this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 12pm: police in wiltshire widen their search for clues into novichok poisonings, as a man who was left critically ill in amesbury is discharged from hospital. not—so—smart smart meters? a criticism of delays in the multi—billion pound roll—out scheme — which may only save some customers eleven pounds a year. nine people from the same family were among the 17 who died when an amphibious boat capsized on a lake in missouri. also coming up this hour, girl guiding gets a 21st century re—boot with 800 new badges and activities. guides and brownies can now earn badges in inventing, human rights and survival skills — as the 109—year—old institution completes a major overhaul. and at 12:30, the click team heads to farnborough international airshow in search of the future of aviation. police in salisbury have stepped up their search of a park

in the centre of the city where two victims of the novichok poisoning may have picked up a contaminated bottle. it comes after charlie rowley, who was exposed to the substance two weeks ago, was discharged from hospital yesterday. investigators are concentrating on a river bank near one of the spots mr rowley and his partner dawn sturgess visited the day before they collapsed at his house, where police found a bottle containing the deadly nerve agent. simonjones is in salisbury. it looks like a kind of uptake in the pace of the investigation. what has prompted it? it certainly seems to be being stepped up. the met police i have just

to be being stepped up. the met police i havejust spoken to be being stepped up. the met police i have just spoken to would not comment on why exactly the search is intensifying in this park, they don't want to give a running commentary but what we do know is they have been able to speak extensively with charlie rowley now he has been well enough to be discharged from hospital, and during the course of the morning, attention has been focused on a couple of tenths behind me. that's where we saw a number of police officers in the heat of the sun don their hazardous protection suits, and head out from those tents toward the centre of the park where they started examining a park bench. we saw them take swabs and photographs and bagged evidence to take away. before that, we saw the public toilets at the entrance to the park we re toilets at the entrance to the park were cordoned off, with screens around them. there had been searches are those toilets taking place yesterday. very much a heavy police presence here. this whole park remains cordoned off as the police activity continues. i suppose this is part of the difficulty for people

living in the area but on the one hand they are reassured by public health in england that the is extremely low and for most people there is no risk. yet at the same time they see people walking around in hot conditions in hazmat suits. clearly concerned about their own safety as they continue this investigation. it is quite a sight, particularly under the sun, when you see these protective suits. locals have been passing by. it's really when they see that that they do begin to become anxious. many are reassured by the police cordon is, though they would like to see them 90, though they would like to see them go, many are reassured to see officers in a uniform, but when you see those protective suits then it brings home the seriousness of what's happening here. when charlie rowley was discharged from hospital yesterday, the medical teams there we re yesterday, the medical teams there were quick to point out that he had been fully decontaminated. they will been fully decontaminated. they will be offering support to him in the

coming weeks and months, as will the police. but they say they don't believe there is a risk to him himself from the novichok in future and they do not believe there is a risk to members of the public who will come into contact with him, otherwise he would not have been discharged. we do know now the police having spoken to him have a number of lines of enquiry they are following. they would not tell me whether he has been offered any sort of protection. he is unable to return home because officers remain guarding that. what they say if they are offering him advice on his own personal security, and are stressing they do not believe he and his partner who sadly died in hospital we re partner who sadly died in hospital were deliberately targeted by novichok. thank you. 17 people — including nine members of one family — have drowned after an amphibious "duck boat" carrying tourists sank in stormy weather in the us state of missouri. the vessel was carrying 31 people when it overturned near the town of branson. our north america correspondent, james cook reports. oh, this is not good... this duck boat made

it back to the shore. the passengers, not wearing life jackets, apparently unaware of quite how much danger they were in. oh, my god. oh, it's going under! further out, a second duck boat was in bigger trouble, unable to cope with the blast from a severe thunderstorm. i need a rope! of the 31 on board, just 14 survived, brought ashore in shock. among the dead was a one—year—old baby. emts — tell one of the emts, please. the missouri governor's office told the bbc that nine of the dead were from one family, and two other members of that family survived. again, like i said, it's been a long night, and a very trying night. and please keep all of the families involved, and all our first responder personnel in your thoughts and prayers. now the questions — a weather warning had been issued,

so why were the boats on the water? and were the passengers wearing personal flotation devices, or pfds? itjust happened so quick. i guess everybody should have had a pfd a little closer, i don't know. you know, they were up over our head when we rode in it. you don't think that stuff like that's going to happen, and then, man, it happens. based on the amphibious landing craft of the second world war, duck boats are popular with tourists, but their safety record is now under scrutiny. worldwide, more than a0 people have died in accidents involving them in the past 20 years. this is just the latest in a long line of tragedies. james cook, bbc news. the government's multi—billion pound roll out of smart energy meters has been heavily criticised by a group of mps. the programme was meant to give customers a better idea of how much they're spending on energy, but is now believed to be behind schedule and heavily over budget. our business correspondent joe lynam reports.

it is one of the biggest infrastructure projects under way at the moment: smart meters in 30 million british homes by 2020, designed to connect households in real—time with their energy suppliers, and hopefully cut bills. but for one group of mps, things are not going to plan. the cross—party big infrastructure group says the project may miss its target. it says the government is rolling out technology that is already obsolete in some homes, and the smart meters will go dumb due to insufficient mobile coverage in some areas. the mps say the expected savings for consumers may also be in doubt. that accusation is rejected by the group which is rolling out the technology. this infrastructure upgrade is the biggest one that's happening in energy in our lifetimes, so it's really important that people get to talk about this debate. but the main thing that everyone needs to know is to get a smart meter, because it's going to save us all billions of pounds over the next few years. the government said smart meters were already benefiting millions of homes by putting consumers in control of their energy. it said it was simply wrong to say

that first—generation meters were obsolete. well, joining us now from our central london studio is robert cheesewright, who's the director of policy at smart energy gb which promotes the use of smart meters. you all a representative of smart energy gb, the firm are encouraging people to sign up for smart meters. presumably report like this one, from an infrastructure group led by grant shapps, does not make yourjob any easier. this report is about something really important and that's why they've done it. the smart meter roll—out marks a key transition towards a greener, smarter, cheaper energy future where we can have things like electric vehicles and renewable energy. the alternative is a dirty, expensive system where all our bills are far more expensive and wasteful than they need to be. sorry to interrupt

you, but the idea for lots of people is that our bills are more expensive because us as consumers are paying for the smart meter programme. it's not being funded by the industry but bya not being funded by the industry but by a levy on people'senergy bills. we are not getting value for money out of this. if all we are going to save at the end of the day is 11 quid, that's nice to have but actually that is outweighed by the amount being added to my bill over many years to fund this roll—out. that £11 is inclusive of all the costs a nd that £11 is inclusive of all the costs and benefits. that's £11 in your pocket that he would not otherwise have, that's important to remember. that's just the average saving. we hear from remember. that's just the average saving. we hearfrom thousands remember. that's just the average saving. we hear from thousands of smart energy owners across the country, and some of them are saving tens and in some cases over hundreds of pounds in their smart meter. you never know what you will find out about your energy. part of that is the behavioural change you hope will follow from people being able to look in real time and see what energy they are using. i don't think

anyone, even those who wrote this report, don't dispute those benefits. what they say is the way this has been carried out has actually minimised the benefits and increased the non—benefits. why are companies still installing machines that are effectively going to be obsolete in a short amount of time? no smart meter is ever obsolete, the only meters in this country that are obsolete are analog meters that lead to people calling under the stairs to people calling under the stairs to read the meter or going out in the rain to top up. why are meter is going dead when people switch? the first generation of smart meters, if you switch, many people get to keep that service but for some people, their meter will temporarily act like an analog meter. the good news for everyone watching this is that they will all be involved in a national smart data network. that will mean changing the equipment in people's houses? they will be

updated over the air, consumers will not have to do anything. we are used to our phone having little updates pushed to its this is all that happening. the idea that these are obsolete is simply not true. what about the schedule. the mps are wrong in that, to say that that then? yes. the 2020 target for completing this roll—out, do you except that's not now realistic any more? i think it's a really challenging thing to do. there are 13,000 smart meters being installed every single day, that's lots of brilliant engineers going out into homes and doing something challenging and important that this country. you would have to do 420,000 a month... sorry, at the moment it is 400 a month, you would need to be doing 1.3 million a month if the 2020 target was going to be met. wouldn't it be worth getting rid of the target and ball them out as is appropriate over time rather

than trying to chase a deadline that doesn't mean anything to anyone? than trying to chase a deadline that doesn't mean anything to anyone7m a sense you have hit upon something. the deadline is not what's important to people, what's important is better technology in your home. the smart meters, you will have that. there is a debate to be had about what deadlines should be, but for all the people watching today, they just need to know that if they get smart meter, they will finally get control of their energy use, will save money and are playing their pa rt save money and are playing their part ina save money and are playing their part in a greener future where we can have the renewables we need and we don't have dirty expensive energy any more. if this installation is as mps suggest costing 1 billion more than had originally been budgeted, who is making up shortfall? even if they are right about that, and i have not seen the economics, the roll—out would still save billions of pounds over its lifetime. that wasn't my question. who will pay if it ends up costing more than budgeted? we all pay for everything in our homes. so it will be in our

bills? 0ur bills will be more expensive if this costs more than had been planned? expensive if this costs more than had been planned ?|j expensive if this costs more than had been planned? i do speak the premise of the question because smart meters will bring all our bills down, every pound invested yields £1 50 of savings. the bills down, every pound invested yields £150 of savings. the answer to that is yes, it will cost. any extra cost will not be borne by the companies but by those paying the bills? i simply cannot answer that. the key point is, smart meters save on our bills. in infrastructure investment, things cost more, then things cost more. this is an investment in our future, our country, our energy that's really vital and that we all need to do. the best we can do is pick up up the phone and get a smart meter. regardless of what happens across the system, if you get a smart meter, you start saving money and that's what people need to do. thank you. facebook has suspended a us—based analytics firm while it investigates concerns about the collection

and sharing of user data. (oov) crimson hexagon, based in boston, describes itself as offering consumer insights and has contracts with government agencies around the world. facebook said it was looking into whether some of these deals were in violation of its policies on surveillance. the funeral of six—year—old alesha macphail who was killed earlier this month while she was on holiday on the isle of bute has taken place this morning. mourners were asked to wear pink — alesha s favourite colour. she was reported missing from her grandmothers house, and laterfound dead in woodland. a 16 year old boy has been charged with her rape and murder. israeli forces have carried out a series of attacks across the gaza strip after a soldier was shot dead at the border. at least four palestinians are reported to have been killed. hamas — which controls gaza — said both sides had now agreed to a ceasefire. the headlines on bbc news... fresh investigations into the nerve agent attack in salisbury, as a man poisoned by

novichok in amesbury is discharged from hospital. mps criticise delays to the eleven—billion pound smart meter roll—out scheme — as a new report questions the value of the technology to customers. nine members of the same family are confirmed to be among the 17 people who died when an amphibious vehicle sank in missouri. the girl guides have unveiled 800 new badges and activities in what the organisation is calling its biggest revamp in 108 years. thousands of rainbows, guides and brownies were asked to contribute their ideas, leading to badges for activities including drink mixing, self—defence and 3d design. earlier i spoke to katharine lee, head of youth programmes at girl guides, who told me they have been working on the new badges for the past three years. we've consulted over 50,000 girls and young women and our volunteers who work in our organisation to really understand what it is girls want and need

to get out of their experience in girl guiding in the 21st—century. we've always evolved and this is just another example of that. you want activities to still be rewarded with badges. that is what our members agree with, and all of the girls on our waiting list. there is a desire for that from our members and people who would like to join. we have a selection of the badges which will allow you to tell us about the activities which would lie behind these if you were hoping to achieve one. the new activities fall into six themes, developing identity, creative expression, managing your physical and mental well—being, having adventures, taking action in your community and the wider world, and building up skills for your future. some of the badges here, the story telling badge

is a new offering for our five to seven—year—olds, that supports them to explore how they can communicate ideas, the role of story in their culture and how they can see things from different perspectives. a really fun, exciting batch to do in their own time. zero waste, we should all be interested in this for our whole lives. our members said they were interested to see how they could make a positive difference in the world. this sits with a bunch of activities about social actions. it encourages the girls to be aware of the waste they have in their daily lives. notjust rubbish, but energy, as well, they can make a positive difference. and this is for the younger ones. notjust not just the notjust the older not just the older girls? zero waste is a brownie badge, for the seven to ten—year—olds. inventing? inventing in terms of problem—solving. .. that is new. you might be surprised to hear that.

you would assume that you would have been doing anyway, isjust under a different name? some of the things in the new activities have been reframed for the current context. it allows girls to look at things with today's context, but there are also things that have been around forever. we can start with the old. whittling. that's a nice, traditional one! that is a guides badge. the girls who tested it loved it. it starts with using fruit and vegetables. they can learn to make instruments with them. then they graduate, practice with wood, come up with designs, and they loved it. you can never have too much whittling in my opinion. it's usually aimless with me, i have

to say... grow your own, that fits in with the idea of zero waste, as well, trying to be a bit more aware of what we use and being a bit more careful about what we use. but digital design, clearly that is a new one, one which would never have been in just a few years ago. that is for rangers, 14 to 18—year—olds. we have worked with google for their expertise. it is about supporting those girls to explore the skills involved in a career in digital design. they get to plan, test, come up with ideas for an app or a website and explore what that might be. we were interested to hear that you have one for spotting media buyers. won't talk about that one! but what has gone? what might people remember from their days of the girl guiding but you have decided are things of the past? some of the traditional things it might be known

for like camping and cooking, they are still relevant. the girls tell us they still want them. they still exist in our programme but they are joined by new things. things which might not have been here 20 years ago like vlogging. tell me one thing which is out? the hostess badge. people might remember that. i got it in my time. girls didn't tell us that they are identified with role any more. but some of the skills they don't do that like... —— some of the skills they built through that... it is about event management, preparation, and making people feel welcome, it hasn't completely gone, it is just the fact that those skills have been put into other activities. as temperatures remain high, this spell of hot weather is being compared to the longest heatwave in britain in living memory, 1976. the met office says there is no "significant sign" of change "any time soon" as forecasters expect temperatures to feel even hotter next week. jim dale is a senior risk

meteorologist and founder of the consultancy, british weather services. plenty more sunshine but is is there any substantial rain on the horizon? weather has a lot of risk attached to it, we are always looking out for the extremes of weather and certainly for the last few months we've been doing exactly that. how does this compare with 76? the one that people probably immediately think of, 34 degrees... it felt like the world was coming to an end. i was a young boy at the time, i remember it well. how does it compare. . . remember it well. how does it compare... i think we go back to 1935 first, that's the most recent, what you might call, heatwave that lasted. now we have surpassed that. this is like comparing apples, pears and pomegranates. they are not all the same, one season is never the same as the next but as an entirety,

and by that time in sunshine, temperature and lack of rainfall, this is comparing very well with 95. it's getting close to 1976 but not in terms of the extreme temperatures yet. 76 was a whole three-month stretch. what are the prospects? six weeks in, eight weeks...? we almost missed spring, we went from winter virtually in march to mid april when everything changed and we suddenly metamorphosed into summer. we have been there ever since. how long will it last? at the moment, it's a real battle. low pressure sitting of the north west of and this week anyway, that will start to punctuate some of the heat in the north and west. the extreme of heat is always going to be in the south—east, london, east anglia, up to the midlands. that will continue all week long. we will probably see, my guess is, a

temperature of about 33 degrees. that's probably the height this week. moving into august, i don't see any immediate change, high—pressure... see any immediate change, high-pressure. .. nothing see any immediate change, high-pressure... nothing on see any immediate change, high-pressure. .. nothing on the charts yet? not at the moment, my gut instinct is to believe this won't last forever. going back to 1976, that ended in early september with flash floods. it was a dramatic change. we have got to look out for that. if people have not made hay while the sun shines, you have missed out. talking of making hay, what about the prospects for harvest? august, a critical month. you could see for lots of farmers depending on what their products, a time when they might be starting to think about bringing stuff up. if the weather changes that dramatically... the first thing to say is that the land is very hard. sunbaked. any water is going to sit straight on top, it's not going to drain away quickly. therefore

drainage from farmland is going to be not easy. i think farmers have had it very difficult this year. they have a late start. a terrible winter as well. we get the phone calls and all the rest, the moaning down the phone was incredible! but anyway, we came out of that. now it's almost too good, too dry. when the rains come, and they will, at a certain point... a lot of it will run off the land. it could be a problem to begin with. we watched to see what happens as far as farmers are concerned. and retailers and others who have been having a great time not a great time. there are weather winners and where the losers all the time. thank you very much for coming in. maybe we will get you back when it finally rains! when the flood comes! more than a thousand spectators gathered to cheer on the release of two sea turtles, who were rescued and rehabilitated at an animal hospital in florida. they've been fitted

with satellite—trackers and returned to the ocean to become part of the ‘tour de turtles' — an annual event that follows the long—distance migration of different species of sea turtles. they might even feel at home here, at least for the next few weeks. now it's time for a look at the weather with helen willetts. hello, there. despite quite a bit of cloud to start the day, it will be drier for most, brighter, with more sunshine throughout the rest of our saturday. with those lengthy spells of sunshine coming through, temperatures are expected to be higher than those of yesterday. the fly in the ointment is more rain coming in on the weather front into the north west of scotland later. but for most of us, temperatures are higher. 27—28 in the south—east, perhaps the odd sharp shower, but fairly hit and miss. through the evening and overnight, the mist and low cloud returns, particularly to the north and west. as the humidity rises it will start io become a little bit more uncomfortable for sleeping again. 20 degrees potentially in london itself, more likely the teens from any of us. any mist and fog will clear quite readily.

we have more cloud for the north—west of scotland, northern ireland, north—western fringes of england and wales, but warmerforemost in eastern scotland, the east of northern ireland and pushing 30 degrees, i think, tomorrow, across the south and east of england. goodbye for now. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... new searches are taking place in salisbury as part of the police investigation into novichok poisonings in wiltshire. a group of mps has criticised the government's smartmeter programme — it also suggested the technology will only save households £11 a year. nine members of the same family are confirmed to have died when an amphibious vehicle sank on a lake in missouri. the civil aviation authority says ryanair customers should be entitled to compensation if they're affected by flight cancellations due to strike action. millions of passengers pass through the london underground network each year — but in the hustle and bustle hundreds get injured in trips, slips and falls. now, in an effort to cut these numbers, victoria station is taking an unusual approach to get passengers to pay attention

to safety announcements. dougal shaw reports. around 250,000 people use victoria station in london each weekday, and for past few months, they've been hearing an unusual voice. meet the station's newest — and youngest — safety announcer, 9—year—old megan. her proud parents both work at the station. i said to my colleague that my wife was bringing down the two kids to meet me after work and he said, "would megan mind doing a pa announcement?" she does like a bit of acting. i knew she's be up for it. i was really nervous when i first was gonna do it but then once i did it, i thought "this is actually 0k!" hello, everybody, and please listen up. take care on the escalators, hold on to the handrail and your luggage. megan's recorded announcement is designed to tackle a serious problem — around ten people a day get injured on the underground network. what we have noticed is that when people do injure themselves, it's typically because they are not

taking enough care when using stairs and escalators. at victoria alone, on average, 15 people a month are injured this way. for some passengers, at least, megan's message seems to be getting through. gets your attention straight away. you think, "0h, what's going on?" i think everyone takes notice when a child says something, and because they don't — you know, they always mean it. so what does somebody who studies the psychology of the human voice make of this? research shows that deeper adult voices are perceived by humans as having more authority than higher voices, so a child's voice wouldn't have that authority. but perhaps it's the shock factor of using a child's voice. it may be just a short—term result from this shock factor, but the station says injuries have dropped by nearly two thirds since megan's announcement started. do you think adults listen enough to children? um, no. they should listen more to children because, sometimes, children are right.

dougal shaw, bbc news. somebody who is always listened to is mike bushell.