good afternoon. the metropolitan police has confirmed it's paid compensation to the former chief of the defence staff, field marshal lord bramall, and the family of the late home secretary, lord brittan, who were both falsely accused of child sexual abuse. both men were named a by an informant known as "nick", who's now being investigated for allegedly perverting the course of justice. angus crawford reports. they were horrifying allegations, of a paedophile ring at the heart of the establishment — but they all proved to be false. during operation midland, police raided the homes of the former chief of the defence staff lord bramall, ex—home secretary leon brittan, and former tory mp harvey proctor. all on the say—so of this one man, nick, whose real identity can't be revealed. but a scathing review of the investigation found: nick's credibility wasn't properly assessed, search warrants were inaccurate,

and the investigation went on too long. it's now been confirmed that lord bramall and lord brittan‘s widow have received compensation from the met. reports suggest as much as £100,000. the d—day veteran, speaking last year, questioned the way detectives handled the inquiry. i've never complained about being investigated. it was only the heavy—handed and the unintelligent way that they went about it. i mean, i think they could have said, well look,... if they'd taken any trouble to put their effort onto questioning the so—called victim, i think they would have found that it was very unlikely. it's thought former mp harvey proctor, also cleared of any wrongdoing, has yet to agree a settlement. the true cost of the failed 0peration midland is still being reckoned. angus crawford, bbc news. nearly 60,000 rohingya muslims have

fled to neighbouring bangladesh since violence erupted in myanmar a week ago. the un estimates scores of people are reported to have died since rohingya militants attacked police positions. subsequent clashes have sent civilians from all communities fleeing. sanjoy majumner has been to a refugee camp on the bangladesh—myanmar border and sent this report. exhausted and traumatised after escaping death. many of these rohingya have walked for hours across hills and wading through paddy fields to avoid border patrols before making it here. these are fresh arrivals, as we've just arrived having crossed the border. and with every passing hour there are more and more of them coming. there is obviously no space left any more so there is obviously no space left any more so they are just living on any

piece of open ground they can find, and many of them have the most disturbing testimony to share. i meet this man, who is nursing a bullet wound in his foot. he tells me his village, just across the border, was attacked allegedly by the military and mobs. so many people were killed, theyjust set fire to everything. ijust ran. they we re fire to everything. ijust ran. they were shooting at us and i got hit. there were people whose throat was slashed with knives. there have been reports of villages being torched and hundreds of rohingyas being killed. the violence kicked off after a militant group attacked dozens of police posts in the area last week. those who can have fled the fighting, building temporary shelters and trying to make a home for themselves. bangladesh, after initially trying to stop them coming, is now letting

them in. so for now, this represents freedom. but at what cost, and what lies ahead? sanjoy majumner, bbc news, at the border. utility companies could soon be charged by—the—hour for digging up busy roads in england. the plans have been announced by the government which believes the policy would force contractors to speed up repairs — reducing delays. the local government association has welcomed the proposals. simonjones reports. misery for motorists in leeds today, costing time and money. now the government is considering making companies pay to do work in peak time. i think that's a good idea, and it may cut the roadworks down and stagger them a bit more. you'll often come past and they'll nobody here but a lot of the time, and you think, why did you dig it up if you are now working over there, you know, how can you do it? so, yeah, that could make a big, big difference. 2.5 million roadworks are carried out each year. it is estimated to cost the economy £4 billion, as people are late to work or deliveries don't arrive on time. companies could be charged up to £2500 per site,

to work on roads during the day. the government says trials have already seen severe congestion fall by a half. we've been trialling it in london and kent and it's proved extremely successful, and we estimate that there's been about 600 less incursions into the highway surface than would have happened otherwise. motoring groups want some reassurances. the idea that lane rental will actually be introduced to encourage the utility companies to conduct their road works more efficiently is great news. we just want to ensure that the quality of the work they take and do to our roads is sufficient and it's not going to end up with the local authorities coming back and repairing the job they've done. the group that represents utility companies points out that they are carrying out big infrastructure projects designed to boost the economy, and if they have to pay to close roads, it offers less value for money for their customers. they also say that around half of all roadworks aren't carried out by utility companies, but by highways authorities,

defined to improve the layout and surface of the roads. firms are being told they could avoid the charges by carrying out work at night, or coordinating plans with other companies. the scheme could be introduced in 2019. simon jones, bbc news. some social housing residents in west london will be the first in england to have free solar panels on their homes under a new government scheme. 1,000 jobs are being created by the project. the aim is to reach 800,000 homes over the next five years. here's our business correspondent, vishala sri—pathma. the sun is out in acton, in west london, and residents here are hoping that it's going to help bring down their energy bills. these houses are some of the first beneficiaries of a new scheme that will see 100,000 social housing properties have solar panels installed in the next 18 months. solar‘s become one of the cheapest sources of energy, and that's why the government thinks that panels like these are the solution

to our rising energy bills. solarplicity is the company that's installing the panels. they say that they've found their tenants save an average of £2110 a year on their energy bills. these residents are hoping they‘ re right. in the long term, we're going to save a bit, i should think. so i think it's a very good idea. ealing borough council say that they had planned on covering more homes, but cuts to tariffs and subsidies has meant they simply cannot afford to do so. but the government insists that the falling price of solar now means that the industry does not require help. what we want to see is, and this is actually a good scheme, showing how you don't need to subsidise solar power as much, but still make it highly effective. we're talking here about the potential of 800,000 homes homes across the country, in the next five years,

with a combination of a fantastic uk companies and investment coming in from abroad, and cheaper bills. cheaper and greener energy — that's our objective. the expansion of solar is now largely reliant on the business case for it, with councils and households increasingly look to private investors for encouragement, rather than the government. vishala sri—pathma, bbc news. with all the sport, here's mike bushell at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. yes, good afternoon. it's wales who take centre stage in world cup, qualifying this evening, as they try to keep alive their hopes of reaching russia next year. after scotland, england and northern ireland all won away, last night, wales are at home in cardiff, but face an austrian team who are level on points with chris coleman's men. both need the win, as they start tonight four points adrift of the all important, top two places in the group. i think it will be open and a draw really doesn't do any of us any good.

so something will have to give, you would imagine. but then if it is a draw, we have to see what happens elsewhere, of course, with the other results. this was always going to be a tight group, a tight campaign. the teams are very, very similar. there are three or four teams that are very strong. i have said before, i think it will go to the wire. lewis hamilton will be hoping to claim the outright record for pole positions in formula one at monza in the next hour. the briton equalled michael schumacher‘s record of 68 poles last weekend in belgium. qualifying has been halted temporarily after romain grosjean crashed in the treacherous conditions. you can follow the action on the bbc sport website and radio five live. glamorgan have lost three early wickets, as they try to reach the final of the t20 blast.

they‘ re chasing birmingham's175—9. meanwhile, it's 50 years since the sport's first trade union, the professional cricketers association, was set up. 0ur sports correspondentjoe wilson has been to meet one of the men who changed the modern game. a sitting—room in worcestershire, talking cricket history with a man who changed the game. formed last night, cricket's first trade union, the daily express in 67, and there in the front row is the instigator, fred rumsey. you looked at the. in the front row is the instigator, fred rumsey. you looked at thelj was young. i didn't care what was said of me or what they did with me, ijust said of me or what they did with me, i just felt it was grossly unfair that the players were in a period of development that they were having nothing at all to say about. they weren't even allowed to comment on whether they should start at two o'clock in the afternoon on the sunday... even the church had more say than the players! said they were almost like servants of the game?

yes, total servants. servants. australian players would not recognise that term. they confronted their governing body busier over contracts, even threatening the ashes. meanwhile, english bowler, mills gets a contract in the ipl. players are powerful and rumsey, in general, approves. why not come if you're a professional and you have your bat or your ball as your tool? takeit your bat or your ball as your tool? take it where ever you can get the income. in the 1960s, fred rumsey was a left—arm fast bowler measured at 93 miles an hour. all beat 2020 franchises would pay a mint to have you. yes, possibly. but you could bring a lot of the people from my era into this era and say that. 50 yea rs era into this era and say that. 50 years ago fred rumsey decided cricketers should be paid and treated better, and the history he keeps is the foundation of every modern career. joe wilson, bbc news, worcestershire. yes, how the sport has changed. that

is all for now, back to you. thanks very much. that's it for now — the next news on bbc one is at 6:10pm. have a good afternoon. hello, you're watching the bbc news channel. president trump is going to visit texas later again today to assess the flood damage caused by storm harvey. he will fly to houston accompanied by the first lady where he will meet survivors and volu nteers he will meet survivors and volunteers involved in the relief effort. 0ur north america correspondent has been out with the emergency services to assess the damage. the sheriffs of houston

are still working 12—hour shifts, even though the floodwaters they battled earlier in the week are mostly gone. like nothing they have ever experienced before, a disaster on a scale rarely seen in the us. the water was over this bridge right here. they remember the ones they were not able to rescue. some of them weren't able to get out in time for them to get help, and they were basically stuck inside their house, you know. and they're crippled, where they can't even get outside of their residence, and they died. the sweep of the storm caught people by surprise. after sitting over houston for days, it continued east, keeping emergency crews busy right through the week. in harvey's wake, there is massive destruction. chemical blasts started fires at this flooded plant. more are expected, spreading anxiety about toxins. and, in mucky, waterlogged neighbourhoods, now comes the sober reckoning. what can be salvaged, how much is lost, and who will pay the enormous bill?

the trump administration got good marks for its early response to this disaster. now, it has to show the staying power needed to help recover and rebuild. this will be the big test. it's now believed more than 1,400 people have died after catastrophic flooding across several south asian countries following heavy monsoons. about 41 million people have been affected in bangladesh, nepal and india. millions have been left homeless and more than 950,000 homes have been destroyed. parts of india's financial centre, mumbai, are under several feet of water and in the eastern state of bihar more than 500 people have been killed. 0ur south asia's correspondent justin rowlatt is in bihar. this should give you an idea ofjust how vulnerable south asia is to flooding. we had one hour of heavy rain

about an hour ago and these floods rose up in what is a regional capital of india. that's how vulnerable even a city still is to flooding. let me tell you, this flood water is absolutely disgusting. the first thing that happens is the drains back up and you get a toxic stew, a toxic stew of waste in the water. imagine for a moment what it's like, this is a city, imagine for a moment what it's like for a villager in a hut made of mud and straw, that's how millions of people still live here. for that villager sitting in a waterlogged field beside a river. rains come and the waters rise up again. this flooding is not isolated to bihar, the state i am in at the moment, this flooding stretches across the entire region. from bangladesh in the east, through north india where i am now, through nepal, across the whole of the base and underneath the himalayas across to mumbai

and up to pakistan. 41 million people so far affected, 1,400 killed. this tragedy continues to unfold across south asia. a grammar school, which forced pupils to leave half way through their course because of their exam results, has reversed its decision. parents at st 0laves in south—east london began legal action, after students who did not get at least a b grade at as—level were told they could not continue. the lawyer representing the families says the school has changed its mind. a little earlier our news correspondent angus crawford told me more. it's almost like a policy of post—selection which on the surface of it is unlawful. the school is an outstanding school, founded in the 16th century, a long history of

academic achievement. this year it got 96% of a* to b at a—level. therein appears to lie the problem, it was an open secret at the school that if in your first year of a—level study you didn't hit b grades in all your subjects you would be asked to leave. this year it appears that happened to two pupils. it's happened... we are talking about small numbers. but clearly a policy of some years standing. what happened was that the pa rents of standing. what happened was that the parents of these children began to ta ke parents of these children began to take legal action. they threatened to sue the school claiming that the department for education's rules are clear, you can not post—select at a—level. you can only be asked to leave a school for behavioural or other problems. in the face of this legal action the school has backed down and said those pupils can come back and also that policy will be abandoned. do we have any sense of whether this is entirely isolated, this one school doing it, or whether other schools might also be saying

to pupils in this situation, sorry, you haven't done well enough, off you haven't done well enough, off you go? that is absolutely the key question but we simply don't know, because even if you could get the numbers of pupils excluded in the lower 6th, if you like, year 12, i doubt many schools would say excluded through lack of educational attainment. there are rumours, also reports elsewhere, that this is a wider problem. what's interesting is that the sol the families who brought the action, released a statement saying we would expect all other schools with similar policies to do the same. we know there is something like is 63 other voluntary aided grammars in england alone, we don't know how many of them practice the same policy. —— 163. interesting to find out. let's stay with that. 0n the line is peter read, a former head teacher, who is now an independent education adviser in kent. good afternoon to you. thank you for talking to bbc news. you began some investigation into numbers of pupils

who were apparently vanishing halfway through their courses at grammar schools, can you tell me more about that. yes, this goes back to last summer when a grammar school in kent excluded or claimed they voluntarily in kent excluded or claimed they volu nta rily left, in kent excluded or claimed they voluntarily left, but excluded 22 year 12 pupils. a lot of discussion going on in this. i claimed at the time it was unlawful. i published a website article which has had over 30,000 hits across the country, i have had contacts from different places across the country. children, it's very clear, this is a widespread issue. what's the motive for it? the motive is very clear. i understood there were 16 pupils excluded at st 0laves incidentally.

in one year? can i clarify what you are saying, 16 pupils in the same year or are saying, 16 pupils in the same yearor ina are saying, 16 pupils in the same year or in a series of years? no, the same year at st 0laves, i think it's just two that have taken legal action. right. continue with the point you were making. yeah, these schools are very precisely chasing league table places. st 0laves, you heard of their high academic achievement. it's easier if you throw out something like ten, 15% of stu d e nts throw out something like ten, 15% of students at the end of year 12 who aren't going to get the very high scores. what happened in the case you scores. what happened in the case you were scores. what happened in the case you were talking about in kent in the end? they went. nobody took action. the school published on its website that it had requirements to go into year13, website that it had requirements to go into year 13, which i said were illegal. this year because of the fuss that was made last year they've

removed that requirement and i have heard of no students who have been removed. i think this is a national issue. it's something you think should be looked at more widely. 0bviously, should be looked at more widely. obviously, we haven't spoken to that school so we will accept your explanation of this. it hasn't yet been challenged legally, has it, although this claim has been — you are making the claim the lawyer representing these families are making the claim, but nobody‘s taken this to court to establish whether or not schools actually have the power to exclude on academic grounds? they don't need to because the department for education is reported in the times and the guardian this week that it is unlawful to exclude children in this way. you are a former head of a grammar school yourself. do you understand the kind of academic precious sometimes are brought to bearin precious sometimes are brought to bear in situations like this? this was a few years ago when i was a

head. sure. the pressure on schools todayis head. sure. the pressure on schools today is immense to deliver, deliver, deliver. league tables are forcing all sorts of things to go wrong in schools. this isjust one example. but it's destroying young people's careers. i just example. but it's destroying young people's careers. ijust have an e—mailfunnily people's careers. ijust have an e—mail funnily enough today, can i read out a bit? yes, obviously without naming the person it's from. they haven't given us permission. yeah, this is from last year. it's a pa rent yeah, this is from last year. it's a parent i have kept in touch with. what happened to our daughter has had a massive impact on her. she is still limping along, to be honest, her confidence was so damaged we don't know if she will ever believe in herself in the same way again. this is traumatic for young people who think they are going along to a—level and are then thrown out on the scrapheap. peter read, thank you very much for your assessment of

this story. a former head of a grammar school in kent, an independent education advisor now but helped advise some parents who we re but helped advise some parents who were unhappy about what was happening at st 0laves and other schools as well. three more us diplomatic staff in cuba have reported health problems, bringing to 19 the number who've suffered symptoms including damaged hearing. the us believes a form of covert sonic device was placed in or near the diplomats' homes but cuba has denied any involvement. joining me now is william marquez, a reporter with bbc mundo. what's the background to this story, it sounds almost like something from the cold war days. yes, it's a throwback to the cold war. this started really in late last year when some diplomatic us personnel

and at least one canadian started saying they had some sort of symptoms. then it all came out in may when the us threw out two diplomats from washington in retaliation with what they said cuba failing to protect their personnel in havana. in august we knew there we re in havana. in august we knew there were 16 people who had been affected with some hearing loss, some mild brain injury, headaches, loss of balance. now, yesterday the state department saying it was 19 and that the latest attack had occurred as recently as this august. they don't rule out more attacks is what they said. presumably this is coming at an awkward time, given relations between the two countries after so many decades had started to improve under president 0bama and then really under president trump who has made clear he has no truck with the cuban government, they seem to have gone back into the deep freeze. cuban government, they seem to have gone back into the deep freezem

sounds like a coincidence. trump is selected, then people start saying they have symptoms. then trump reverses some of the 0bama advances he had made towards cuba. it may sound or may be coins dental, but cuba has denied this, and have said they're working with the fbi, i don't think cuba is in a position to jeopardise at least the openings that exist right now. does it look credible as an explanation, do people who know about these things think yes you can have sonic devices and they can have this kind of impact? we have to say one thing, the state department stressed yesterday that they don't call this an attack. number one. numbertwo, that they haven't blamed anyone. there is speculation there is some sort of secret weapon that throws out silence, inaudible beam that affects people's hearing. there are sonic devices, things have been used

in the past but these are cumbersome, huge machines that throw up cumbersome, huge machines that throw up blasts of noise and that has been done openly. so we are in the realms of speculation here. it's not very sure what really is going on. it's very intriguing. i know you will keep following this for further developments. thank you. let's get more now on the news that utility companies could face hourly charges for roadworks in england under government plans to reduce trafficjams. earlier, i spoke to pete williams from the rac. he told me that these proposals are good news for drivers. most people would welcome this novel approach. clearly there is nothing more frustrating than being delayed by roadworks and then finally you get waved through, you can see very little work actually taking place. the idea that lane rental will be introduced to encourage the utility companies to conduct their roadworks

more efficiently is great news. we wa nt to more efficiently is great news. we want to ensure that the quality of the work they take and do to our roads is sufficient and is not going to end up with local authorities coming back and repairing thejob they've done. nothing more frustrating than seeing the road dug up frustrating than seeing the road dug up twice to complete the job. frustrating than seeing the road dug up twice to complete the jobm frustrating than seeing the road dug up twice to complete the job. is it clear to you why politicians have been reluctant to do this because presumably the rac, as with other motoring organisations, has argued this case for a long time? well, i am not really sure. there's been good progress in terms of co—ordinating local roadworks and getting utility companies to talk to each other and trying to plan ahead and think about the disruption they're going to cause to local road users and the public generally. i don't know. we can welcome now there's going to be greater co—ordination and power for local authorities to actually enforce the utility companies to speed up roadworks while maintaining the quality of the finish they complete

on our roads. it is a consultation. it is still possible that this doesn't get rolled out nationally. that's possible. we have had a very successful trial. the results have been great. most importantly, the impact on congestion has been very good. again we also have to bear in mind we have some real air quality targets and congestion is a big cause of pollution as well. all of this seems to be a big win—win. cause of pollution as well. all of this seems to be a big win-win. in terms of the overall problems for drivers on roads how high do you rank this on the list of grievances? it's up there in the top four concerns of motorists, problems with local roads, potholes, all of these are causing delay and damage to vehicles and really it is a major source of frustration. that was pete williams from the rac talking to me earlier. let's look at the weather prospects. darren, afternoon to you. is it

going to be a good weekend for digging upa going to be a good weekend for digging up a road or digging up the garden or whatever else you might wa nt to garden or whatever else you might want to dig up? um, yes! why not? let's do it. everybody get out there and dig something up. we have a weekend of two halves essentially. we have wetter weather arriving from the west overnight and into tomorrow. a nice day today. we have the sun out. there is a little bit more cloud bubbling up, spreading out a little bit so limiting sunshine to a certain extent. sunshine tending more hazy ahead of this rain. there could be a shower across east anglia towards kent. but it's here we will find the highest temperatures. a pleasant day with light winds. to the west we see this change coming along as the cloud thickens, we get rain this evening into northern ireland and by the end of the night with winds picking up rain into western fringes of scotland, western parts of wales and the far south—west of england. not as cold as last night because there will be high cloud spilling on

ahead of that rain. we will have hazy sunshine tomorrow. best of the weather near the coast. this rain is staggering eastwards slowly but surely. at the same time, the rain becomes lighter and more drizzly and it will be damp and low cloud. that will limit temperatures to 15 or 16. where we get something brighter to the east coast, 19 or 20 is just about possible.