the government is told its multi—billion pound scheme to roll out smart energy meters could be a costly failure. mps say without urgent action the project will go way over budget, and fail to benefit consumers. hundreds turn out for the funeral of six—year—old alesha macphail, murdered on the isle of bute. she always came into class with that big, beautiful smile of hers and tried her hardest in everything she did. president trump says he did nothing wrong, following claims his lawyer taped a conversation about payments to a former playboy model. the hot weather's left some canals parched, and now one of britain's longest waterways is to close for a month. you can just see them... and tiger woods rolls back the years, near the top

of a tight leader board at the open at carnoustie. good evening. the government has been warned its multi—billion pound scheme to install smart energy meters in millions of homes and small businesses could be an expensive failure. a group of mps says the project must be reviewed to prevent a costly overrun, and to improve benefits for consumers. their report claims the scheme may only save households around £11 a year on their energy bills. here's our business correspondent, joe lynam. malcolm got a smart meter. so every year, he could save enough energy... it's the biggest infrastructure projects you've probably never probably heard of. costing £11 billion, the mass roll—out of smart meters into 30 million homes throughout the uk is designed to cut our bills

and make our lives easier. but things aren't going to plan. the mobile phone mast isjust there, it's touching distance. warren lives in london, and he's having problems with his smart meter connection. this so—called smart meter wasn't so smart after all. i'm finding my bill still comes through as estimated, where i have to keep updating them, manually phoning them just to give them an actual reading. until they finally reset the meter, and they confirmed that it was sending its readings again. the big infrastructure group of mps says that smart meters may not be so bright after all. it says the government is rolling out technology which may be out—of—date already in some areas, and it may be useless due to insufficient mobile coverage. and the cost savings for consumers that were expected may not materialise. certainly consumers won't get anywhere near what they were promised originally. it's already down to just about £11 from the originally projected £26. it's likely to fall further, as well, as the problems

with this roll—out continue. and we're really calling on government, on ofgem and the suppliers to get a grip of this process. the smart metering thing... not so, according to the group charged with rolling out the new 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 thing 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. building an entirely new mobile network to reach 65 million people from scratch is not easy, not cheap and fraught with potential problems. the government says it's a third of the way there. others say it's the wrong technology, it's behind schedule and won't deliver the savings we all expect. joe lynam, bbc news. the funeral has taken place of six—year—old alesha macphail, found dead in woodland on the isle of bute earlier this month. hundreds attended the service near her home in north lanarkshire, with many dressed in pink,

alesha's favourite colour. a 16—year—old boy has been charged with rape and murder. catriona renton reports. everyone was asked to wear something pink, alesha's favourite colour. outside, dozens of ribbons were tied to the railings. # all creatures great and small... inside, family and friends paid tribute to alesha. they called her the best big sister, best daughter, best granddaughter anyone could ask for. she had just finished her second year at chapelside primary school in airdrie. she always came into class with that big, beautiful smile of hers and tried her hardest in everything she did. it was an absolute pleasure to teach alesha. i was so grateful to have known this special little girl. alesha had been visiting her grandparents and father on the isle of bute when she went missing. she was later found dead in woodland. a 16—year—old boy has been charged with rape and murder. her uncle, callum, cannot

believe that she is gone. alesha does not want anyone here to be sad. no thinking about whatever has happened. the only thing that i want today to be about is her. alesha's tiny pink coffin was then brought to the waiting carriage. drawn by white horses, as mourners formed a guard of honour to say goodbye. catriona renton, bbc news, north lanarkshire. president trump has hit out at his former personal lawyer, after it emerged he'd recorded a conversation in which they discussed possible payments to an ex—playboy model. the recording by michael cohen, was reportedly seized during an fbi raid on his offices. it's alleged the two men discussed making a payment to karen mcdougal, to cover up an affair she claims she had with mr trump. but today, the president used twitter to declare he'd done nothing wrong, saying, "it's inconceivable that the government would break into a lawyer's office...

and that a lawyer would tape a client." let s talk to our washington correspondent, chris buckler. how much of a problem could this tape be for the president? mr trump indicates he's not concerned but he's clearly angry about the fbi, who sees this tape and michael cohen, who made it. mr coen is often referred to as donald trump ‘s former personal lawyer but in reality he was more than that. he was a fixer, a man who prided himself on making donald trump ‘s problems disappear, and on this tape which was recorded about two months before the presidential election in 2016 they are discussing one of those issues. karen mcdougal had sold her story of an alleged affair with donald to the national enquirer newspaper and they seemed to be discussing on the recording the

potential of buying the rights to that story, which would stop it being made public and potentially, if that was done to stop an embarrassing story emerging during election campaign it could breach campaignfinance election campaign it could breach campaign finance laws. mr trump insists that no such was made to stop however, at the same time, there's a change of attitude coming from michael cohen, a man who once said that he would take a bullet for donald trump. there's been a pointed statement from his lawyers in which they say that their client will not be harmed by what is on this tape. however, they say, no amount of spin will change what was said. chris buckler, live in washington. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories. police investigating the novichok nerve agent poisoning in salisbury have stepped up their searches of a park in the city. detectives have been focussing on a bench and public toilets in queen elizabeth gardens. one of the victims of the poisoning, charlie rowley, was discharged from hospital yesterday. his partner, dawn sturgess, died two weeks ago. two men have appeared in court in bristol after what's been described as a "significant seizure of cocaine" from a boat in the english channel.

the dutch nationals were arrested, after a yacht was intercepted off the cornish coast on thursday. the technology giant facebook has suspended a social media firm that analyses the personal data of millions of users. it's part of an investigation into possible links between the company, crimson hexagon, and the russian and us governments. our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones is here. yet another data protection headache for facebook? crimson hexagon is one ofa number of for facebook? crimson hexagon is one of a number of research firms that collect facebook data, analyse it, sell their analysis to businesses that want to know what people think about them. facebook has no problem with that, that's allowed. what it does have a problem with this surveillance, using that data, selling it to governments. the wall streetjournal reported selling it to governments. the wall street journal reported that selling it to governments. the wall streetjournal reported that this firm had contracts with the american government and with an organisation

in russia with some kremlin links, so in russia with some kremlin links, so therefore facebook suspended its access to the data, launched an investigation. the company hasn't said much, but its chief technology officer chris bingham wrote in a blog, crimson hexagon only collects publicly available social media data that anyone can access. he also said yes, we do have government contracts, but we impose strict limits on what they can do. under no circumstances is surveillance a permitted use case, so they are saying we have done nothing wrong. how does this differ from the controversy surrounding that con salting firm cambridge analytica, which used the date of people on race book on political campaigns? which used the date of people on race book on political campaignfim that case cambridge analytica was accused of collecting 87 million people's facebook details, a lot of their private data, without their consent, harvesting their data without consent and then using it. there is no allegation so far here this company has done that. it's not

how it collected the data, that was probably ok, it's what it ended with it that is being investigated by facebook. rory cellan-jones, many thanks. now with all the day's sport, here's olly foster at the bbc sport centre. there is a three—way tie for the lead heading into tomorrow's final round at the open. rory mcilroy and tommy fleetwood are the best placed british players on five under par, four shots off the top of the leaderboard, as is a resurgent tiger woods. katherine downes reports from carnoustie. flat calm out to sea, on the course it would prove anything but. justin rose set on moving day rolling. he just made the cut last night. today, he shot the best round of the tournament, but, like so many times before it was this man who set the contest alight. he's back. tiger on the rampage stalking a first major title since his glory days a decade ago. i've shown that i've been that

close enough with the chance to win this year. what happened the last few years, this year. what happened the last few yea rs, i this year. what happened the last few years, i didn't want that to happen again but here i am with a chance of coming on sunday and a major championship, it will be fun. not such fun for rory mcilroy out there today. at five under he's not ruled himself out but there was a bit too much of this for him. obviously disappointed after the way i finished, obviously disappointed after the way ifinished, but i'm obviously disappointed after the way i finished, but i'm still in the tournament, i'm only a few shots behind, the wind is supposed to pick up behind, the wind is supposed to pick upa behind, the wind is supposed to pick up a little bit so it will make things interesting. there are now three players tied for the lead. defending champion jordan spieth drove the first green to open with an eagle and sought to the top. xander schauffele a, the same age of jordan spieth at 2a shades similar strength to work his way up, while kevin kisner has left from the start and he's still going. all of them

are nine under, all of them american. it's the first time in the history of the open that three americans have shared the lead going into the final round. there are 16 players within five shots of them. coolest the claret jug players within five shots of them. coolest the claretjug is anyone's guess. katherine downes, bbc news, at carnoustie. britain's geraint thomas is still in the leaders yellowjersey at the tour de france. the 188 kilometre 14th stage was won by the spaniard omar fraile, but though thomas was a long way behind he kept his main rivals in sight and is still over a minute and a half clear of the reigning champion and teamate chris froome. there were british winners on the first day of the anniversary games at the london stadium. shara proctor came first in the long jump, and infront ofa crowd of a crowd of 20,000, race walker tom bosworth broke the world record in the 3000 metres, taking over three seconds off the old mark that had stood for 28 years. coming here and performing in the london stadium in front of a crowd like this, it changes everything for

me. usually i'm out on the road and it's quite different, but in a stadium like this it so much fun and racewalking doesn't get in the diamond league very often so i want to put on a show and reward the organisers thank them for putting on. also today, ten years after finishing fifth at the olympics, the team gb relay quartet of christine ohuruogu, kelly sotherton, marilyn okoro and nicola sanders were awarded bronze medals from beijing. that's after the disqualification of russia and belarus for doping. the women's hockey world cup is also taking place in queen elizabeth olympic park. england had to come from behind to draw their opening pool match against india 1—1. lily owsley with the equaliser in the final quarter. they face the usa next on wednesday. lewis hamilton will start from 14th on the grid in tomorrow's german grand prix. he tried to push his mercedes back to the pits after breaking down in the first qualifying session at hockenheim. he is eight points behind championship leader sebastien vettel, with the german clinching pole in his home grand prix. there's much more

formula one reaction news on the the bbc sport website, clive. the exceptionally dry start to the summer is forcing the closure of one of britain's longest waterways. 55 miles of the leeds and liverpool canal will shut for a month at the end ofjuly, because of concerns over water supplies. phil bodmer has the story. a narrow boat navigates barrowford lock on the leeds liverpool canal. but from the end of this month, that will no longer be possible as a 55 mile stretch of one of britain's most popular waterways is closed simply because of a lack of water. we have not got the water to feed into the canal to keep them going. it is a difficult decision for us to take but it is simply down to this glorious summer that we are all enjoying. the leeds liverpool canal, which crosses the pennines through yorkshire and lancashire, is the longest man—made waterway in britain. it is also one of the highest,

with water travelling downhill from huge reservoirs it is stored in. this is just one of a number of reservoirs high in the pennines which feeds the canal network. at the moment, as you can see, it is around 20% of its total capacity. indeed, sheep are now even beginning to graze where the water level should be. just 50 millimetres of rain fell between the 1st of june and the 19th ofjuly this year. meaning this is the driest summer since records began. despite recent rain in the north—west of england, it is not enough to replenish depleted reserves. phil bodmer, bbc news, lancashire. that's it. so from me and the rest of the team, have a very good night. hello. this is bbc news with martine croxall. more on the news that survivors of a tour boat which sank in a lake in the us state of missouri have been speaking for the first time since the disaster. 17 people, including nine members from the same family, died when the amphibious vehicle, called a "duck boat" went down in stormy weather

on table rock lake. the victims were aged between one and 70. sophia tran—thomson reports. these boat passengers filming a sudden storm on table rock lake while out on tour, seem unaware of the danger they are in. oh no, no. oh my god. it's going under. further ahead of them, another boat couldn't cope in the severe weather. of the 31 on board, more than half were killed. one of the survivors said as conditions worsened, the passengers were not told to put life vests on, but to stay seated. i couldn't see anybody. i couldn't hear anything. i could hear screams, ifelt like i was out there on my own. and i was yelling, i was screaming. and finally i said, "lord, just let me die, let me die." i said, "i can't keep drowning, ijust can't keep drowning." that's how i felt. and then ijust let go and i started floating.

nine members of herfamily died in the accident. according to the national weather service, the winds were over 100 kilometres per hour and the authorities say weather is 100 kilometres per hour and the authorities say weather is the cause of the accident. the owner of the duck boat has also taken responsibility. what can you say? you know, we are so sorry this happened. it was just... something happened and we don't know exactly what it was. it doesn't matter, any time people suffer a loss like that, they can't be replaced. it is absolutely devastating. investigators say a preliminary report should be complete in a month. but there are still several unanswered questions about whether the boat crew

was aware of the weather warnings and why the passengers didn't have life vests on. sophia tran—thompson, bbc news. two men have appeared in court after 1.6 tonnes of cocaine was seized from a yacht off south west cornwall. the men, who are both dutch, were remanded in custody. janine jansen reports. the dutch flags yacht was intercepted 120 miles off the cornish coast on wednesday. the marcia was escorted into newlyn harbour by the border force cutter hmc vigilant. officers found bails of cocaine wrapped in plastic bags in a compartment underneath the decking. we have recovered a significant amount of controlled drugs, literally hundreds of millions of pounds worth, potentially even the second largest seizure in the uk, on a sailing vessel. an estimated two tonnes has been recovered from the vessel. the national crime agency, border force and devon and cornwall police officers remain on the scene. the two crew members — 59—year—old maarten peter pieterse and 44—year—old emile adriaanjeroen

schoemaker — appeared at bristol magistrates' court this morning via video link, charged with drug importation offences. pieterse didn't enter a plea. schoemaker pleaded not guilty. they were remanded in custody to appear at bristol crown court next month. janine jansen, bbc news. armed police are patrolling wolverhampton tonight after a man was shot dead in the city centre. it happened in the park village area yesterday evening. detectives are now carrying out a murder investigation. emma thomas reports. valley road in park village, normally a residential street surrounded by houses, flats and a primary school. today it's the centre of a murder investigation. police were called here at around 9pm following reports of the sound of gunshots. minutes later, officers discovered the victim had been driven away to new cross hospital.

armed police arrived at the hospital — early concerns that the alleged gunman was on site, were soon dispelled. the victim, in his early 20s, was transported to the queen elizabeth hospital in birmingham but died at 2:00am this morning. the city's former mayor, who is a councillor representing the park village area, told me the shooting will cause fear among the local residents. it's always sad when somebody dies but whenever you have an incident people do tend to get worried and and people do tend and people do tend to get nervous, concerned about their families and their loved ones, particularly the young teenagers. following the shooting, extra uniformed police alongside armed officers will patrol across wolverhampton this weekend in an effort to support the community. it is only ever temporary isn't it? it's never consistent, sadly. they are never everywhere, so i don't know. it's normal people who see it. it's not police, it'sjust looking after each other. if you are walking on your own, it is scary because you don't know if they're going to shoot atyou,

you don't know who they're going to go for. there's gangs, people getting shot, people getting stabbed. detectives appealing for anyone with information to contact the force's 101 nonemergency number. the authorities injapan are urging people to take precautions as a severe heatwave continues. more than 30 people are reported to have died as a result of the heat over the last fortnight. in the city of kyoto, temperatures have hit, or exceeded, 38 degrees, for seven consecutive days. the heatwave is also complicating recovery efforts in the west of the country, where around 200 people died in floods earlier this month. olivia crellin reports. earlier this month, western japan looked like this. after being buffeted by severe storms and waves of up to nine metres. now, the waves look somewhat more inviting as temperatures have rocketed to over a0 celsius in some parts. a five—year nationwide high.

translation: it's hot all overjapan. it was 39 celsius yesterday, and the day before. when i was a kid the hottest day was about 33 degrees. the recent climate is surely abnormal. it's a dangerous high. and it's already killed about 30 people. and with thousands hospitalized for heat related conditions, authorities are urging people to stay hydrated. translation: my job is demanding so i majored to drink lots water. that advice is even more challenging for the volunteers taking part in flood recovery afterwards. for the volunteers taking part the rain that pounded japan led to flooding and landslides. over 200 people died and more than 2500 people who evacuated than a500 people who evacuated are still not ready to return. the heat is weighing

on their minds as they continued the clean—up effort. translation: i will take care not to get sick from the heat because that would only cause trouble for other people. it's no longer rain, but raise down injapan. it's no longer rain, but rays pounding japan. a new meteorological trial for assistance but for some, like these children soaking up the sun on a beach open for the first time since the country's 2011 tsunami, the weather means summer has arrived. the european space agency is asking for the public‘s help to name their new mars rover. the robot is currently called ‘exomars', but it's hoped the public can come up with something a little more inspiring, as caroline rigby reports. it is a competition that's, well, out of this world — what to call a robot set to explore mars in 2021. currently called exomars, this six—wheeled rover will travel across the red planet

in search of life. capable of drilling to depths of two metres, it will also look for microbes deep below the surface. it's set to be a fascinating mission, and that's why scientists from the european space agency think this little robot deserves a big name. in america, nasa has previously opted to call its mars rovers names like opportunity and curiosity, and the european space agency has launched a public competition to find something equally inspiring. any other names, any other ideas? british astronaut tim peake is leading the hunt, which he hopes will inspire future generations to follow in his footsteps. it's always nice to give something a name, especially when it's going on such an ambitious journey to voyage to the red planet. well, i don't think we're going to end up with boaty mcboatface on this mars rover! that was, of course, the name chosen by more than 100,000 people for this polar explorer

ship in 2016. butjust in case you are tempted by the likes of rovey mcroverface for exomars, be warned — an expert panel will have the final say. caroline rigby, bbc news. you can see a paper wafting. you'd think she would know by now. the weather is turning out to be not too hot for most of us. around low 20s and low cloud in the sky. it is going to be very warm in the south compared to what we normally get at

this time of year but hotter weather is on the way. at the moment the jet strea m is on the way. at the moment the jet stream is making a brief appearance, sending some clouds and a few spits and spots of rain our way. not nearly enough rain and we do need the rainfall. tonight is a case of thick cloud across many northwestern pa rt thick cloud across many northwestern part of the country. very muggy, 18 in london and 15 in belfast. this is very moist air coming off the atla ntic very moist air coming off the atlantic and that will be with us through tomorrow. it might be murky with drizzle in north west coasts. in the east and the south it is a case of broken summertime cloud and a beautiful day on the way. how warm will it get on sunday? temperatures will it get on sunday? temperatures will get up to around 28 degrees in london, but generally speaking the mid—20s across southern and western parts of the uk. maybe 25 in hull but then the more northern part of the country in scotland, we are talking about 15 degrees in stornoway and around 20 in the

western isles. but eastern scotland can be