this is bbc news, and these are the top stories developing at 2pm. the us defends donald trump's "fire and fury" message to north korea, saying the president had to use language the regime would understand. what the president was doing is sending a strong message to north korea, in language that kim jong—un would understand, because he doesn't seem to understand diplomatic language. french police shoot a man after six soldiers were rammed by a car ina after six soldiers were rammed by a car in a paris suburb. athletics' governing body defends its decision to stop a medal favourite competing at the world championships after the norovirus outbreak. the runner tells us he's been unfairly treated. if this thing had been for mo farah like now, i do not think the british people would allow it. they know that mo farah could get a medal with them. or anyone, even usain bolt. the police officer leading the hunt for a jogger who knocked a pedestrian into a bus lane says there has been a huge response

to their appeal for help. has the isle of skye become a victim of its own beauty? the island is struggling to cope, as tourism reaches record numbers. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the united states and north korea are being urged to show restraint, after a growing war of words between the two nations. last night president trump said threats from pyongyang would be met with fire, fury and power. the communist state says it's considering a missile strike on the us territory of guam — the us secretary of state rex tillerson has just arrived on the island. guam is a small island in the pacific ocean, where us strategic bombers are based. in the past hour, president trump

has reaffirmed america's military power, boasting about the country's nuclear arsenal. the president tweeted again, saying: "hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world." we'll have the latest from korea in a moment, but first this report on the increasing tension, from tom burridge. us military exercises on guam. this was earlier in the summer. with several thousand american troops based here and us bombers, north korea has chosen to pinpoint this tiny american island as a potential target. north korean state tv said its armed forces are considering hitting guam and the american airbase there with medium to long range ballistic missiles. it came after an uptick in rhetoric from president trump last night.

it will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. thank you. north korea threatens... few us presidents have fused cells in showing jerry language against another nation. —— have used such incendiary language. it echoes president truman's warning to japan when he announced an atomic bomb had fallen on hiroshima during world war ii. if they do not accept our terms they may expect rain from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth. but the us secretary of state, who has just arrived in guam, said the president's language was deliberately tough. he is sending a strong message to north korea in language that kim jung un will understand because he does not seem to understand diplomatic language. the president wanted to be clear to the north korean regime that the us has an unquestionable ability to defend itself and its allies and it is important

that he delivers that message before any escalation on their part. guam sits right out in the pacific ocean. it is closer to asia and both south and north korea than it is to the us mainland. on tv in guam the threat is portrayed as real, but the people there are calm. i am not nervous, i am confident in our military capability. the first thing that comes to mind immediately is my family, to come up with a plan if anything happens. the stakes do not come higher than nuclear war. even now after north korea's nuclear missiles test, few see that as a risk, but the cost of potential warfare for the korean peninsula and the region would be high. well the strong language being used by the us and north korea

has led to international concern. the chinese government has urged both sides to avoid escalating the tension. our correspondent yogita limaye reports from the south korean capital, seoul. this is what north korea's threatening to attack. the island of guam in the pacific ocean that's home to a us military airbase. in its latest message pyongyang says it's a response to drills conducted by us nuclear bombers stationed in guam. for the people in south korea, a country that has perhaps the most to lose if a war breaks out, threats from its neighbour are hardly new. yet the latest war of words between pyongyang and washington has made many nervous. translation: if kim jong-un miscalculates and fires first, we will be the ones to face destruction. i'm worried. translation: it's scary, i wonder why kim jong—un can't control himself. i hope everyone lives in peace, but north korea consistently does this and makes us worry.

this country has been preparing for the worst. about 60 kilometres from seoul is the osan airbase where american and south korean troops workjointly on a defence programme. it's just one of many such military stations in the country. but while it's been ramping up its defence capabilities, south korea knows that this can't be its only approach and so it has been trying the diplomatic route as well. last month president moon jae—in proposed military talks with north korea. and on wednesday, south korea once again spoke of mending ties. translation: these comments by north korea do not help the relationship between south and north korea. we will continue to seek peace in the korean peninsula and reconciliation between the two countries. there has been no response to seoul's offer from north korea so far. and no indication that these missile

tests will stop any time soon. yogita limaye, bbc news, seoul. we can speak to our washington correspondent, jane o'brien. president trump said in his presidency pyongyang would not be able to develop the sort of weapons it now seems that they are. yes, and his military generals have said that this is an unacceptable option for president trump, which is why washington and the rest of the world has been having his fire and fury comments. since then, we have had clarification from rex tillerson, who landed in guam as a refuelling stop. he said that the president was right to make those comments because he was talking in language which the north koreans could understand, that diplomatic language wasn't getting through, and he was simply pointing

out the us‘s unquestionable ability to defend itself and its allies. more importantly, i think, to defend itself and its allies. more importantly, ithink, he to defend itself and its allies. more importantly, i think, he also said he believes diplomacy is not dead and, furthermore, is working, witnessed by the sanctions imposed unanimously by the un at the weekend, and the long—term goal of those, of that diplomacy, the sanctions and ratcheting up of the pressure, is to bring north korea to dialogue. the difficulty is, in kim jong—un and president trump, you have two unpredictable people, on the face of it. not on the face of it. we have seen increasingly that they are unpredictable. donald trump has also shown a willingness to use force in syria and afghanistan, where he dropped the largest com or authorised the largest use of a weapon in america's arsenal. clearly he believes that force is an option. his advisers in the administration believe it's the last option and it

is not a good one. for reasons that have been articulated before. but theissue have been articulated before. but the issue is, where does the us go from here? rex tillerson says that its talks, it has to be diplomacy, but will north korea listen? the key to that is china, more pressure on china by the us, and donald trump's commons yesterday by many observers here have been directed at china as much as north korea, warning that the us is prepared to take action. thank you. french security forces say they have shot and arrested a man suspected of driving into a group of soldiers in western paris. the excellent and north—west of the capital, close to the soldiers' barracks. the mayor says he has no doubt it deliberate act. the immediate aftermath of the attack, the emergency services at the scene helping the injured.

all of them soldiers, targeted as they left their barracks. the incident happened just after eight o'clock this morning in a suburb in the north—west of paris. it's believed the car was parked in an alley nearby. it then accelerated towards a group of six soldiers as they walked out of their barracks in levallois—perret. one local resident said they see soldiers around all the time. she told reporters it was a popular area forfamilies, but luckily, none of them were around this morning. the driver sped off after the attack but, after a huge police operation, security forces have arrested a suspect. he was shot and detained on a motorway north of paris. it's believed he was driving the car used in the attack. translation: this attack proves that the terror threat is still present,

which requires more and more vigilance and this counterterrorism operation, which is essential. the soldiers were part of the heightened counterterrorism operation, following the high number of attacks in france in recent years. in 2015, militants targeted offices opposite career call magazine charlie hebdo, killing 12 people. —— offices of the satirical magazine. later that year, 130 people were killed in the attacks on paris. on bastille day last year, a truck was driven through a crowd on the nice promenade. 86 people died. there have also been other lower—level incidents, many aimed at the security sources. today's events, yet another attack on those trying to protect france. the local mayor is described it as incomprehensible

and odious. five men, including former senior police officers, have arrived in court for the first time, to face charges in connection with the hillsborough disaster. peter metcalf pictured third from the left here arrived earlier today. he, along with norman bettison, graham mackrell, alan foster and donald denton will all appear at warrington magistrates' court. 96 people died as a result of the crush at the fa cup semifinal between liverpool and nottingham forest in 1989. police hunting a jogger who knocked a woman into a bustling say there has been a big response to help. it happened in south—west london. detectives praised the quest —— the quick reactions of a bus driver who saved her life by swerving to avoid her. early results from kenya's presidential election indicate that the current president uhuru kenyatta has a strong lead over opposition leader raila odinga the country's election commission says that with nearly 90% of votes counted, mr kenyatta

currently stands on 54%. however, the opposition coalition has rejected the figures, and has accused election officials of publishing fake results. our correspondent anne soy is in nairobi. a number of complaints from the raila odinga team. what is at the heart of their concerns? the electoral commission was publishing unofficial results directly from the polling station. these results were killed in by their returning officers at returning stations and updated in real time that could be accessed publicly on the website provided by the electoral commission. that is the result people have been following, and the president has consistently been in the lead, but today the main opposition party said those results we re opposition party said those results were fa ke opposition party said those results were fake and challenged the electoral commission to rely on

forms that have been signed by their agents in different polling stations across the country. now, they also provided a list of documents which they say are printouts of the master log of the electoral commission's system, which the opposition party alleges was hacked into to favour president uhuru kenyatta. the electoral commission issued a statement to say they will look into those allegations and conduct independent investigations. a lot is at stake. uhuru kenyatta has tried to run for president three times and the animosity is generational, their fathers were similarly angered at each other. that's right, president uhuru kenyatta's father was the founding president of kenya, and his vice president was raila odinga's father, but they fell out shortly after independence and there has been rivalry for decades between the

families. thank you forjoining us from nairobi. the headlines on bbc news: the trump administration has defended its strong message to north korea — it says the president had to use language the regime would understand. french security forces have shot and arrested a man suspected of being behind an attack on a group of soldiers. the governing body for international athletics has defended its decision to stop medal hopeful isaac makwala entry to the world championships, because of concerns about the outbreak of norovirus. the sprinter says he's heartbroken. on the track he's going for gold again. mo farah takes up the 5,000 metres later tonight — so far he's the only british athlete to win a medal for the hosts. england have started the defence of their rugby world cup title. they're up against spain right now. later, wales take on new zealand and ireland face australia — it's happening across dublin. i'll be back with more on those stories after half—past. today is the tenth anniversary

of the start of the biggest financial crash since the great depression. the french bank bnp paribas announced that it couldn't pay investors who wanted to withdraw their money — sparking a crisis which spread around the world, as banks revealed they had racked up billions of pounds of toxic debts. our economics correspondent andy verity looks at what's changed a decade on, and whether lessons have been learned. it was a quiet summer holiday thursday when the markets began to panic. and we're still living with the consequences. down 2112... a french bank called bnp paribas announced it had hundreds of millions invested in mortgage—backed investments and now had no idea how little they were worth. banks and hedge funds had put trillions into similar investments without checking whether the mortgage borrowers whose payments they depended on could afford to keep up the repayments. now they were defaulting in ever greater numbers.

the federal reserve chairman ben bernanke said last week there is going to be a soft landing in housing, proving once again that he has no clue about the economy or about america. greenspan said the same. what more do you need to know? housing is going to be a disaster in the next five years. that warning was given in march 2007, five months before. the crisis was foreseen by some. no one was listening then, were they? they all thought i was crazy and i had some very rude comments. i was called chicken licken on social media. it was a pretty scary time. the credit crunch happened because banks had backed trillions on mortgage—backed investments in the us housing market and now had no idea how much they or their competitors had lost. they normally lent money to each other every day, but now they couldn't be sure the banks they were lending to would stay in business, so they stopped lending and started hoarding cash, forcing up the cost of borrowing. the european central bank,

led byjean—claude trichet, immediately intervened, offering to lend up to 95 billion euros to banks who now couldn't borrow from anyone else. the then chancellor of the exchequer, lord darling, spent the rest of his time in office dealing with a financial crisis the like of which had not been seen for 80 years. mps now lament the lack of personal responsibility from bankers who helped to cause the calamity. whenjust one bank, barings bank, went down, there were more prosecutions and fines and misconduct charges as a result of that one bank going down than there were with rbs, hbos, northern rock or whoever. so instead of going forwards, we have gone backwards. the underlying reason for the credit crunch was a massive build—up of private—sector debt and according to the bank of england numbers for today, we still have not lost that habit. take a look at this, the consumer credit numbers. that purple line shows how much we're borrowing.

it's going up more than 10% per year, far faster than wages. and borrowing to buy cars is growing at more than 15% a year. reforms since the crisis are meant to allow banks to fail without threatening the financial system, but the bank of england recently said that will not be achieved until 2022, 15 years after the credit crunch began. today at 3.30 on bbc news we will be putting your questions about the financial crash to our business editor simonjack. if you have a question, you can get in touch via twitter using the hashtag bbc ask this, or text your questions to 61124 — and you can email us as well at askthis@bbc.co.uk. that's at 3:30pm. more details have been given about the 500 new medical school places which are being made

available in england in the next academic year, as the government attempts to boost the number of home—grown doctors. the target is to increase the total number of training places by a quarter by 2020 — but the british medical association says it won't address the immediate shortage of medics. jessica parker reports. fresh supplies. the government wants more trainee doctors home—grown and todayit more trainee doctors home—grown and today it has given further detail on what it says will be the biggest expansion of the medical workforce in england. we are making sure we train enough home—grown doctors so the nhs becomes self—sufficient in doctors over the period of the next ten yea rs doctors over the period of the next ten years or so, which we think is the best way to insure we got the doctors we need for the future. next year, an extra 500 medical school places will be made available. by 2020, it will grow to 1500,

representing a 25% increase in yearly intake. to win many of the extra places there's going to be a competitive bidding process. universities, for example, will have to show they can recruit students from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds. we welcome the government's approach, looking at how they can get more people from poorer backgrounds to study medicine thatis poorer backgrounds to study medicine that is something we've been talking about for many years, but there are lots of questions about how the medical school places will be funded and how the government will tackle the immediate recruitment and retention crisis. the london school of medicine and bartholomew ‘s will get 23 new places next year and it's likely to bid for more. it's fantastic news because all medical schools are oversubscribed but what we wa nt schools are oversubscribed but what we want to see is the government, when they allocate places, looking at making sure that each medical school is providing comprehensive outreach that starts at a really young age of children. the

government also wants universities to encourage students to take up jobs in rural and coastal communities, where there has been more of a struggle to attract graduates. as part of a wider group of drive, but the labour party says the announcement doesn't add up significant new investment but. ultimately, it will be patients will decide whether the extra dose of doctors will be an effective medicine. five men including former police officers have arrived in court for the first time to face charges over hillsborough. our correspondent is in warrington. what has happened so far? good afternoon. the men appeared before their court hearing, which was due at 2pm. they arrived an hourorso which was due at 2pm. they arrived an hour or so beforehand, dressed in smart suits. they walked straight into the court. some of the suspects walked past a crowd of some of the families and victims of the

hillsborough disaster. my colleague, judith mauritz, is inside the court. she has just sent out some details. the court has been told that the men will plead not guilty to the charges that they face. i'll go through those in a moment. and that the case will be sent to preston crown court for hearing on the 6th of september. the five suspects who have appeared at warrington magistrates' court are as follows, norman bettison, probably the most high profile of all the suspects. he was chief inspector at the time of the hillsborough tragedy, but he rose through the ranks to become chief co nsta ble of through the ranks to become chief constable of west yorkshire and merseyside forces. he faces four charges relating to events of misconduct in public office. the crown prosecution service, the cps, they allege that relate to the telling lies about his involvement in the media aftermath of the disaster and, crucially, the culpability of fans. another man in

the dock is graham mackrell, sheffield wednesday's former club secretary. he was responsible for health and safety and security at hillsborough. that is where the tragedy happened between those football clu bs, tragedy happened between those football clubs, liverpool and nottingham forest. in relation to his role, is accused of failing to carry out his duties of health and safety, and bridging them. peter metcalf, a third man, is a lawyer who acted for south yorkshire police that he is accused of perverting the course of justice, and that he is accused of perverting the course ofjustice, and the cps alleges that is in relation to tampering with and changing witness statements. the final two people who arrived, all denton, former chief superintendent with south yorkshire police, and alan foster, former detective chief inspector. —— donald denton. both are accused of perverting the course ofjustice through changing witness statements. somebody hasn't been in court though. yes, david duckenfield was

the former chief superintendent. he was match commander on the day of the tragedy when those 96 men, women and children received fatal injuries and children received fatal injuries and died. he is not here because of legal reasons, but he faces by far and away the most serious charges. he is charged with 95 counts of manslaughter by gross negligence. the reason he faces those, not 96, is final victim of the hillsborough disaster, tony flood, he actually died four years after 1989, and so for legal reasons the crown prosecution service say david duckenfield cannot be charged with his death. with its rugged mountains and pristine lochs, it's no surprise that the isle of skye attracts large numbers of tourists. but the island has now become so popular that its services are being stretched to the limit — and police scotland is warning visitors to plan ahead, and make sure they've booked somewhere to stay arriving. our scotland correspondent james shaw reports. skye has a unique and stunning

combination of rivers, mountains, and sea loughs. but now under it's under increasing pressure from drive—through tourism. some of skye's most stunning locations are victims of their own success. suffering increasing road and path erosion, but still visitors are drawn to them. what do you think of what you've seen so far? it's beautiful. i mean, just the landscape, the colours are beautiful. something you don't see anywhere else. i didn't imagine it was so many people, but yeah, i think we were quite surprised by that. but you know, you have the vast landscape and you know, you just walk and you have your space. so, yeah. not so much space on skye's single—track roads. incidents like this are surprisingly common. and more people are coming to skye

because they've seen it on film. the problem at the moment is the car parking. disposal of waste. and yeah, people come to where the films were made, jump out of the car or the coach, take a quick picture, and gone again. and you know, nothing coming into the island economy from some of these big companies. who wouldn't want to come to skye to be surrounded by natural beauty like this? but it's clear that the pressures are growing and some people on the island believe that they need to be solutions, sooner rather than later. the biggest challenge on the single—track roads... shirley spear runs one of skye's most famous restaurants. she's also setting up an organisation which will pitch for government grants to improve the island's infrastructure. we need the scottish government to get right behind tourism,

which is now recognised as being a major economic driver for the country of scotland. we need to get them onside and perhaps supporting us with extra funding for the development of tourism as an industry. other people suggest a tourism tax. or even making all or part of the island a national park. but the consensus is that there should be action soon. beautiful, but not so good for others. split fortunes in the weather for the rest of the day. for some, very soggy. east anglia and the south—east are plagued way and of heavy rain, which is moving slowly through the day. it could give some flash flooding, perhaps some travel disruption. up north and west, some

dry weather, some spells of sunshine, the best for northern ireland and scotland, where temperatures could get to 20 degrees. underneath the cloud, just 16. through this evening, the rain will pull away to the south—east. it will pull away to the south—east. it will take until the early hours to clear away from parts of kent. then it turns drive for all of us and clear spells away while out in the countryside. tomorrow, much brighter in the south—east once any early rain is cleared away and much of the country will see dry conditions. some good sunshine, a bit more cloud bubbling up in the afternoon, and top temperatures of 16 to 22 degrees. that's it for now. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: the us secretary of state, rex tillerson, says president trump threatened north korea with "fire and fury" because he wanted to send a strong message the regime would understand. the us has the unquestionable ability to defend itself, will defend itself and its allies,

and i think it was important that he deliver that message to avoid any miscalculation on their part. french police have shot and arrested a man suspected of being behind an attack on a group of soldiers on patrol in paris. the police officer leading the hunt for a jogger who knocked a woman pedestrian into the path of a bus says there has been a huge response to their appeal for help. early results from kenya's presidential election indicate that the current president uhuru kenyatta has a strong lead over opposition leader raila odinga. time for a check on the sport now. isaac makwala has claimed the iaaf would have allowed the likes of mo farah and usain bolt to compete at the world athletics championships if they had been in the same medical condition as him. the botswanan athlete was prevented from running in both the 200 metres heats and then the 400 metres final. that was in an attempt to control

an outbreak of norovirus — with the iaaf saying they had to quarantine competitors with symptoms. the way they did it, there is something they don't want to tell us. there is something fishy. it is not that i was sick. what do you think it might be? i don't know. usain bolt is out now. they want someone to be the face of iaaf. well, makwala was one of the athletes who could have mounted a serious challenge in the race to south africa's wayde van niekerk. but in his absence, the olympic champion and world record holder came through to comfortably take gold and retain his title. but he had sympathy for his rival. it is quite disappointing. i believe

he would have done very well at these championships. and like i said, i have so sympathy for him. i'll even wish i could give my medal to him, to be honest. england's women have started their rugby world cup campaign this afternoon in dublin — they're playing spain. they won the title in 2014 and they are favourites to win again a short while ago, england were leading by 19 points. england had a really strong start with meg jones with the first try, unchallenged. there will be pressure on the aussies to perform. we have to be ready for them. premier league chief executive richard scudamore does not expect

to see premier league clubs pulling off transfers to match neymar‘s record—breaking move to paris saint—germain. premier league spending in the current transfer window has gone past £1 billion, but scudamore says psg's qatari owners are in a different league. i think the neymar deal is an outlier. i don't think is the new norm. it was an exceptional set of circumstances, given the ownership of paris saint—germain and the rivalry between barcelona, paris saint—germain, that whole dynamic. i think that is an outlier. generally, the rest is within the bounds of what you might expect. in 2002, is it and was transferred for 46 million. that would have represented 40% of the premier league turnover at that point. if you fast forward that through, that would equate to a £450 million transfer today. so i am

not justifying it, i £450 million transfer today. so i am notjustifying it, iam just £450 million transfer today. so i am notjustifying it, i am just saying that in context, other than the neymar situation, which i don't think is the norm, we will not suddenly see a host of £200 million tra nsfers. suddenly see a host of £200 million transfers. that was a buyout clause, a statement of intent. i don't think it is out of control. we have regulations, both ourselves and uefa, to keep this thing in kilter if you can generate the revenue. the football association has announced it will bid to host the 2021 european women's championship. the bidding process for the tournament begins in september with a final decision due in 2018. england were knocked out of this year's tournament at the semi—final stage by hosts the netherlands. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. just to update you on a story from the weekend, the brutal murder of a man in norfolk, we havejust had a name of the victim. 83—year—old

peter wrighton. his family have paid tribute. he was attacked while out walking his dog on saturday. police have been appealing for any witnesses, anybody with video, cctv or otherwise, that might help their inquiry. a statement from his family described a lovely, gentle husband, dad and grandfather. the family say he had a kind nature and his love of walking his dogs and chatting with people to pass the time of day. he was murdered on saturday and police are appealing to anybody who was in the area between 6am and 9pm on saturday to get in touch. while hearing that he worked for british telecom for 35 years and retired to the area 30 years ago, where he enjoyed living a simple life with his family and dogs. so that is the

inquiry over the murder of peter wrighton in east harling. detectives still believe the public may hold the key to finding the killer. north korea has said it is considering carrying out missile strikes on the us pacific territory of guam. meanwhile, president donald trump has threatened north korea with "fire and fury". in the past hour, president trump has reaffirmed american's military power, boasting about the country's nuclear arsenal. joining me now is oliver hotham, managing editor of the online information website nk news, that focuses on north korean news and analysis. it is difficult to predict not only how president trump, but particularly the north korean president will react to all these tweets and other things. this is the

thing. in many ways, we are still officially waiting for north korea's response to what donald trump said yesterday. obviously, north korea released some provocative statements early this morning. there was the one you mentioned in which they said they would attack guam. and there was another in which the high—ranking military claimed they would turn seoul into a sea of fire if the us carried out a pre—emptive strike. so at the moment, we are just waiting to see what they say next. the international concern is ratcheting up by the hour. the only country that north korea appears to listen to is china. what sort of pressure is being put on them? well, over the weekend we had the passage ofa over the weekend we had the passage of a new united nations resolution against north korea, a security council resolution against north korea which saw china agree to some pretty tough steps to crack down on

north korea's exports including a ban on trade and limits on the amount of work as they are allowed to send overseas. china has obviously condemned north korea's state m e nts obviously condemned north korea's statements and appealed for calm, but china has also said the us and south korea should not escalate the situation, perhaps a reference to joint military drills that are about to ta ke joint military drills that are about to take place. the united states says they don't believe there is an imminent threat from north korea, but where you are, i am guessing that doesn't matter. the perception is that everything is getting a bit, well, tetchy is one word, dangerous is another. in some ways, that is true. north korea's military capabilities certainly feel more real when you are less than 100 miles from the border. at the same time, the south koreans, during these incidents, carry on much as usual. we send reporters into the streets of seoul today to find out

what people were thinking and most of them said, this is what usually happens. tensions ramp up and then they dissolve. that is also the position of the south korean government. oliver hotham, thank you. the possibility of releasing new powers to holyrood will be discussed in talks between the westminster and scottish government in edinburgh. first secretary of state and minister for the cabinet office damian green will be holding talks with deputy first ministerjohn swinney and scotland's brexit minister michael russell this afternoon. scotland's brexit minister, michael russell, joins us from edinburgh. what are your hopes ahead of that meeting? well, i hope the uk government recognises that it is possible to negotiate a way forward on this matter. it is not possible simply to dictate what will take place. the uk government published their eu withdrawal bill weeks ago and the welsh government and ourselves find it unacceptable. we

can't recommend it to our parliaments. the uk government must recognise that negotiation and working together on these issues is required, not just working together on these issues is required, notjust a decision by the uk government of what is best for them. but all along, it has been stated that the uk government will act during these talks on behalf of the united kingdom. and in the process , the united kingdom. and in the process, didn't they promised more powers to holyrood? don't they go far enough? it is not that they don't go far enough, we don't know of any of them. i know of a list of over 100 items they furnished us with which took about areas they wa nt to with which took about areas they want to get involved in or take over. there is not a single item where they have said they would like to give it to wales or scotland. that is the problem. last year in the referendum in which scotland voted to stay in the eu, many promises were made of power is coming to scotland. not a single one has been delineated by a uk minister so far, and asses in over a year. so

you understand our scepticism. the joint ministerial committee has met monthly to discuss eu negotiations. it hasn't met since february and the uk government refusing to call a meeting at present. we need to see some positive steps by the uk government debate to move forward to make this relationship work, not simply to tell us what they are going to do. but what can they say to you in these talks which would make you think you are being taken seriously and there is a point in continuing the conversation?” seriously and there is a point in continuing the conversation? i can give you three things we need to deal with. firstly, the uk government needs to schedule the joint ministerial committee again on a monthly basis within the negotiating cycle. we would agree to that. secondly, there needs to be a list of items, which they are not interested in having joint framework son. we need to see that list. thirdly, they need to change the eu withdrawal bill to work with the devolved administrations. to simply

tell the devolved administrations to do things and make sure they are working with them means agreeing how we set up these joint frameworks. this is about working together on issues that are presently devolved. we have said we will do that. but there needs to be a mechanism to allow us to do so. presently, or there is is that they have decided what will take place. that is not going to work, because some of the areas go against the devolved settlement. it is going to be a mess and things will not work out in a positive way. so there are three actions they can take, and i would welcome all of them. if damian green said, i need your support. it's a difficult period, nobody has done this before and we need to know we have the backing of scottish, welsh and northern irish ministers, what's to stop you saying, we will support you, but until we know what is on offer, we will remain sceptical? you seem much more negative than that at

this stage. with the greatest respect, i have been involved in these discussions for almost a year and we have made no progress. although the uk ministers say that the time, they don't go even a quarter of an inch towards the devolved administrations. scotland didn't vote for brexit. we are very sceptical about it, but we have said repeatedly, let's work together to get the best solution. we published a paper last december that laid out the way this could happen. it has been warmly received all over the place, but there has been nothing concrete. when you unilaterally abolished the committee that is meant to be making progress, a committee whose remit is to have an oversight of the relevant parts of these talks between the uk government and the devolved administrations, if you effectively abolish it because you refuse to allow to meet, that will not build confidence. john swinney and i will be very positive this afternoon, but we need to see steps by the uk that will involve us. we never saw the article 50 letter. we never saw the white paper. without seeing the

material that is goading through the negotiations, although we have been promised it at every stage of the way, it is time to make good the promises. thank you forjoining us. a 15—year—old boy has been stabbed to death near croydon in south london. the incident took place around 11 o'clock last night. the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. it's the second fatal stabbing of a tennager in the city in 24 hours and the 13th this year. in a moment, a summary of the business news but first, the headlines on bbc news: the trump administration has defended its strong message to north korea — it says the president had to use language the regime would understand. french security forces have shot and arrested a man suspected of being behind an attack on a group of soldiers. police searching for a jogger who knocked a pedestrian into a bus lane say there has been a huge response to their appeal for help. in the business news... today marks the tenth anniversary

of the global credit crunch, the day when banks stopped lending, forcing the world's financial system to a halt. banks had racked up massive debts that customers couldn't afford to pay back. more on that in a moment. now to simon for some breaking news. we arejust now to simon for some breaking news. we are just getting the first verdict in the police operation operation sanctuary. fiona trott is covering that court case. there have been two years of trials here at newcastle crown court, but now the final verdicts are in. we can tell you all about the sexual exploitation that northumbria police have uncovered in the city. between 2010 and 2014, men predominantly of pakistani, bangladeshi and origin leave indian origin targeted vulnerable girls and women. the invited them to parties, they gave

them drink and drugs, so many drugs that many of those victims couldn't defend themselves, or they became so addictive that they would do anything to get more. to give you an idea, let me explain the verdicts that have just been returned here today. a 20—year—old who was already a registered sex offender has been found guilty of conspiracy to traffic for sexual expectation and drugs offences. a court heard how he gave his house keys to a girl knowing she was 15 years old. a 34—year—old has been found guilty of rape, trafficking job. he saw a victim wandering the streets of newcastle and offered her a roof over her head. he said she could stay with him rent free so long as she didn't tell anybody and she came in through the back door. a 44—year—old has pleaded guilty to drugs offences and allowing his

house to be used for those party sessions. another 40 —— he pleaded guilty to drugs offences and a 37—year—old was found guilty of drugs offences and allowing his home to be used for party sessions. three other men were also found guilty of conspiracy to incite prostitution. that reflects the planning of this. they were all working together to target teenagers and use them for sex. this is typical of what we have heard in these trials over the past two years, but they are just one small part of operation sanctuary, which has been running since 2013. 700 complainants have come forward. around 100 people have been convicted. and 18 of them were from these trials. all of their sentences have totalled around 300 years. now

that reporting restrictions have been lifted, i can tell you that as pa rt been lifted, i can tell you that as part of this investigation, the police used a convicted child rapist as an informant. he was paid around £10,000. we have spoken to the chief co nsta ble of £10,000. we have spoken to the chief constable of northumbria police about this, and he said full risk assessments were carried out. he said "the information gathered from that individual has put dangerous men behind bars". we have also learned over the past two years but two of the victims were in care. one of them was trafficked from a children's home. a serious case review is being carried out. it involves social services from both northumberland and newcastle council and that report is due to be published at the end of the year. so after two years of trials here at newcastle crown court, 17 men and

one woman have been found guilty of sexually exploiting vulnerable girls and women in the newcastle area and also guilty of drugs offences. the 18 people here were arrested after a series of raids in the city. guilty of causing girls and women serious harm, caught a spot of operation sanctuary, one of the biggest sexual expectation investigations in the north of england. 117—year—old says she was raped at a party session organised by local men. it's a familiar story. i woke by local men. it's a familiar story. iwoke up by local men. it's a familiar story. i woke up in the morning. the wardrobe was pushed up against the door. her police interview was played to the court. to protect her identity, we have asked jurors to read what the jury saw. he had had sex while i was asleep. still now, i am confused about it. how did you feel when you were told he had done that to you? dirty, confused. how

many sessions had you been to? about 60. 22 complainants came forward in this case from all walks of life. two had been in care. one had been a couege two had been in care. one had been a college student. they were all vulnerable in their own way, whether it was their age, one was just 14, or they had difficulties at home. most of them were approached here in the west end of the city. an older man would pull up in an expensive carand man would pull up in an expensive car and offer them drink and drugs, or invite them to a party. this was one party house the police raided. behind these doors, teenage girls we re behind these doors, teenage girls were given as many drugs as they wa nted were given as many drugs as they wanted and were victimised by older men. for this man, wanted and were victimised by older men. forthis man, it'sjudgment day. he's on his way to court. later, he is found guilty of drugs offences. operation sanctuary started in 2013. it's been a long

and complex investigation. co ntroversially, and complex investigation. controversially, officers recruited a convicted child rapist as an informant. he was paid around £10,000. i get that this is difficult for people. many will look at that and say it is morally repugnant that the police would pay somebody in those circumstances, a convicted child sex offender, for information. this is the world we have to enter into. its shadowy, it's murky, it's full of risks. what ican it's murky, it's full of risks. what i can say is this. the prize that we are seeking and that we gained in this case is that the information gathered from that individual has put dangerous men behind bars. most of the perpetrators were from pakistani, indian and bangladeshi backgrounds. this city councillor says leaders from all faiths could re—educate some local men to stop similar exploitation in the future. people should not be telling the

asian community how to live their lives. it is like saying to the white community that we should be talking about whatjimmy savile bid. we should not do that. however, there is a huge opportunity to talk about these issues on a regular basis of the rights of women. it is important to use religion, particularly islam, to educate some of these people. seven years after the conspiracies began, those who thought it was acceptable to exploit vulnerable girls and women are now awaiting sentence. sentencing is expected next month. in the meantime, four people have already been sentenced. one man has been jailed for ten years after he raped a 15—year—old girl. sojust jailed for ten years after he raped a 15—year—old girl. so just to recap, 18 people are guilty at newcastle crown court following two yea rs of newcastle crown court following two years of trials involving sexual exploitation and drugs offences. to give you an idea of this

investigation, let me go over those verdicts that we can give you. 20—year—old abdul sabe has been found guilty of conspiracy to traffic for sexual exploitation and drugs offences. we heard how he gave a 15—year—old the keys to his flat knowing how old she was. 34—year—old habibur rahim, was found guilty of rape. we heard how he set up a victim who was wandering the streets. a 37—year—old was found guilty of drugs offences and allowing his home to be used for party sessions and a 44—year—old pleaded guilty to drugs offences and allowing his house to be used for sessions too. these four trials that have taken place at newcastle crown court in the past two years are just one small part of operation sanctuary, which started in 2013. i

can tell you to date that 700 complainants have come forward as pa rt complainants have come forward as part of this investigation. around 100 people have been convicted including the 18 here today. and their sentences have already totalled over 300 years. operation sanctuary continues in the northumbria force area at the moment. fiona trott with that breaking story, thank you very much. we will have much more on that and reaction to it. time for a look at the weather... one guy on the calendar, two very different days of weather across the country. the best of the blue sky and sunshine to be found in the north and the west. that was the scene across argyll and bute earlier today, but this weather watcher in hertfordshire have a lot more cloud overhead and some outbreaks of rain. the radar picture shows that we have seen really heavy rain across parts of southern and eastern england so far today. this band of rain is only moving very slowly through the rest

of the afternoon, so the wet weather will be persistent across east anglia and much of the south—east. the odd flash of lightning, rumble of thunder and the potential for travel disruption, certainly poor driving conditions and maybe even some flash flooding. but the south—west, wales and northern ireland, there will be cloud around, but the prospects are largely drive for the rest of the day. we will see sunny spells across scotland and northern ireland. this evening and tonight, there's drier conditions will spread further south and east, the wrenching in on across parts of kent until the end of the night. as the skies clear, things will turn chilly, particularly in the countryside. so a decidedly cool start to thursday morning, but a bright start for many. and with this bold of high pressure taking charge of the scene, a fair amount of fine weather to come. some good spells of

sunshine, particularly in the morning. the best of the sunshine by that stage is likely to be around coastal areas. some patchy rain for scotland. temperatures are nothing to write home about at this time of year, but in the sunshine, it will not feel too bad. foremost, it stays dry the evening. for the second knights of the british fireworks championships in plymouth, it should be dry. but a change for friday. a band of cloud and rain will spread in from the west. some heavy bursts, with strong winds as well. gales for a time in the north—west. you might think that doesn't bode well for the weekend, but we are likely to seek an improvement. it will be largely dry, with spells of sunshine. this is bbc news.

i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at three. 17 asian men who groomed vulnerable girls and young women in the north—east have been convicted of rape, trafficking and conspiracy to incite prostitution. i woke up in the morning and the wardrobe was pushed up against the door. he had sex with us when i was asleep. in the sessions had you been to? about 60. the us defends donald trump's "fire and fury" message to north korea, saying the president had to use language the regime would understand. french police shoot and arrest a man suspected of being behind an attack on soldiers near paris. an 83—year—old who was killed walking his dog in woodland near east harling has been named by police as peter wrighton. his family says he was "a lovely, gentle husband, dad and grandfather". the police officer leading the hunt for a jogger who knocked a pedestrian into a bus lane says there has been a huge response