this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: millions face higher electricity bills after british gas announces a 12.5% price hike. they seem to overcharge the bills go up they seem to overcharge the bills go up when the prices go up and they don't go down when the prices go down. i am not sure where british gas are coming from but the option is to choose a different supplier. the cancer drug being used by heroin addicts — as many as 130 deaths may have been caused by overdoses of fentanyl in the past eight months. the white house admits president trump contributed to a statement made by his son. it was about a meeting with russian lawyer. the trauma unit at thejohn radcliffe hospital in oxford closes for up to a year because its cladding failed fire safety tests. also in the next hour... the two

wheeled scourge of london. police reveal new tactics to tackle the moped crime wave that's hitting the capital. and, as he prepares for life after athletics, what next for the world's fastest ever man? i might go into acting and do some action movies, so that'll give me a rush. you never know. good evening and welcome to bbc news. over three million british gas customers face a hefty rise in their electricity bills. the company argues that it's own costs have risen and from september it will charge 12.5% more for electricity. this means a typical household on a dualfuel tariff will see its annual bill go up by an average of £76. it's the first increase

from british gas for nearly four years but that hasn't stopped consumer groups and the government condemning the move. our business editor, simonjack, reports. electricity, a basic need, a simple product. the same wherever or whoever you buy it from. if you buy from british gas, it will be 12.5% more expensive from september. as the uk's largest supplier, it hikes prices for the first time in four years. given wholesale costs have come down over that period, why raise prices now? we do agree that over the last few years since we dropped electricity prices the last time, wholesale costs have indeed fallen by about £36 on a typical bill. but we've seen these other factors of transmission and distribution costs and energy policy costs go up by almost £100. that is the main driver.

electricity may be a simple commodity but the factors that influence its price are complicated. 22% of the bill is made up of the company's operational expenses. there's also 5% vat in there. the wholesale price makes up 36% of the bill, that's the price at which the energy suppliers buy the energy they then sell on to us. british gas concedes that this has actually fallen since the beginning of the year. then there's the cost of delivering the electricity to our homes. that makes up 29% of the cost. british gas says rising costs here is one reason responsible for today's hike. but figures from 0fgem show these costs fell over the last year. the other one is government policy, that makes up 13% and that includes increased use of renewable energy and promoting energy saving measures like insulation. british gas says they're going up, 0fgem says yes they are, but only by 2%.

no wonder some consumers are confused. they make it as complicated as they can and people do not understand. the bills are not clear. i do not know where british gas are coming from but you have the option to choose another supplier. wholesale prices have stayed the same or have gone down as far as i know. they put them up for consumers and that is disgusting. british gas froze prices when others raised them earlier in the year, so it is catching up with the rest of the pack. consumer groups say it is the responsibility of government to take industrywide action. government needs to urgently look at what it does for those customers who are paying over the odds. there has been so much discussion about the energy market and that it does not work for consumers. the discussion needs to end and we need action. according to the opposition, that action should include a cap on energy prices. the labour party would introduce an initial price cap and develop alternative energy supplies so that this cartel we have

now could not control pricing levels and hold us over a barrel in future. policies like capping energy prices to support working families... the conservatives had a cap in their manifesto but it was dropped from the queen's speech and now the government wants 0fgem to find a way to keep costs down. energy remains a hot political issue. simon jack, bbc news. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10.1i0pm this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are randeep ramesh, the guardian's chief leader writer, and the spectator‘s political correspondent, katy balls. 60 people have died in the uk in the past eight months after taking the painkilling drug fentanyl — that's according to the national crime agency. it's the drug that was linked to the death of the rock legend prince, and is 50 times more potent than heroin. these latest figures mightjust be the tip of the iceberg. there are another 70 cases

in which fentanyl is the suspected cause of death. asjune kelly reports, two thirds of the known deaths have been in the yorkshire, humberside and cleveland areas. the rock legend prince died suddenly last year at the age of 57. fans gathered near his home in minnesota where his body was found. # purple rain... a year on, medical examiners concluded his death was due to an accidental overdose of the drug fentanyl. it was unclear where he had got it from and no one was charged over his death. fentanyl is a drug used to treat cancer patients. but now police in the uk are becoming concerned at its growing use by drug addicts here. it is said to be 50 times more powerful than heroin. and it is killing people. sean, who does not want his face

shown, lost a sister to a suspected fentanyl overdose a few months ago. she had gone and bought some and she knew what it was. she went back to the hostel, and was found two days later. and most of those who lost their lives have been heroin users. to be that far gone on heroin and other drugs, the lifestyle that they lead, nothing matters to them. they just want that relief. just getting away from the world for an hour or two. fentanyl is so lethal that this is how police were kitted up when they raided a suspect‘s house. protected against breathing it in. there is an even more powerful substance, a tiny grain of which could prove fatal. so why are more people using these drugs? we believe this is partly down to the ongoing need for dealers to be trying to compete with each

other and sometimes introducing drugs in the marketplace they believe might give them a competitive edge. and increase profits. fentanyl is known as a synthetic opioid and addicts mix it with heroin. police say people are playing russian roulette with their lives every time they take it. june kelly, bbc news. doctor cathy stannard is a consultant in complex pain in the nhs. shejoins me via webcam from bristol. thank you forjoining us this evening. tell us a bit more about this drug, its use is supposed to be to control pain, particularly for cancer sufferers. to control pain, particularly for cancer sufferers. as your report that said it is a very potent drug developed in the 1960s and it is prescribed a lot in the uk and used in hospitals as part of anaesthesia and as post—operative pain relief and as post—operative pain relief and also in the community for other

operations like a patch on skin, often at the end of life and barrott different formulations, love syringes and sprays which can be used for different things —— there are different formulations, lozenges and sprays. people say it is many more times lethal than heroin. and sprays. people say it is many more times lethal than heroinm and sprays. people say it is many more times lethalthan heroin. it is and we have to be clear that as far as we know these deaths that have been reported are not related to the medicinal prescription of fentanyl for legitimate reasons in the uk but rather illicitly manufactured fe nta nyl rather illicitly manufactured fentanyl and rather illicitly manufactured fenta nyl and related rather illicitly manufactured fentanyl and related products under non—ideal circumstances in other countries which are imported and cut with heroin. this does not reflect its medicinal use in the uk. this is of course the victims being drug users, presumably it is very hard

for the agencies and the police to clamp down on this? it is very difficult and in a sense of the best thing that can be done at the moment is mitigation. suddenly a big health england produced a statement in april warning users and advising people who were working with service users that these compounds were available and deadly —— public health england. they can kill people. and falling into the wrong handsis people. and falling into the wrong hands is a big problem? yes, and this is a huge problem in the us and an emerging problem here and these drugs are readily manufactured, synthetic compounds, they are not like natural opioids like morphine. they can be unaffected and get into the hands of dealers. thank you very much forjoining us. the white house has admitted for the first time that president trump contributed to a misleading statement made

by his son, in which he claimed a meeting he had with a russian lawyer was not primarily about helping the trump election campaign. donald trump junior has since revealed that he attended the meeting after being promised information on his father's opponent, hillary clinton. today, following newspaper reports that president trump had actually dictated the statement, white house spokeswoman sarah sanders said the president had "weighed in as any father would". the statement that donald junior issued is true, there is no inaccuracy in it. the president weighed in at any father would based on the limited information that he had. this is all discussion of no consequence. there is no follow—up, it was disclosed to the proper parties which is how the new york times found out about it. the democrats want to continue to use this as a pr stunt and are doing everything they can to keep this story alive and in the papers every

day. the president and the american people voted america first and not rush at first and that is the focus of our administration. inaudible he certainly did not dictate but he weighed in and offered suggestions like any father would do. was he aware at the time that donald junior had a meeting based on the pretext that he would be promised information that was negative about hillary clinton when he suggested that the meeting was primarily about russian adoption policy? the statement issued was true and there we re statement issued was true and there were no inaccuracies in it. i think the bigger question, everybody wants to make this story about misleading but the only misleading thing is a yea rs but the only misleading thing is a years worth of stories that have been fuelling a false narrative about this russia collusion and on a phoney scandal based on anonymous sources. if you're going to blog about misleading that is the only

misleading thing i see in this entire process. you guys are focused ona entire process. you guys are focused on a meeting that donald junior had no consequence when the democrats actually colluded with a foreign government like ukraine, day took money from the russian government while they created the phoney dossier that has been the basis for the russian scandal fake news and dossier that has been the basis for the russian scandalfake news and if you want to talk further about the relationship with russia, look no further than the clintons, bill condon was paid half $1 million to give a speech to a russian bank and was thanked by putin for it. hillary clinton allowed one fifth of america's uranium reserve to be sold toa america's uranium reserve to be sold to a russian firm whose investors we re to a russian firm whose investors were clinton foundation donors and they lobbied against saxons against russia's largest bank and fell to reported. if you want to talk about having relations which you seem obsessed with a look no further than that. if you want to talk about somebody who has been tough on russia look at president trump who once more fracking, more coal, more

energy, a stronger military and defence, those things are not good for russia, i think the distinctions are very clear and you want to create a narrative thatjust does not exist. 0ur correspondent barbara plett usher is in washington. a developing story here of course but yet again after yesterday, but the white house clearly trying to downplay this but it could be significant? pushing back pretty ha rd significant? pushing back pretty hard actually on this story from the washington post that the president was involved in putting out a statement that said the meeting his son, donald junior, had with a russian lawyer was not about the election campaign and later on it became quite clear that it was about the campaign and he had been trying to get damaging information on hillary clinton. the spokeswoman saying that he did not dictate the response, he was involved in it and he confirmed that. as with other would—be, she said that as a father

would—be, she said that as a father would be. it seemed to counter the evidence out there. in the washington post story there were advisers quoted as saying that many people around mr trump had said, let's go for the full disclosure because otherwise it will come back to haunt us. they were worried when he put that kind of statement out that by doing so he would open himself up and make himself further vulnerable to charges of a cover—up and the investigation now is about a possible collusion. it wasn't then of course. they are worried this will give the special counsel more ammunition to look more closely at what he has done. and president trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with russia but that investigation is ongoing. yes, and even at the end of the day if there is no evidence to support that there was collusion and you get a drip about meetings and e—mails and

things like that, there has not been a smoking gun, even if there wasn't, and infact a smoking gun, even if there wasn't, and in fact in the washington post article his advisers said he thinks he is innocent sony does not have a problem leaping into this and he thinks it is a political problem he can solve and he does not accept or realise it is a criminal investigation that could implicate him. he does not think he has anything to hide but this whole issue continues to hang like a cloud over him and it has already affected his policy because it affects his ability to have a set of relations with russia and we have a strong counteraction from converse or where they tied his hands over russia. it will not go away —— from congress. thank you. the headlines on bbc news... the government and labour have criticised the owner of british gas, centrica, for announcing a 12.5 percent increase in electricity prices. sixty people have died in the uk in the past eight months after taking the painkilling

drug fentanyl according to the national crime agency. the white house has confirmed the president contributed to a statement made by his son about a meeting with a russian lawyer. sport now and a full round—up from the bbc sports centre. usain bolt insists he is still the fastest man in the world as he prepares to retire from athletics after the world championships. he has been holding court with the media today looking ahead to what will be his final bow in london having won eight 0lympic titles and 11 world gold medals. he will race in the 100 metres again having only gone under ten seconds once this season and he was asked what he would like his legacy to be if he retained his title. unbeatable, you know what i

mean. usain bolt has retired unbeatable over individual events. you so have the relay?” unbeatable over individual events. you so have the relay? i still have the relay but relays you'd never know. but that would be the headline for me hopefully, the biggest headline. unbeatable, unstoppable. england goalkeeper karen bardsley will miss the rest of women's euro 2017 after it was been revealed she's broken her leg. the manchester city keeper was injured in the second half of sunday's quarter—final win over france and was replaced by siobhan chamberlain who'll now come in to the team to face the netherlands in thursday's semi—final. bardsley has a broken fibula but will stay with the squad for the rest of the tournament. from our point of view we feel these are the type of games we can be at our best, we can bring the best out of each other and we have to do that again because holland will bring a big game to this match. they want to win, it is a huge game for them, a massive game in the dutch football,

let alone dutch women's football. every football fa n let alone dutch women's football. every football fan in holland, and not many dutch are not football fans, will be rooting for the team and supporting them either in the stadium orfrom and supporting them either in the stadium or from the street so for us we know what we need to do but i'm confident in our ability to do that under pressure. hearts have sacked head coach ian cathro afterjust seven months in charge. the 31—year—old, a former newcastle assistant, was in his first managerial role and appears to have paid the price for a shock league cup exit against dunfermilne. hearts say it was a very difficult decision, calling him an extremely talented young coach with a very bright future. rugby union's pro12 will be expanded to include two south african sides and renamed the pro14 from this coming season. the cheetahs, who are based in bloemfontein, and the southern kings from port elizabeth recently lost their places in the southern hempishere's super rugby competition. in the new expanded pro14 the teams will be split evenly into two conferences with two teams from ireland and wales in each and one team from scotland, italy and south africa. the defeat are depending terry cup

champions, the southern kings have come some great wins in super rugby —— the cheaters makro are the defending currie cup champions. they are the sleeping giant south rugby, are the sleeping giant south rugby, a huge force and if you look at some of their statistics when they first joined, 32,000 average attendance, we can connect with that rugby audience can go into a rugby heartland just as it is here in ireland and those two teams will be adding something special that our tournament. british gymnast ellie downie will miss 0ctober‘s world championships in canada after ankle surgery. the 18—year—old injured her left ankle at the british championships in march but went on to win four medals in april's european championships. downie plans to return for next year's commonwealth games in australia. she's tweeted, "a minor setback is a pathway for a major comeback". her older sister becky will also miss the worlds as she continues to recover from an elbow injury. the favourite and two time

winner big orange couldn't make it three in a row at the goodwood cup this afternoon. no horse has managed to take the race for three consecutive years and frankie dettori's mount, a strong favourite, could only finish second behind the 6—1 shot stradivarius on the feature race on day one of glorious goodwood. thejohn gosden—trained three—year—old is now second favourite for the final classic of the season, the st leger, next month. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. thank you. police in london are having to adopt new tactics to deal with an upsurge in moped crime. criminals on two wheels have been riding around the city, targeting people with mobile phones or bags. police say the number of incidents have tripled in the last year and now the thieves are even travelling to london from the home counties. our special correspondent, lucy manning, has been investigating the growing threat from moped gangs. last night near harrods, police and fire brigade rushed to a moped gang attack.

liquid, possibly acid, thrown at the victim as they tried to steal his watch. a few months ago in east london and a motorcyclist is surrounded by four mopeds. a fire extinguisher let off in his face. in london it is increasingly the crime of choice for teenage offenders. police telling the bbc the average age of mopeds gangs is 15, with somejust 13. please send me the location of where he is. delivery driverjabed hussein was attacked three weeks ago on his moped when acid was thrown at him as they stole his bike. he is now part of a social media group with hundreds of moped drivers warning if a gang is spotted. another alert comes in. just turning left to go towards my nextjob. two guys on one bike. just be careful. how often are people posting that they think these mopeds are around?

today, so many. police do not stop or chase them. they're getting away. we're going to meet other delivery drivers, some have stopped working after ten o'clock at night, they're so scared of the mopeds gangs. where are you seeing the mopeds? everywhere, everywhere around and police do not care. it is not men, it is kids, 16. your life's in danger from someone who will come when we are just stopped at traffic lights. someone could attack from behind. as we talk, a bike cuts across the pavement, the driver and passenger with their faces covered. do not film me. the delivery drivers say this is one of the mopeds gangs, they threaten our team. later we check the number plate, it is not insured and has changed colour.

police believe the characteristics of a stolen bike. in the last year there were 16,000 mopeds related crimes in london. three times as many as the previous year. but the bbc has been told police are testing a new way of catching the attackers. spraying them with liquid that can later be traced. we're looking at a spray that delivers a unique dna piece which sprays on them and can be traced back to them later on. if equipment or clothing or the bike is sprayed. and can you spray this on them as they are taking off? potentially, yes. we're trying to find a way to do that safely. it is being tested under home office guidelines. police insist they often give chase. there is a misconception that there is less pursuit and people do not report it but the number of pursuits has increased. you do not pursue every mopeds gangs when a call comes in?

that is true but the reality is by the time we get the call for most of these offences, it has already gone. 0nline, it is also brazen. bristol bike taker, with pictures of mopeds, masked riders and bolt cutters. avon and somerset police, who are investigating, say the account is used to taunt the owners of stolen bikes. 0thers appear to offer keys for sale to unlock mopeds. and teenagers post videos of themselves driving recklessly, breaking traffic laws. this is believed to be riders filming themselves being chased by the police. a police video shows phone thieves going up the wrong side of the m11. the bbc has been told mopeds gangs are now coming into london from kent, sussex, surrey and buckinghamshire. police believe the growing problem in the capital will spread across the country.

lucy manning, bbc news. there has been a second day of trouble at a prison in hertfordshire where armed inmates have taken over a wing and smashed windows. wright trained teams were sent into hmp the mount in 0rpington that the ministry ofjustice says the disturbance has now been brought under control. yesterday at least 50 cells were thought to have been damaged but no one is a dabbing injured in the initial violence. the trauma unit at thejohn radcliffe hospital in oxford will be evacuated after the building was found to be a fire risk. a report, commissioned after the grenfell tower fire in london, found a number of failings including that the unit's cladding was a fire risk. it's the first time an inpatient department has been forced to close due to fire safety concerns. katharine da costa reports. this is 0xford's trauma unit, a major hub in the region, treating hundreds of patients with multiple fractures and complex needs.

now an independent report has found the external cladding is unsafe and advised patients should be moved as a matter of urgency. there are a number of recommendations. those include changing the nature of the cladding, but they also include putting in the measures to slow down the rate at which fire could spread from floor to floor. they also include measures to improve the speed with which we can evacuate patients from that building if a fire were to occur. the grenfell tower disaster last month prompted the hospital trust to commission a review into its own buildings. that fire assessment led to further detailed inspections found the trauma unit has serious structural concerns. the fire legislation does not go into the structure of the building. there has been a deeper engineer report which has uncovered these

increased fire risks. preparations are already being made to relocate the 52 inpatient beds by the end of the week. a significant challenge for a hospital already struggling to free up beds. they are very sick, eitherjust about to have major surgery or have just had major surgery, so they need special nursing care. the nurses will need to follow them wherever they go in the hospital, as other nurses will not be trained in that kind of work. then it is the matter of space. the hospital is packed full anyway, now we have got to fight another 52 beds. 0utpatient services will continue as normal, but work to cost and commission the replacement for the cladding could mean that the inpatient unit will be closed for the next 12 months. with me is fire safety expert arnold tarling. this is clearly quite a big step to

ta ke to this is clearly quite a big step to take to move all of these patients. we know the hospitals are short of beds. why have they taken this decision? it is the right step to take, you don't want to put lives at risk. they have obviously got major problems with that hospital, not just the cladding but also fire stopping within the building. that is not unusual. there are many buildings that have problems with fire stopping and cladding, notjust hospitals but leisure centres and private businesses and hotels. they are large problems with building in the country. people at that hospital said it was about the spread of fire, not just the said it was about the spread of fire, notjust the cladding, and talking about the spread of fire going up vertically. what are they talking about? that could be talking about lack of fire stopping within the actual cladding system itself, about a lack of it in ducts and the

vertical and spreading out into the hospital wards. they could be talking about lack of fire stopping around windows. there is a multitude of ways in which fire can spread it has not been properly fire stopped. after the grenfell tower fire a lot of testing was being done and we know a lot of tower blocks were found to have had a similar type of cladding but where have we got to with the testing, are they replacing it on these tower blocks? how are they trying to rectify the situation? it's a mess at the moment. people don't know what they need to be doing. people have started taking off cladding and then stopped. some have said it is safe to go back into buildings which have the same sort of cladding. i don't think it is safe to go back into those buildings because of the way polyethylene melts and burns. the guidance doesn't seem to be there really at

the moment. but so many places need to be dealt with that we will be ha rd to be dealt with that we will be hard pushed to find places for people to live. there is the problem of schools, hospitals, other public buildings, have there been any measures taken on the buildings that are not tower blocks? they are mainly concentrating on those. there are other people who are looking at those other buildings in dealing with them. i know private landlords that are doing that. it is the amount of time. it's the amount of people you need to get. how many contractors there are available. i reckon that people should resort to using abseiling companies to remove the cladding and get buildings safe, because you don't have the scaffolding, and you don't have the extra fire load of the timber in scaffolding. there are many ways it can be tackled. it is a matter of picking the route you take, picking the proper advice from people who

are experienced, who can assess which are the most dangerous. certainly i would say the polyethylene call would be the most dangerous. there are many other systems which are dangerous. we have double glazed window systems which will fall apart in a fire because the nylon breaks away and burns. i have found them. i have tested them. but it was said by people in the dc lg that it was perfectly acceptable that it was only class 0. it isn't just rain screen cladding. we need to look at the whole gambit of fire protection in buildings. thanks very much. time for a look at the weather. few of us escaped the showers, some of us had torrential downpours with

lightning and thunder. gradually as we go deep into the evening a lot of these showers will fade away. it becomes dry, clear spells, clear skies over scotland for most of the night. but it is getting pretty chilly. single figures in some spots. but wet and windy weather is coming into south—western england and wales. and that is spreading north and north—east as we go into wednesday. if you start trying it won't stay that way. not much rain to the east of england until late in the day. the far north in far north—east of scotland will stay dry until the evening. heavy bursts of rain through southern part of england and fringing through wales as we go into the evening. again with freshening winds. it clears as we go through wednesday night. thursday is another day of sunshine and showers. some blustery ones. and if you round on from —— and a few around on friday. this is bbc news. the headlines:

the government and labour have criticised the owner of british gas, centrica, for announcing a 12.5% increase in electricity prices. return to index of stories. sixty people have died in the uk in the past eight months after taking the painkilling drug fenta nyl — according to the national crime agency. the white house has confirmed the president contributed to a statement made by his son about a meeting with a russian lawyer. the president weighed in as any father would with the information he had. police in london are adopting new tactics to deal with an upsurge in moped crime. criminals have been targeting people with mobile phones or bags. as we've been hearing british gas has been defending its decision to increase electricity prices by twelve and a half per cent for more than three million customers.

it says it's facing increased distribution costs and has been selling at a loss. paul lewis, a financialjournalist and presenter of bbc radio 4's money box said recent increases had exceeded the rate of inflation. the rise that people will feel. i've been getting tweets today from people, people saying i will feel this because off my pay. wholesale prices are going down. they say there are other costs. wholesale prices are. they've gone down from a typical bill at £36. the other one is green measures, making sure we use sustainable fuel and subsidies, they've gone up. i discovered something this afternoon, something nobody has mentioned from british gas, that they are scrapping a £15

discount that people on dual fuel get. but is purely a british gas decision. they've decided to put up bills like that by £15. then the are things like smart meters which we we re things like smart meters which we were all supposed to have in our homes by 2020. that's costing £11 billion. british gas is paying a share. it is supposed to save money in the long run. so far it has been used by every single supplier as one of the reasons they are putting up prices. that is a huge amount of money. how does that work? you can get the smart meters put in your house for free but somebody is paying for it somewhere. you don't paying for it somewhere. you don't pay for it. the supplies have to pay for the meter, it cost about £67 for them to do all of that. then there was a communications network that has been set up. that will eventually go on our bills. we will all be paying for it. they say it will help us use less energy. it'll help the industry. and that will feed into our bills. the current

generation of smart meters will all have to be eyed upgraded or changed by the end of 2019 to work properly. because at the moment if you may well use the smartness of your smart meter. switching is advice given to people. does it work? somebody told me they switched and it went up anyway. most people haven't switched. most of us don't. nationally, not just switched. most of us don't. nationally, notjust british gas, but generally about two thirds of people pay the standard variable tariff. normally the most expensive, rather than fixing for a year. one of the problems with switching is that the way the arithmetic works, and this is laid down by the regulator, if you are on a fixed—price deal which last for a couple of years, when you come to the end of it the figure of how much you will save will be wrong. it will exaggerate the figure. somebody told

me today, i have a fixed—price, i switched to a new one, it went up 2496. switched to a new one, it went up 24%. you've got to be care. switching isn't the answer. we have had so—called energy competition for 20 years. it hasn't worked. it has not brought down prices. it has just made things very, very complicated. and impossible to understand really what we are going to pave our fuel next year. except if you are a british gas standard rate customer it is going to be more expensive. british gas standard rate customer it is going to be more expensivelj it is going to be more expensive.” am slightly concerned if you switch to work. what hope do the rest of us have? there was this idea of smaller companies coming through to the big ones. they are. in the last 12 months, surrey, the first half of this year, british gas says it has lost 300,000 customers. many of those will have gone to smaller firms. that is out of 15 million customers. it is middling away. it isn't a major change. the small companies are small. whether they

can become big companies, whether they will still be the same if they do, it isn't clear. the competition isn't really working in the consumers' interest. things are more complicated. as we have been learning today, and with the rises of other companies, it is getting more expensive. from today, people studying to be nurses or midwives will no longer receive nhs bursaries, instead, they will have to apply for student loans. applications for courses are down by more than 20%. the government says it is providing funding for an extra 10,000 university places for students on nursing, midwifery and other health degrees in england. john maguire reports. we get rid of that and you've now got what? these second—year nursing students are getting their first look at the anatomage table using the latest technology to take a 3—d trip through a virtual human body. their degree course at the university of central lancashire is funded by nhs bursaries and grants, but as of today applicants wanting to study nursing,

midwifery and other medical courses will need a student loan in line with other undergraduates. so would it have deterred these students? i don't think it would have made a difference to myself because i really wanted to become a nurse and although the financial implications of not having a bursary would have impacted on me quite heavily, but i could have managed and my desire to become a nurse has overridden those. but applications for these courses have fallen by around 20%. theories include doubts from european students about brexit, a birthrate decline in the number of 18—year—olds as well as concerns about the change in financing. the universities, though, are determined to see the numbers recover and here there's cautious optimism.

we have seen a decline in the number of applications coming through, but they're good quality and so the key thing we have seen a decline in the number of applications coming through, but they're good quality and so the key thing is that they convert into the numbers that we have. so i'm very positive at this moment in time that we will recruit to target. one of the main areas of concern is the impact on mature students. nursing and midwifery attract a much higher percentage of older applicants than other degree courses and their life experience is seen as a vital part of the mix on a ward. sarah cordey says a loan instead of a bursary would have stopped her changing career to become a midwife. to saddle students with a huge amount of debt when they are only ever able to earn what the government dictates they can earn, it doesn't seem to make sense to me and had i been making this decision now knowing that i would have to take on the debt, i couldn't have done it, no. the government argues that the cap on student places had previously restricted numbers and that changing

the funding will lead to an increase in around 10,000 applicants. but les green says he now can't afford to pursue his dream job. i'm 41 so i would be paying that... £30,000, i'd be paying back until i finish probably my... until i'm earning my pension. i don't think i'd ever pay that off, i'd pay it until the rest of my career and beyond. all sides agree that the nhs is in dire need of more clinical staff but the debate centres on how to pay for them. john maguire, bbc news, lancashire. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the other stories making bbc news. at least three suspected gang members have been shot dead at a court in moscow. russian police say five

defendants tried to seize weapons from security guard as they were being escorted in a lift. three died as they were trying to escape. relatives of two opposition leaders in venezuela say the men have been rea rrested in venezuela say the men have been rearrested just two days after a controversial vote to change the constitution. the daughter of one of the men posted this video on social media. she says it shows herfather being taken away by officers from the intelligence service. the wife of the other man says she would hold the president responsible if anything happened to her husband. there's been dramatic scenes outside a courthouse near the capital, ankara, where the trial has started for nearly five hundred people accused of plotting to overthrow the government in last yea r‘s attempted coup.

forty of the plot‘s alleged leaders were marched in, heckled by government supporters and relatives of those killed in the coup. some of those on trial are facing charges from attempting to assassinate the president, to murder. the bbc‘s middle east analyst sebastian usher reports. 0ne one by one the alleged leaders of the coup were marched up to the court. an angry crowd including both relatives of those killed during the coup and some of those wounded during the violence chanted demands for the return of the death penalty which was abolished years ago in turkey. for some of the crowd the treatment of the accused was already too lenient. translation: it isn't normal that the state is feeding these assassins. we want to see them with chains around their feet. they should not even come with civilian clothes on, but instead their prison clothes. the last time some of the suspects like pierre force commander was seen in public there was an immediate aftermath of the coup when their faces were bruised and bloodied. —— like the air force commander. with the street of ankara

and istanbul coming under attack, and istanbul coming under attack, and more than 50 people killed during the night ofjuly 15 last year. the first anniversary of the defeat of the coup was celebrated two weeks ago with a huge rally in istanbul. it was addressed by president erdogan. his position has been strengthened by the coup. his critics say he has used it to target all of his opponents. some 50,000 people remain in detention in connection with the coup. but the man the turkish government accused of being behind it remained in the united states. despite ankara's repeated demands for his extradition. he has been tried in absentia in this the biggest trial so far of coup suspects. for now they face life imprisonment if convicted. the calls for them to receive the ultimate punishment are only likely to grow as their trial

continues for the rest of this month. sebastian usher, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: centrica have been criticised for announcing a 12.5% increase in electricity prices by the government. 60 people have died in the uk in the past six months after taking the painkilling drug fentanyl according to the national crime agency. the white house has confirmed the president contributed to a statement made by his son about a meeting with a russian lawyer. a man in a toy dinghy had to be rescued off the coast of redcar last night a mile out to sea. it comes as the rnli warns that the number of near fatal incidents in uk waters is highest in august — and it's launching a campaign, urging people to take proper precautions when heading out on the water. rick kelsey reports from cornwall. caught the jeff lima love

caught thejeff lima love to see off the coast. —— caught offshore mile away from the cornish coast. the rnli said if the alarm hadn't been raised it could have been much worse. just to confirm we have the casualty safely on—board. tens of thousands of people will go into the water off the uk this month. one of the most popular places is here in newquay. how would you describe the conditions? a good day for surfing? it is pretty good, pretty solid out there. josie has the job of watching hundreds of surfers and swimmers here. on a beach like this, what are the trickiest things that could cause a problem? for holiday—makers, the rips. they just don't understand the water like we do. they just think they can go wherever they want. sometimes when you tell them, they don't like

to be told what to do. every year, just under 200 people die on the uk's coastline and thousands more are injured. anthony miller was just 23 when he went into the water one night. they were drinking, partying, and he said, i'm going skinny—dipping. he went in the sea and disappeared. i really, really want people to be aware that when you are on holiday or a live by the sea, and you are out drinking, by all means, have a good time but do not go near the water. because you may not come back out alive. the temperatures do not get much above 16 celsius, which is about the same that comes out of your cold water tap. august is also the month that

the guys that work in this lifeboat station are the busiest. you could be out fishing and you slip on rocks, if you end up in the water you will be in your clothes, because you were not prepared. i want you to go on your back, push your chin as chin as high —— i want you to go on your back, push your chin as high as you can towards the air. it is that initial part of giving yourself 90 seconds, to let your heart rate go back to a normal rhythm, get your breath back, and try and compose yourself. trainer lewis wants people to go against their natural reactions. despite the warnings, the amount of injuries and deaths has remained steady and the rnli hope fewer people to get into trouble with this advice. british vogue has a new editor

today, the first man at the helm in the magazine's history. the uk fashion industry is worth £26 billion a year to the economy is so people will be watching closely to see how the new editor shapes the magazine. he has already made some staffing changes as our correspondent reports. my name is edward, iam correspondent reports. my name is edward, i am the editor in chief. he looks eccentric. that will be perfect for vogue. i was spotted on a train when i was 16 years old to bea a train when i was 16 years old to be a model. i think it's a massive change for british fashion. edwards yesterday in charge of one of the most important names in fashion, vogue. it doesn't happen often. the last editor of british vogue was in place for 25 years. from day one change is afoot. they've gone on to

snap chat. and there is a new, more diverse team. he has over 500,000 instagram followers. he has appointed steve mcqueen, naomi campbell, all of these independent professionals who come to a certain extent, rely on social media to keep building their brands. though gives the top of the fashion tree and features clothes only a few can afford. —— vogue is at the top. it has been a torrid time for the magazine business because of the new competition, fashion on your phone. n ewsa g e nts competition, fashion on your phone. newsagents have been closing, sales of glossy magazines have been dropping. and it's of glossy magazines have been dropping. and its people like whitney who have been changing the business. this is my blog, shall i show it to you? she is a fashion blogger. everybody wants everything right now. today. they want to know

what is cool right now and that is why social media is so important. do you still read the magazines?” why social media is so important. do you still read the magazines? i do, yes. people have been predicting the death of print for a good few years now and it has not happened. for me it is afflicting the page. it is the excitement, isn't it? it is when you are waiting for the shoot to come up. you are waiting for the new trend. it's everything. it is a new era and a new name in charge of a business which is changing fast. a special performance of verdu's requiem is taking place tonight the victims of the grenfell tower. —— verdi's requiem. our correspondent was at holland park before the curtain went up. it isa curtain went up. it is a special one—off event in honour of the victims of the g re nfell tower honour of the victims of the grenfell tower fire. i can

honour of the victims of the grenfell towerfire. i can speak honour of the victims of the grenfell tower fire. i can speak to the director of opera here. you have been rehearsing all day. tell us about the performance. it has been an exciting and emotional day. we chose requiem because it is an operatic version and it is a fitting, beautiful tribute to the people involved in the disaster. this is a tragedy which has struck particularly close to home for you, isn't it? not only are we in holland park, just a mile away from where the tragedy happened, but one of your members of staff was affected. indeed. only a your members of staff was affected. indeed. onlya mile your members of staff was affected. indeed. only a mile away. we had to react to losing one of our close members of staff who had been with us for many years. it had a double effect, the tragedy, because we are embedded in our community. but also losing a close friend. even more reason to do something like this. what would you say to the critics who will point out that this opera, in holland park, was funded by the royal borough of kensington and

chelsea at the same time as they would argue that same borough neglected housing in this borough, particularly in the north of the borough where grenfell tower is. we have not received any money from the council since 2015. i don't think it is an either or situation. both can be funded by a local authority or government. there was never a choice. it wasn't a last piece of money. it was a council run service. the council gave you a final amount to live on for a short space of time. do you understand the criticism that some people might say opera is less important than decent housing? i would agree with that. of course. no reason why you cannot have both. that is our point. also, our particular opera company is embedded in the community. we do a lot of work in the community. the charity we are working with today we

have worked with for ten years. we raised money for it over ten years. we've done our bit for the community. we will continue to do that. thank you. as james said, they've been working with the rugby portobello trust the years. all proceeds will be going to that charity. time to have a look at the weather. looks like we might need our umbrellas in the coming days. absolutely. they are getting a full work—out this summer. we've seen heavy downpours today. more rain in the forecast tomorrow. let's take a look. over the past few hours there have been thunderstorms. still some heavy downpours around in the northern flank of the central belt in scotland. a lot of them fading away. we're in a gap between weather systems tonight. but the next one is already throwing in a cloud to the south west of britain. the rain is not far behind. we are dry for a time. and clear. under those clear skies in scotland it will be cold.

some areas getting down to low single figures. but wet and windy weather with the temperature holding up weather with the temperature holding up arriving in south—west england and wales by the end of the night. that will always push north east as we go through the day tomorrow. it'll hit the channel islands 8am, it will cover most of southern england. pushing into the south and west of wales. some sports bearing down on south—eastern england. much of the north and east in areas of england will start dry. across northern ireland, outbreaks of rain moving in. mainly dry over scotland. particularly for the north and east which will have pleasant sunshine. the further north you are in scotland, you will hold the sunny weather. none of those heavy showers weather. none of those heavy showers we saw today. the rain is spreading north and west. heavy and persistent rain through the afternoon for southern coast of england. 17 to 20

degrees. there will be scattered showers around. they will continue into the evening. during the evening and night, the rain pushing further east. courtesy of low pressure we are seeing this wet weather moving. and that no pressure is still close by on thursday. it is right across scotland. right underneath it in scotla nd scotland. right underneath it in scotland the winds are right, although of the northern flank varies more low pressure. sunshine and showers on thursday. frequent and showers on thursday. frequent and heaviest in the north of the country. on friday it is cooler. the wind turns to a north—westerly breeze. there are showers around. on that breeze they will filter south east. but there are also sunny spells. cool and showery weather will continue until at least the start of the weekend. we will talk to the parents of the

miracle baby. hello, this is outside source, an hour of the biggest global stories from the bbc newsroom and we begin in turkey where nearly 500 people gone on trial accused of taking part in last yearfailed to. in the us there are new allegations over donald trump's some's meeting with a russian lawyer and how the white house explained it. this is a video showing a prominent venezuelan opposition figure being taken from his home. he is now in a military prison outside caracas. we will hear from our correspondence as protests over sunday's controversial election continue. we will report from kenya where the country is in shock as the man in charge of