hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at two... extensive abuse of vulnerable women is still going unrecognised across the uk and needs to be urgently addressed says a report into abuse in newcastle. it continues, it carries on, i suggest, in most towns and cities in the uk. the mistakes in prescribing or administering drugs in the nhs which could cause 1700 hundred deaths a year in england. which could cause 1700 deaths a year in england. after reports of broad cabinet agreement on brexit, theresa may says she'll make a speech on the uk's future relationship with the eu in one week's time. meanwhile, the european commission presidentjokes that there is one way to ensure britain is better off... iam not i am not the british prime minister, it would be good if i was... and what a tweet! the kyliejenner snapchat backchat that wiped a billion dollars off the social app's market value. coming up on afternoon live,

all the sport with hugh. well, it's disappointment for team gb as eve muirhead and her team—mates miss out on a place in the gold medal match, but they will be back tomorrow to fight for a second straight bronze medal. we will have more of that later in the hour. and alina has all the weather. some chance of significance now later in the week. stephen fry has taken to twitter to reveal he has been battling prostate cancer. he underwent surgery last month and says, for the moment, he is fit, well, and happy. this was an aggressive little thing, so this was an aggressive little thing, so what next? you have to recover and that is what i have been doing, if you have been wondering why i have been out of the public eye. i

am sure you haven't! i have been keeping my head down as much as possible. hello, everyone. this is afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. there's a warning that vulnerable young women are being abused across the uk and that the extent of the crimes isn't yet recognised. a serious case review has been published following 0peration sanctuary, which saw 18 people convicted for exploiting girls in newcastle over a three—year period. the government says it will "look ca refully" at the review‘s recommendations, which also include a need for research into the cultural background of abusers. fiona trott is in newcastle. this report suggests that newcastle is not a rubber room or rochdale. there was never any reluctance to

speak out because of a fear of being politically incorrect, it says. what is unique to newcastle is the fact women were involved in this abuse. that is a new concern, and that is why the report also says the extensive abuse will be happening across the uk, but it is going unnoticed. a city coming to terms with sanctuary. the investigation may be over but the report says sexual exploitation still exists, and the police know it. it is why takeaway staff across this city are being trained on how to spot potential victims. today, a warning to all towns and cities across the uk, the safeguarding of vulnerable adults needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. it was a specific feature of the newcastle experience that it was notjust children who were victims of sexual exploitation. what i would like the government to do is have a really good look at the learning that is now available about abuse of adults

with vulnerabilities. on these streets, victims were groomed by men mostly from pakistani, indian and bangladeshi backgrounds. they were given so many drugs or alcohol they could not defend themselves against sexual abuse. their experiences are included in the report. i started seeing younger girls there being raped. vanessa, not her real name, was a victim of sexual exploitation. to protect her identity we have used an actor's boys. to protect her identity we have used an actor's voice. i will see girls begging on the street and a normal man wearing a suit approaches them for sex. i see that all the time. the report says sexual exploitation still exists, charities on the ground tell us 14—year—old girls are still being picked up by men in cars. are you doing enough? we stop it with the assistance

of the public, so the first question to the people who have seen that, did they report it to the police? did they take the registration, get details of the people? i would like to think they are reporting it to us. it would be naive and wrong for me to suggest that because of sanctuary, and at the point the report is published, that this is stopped and that we have solved the problem. we haven't. it continues, it carries on, i would suggest, in most if not all towns and cities in the uk. and that is why today's report said all towns and cities should automatically assume sexual exploitation is happening on their doorstep. only then can it be tackled properly. today's report recommends research is carried out in the backgrounds of perpetrators, because the author went to visit one of the perpetrators in prison and he spoke

about a lack of morals in british girls will stop government spokesperson says it will look carefully at the recommendations of today's report. simon. fiona, thank you. mistakes when patients are prescribed or administered drugs could be the cause of 1700 deaths a year in england, and contribute to thousands more. a report commissioned by ministers says gps, pharmacists, hospitals and care homes could be making millions of errors a year. the health secretaryjeremy hunt says the system around medication has to be modernised, but he's acknowledged that staffing pressures are also a factor. here's our health editor hugh pym. the report covers mistakes made in the prescribing, dispensing and administering of medication in england. these could involve gps, pharmacists, care homes and hospitals. the research is said to be one of the first exercises of its kind. it found that medication errors could cause around 1700 deaths a year, and perhaps contribute to up to 22,000 deaths. the cost to the nhs could be around £1.6 billion a year.

it does note that the vast majority of prescriptions dispensed in the nhs are safe, and mistakes do occur in all health care systems. shirley was admitted to hospital last week with pneumonia. while she was there she was mistakenly given double the dose of her regular epilepsy medication. it was only spotted by her husband after her condition got worse. she was hallucinating, she didn't know where she was. i mean, she doesn't remember what happened now, even today she's still not clear on what happened, her memory‘s still coming back and she's still very muddled from it all. and i think it really upset my grandad as well to see, it was quite scary. the health and social care secretary, jeremy hunt, said it was a far bigger problem globally than had so far been recognised, causing appalling levels of harm and death. this is not about blaming doctors, nurses, pharmacists who work under a huge amount of pressure, but it's about putting checks and balances in place

with e—prescribing systems and making sure the culture is right so that if someone does make a mistake they're not criminalised for it, but we can actually learn from that mistake and stop it being repeated. health unions said it was right to try to reduce mistakes, but said understaffing and pressure of work was the real problem. one of our real concerns is that when we've got a time, which we have at the moment, when there's not enough staff, that people are working not always in the area that they're most experienced, not with the same people every day, not always knowing the patients — that is fraught with danger in terms of safety. the best thing is to have the right knowledge, the right skills, the right number of people knowing your patient and actually knowing what you're doing. the national pharmacy association said it welcomed the focus on reducing medication errors, but stressed that a culture of learning rather than blame was needed. the chief pharmacist at the national pharmacy association

leyla hannbeckjoins me now. interesting listening tojeremy hunt saying we need checks and balances. you say we need to have a good system in place. many people would ask why it is not there already. avoiding patient hand is top of the agenda of health care professionals, and pharmacists have that deeply embedded. they go to work and that is in their mindset. they dispense about 1 is in their mindset. they dispense about1 billion is in their mindset. they dispense about 1 billion description is in their mindset. they dispense about1 billion description items a year and the querrey of 6.6 million items that they receive to make sure that what we dispensed to the patients are actually the right things and we avoid patient harm. but 237 million errors a year, but not just pharmacists, but 237 million errors a year, but notjust pharmacists, cat care homes and hospitals as well, but that is...

asjeremy is... as jeremy hunt said, is... asjeremy hunt said, it is to make sure that we have the right culture with learning and sharing rather than the culture of blame. pharmacists have procedures to make sure but the way we supply medication is done in the right way. in terms of the number of items that pharmacies are dispensing, we are getting a lot of these items that are clinically checked and they are getting the right medication is suitable for them. why do you think the mistakes are being made? is it because of the pressure on the system? it comes back to making sure that there is a right culture in terms of learning and sharing and making sure we have health care experts in charge of supplying medication for pharmacists. there are some proposals in terms of getting some

non—pharmacist supplying medication to patients which could actually put the patient safety in increased risk, so making sure the right professions a re risk, so making sure the right professions are involved, pharmacists are experts in medicines, we have five years of education, learning about the way medicine works, so we should be in charge of making sure patients are getting the right medicines. this is something that is done across the country by many pharmacists by daily basis. is it because there is pressure on the system that these mistakes are being made? it is clear at the moment the system seems to be failing quite a few people. an example in terms of funding, it will not help because it puts pressure on the system, as you say, and making sure there is the right staffing levels in the pharmacies

will help push agenda forward. i know you do not want to go down the blame route, but if a senior pharmacist sees a mistake in someone's prescription, which could be life—threatening, that is not overstating the case, what should happen? there are procedures in place to make sure but when a mistake like that happens there is a culture of learning and sharing so people learn from the mistakes and they are reported. that is what we need to highlight. i reported. that is what we need to highlight. i want to reiterate that with dean of prescription items coming through pharmacies, the rigorous checks being done on all of the items to make sure patients are getting the right supply of their medicines, the right item for them. it's a mistake is made and a prescription has to be re—prescribed, what is the cost? ifa re—prescribed, what is the cost? if a mistake has been made, the first thing that needs to happen is

reporting it, there needs to be a great communication between bgp and pharmacist to make sure the patient gets the right item and as soon as possible as soon as the mistake has been discovered, it needs to be reported so there is no harm to the patient. leyla hannbeck, thank you so much for joining leyla hannbeck, thank you so much forjoining us. european union leaders are meeting in brussels, without theresa may, to discuss the eu's future after brexit. here, senior cabinet ministers say there was "outbreak of unity" at yesterday's crucial meeting to discuss the uk's next steps. the prime minister will give more details in a speech next week. 0ur europe correspondent damian grammaticas is at the eu summit in brussels. in brussels, a busy day of summits, a crush of presidents and prime ministers in town. an unusual sight, the eu's top leaders walking from one meeting to the next, but no uk leader. the day after theresa may and her cabinet thrashed out that approach to future ties, other eu leaders are still waiting to hear

what the uk wants. but with this warning... it is not possible to be aligned to the european union when it suits and not when it doesn't, that is not possible. so i think the united kingdom really needs to square that circle and it doesn't appear to me that circle has yet been squared but hopefully when the prime minister speaks next week the united kingdom will be more clear about what it wants in terms of the new relationship, and will back that up with real detail. at today's meeting the eu's 27 leaders are starting to tackle some of the tricky issues the uk's exit from the union creates. the most contentious, the hole left in the eu budget. at least 10 billion new rosy year, roughly 10% of current spending. so the dilemma, will some countries pay more or will some receive less? and what to do about the uk's seats in the european parliament? 73 uk meps will go, seats will be cut and some distributed to other countries.

but it is the money that will provoke the biggest arguments. some don't want to see their payments go up, denmark is one. is your country prepared to pay more after brexit? no, if i should keep my answer short i should say no. britain leaving the eu will not make any of us staying richer so i think we should stay to the idea of putting a limit or cap on our budget. others, like romania, don't want to see what they receive go down. there is a hole in the budget, issue country prepared to accept less and see cuts to spending? you know, if you listen to politicians there is usually a hole in the budget but finally things are financed so if we want to finance more, we have to pay more, it is very simple. so this is just the start of the arguments brexit could trigger among eu countries. but difficulties among themselves don't for now mean any divisions in their approach to negotiating with the uk.

0ur reporterjoins us from the summit. will we see any divisions in the coming months, because at the moment the unity is the one thing the uk must be dreading. as in divisions about the eu as opposed to the divisions exposed about the financial fibre of the upcoming budget. and terms of brexit, they stick to the script and that was written at a meeting like this back in april last year right at the start of the process when the european council, the 27 remaining members, did some guidelines where they set out their red lines for how they set out their red lines for how the process will work. the things they are worried about are maintaining the integrity of the single market. that means for the uk not being able to order a la carte, taking because it likes and discarding bits it does not like.

they worry about the uk on the outside having influence on how the rules inside are created and that is the yardsticks by which theyjudge anything that comes from the uk, so anything that comes from the uk, so any whispers that come out of a meeting about what the uk things, any speech the prime minister gives next week about the future relationship, that is how theyjudge that stuff. having said that, we will listen intently over the next few weeks to every utterance of every eu leader because they are about to keep drafting their next set of deadlines which they will approve at the next summit on the 23rd march which will be there blueprint for the second phase of brexit talks about trade and the future relationship, so we will keep our year to the ground to see the unity is maintained there are differences of emphasis we can pick out. it was interesting to listening to the report because some of the countries quite concerned that in losing the second contributor, there will be a financial hole somewhere.

this debate is absolutely huge. the leaders have started it after they're working lunch, they have spoke about the things that are brexit related, but now they are getting into their first discussion about what they called the multi—faith annual family —— multi annualfinancial multi—faith annual family —— multi annual financial framework. you have countries that are net contributors, they pay in and do not get much back, they are not necessarily keen to pay in much extra. france and germany are prepared to stump up a bit more, i think. then you get the net recipients that get money out of the budget, they do not want to get less. then the eu is taking on more tasks like security, migration, dealing with terrorism, and then there is the question of if you can have a new revenue streams, could the eu introduce new taxation all

the eu introduce new taxation all the ways of getting extra money from the ways of getting extra money from the member states? that will go on for months and months and months, those talks, and it is only starting today. the only brexit kink in that is the opportunities where the uk could pay into a future deal. do the leaders roll their ice because it is you because it is the british broadcasting corporation? it was damien grammatical is doing the doorstepping today, so any irony was being done at him. they are patient because they know that brexit is not the main thing on the eu 27 agenda, they know it is the main thing on our agenda and it is funny because this summit is not meant to be about brexit, that is not the theme, but there is a brexit element to pretty much every element. whether it is still with

the composition of the parliament and the elections next year whether will no longer be 73 british seats, what to do with them. another interesting debate going, the process by which they will reappoint a successor to jean—claude juncker, which is the candidate process, divisions of how that should work, how much a say a eu leader should have, how much is the eu —— european parliament should have. we will talk to later. thank you very much. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines... warnings that the extensive abuse of vulnerable women across the uk is still going unrecognised, and needs to be urgently addressed — the findings of operation sanctuary in newcastle. new research suggests errors with drugs across the nhs in england could be linked to up to 22,000 deaths. theresa may his shows she will make

a speech on the future relationship with the eu in a week's time. and in sport... team gb‘s women's curlers are beaten convincingly by sweden in the semi finals at the winter olympics. great britain will face japan in tomorrow's bronze medal match. there's been a first gold of the games for an olympic athlete from russia. it came in the women's singles figure skating with 15—year—old alina zagitova. she beat her team—mate and favourite yevgenia medvedeva. and arsenal draw one of europe's big names in the last 16 of the europa league — with a first leg at the san siro against ac milan. i'll be back with more on those stories. an armed policeman in florida has resigned from his job after a video showed him standing outside the school where 17 people were shot dead by a former pupil last week. scott peterson arrived 90 seconds

after the attack began, but didn't go inside immediately to confront the gunman. charlotte gallagher reports. there was chaos as pupils ran to escape a gunman indiscriminately shooting teachers and students with an assault rifle. the school's football coach, who was shot dead, has been hailed a hero for throwing himself in front of a child to protect them. now it's emerged that an armed police officer was at the high school but stood outside as the shooting took place. deputy scot peterson has resigned after being suspended. the area's sheriff said peterson should have acted. scot peterson was absolutely on—campus through this entire event. he was armed, he was in uniform. but what i saw was a deputy arrive at the west side of building 12, take up a position, and he never went in.

as the funerals take place of the 17 victims of the shootings, a fierce debate is raging about how to stop another school massacre. president trump has suggested arming teachers. i think a concealed permit for having teachers, and letting people know that there are people in the building with a gun, you won't have, in my opinion, you won't have these shootings, because these people are cowards. his suggestion has been condemned by many teachers, who say the only way to stop shootings in schools is to have fewer guns, not more. charlotte gallacher, bbc news. the mother of two young brothers killed in a suspected hit—and—run in coventry have paid tribute to her sons described them as "happy, caring and lovely" children. corey and casper platt—may, who were aged six and two were killed yesterday afternoon. a man in his 50s, and a woman

in her 40s, are being questioned on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and drink driving. residents of care homes regularly enjoy special events — everything from art lessons to magicians. but a home in dorset has tried something rather different, when pole dancers staged a display. owners say the dancers could be back. here's duncan kennedy. it is a long way from sudoku. but residents at this care home asked for more modern entertainment and this is what they got. and by all accounts, they thoroughly enjoyed it! but the pole dancer has sent some local councillors into a spin, with one councillor saying it is completely inappropriate. eyebrows raised, what

did you make of that? it wasn't unexpected! eleanor is the co—founder of the company that provided the pole dancers. a supple, seasoned dancer herself, she says, come on, it is 2018. yes, it is used to titillate, all of this, that is ok, that is fine, but it is more than just that, it has gone beyond that now, it is taking on its own life form, and just because it has a foundation does not mean it has to stop there. that open attitude is shared by the care home itself, hear in christ church, in a statement they have said that all the pole dancers we re wearing gym kit and the residents, some of whom have dementia, were given the option of attending the session. it said both residents and relatives are happy with what happened. the home also says pole dancing could become an olympic sport. but do others think it is right for elderly residents? i think it is quite

a good idea, why not, i have worked in old people's homes, and i think they should do what they want, really! why not, enjoy themselves while they can! you might think, why didn't they opt for a different type of dance, but there is a stigma over pole dancing, is it good or bad. your view? undecided! this may have produced an outpouring of reaction in some parts, but the care home says it is now up for inviting the pole dancers back. now let's take a look at the weather. blue is the colour this is what is heading our way, temperatures have been sliding, nothing extraordinary, but if you

follow these areas of blue up to the arctic and russia, and you see where the winds are coming from all the way down from there and across to the uk, and this is colder air that comes beginning in, notjust through the weekend, but the early part of the weekend, but the early part of the weekend. there have been bets about snow, but there is now a warning about it. it is the lowest level of warning, the early part of next week. we have the early part of next week. we have the winds coming off the north sea, picks up moisture and deposits wintry showers across places like north—east england, but what we will see through the early part of next week is as the winds pick up and they could well come a you see the feature, tuesday, he could develop significant snow over east england, parts of scotland, so we eastern parts of scotland, so we could see some significant snow through tuesday and into wednesday. before all that, what is happening? before all that, what is happening?

before all that, lots of sunshine, but it will feel bitterly cold, but as we saw, winds strangling, add that on and in places it will feel subzero despite sunshine. this afternoon, a good deal of sunshine, but troublesome cloud, next week, tuesday wednesday, we could see some significant snow, keep an eye on the forecast. this afternoon, areas of stubborn cloud, south—west england, nice didn't parts of england, but sunshine, temperatures getting up to around seven celsius, but a notable breeze, gusty for the western isles. with the winds coming in from the east and north—east, feed more cloud about these parts of scotland, down into east anglia, not as cold as it was for knight just into east anglia, not as cold as it was for knightjust gone, but west, and the blue colours, an indication of the temperatures. some places

down to minus four. a frosty start to the day, most of the country will have a good deal of sunshine. some exceptions, northern ireland, five south—west of england, some more cloud, feeding in some wintry showers. most places dry and highs of four and seven celsius. tomorrow evening, similar, if there are amount of clear skies, but the cloud lingers across eastern parts of scotland, could bring someone drew showers in places and temperatures down to around —2 or minus three. sunday, a cold frosty start across the country and a good deal of sunshine. northern ireland it should bea sunshine. northern ireland it should be a brighter day, but the cloud coming from the north sea and could bring wintry flurries to the east of scotland and england. 0therwise, bring wintry flurries to the east of scotland and england. otherwise, a good deal of sunshine, but adding on the strength of the wind in places, it could feel like minus three. it isa it could feel like minus three. it is a bitterly cold weekend to come. extensive abuse of vulnerable women is still going unrecognised

across the uk, and needs to be urgently addressed. a serious case review following a police investigation in newcastle is calling for a change in sexual exploitation laws. the health secretary says the system for prescribing drugs on the nhs has to be modernised — after a report shows errors could be contributing to 22,000 deaths a year. jeremy hunt announces more investment in online e—prescriptions to prevent mistakes. the prime minister says she'll make a speech on the uk's future relationship with the eu in one week's time — following reports cabinet ministers have reached an agreement on what the government want from brexit. the mother of two young brothers killed in a suspected hit—and—run in coventry have paid tribute to her sons described them as "happy, caring and lovely" children. stephen fry has taken to twitter to reveal he is recovering from surgery for prostate cancer and said "it all seemed to go pretty well".

in a moment — new research shows that growing replica tumours in the lab could help to personalise drug treatment for patients. we'll bring you the latest with our health correspondent james gallagher. sport now. disappointment for the curling team but we stood get bronze? yes, we could. you will understand why there will be a bit ahead of disappointment for eve muirhead. they were beating convincingly in the end, 10—5. beta by sweden, the match hinged on a wayward stone from eve muirhead in the seventh end. it gave the swedes a three—point end and a lead with which they never looked back. always going to be tough in this match. sweden won the silver at the last games in sochi and had beaten gb once already in pyeongchang, but really muirhead and her team—mates never got going.

they will be back and will have to improve massively if they are to take home back to back bronze against japan tomorrow. the swedish girls were on fire. i missed a couple of key draws up and you cannot afford to do that. absolutely gutted. i guess we're trained hard for the last four years to be in that position and u nfortu nately we were to be in that position and unfortunately we were just outplayed. but we're still got a medal to play for so we will be giving it all tomorrow. i should have told you we were hearing from eve muirhead there. she will be back tomorrow. we will take that flight, i will talk to you later on the phone. the tea m talk to you later on the phone. the team known as from russia, their first goal but by the end of this, it is amazing, there could be a huge row coming, couldn't bear? their code. —— their code.

he met with putin's aids out in south korea and rumour is that russia could have the olympic ban lifted in time for sunday's closing ceremony and that means the russian flag could be flying and that would some of the other sporting irritate some of the other sporting bodies. they have had to athletes already out of this group, june 68 who were deemed clean enough to go to the game having proved that they had not been drug cheats or involved with that state—sponsored doping programme that was uncovered to stop another other athletes today failed another other athletes today failed a drugs test, that is after one had to hand back and medal yesterday. at least one good piece of news for them, significant gold medal overnight. a first for an olympic athlete from russia — a stunning gold in the women's singles figure skating for the 15—year—old alina zagitova, who had a world record score in her short programme before an routine in the free dance here.

her training partner, the two—time reigning world champion yevgenia medvedeva though, clearly upset with her silver medal as she was the favourite going into it but a fantastic moment for young zagitova and of course a slice of olympic history for her. staying with the olympic athletes from russia, their men's ice hockey team are through to the final after a 3—nil win over the czech republic at the gangneung hockey centre. in the women's ski cross overnight, britain's emily sarsfield got through her first heat on final‘s day. that was thanks in part to a big crash for one of her opponents. but sadly, she was knocked out in the next race. still, a great achievement from emily given she's had no funding and worked three jobs just to compete at an 0lympics. to eventually get here after upset of multiple knee surgeries and whatever else it might have been, working three jobs in the summer. it is huge to be stood down the line and a big thing for me was to go out and a big thing for me was to go out and have fun. ski cross such as kool

sport, i want to bid on the map, i hope i have a little bit. continued their dominance of the event. first and second place for them — kelsey serwa and brittany phelan with gold and silver. arsenal will face ac milan in the last sixteen of the europa league. the draw was made in lyon this afternoon. the first game will take place at the san siro on march 8th. the italian giants will travel to london for the second leg a week later. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. thank you very much. donald trump is heading to the gathering of conservative activists but before he boarded his helicopter, he spoke to the press on the lawn of the white house. there are two issues, big issues for america, one is, lord, house. there are two issues, big issues foramerica, one is, lord, he talks about that. —— ferries. the

other is sanctions against korea. we will just heard other is sanctions against korea. we willjust heard from donald trump, we have a problem with the pictures. iam waiting we have a problem with the pictures. i am waiting to hear whether we can do that. he has boarded marine one. he is on his way. let us take you to the white house lawn because he's just boarding marine one now. no, we cannot take you to that either. we arejust to show cannot take you to that either. we are just to show it to you. if there are guns inside, held by the right people, by highly trained professionals, you're going to see this end. it will not be happening any more. our schools are essentially gun free zones and that makes them very dangerous places. where is their daylight between you and the nia? —— south.

deputy, it deserves to be brought out. what he did, he trained his whole life, there is an example but when it came time to get in there and do something, he did not have the courage when something happened but he certainly did a poorjob. there's no question about that. he was there for five minutes, five minutes, published during the entire shooting. he had it right at the beginning. so he did a poorjob. that is a case where somebody with outside, they had trained, they did not react properly under pressure or they were cowards. it was a reshot to the police department. where is their dialogue between you and the nra right now?|j where is their dialogue between you and the nra right now? i think we have a group of people you want to

do the right thing. the serves —— nra is composed of great people, they love our country, bwa nts nra is composed of great people, they love our country, bwants to do they love our country, bwants to do the right thing. i have been speaking to them and they want to do the right thing. i have not been here that long, this has been going on for a long time, many years, decades. we are going to get it fixed. but the only way you're going to get it six is you have to have a certain degree of funds power within the power, cannot only be deep sense. you have to production within the schools and we are going to work it out. we are going to be very powerful, especially having to deal with people with mental problems. this person that that this horrible act is mentally deranged and everybody knew it for a long period of time. they had 38 red flags, you

cannot do any better than that. u nfortu nately cannot do any better than that. unfortunately they did not catch him, they should have caught him. this could have been prevented. the whole situation is very big red background checks to me are very and we have two our important and we have two our schools, i will be talking about it. thank you. talking about the issue of gun control, talking about the need to tighten up attitudes towards mental illness and those background checks on those applying for guns as well. what president trump has also been on about is what he described the largest ever set of sanctions against north korea. his daughter is currently in south korea for the closing ceremony of the winter 0lympics, was scheduled to have a meeting with one of the north korean delegation, that would now seem unlikely. we will bring you more reaction to what donald trump has been saying and what he says indeed

to that meeting that conservative association in my land a little later. a new study has shown that growing replica tumours in the lab could help to personalise drug treatment for each patient. the new technique involves growing "mini tumours" from patients biopsy samples, and could help end reliance on trial with me is our health correspondent james gallagher. this sounds huge because what this effectively says as we know which treatment were all will not work with your particular cancer. that is the grand ambition, more effective treatments for cancer patients. the big challenges is getting this from this, wonderful sounding piece of research to something that can be used in the clinic and that will be the challenge in the years ahead. what has happened so far as may have taken biopsies of patients with colon cancer and they have grown both interviews miniature, they treat the patient and the little

mini gym with the same drug. you could see 100% of the time whether the drug was going to fail in the patient, but nine times out of ten you wonder if the drug was going to work as well. it is very powerful in terms of predicting whether a drug is going to work. it sounds somewhat of a game changer, for a lot of patients the treatment of some of them is almost as bad as the disease itself. cancer drugs are designed to kill the body cells that only the ones that have become cancerous. they have an devastating effect do the rest of the body. it does have a horrible set of side effects, most chemotherapy treatments are not as wide there is such concern that if the drug is not going to work, you're just putting somebody through a treatment that is delaying them getting that will work for them but putting through them incredibly brutal side effects as well. it will

be teaching for patients if you could tell in advance which drug was going to work for which patients. game changer financially as well, you are not wasting drugs. how long before this might become more widely available? that is what a lot of people want to know. how long once they have taken the biopsy do they then have the results to say this will work, this will not? it is far easier to and so the second question. it takes about two months to grow, everyday cancer and cancer treatment, probably a little bit too slow. scientists will want to speed up slow. scientists will want to speed up that process before they can get it to the clinic. 0ver up that process before they can get it to the clinic. over the coming yea rs, slow it to the clinic. over the coming years, slow transition as it moves from being a the radical idea. the next stage which i think will happen is being used in clinical trials. when we are testing, you kind of wa nt to

when we are testing, you kind of want to know that you are testing it in the right patients, you can use these mini tumours to make sure the right patients are on the right clinical trials and then eventually move it into a wider madson. we know what the nhs is like, every penny is fought for incredibly hard. this will be have to be proven to be cost—effective as well. will be have to be proven to be cost-effective as well. i will be the other challenge. you are not going harm the patient and you are testing it out of the body. it isa testing it out of the body. it is a really clever idea in reality. this incredibly powerful tool and, yes, it could be really helpful in a clinical setting where you can take a sample of the tumour and you do notjust grow one of these, you could grow several of them from all the same patient. tested different d rug them from all the same patient. tested different drug and work out which one is the most effective. that could work really well clinically or also for research. that will be where some of the new drugs from the future will come to. this is a good story. every once in

awhile it is ok to have some happy news on the bbc news channel. thank you for bringing it to us. two people have been killed in an incident in syrup city centre. they say the situation is under control. —— serves. zurich. no danger to the public. we will bring that to you as we get it. pole dancing, it was staged at christchurch. apparently the residents enjoyed it. they are considering inviting them back. pole dance teacher kate coates joins us. some people, councillors in the area

but say this is a disgrace. that is a surprise because if the older generation are embracing it, surely be middle—aged generation be embracing it as well. it is crazy in my mind. clearly there is a bit of fun to this because the people have asked the pole dancers to come, they have performed, they have had a great time. there will be those and i'm sure you come across them, who say, this isn't right. all the time, iam the say, this isn't right. all the time, i am the president of the federation so we're been doing this for over ten yea rs so we're been doing this for over ten years and this is the reaction we have had in the first five years but now we never get this reaction is it is a real surprise to us that people largely reacting in this way. for us, it is a normal part. we have people who take part in our world championships who are in their 60s and 70s anyway so this is part of our whole community anyway that we

would have more mature people taking pa rt would have more mature people taking part and enjoying our sport which is that everyone. let me ask a daft question, what is so good about pole dancing? everything, it is the best form of fitness, dance, exercise and competitive sport that you can get, it works out the entire body. it works out your strength the bill —— and yourflexibility, works out your strength the bill —— and your flexibility, your core, everything. it is a great commuted tight spot to take part in. we have active community, great friends and it isa active community, great friends and it is a fascinating and very addictive sport. it is perfect for those who do not like the gym or do not like the traditional sports and thatis not like the traditional sports and that is what we are here to offer, something really new and contemporary. some councillors described this display as completely inappropriate. i suppose if you have a dodgy heart or something, there is an element of risk in watching the sort of thing? absolutely not. i think the girls

are fantastic, great spectrum of young to mortgage for people taking pa rt young to mortgage for people taking part in this demonstration. nothing wrong with what they were wearing. the fact is you have to have your legs and your arms on show and your midriff because otherwise you do next it to the pole and it is a health and safety risk. good on them, they did a fantasticjob. well done to them. have you ever been booed at the end of the performance? know, a long time since i have performed. standing ovations, of course. we are treating this with what it deserves. thank you very much. jamie will be bringing us the business news in a moment. warnings that the extensive abuse of vulnerable women across the uk is still going unrecognised, and needs to be urgently addressed, the findings of operation sanctuary in newcastle. new research suggests errors with drugs across the nhs in england could be linked to up to 22,000 deaths. after reports of broad cabinet

agreement on brexit — theresa may says she'll make a speech on the uk's future relationship with the eu in a week's time here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the bookmakers william hill made a loss lost year — £75 million. the year before it had made a profit of £180 million. it would have well in profit if it hadn't had to write down the value of its business in australia — some analysts even think the regulations and higher taxes there may mean william hill will have to pull out of the country altogether. it might rank as one of the most expensive tweets ever — reality tv star kylie jenner wiped $1.3 billion — about £1 billion — off the market value of snap after tweeting that she no longer used its snapchat messaging app. its shares sank as much as 8%. ms jenner is celebrity kim kardashian‘s half—sister. royal bank of scotland, is back in profit for

the first time in a decade. the bank, still 71% owned by the taxpayer, made an annual profit of £752 million in 2017 compared with a £7 billion loss the year before. but it's not out of the woods yet — there's still a potentially massive fine from the us department ofjustice over the sale of financial products linked to risky mortgages. those of us have an age, what on earth is snapchat? how can they wake of £1 billion of the market value of that? that is kylie. keep talking to me. snap does not make a profit, so the whole thing is on future expectations and on the amount of

viewers that they gets the day. expectations and on the amount of viewers that they gets the daym isa viewers that they gets the daym is a social application, it gets rid of the message almost instantly. its bigger rival is insta gram. its viewer numbers are growing up. snapchat‘s dina groff going like that. that japanese to rebrand itself. —— snapchat. that. that japanese to rebrand itself. -- snapchat. begin to look differently, you are the point where is it going to get better or not, a lot of people are uncertain. you get kylie who says she does not like it any more and so people who've been worried about it going to sell. she changed her mind quite fast. she said my first love. she came back a little bit but not a lot. it has got to start making a profit and have

got to see the graphs going upwards. that is the problem. there is a business argument now against guns. really interesting about what has happened during gun sales in america. in 0bama, gun sales went up because there was so much possible legislation against guns, called the legislation against guns, called the legislation about guns, people would buy guns, existing gun owners of a kind of statement. now it does not seem to be happening. because there is no legislation pending, doesn't seem to be any possible legislation, people seem to be a bit more relaxed about it. the other thing is gun distribution in the states, all of the guns in america owned by about 2596 the guns in america owned by about 25% of the population. of that

number, it is a very small proportion but brings a large number of guns. 7/2 million people in between eight and a guns. —— of guns. 7/2 million people in between eight and a guns. "140 guns. between eight and a guns. —— 140 guns. an odd figure. it is an armoury. not in a small number, a minority of the population and they are the people who the gun companies market to and their sales have been falling and they had last week, one of the big companies actually going to chapter 11 bankruptcy. 0ther of the big companies actually going to chapter 11 bankruptcy. other big gun owners think that sales are falling and that is why today we have had news from blackrock saying they are thinking of selling their investment. they are putting a warning out to gun—owners. what are you doing about what is going on with these mass shootings and what is going to happen to your policies? here to talk to us on what all this means for gun makers' bottom

lines is joe miller, who is on the floor of the new york stock exchange. given this idea why big investors are getting worried about gun companies. quite simply, because the activists have turned out i on companies now and first you saw a political backlash after the massacre last week, politicians and florida faced a lot of roger from activists from the money they had received from mina national rifle association, they started looking at the businesses who are involved in the businesses who are involved in the national rifle association, they have about 5 million members in the us. you sign up, you pay $40 for a yea r‘s us. you sign up, you pay $40 for a year's membership and you get perks, credit card with first national bank of omaha, special rates for petrol, a discount on certain car rental companies like enterprise and what we have seen is these companies say, how on a minute, now that is out in

the open, this might upset some of our other customers and they put out a statement saying they are no longer going to be involved in the national rifle association. blackrock the other day, saying they are going to offer clients the chance to divest from govan companies are is also because they have got a range of clients. —— gun companies. the number of gun owners is actually quite small compared to relative consumers. martin pressure is beginning to wade into the gun debate. easy for these investors to say we do not want to have much to do with it because you are actually not very good investment any more. gun sales are going down. there is a bit of that, quite convenient argument to say you are going to divest from gun stocks, they are not doing very well. one of the gun makers that owns smith & wesson, its profit fell 90% last year because of the change

in administration. they call it the trump's slump, when you have someone in office who looks favourably on gun rights, people do not feel the need to run out and stock on guns. they are not doing well in any case and that is the story that is on the background here. you can bet your bottom dollar that these companies are going to make it seem like this is all about the reaction to the shooting last week when really there are some other forces behind shooting last week when really there are some otherforces behind it shooting last week when really there are some other forces behind it as well. thank you very much indeed. not a huge amount of action in the markets. not a huge amount of excitement,. see you later on. in an hour. thank you, jamie. the author and broadcaster stephen fry has revealed he's been battling prostate cancer. the 60—year—old tweeted a 13 minute

video, in which he revealed that he discovered he had cancer in his prostate following an mri scan. here's what he had to say following his operation. as far as we know, it has all been got. apparently there are not great chances of me getting other types of cancer now. but i will not know for sure until mike psa levels checked and the should be zero now because i have no prostate. it should be zero. but if there's anything left on the bed of the prostate then maybe that will spread and i'll need radiotherapy and it will all start over again. it is likely that if you area over again. it is likely that if you are a man, not very likely, strong possibility that you get it and so it is worth checking i'm going from there. it is not always necessary to haveit there. it is not always necessary to have it out. the answer is to

discuss these things with your doctor. in the next three minutes, we will be going over to maryland, awaiting the arrival of president trump. they have heard from vice president mike pence but we will hear from president trump. he will be talking about guns when we return to maryland. time for a look at the weather. things turn colder through the coming days, a chance that some of us coming days, a chance that some of us will see some snow. the weekend, most us will see some snow. the weekend, m ost pla ces us will see some snow. the weekend, most places try with a good deal of sunshine that ad : é wind, feel : é wind, other feel 5; : é wind, other cold 5; ahead, parts i eastern and down to north—east england, east anglia, more cloud than we saw last

night so not quite as cold that these blue colour is just showing that most of us will be at freezing, if not a few degrees below. a cold, frosty start to the day tomorrow, most of us are going to have a good deal of sunshine. some exceptions, fast south england, eastern parts of scotland, north—east but for time. everywhere dried, ties between four and five celsius. it is going to feel a bit colder with the strength of the wind. all over again on sunday, a good deal of sunshine, a lwa ys sunday, a good deal of sunshine, always more cloud across eastern parts of scotland and north—east england. ties between four and seven celsius. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at three... extensive abuse of vulnerable women is still going unrecognised across the uk and needs to be urgently addressed says a report into abuse in newcastle. it continues, it carries on, i would suggest, in most if not all towns and cities in the uk. the mistakes in prescribing

or administering drugs in the nhs which could cause 1700 deaths a year in england. the government has again insisted that the uk will leave the european customs union after brexit — despite the possibility of a defeat in commons on the issue in the coming weeks. meanwhile, the european commission presidentjokes that there is one way to ensure britain is better off... i am not the british prime minister. it would be good for britain if i was... and what a tweet! the kyliejenner snapchat backchat that wiped a billion dollars off the social app's market value. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with hugh... not great in the curling but still the chance for a bronze. not the day team gb's women would have wanted in the curling. they never really got into their semifinal against sweden — beaten 10—5 —

but they will be back in the bronze medal match tomorrow. thanks, hugh. and alina has all the weather. a good deal of sunshine around, but it will be cold with higher either night —— had overnight frosts. a chance of significant snow. thank you. also coming up... stephen fry has taken to twitter to reveal he has been battling prostate cancer. he underwent surgery last month and says, for the moment, he is fit, well, and happy. you have to recover and that is what i have been doing, if you have been wondering why i have been out of the public eye. i am sure you haven't! i have been keeping my head down as much as possible. hello, everyone.

this is afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. there's a warning that vulnerable young women are being abused across the uk and that the extent of the crimes isn't yet recognised. a serious case review has been published following 0peration sanctuary, which saw 18 people convicted for exploiting girls in newcastle over a three—year period. the government says it will "look ca refully" at the review‘s recommendations, which also include a need for research into the cultural background of abusers. fiona trott is in newcastle. a city coming to terms with sanctuary. the investigation may be over but the report says sexual exploitation still exists, and the police know it. it is why takeaway staff across this city are being trained on how to spot potential victims. today, a warning to all towns and cities across the uk, the safeguarding of vulnerable adults needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. it was a specific feature of the newcastle experience

that it was notjust children who were victims of sexual exploitation. what i would like the government to do is have a really good look at the learning that is now available about abuse of adults with vulnerabilities. on these streets, victims were groomed by men mostly from pakistani, indian and bangladeshi backgrounds. they were given so many drugs or alcohol they could not defend themselves against sexual abuse. their experiences are included in the report. vanessa, not her real name, was a victim of sexual exploitation. to protect her identity we have used an actor's voice. i will see girls begging on the street and a normal man wearing a suit approaches them for sex. i see that all the time. the report says sexual exploitation still exists,

charities on the ground tell us 14—year—old girls are still being picked up by men in cars. are you doing enough? we stop it with the assistance of the public, so the first question to the people who have seen that, did they report it to the police? did they take the registration, get details of the people? i would like to think they are reporting it to us. it would be naive and wrong for me to suggest that because of sanctuary, and at the point the report is published, that this is stopped and that we have solved the problem. we haven't. it continues, it carries on, i would suggest, in most if not all towns and cities in the uk. and that is why today's report said all towns and cities should automatically assume sexual exploitation is happening on their doorstep. only then can it be tackled properly. mistakes when patients are prescribed or administered drugs

could be the cause of 1700 deaths a year in england, and contribute to thousands more. a report commissioned by ministers says gps, pharmacists, hospitals and care homes could be making millions of errors a year. the health secretaryjeremy hunt says the system around medication has to be modernised, but he's acknowledged that staffing pressures are also a factor. here's our health editor hugh pym. the report covers mistakes made in the prescribing, of medication in england. it found that medication errors could cause around 1700 deaths it found that medication errors a year, and perhaps contribute to up to 22,000 deaths. the cost to the nhs could be around £1.6 billion a year. it does note that the vast majority of prescriptions dispensed in the nhs are safe, and mistakes do occur in all health care systems. shirley was admitted to hospital last week with pneumonia.

while she was there she was mistakenly given double the dose of her regular epilepsy medication. it was only spotted by her husband after her condition got worse. she was hallucinating, she didn't know where she was. i mean, she doesn't remember what happened now, even today she's still not clear on what happened, her memory‘s still coming back and she's still very muddled from it all. and i think it really upset my grandad as well to see, it was quite scary. the health and social care secretary, jeremy hunt, said it was a far bigger problem globally than had so far been recognised, causing appalling levels of harm and death. this is not about blaming doctors, nurses, pharmacists who work under a huge amount of pressure, but it's about putting checks and balances in place with e—prescribing systems and making sure the culture is right so that if someone does make a mistake they're not criminalised for it, but we can actually learn from that mistake and stop it being repeated. health unions said it was right

to try to reduce mistakes, but said understaffing and pressure of work was the real problem. one of our real concerns is that when we've got a time, which we have at the moment, when there's not enough staff, that people are working not always in the area that they're most experienced, not with the same people every day, not always knowing the patients — that is fraught with danger in terms of safety. the best thing is to have the right knowledge, the right skills, the right number of people knowing your patient and actually knowing what you're doing. the national pharmacy association said it welcomed the focus on reducing medication errors, but stressed that a culture of learning rather than blame was needed. hugh pym, bbc news. cory and casper platt—may who were

aged six and two were killed yesterday afternoon. a man in his 50s and a woman in her 40s have been questioned on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. 22 charities including 0xfam and