united

states, and president trump has always said he wants to build a much taller, much better, much bigger wall, stretching all the way from here, nearly 2000 miles, to texas. # this land is your land # this land is my land but even in liberal california, there is backing for president trump's hard line on immigration, not least from these supporters who call themselves the trumpettes. i think it is a good thing. i always say my scripture is ezekiel 22:30. "i sought for a man who would build a wall." and i was reading that the other day and itjust stuck out in my spirit because we need protection. and i pray for america and i pray that god will shore up the border of our nation. the president's exact plans are not yet clear but it is reported he will sign orders suspending the arrival of refugees and halting immigration from certain nations where muslims are in the majority. mr trump says this will be a big day

for national security. it will also be a big test of his resolve. james cook, bbc news, on the us—mexico border. 0ur north america editorjon sopel is in washington. this is part of a security agenda and we are learning more about what donald trump would like to do to make america safer. yes, there is a d raft make america safer. yes, there is a draft executive order which sounds like a throwback to the george bush era, talking of enhanced interrogation techniques and extraordinary rendition, waterboarding. the kind of methods which can be used against potential terrorists outside of america, at guantanamo bay, reversing the policies which have been introduced by 0bama to stop torture which had been voted on by congress. this is controversial star. he will face opposition from republicans and

democrats and even maybe his own defence secretary —— this is controversial stuff. thanks. the prime minister says the government will, after all, publish a detailed policy document setting out its plans for leaving the eu. theresa may has been under pressure from labour and some of her own mps to lay out her plans in what's called a white paper. legislation to trigger the formal process of leaving the eu is set to be introduced tomorrow. 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar reports. remember him in the goggles? a once dominant pm out on his ear when britain chose brexit. what happens next? david cameron's doing charity work now, today visiting a medical research lab. are you worried about defeat prime minister? now, his successor‘s got her hands full with the tactical battle for brexit. and today theresa may kept a half step ahead of her critics. she'd outlined her brexit game plan in a big speech. they wanted it in black and white. and as the time came for questions... a concession. she had held off promising mps a policy paper but now...

i can confirm to the house that our plan will be set out in a white paper published in this house. jeremy corbyn was caught on the hop. could we know when this white paper is going to be available to us? but he ploughed on. will they withdraw the threats to destroy the social structure of this country by turning us into the bargain basement she clearly threatens? but the prime minister's kept the initiative and the brexit paper is unlikely to tell mps more than they know now. it was an easy concession for theresa may to make but tory mps worried about brexit welcomed it. she is also keen to appear ahead of the game when she visits donald trump in the white house later this week. and she told mps she won't duck policy differences. i'm not afraid to speak frankly to a president of the united states. i'm able to do that because we have that special relationship. mps queued to offer issues where she could take on the new president.

he must abide by and not withdraw from the paris climate change treaty. president trump has repeatedly said he will bring back torture as an instrument of policy. when she sees him on friday, will the prime minister make clear that in no circumstances will she permit britain to be dragged into facilitating that torture? will the prime minister tell president trump that she is not prepared to lower our food and safety standards or to open health systems for privatisation? her answer. she and her government would stand their ground. we will put uk interests and uk values first. anotherformer prime minister's been in brussels. tony blair knows getting close to the white house at the wrong time can end badly, and mps on all sides are anxious theresa may remembers that lesson. john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. rescue teams in italy have found more bodies in the ruins of a hotel that was struck by an avalanche last week. in all 24 people

were killed with five people still missing. 0ur rome correspondent james reynolds has been speaking to two people who survived — and they say it's like being born again. how many of us will ever know what it's like to come back to life? on saturday these two people were appalled from the hotel. the couple had been trapped underground for 59 hours —— were appalled. this afternoon we met them at home, they tell be what happened when the avalanche it. translation: tell be what happened when the avalanche it. translatiosz tell be what happened when the avalanche it. translation: it felt like a avalanche it. translation: it felt likea bomb, avalanche it. translation: it felt like a bomb, i felt glass exploding and it felt as if an entire wall had hit me. somewhere underneath these tonnes of snow and debris, they were jammed together in a tiny space. translation: i looked at vincenzo nibali isi

translation: i looked at vincenzo nibali is i was panicking, the first thing he told me was, we have got to become. wejust thing he told me was, we have got to become. we just have to wait. i touched him to see if we were ok, if we we re touched him to see if we were ok, if we were injured. we were lucky, we we re we were injured. we were lucky, we were alive. i thought we would be trapped for a week, i did not want to tell her. after two days rescuers made contact with them. translation: when we heard a rescue it was as if an angel was talking to us. as if someone an angel was talking to us. as if someone had come to pick us up literally from under the ground, i was born again. it was a miracle. i feel as if i'd been brought to the world for a second time. and this time not by my mum, but by god. they survive, but many others died. one week on, rescuers continue to search for those still missing under the snow. james reynolds, bbc news, central italy. our top story this evening:

the thousands who sleep rough on our streets — latest figures on homelessness in england show it's more than doubled since 2010. and still to come — the woman who was told to wear heels at work or go home, turns out she's far from being alone. coming up in sportsday on bbc news: usain bolt is stripped of one of his nine olympic gold medals, after his teammate nesta carter was found guilty of doping, at the 2008 beijing olympics. british scientists have identified 14 new developmental disorders affecting children. they sequenced the genes of thousands of children with rare, undiagnosed conditions from across the uk. pinpointing the genes responsible should lead to a greater understanding of the serious disorders which affect the development of the brain and body — and might eventually

lead to treatments. our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. caitlin, so nice to meet you. a big moment for these two families, meeting for the first time. ten—year—old tamika and nine—year—old caitlin have the same newly identified genetic condition called cdk 13 disorder. there are only 11 known cases in the uk. the girls are so alike, they could be sisters. living so close, we could have easily bumped into each other. we could have gone home with the wrong child. looking at them, it would have been easy. they are so similar. it's quite amazing to finally come across somebody who also has a child so different to anybody else's child and, yet, here we are and they are like twins. they are. to look at them, they are so similar, aren't they? the developmental disorder affects the girls' learning and communication.

tamika has good language skills, caitlin has only a few words. it gives me hope, as well. seeing tamika talking so much. it definitely gives me hope that caitlyn‘s speech will form. this is where caitlyn and tamika's genetic condition was identified, at the wellcome trust institute near, cambridge. they mapped their genes and found an identicalfault in their dna. but the mutation was not passed on by their parents, so how is that possible? each of us inherit half our dna from our mother, through the egg and through our father in the sperm. sometimes, when those genes are passed on, spontaneous mutations occur that cause rare developmental disorders in children. the older the parents, the more likely that is to happen. scientists here have identified 14 new developmental disorders calculated that one in every 300 babies will be affected

by a spontaneous genetic condition, not carried in their parents' dna. in the uk, that amounts to around 2000 children every year. the research, in the journal nature provides reassurance for many families all over the country. the discoveries end the long odyssey that these parents have had trying to find the underlying cause of the child's condition. it provides them with the risk of future pregnancies. which, for these conditions, is actually very low. and it provides opportunities for research into the causes and possible therapies that might be applied. katja was told last year that she had not passed on tamika's genetic condition. and that gave her confidence to have another child, timo, who is unaffected. both families say being part of this research has been hugely rewarding. it's like belonging to a club or a new—found family.

yes. it has felt like we've been for the whole nine years that there's been no one else out there. but, now, knowing that there are other families it's all changed. all changed? yes, completely. fergus walsh, bbc news. laws to prevent women being discriminated against when it comes to dress codes at work aren't being enforced properly — according to a group of mps. the report was commissioned after a receptionist was sent home for not wearing high—heeled shoes. when mps began to investigate, they were inundated with complaints from women with similar experiences. emma simpson reports. meet nicola thorpe. she was told to wear high heels on herfirst day temping at a city firm. scarlet harris is the women's equality officer at the tuc. melanie bramwell runs a recruitment agency. i caught up with them to hear about dress code discrimination and how nicola refused

to toe the line. when i realised that they were insisting that all women wore high heels to portray their desired image, it made me realise that, actually, my employer didn't want me to just look smart and professional, they wanted me to look attractive and i didn't want to be seen as attractive in the workplace. ijust wanted to do myjob. so, scarlet, how widespread is the issue? the committee found lots and lots of women talking about their experiences of being made to wear, notjust high heels but a certain types of make up, being asked to wear sheer blouses, being asked to wear skirts rather than trousers. the government said nicola's dress code was unlawful, breaching the equality act. but mps said that the law wasn't effective enough, leaving employers to make unreasonable demands. personally, i don't feel it's clear. it is open to interpretation,

as we say, the word reasonable is used there and that is open to interpretation. is it so bad to ask a woman worker to wear a heel when we ask male workers to wear a shirt and tie? i think they are two entirely different things. they took lots of evidence from women saying they were going home with bleeding feet, they were taking painkillers at night to be able to sleep because they were in so much pain from the shoes they'd been wearing during the day. that's just not comparable to wearing a tie or a suit jacket. some might say this is all a bit of a storm in a teacup. they might very well do but you have to look at the bigger picture. i think that's the key thing. it should be about choice there are plenty of women who like to wear heels to work like to wear a face full of make—up to work. that should be their choice. it shouldn't be forced upon them. this issue, the high heel thing, is symbolic of a hangover from that 1950s kind of era where women were only seen as secretaries and receptionists and now we are running the companies. i say to them, get over it. let us wear what we want,

as long as we are smart. usain bolt has been stripped of one of his nine olympic gold medals — for the 4 by 100 metre relay at beijing in 2008 — nestor carter tested positive for a banned stimulant after sa m ples were re—tested. it means bolt no longer holds the accolade of having won the triple—triple — as katie gornall reports. in a sport measured in fractions of a second, this was an astonishing feat of longevity. commentator: the triple triple! he's done it. usain bolt‘s nine gold medals at three different olympics was unprecedented. now, through no fault of his own, that history has been tarnished. the reason lies with this man, nesta carter. bolt‘s team—mate in the relay at the 2008 beijing olympics. his start propelled jamaica both to gold and to a world record. but last year ca rter‘s sample from these games was retested and today he was found

guilty of doping. under the ioc rules the whole team is now disqualified. it is an outcome that bolt has feared for some time. i asked him about it back in august in his hometown of kingston. at any point i lose one of my gold medals it would be devastating. after all this hard work, that this would happen. but i think the sport is in a really bad place right now and the only place it can go is up. it must be hard, as well, because the triple triple is such an achievement. it's very special. but we will see. fingers crossed. sadly, while usain bolt stood clean, his rivals have fallen around him. justin gatlin has been banned twice forfailing drugs tests. tyson gay has tested positive for an anabolic steroid. and his fellow jamaican asafa powell has served a six—month ban. today, nesta carter was found to have taken the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine. you can't rerun the race, you can't get those medals back. and in the case of bolt, after what we saw in rio, we now know that that was his last

olympic games, so it has gone from those nine medals, that were unbelievable, to eight medals. but that is still unbelievable, what he achieved in his career. he will now have to hand back one of his precious medals, but he will still retire with his legacy intact. katie gornall, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's helen willets. it's been a mixture of weather today but across the board called. this beautiful picture was sent in from cornwall. i'd like to be there rather than under the foggy skies we've seen in the south—east of england today. this was kettering in northamptonshire. you can see where we've had cloud and where sunshine. this evening, there could well be some fog around. the wind lifts it onto the hills overnight. there

could be some will fog. the wind will prevent a frost in most places tonight but cold air is still coming in. frost quite widely in wales and the glens of scotland. with thicker cloud and some drizzle, it could be quite icy first thing in the morning. once again, ice on untreated roads and pavements. fog sitting on the hills through tomorrow. but into the peak district. brighter across scotland with some sunshine coming through here. a little cloudy across northern ireland. that wind really has a difference. it will pull in dry airforthe has a difference. it will pull in dry airfor the south has a difference. it will pull in dry air for the south tomorrow afternoon. temperatures will only get to 4 degrees. add on the wind and this is how it will feel. a

change in the wind direction on friday. not quite so cold. some showers coming into the western side of the country. still feeling awfully cold. before we go — a look at what's coming up on the bbc news at ten — we will have a special report on the increase in knife crime across the uk. scare tactics. bigger the better. when did you start carrying knives? 12. abuse. torture. my lifejust stopped that day. that's all from the bbc news at six. so it's goodbye from me. and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. president trump says work on building a wall on the us—mexico border could start within months. it's part of his plans to restrict immigration to the us. speaking to abc news, he insisted mexico would reimburse

america for the cost. mps will get a chance to scrutinise the government's brexit strategy, after theresa may said she'll produce a formal white paper on her plans for parliament. there's been a big rise in the number of people sleeping rough in england. while london has the highest number the problem is growing fastest outside the capital. usain bolt has to give back one of his nine olympic gold medals, after one of his relay team—mates, nesta carter tested positive for a banned substance, after the beijing games. in a moment it will be time for sportsday but first a look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news. at 7, we have our new programme 100 days with katty kay and christian fraser, focussing on president trump's new administration.

their guest this evening is leon panetta, the former cia director and defence secretary. later, we'll have more on theresa may's announcement that she'll publish a white paper setting out her brexit strategy, but some campaigners are worried the document could complicate or slow down the process. we'll be discussing this with conservative mpjohn penrose and and at 10:40 tonight my guests on the papers will be randeep ramesh from the guardian and lucy fisher, senior political correspondent at the times. that's all ahead on bbc news. let's return to the pledge to build a wall on the us border with mexico. the white house secretary has been speaking to reporters in the last hour. the first order is the order

of security for immigration improvements and it addresses long overdue border issues and it is the first order to build a large physical barrier on the southern border. building it is more than just a border. building it is more than justa campaign border. building it is more than just a campaign promise, it is a common sense first step to securing oui’ common sense first step to securing our porous border. it will stem the flow of drugs, crime, and illegal immigration. one way or another, as the president said, mexico will pay for it. the executive order also provides the executive men and women in the