tonight at ten... after a string of acid attacks in london, two boys aged 15 and 16 are arrested. victims were left bewildered and in agony, as five separate assaults were carried out in under 90 minutes. i took off my helmet and i'm screaming for help because it's getting dry and as much as it's getting dry, it's burning. with the number of acid attacks on the rise, we'll be asking what can be done to prevent them. also tonight... a modern musical welcome in paris from one president to another. now it seems they're the firmest of friends. jailed for 17 years — the former tv producer who tried to hire three hitmen to kill his long—term partner. the families taking part in an international trial to try to find a way of treating dementia. roger federer wins his semi—final in straight sets, leaving him now

one win from a historic eighth wimbledon title. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news, rory mcilroy heads into next week's open championship on the back of a third missed cut in four events, this time at the scottish open. good evening. two teenagers have been arrested after a string of acid attacks last night in london. five people in separate incidents had acid thrown in their faces, causing in the case of one man "life—changing" injuries. the attacks happened amid rising concern about the number of assaults in the capital involving corrosive fluids. the attacks were carried out at five separate locations in east london

within the space of less than 90 minutes. this report, from our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford, contains some disturbing images from the start. in the aftermath of an acid attack last night... where does it hurt? in your eyes? we need to try to get water in your eyes. keep your eyes open. police officers desperately trying to reduce the burning and to save the victim's sight. rushing extra water to the scene. i just jumped away from my bike and ijust ran. tonight, the victim of that attack, javed hussain, told me that the first help he received was from a passer—by. she asked me what happened. isaid, look, someone put acid on my face. she was shocked, she was trying to call an ambulance. i said, i need water asap. if you call an ambulance, it's going to be long, i need water now on my face because it's hurting, it's burning. she ran to the co—operative and she

got one of the bottles of water. the attack here turned out to be the first of five over the next hour and a quarter, all in a small area of east london and all involving acid being thrown at the victims. at every crime scene the target had been driving mopeds. two of them were stolen. a 24—year—old man here in clapton was left with life changing injuries because of the acid used. the prime minister said the attacks were horrific. police have arrested a 15—year—old and a 16—year—old. national statistics on acid attacks are not collated by the home office but in london they have risen from 129 two years ago to 224 last year, and by april this year there have already been another 66. one of the most high profile recent attacks was last month when 21—year—old resham khan and her cousin, jameel muhktar, were targeted whilst sitting

in their car at a traffic light. we are concerned because the numbers appear to be going up. we will arrest people, we will enforce the law as we can and we are working very closely with the home office to see if there are any changes in law required. stephen timms is one of the mps in east london where the problem is most acute. he has been campaigning for a change in the law and will lead a debate on acid attacks next week. i'd like the minister to confirm on monday that the possession of acid will be an offence in the future in exactly the same way that possession of a knife is an offence today. i would like the law to be changed so that sulphuric acid will only be sold to people who hold a licence. it seems likely that some criminals are using the laxer rules on acid to avoid the tough laws on carrying a knife. the home office today said it was working with police and retailers to tackle what it called these sickening crimes. but any change in the

law would take time. daniel is here now. usa that changes would take time but are they likely? —— you say that. there is no doubt there is a discrepancy between the punishment for carrying a knife and for carrying a bottle of acid and while knives are more likely to kill you, a bottle of acid in the face can cause life changing damage to your eyes or cause life changing damage to your eyes 01’ scars cause life changing damage to your eyes or scars to your face. there is an argument being made at the moment that you should essentially make it illegal to be carrying any acid as you walk around the street unless you walk around the street unless you have a very good reason. there is also an argument as you saw von stephen timms that it should be much more difficult to buy one of the most dangerous of the commonly used acids, sulphuric acid and perhaps it should only be available to people

who can prove they work in specialist areas. but governments are quite wary about quickly changing the law in response to emerging crime trends. there is a law that already exists with says that possession of a corrosive substance with intent to cause harm would be a crime and that could be used more often. if somebody throws acid into the face of somebody else they could be prosecuted for grievous bodily harm with intent which carries a life sentence so perhaps ministers want to see those kinds of offences used more but they are in discussions with police and retailers and a law change is possible but i don't think it is inevitable. thank you. president trump has described america's relationship with france as "stronger than ever" as he attended the bastille day military parade in paris. the parade marked a hundred years since the americans entered the first world war, but events have also been held to remember the 86 people killed in the nice attack, one year ago. our paris correspondent lucy williamson reports. france today celebrated it long us

alliance with a series of increasingly forceful handshakes between the heads of state. this event was not about the ties between men but between nations. joining the armed forces from both america and france, beginning with a fly past of visiting fighter jets. france, beginning with a fly past of visiting fighterjets. their soldiers also led the parade together in a tribute to their role in world war i. the us is an ally of theirs, i know sometimes we don't think so but france was there for us and we are the for them. think so but france was there for us and we are the for themlj think so but france was there for us and we are the for them. i did not vote for president from but he is out vote for president from but he is our president and we are proud to have him here. speaking to the crowd in central paris, mr macron thanked the us for the choice it had made a century ago and said that france and america would never be divided.

the france of today was honoured as well with a military band playing music by daft punk. enjoyed by some in the audience, perhaps more than others. france's changing culture mirrored in this parade, accompanied by changing security threats as well. the image of france's security forces has changed in the past few yea rs, forces has changed in the past few years, repeated terrorist attacks have refocused attention on security at home and the values that france has chosen to protect. the ceremony ended with the city and some of nice, the scene of the country's last major terrorist attack a year ago today. in nice, the tributes honoured those who died in the attack, killed by a truck driven into bastille day crowds. their

names, 86 of them, pinned by survivors into the shape of a heart. this afternoon president macron flew from paris tojoin this afternoon president macron flew from paris to join the commemorations. the fight against terrorism was a battle for our civilisation, he said. the events here today were still haunted by debates over how best to guarantee security as the country once again paid tribute to its values, its history, to the idea of france. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. a former producer on the tv drama the bill has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for trying to hire a series of hit men to kill his long—term partner. david harris, who's 68, offered three men £200,000 to murder his partner, hazel allinson. he wanted to inherit her fortune and start a new life with a woman he'd met in a brothel. duncan kennedy reports. david harris was with his partner, hazel, for 30 years, but unknown to her, he also had a girlfriend, ugne cekaviciute,

who he had met in a brothel. to keep her and get rid of hazel, harris went looking to hire not one, not two, but three hit men, all of whom were completely innocent of his real intentions. harris first approached christopher may, a private detective, who secretly recorded harris, suggesting hazel should be killed after a visit to the hospital. harris then made this chilling comment. when christopher may backed out, harris turned to duke dean.

the pair were seen here meeting in london. mr dean told me harris offered him £175,000 to kill hazel. did you get the impression he was serious about getting rid of hazel? he was stone serious, yes. that is what he wanted? that's right. duke dean tipped off police, who then used an undercover officer to pose as hit man number three. when harris was arrested he told police that all he was doing was researching a book on hit men. the judge rejected that today, saying his real intention was to kill hazel and get his hands on her money. david harris and hazel allinson did have happy times, but his obsession with another woman, a0 years younger, led him to push three men to kill, to satisfy his lust,

greed and distorted fantasies. duncan kennedy, bbc news. dementia in old age is the biggest cause of death in the uk. but in some families, extremely rare gene mutations can cause alzheimer's disease in middle—age. now, experts believe that studying the way the disease develops in such families could hold the key to treatment in the future. there are currently thought to be around 500,000 people in the uk living with alzheimer's. it's thought that in around 1% of cases, the disease is a genetic inheritance, passed down through the family. those who inherit alzheimer's often develop it in their 40s and 50s. our medical correspondent fergus walsh spoke to two families with a history of alzheimer's, both of whom are taking part in medical trials. i'm almostjust waiting for the first sign, really. the minute you forget something, the minute you can't

find your car keys... sophie leggett from suffolk has a 50—50 chance of having inherited a rare gene for alzheimer's. she is now around the same age symptoms first emerged in her mother and aunt. and if sophie has the early—onset gene, she could also have passed it on. it's really scary. i can almost cope with the thought that it could happen to me but what i can't cope with is the thought that if it happens to me, it could happen to my daughter. that's my big thing and i don't think i will ever come to terms with that possibility. but what does her 16—year—old daughter think? it's not like a taboo thing to talk about. i know a lot about it. i think it's brought us closer together. we've always been close but closer and i thinkjust cherish every day really. families from all over the world who carry rare alzheimer's genes are in london

for a major conference. like the demoes from north dakota. dean has early—onset alzheimer's but is still able to work full—time. i think i'm doing all right. yeah, ijust live day by day with it and keep moving on. i think i'm doing well. two of dean's brothers and a sister died from dementia in their mid—50s. dean is 5a. the fear now is for their children. we are here because we don't want to watch another generation have to go through what my husband and his father and his grandmother have gone through. i worry for my husband, but that fear of the unknown our for children, and we will find a cure. dean's son, tyler, has been tested for the faulty gene but, like sophie, has chosen not to know the results.

it's a life changing thing. if you find out, it's not only are you finding out, it's your family finding out and the repercussions it has on them. both families are part of an international trial testing alzheimer's drugs. sophie has an infusion every month. they are playing a vital role in the search for treatments. from them we understand the biomarkers, the changes in the body that happen, so you can see the disease before it ever causes symptoms. and finally from them, hopefully we will find a treatment that works in that group and we can therefore extrapolate that to the alzheimer's population in general. there is still no drug which can slow the focus of alzheimer's disease. in the past year alone two major clinical trials ended in failure. despite that there is now real optimism that decades of research will bear fruit. and for families with alzheimer's genes, that would lift a shadow

over future generations. fergus walsh, bbc news. local officials in egypt say two german women have been stabbed to death at a hotel in the red sea resort of hurghada. four more foreign tourists were wounded in the attack. a man has been arrested. our middle east correspondent orla guerin is in cairo for us tonight. give us a bit more detail about what happened. tonight, british embassy officials here in cairo are telling me there are still no indications that any british people were caught up in the attack, but what we saw today, once again, was foreign tourists being targeted on a middle eastern beach, and for some in britain, there will be painful echoes of the horrors inch in his ear in 2015, when 30

british people were killed. a lone attacker swam ashore today, stabbed two women repeatedly, and let them to die on the sand. local officials say he managed to swim to the adjoining beach and continued his attack, wounding several more tourists, and only then was he arrested. there has been no claim of responsibility, but suspicion will fall on the so—called islamic state. they are carrying out an insurgency from neighbouring northern sinai. you will remember they claimed responsibility for the downing of a russian aircraft that had just taken off from the red sea resort of sharm el sheikh. it devastated the tourism industry here. it had begun to recover and visitor numbers were up by about 50% in the first quarter of this year. now, for many, there will be renewed concern about visiting egypt. the foreign office advice is

quite nuanced here, and there is no blanket ban on visiting the country. the fco says it is quite likely that terrorists will try to carry out attacks and encourages vigilance. there is still a ban on any british aircraft flying to and from sharm el sheikh, and that remains in place. a high courtjudge has heard that the american doctor who has offered to treat the terminally—ill baby charlie gard is to come to the uk next week to examine him. charlie's parents want him to receive experimental therapy. they have been involved in a lengthy legal battle with doctors at great ormond street hospital, who believe life support should be stopped. douglas innes, the boss of a sailing company, has been found guilty of failing to ensure the safety of a yacht which capsized in the atlantic. the 40—foot cheeki rafiki lost its keel 700 miles off nova scotia three years ago, killing all four of its crew. two israeli police officers have died after israeli arab gunmen opened fire near a sensitive holy site injerusalem's old city. the assailants were killed by security forces.

the attack prompted israeli officials to cancel friday prayers at the sacred al—aqsa mosque. all this week, we've been reporting on china's plan to recreate the famous silk road, the ancient trading route between east and west. the ambitious project will mean building infrastructure in more than 60 countries. president xi jinping says it will boost trade, and will benefit all involved. but critics say that china's markets are far from open, and that the project will benefit beijing at the expense of other countries. our china editor, carrie gracie, has been following the 7000—mile route from eastern china. tonight, she reports from poland. facing west since the end of the soviet era but eastern europe is becoming a key piece in china's strategicjigsaw. wieslaw and his son would never sell polish land to chinese investors. he explains they are actually trying to expand, hoping to sell dairy products to wealthy chinese

consumers who think the grass here is greener. china could be a big new market for european milk, but it's a long and complicated journey from here to the breakfast table in beijing. it's a journey wieslaw wants to risk, as dairy markets shrink in europe. translation: china is a very big and interesting market for us and we want to try it. it's like a promised land. but china's markets are still farfrom open. and since the global financial crisis, it has mopped up cheap assets across europe. now china wants to build here and control supply chains.

a big idea driven by the state, not the market. some economists warn that could be risky. when this is planned by the state agencies and it's going to be implemented by state agencies, then my worry is that it's going to end up with huge amounts of bad loans with dozens of countries involved. it could be very, very dangerous. china's plan is already on the assembly line. this polish factory once made tanks for the soviet bloc. now, it makes diggers for the chinese state company that rescued it from collapse. hou yubo hopes china's new silk road will turn it around. we don't see the mass of orders yet and we are ready for that

and waiting for that with patience. so no real difference to the bottom line yet? the customers will have the need for machines, but not yet. europe's bid for china is still in neutral, while china is moving up a gear here, either digging europe out of a hole or digging that hole deeper. carrie gracie, bbc news, poland. and you can see the final part of carrie's journey on the ten o'clock news on sunday night. the biggest names in para—athletics have been in action tonight as the world championships get under way at the london stadium. hannah cockroft extended her undefeated streak in the t34100 metres. our sports correspondent andy swiss reports on the action. five years on from the paralympics here, same stadium, different

challenge. this will be the biggest world para—athletics ever — 250,000 tickets sold, more than the last seven championships combined, and high hopes for a home hero. we are supporting hannah cockroft. and it's going to be gold? yeah, hopefully. confident? well, who could blame them? hannah cockroft is the closest thing to a racing certainty, but in the 100 metres, how she had to work. at the top of the screen, her 16—year—old team—mate led the way. she's only just finished her gcses. hurricane hannah, though, eventually lived up to her nickname, storming through in a new world record. commentator: tremendous performance. up to the line... it confirmed cockroft‘s status as one of sport's most dominant athletes. she has every title at every distance. but this was special. immense, amazing. i think, going round the warm up laps, i was getting a bit emotional. the noise is so loud.

we haven't had that since london 2012, and just to be able to go in, put a good performance in, itjust means so much, and hopefully, it's a sign of a good championships to come. some battle, then, but the british team is off to a golden start. yes, a successful first evening for the british team, and there should be plenty more success over the next nine days, with stars likejonnie peacock, richard whitehead and kadeena cox, a real chance to revive the feel—good factor of london 2012. rita. andy, thank you. tennis — and roger federer is on course to win a record eighth wimbledon title, after making it into his 11th final. he beat tomas berdych in straight sets to seal a place in this year's showdown. he'll face croatia's marin cilic in the final on sunday. joe wilson was watching the action. there is a man transported around

the all—england club as if he was the trophy itself. roger federer is that precious. this is what wimbledon looked like in 1998. that teenager, the junior singles champion. announcer: roger federer from switzerland. back then, your phone may well have been at home, and your camera had film in it. the world changes, but federer‘s appeared timeless, his appeal spanning nations and generations. sure, nobody‘s perfect, but nobody‘s seemed closer. his semifinal against tomas berdych was classic federer — a tight match against a strong opponent, where federer alwaysjust seemed to have more. at 35, he's rationed his tournaments, conserved his energy, to enable him to win points like this. the first two sets both went to tie—breaks. when he wants to, federer can just turn a rally with a flick of his wrist. commentator: it's just delicious, isn't it? berdych had beaten federer

here before, reached the final here before. he was trying. it was 6—4 in the third, and the number of sets federer has lost at this yea r‘s wimbledon? none. so, roger federer, through, and that is popular on the hill. but there is still a man standing between federer and that record eighth title — a big man. marin cilic of croatia, who overcame sam querrey today — six feet six versus six feet six. and cilic is an opponent in the final federer respects. he's a lovely guy, so i'm happy for him. he's in his first wimbledon finals, and after he crushed me at the us open a few years back, where he played lights—out, i hope he's not going to play that good. at 35, could federer really be getting better? well, so far, here, he's been too good for everyone else. joe wilson, bbc news, wimbledon. that's it.

now, on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm tim hague. there no hateful eight for the king of centre court — roger federer is into his eighth wimbledon final. where he'll play the player he beat in five sets last year at wimbledon — marin cilic of croatia. and rory mcilroy‘s shakey preparation for the open continues — he misses another cut. roger federer is one win from a historic eighth wimbledon title after beating tomas berdych in their semifinal earlier this evening. federer won in straight sets. he took the first and second on tie breaks.

and the swiss then wrapped up victory winning 6—4 in the final set. it was a long way back in some ways. last year was so difficult, just to stay calm and speak to the team. we would wait longer and take time, but iamso would wait longer and take time, but i am so happy i did it because my life continues after tennis. and the man he'll play in the final is marin cilic. the former us open champion beat the american sam querrey in four sets. absolutely unbelievable, especially the way this tournament unfolded. i was playing really great tennis and today was a really hard fought battle. sam played really high—level

tennis, especially that first set, hitting really big from the back of the court. i had my chances, i was 4-1 the court. i had my chances, i was 4—1 up in the tie—break, i did not convert that, but after that, i felt i was better on the return games, i was making him play more on his service games and i felt the level was really high. jamie murray and martina hingis are through to the mixed doubles final after beating marcelo demol—iner and maria jose martinez—sanchez in straights sets on centre court. and waiting for them are heather watson and henri kontinen. they beat bruno soares and elena vesnina to sets to one. so that means britain is guaranteed success one way or another in the final. while gordon reid and alfie hewett are back in the hunt for another wimbledon title after britain's star wheelchair tennis double act reached the final. after early defeats in the singles for both men, they recovered — as a team — with a to sets to one victory over

argentinian gustavo fernandez and japan's shingo kunieda. on the first night of the world para—athletics championships in london, hannah cockroft won the 100 metre t34 gold in a world record 17.18 seconds. and it was a british one—two as sixteen—year—old