hello, it's friday, it's 9 o'clock, i'm matthew price, welcome to the programme. since we were with you yesterday there have been eight more stabbings in london. as the numbers keep climbing it is easy to lose sight of the individuals behind each incident and the true impact of the crimes. we've been talking to the sister of daniel frederick, one of more than 50 people killed in the capital since the start of the year. he had a good sendoff. it was good. but having to experience what we had to go through in order to get there, was not a nice one. and i wouldn't wish that on anybody. later we will be talking to people who have had success in tackling violent crime about the radical solutions needed to stop the killings. a crackdown on rogue landlords has been launched today, with the details of the worst offenders now appearing on a national database. will it be enough to stop horror

stories of overcrowded and unsafe properties? and we hear the extraordinary story of kirsty james, who having already learned at the age of 13 that she was going blind, started suffering hallucinations that made her think she was losing her mind. i thought that i was losing my mind. ididn't i thought that i was losing my mind. i didn't know what was going on. and then i would be sitting in a room and colours would appear. hello. welcome to the programme, we're live until 11 this morning. as i said we are going to be talking later about the what is needed to combat the ongoing spate of violence in london — that will be after 10am — and we want to hear your views on that and of course anything else we are discussing this morning. use the hashtag #victorialive and if you text, you will be charged

at the standard network rate. our top story today. there've been more calls today for action to stem the increasing amount of violent crime in london. eight people — including a 13—year—old boy — were injured in knife attacks in the capital yesterday. more than 50 people have now been killed in london since january. last night, protestors held a rally calling for for an end to the violence. alison freeman reports. some of those who've lost their lives this week. israel ogunsola, amaan shakoor and tanesha melbourne. all teenagers, all victims of ongoing violence in the capital. tanesha's brother well aware of the growing problems. tanesha was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. i don't have a clue, man... every other day, if there's not a stabbing there's a shooting, or something's happening.

you know when something happens, retaliation, and it's always just this, that, tit—for—tat. just this year, there have been more than 50 violent deaths in london. more than half of those killed were under 30 and ii were teenagers. last night in hackney, where18—year—old israel was stabbed to death, people gathered to call an end to the violence. but with more teenagers injured in stabbings in london yesterday, this year's continuing spate of violent crime shows no sign of easing. alison freeman, bbc news. and alison is at scotland yard. good morning. also news coming through of eight people injured in stabbings yesterday in london? yes, this spate of violence is really showing no signs of letting up. i guess that is why the met police has

started to talk about the specific measures they will take to try to stop what is going on, eventually. we know they will set up a task force of 120 officers who will focus on those london boroughs where the violence has been most prevalent. they will start looking at social media off the back of comments made by cressida dick, the head of the met police, who said earlier in the week that she believed social media was stoking the fire, if you like, this violence, turning very minor disagreements quickly into violent episodes. officers will be working with social media platforms to try to get any inflammatory posts taken down, and anything that might glamorise violence or provoke other gangs to get involved. they will be using social media to see who is perpetrating these crimes and then carry out any arrests if necessary. thanks for that, as i said we will

look at some of the solutions that have worked out elsewhere in the country a bit after 10am. ben brown is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the rest of the day's news. russia has accused the uk of inventing a "fake story" and "playing with fire" over the salisbury spy poisoning. speaking at a un security council meeting, moscow's un ambassador said britain's main goal had been "to discredit" russia with "unsubsta ntiated accusations". test results on samples taken from the crime scene will be published by chemical weapons experts next week. here's our washington correspondent, chris buckler. the discovery of two people lying unconscious on a bench in an english town has resulted in an international investigation and an increasingly bitter diplomatic dispute. the uk continues to claim russia poisoned sergei and yulia skripal using the nerve agent novichok, an allegation moscow denies with increasing anger. translation: we've told our british colleagues you're playing with fire and you'll be sorry.

moscow has been frustrated notjust by the international outrage said. translation: the main goal is clear, it is to discredit or even delegitimise russia. moscow has been frustrated notjust by the international outrage and backing the uk has been given by many other nations, but also a refusal to allow its officials to be involved in tests of the substance used in the attack. i think the metaphor i find most apt is that of an arsonist turned firefighter. but in this particular instance, the arsonist wishes to investigate his own fire. amid what has become a propaganda battle, russian television played a recording of a telephone call alleged to be between yulia skripal and her cousin. both she and her father, the former spy, sergei skripal,

are still recovering at hospital in salisbury. work to try to decontaminate some parts of this city is due to get under way, but this attack will leave lasting damage to russia's relationship with the uk and much of the rest of the world. chris buckler, bbc news. about nine million people will pay more towards their pensions from today. the minimum contribution is going up from one percent of their income to three percent. one accountancy firm is warning pay packets will suffer as a result, but other experts say it is easily affordable, and will mean higher incomes in retirement. the amount english and welsh graduates earn before they have to start paying back their tuition fees has risen. students who've taken out loans in the last six years will now start paying off their debts when they earn 25,000 pounds a year, instead of 21,000. the national union of

students said the change is a "welcome relief" for many. soft drinks with a high sugar content will be taxed up to 2a pence a litre from today. the government hopes it will reduce childhood obesity and tooth decay. many drinks companies have already cut the amount of sugar in their products. the money raised will be spent on children's health programmes. the former south african president jacob zuma has appeared at a court in durban, ahead of his trial for corruption. he's accused of accepting a bribe over a $2.5 billion government arms deal in the 1990s. mr zuma denies all the charges. several thousand supporters of the former president are expected to march to the high court. the former south korean president has been sentenced to 2a years in prison over a corruption scandal. a court in seoul found her guilty of abuse of power, bribery and coercion. ms park has also been ordered to pay

a $17 billion dollarfine. south korea's first female president was removed from office last year after conspiring with a long—term friend to force some of the country's biggest companies to hand over millions of dollars. one of the best loved — and most successful — darts players, eric bristow, has died at the age of 60 after a heart attack during an event in liverpool last night. known by his nickname the crafty cockney, he won the world championship five times and was awarded an mbe for his services to sport in 1989. our sports correspondent olly foster reports. all chant: there's only one eric bristow! thousands of darts fans chanted his name last night, many of them had met eric bristow just a few hours earlier in liverpool at a hospitality event before he was suddenly taken ill. the crafty cockney was king of the oche, a poster boy who helped drag the sport out of the pubs and gave it public recognition. the first of his five world titles came in 1980,

rivalries with bobby george, john lowe, jocky wilson marked his dynasty. a boom time for darts. he was the ringleader from the beginning. his name is synonymous with darts. eric bristow epitomised where the game came from but had the star quality to take it to the next level. for that every player playing today should be grateful because he blazed the trail. bristow was also one of the founding members of the breakaway world darts council, now the pdc, in 1993. another was phil taylor, who would become the greatest player of all time. bristow was his mentor. his influence on the sport was huge. he lost his job as a television pundit 18 months ago following social media comments about the victims of barry bennell and the football abuse scandal, something he apologised for. the darts family were always

going to forgive him, one of their legends and still such a popular figure on the circuit. there were tears last night and tributes. there will be many more. olly foster, bbc news. the entire contents of heathrow airport's terminal one — everything from baggage carousels to check—in desks — is being auctioned off. security scanners from the terminal, which was closed down in 2015, are also going under the hammer later this month. other things up for grabs include 15 escalators, 1950s artwork and more than 2,000 security cameras. an american company has announced plans to launch the first ever space hotel into orbit. orion span aims to send its aurora station hotel into space by 2021. the company says the hotel will be the same size as the cabin of a private jet plane, and will orbit at around 320km

above the earth's surface. a twelve day stay orbiting the earth will cost nearly 10 billion dollars. it hopes to have the first paying guests up there in 2022. and this programme will be speaking to one of the astronauts with sir richard branson‘s virgin galactic after 10:30 this morning. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 9:30. thank you very much indeed. shortly we have a moving interview with louise samuel — it brings home the human costs behind the headlines about london's recent killings. her brother daniel frederick is one of more than 50 people killed in london since the start of the year. do get in touch with us throughout the morning — use the hashtag victorialive

and if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. first let's get some sport now and we canjoin mike bushell on the gold coast in australia. i have been in your situation many times, where presenters and studios moan about the fact they are not standing ona moan about the fact they are not standing on a beach in australia, so i will not do that but i was a day two the competition, wales have that there's medal? yes, that is not the welsh fans shouting, i am in one of the festival parks. there is a demonstration of indigenous culture and art going on and squawking, but the wales fans are squawking tonight with celebration of the first gold medal w011 won by evans in the last couple of hours in waitlist —— in weightlifting, in the 69 kilograms category. here's the former painter and decorator from anglesey and gave

up and decorator from anglesey and gave up thatjob to concentrate purely on sport in 2012. how that has paid off. i don't know if you can see these pictures, his celebration will win him fans all over the world, the way he runs around the back of the stage and picks up the nearest team—mate he can find and lifts them aloft. it lifts wales up to eighth on the medals table, what a great start for them. mike, quite a bit of other action overnight. olympic hero adam peaty has begun his campaign for swimming gold? england had a great day on the first day of competition yesterday in the swimming pool, to the cost of the australians. world and olympic champion adam peaty was quickest in his heat this morning in the 100 metres breaststroke with the time of 59.1 four. it is well outside his own records so 59.1 four. it is well outside his own records so you 59.1 four. it is well outside his own records so you feel he can go a lot quicker, but it is a warning to his rivals. his final is tomorrow, he has saved himself for the hundred

metres, he did not compete in the 200, he will be odds—on favourite. apart from that, so many duels we are looking forward to between the australians and the home teams as the australians try to overtake england at the top of the medals table. that is all they are talking about on network television here. do the australians feel the pressure from the british squad? yeah. they we re from the british squad? yeah. they were talking about last night. the brits dominated the night and had some swimmers, like the one from scotland, doing well. a lot of investment was put in in 2012 and thatis investment was put in in 2012 and that is paying off and they need to step up to the mark a bit more in the future going forward, the australians. that's a really good point, matthew. this is been a tough time for australian cricket because

of everything that went on with ball tampering in south africa, and we know the australians take the sport extremely seriously. do they see this as a moment of redemption on the international stage, if you like? yes, but also a distraction. a chance to move on from the ball tampering and concentrate on the positives of australian sport. it didn't help when poster girl sally pearson withdrew from the games. i was stood next a policeman who said, we had steve smith and now we have got this. how the late —— corp olivia moving forward and these games will be redemption and a distraction and a chance to move on. moving on from the games, the masters is on in the gulf, and not a great opening round for sergio garcia. a lot of players who play

forfun at garcia. a lot of players who play for fun at the weekend can relate to this. the defending champion found the water five times on the 15th hole. absolutely incredible. it is like a pack of dominoes! you get angry with yourself and it just like a pack of dominoes! you get angry with yourself and itjust gets worse and worse. he finished with a score of 13 for that one hole, the worst ever in masters history on that hole. the fact that he was eight over par for that hole we are calling an octave bogey. enjoyed a warm. i won't express jealousy! rogue landlords convicted of certain offences in england will be placed on a new database from today. it is one of a number of measures being brought in by the government to help protect renters.

they include banning orders that would prevent convicted landlords from operating. there are almost five million households in private rented accommodation in england. landlords in wales have had to receive training and be registered since 2015, and in scotland landlords and letting agents have to be registered. let's talk to anne baxendale from the housing charity shelter, mary smith who says she suffered carbon monoxide poisoning after a previous landlord failed to fix her heating, and james lewis who twice had to take legal action mary, i have been reading yourfile, and it goes on and on about some of the things you face. talk us through some of it. uncontrollable mould, lack of eating, mild carbon monoxide poisoning, broken doors. i was broken into three times because he wouldn't fix the doors. things like that impact inc daily on our lives.

the council didn't help. i ended up being evicted after 13 years of living in this house. you were in there for 13 years? how much would you paying in rent? £850 a man. i was living there were three children. —— £850 a month. was living there were three children. -- £850 a month. on the doors, tell me about the back door in particular. i couldn't shut it at some point in the year. in the winter, it was open, more or less, and it swelled in the summer and wouldn't open, so no access to the garden at that time. it was so rotten, the bottom of the door fell

off, so i had to pay myself to have that repair. as he started watching me do things to the property to make it liveable, he filed for an eviction order and succeeded. why? he didn't say anything about me being a bad tenant. i replaced tiles in the kitchen and fixed the doors. he saw this and sold it, benefiting on the fact that my hard earned money had paid for it, and i couldn't fight it. why? shelter started helping in the beginning. i went back to work and could not find legal representation. i could not stand in court and talk to a judge

without legal representation, and thejudge did eventually without legal representation, and the judge did eventually evict me. asa the judge did eventually evict me. as a mother bringing up children in that house... you feel like an absolute failure. my mental health suffered. you watch your children getting sick from inhaling mould. you're putting extra blankets. it was like living in the 1900s. it wasn't like living in 19 2000. people shouldn't be living like that. when you raised concerns with the landlord, what was the landlord saying? at first, he said, as soon as the rent starts coming in, we will do up the property, but it never happened. things started going wrong while i was living there. the

heating didn't work properly, mould was becoming uncontrollable, the doors wouldn't open. i started noticing these things, and he said he would do it. when i made complaints, he threatened me with eviction. he answered everything i said with a handwritten note saying he wanted me out. and it was an awful place to live but it was your home. i was a single mum bringing up kids, so you cannot make yourself potentially homeless. you can't go to the council and say that you want a new house. it doesn't work like that. so i had to stay. and baxendale from shelter, horrific what mary is describing, but is it uncommon? not at all, i'm afraid. our advisers see people every day who are dealing with severe damp and mould, electrical hazards, harassment by their landlords, and

the changes announced today will help councils crackdown on that kind of behaviour, which is a good thing. before we criticise the changes, can you talk us through how the changes will affect people in england? what does change? this will allow councils to record and share information about rogue landlords operating in theirarea. information about rogue landlords operating in their area. at the moment, in mary's case, if the landlord obviously became known to people but there was nothing the council could do to say to other councils, watch out for this landlord? exactly, so it would be possible for a criminal landlord to set up shop somewhere else. this is a good change. the bigger picture here, the reason why this is so important, is that we have had an enormous growth in the number of

people renting from landlords. there are! million more families with children renting than ten years ago, so even children renting than ten years ago, so even though most landlords are responsible and law—abiding, it doesn't take very many rogues to create quite a big problem. mary was explaining some of the vulnerability she faced. she couldn't leave because that would be seen as making herself intentionally homeless which has repercussions. presumably, with quite a lot of people where the rent is taking up a large proportion of their monthly income, they are quite vulnerable, in a fragile position, so don't have much ability to push back against a rogue landlords. exactly, there are very few options for people. rent outstrips wages in many areas of the country. housing benefit has been cut, and that means if you don't have very much money, or even if you don't have a lot, there is little that you can do if

you have problems with your landlord. there aren't necessarily other options open to you. these new rules would allow local authorities to share information and hopefully put rogue landlords out of business. presumably, your concern would be that they don't empower somebody who is for instance in mary is position if that landlord has not already been noted as a rogue landlord. the register could be made public, but the bigger picture is that we need to help people to afford decent homes in the private rented sector through making housing benefits meet the cost of rent. we also need to build more alternative options, like social housing, so that people have other options and other places to go, and aren't forced into the lowest end of the market and the

most unscrupulous landlords simply because they don't have that much money. have the changes brought in a few years back in wales made a difference? we are monitoring that closely, and the changes in scotland. it is hard to tell —— it is early to tell. it will probably help, but we have to look at all of this in the context of the need for a bigger transformative agenda to give renters a better deal and help them afford decent homes across the market. mary, are you still renting at the moment? yes. do you feel in any more of an empowered position after what you've gone through, or are you simply relying on the fact that, fingers crossed, let's hope that, fingers crossed, let's hope that the next landlord is decent? that, fingers crossed, let's hope that the next landlord is decennm isa that the next landlord is decennm is a definite case of fingers crossed. the position i am in, i can't ask the previous landlord for

references, so my next landlord will look and think, why? what have i done wrong? it is human nature. councils need to push what policies they have in place already, to push that to allow this to work. your current home is a good home? you like living there? it is, yeah. good to hear. thank you very much indeed for coming in. a spokesman for the ministry of housing communities and local government has told us that the measures coming into effect today are a new national database of offenders, that they will give councils the power to keep track of those who fail to provide safe and decent accommodation, and to target their enforcement action as well. let's hope it makes a difference. still to come... there've been more calls today for action to stem the increasing amount of violent crime in london. we'll hear from the sister of daniel frederick, who died after he was stabbed in london injanuary,

while walking home after attending a hospital checkup for his pregnant partner. we will meet the steam video blogging stars who are making studied cool. time for the latest news — here's ben. the bbc news headlines this morning... eight people were injured in knife attacks in london yesterday — including a 13—year—old boy. more than 50 people have now been killed in the capital since january. last night, anti—gang protestors held a rally in hackney calling for an end to the violence. london's mayor sadiq khan has denied that police have lost control of crime. russia has accused the uk of inventing a fake story and playing with fire over the salisbury spy poisoning. speaking at a un security council meeting, moscow's un ambassador said britain's main goal had been to discredit russia with unsubstantiated accusations.

test results on samples taken from the crime scene will be published by chemical weapons experts next week. about nine million people will pay more towards their pensions from today. the minimum contribution is going up from 1% of their income to 3%. one accountancy firm is warning pay packets will suffer as a result, but other experts say it is easily affordable, and will mean higher incomes in retirement. the amount english and welsh graduates earn, before they have to start paying back their tuition fees has risen. students who've taken out loans in the last six years will now start paying off their debts when they earn £25,000 a year, instead of £21,000. the national union of students said the change is a "welcome relief" for many. soft drinks with a high sugar content will be taxed up to 24p a litre from today. the government hopes it will tackle childhood obesity and tooth decay. many drinks companies have already reduced the amount of sugar in their products.

the money raised will be spent on children's health programmes. ufc fighter conor mcgregor has been charged with three counts of assault and one of criminal mischief, following an incident at a media event in new york. he's accused of throwing a pallet truck at a bus transporting fighters from a ufc promotional event. one of the passengers was injured in the incident. he's due to appear in court in new york later. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. ben mentioned the continuing violence on the streets of london, eight more people injured yesterday in knife attacks in the capital. ina in knife attacks in the capital. in a short while we will focus on that, with a pretty harrowing interview with the relative of one of the people killed this year, and also we will be looking in some depth at what might be done and how

we might approach this problem and try to stop it happening in the future. here's some sport now with azi farni. good morning. wales have theirfirst gold of the commonwealth games. gareth evans winds the 69 kilo weightlifting to take the first home team's medal of dick two. adam peaty‘s qualify for the hundred meter breaststroke semifinal. he was fastest in his heat, the olympic champion and world record—holder. jordan spieth leads by two shots but ita jordan spieth leads by two shots but it a date to forget the defending champion sergio garcia, who equals the worst score for a hole in tournament history. arsenal boss arsene wenger said his side have a job after thrashing cska moscow 4—1 in the first leg of their europa league quarterfinal. that is it from now, more later. thank you very much.

when she was just 13 years old, kirsty james was told she would go blind. as she struggled to come to the news, kirsty started seeing visions which left her terrified she was also going crazy. she would see figures sitting in her flat or think a pool of water on the floor was blood coming from her dogs paws. for years she stayed silent about what she was seeing leading her to become depressed and anxious until she found out by chance that the hallucinations she'd been experiencing were a result of charles bonnet syndrome — a condition that affects people who are losing their sight and is nothing to do with mental health problems. judith potts runs esme's umbrella — a charity raising awareness of those like kirsty, who live with cbs. they've been telling me their stories. i'd had moments from when i was losing my sight where i'd mistake things and objects would be different, but i didn't really notice confusion until i lived on my own, and i lived in this one—bedroom flat in hereford,

and that was when they really started to happen. my anxiety was really high, and it caused me to have depression at that time, because... what was happening? i felt like there was people in my flat, and then i would be thinking, "well, i know there's not anybody there," and just be constantly battling with myself. when i looked out the window, because i was on my own, i didn't have anyone to talk to do so, "what's going on?" i would think there was cars driving down the street, but it's a narrow cobbled street, and there wouldn't be cars there, so i was thinking, "this isn't right. " and then i would start going shopping, and i'd be on my own, and i'd be buying vegetables, and i'd be so convinced that i was buying salad stuff, but it wasn't, it was like completely like kale, you know. and over time that was growing really frustrating. at first, i tried to laugh about it, thinking, "i've made some mistakes," but then i was thinking,

"no, i actually seen that this was a lettuce," or i would mistake different vegetables or packaging, and my eyes would literally put this, and when i would get home, it would be different, i would just be standing, thinking, "i don't know what's going on." you know, and i kept that very quiet for a long time. you didn't talk about it, you didn't tell people about it? no, because i thought i was losing my mind, i didn't know what was going on, and then i would be sitting in a room, and colours would appear, and as soon as i closed my eyes or turned the lights on, it would sort of help, you know, or change what i was doing, almost distracted. yeah, it was quite a challenging time. and,judith, i mean, this also happened to your mother. it did, yes, that is right. similar sort of experience, just seeing things that she really believed were there? yes...

she was much, much older, she was in her early 90s, lived a totally independent life, and i was visiting her, and just as i was leaving her flat, she said to me, "i do wish these people would get off my sofa." and of course there was no—one on her sofa, and then she went on to describe a victorian tear—stained street child who followed her everywhere, and a horrible gargoyle sort of face that jumped from table to chair, and sometimes the whole room morphed into somewhere completely different. and i had absolutely no idea what could possibly be wrong with her, but i immediately thought dementia. and i went home thinking, "what on earth am i going to do?" but i knew that she was a bright lady, she was doing the telegraph cryptic crossword every day, so i thought, "it can't be dementia." and ijust happened to read a tiny paragraph in the newspaper

about something called the charles bonnet syndrome, which could have been written by her, and i thought, "now i know what it is, great." so i rang her ophthalmologist, and he wouldn't talk to me about it. and i said, "well, why didn't you warn us that this might happen?" refused to speak about it. the gp was very sceptical. so i went on to the internet, which of course is what we are always told not to do, and found dr dominic fitch at king's london, who is still the sole globally acknowledged expert in charles bonnet syndrome. i described to him what my mother was experiencing, and he said, "oh yes, that's exactly what she's got," so we put together some coping strategies. but that's all we can do — there are still no doctors, no specialists and no medication. and, kirsty, in exactly the same way that she initially thought that her mother had alzheimer's, you thought you were going mad. what have you now learnt about this syndrome, this condition? well, it's definitely is a gauge

of where i am at with my life, if i am too busy and stressed, i know that the charles bonnet happens, and i need to take a step back. but do we know why it happens, what is going on in the brain? can i answer that one? what happens when you lose over 60% of your sight is that the messages from the retina to the visual cortex in the brain, which sort of allows you to see, slow down or stop completely, and instead of the brain coming down and thinking, "this is marvellous, we don't need to worry about this," it actually fires up. so depending on what part of the brain is firing, you see people, you see animals, you see colours, you see patterns. you can see anything. so it is the brain trying to make sense of the fact that,

as you kirsty described to me, you can't really see my face clearly, and your brain is filling in the gaps. it is. other people's faces, say i was in a meeting, for instance, and i am sat in a circle table, because i can't see the faces, over time other people's faces will appear, because my brain is trying really hard to put the pieces together, and that is a very exhausting, because i'm trying to concentrate on what's being said, but at the same time i'm telling myself that's not really those people. i was going to say, obviously it would make it easier that you know there is a scientific explanation for this, do tell colleagues about it? yeah. are they supportive, do they understand? definitely, i feel that it has definitely helped me on myjourney of accepting my sight loss, and it has definitely been able to talk about it with colleagues and close friends. maybe if it happens when i am out on the street, with strangers,

it is a bit more difficult to be open, because people aren't aware of what charles bonnet is, so the lack of understanding, they think i'm a bit weird. do you ever get a sense of when it is going to happen? could it start happening now? yeah, because i am anxious, or situations with different lighting. it is when there is lower lighting for me, lower lighting triggers it, or when there is lots going on. —— yellow lighting triggers that. and what do you then do? now, ijust breathe, close my eyes, you know, tell myself... when i know i am hallucinating, it's because the images are very clear. i know that i haven't got enough sight to see that anymore, so i become rational, i rationalise it. judith, ijust wonder, i mean, the work that you do, if there are people who are in this position, obviously it is not a well—known condition, there may well be people

who are tuned in at the moment thinking, "oh, is that what is happening to me too?" where can they get support? they should ring our helpline, look up esme's umbrella, esme was my mother, and i wanted to name it after her. we have a helpline which is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and i will ring the person back myself. it will be a great comfortjust to have heard the stories here today. i hope so. we think there may be 750,000 people in this country alone with this condition. a fascinating story, and the guide dog was brilliantly calm all the way through it. there's a new online phenomenon on the rise — and it's making studying cool. meet the ‘study tubers' who are taking over youtube with their revision videos. one of them is 18—year—old jade.

it's been a shocking week of violence in london with eight more stabbings yesterday alone, six of those victims were teenagers. none of them died. it comes after london mayor sadiq khan denied that police had lost control of crime in the capital after more than 50 killings this year. let's ta ke let's take a look back at what has happened. it's just another waste of life. she was 17, she had her whole life in front of her. she never deserved to die like this, you know. literally, the carjust pull up on them, literally. they didn't have any signs, they didn't hear anything, the carjust pulled up, and theyjust started shooting. how many more of our youths do we have to bury? as a mother, to bury your child, orfor your child to die in your arms, or to hear your child being killed, i can't even imagine what that feels like. it's a scene now all too familiar

to communities across london — flashing blue lights, police tape, and forensic specialists descend on the scene of the most recent suspected murder. so far this year, more than 50 people have been killed in the capital, a sharp increase when compared with the same period last year, and the figures for february and march rival new york for the first time. each incident is followed by a procession of distraught friends and relatives, there to pay their respects and to lay flowers in memory of the dead. many of the victims are just teenagers, or people in their early 20s. the causes are many and varied, the solutions hotly debated. young people say they carry weapons for safety, but they're the very weapons that lead to the fatalities to which these communities bear witness. but behind the statistics are real people — lives stolen too soon,

and families left with the unimaginable trauma of losing a loved one, a son, a brother, a daughter, a sister, to senseless violence. daniel was stabbed and killed injanuary as he walked home from hospital, where his pregnant partner was having a check—up. earlier, i spoke to daniel's sister, louise samuel. talk to me about your relationship with your brother, daniel how did you find out he was stabbed? you went to the hospital after finding out what happened. but behind the statistics are real people — lives stolen too soon, and families left with the unimaginable trauma of losing a loved one, a son, a brother, a daughter, a sister, to senseless violence. daniel frederick was 3a when he was stabbed in stoke newington onjanuary 8th, close by to his home. he'd been attending a hospital checkup for his pregnant partner. daniel worked in security. he's said to have been a quiet, private person. he spent much of his time taking care of his four children. a girl named locally as tanesha melbourne was described by friends as humble and lovable.

tanesha lived with her mum, nan and sisters in south tottenham. she said to have been popular, and she volunteered at a nearby community centre. she was killed in a drive—by shooting on monday night. cheryl devenish lives nearby, and she too has a teenage daughter. i'm a mother of a 17 turning 18—year—old daughter, so to me this breaks my heart. this is not necessary. this child hasn't even begun to live. to bury your child, orfor your child to die in your arms, or to hear your child being killed, i can't even imagine what that feels like. to be honest with you, i wouldn't even want to. it hurts me. that is not my baby, it hurts me. how do you carry on? how do you live? how do you carry on with your life when your child is gone? nikki didn't want to show her face, but like many others in this community, she was deeply shocked. she was 17, she had her whole life in front of her, and she never deserved to die like this, you know? at 17, you're supposed to be able to be on the road at half past nine at night. yeah. she wasn't doing anything, she didn't deserve it. yeah. it wasn't even meant for her, from what i've heard. when is it time that you say that tapes, cordoning off murder scenes is not normal?

when do people actually wake up and say, no, this has gone too far, it's got to stop? we've got to all get together and do something about it. later that same night, amaan shakoor was shot in walthamstow, and the 16—year—old died a day later in hospital. his father described him as a wonderful son and said that he had just gone out to see friends. he was in his final year at school, studying for gcses, and was a regular at the local mosque. each thought to have been caught up in a so—called postcode war between rival gangs and to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. and a long list of lives snatched away too soon goes on. some of the killings were gang—related, some premeditated. some resulted from trivial disputes on social media, and others were just planned outburst of violence for no at all. whether the recent uptick in suspected homicides as part of a longer—term trend remains to be seen, but what is for certain is that every death is its own tragedy. well, one the victims of the horrific spate of violence currently blighting london's streets we saw in that film was 34—year—old daniel frederick. daniel was stabbed and killed injanuary as he walked home from hospital, where his pregnant partner was having a check—up. earlier, i spoke to daniel's sister, louise samuel. can you tell me about daniel, your

brother, what sort of a man he was? quiet... he was a... person who liked to smile a lot, he liked to joke a lot is. he was very much a family person. he was a person who would go to work, come back and look after his children. he was obviously after his children. he was obviously a very special man to you. yeah, he was. i mean, he's my brother, the next is person in line. we grew up together. he was in his 30s. yeah. can you just tell me about that moment when you heard what had happened to him? i think! moment when you heard what had happened to him? i think i was in shock. there were quite a lot of

people in my street. i thought, maybe he got stabbed in a place where he can survive, was my first thinking. obviously, the right information hadn't come across until he got to the hospital, to find out exactly where he had been stabbed. i was still optimistic about him being 0k. was still optimistic about him being ok. by the time they had called me and my brother upstairs to come and see him, even though they who said they were putting him in intensive care, he was in a room. my imagination, intensive care wasn't a room, it was loads of other people. but they had him there, pumping him blood into him, trying to keep him

alive at the time. he had eight tear that came down his eyes, and i asked him, is he crying? and they said, i don't think so. a tear came down again. and i said, you know that you're going... sorry... i said to him, you know that you're going, so... don't be afraid to go. can i ask you about a few other things? this was back injanuary. ask you about a few other things? this was back in january. yeah. we're talking to you this week because of other deaths on the streets of london. right, right.

obviously, your pain is so raw, and eve ryo ne obviously, your pain is so raw, and everyone will be able to understand why it is so raw, do you... how do you think people can ever get over what you and your family are going through? i'm not sure. this is a first—time experience for me. i mean, i can say justice with death, and a hard one, too. but will that solve the problem? he's gone. did the funeral help in any way? the funeral was a beautiful through narrow, but for me, personally, it didn't help, no. —— the funeral was a beautiful funeral. he was gone. having to

experience what we had to go through to get there wasn't a nice one, and i wouldn't wish that on anybody. what do you think the answers are? because politicians and others are grappling for answers. some of them talk about greater powers to stop and search young people, especially on the streets, remove the weapons. there is a focus on the weapons themselves, the knives and other implements that are used. do you think that's a major part of it, or is there something bigger that needs to happen? if somebody kills another person, then they should be a higher punishment for it. —— then there should be a higher punishment for it. as i say, if you have taken someone's life, that is a life

sentence. it should be your full life gone too. we will hear later in the programme about some very successful techniques used in glasgow that were trying to help people out of poverty, other personal difficulty, while also maintaining a strong approach to the law and order aspect of it. for you, do these things go hand—in—hand? law and order aspect of it. for you, do these things go hand—in—hand7m my experience of working with young people, dysfunctional families, people, dysfunctional families, people with mental health, they are in need of... cancelling. life coaching. —— counselling. the pa rents coaching. —— counselling. the parents as well as the young people.

we focus on the young people lonely and they go back home to the same surroundings, the same environment, so basically, it is a family unit where we need to target and give that support. thinking back to those people who've lost their lives in recent weeks, and knowing from your very honest description of what it stand to your family, very honest description of what it stand to yourfamily, i very honest description of what it stand to your family, i wonder if you've got any advice for families going through similar things. i'm not sure, to be honest. i can't tell someone to be strong in a situation where they've lost... someone who's pa rt where they've lost... someone who's part of the family, who is close to them. i can't give that advice because i'm still trying to understand my own feelings, much less to think about anybody else's. i can't even give comforting words

right now. well, i hope that somehow you and your family right now. well, i hope that somehow you and yourfamily manage right now. well, i hope that somehow you and your family manage to pull through the stop it sounds like it's very important that your family is such a strong one, so thank you very much for coming in and talking to us this morning. thank you. louise samuel, who was in the studio a little while ago. we have a tweet from sean who says: this is a harrowing interview, and in stridently strong woman holding it together to tell her brother's story. i can't even imagine. i'm sure, sean, you mirror what story. i can't even imagine. i'm sure, sean, you mirrorwhata story. i can't even imagine. i'm sure, sean, you mirror what a lot of people are thinking. we will be looking at some of the solutions in about 20 minutes or so on the programme. we have invited the metropolitan police on the programme this morning to get an update on the violence and to tell us what they

will be doing to tackle this serious issue, but they have declined. we also asked the mayor sadiq khan to come and speak to us — but he also turned us down. in fact no—one from the mayor's office would come on the show this morning. and we asked the government to come and update us, but they too were not willing to do so. the home office have said: "our new serious violence strategy will put a stronger focus on steering young people away from violence whilst continuing to ensure the strongest possible law enforcement response. as part of the strategy we have already announced new funding of up to £1 million for the home office community fund is which will be provided to help communities tackle knife crime." the mayor of london, sadiq khan, says he is angered and heartbroken by the number of violent deaths on our streets this week — and this year." is and the metropolitan commissioner, cressida dick said: "through extra is money from the mayor we will have an additional 120 officers working on knife crime in the most vulnerable areas of london."

in about 20 minutes, we will discuss some of the possible solutions this. before that, let's get the latest weather update with lucy. today could be the warmest day of the year so far, with highs 17 celsius. we have seen some beautiful skies this morning, this photo sent in by one of our weather watchers. another watcher in bristol, again, a beautiful sunrise. today, not eve ryo ne beautiful sunrise. today, not everyone holding onto the spring sunshine. some rain in the west, dry and bright in the east. this low pressure is coming in from the south—west, the associated front bringing rain and cloud. in the east, it will start to drag in milderair east, it will start to drag in milder air from east, it will start to drag in milder airfrom the east, it will start to drag in milder air from the south, east, it will start to drag in milder airfrom the south, so particularly for the south—east, we will see some fairly mild

temperatures as we move through today and tomorrow. through this afternoon, outbreaks of rain from north and west of scotland, some heavy. drier in the east. outbreaks of rainfor heavy. drier in the east. outbreaks of rain for northern ireland moving north, bright intervals and sunny spells behind it. a lot of dry and bright weather across england and wales, turning cloudy in the west with outbreaks of rain in the south—west and west this afternoon. this evening and overnight, the rain will clear north, a lot of dry weather around for a time before we see the next area of rain pushing into the south, heavy bursts in that, perhaps thunder. overnight low temperatures of four celsius. not as cold as it has been over the previous night. tomorrow, a cloudy day for much of england and wales. outbreaks of rain pushing north across central england and into northern england. some brightness for western parts of wales and south—west england into the afternoon, and in the east, we could see brighter intervals, the risk of one too heavy, thundery, showers.

this cold front edges towards the east as we move overnight into sunday. sunday looks like it will be a fairly cloudy day for the south and east. uncertainty on the positioning of that band of cloud and rain. there could be some rain in the south—east that will be fairly patchy. further north, drier and brighter, the risk of one or two showers, which could be heavy. maximum temperature of 1a celsius. a bitter brightness in the west. a similar day on monday, still outbreaks of rain across the south, drier in the north thanks to high pressure in charge of the north, with one or two showers and temperatures at a maximum of 15 celsius. it's friday, it's 10am, it's friday, it's10am, i'm matthew price. after eight more stabbings in london yesterday questions are being asked about how to stop the recent surge in violence. those stabbings were injuries, notts deaths. —— not deaths.

louise samuel is the sister of daniel frederick, one of more than 50 people killed in the capital since the start of the year. they had a good sendoff. it was good. but having to experience what we had to go through in order to get there was not a nice one. and i wouldn't wish that on anybody. the human toll is immense, especially on the families. shortly we will be talking to people who have had success in tackling violent crime about the radical solutions needed to stop the killings. 42—year—old jodey whiting took her own life last year. in the weeks before she died her benefits were stopped now her family are calling for the department of work and pensions to be investigated — they'll be telling us why later in the programme. and would you pay £7 million for 12 days in space? as the first luxury hotel is launched, we'll be asking a serious space fanatic if he's tempted.

good morning. it is just after ten o'clock. here's ben in the bbc newsroom with a summary of today's news. good morning, matthew. there have been more called today for action to stem the increase in violent crime in london. eight people including a 13—year—old boy we re people including a 13—year—old boy were injured in knife attacks in the capital yesterday. more than 50 people have been killed in london since january. last night anti—gang protesters held a rally in hackney calling for an end to the violence. the london mayor sadiq khan has denied that police have lost control of crime. john mcmanus is outside scotland yard. what is the latest? we know four people including three teenagers have already died this

week because of violence, some from stabbings and others from gunshot wounds. we have now learned that several others were involved in incidents yesterday throughout the day. at about 1pm a man incidents yesterday throughout the day. atabout1pm a man in incidents yesterday throughout the day. at about 1pm a man in his 20s was stabbed in walthamstow in north—east london. a 15—year—old boy was stabbed on mile end in london at about 5:30pm. around half an hour later two other 15—year—olds were stabbed close by and another teenager taken to hospital from the same incident. at around 7pm a 13—year—old boy was stabbed in new and in the evening a man in his 40s was stabbed at around 10pm in herne hill in south london. this violence seems to continue. luckily none of yesterday's incidents were fatal to those involved but police behind me at new scotland yard are coming under increased pressure to end this violence. the met police commissioner cressida dick says she is announcing a new strategy, a new unit of 120 officers to tackle this

issue and also says there will be more intelligence led stop and search operations in areas where trouble might occur. it is expected that the home secretary amber rudd will announce a new anti—violence strategy next week which will focus on prevention, getting an early in the lives of troubled youngsters to make sure they don't develop all go down a path towards violence which will lead to stabbings and shootings later in their lives. the authorities are trying to do something about the issue but the pressure is growing and the protesters in hackney last night we re protesters in hackney last night were really sending the message that many in the community want something done about the issue very soon. thank you very much, john mcmanus. russia has accused the uk of inventing a fake story and playing with fire over the salisbury spy poisoning. speaking at a un security council meeting, moscow's un ambassador said britain's main goal had been to discredit russia with unsubstantiated accusations. test results on samples taken from the crime scene will be published by chemical weapons

experts next week. about nine million people will pay more towards their pensions from today. the minimum contribution is going up from one percent of their income to three percent. one accountancy firm is warning pay packets will suffer as a result, but other experts say it is easily affordable, and will mean higher incomes in retirement. the amount english and welsh graduates earn before they have to start paying back their tuition fees has risen. students who've taken out loans in the last six years will now start paying off their debts when they earn £25,000 a year instead of £21,000. the national union of students said the change is a welcome relief for many. rising the threshold the student loa n rising the threshold the student loan payments from 21 to £25,000 will benefit 600,000 graduates who

will benefit 600,000 graduates who will park at £360 a year, and in some cases £24,000 over the course of their loan. but a serious money that could be put towards, say, a deposit boy has —— that is serious money. as other students graduate we expect the numbers benefiting to rise into the millions, a significant policy to help young people stand on their own two feature. —— feet. soft drinks with a high sugar content will be taxed up to 24p a litre from today. the government hopes it will tackle childhood obesity and tooth decay. many drinks companies have already reduced the amount of sugar in their products. the money raised will be spent on children's health programmes. the former south african president jacob zuma has appeared at a court in durban ahead of his trialfor corruption. he's accused of accepting a bribe over a $2.5 billion government arms deal in the 1990s. mr zuma denies all the charges. several thousand supporters of the former president are expected to march to the high court. ufc fighter conor mcgregor has

been charged with three counts of assault and one of criminal mischief, following an incident at a media event in new york. he's accused of throwing a pallet truck at a bus transporting fighters from a ufc promotional event. one of the passengers was injured in the incident. he's due to appear in court in new york later. one of the best loved — and most successful — darts players, eric bristow, has died at the age of 60 after a heart attack during an event in liverpool last night. nicknamed the crafty cockney, he won the world championship five times and was awarded an mbe for his services to sport in 1989. the professional darts corporation chairman barry hearn said eric would live on as a legend in the world of british sport. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 10:30am. thank you, ben.

coming up in a few minutes, we will look at what radical solutions could work to stem the violence in london. do we need to increase stop and search? should there be more police on the streets? we'll look at all the options. cullen believes stop and search is the solution, then there was an anonymous text from somebody, i will read anonymous text from somebody, i will rea d m ost anonymous text from somebody, i will read most of it. i am raising children in east london and in the last few years police numbers have gone through the floor. there is blatant crime which goes unchecked, class a drug dealing etc, and several stabbings which do not make the news because they are not fatal. we fear for the news because they are not fatal. we fearfor our the news because they are not fatal. we fear for our teenagers. the news because they are not fatal. we fearfor our teenagers. i the news because they are not fatal. we fear for our teenagers. i was working on this story earlier in the year and lots of people were saying that they fear for the safety of their children on the streets of london in certain parts of the capital. there has been a tweet from roderick, too many deaths, needs

troops or armed police. cindy says my view is if you take a life, they should get the death penalty, it is the only way to straight in this country out. cindy sends her deepest sympathies to all the families that have lost a loved one through knife crime. do get in touch with us throughout the morning — use the hashtag #victorialive. is use the hashtag #victorialive. , 3 is , f' 69: ,, use the hashtag #victorialive. weightlifting. 3:2 is ' " 69 : ~ use the hashtag #victorialive. weightlifting. 3:2 31—year—old : ~ kilo weightlifting. the 31—year—old painter and decorator from holyhead —— holyhead lifted 299 kilograms. sri lanka and india took silver and bronze. the first golf major of the year is under way, tiger woods is one over par after the first round of the masters macro. rory mcilroy is three

shots off the pace, tony finau is tied for second place. imagine member he dislocated his ankle celebrating a hole in one a couple of days ago. —— you might remember he dislocated his ankle. he says his recovery is nothing short of a miracle. he is two shots behind leaderjordan spieth. sergio garcia's title defence went horribly wrong on day one, his approach at the 15th found the water five times. he scored 13, the worst in masters history for that hole. a good night for arsenal in the europa league, they thrashed cska moscow 4—1 in the first leg of their quarterfinal. aaron ramsey put arsenal ahead early. here is his second after cska equalised. alexandre lacazette also scored two, his first for arsenal in europe. all four gunners goals came within 26 minutes in the first half.

we scored some great goals in the first half. the target was not to concede any more at half—time when it was 4—1. it is not over, we had to go there with the right focus and try to win the game. scotland's hopes of qualifying for next yea r‘s scotland's hopes of qualifying for next year's women's world cup have taken a blow. they lost 1—0 to switzerland last night. a goal from the swiss captain separated the sides. scotla nd sides. scotland are now in third place in their group. shoaib malik are's side are at home to poland on tuesday in paisley. quite a game in prospect at st mary's stadium tonight, england women take on wales. a crowd of more than 25,000 are expected in southampton. phil neville's side arrow points behind wales, who topped group one, but they had a game in hand. that is all the sport for now, thanks, matthew. thank you. in fewer than 100 days,

more than fifty people have been killed in london in violence on the capital's streets. stabbing has been the main cause — while seven people died from gunshot wounds. just yesterday eight people were stabbed — six of them teenagers — none of them fatally. these are the faces of the most recent victims — teenagers tanesha melbourne, amaan shakoor and israel ogunsola. the mayor sadiq khan and the government are coming under increasing pressure to tackle crime on the capital's streets at a time when other cities in scotland and the us are seeing a reduction in violence. that is the mare of london. —— that is the mayor of london. so, let's now talk about what radical solutions may be needed to fix this problem. with me to talk about what those solutions might be are zubaida malik, a race equality researcher and paul scully who's an mp and a vice chairman of the conservative party. in ourcardiff studio is labour mp sarahjones, who heads up an all—party group of mps on knife crime,

and in glasgow is michael murray, a consultant neuro—anesthetist. michael, starting with you, it is not so long ago that glasgow was dubbed the murder capital of europe. and yes... well, tell us about the measures brought in and what has been successful in reducing such crime? essentially a range of measures were introduced. it is not the best accolade to have of being named the most dangerous country in the developed world, so the scottish government at that time took a step back and said let's try something new, let's try and approach which addresses violence almost as a public health issue, similar to what was done in new york. in essence, they took the best evidence available from round the world, taylor did to scotland to see what would work and what would not work.

they have launched a range of initiatives, they set up a division of the police called the violence reduction unit initially based in glasgow and then spread across the country, again looking at innovative ways to address the issue. as a spin off of that, my involvement came through several of my colleagues who set upa through several of my colleagues who set up a charity called medics against violence. as doctors we see more than ourfair against violence. as doctors we see more than our fair share against violence. as doctors we see more than ourfair share of against violence. as doctors we see more than our fair share of violence and violence related injury, i work ina unit and violence related injury, i work in a unit essentially dealing with head, neck and spine and very often if you are hits you will be hits in the head, neck or spine. the same people would be coming back and we thought can we try to stop these people being injured in the first place, let alone going out and injuring somebody else? so the medics against violence programme was set up in 2008. we have spoken toa was set up in 2008. we have spoken to a round about 40,000 schoolchildren, which is the mainstay of the programme. we have a range of doctors, nurses,

pharmacists, volunteers who go into schools and we run a one—hour lesson, sometimes speaking to an individual class or sometimes a whole school. we show a video for about 20 minutes which has a range of people in it who have been exposed to violence, who have had violence perpetrated on them or who in several cases actually murdered someone. you are showing young people the reality of what is happening or has happened in the streets? absolutely. it puts some context to the reality. we then have a discussion with the kids and we try to dispel some of the myths that lots of people hold, that a knife keeps you say. or there isa that a knife keeps you say. or there is a safe place to stab someone. neither of those things are true. we try to emphasise that carrying a knife puts you at risk, increases your risk of harm. it is not a defensive weapon, it is defensive ——

offensive. how successful has it been? the murder rate in scotland in 2004 was just over 180, last year it was 57. violent crime has roughly halved and gang violence is down by about 80%. it can a tribute to one aspect but all of those combines is more than coincidental. doctor zubaida, you do lots of research on race equality and lots of these attacks are perpetrated against black people by black people. that is statistically... the case? i don't think it's helpful to look at it in terms of black—on—black crime. it is often seen as a gang thing, whereas from the examples we've seen today, it is not. that

right and that is horrendous. there are some myths we need to throw up. first, most crime is intra— ethnic, within the same ethnic group. in that sense, it is misleading to call it black—on— black that sense, it is misleading to call it black—on—black crime. the other problem with calling it that is that race is not the predictor of this crime, race happens to be a description of the group, but it doesn't explain what's happening to this group. in that sense, it's problematic. i think what we need to do is really step back. one of the biggest issues with knife crime and gun crime... this isn't new. we have been talking about the statistics as if it isjust this been talking about the statistics as if it is just this year, been talking about the statistics as if it isjust this year, but been talking about the statistics as if it is just this year, but this has been going on for a very long time. we need to say, what has been missing in this picture? what is missing in this picture? what is missing are the victims, and i don't mean the ones who have sadly died. it is heartbreaking to listen to the stories. i mean the ones who have nearly died, the ones who have been

injured, the ones who are at risk. so that is what is really missing. it was great to listen to michael to remind us that actually what we need is this holistic approach. what do you mean by that? what is a holistic approach? there was a lot of talk of stop and search, increasing police numbers, and that is what the metropolitan police have said they will do. what do you mean by a holistic approach? what i mean is, so far, we have been looking at stop and search as though it is the only tool to address knife violence. the problem is, it's not the only tool. it's not necessarily even fit for purpose. it's not addressing even what it wants to address, which is to reduce violence. it doesn't reduce violence. it tends to be used more for drug arrests. the other thing is that it exacerbates community relations, which means that young people in communities are not coming to the police with information. they are certainly not coming to the police for protection.

what we know about young people carrying knives is that there are two dominant reasons. one is because of status, but actually, that's not that much of a reason. the main reason young people carrying knives is because they are scared, because they fear for their lives. and it's because they think no one is looking after them. you asked me what i mean by holistic. i mean i think the same as what michael was talking about, which is that what we need is to approach this as a public health issue. this is a disease issue, a national crisis but as soon as you approach it that way, it means that you don'tjust come in looking at enforcement, you don't just you don'tjust come in looking at enforcement, you don'tjust come in with suppression. it is important to send that message about, you know, control, about the fact that it is u na cce pta ble control, about the fact that it is unacceptable to carry knives. can you briefly give me some practical steps ? you briefly give me some practical steps? absolutely. one is what michael talked about, which is used

in glasgow, which is that you use both suppression and support. you need to support these individuals will cop —— these individual. you can't come in with a heavy hand and say, if you don't behave we will lock you up. the other things we need, matthew, are that we need to reverse the cuts, the austerity cuts, and i don't mean that as a political point. i mean that so far we have been seeing the austerity cuts in terms of the economic cost to people's lights, the economic cuts. what we haven't really looked at is the social, how austerity cuts have removed the social safety net for people. that is good moment to bring in paul scully from the conservative party, because the focus has definitely been, political focus has definitely been, political focus this week, on more powers for the police and more police on the streets. do you think that is a

one—sided approach? streets. do you think that is a one-sided approach? is the reason it is in the media is because of the spike in the figures, and that needs an immediate response in that regard. it is about looking at stop and search and how you can use it more effectively. sensitively, as zubaida says, more effectively. sensitively, as zu baida says, but more effectively. sensitively, as zubaida says, but turning towards knives and other weapons. in terms of focusing the police on the areas where gangs are most prevalent. and also, we have the serious violence strategy which we are expecting next week. all of these things, you are saying, are going on, and putting more officers on the street to deal with an immediate crisis, but why are we not hearing this from the home secretary? wire the government not more vocal and visible in this? bee i was going to go on to the long—term things. we have this immediate crisis in london at the moment, and yet the home secretary

and others, we contact them every day and they are not coming on. i wonder what you feel it is about this issue that stops the government having more of a visible presence, sitting in his chair. bee if we talk about london, the reason is that they all need to work together. the home office will set strategy, give resource and give police certain powers. there will be lots of charities and organisations that we have been hearing about that will be working on the ground that. the mayor of london sits in the middle. he is the police commissionerfor london, effectively, sets the strategy and a budget in the metropolitan police, the numbers, and then cressida dig goes out and does that operationally in charge. —— cressida dig... people seem

relu cta nt to —— cressida dig... people seem reluctant to come in on this. i wonder whether many top rank politicians are reluctant to talk about this because it is such a complex issue and theyjust don't have the answers. it is a complex issue. to quote what michael said at the start, when you have a problem as big as this, you need to step back and think, actually, what works? let's try something new. there is evidence of what works, but it is difficult, it is absolutely right, but i think the government have now got to the point where they absolutely have to work. the all—party group on knife crime that ichair all—party group on knife crime that i chair has members from all political parties, and this is not just a london problem, it is a uk problem. knife crime has gone up 21% in the last year across the uk. this is not just in the last year across the uk. this is notjust london. i think it has got to the stage now where a proper public health approach that we have just been talking about, which is absolutely the right thing to do, is something that the government is

beginning to look at, and i really hopein beginning to look at, and i really hope in the strategy that comes out this week, they implement a proper long—term plan with proper resources that focuses on prevention as well as, of course, dealing with the crime. in headline terms, what, sarahjones, crime. in headline terms, what, sarah jones, does that crime. in headline terms, what, sarahjones, does that plan looked like? how does it tackle the crisis at the immediate moment that we are in at the moment, but also going forward ? in at the moment, but also going forward? for me, there is an immediate issue around policing. the metropolitan police, as an example, have to make £400 million of cuts in the next few years. we know they will lose around 3000 police. that is planned over the next couple of yea rs. is planned over the next couple of years. those decisions need to be reversed and we need proper policing. on the public health side, it means real intervention with the children and young people involved in crime and carrying knives now. intensive youth work and support, and it means education for everybody else to inoculate, if you like, the whole population against this

epidemic. and to work with young people in schools and all the youth centres that we would like to see, and all the services across the board. mental health is a big part to play here. there is a raft of services that need to be involved. sarah, you are talking there... everything you've said sounds credible, and up in scotland, michael is nodding at the sort of things you are suggesting. and yet, as doctor zubaida haque has said, a lot of the young people don't trust authority, don't trust this top—down approach — how do you address that? you have to work with young people, and repeatedly so that they get to trust you. what does it mean working with them? the young people i have met with, we had a big group who had been to prison, and we'd talked to them about their lived experience, which was not having their special

need at school addressed and they ended up being excluded and they went on to a pupil referral unit, not having adults intervening at the right places, not having those proper relationships, notjust somebody who comes in and has a couple of sessions and then moves on. having proper, long—term work and support. youth workers working with young people. prison is not a deterrent for a lot of these young people, because some of them were saying to me, which is shocking that it was even a bit of a rest to be imprisoned because they didn't have to do the things they had to do on the streets. we need a different approach. into wrestling that you brought up that point. doctor zubaida haque, louise samuel, the sister of one of the people killed this year in london said earlier, tougher sentences and make sure people know they will never get out of prison again. the problem is, that might work for some people that carry knives, especially those who carry knives, especially those who carry it for status related reasons. i'm afraid it does nothing for those

who fear for their own lives, who fear for their safety and who feel that no 1's looking after them, because as they have said in many an interview, i would because as they have said in many an interview, iwould rather because as they have said in many an interview, i would rather be alive, so it doesn't matter to me if i get arrested. it is no deterrent, and research has shown that stronger sentences do not deter violent crime. the other thing i was going to say, matthew, and i wanted to add to say, matthew, and i wanted to add to what sarah were saying, is that we haven't talked about the fact that these young people don't have hope. they don't think there is a way out of their lives at the moment because they have had to live these lives. it is that lived experience of living in deprived areas that have high crime rates. their upbringing has been difficult, so they have been excluded from schools. we know what the issues are. forthem, never schools. we know what the issues are. for them, never is schools. we know what the issues are. forthem, never is no schools. we know what the issues are. for them, never is no hope, schools. we know what the issues are. forthem, never is no hope, and thatis are. forthem, never is no hope, and that is something that we really need to address when we start giving them back that hope. michael murray,

it sounds like the experience in scotland, glasgow, is that they were able to give at least some people somehow. how? i think able to give at least some people somehow. how? ithink by able to give at least some people somehow. how? i think by a range of things. as part of a school lesson, we don'tjust things. as part of a school lesson, we don't just say tickets, you things. as part of a school lesson, we don'tjust say tickets, you are all going to die, because that tends to put them off, but we say, what do you want? what do you want to do with your life? what do you think? —— we don't just with your life? what do you think? —— we don'tjust say to kids.... alcohol is involved in about half of all violent crime. at the moment, thatis all violent crime. at the moment, that is not really being addressed. it is one of the big issues, and we can't change violent behaviour if we don't have some notion that alcohol is probably too cheap, not viewed properly, abused fairly regularly. people who carry knives, who go from someone who thinks they are

defending themselves, if you combine it with alcohol, they become the aggressor. we need to look at the effect of alcohol. if it affects half of violent crime, it is an important issue that we can't leave aside. paul scully, raw have been mentioned by a couple of people. —— resources . mentioned by a couple of people. —— resources. do you think there are enough financial resources to deal with this problem in london and indeedin with this problem in london and indeed in the other cities?|j with this problem in london and indeed in the other cities? i talk mainly about london. the mayor has transferable budget, so he can move money between the police and other areas. he has the resource needs to make sure he is taking full responsibility for that role. we have got to look at the immediate solutions i was talking about. but you are right, zubaida to talk about the holistic view. sarah has a great thing called lives not knives. i

haveis thing called lives not knives. i have is a woman on my patch whose son was murdered 15 years ago, and they go into schools. briefly, these ideas have been around for a long time. why have they not yet been taken up, and what hope is there, what hope can we have, that they will be taken up right now? this is just a will be taken up right now? this is justa wake—up will be taken up right now? this is just a wake—up call. because these things have been working in parts of london, in other cities as well, but actually, you need to look at it as actually, you need to look at it as a city rather than as a borough one area, because if you try to go in one area, people willjust move out to another borough. that violent crime willjust bike in another area. this is people's lies were talking about. poverty makes a difference, paul. it is one of the main predictors of crime. we know from research that if you address poverty, have pove rty— from research that if you address poverty, have poverty— alleviating measures and i am talking about

particular poorer areas, it helps. thank you very much indeed, all format of you. we will talk about it again. thank you forjoining us. still to come: just 90 minutes stands between pep guardiola's manchester city side and winning the title, but could jose mourinho's manchester united possibly postpone the party? we will hear from fans. would you pay £7 million for a few daysin would you pay £7 million for a few days in space? plans for the first space hotel are and belt and we will speak to one man who thinks that the experience would be worth every single penny. time for the latest news — here's ben. eight people were injured in knife attacks in london yesterday — including a 13—year—old boy. more than 50 people have now been killed in the capital since january. last night, anti—gang protestors held a rally in hackney calling for an end to the violence.

london's mayor sadiq khan has denied that police have lost control of crime. russia has accused the uk of inventing a fake story and playing with fire over the salisbury spy poisoning. speaking at a un security council meeting, moscow's un ambassador said britain's main goal had been to discredit russia with unsubstantiated accusations. test results on samples taken from the crime scene will be published by chemical weapons experts next week. soft drinks with a high sugar content will be taxed up to 24 pence a litre from today. the government hopes it will tackle childhood obesity and tooth decay. many drinks companies have already reduced the amount of sugar in their products. the money raised will be spent on children's health programmes. ufc fighter conor mcgregor has been charged with three counts of assault and one of criminal mischief, following an incident at a media event in new york.

he's accused of throwing a pallet truck at a bus transporting fighters from a ufc promotional event. one of the passengers was injured in the incident. he's due to appear in court in new york later. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. thanks very much, ben. here's some sport now with azi farni. good morning. wales have theirfirst gold of the commonwealth games. gareth evans lifted 299 kilos to win the weightlifting 60 manquillo category. england's adam peaty has qualified for the hundreds of breaststroke final. the olympic champion and world record—holder was fastest in his heat. jordan spieth leads the masters by two shots but it is a day to forget for defending champion sergio garcia, who equals the worst score for a hole tournament history. a better night for arsenal, bass

arsene wenger said his side have done half thejob arsene wenger said his side have done half the job after thrashing cs ka m oscow done half the job after thrashing cska moscow 4—1 in the first leg of their europa league quarterfinal. i will have more later. thank you very much. about nine million people will pay more towards their pensions from today. our personalfinance guru simon gompertz guru simon gompertz is here to explain. paying more? why? because it costs money, but who would not want to have to look forward to ten, 20, 30, 40 yea rs have to look forward to ten, 20, 30, 40 years ahead when you retire a little bit more extra on top of the state pension? moore has been taken out from salary pay packets? but in order to do that you have to start saving now. companies have been automatically enrolling people for some time now but for someone on the national living wage, for instance, it is around £5 or £6 a month at the moment, not too much. from this

month it will go up to about £20, a 14p increase. if you are on average earnings it is more like an increase of £30 a month in what you're putting into the pension, it is quite significant and people will notice it. there is a big question now as to whether more people will t now as to whether more people will opt out. you are automatically enrolled but have the choice to come out of it in future. many young people are thinking perhaps of buying their first home in saving for that if they can afford it, rather than 50 years hence and paying into a pension. that is the big question. if you save like that and with some more increases next year, you can look forward to something like a £5,000 pension on top of your state pension and future. it is not something to think likely of. but if you are on the bread line then maybe losing £14 a month will bea then maybe losing £14 a month will be a problem. thank you very much, simon. jodey whiting was 42 when she took her own life last year. she suffered with a syndrome which caused her spine to curve,

making it difficult for her to move around. and because of this she was unable to work. but in the weeks before she died she'd had her benefit payments stopped, because she didn't turn up for a medical assessment. she was actually in hospital with pneumonia at the time, so hadn't received details of the appointment. her family have since been fighting the decision by the department of work and pensions to stop her benefits — and now they've won the right to have her case independently investigated. we can speak tojodey‘s motherjoy dove. cree-”47 g good morning. can you just explain, this sounds notjust a sad story from your family's perspective but a very difficult story to go through. what happened ? story to go through. what happened? well, she had been in hospital and also she had scoliosis,

she had been in hospital with pneumonia and she mentions for about a year she had been troubled with pain behind her eye, in hate years. they did a scan and found out she had a cyst, so they kept her in north tees hospital and referred her over to james cook to professor keen, doing checks. she had this system which was nine centimetres. —— she had best cyst. they let her come home to see what the next step would be, although they were keeping check on her. letters have been put aside, i opened a letter added said she had not been to a medical and it could affect her money. we got all the information, wrote back and said she had just been in hospital at that date, come out. a list of her medication, she was on aids types of medication. if i can give you a

reading of the medication. —— she was an eight types. she was on all of these different tablets including amitriptyline. we wrote everything in and sent to prove. instead of saying ok, we will give you another medical, they ended up sending a letter saying you are fit to work. we were shocked and she cried and said what i going to do, i can't walk out the door? she had all adaptions in her flat, walk out the door? she had all adaptions in herflat, i can't sign on. i said adaptions in herflat, i can't sign on. isaid right, jodey, iwill phone up. they said there was one more try to a last try. we wrote again and by this time she was feeling really down. i took her medication on the monday and i said i have been on the phone to the dwp,

there might be chance of a hardship loan. she said, oh, is there? she looked a bit happier. as a family we would have given her half of everything we had to keep her going. but anyway... she was obviously struggling with this and in the end thatis struggling with this and in the end that is what led to her taking her life? that's right. i phoned up the jobcentre and they said no, there was nothing she can get, her case is dormant. so sort of tough luck. so i said don't worry, and she said, look, her daughter says mum, said don't worry, and she said, look, her daughtersays mum, come and stay with me for a few days and we will give you a rest. i saw her every day. i said, jodey, you have a rest and she said, yes, i am going to go and i will have a sleep. i saidi to go and i will have a sleep. i said i will phone you later, check you are going to emma's. i said how

are you? she said i will leave it until tomorrow, i will have a sleep. isaid ok. until tomorrow, i will have a sleep. i said ok. she said i love you. i said love you, i will phone you tomorrow. i heard nothing from her the next day, she usually phoned me allwood ‘s text me. so i thought thatis allwood ‘s text me. so i thought that is all right, she hasn't changed her mind. joy, i am really sorry to interrupt that we are running short on time. yes. we know she took her life. ijust wonder whether you feel you have been given enough support since then in this whole legal process you are trying to go through? do you feel the processes working for you at the moment? the only good support i have is from citizens advice given to jodey before she died. they told the dwp she was in the crisis team.

anyway, with the crisis team we tried everything and phoned them and she died on the 21st of february and on the 23rd we told them she had died, ok, we will tellall departments. they sent a letter out even though we said she was dead, they sent a letter out once again saying you are fit to work. if she hadn't have done it then, i think she would have done it whenever. they gave her no hope. she was laid in the undertaker‘s, not even buried. i have a justice forjodey campaign. good luck with that campaign, thank you very much indeed for explaining about really sad story for us this morning from teesside. tomorrow is arguably the biggest day of the football season so far. and, for one half of manchester, it could one of the best in recent years. -- it —— it could be one of the best. if manchester city beat united they will take the premier league title with over a month left of the season — earlier than any other team in history.

it's hard to imagine a bigger thrill for city fans, or a bigger low for united. so how's it going to turn out and how are those fans going to feel come saturday night? with me here are united fans sam preston and sami ahmed and city fan nigel rothband. joining us from manchester are city fan andy savage and chief football writer at the people newspaper, steve bates. ——joining us —— joining us from manchester is chief football right at the qatar people newspaper, steve bates. i will not drag you through this quite yet. let's start with nigel. do you think tomorrow will be the moment you make history as our team? it could be, but i guess most city fa ns it could be, but i guess most city fans would love that to happen. the problem is we probably had the league title nailed on back in november and as far as city is concerned, actually what is probably more important is the champions league. as you know, we lost 3—0 to

liverpool in the first leg of the quarterfinal, which puts a different perspective on. so maybe field is slightly weaker team to protect the side? pep indicated that, and vincent kompa ny was side? pep indicated that, and vincent kompany was speaking about that. sami, i think it is vincent kompany was speaking about that. sami, ithink it is unfair vincent kompany was speaking about that. sami, i think it is unfair to have asked you on the studio this morning. how long have you been a united fan? since i was about five. ata time united fan? since i was about five. at a time when they were riding high and look like the team to support?! maybe you were born at the wrong moment. how do you feel when people like nigel say we have had the title nailed down since december.m like nigel say we have had the title nailed down since december. it is upsetting but it is the truth. united have not been good enough, as have most teams in the league. city have most teams in the league. city have deserved it but we have to make sure tomorrow is not the day. sam, you have been a fan since four, this is not the best season? it is not.

can you explain to people who do not come from manchester, how much does it hurt on a personal level that city are doing so well? it is obviously very painful. it is staggering. the reason city were chosen to be taken over for the money was to overhaul united. when the money came in at that time you could not see them tipping back. ten yea rs could not see them tipping back. ten years down the line and they have, my uncle is a city fan, my dad is united, the bragging rights are there. it is as painful, the only thing that would be more painful as liverpool finally winning, tha nkfully liverpool finally winning, thankfully that is not happening. they have overtaken us on the pitch as well as off, the youth teams are better at city, the women's team are better, they have a brand—new training complex. it is really sound beating for united on and off the. steve bates, there is this whole setup at city delivering the results

they are getting now? absolutely. this was always the vision of sheikh mansour and his abu this was always the vision of sheikh mansourand his abu dhabi... the money when it came in, this was a lwa ys money when it came in, this was always the end result that they would not only be successful of the page but would basically promote the manchester city brand globally, which is what they have done. tomorrow at the etihad stadium will be another step to cementing what many manchester city fans believe is already happening, a power shift in manchester where obviously manchester where obviously manchester united won 13 premier league titles, the last in 2013 when sir alex ferguson left. since then manchester city have very much been on the up and city fans will be hoping tomorrow that they get more conclusive evidence of that in the derby. let's bring in andy savage, a

lifelong city fan who joins us on skype. how'd you feel about tomorrow? should city go all out to win or hold something back to try to beat liverpool in the champions league? what i have just been hearing from the gent there, it is a pivotal moment tomorrow. we should go all out with a full strength team to win the title against united. that would be my second biggest thrill as a city fan. obviously after the 2012 sergio aguero moment. to win it against united would be incredible. why would it mean so much? just to win it against united, really, because i know plenty of united fans andl because i know plenty of united fans and i know united fans who have tickets for the match tomorrow in the united end, and they said they will not be going. if there had been nothing on it tomorrow in terms of us winning the premier league against them, they would have gone,

but because it has come to the stage where we could clinch the title against them, theyjust don't want to bea against them, theyjust don't want to be a part of it, really. sammy and sam, both of you are laughing knowingly when he says that winning it against united is so important. how much would you like for that not to happen tomorrow? it is sad it has come to that, but it would be huge. they are expecting a party tomorrow. sammy? definitely, it would be massive for us, confidence going into the fa cup as well, that we could stop maybe some of the biggest teams in the world, some it is good. great. we have seen some of the local rivalry there. good luck tomorrow. i will stay impartial! now — a contentious issue for most — student loans. but is it finally good

news for graduates — who'll only start paying them when they earn £25,000 a year from today? is the thresholds gone up from £21,000 a year, the biggest change to student finance since 2012. the department for education say 600,000 graduates will get a boost is is from this over the next financial year alone. the nus said the change was welcome relief for many. joining us now is kevin pratt, consumer affairs expert from moneysupermarket.com, and charlie heywood—heath, a student at sheffield university. charlie, perhaps i can start with you. what do you think this would mean for you as a student? as a student, it will mean that when i graduate, i will be able to save more money, because you have until you earn £25,000 to use that income to save and invest it in other areas. from your perspective,

student loans are contentious, obviously, and a lot of people don't like them and feel that the interest rates are far too high and all of that, but this goes a step towards making you feel better about the loa n making you feel better about the loan that you have? yeah, from a personal perspective, i'm not against tuition fees. i think they area against tuition fees. i think they are a necessary thing, but it does mean that when i graduate, i have some way to save and use the skills i have gained from university to move around or perhaps invest in property, for example. i think it is a good thing for students. for me, it means i will have more money in my pocket. kevin pratt, will it make that much difference to people like charlie? people pay 996 of the amount they earn above that £25,000 figure. previously, the figure was £21,000, soa previously, the figure was £21,000, so a £360 a year saving. that is a good chunk of money to have in your pocket rather than see it disappear. the people who earn less than that,

they still won't pay anything, and you obviously pay more when you earn more. so it is a gradual thing that comes out of your pay packet each month. does it make... iwonder comes out of your pay packet each month. does it make... i wonder what difference it makes to government finances, if any. difference it makes to government finances, ifany. obviously, difference it makes to government finances, if any. obviously, there is less money that will be going to the government to repay these. there will, yes. we will see perhaps money drawn from other areas to compensate for the money that disappears. student loans are contentious and complicated, because the loan is cancelled anyway after 30 years. if you never reach the earnings threshold, you will never pay anything back, anyway. is it going up anything back, anyway. is it going up because of inflation or is this a one—off? up because of inflation or is this a one-off? it has not gone up for five years. if it went up with inflation, it would be a £23,000 anyway. also, it would be a £23,000 anyway. also, it is not set at £25,000. in

subsequent years, it will change in line with average earnings as calculated by the office for national statistics. if earnings increase, the threshold will increase. if earnings fall, the threshold will fall and people will pay more. charlie, how much do you and your fellow students talk about the small details of student loans? do you see the headline, realise you are better off, and everybody is happy? we don't talk about it daily or monthly. when this in the media, it is just today and tomorrow, and it is just today and tomorrow, and it is just today and tomorrow, and it is spoken about. most students don't talk about it regularly. we accept tuition fees. we think that's really not a major issue for stu d e nts really not a major issue for students right now. as far as you are concerned and those around you, it's not an issue because itjust is the reality? it isjust what being a

student means. it means accepting the debt that comes with being a student. kevin, do you think stu d e nts student. kevin, do you think students as a whole, obviously this isa students as a whole, obviously this is a better deal if they are saving a bit money, but as a whole, are they getting the kind of deal that is most useful to them as a start in working life? i think they are, because there is that threshold. if you are on low earnings, you would have to contribute. one of the most contentious things is the level of tuition fees, which is £9,250 in england. the hope was that the university market would become competitive and universities would compete by lowering fees, but most of them, the vast majority, have gone straight to the maximum limit every time it has been raised. that is where the philosophy behind the whole tuition fees project has not

worked. it has not introduced that element of competition that would have made it a more viable market for students. we will leave it there. kevin and charlie, thank you very much indeed. seven million pounds — enough to buy 11 thousand manchester city season tickets, 7 luxury sports cars and around 10 million tins of baked beans. but, it's also the amount you'll need to spend 12 days orbiting earth in the world's first space hotel. an american start—up business called orion span has launched plans for the aurora station hotel — which it wants to send up to space by 2021. the company says the hotel will be about the same size as the cabin of a private jet plane and will orbit at around 320km above the earth's surface. they hope guests will arrive by

around 2022. joining me is entrepreneur, adventurer and space advocate per wimmer. per is a founding astronaut with sir richard branson's virgin galactic programme and has signed up for two further space trips you are a fan of space and space travel, clearly, so would you spend 9 million euros, £7 million, undergoing at there to this hotel, do you think? it sounds like an awful lot of money, but if the price is right, which we don't know yet, it has yet to be fully confirmed whether they can make a profit at those levels, it is actually good value for money, believe it or not. today, the only option, whether you area today, the only option, whether you are a private or a nasa astronaut, is to fly on the russian soyuz spacecraft to the international space station. if you were to purchase such a ticket, and it is difficult to make it available because there was a lot of demand

for those seats, it will set you back around $50 million. below $10 million is actually relatively inexpensive in that context. and it will be almost the same height.|j wonder how it will work. we read that it wonder how it will work. we read thatitis wonder how it will work. we read that it is about the size of the capsule in a privatejet, so not much room to lounge around and have your morning coffee. that's true. you could probably find more space ina you could probably find more space in a 5—star luxury hotel, but that's not why you are going. you're going there because it is a truly unique, once—in—a—lifetime experience where you will see the earth, the beautiful planet earth, from a place that less than 600 people on earth have ever visited. so it will be the trip of a lifetime. a unique experience, and that is what today's's 21st—century adventurers and travellers want to do. i am currently in vietnam, and i have been studying a lot about the french colonists when they came here, and

the adventurous experience they had. that was then. today, if you want to be an adventurer, you have got to go to space, to expand, to go beyond the earth's atmosphere, so this announcement is obviously very exciting and helpful, and i hope they will be able to execute on the mission. that was going to be my next question: do you honestly think that this will happen at least one day, even if this particular project does not happen? it will happen one day, for sure. whether it is with this project, or with one of the other projects. rob and bigger loan has spent around five million dollars on can —— $5 billion on construction and testing of... yes, it will happen one day. whether this one is successful or not remains to

be seen. there are to make critical factors. first is the cost and availability of transportation up there. at the moment, you don't have a lot of options. there is the soyuz rocket, spacex will eventually get there and others. there are not that many people who can take you up to orbital atmosphere. secondly, financing. it has yet to be shown how much financing this particularly —— particular company has. you need an awful lot of capital to execute the mission here. like all these things, they are billionaires' games, as we see with richard branson on galactic, the rocket i will be flying on. today, that made a very successful powered test flight. a very successful powered test flight. we are reaching the final stage on that one as well, so we are getting there, but it is hard work. fascinating stuff. billionaires' games —i fascinating stuff. billionaires'

games — i love it. that is exactly what it sounds like timmy! thank you very much forjoining us. we have had quite a bit of you texting in an tweeting and the rest on our main story. one viewer says they are being victimised. rhianna says that what is needed to combat violent crime is investment in civilian youth work, mental health services, schools and infrastructure. just a couple of the comments. thanks for all of your contact with us. bbc newsroom live is coming up next. thanks for your company. a very good day indeed, and a nice weekend as well. goodbye. hello, good morning. the best of the brightness today over in the east. a different story for north and west across scotland, where we will see

heavy bursts of rain. drier in the east. heavy rain for northern ireland this morning, but that working its way north, sunny spells and showers behind it. in wales, plenty of brightness, turning cloudy in the west with outbreaks of rain pushing in later. maximum temperature of 18 celsius. this evening and overnight, the rain will start to push north, perhaps lingering in the far north—west of scotland. it won't be long before we see the next area of rain pushing into the south. a bit of uncertainty on the positioning of this, but it looks like it will move into parts of south west england and central england as well. through the day tomorrow, pushing into northern england, heavier bus. in the east, bright intervals, and some bright intervals in the south—west after one or two showers, which could be heavy with thunder. a maximum temperature of 18 celsius. drier in the north with the risk of one or two showers. this is bbc news —

and these are the top stories developing at 11. eight more people are stabbed in london overnight, including a 13—year—old boy. the brother of a girl shot dead in tottenham this week, speaks out. every other day if there's not a stabbing, there is a shooting or something is happening. you know when something happens, pers retaliation, it's always bad, tit—for—tat. russia accuses the uk of ‘playing with fire' over the poisoning of the former spy sergei skripal and his daughter during a heated meeting at the un. a soft drink sugar tax of up to 24 pence a litre — comes into force in the uk in a bid to reduce childhood obesity and tooth decay. also this hour — with the start

of the new tax year millions of workers see an increase in their pension contributions. amounts for workplace savers rises to three percent of annual income.