this is bbc news — the headlines at 5pm. the metropolitan police pays compensation to retired field marshal lord bramall, and the family of the late lord britton over false accusations of child sex abuse. more than m00 people and a0 million more than 1a00 people and a0 million have been left homeless or displaced after catastrophic flooding across several south asian countries. police arrested a man after a crossbow bolt was fired into a cricket ground on thursday. six form is excluded from the school because of their a—level results will be allowed to return, their lawyer has confirmed. the campaign group says more than 700 homes have been burnt down in one village as tens of thousands of rohingya muslims leave the country. lewis hamilton secures a

record—breaking 69th pole position at monza. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. 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 by an informant known as nick, who's now being investigated for allegedly perverting the course ofjustice. 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 0peration 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. it's now believed more than 1a00 people have died, after catastrophic flooding across several south asian countries following heavy monsoons. about a1 million people have been affected, in bangladesh, nepaland 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 several feet of water — and in the eastern state of bihar, more than 500 people have been killed.

0ur south asia correspondent, justin rowlatt, is in bihar. now this should give you an idea ofjust how vulnerable south asia still is to flooding. we had one hour, one hour of heavy rain, about an hour ago, and these floods rose up in what is a regional capital of india. that is how vulnerable even a city still is to flooding, and let me tell you, this floodwater 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. sorry, sir. imagine for a moment what it is like, this is a city, imagine for a moment what it is like for a villager in a hut made of mud and straw, that is how tens of millions of people still live in india. for that villager, sitting in a waterlogged field, beside a river.

inevitably rains come, the waters rise up again. this flooding is not isolated to bihar, the state in northern india that i am in at the moment. this flooding stretches across the entire region, so from bangladesh in the east, through north india, where i am now, through nepal, across the whole of the basin underneath the himalayas, to the financial capital of india, mumbai, and pakistan, all of it affected by flooding. ai million people so far affected, i,a00 killed. this tragedy continues to unfold across south asia. that was justin rowlatt. ray kancharla is heading the humanitarian response to the floods in india for save the children, he explained some of the measures they have taken. we have actually begun to respond to this flooding. we have started in

assa m this flooding. we have started in assam with the child sent response, because we believe that children, women and other vulnerable sections ta ke women and other vulnerable sections take the huge toll and brunt of this, as they watch their houses vanish they are left to sit on the banks and embankments etc. the child centre response has some unique spaces where we allow children to feel safe, in assam, bihar and west bengal, and bihar has seen the worst in the last a0 years or more. in terms of their critical needs, security, one —— water, sanitation and hygiene. would provide a food baskett, hygiene kit that lasts for about 30 days and child friendly spaces should be kept on for several months so that they have a safe space and can return to school. because education and protection are a huge casualty when things like

this happen, and everyone is baffled by the intensity and extent of this. that was ray kancharla of save the children. nearly 60,000 rohingya — the muslim minority in myanmar — have now fled the country after violence erupted a week ago. the united nations says scores of people are reported to have died since rohingya militants attacked police positions. subsequent clashes have sent civilians from all communities fleeing. sanjoy majumder has been to a refugee camp on the bangladesh—myanmar border, from where he sent us this report. exhausted and traumatised after escaping death. many of these rohingyas have walked for hours across hills, and wading through paddy fields to avoid border patrols before making it here. these are fresh arrivals, rohingyas who have just arrived after crossing the border, and with every passing hour, there are more and more of them coming. there is absolutely 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 a man who is nursing a bullet wound in his foot. he tells me that his village, just across the border, was attacked, allegedly by the myanmar military and armed mobs. translation: so many people were killed. theyjust set fire to everything. ijust ran. they were shooting at us and i got hit. there were people whose throats were slashed with knives. there had been reports of villages being torched and hundreds of rohingyas being killed in myanmar‘s rakhine state. the violence kicked off after a rohingya 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? sa njoy sanjoy majumder, bbc news, at the bangladesh border. a 35—year—old man has been arrested after a crossbow bolt was fired on to the pitch at the 0val cricket ground earlier this week. here's how the incident unfolded on thursday to listeners on bbc radio 5live sports extra. what is that in the field of play? they've just pointed at something. it's poking up out of the ground. some sort of meteor or something. what on earth is that that's just dropped onto the field by the looks of it? they are coming off the field of play. that is quite extraordinary. there is some sort of projectile, it looks like, has dropped into the middle of the field. it was sticking up out of the ground quite clearly about a foot or so, sticking out of the ground, and they immediately pointed to it and now everybody is running off the field.

they are legging it off. i've never seen anything like this before in cricket. a pretty extraordinary day on thursday. 0ur correspondentjon donnison is with me now. extraordinary events at the oval on thursday. what is the latest in this incident? alarming. the metropolitan police say a 35—year—old man has now been arrested on suspicion of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm. he has been released on police bail pending further inquiries. this happened towards the end of the day's play on thursday in the match between surrey and middlesex. as we heard, people didn't really know what was going on, the players were suddenly seen running off the pitch and eventually this crossbow bolt, and eventually this crossbow bolt, and narrow, in effect, was found embedded in the pitch around a foot ora embedded in the pitch around a foot or a foot and a half long. nobody was hurt but the ground had to be evacuated by armed police, the game

was abandoned. and obviously it could have been very, very dangerous. around 1000 or so spectators inside the ground, and police are asking for anyone who might have video footage on their mobile phones to come forward and provide evidence. 0k, john, we will leave it there but thank you very much. thank you. 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 0lave's 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. 0ur correspondent angus crawford has more. it is almost like a policy of post—selection, which on the surface of it, is unlawful. st 0lave's is an outstanding school, founded in the 16th century a long history of academic achievement. 16th century, a long history of academic achievement. this year it got 96% of a* to b at a—level and therein appears to lie

the problem in that 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 of your subjects you would be asked to leave. this year it appears it happened to two pupils. talking about very small numbers then. very small numbers this year but clearly a policy of some years standing. what happened was the 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 cannot post—select at a—level. you can only be asked to leave a school for behaviour or other problems. so, 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. that was angus crawford. peter read is a former head teacher, who now offers independent advice on education and schools. he says the scandal represents a nationwide problem. 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've just had an e—mail, funnily enough, today. this is from last year. it's a parent i've 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 then thrown out on the scrapheap. that's former headteacher peter reid. utility companies could be charged by—the—hour for digging up busy roads in england. the government believes it might encourage contractors to speed up repairs, and reduce traffic jams. 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 there'll be nobody here 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 £a billion, as people are late for 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. it's absolutely right that roadworks should be more efficient and they

should be done in as short time as possible. one thing that we would not like to see compromised, though, is quality. so it's important that whilst we improve the efficiency of roadworks quality is not compromised, because the last thing that motorists would want to see is a stretch of road being rushed and botched. 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, designed 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. the time is 5:15pm, time for the

headlines on bbc news. the metropolitan police pays compensation to retired field marshal lord bramall and the family of the late lord brittan over false child—abuse accusations. more than 1a00 people have died and a0 million have been left homeless or displaced after catastrophic flooding across several south asian countries. police arrest a man after a crossbow bolt was fired into the oval cricket ground during a match on thursday. three more us diplomatic staff in cuba have reported health problems, following what american officials suspect was a covert sonic attack. 19 people have now reported symptoms, including damaged hearing. the us believes a sonic device was placed in or near diplomats' homes. some of the victims suffered mild brain injuries and permanent hearing

loss, according to the union representing us diplomatic staff. cuba has denied any involvement. william marquez, a reporter with bbc mundo, has the background to the story. this started really late last year when some diplomatic us personnel, and at least one canadian, started saying that they had some sort of symptoms. then it all came out in may when the us threw out two cuban diplomats in washington in retaliation for what they said cuba failing to protect their personnel in havana. and then in august we knew that there were 16 people who had been affected with some hearing loss, some mild brain injury, headaches, loss of balance. and now yesterday the state department came saying it was 19 and that the latest attack had occurred as recently as this august. but they don't rule out more attacks, is what they said. that was william marquez of bbc

mundo. the first of more than 50,000 people have completed their walk across the new queensferry crossing. the new road bridge over the forth is closed to give members of the public a chance to walk across the bridge. catriona renton is there. well, you join me here on the new queensferry crossing, this is quite an experience. 50,000 people over today and tomorrow are walking across it. this is something that they will never get the chance to do ever again, because once this road is fully open to traffic and pedestrians are not going to be allowed on it. the people picked in this ballot really do have an opportunity to do something that they are going to be able to tell their families about for the rest of their lives, because this bridge is expected to still be operational in well over 100 years' time. i'm joined by a whole pile of people over here who have walked across the bridge today.

caroline, what has it been like? spectacular, absolutely spectacular. thanks so much for the opportunity. it was breathtaking. it was worth every blister on my feet! laughter it is1.7 miles. has anyone found that a struggle to walk over it? or has it been quite enjoyable? enjoyable really. enjoyable. i think it'sjust more the experience, getting you along the bridge. what is your name and where you have you come from? elizabeth from glasgow. you are from glasgow. the majority of people that put in for this ballot were from scotland and lots of the people picked our people that live in postcodes roundabout, but i'm interested to find out why you put in for the ballot? what does it mean to you to do this? it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and something we can look back on and say we walked that bridge. has it been fun? has anyone found it exhausting? no. met anyone interesting on the way across? wynette nicola sturgeon. we all got selfies with nicola. we hijacked her. is anyone good on heights? i am

not good on heights. this bridge is 50 metres higher than the old forth road bridge. what do you think being this high up? surprised we made it over and that we were not crawling. the same! driving across the bridge, you whizz across. what has it meant to you to not be whizzing across but to you to not be whizzing across but to get to actually touch it and feel it to see what it's like? it has been absolutely amazing to go over, so been absolutely amazing to go over, so cool because we will never get to do it again. what is your name? my name is emma. you are from all over. it's been an amazing day and an incredible experience for us to be pa rt incredible experience for us to be part of this today as well. this is something that we can't stress enough is not going to be open for people to walk across the bridge again, it's going to be a 70 mph motorway, so this is something these people will be able to talk about for generations. catriona renton there. the investigation into the chemical cloud which affected parts of east sussex last sunday

is looking into the possibility that it may have been caused by emissions from known shipwrecks in the channel. the beach at birling gap, near eastbourne, was closed until the haze disappeared. the maritime and coastguard agency is now investigating, as adina campbell reports. a mysterious mist which engulfed holidaymakers in east sussex. it led to birling gap beach, near beachy head, being evacuated, after people reported having irritated eyes, sore throats, and vomiting. i had a bit of a dry chest. and then, as we came off the beach, then it really kind of hit, and we were all kind of coughing a little bit. and my children were really, really upset, because their eyes were really painful. coastguard rescue teams raced to help clear the area, but by the end of sunday evening, around 150 people had to be treated, with others reporting discomfort. sussex police said those who required treatment experienced

mostly minor effects. monitoring equipment was used at the time to try and identify the cause, but the readings were inconclusive. the maritime and coastguard agency now think the gas may have come from one of the many shipwrecks in the english channel. it is also investigating discharges from passing ships or lost cargo as a possible cause. we are going to cross live to houston and this is ellington field airfield, and that is air force one you can see on the screen, of course carrying the president. and the first lady melania trump. this is donald trump's second visit to texas. he will be visiting houston and also louisiana, we understand.

barbara plett—usher is in houston for us. he did say he would return on saturday. there he is. he has arrived. what is he expected to do on this visit? the key part of the visit is he will meet the survivors of the storm. when he came earlier in the week it was a quick visit and he met local and state government officials dealing with the storm. he met with the storm responders but didn't actually speak to any victims, i don't think he even mentioned any of the victims in his public comments and he was criticised for that. so this trip is about ensuring himself to being engaged and committed to the hurricane relief and recovery effort. but i think a big part of it is going to be him trying to show empathy for the victims. he is going to visit a relief centre and he will also talk to volunteers who have been helping government efforts. it isa

been helping government efforts. it is a chance for him to wrap his arms around the victims figuratively, if not literally. the governor greg abbott is also there to meet president trump. there is concern that they are not out of trouble yet across texas, particularly parts of houston. he was reported as saying that nearly 500,000 texans had already applied for aid from the federal agency emergency management agency. how has mrtrump been emergency management agency. how has mr trump been dealing with this particular crisis in terms of funding and coordinating all that from the white house? 0n the funding issue pretty quickly. the white house has already asked for $8 billion in initial disaster relief and congress is expected to act quickly on that as well, probably voting on it as early as next week. so that's something that mrtrump has next week. so that's something that mr trump has acted on quite quickly. he will be asking for more money as time goes on. we will see how

swiftly that money will be approved because there are tens of billions of dollars needed to deal with the enormous damage caused by hurricane harvey. this storm has already been called the second most destructive storm in us history. in terms of the general government response, rescue and relief and people on the ground, that has been received quite well and seems to have worked relatively smoothly. this is an enormous area of flood zone and disaster so they will be hiccups. but there isn't a sense of freefall like there might have been with hurricane katrina 12 yea rs have been with hurricane katrina 12 years ago when the federal emergency agency was criticised. very quickly i'm going tojump in because donald trump and melania the first lady descended the steps of air force 0ne. interestingly enough, recently donald trump was thanking a very affected first lady for supporting harvey amid the floods. there was a lot of controversy about that. it looks like they are going to get into their vehicles before they head

out to meet some of those affected by hurricane harvey. as you were saying, barbara he will have to respond to criticism that he didn't meet any of the victims when he was last here in the week. and what do you make of this national day of prayer? what sort of reaction has there been to that that he issued yesterday? well, i think that's part of him wanting to show that he is thinking about the victims. he has called for this national day of prayer on sunday, also during his weekly address he directly spoke to the survivors and reassured them that the government would be there for them. he is going to be doing that in person now today. we can see behind you, barbara, the waters are pretty murky. talk us through the conditions you are finding where you are. here in houston most of the water has receded and people are looking at what the damage has been and how

they are going to fix it. so you've got a lot of flood damage in a lot of homes across the state, more than 100,000 homes damaged, probably more than that, that is a conservative estimate. beyond that, you have still emergency response is going on in other parts of the state. to the east the waters are still rising and they are supposed to be peaking in some of the areas around houston, one of the cities is surrounded by water and the drinking supply has been cut off by the floods. you have search and rescue, kind of emergency operations, still going on even as here in houston people are looking at how they are going to be able to clea n at how they are going to be able to clean up a. that is what they are doing now, cleaning up and figuring out how to rebuild. we are just looking at pictures of the first lady and donald trump talking on the runway. mr trump will also be going to louisiana. we haven't heard much about what has happened and how the state has been affected. what have

you heard about louisiana and storm harvey? the storm did affect the south—west area of the state. it missed by and large new orleans, which is that iconic memory of hurricane katrina, having submerged new hurricane katrina, having submerged n ew 0 rlea ns hurricane katrina, having submerged new orleans 12 years ago. that didn't happen. there was a certain amount of damage and rescue operations needed in other parts of the state, but nothing like what happened in texas because the reason texas was so badly affected is that the storm came off the gulf waters and sat over houston for a couple of days and dumped huge amounts of water on the city. normally they sweep through, the storms, but this one sat here and inundated houston and continued in a relatively leisurely way across the state dumping more and more water as it went. again, texas has been the ha rd est went. again, texas has been the hardest hit in this disaster. louisiana was also affected and mr trump wanted to go there to speak to

victims. i think also he is making the point he is not going to have a katrina. george bush was criticised for a botched response to the hurricane and mrtrump for a botched response to the hurricane and mr trump feels determined not to also have that on his reputation. barbara, thank you very much for that. the scenes on your screen are coming to us live just outside houston, texas, ellington field, the airfield that air force one has landed in hearing president trump and the first lady, who was greeted by the governor of texas, greg abbott, amongst other officials. they are just about to be driven off to be taken to a relief centre. this is president trump... you can see them waving from their vehicle... president trump's second visit to the gulf coast. he will visit to the gulf coast. he will visit a relief centre. he was criticised earlier for not talking directly to those affected. this time we are told he will meet storm

survivors, talk with volunteers who are helping with that relief effort, and we understand he will personally tell them that the federal government is ready to help them in any way it can. so there is his series of cars driving off, heading off toa series of cars driving off, heading off to a relief centre in houston to personally meet those storm survivors and talk with volunteers. the deputy president mike pence getting very hands on with his effo rts getting very hands on with his efforts on his visit to texas. we may well be hearing from mr trump later. if we do, make sure you tune m, later. if we do, make sure you tune in, stay tuned to bbc news and we will bring you that live. from texas, eastern texas, to

darren, who the weather. good afternoon. things will change into the second half of the weekend. some cloudy patches but the beach is generally sunny through the rest of the day. some thickening of the cloud in suffolk and norfolk, one or two might like showers around as well and those should be moving away out into the southern north sea. this is the big change coming in over night and for tomorrow, that cloud slowly moving into the uk and it will bring some outbreaks of rain and drizzle. a fine end to the day for many eastern areas but already the cloud west. and in northern ireland later in the night as the wind picks up on that train running into the western fringes of scotland and northern england. although there isa and northern england. although there is a shield of cloud coming in ahead of that, temperature is not as lawyers last night. into sunday morning, a very different look to the weather. northern ireland, some low cloud, rain and drizzle across the western side of scotland, eastern scotland and to the moray

firth. breezy and jese sunshine here. not much rain at this stage. it will probably —— breezy and patches of sunshine here. much of the midlands, and the east of england, dry and a bright start with some hazy sunshine. it may well stay dry for much of the day. this rain on the moving very slowly eased into north—west england, further into the midlands and towards central southern england as well. but at the same time that rain becomes light and patchy, more damp and drizzly, but there will be a lot of low cloud pegging back temperatures towards the east course, 19, 20 degreesjust about possible, where we will have the best of the weather. the tour of britain starts tomorrow and we will probably start with dry weather, perhaps ending in kelso with a few spots of drizzle. this weather front starling billy across the uk and at the same time it is weakening, but as that happens we have a more active system coming in from the

atla ntic active system coming in from the atlantic and that will bring some wetter weather into northern ireland and the alice macleod and quite damp, those temperature plumber in the afternoon to be a size 20 23 degrees. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines at 5.3apm: the metropolitan police has paid compensation to the former head of the army, lord bramall, and the family of the late home secretary lord brittan, who were falsely accused of child sexual abuse. more than 1a00 people have died and a0 million have been left homeless or displaced after catastrophic flooding across several south asian countries. police arrest a man after a crossbow bolt was fired into the oval cricket ground during a match on thursday. a campaign group says more than 700 homes have been burned down in a rohingya muslim village — as tens of thousands of the minority group continue to flee the country.

time to cross over to the bbc sports centre. hello. good afternoon. thank you very much, yes, good afternoon to you all. we will get to the world cup qualifiers in a moment. we'll start with formula 1 because in the last hour lewis hamilton has set a new pole position record in reaching his 69th career pole, breaking the previous landmark set by michael schumacher. in treacherous conditions that saw qualifying suspended for more than two and a half hours hamilton was more than a second quicker than his nearest rival. williams driver lance stroll also made history becoming the youngest driver to secure a place on the front row. hamilton will be hoping to overtake sebastian vettel in the championship. the ferrari driver will be sixth on the grid. it's another busy evening of world cup qualification action — wales are in action at 7.a5 against austria. the welsh are in third place in group d, with only goal difference separating them

from tonight's opponents. the wales manager, chris coleman, says that only a win will do. i think it will be open and, you know, i draw really doesn't do any of us any good, so something will have to give, you would imagine. but if it is a draw, and we will have to see what happens elsewhere with the other results, you know, this was a lwa ys other results, you know, this was always going to be a tight group, tight campaign, the team is very similar, three orfour already strong, so i think as i said before that it will go to the wire. in the same group the republic of ireland are currently playing georgia. martin 0'neill‘s men went up 1—0 after a minutes, with a shane duffy header. fightback but in the last couple of

minutes georgia have equalised. the irish are group djoint leaders with serbia, four points ahead of wales with four games remaining. but it is now 1—1 in that game. it was one of much anticipated big signings which didn't happen in the football summer transfer window — now barcelona are claiming liverpool wanted £183 million for philippe coutinho. liverpool turned down three offers from the spanish club for the 25—year—old, who had put in a transfer request. speaking in a press conference earlier today the barcelona director, albert soler thanked the player for his efforts which he said had shown he did want to sign for them. liverpool though have denied barcelona's claims. arsenal and england defender alex scott has announced her retirement from international football. the 32—year—old ends her career after 1a0 caps,

making her the second most—capped player in england history. scott has played in 3 world cups and a european championships — including this summer's euro2017 tournament. football has been my life, it has given me so much. i always said today i felt i could not give 100% any more that is the day i had to walk away, and there is no way i could commit to another two years. i think i have sacrificed so much, i have missed so much time with my family, andi have missed so much time with my family, and i think it isjust important for me to give it back to them now, and itjust felt right.l difficult decision for alex scott. qualifying to reach the first round of the fa cup is well under way — and big spending billericay town of the isthmian premier league have won their latest match 5—0 beating didcot town. the former england international paul konchesky and champions league finalistjermaine pennant lined up for billericay in the victory. jake robinson scored two of theirfive goals. steel magnate glenn tamplin has transformed the essex club into one of non—league's most powerful outfits — and they are now

odds on favourite to win the isthmian premier league this year. it's the first weekend of domestic rugby union action — both the premiership and the pro12 got under way last night — and saracens have laid down an early marker this afternoon. the european champions ran in nine tries in a 55—2a win over northampton saints at twickenham, including a hat—trick for sean maitland. saracens lost in the premiership play—off semi—finals last season, but won the european champions cup for a second successive year. also in the premiership, london irish are currently beating harlequins 21—10. earlier wasps beat sale sharks 50—35. leinster got their pro1a campaign off to a winning start, beating welsh side the dragons 39 points to 16. they ran in five tries, with this try to secure the bonus point win. 0ne

one other score to bring you, ospreys have beaten zebre 22—13 this afternoon. scarlett and southern kings have just kicked afternoon. scarlett and southern kings havejust kicked off, and contact will play glasgow later this evening. —— connacht will play glasgow. birmingham bears and nottinghamshire 0utlaws will contest this evening's t20 blast final after they won their games on finals day at edgbaston. birmingham are at their third finals day in four years. this catch for the final wicket ensured they beat glamorgan in front of a mainly home crowd to book their place in the final. and theyr will face nottinghamshire in around about an hour's time after they beat hampshire. notts took the important wicket of big hitter shahid afridi with the very first ball of the hampshire innings. that restricted them and they fell short by 23 runs of notts first innings total of 169. it's 50 years since cricket's first trade union —

the professional cricketers association — was set up. it was an important step for the sport. 0ur sports correspondentjoe wilson has been to meet one of the men who changed the modern game. a sitting and worcestershire talking cricket history with a man who changed the game. formed last night, cricket's first trade union. there in the front row, the instigator, fred ramsey. he looked happy there, fred. i was young. fred ramsey. he looked happy there, fred. iwas young. ididn't fred ramsey. he looked happy there, fred. i was young. i didn't care what was said of me what they did with me, but ijust thought it was grossly unfair that the players were a period of development which they we re a period of development which 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 a sunday. even the church had more say than the players! they were almost like servants of the game. yes, total serva nts. like servants of the game. yes, total servants. australian players would not recognise that term, servants. they confronted their governing body this year over

contacts, even threatening the ashes. meanwhile tamara mills, he gets £1 million contract in the ipl. players are powerful and ramsay in general approves. why not's you are a professional, and you have your bat or your ball as your tool. take it wherever you can get the income. in the 19605 fred ram5ay wa5 left—arm fa5t bowler measuring 93 mph. all these 2020 franchi5e5 would pay an meant to have you. yes, possibly. but you could bring a lot of the people from my era into this era and say that. 50 years ago fred ram5ay decided cricketers should be paid and treated better, and the history he keeps i5 paid and treated better, and the history he keeps is the foundation of every modern career. a modern career has just of every modern career. a modern career ha5ju5t come of every modern career. a modern career has just come to an end, because the former england captain charlotte edwards has called on

every school in the country to make cricket they are sport for girls. intere5t cricket they are sport for girls. interest in the game is increasing following england's triumph in winning the women's world cup, and 5he winning the women's world cup, and she says participation through school5 she says participation through schools would be the real game changer. it is vibrant, a real buzz around the school, and so many women wa nt to around the school, and so many women want to participate in the sport, and now the big question is that we have to get cricket played in school5 have to get cricket played in schools as much as we possibly can. we have through the chance to shine 5cheme, we have through the chance to shine scheme, but we need more girls playing. there has to be a real pu5h from the schools to actually get it on their curriculum for the summer sport, and i think that will be the game changer for me. sport, and i think that will be the game changerfor me. to get sport, and i think that will be the game changer for me. to get every school in this country playing girl5 cricket a5 school in this country playing girl5 cricket as their summer sport. britain's chris froome has a 55 second lead at the vuelta a espana. (00v) today's1ath stage was won by poland's rafal majka. to tennis, and the world number one

rafa nadal and five—time champion roger federer are back in action at the us open later today. they will be no british intere5t the us open later today. they will be no british interest in the second week at the us open after kyle edmund wa5 week at the us open after kyle edmund was forced to retire, in his third round clash. the match was eventually poised at the set each but with both players getting into the rhythm and the contest was heating up, edmund called for the physio sighting and neck problem. he returned to the court briefly, losing the third set, before relu cta ntly losing the third set, before reluctantly retiring at the start of the fourth. maria sharapova i5 through to the fourth round of her first grand slam since returning from a 15 month drugs ban. the former world number one beat the american teenager, sofia kenin, on

the main 5how court. sharapova has played all three of her matches so far on the main court which has led to complaints from other players who have not been scheduled on the show courts. the fifth seed caroline wozniacki has been particularly critical saying sharapova is getting favourable treatment. regarding scheduling, a5 regarding scheduling, as you know, i don't make a schedule. i am a big competitor and i would be happy to play in the parking court at wean5. but i am in the third round and i am not sure where she is. —— at queen's. the 23—time grand slam champion, serena williams, has given birth to a baby girl at a clinic in florida. sports stars and celebrities have sent their congratulations. a name hasn't been announced yet williams though had already said that she was planning to return to tennis for the australian open in january.

will have more sport coming up for you at 6:30pm in sport5day, and just to let you know it is still you at 6:30pm in sport5day, and just to let you know it is 5till1—1 in that qualifier with georgia. thank you. the time isjust that qualifier with georgia. thank you. the time is just after quarter to six. just to remind you of the main headlines. the metropolitan police has paid compensation to the former head of the army, lord bramall, and the family of the late home secretary lord brittan, who were falsely accused of child sexual abuse. more than 1a00 people have died and a0 million have been left homele55 or displaced after catastrophic flooding across several south asian countries. police arrest a man after a cro55bow bolt was fired into the oval cricket ground during a match on thursday. some social housing residents in west london are to be the first

in england to have free solar panels fitted 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, vi5hala sripathma. energy prices have been rising in the past year, with british gas being the latest provider to announce further hikes, a 12.5% increase to come into effect this month. the big suppliers and government have squabbled over the reasons behind the higher prices. the government are exploring other options to provide value for money for the most vulnerable of households. it is hoping that the british sunshine might help out. solar has become one of the cheapest sources of energy, and that is why the government thinks that panels like these are the solution to our rising energy bills. these houses in acton, in west london, 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. the company behind the scheme, solarplicity, say they have found that their tenants save an average of £2a0 a year on their energy bills. these residents in acton are hoping they are right. i think it's a good idea, and especially going to save on the bills in the long run.

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. you know, we're talking here about the potential of 800,000 homes across the country, in the next five years, with a combination of fantastic uk companies, and investment coming in from abroad, and cheaper deals. cheaper and greener energy, that's our objective. expansion of solar is now largely reliant on the business case for it, with councils and households increasingly looking to private investors for encouragement, rather than the government. in what's described as a world first, a restaurant in china is allowing customers to pay using facial recognition technology. the fast food outlet, in the eastern city of hangzhou, is run by the technology and retail giant, alibaba. robin brant reports. you do not need cash.

nora pin. you do not need to sign anything. you just need your face. they say it is a world first. the chinese retail and technology giant alibaba has been fine—tuning this forfour years. now it is available at this high end fast food restaurant. you choose what you want, it scans your face, it crosschecks with your mobile number and the chinese government's vast id card data base and off you go. you like this? yes, i like. translation: it works even if you pile on make—up or weight. but how about your privacy? translation: alibaba insists that all the data it gathers is encrypted and says it

does not retain any of it anyway. neither does the company behind the restaurant. but it admits that if the government changed the law and forced it to do so, it would have to co—operate. the chinese authorities are using facial recognition as part of a major security clampdown in the west of the country where they claim there is a terrorism threat. that is not unique. the police and the uk have used it at football games and carnivals. the big concern here is that the government may one day come calling and try to use this data to target those that often wants to silence. like human rights lawyers or campaigners. all of that in the name of changing the face of the world's number two economy. he's regarded by many as one of the funniest people ever,

and a missing episode of tony hancock's half hour will be shown at a fan event in his home city of birmingham. it's called the italian maid, and here's an excerpt. are you mr hancock? yes, by all means, yes i am! what a lovely name! well, i'm here. yes, you are indeed! your year all right. i don't understand. i thought you were inspecting the. inspecting the? you're not the woman who was coming... i'm your new home help. new home help. home was never like this! laughter earlier i spoke to martin gibbons, the archivist with the tony hancock appreciation society. i asked him

whether the latest missing episode to materialise is pretty funny. whether the latest missing episode to materialise is pretty funnym is, it is classic, and as a recording from the 19505, so clear. an amazing find. how did you come across an? back in 2016 the tony hancock appreciation society spotted some real takes on ebay, and they looked very interesting. this leaves of the reel to reel tapes, italian maid, and the other one, they had been recorded by geoff elliott, ford locksmith in birmingham, recorded backin locksmith in birmingham, recorded back in the 19505 on the first broadcast. did it start at ten o'clock this morning, is that right? yes, we have an event in birmingham which includes a number of missing presumed white episodes of not only

hancock but of a broad range of television. what was the reaction be liked that? the reaction has been fantastic. as you said at the beginning, it is absolutely classic comedy, and all of the audience were absolutely laughing right through the broadcast. does it match anything like his famous, you know, the blood donor? well, yes, i think this is particularly an interesting episode because hancock didn't normally have guest stars appearing on the show. usually, there was a small group of players who supported him. but for this particular episode, the italian actressjoins visual for just the one episode, the italian actressjoins visual forjust the one episode, so i think for that reason alone it is a particularly special episode for us to hear and have recovered. he was described very much as the comedians' comedian. something of a tortured soul, wasn't he? how much

ofan tortured soul, wasn't he? how much of an appetite is there are still out there for his brand of comedy?” think there is a huge appetite for it. there is significant interest in the radio shows and in the television shows. there are regular cd releases through bbc audio, and there is one due out later this year of some rare material that is outside of hancock's work mainly. but there is a huge interest in cell andi but there is a huge interest in cell and i think the comedy remains as fresh today as when it was first broadcast back in the 19505. fresh today as when it was first broadcast back in the 1950s. for fa ns broadcast back in the 1950s. for fans who were not able to come to this showing in birmingham, will they still be able to see at once closes at six o'clock this evening? yes. the episode itself will appear ona yes. the episode itself will appear on a future bbc audio release. i'm not sure of the exact date for that. but, yes, they will be able to... it is in factjust a but, yes, they will be able to... it is in fact just a soundtrack, but, yes, they will be able to... it is in factjust a soundtrack, it is not the actual video of the episode.

but the episode will be able to be heard on that cd release in due course. is there more to come for fans? what is the likelihood that you will keep on coming across the ditch like this, lost footage? -- across the ditch like this. these two, the italian maid, and the horror one, these are the first we have found in the last few years, but we remain optimistic there is in somebody‘s loft a garage somewhere a reel to reel tape containing more lost episodes. there were two back in 2005 and there have been other of their recordings of other material, mainly interviews and that type of material, but still of interest to hancock fans. what a fantastic story. that was martin gibbons there. let's catch up with the weather with darren. hello. there. let's catch up with the weatherwith darren. hello. i there. let's catch up with the weather with darren. hello. i hope you're making the most of today's

weather. things will change into the weekend. the beaches are generally sunny through the rest of the day, although changeable overland. we have seen some thickening of the cloud in suffolk and norfolk, one or two might like showers around as well and those should be moving away out into the southern north sea. this is the big change coming in over night and for tomorrow. that cloud slowly moving into the uk and it will bring some outbreaks of rain and drizzle. a fine end to the day for many eastern areas but already the cloud is moving in further west, cloud fairly quickly into northern ireland as —— and as the wind picks up ireland as —— and as the wind picks up we will have this moving in. because that is quite a shield of high cloud had of that green, temperatures will not be as was last night. into sunday morning, a different look to the weather across northern ireland where we have a lot of low cloud, rain and drizzle across the west of scotland, eastern scotland, up towards the moray firth. writer with hazy sunshine here. a similar mixture across

northern england, better to the east of the pennines across the north—west. not much rain at this stage. probably better across wales and the south—west of england, and a lot of low cloud there with the cooler southerly winds. the midlands and eastern england should be dry with a bright start, perhaps hazy sunshine. it should stay dry for much of the day, this rain on the moving slowly eastwards into north—west england, further into the midlands and towards central southern england as well. but at the same thing, the rain becomes liked and patchy, more damp and justly but and patchy, more damp and justly but a lot of low cloud pegging back temperatures towards the east coast, 19-20d temperatures towards the east coast, 19—20d just about possible. that is where we will have the best of the weather. the tour of britain sta rts the weather. the tour of britain starts tomorrow and we will probably starts tomorrow and we will probably start with dry weather and may end in kelso with a few spots of drizzle but no great amount of rain. the weather front is stalling really across the uk and at the same time it is weakening but as that happens

we have a more active system in from the atlantic bringing weather into northern ireland, scotland. some warm and muggy air across england and wales and those temperatures in the afternoon could be as high as 22 or 23 degrees. this is bbc news.

the headlines at six: the metropolitan police pays compensation to retired field marshal lord bramall, and the family of the late lord brittan over false child abuse accusations. more than 1a00 people have died and a0 million have been left homeless or displaced after catastrophic flooding across several south asian countries. president trump and the first lady touchdown in texas for the second time this week, to visit those affected by the us flooding. campaigners say hundreds of homes have been destroyed in a rohingya muslim village as thousands of the minority group continue to flee myanmar. investigators say the chemical cloud, which affected parts of east sussex last weekend may have been caused by emissions from shipwrecks.