this is bbc news. these are the top stories developing at 11am. the energy regulator announces a new price cap which it says will benefit 11 million customers in england, wales and scotland — saving the average customer 75 pounds a year. donald trump reacts with fury after an unnamed white house official claims members of his staff deliberately hinder some of the president's actions, in an effort to curtail his impulsive behaviour. britain will brief the un security council today on the arrest warrants it's issued for two russians accused of carrying out the novichok nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. also in the next hour — legalising gay sex in india. campaigners welcome the ruling from india's supreme court that gay sex is no longer a criminal offence. and the world's largest working offshore wind farm — covering an area equal to 20,000

football pitches — opens off the coast of cumbria. good morning. it is thursday 6th of september. i'm annita mcveigh. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the energy regulator has announced a cap on the annual cost of gas and electricity for millions of households in an effort to ensure a fairer deal for customers. under 0fgem's proposals, suppliers could charge no more than £1,136 a year — that's for a typical dual fuel customer who pays their bills by direct debit. it's aimed at helping around 11 million households in england, scotland and wales who are on the default tariff with their supplier.

the regulator says that these customers should save an average of £75 a year, but those on the most expensive tariff would save more than £120 annually. earlier, 0fgem's chief executive dermot nolan told the bbc why the regulator was introducing the cap. this is a major intervention into the market. parliament has given us the market. parliament has given us the powers and duties and we are moving as quickly as we possibly can to make sure the 11 million people are protected. what would have done is looked very carefully at all of the data, at what an efficient market supplier charges, and as a result and prices will go down for these customers and they will be sure from now on they are paying a reasonable price for their energy. we're joined now by stephen murray, energy specialist at comparison site money supermarket. good morning. is this going to have

the desired effect and make sure this fairer deal 0fgem is talking about? you have hit on the keyword, it is about a fairer deal. nobody could argue a reduction for those customers on default tariffs will get a fairer deal out of the announcement today but that doesn't necessarily mean it is a great deal. afairer necessarily mean it is a great deal. a fairer deal is bringing the prices down for these customers by £75 but let's look at the context. since this announcement was made in the conservative manifesto in may last year, the prices of those tariffs have gone up by £150 so this still makes it £75 more expensive than they were at the start of this legislation going through and they are still amongst the highest price ta riffs are still amongst the highest price tariffs in the market. the savings from switching can be up to £350 whereas this will reduce bills by £70 for the average user. but with another review coming at the

beginning of 2019, at which point it looks like with the pressure on wholesale prices that £75 could get cut with the cap price going up again. it is a fairer deal and will reduce bills by not buy anywhere near the amount customers should expect and can get if they engage in the market to save £350 or more. expect and can get if they engage in the market to save £350 or morem will help people who for whatever reason are not doing what we are told to do, shop around. shopping around is the thing and the crocs is whether we are looking at customers who cannot engage in the market or won't engage and we are very keen on government and the regulator doing more to protect vulnerable customers who cannot engage in the market. these customers should be getting the cheapest deals in the market but for those who can engage in the market, absolutely the thing to do is have a look and shop around.

there are 70, 80 plus suppliers offering a range of choice. the time to switch is coming down and it really is the time. 0fgem have recognised this in their own publication today, that this could harm switching levels. prices could start to centre on these most get the tip —— and these most competitive deals on the market could go. this today could mean people consider they don't have to engage in the market and won't maximise savings they can make, and make sure they pay the cheapest ills they can on their energy. picking up on what you said about some of the most competitive deals possibly going as a result of this. how do you think the big six will respond and do you think this intervention in the market could backfire for customers in some ways? what have already seen over recent years the big six suppliers, and we are not just talking about the big six, it

is the standard tariff of all suppliers out there on the market but the big six used to be relatively competitive with the bottom of the market. they are now getting further away from that and we know that customers want the choice of going with a cheaper supplier, and we have a danger of removing the competition so customer choice goes. with choice going, competition going, and the cheapest deals going, that cannot be a good move for an energy market that gathering pace. switching levels are going up, the time to switch is going up, the time to switch is going down, this is not the right time to put controls on the market and stopping growth where we are seeing customers getting more benefit and better bills. thank you. we'll have much more on this in our business bulletin at 11:40. a senior white house official has claimed that members of the trump administration deliberately hinder some of the president's actions, in an effort to curtail his impulsive behaviour. writing anonymously

in the new york times, the source portrays a sense of chaos in the white house. the president has dismissed the opinion piece as gutless, calling the newspaper phony, as chris buckler reports. each day seems to bring new claims about what is happening behind the doors of this white house, and the unconventional president in charge here. the new york times says it was a senior official in donald trump's own administration who wrote its damning opinion piece, although the author insisted on remaining anonymous. they claim the president's leadership style is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective. that many are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his own agenda and his worst inclinations, and that the root of the problem is the president's amorality. and god bless you, and thank you, mr president. mr trump was meeting a group of sheriffs when he was forced to answer questions about keeping

control, in what is being painted as a lawless white house. if the failing new york times has an anonymous editorial — can you believe it? anonymous, meaning gutless, a gutless editorial. we're doing a greatjob. the poll numbers are through the roof, our poll numbers are great, and guess what... nobody is going to come close to beating me in 2020, because of what we've done. but fear, a new book written by bob woodward, one of the journalists who exposed the watergate scandal, is making similar allegations — that many are working to protect america from its president. the new york times said it was proud to have published the piece, which it insisted gave the public a real insight into the workings of the trump administration from someone in a position to know. with me in the studio is dr brian klaas, assistant professor in global politics at university college london, also a columnist for the washington post.

is this a new front in the war between president trump and the media, more than just a skirmish certainly event where the author is coming from, from inside the white house? it is truly extraordinary. the content is alarming. it is open secret in washington that donald trump behaves like this but the fact people are actively working to undermine his agenda and that they deem him to be so dangerously unfit is truly remarkable. that said trump said they should basicallyjail this person in a tweet last night so that is another dangerous escalation in terms of the attacks on the media. the new york times is within its rights to publish an anonymous peace. they believe anonymity is more important to protect in order to get this message out to the

public. the author says... " but this raises a number of questions. does the very fact that the author talks about how they try to work around his personality suggest that donald trump can be manipulated? yes, and i think the really big story of this is that it is coming from the white house itself and there is a specific doubles bargain that many have struck with strong where they believe him to be personally unfit for office. but they are willing to be part of the team to enable donald trump's administration because of other priorities they believe in. this mainstream politician most

likely, someone who believes in things trump does not. with this entire bending of the administration, this is a picture of chaos and dysfunction from within the white house and it's a question of how much the wheels are coming off within the white house. of how much the wheels are coming off within the white housem explains to some degree by the republicans are not doing anything else about him in terms of removing him from office. exactly, and this is where the mid—term elections in november will be important because a lot of republicans inside and outside the white house have made a calculation that the trump agenda they agree with is worth hanging on to. if it speaks to the electorate still, that is the big question. exactly, sale on november the 6th we will have the answer to that. if there is a major rebuke, there will be more people who tolerate him. thanks

for your thoughts today. britain will brief the un security council this afternoon about the investigation into the novichok attack in salisbury. yesterday the prime minister said moscow agents were behind the poisoning. police say they have enough evidence to charge two men. moscow continues to deny any involement. lucinda adam has more. we now know the faces of the two russian men accused of the novichok poisonings. it's understood british police may know their true identities, but cctv shows them arriving in the uk under the names alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov. they are seen travelling to salisbury, where it's believed they used this fake perfume bottle to deploy the novichok nerve agent, which would later kill dawn sturgess and contaminate her partner, charlie rowley. theresa may said months of investigation showed this was not a rogue operation. the men are officers

of russia's military intelligence service, the gru. the actions of the gru are a threat to all our allies and to all our citizens. and on the basis of what we have learnt in the salisbury investigation, and what we know about this organisation more broadly, we must now step up our collective efforts, specifically against the gru. moscow said the two suspects mean nothing to them, and accused britain of manipulating information. this the response on the facebook page of their foreign ministry. the woman on the right, maria zakharova, is their head of communications. to reveal so much detail of the investigation so publicly is designed to increase diplomatic pressure on russia. the uk wants more european sanctions, but may struggle to convince its eu allies. lucinda adam, bbc news. the security minister, ben wallace,

said the russian president, vladimir putin, bears ultimate responsibility for the salisbury novichok attack. he is the president of the russian federation, he is in chargejust like the prime minister here is accountable for her intelligence services, he is accountable for them. the gru belongs to the military that answers to the defence minister who answers to vladimir putin so he is ultimately responsible for the actions of his government but also i think we know from the russian legislation and indeed previous activity that gru don'tjust indeed previous activity that gru don't just freelance like indeed previous activity that gru don'tjust freelance like any intelligence organisation, it will have been authorised at some level. we have said at a senior level of the russian government, other people can speculate as to have direct that is. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford is in moscow for us now. anything more being said in moscow

about this? no comment directly to that question of whether or not mr putin himself ordered this but certainly there has been a barrage of response if you like from the russian media and we have also heard from the foreign minister as you mentioned in that report. talking about the accusations coming from london is being absurd and that is certainly the tone today. a lot of denial and scorn being poured on the evidence coming from london, here in russia claiming there is no evidence, that the long list of evidence, that the long list of evidence has been provided just doesn't amount to anything. even questioning for example two photographs that have been taken from cctv footage at gatwick airport. russian media has been pointing to the fact that i encode

is identical and it's clearly a fake but not perhaps realising there are parallel passages were the cctv photographs could have been taken at the same time. so scorn, denial, claiming there is no evidence and generally repeating the official russian mine that russia didn't do this and pointing the finger back towards the uk. thank you. the headlines on bbc news... the energy regulator has announced a new price cap which it says will benefit 11 million customers in the uk — saving the average customer 75 pounds a year. president trump is demanding the new york times name a white house official behind an article which harshly criticises his leadership. britain will brief the un security council today on the arrest warrants it's issued for two russians accused of carrying out the novichok nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. in sport novak djokovic said he felt

like he was playing in a sauna to reach the us open semifinals. thomas bjorn feels garcia makes everyone in the team better as he picks the spaniard as a wild card to play later this month. and ryan giggs tells his players to play attractive football tonight as they play the republic of ireland in cardiff, his first competitive fixture as manager. i will be back with more on those stories after half—past. in an historic verdict, india's supreme court has ruled that gay sex is no longer a criminal offence in the country. the ruling overturns a law which has been in place since colonial times and was punishable with up to ten years injail. campaigners outside the court cheered and some broke into tears as the announcement was made. 0ur correspondent divya arya has been following the case from delhi. here, outside the supreme court,

there has been excitement and anticipation since this morning. a large number of people from the lgbt community, activists and lawyers have been gathering here. everyone waiting for the final judgment have been gathering here. everyone waiting for the finaljudgment and when it came there was loud cheering. the court clearly said any adults can engage in sexual activity in private and if it is with consent it doesn't matter the gender or session —— sexual preference. the first challenge to the colonial law actually happened in 1994. initially these challenges were led by ngos, that's groups of people and not individuals, blood in the last few yea rs eve n individuals, blood in the last few years even students, eminent personalities, have come out, claimed their sexual orientation and gone to the supreme court. now they have got the final verdict. two

consenting adults have sex of any type in private, that there is consent and it is in private, it will not be an offence under 377. section 377 prescribed a 10—year jail term, but activists said it was used to harass them and push them into the closet, a reality they hope will change now. a strong earthquake injapan's northern island of hokkaido has caused a landslide, engulfing several houses. nearly 50 people have been injured and at least 32 are missing. 3 million buildings are without power. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, says his government has set up a search and rescue task force. south korea's president moonjae—in will meet north korean leader, kim jong—un, in pyongyang for three days later this month. the summit will be the first time in more than a decade that a south korean leader has visited the north korean capital.

0ur seoul correspondent laura bicker has more. things have been moving slowly but steadily. there have been sporting exchanges, cultural exchanges and now this into korean summit, the third meeting between the two over three days. it is notable president moon in the past has managed to make a breakthrough where others haven't been able to, when it comes to making headway between president trump and kimjong—un and it may hoped this time around, the timing of this meeting and the fact that is in pyongyang itself may be a chance to bring north korea and the us closer to talks on denuclearisation. it's notable that special envoys who went to pyongyang were welcomed, there was a lot of smiles and handshakes between the two side when

they met kim jong—un which is not what mike pompeo. when he visited a couple of months back. when it comes to the two sides, there's definitely a kind of rift when it comes to the us and north korea compared to the two koreas. when president moon goes there 43 days, it is for the meeting and he will then travel to new york. north korea has given a message to the south koreans to past and the us. he told the south koreans he's willing to denuclearise, that he is committed to denuclearisation, and that when it comes to the world's view, his frustrated the world doesn't see that. an indian—registered ship that's been impounded in an english port for more than two years is finally on the verge of being sold. the malaviya 20 has been stuck in great yarmouth in norfolk sincejune 2016 after it's owners went into liquidation,

leading to legal disputes. the four crew have been stuck aboard the boat, a supply vessel, for 18 months, and haven't been paid since late last year. english heritage is asking for the public‘s help in identifying world war one nurses who served at england's first wartime country house hospital. no formal records exist for many of the women who worked at wrest park in bedfordshire, but it's hoped they'll be recognised by relatives in photographs which have been transformed into colour. jane—frances kelly reports. no formal records have ever existed of these nurses, who answered a call to serve at this wartime country hospital. they are in effect the forgotten women of the first world war. now, this rare collection of black—and—white photographs have been transformed into colour, in the hope they will help people to recognise the faces that feature in them, and the stories they tell. after the outbreak of the war, wrest park in bedfordshire was offered directly to winston churchill as a convalescence home. but, as casualties mounted on the western front, it was transformed into

a much—needed hospital, with an operating theatre and x—ray equipment. despite looking relaxed in many of the photographs, the women worked long, emotionally draining shifts. we hope to find out more about these incredible images. we have had a great group of volunteer research at wrest park, but we have hit a brick wall. we can't find out anything more about these nurses. it is remarkable converting a black—and—white photo into colour. it brings a whole new life, a sense of humanity to these pictures. 1,600 men were treated on the hospital's wards before a fire broke out in september 1916, forcing it to close. the unofficial way it was established and its sudden closure meant no proper records were kept of the 100—plus nurses who had worked here. english heritage hope identifying them will highlight the enormous contribution women made to the war effort. hopefully forgotten no longer.

it's been the joint hottest summer on record and, although we've been enjoying the increased temperatures, they've raised a few questions. how much of the good weather can be attributed to climate change? and is this year's heatwave a sign of things to come? graham satchell has been to the met office to get some answers. now we officially know it has been the joint—hottest summer on record, what does this year's heatwave tell us about the future? this is where they crunched the numbers, the met office in exeter. it wasn't just a hot summer, but a sign of things to come. we are seeing a change in climate and our climate in the uk has warmed byjust under a degree over the last 50 years or so. with a warming climate, we do expect the number of hot days and heatwave incidences to increase going into the future. those sorts of conditions may become more normal for the 2040s. if what we saw in the climate this summer becomes more normal,

the impacts will be felt everywhere. food, for example, is already expected to be 5% more expensive this year. building regulations may have to change to protect vulnerable people with heart and lung problems. hospitals will have to plan for summary emergencies. for summer emergencies. and there are other impacts. it's generally meant that we have seen higher numbers ofjellyfish, bluefin tuna. we have certainly recorded more minke whales, particularly in western approaches to the channel. and we have recorded hundreds of common dolphins. these pictures were taken off the dorset coast this summer. and this remarkable shot is a thrasher shark in the english channel. it's more commonly found

in the warmer waters of the mid—atla ntic. the explosion in the number of jellyfish, like these near newquay, means we have seen more unusual visitors to our coast. look! this is a sunfish. but a warmer sea is not good news for everything. the white beaked dolphin, for example, has suffered. they are a coldwater species, their stronghold being in the north sea, so we have to start thinking about this lower edge of this population's range and what impact higher sea surface tempertaures will have on those. we need to think about the other threats that could potentially be impacting these species and trying to limit those as best as possible, so we are not imposing too much pressure and threats onto these species. so are we ready for more frequent heatwaves? a report this summer by a group of mps says from the environment to transport, housing to health, not enough is being done. graham satchell, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather.

we can cross the newsroom to ben rich. good morning. it feels like autumn out there. there is some sunshine but in other places the shower clouds are gathering, we are seeing some rain. it's giving some beautiful vistas for all weather watchers. you can see a scattering of showers in scotland through the rest of the afternoon, some heavy and thundery. further south, rest of the afternoon, some heavy and thundery. furthersouth, more rest of the afternoon, some heavy and thundery. further south, more in the way of cloud bringing rain out of wales into the midlands, eventually towards the south and south—east of england but not until late in the day. those temperatures just 14 degrees in aberdeen, may be creeping up to 21 in london. behind that, we get some clear, starry skies. some showers running through merseyside into the west midlands, showery rain into the far north—east

later, but the chilly night. 5 degrees in edinburgh and newcastle, out in the countryside a little bit colder than that. rain in north—eastern areas tomorrow, other places dry but cool and it looks u nsettled places dry but cool and it looks unsettled unchangeable for the weekend. —— and changeable. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: the energy regulator announces a new price cap which it says will benefit 11 million customers in england, wales and scotland, saving the average customer £75 a year. donald trump reacts with fury after an unnamed white house official claims members of his staff deliberately hinder some of the president's actions, in an effort to curtail his "impulsive behaviour". britain will brief the un

security council today on arrest warrants issued for two russians accused of carrying out the novichok nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. campaigners in india welcome a supreme court ruling that gay sex is no longer a criminal offence. and the world's largest working offshore wind farm — covering an area equal to 20,000 football pitches — opens off the coast of cumbria. the inquest into the death of the cranberries singer says she died by droning tutor alcohol intoxication. that is being held at westminster coroner's court. we will have more on that soon. sport now, here's ben croucher. good morning.

novak djokovic has called on us open organisers to help players out after struggling with the heat and humidity as he beatjohn millman to reach an 11th straight semi final at flushing meadows. both players sweated their way through nearly three hours with djokovic coming out on top in straight sets. afterwards, he said he needed ten shirts for the match. i asked whether they were using ventilation at court level side and he says he was not aware of it. this tournament needs to address this. it feels like a sauna. next up for djokovic is former finallist kei nishikori. he came through a five—setter against marin cilic, the man who beat him to the title four years ago. and japan will have a player in the men's and women's semis at a grand slam for the first time as naomi 0saka beat lesia tsurenko.

it's the 20th seed's maiden appearance in the last four of a slam. jamie murray is into the mixed doubles final, defending the title he won with martina hingis last year. he and new partner bethany mattek sands needed a champions tie break in their semi final. murray lost in the men's doubles. europe's ryder cup captain thomas bjorn has defended his decision to pick sergio garcia as one of his wildcards for this month's contest. garcia has been in pretty poorform of late, failing to make the cut in all four majors this season, but bjorn said he was the "heartbeat" of the team. rafa cabrera bayo will probably be feeling the most aggrieved and bjorn conceded that it was horrible having to tell him and others that they hadn't made it. it was not an easy decision because so many guys have played well and tried hard and put every effort into it. they deserved that we sit down

and consider them and take everything into account. but in the end, this was the decision that was reached. and yes, making those phone calls to those four was easy but it was tough to make the phone calls to the ones that missed out. the uefa nations league begins tonight, with wales getting their campaign under way against the republic of ireland in cardiff. the tournament is designed to do away with meaningless friendlies, and teams can qualify for euro 2020 through it. for wales boss ryan giggs, it's a first competitive fixture since taking over injanuary. we know what we're up against. we're up against a team who is going to work hard, make it difficult for us. so, proud moment for me. can't wait. just like as a player, the build—up to it. yeah, you've got to do it, but really you can't wait for the game to come. it's been confirmed that england are the only country to have submitted a bid to host the women's european championship in 2021. the deadline was extended to last friday but no other nations came forward.

the fa will still need to meet all the requirements and uefa's executive committee will meet on 3rd december to announce the hosts. britain's simon yates is expected to keep hold of his leader's red jersey at the vuelta a espana on today's largely flat stage in the north of spain. he kept hold of his one second lead on stage 11 — won alessandro di marchi. yates managed to hold off some late attacks from rivals like nairo quintana to finish in the main bunch and retain his slender advantage at the top of the overall standings. the people of leamington spa were out in force to witness a sprint finish at the end of stage four of the tour of britain. andre greipel won it but patrick bevin extended his overall lead by picking up four bonus seconds. today's stage is a team time trial from cockermouth to whinlatter pass in the lake district — it starts in about an hour and a half. that's all the sport for now. we are expecting a statement from

the northern ireland secretary imminently. that is the commons at the moment. not many people in their seats. she is going to make a number of changes to do with the fact that the northern ireland assembly has not been operating for more than a year. the devolved administration collapsed in january 2017 and year. the devolved administration collapsed injanuary 2017 and it looks as if karen bradley will reduce mla pay from november. lots of people have been calling for that to happen. those members of the assembly receiving full pay since the administration collapsed. it looks as if she will reduce pay from november and give civil servants more power, they have effectively

been running northern ireland in the absence of the devolved administration. lots of decisions have not been able to be made because the government there is not working. she is going to give northern ireland civil servants more power perhaps to make those decisions and setting aside the legal requirement to propose a date for a further election in northern ireland. the decision at the start it would not return is done surely different political set of figures who would change the situation. those are the sorts of things we are expecting her to say in the commons. donald trump and the anonymous piece in the new york times, the us secretary of state in delhi has said that he is not the author of that piece. he has described it as sad. whether we see officials from the administration denying that they

we re administration denying that they were the author, but the us secretary of state has said he is not the author of the piece that says the problem with the white house is president trump's immorality. turkey and the us are racing to find a diplomatic solution to avoid a massacre in one of the last remaining rebel strongholds in syria. the fate of idlib province could be decided on friday, at a summit attended by russia, syria and turkey. three million civilians live in the area, many of them have already been displaced by fighting in other parts of the country. preparing for what could be the final major battle in syria's civil war. rebel fighters in their last remaining stronghold of idlib. they may be surrounded by thousands

of government troops but the rebels say they are undeterred. translation: fortifications are ready and all the guys are ready, god willing. tunnels and barricades, everything is ok. the morale of the fighters is high. it is hard to see how the firepower can possibly match that of president assad or moscow. on tuesday russia bombed what it says were positions of a former al-qaeda affiliate. the kremlin says syria's army is getting ready to clear a cradle of terrorism but there have been widespread international warnings about the impact such action could have. the latest intervention from president trump, this should not be a slaughter. we have three million at least innocent people there and you have to be very, very careful and the world is watching, and the united states is watching very closely. these are some of the civilians who are at risk. already practising putting on makeshift masks to protect from chemical attack. charcoal, cotton wool, a paper cup and a plastic bag, hardly an adequate defence. but, much like these caves used as bunkers,

that is all that they have. a community bracing itself for a coming onslaught that the un says could lead to the worst civilian emergency in the seven year civil war. the world's largest off—shore wind farm officially opens off the coast of cumbria today. the £1 billion walney facility covers an area equal to 20,000 football pitches and can generate enough powerfor 600,000 homes. ben thompson has been to take a look. it isa it is a big day in barrow one furnace. this is a blade that goes on one of the turbines. this is a smaller one, 45 metres long. the ones out there are about double. they can fit a double—decker bus

inside. it is the size of 20,000 football pitches, the project. i have been finding out how it works. investment in recent years has made the uka investment in recent years has made the uk a world leader in wind technology. last year went provided 1596 technology. last year went provided 15% of britain's electricity, more than from coal. this wind farm cove rs than from coal. this wind farm covers 145 square kilometres and took nearly three years to build and it is generating enough powerfor half a million homes. in total there are 87 turbines. the biggest is 194 metres tall, taller than the blackpool tower, or 98 times higher than me. 98 times the height of me. i have found something bigger than me. tell me how important renewables are

in terms of where we get our energy from. our projects like this making a difference? yes. by 2030 offshore wind alone will be doing a third of our electricity generation. you mentioned the size of this blade, it is one of the biggest infrastructure projects. the renewables sector is bigger than housing and water and hs2. huge investment. iwonder what difference that makes in terms of targets, we hear about reducing reliance on traditional energy sources and more renewables including solar and wind. will we meet those targets? definitely it will make a significant contribution to reducing c02 emission. the renewa bles to reducing c02 emission. the renewables sector is going to play a

major role. it is very important to ensure when we look at longer—term energy mix we look at the entire energy mix we look at the entire energy mix we look at the entire energy mix picture, combining the energy mix picture, combining the energy mix picture, combining the energy mix of renewable energy offshore with pv and no clear to make sure that there is a stable base to ensure energy security. make sure that there is a stable base to ensure energy securitylj make sure that there is a stable base to ensure energy security. i pv you mean solar? solar. the problem many people will raise that this is the idea of how sustainable it is in terms of constant generation. there are ups and downs. is it reliable? we are going to want to do more of it because it is the cheapest form of power we have in the good news is a lot of the cost reduction has come from being more efficient. the national grid is not worried about running bigger than the projections

we are looking at, 60% or more of renewa bles we are looking at, 60% or more of renewables on the grid. storage is going to help us. last year our turbines were on 75% of the time and it powered the country through the beast from the east. what will the future look like? are we going to see more of these popping up in ocea ns see more of these popping up in oceans and hillsides? what will the future look like? there is huge possibility there will be more of these offshore wind farms popping up across the irish sea for example. it is really efficient and over the longer term the cost is going to come down. looking to the target to meet a sustainable growth. we are going to use more electric vehicles in the future, more electricity in the things that we do, smart cities, energy storage, this will rely on renewable energy source in the supply chain and ensuring that it is

not just sustainable at use, supply chain and ensuring that it is notjust sustainable at use, but supply chain and ensuring that it is not just sustainable at use, but the entire supply chain. now you have the take on what it could mean, the future. these sort of things in our seas around the uk. shallow waters, lots of wind, great place to put these. the danger that we might lie on it too much if it is not going to get us through the peaks and troughs. likely to see much more energy coming from renewable sources. news emerging from the inquest into the death of the cranberries singer dolores 0'riordan who died on the 15th of january aged 46. the inquest

has recorded that she died due to alcoholic intoxication and drowning. we can cross now to richard lister who is outside westminster coroner's court. what has been said? it lasted 40 minutes and we heard from two witnesses and heard statements from six other people. the coroner has wrapped things up saying as far as she was concerned was no evidence that took her own life and it was clear she had died as a result of intoxication followed by drowning and she saw her death as a tragic accident. herfinding of the cause of death was that she had died as a result of an accident. the postmortem confirmed there were no

signs of injury, she had not been self harming, no other injuries on her body, the postmortem concluded that she had died as a result of and oxidation followed by drowning. —— intoxication. the verdict, this is an accident. in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news. the energy regulator has announced a new price cap which it says will benefit 11 million customers in the uk — saving the average customer £75 a year. president trump is demanding the new york times name a white house official behind an article which harshly criticises his leadership. britain will brief the un security council today on the arrest warrants it's issued for two russians accused of carrying out the novichok nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. an energy bill price cap of £1,136

a yearfor "typical usage" has been proposed by the energy regulator, 0fgem. it says the move will mean 11 million households on default deals will save about £75 on average, although the amount households could save will depend on their usage and supplier. we'll have market reaction to the news shortly. how many people have problem debt? according to the national audit office, it could be as many as 8.3 million and about a tenth of those may suffer mental health problems as a result. it says the government's failure to tackle problem debt is costing millions. british luxury goods maker burberry will stop the practice of burning unsold goods, with immediate effect. injuly, an earnings report revealed the company had destroyed unsold clothes, accessories and perfume worth £28.6 million in 2017 to protect its brand.

it will also stop using real fur. as you've been hearing an energy bill price cap of £1,136 a year for "typical usage" has been proposed by the regulator, 0fgem. it says the move will mean 11 million households on default deals will save about £75 on average, but how have the energy firms reacted? sse and centrica have seen their share prices rise significantly despite the news. energy uk is the industry body which represent gas and electricity firms. its boss has warned that the cap "will pose a significant challenge" for the more than 70 suppliers operating in the domestic energy market. joining us now is michael hewson, chief market analyst at cmc markets.

why have share prices risen despite the price cap? this has been overshadowing the sector. three yea rs overshadowing the sector. three years ago centrica's prize was double the price it was now. concerns about this price cap have been weighing on the sharp rise of these energy companies and this has removed the uncertainty, government clarity on what their future margins are likely to be and given them certainly about future investment plans. they know what their margins are going to be going forward. how do people in the city reacted when you see such involvement of a regulator in an industry? when there are concerns that ultimately regulatory interference might impact profit margins there are going to be concerns. we saw that yesterday with the social media companies facebook

and twitter when their share prices took a significant nosedive on the perception that there might be regulatory interference in social media. that is why investors are concerned when regulators get involved in pricing. you have been watching the markets. it is looking unsure across the board for markets. bucking the trend. energy source. we have come off the back of a number of days of declines, rising tensions with respect to president trump's implementation of further tariffs on chinese goods. concerns about emerging markets. that is tempering things. the london market is struggling.

that's all the business news. we are waiting for the northern ireland secretary to speak in the house of commons about developments with the northern ireland assembly and her plans in the absence of any immediate prospect of all additions in northern ireland being able to return to a devolved administration, which collapsed injanuary return to a devolved administration, which collapsed in january 20 return to a devolved administration, which collapsed injanuary 2017. we are expecting details on a cut to mla's salaries and we understand more power to be given to civil serva nts more power to be given to civil servants because many decisions have not been able to be made because of not been able to be made because of no sitting assembly, giving more power to those civil servants making important decisions in a number of

areas. an underlying pessimism that there is not an immediate prospect of getting those politicians back together in a devolved administration. that statement is beginning. i would like to give a statement regarding the restoration of government in northern ireland. northern ireland needs devolved government. it needs all the functioning political institutions of the belfast agreement and its successors. significant decisions are taken and northern ireland's voice must be heard. with new powers coming back from brussels northern ireland needs an executive to use those powers to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. as relationships evolve a functioning north—south ministerial council is vital to ensure that northern ireland makes the most of its unique position within the uk and in

relation to our land. there are other critical decisions that need to be taken —— ireland. reform of public services in future budgets. crosscutting programmes addressing social deprivation are stalling following 19 months without devolved government. as this impasse continues public services are suffering. businesses are suffering. the people of northern ireland are suffering. local decision—making is urgently needed to address this. the only sustainable way forward lies in stable, fully functioning and inclusive devolved government. with determination and realise we must set a clear goal of restoring the devolved power—sharing executive and assembly. in the absence of an executive i have kept my duty to set a date for a fresh election under

review. i have not believed and do not believe that holding an election during this time of significant change and uncertainty would be helpful or would increase the prospects of restoring the executive. but i am a way out of the current legislative position. in order to ensure certainty and clarity on this issue i intend to introduce primary legislation in 0ctober introduce primary legislation in october to provide for a limited and prescribed period in which there will be no legal requirement to set a date for a further election and importantly during which time the executive may be formed at any point without the requirement for further legislation. this will provide a further opportunity to re—establish political dialogue with the aim of restoring the executive as soon as possible. while assembly members continue to perform vital constituency functions it is clear that tuning any such interim period they will not be performing the full

range of legislative functions so i will take steps necessary to reduce assembly members' salaries in line with the recommendations made. this will take effect in two stages, commencing in november. it will not produce the allowance to staff as i do not think that mla staff should suffer because of the politicians' failure to form an executive. i wish to commend a key role that the northern ireland civil service has played during the period in which has been no executive in ensuring the continuity of public in northern ireland. following the recent decision of the northern ireland court of appeal i recognise there is a need to provide clarity to the nic sand a need to provide clarity to the nic s and the people of northern ireland on the mechanisms for the continued delivery of public services. the legislation i intend to introduce after the conference recess will

include provisions to give greater clarity and certainty to enable northern ireland departments to continue to take decisions in northern ireland in the public interest and to ensure the continued delivery of public services. i intend to consult parties in northern ireland over how this might best be done. i will also bring forward legislation which will also enable key public appointments to be made in northern ireland as i set out in my written statement on the 18th ofjuly. out in my written statement on the 18th of july. at out in my written statement on the 18th ofjuly. at the same time i am conscious that this is no substitute for the return of elected ministers taking decisions in the executive and accountable to the assembly. i intend to use the next few weeks to engage in further discussions with the parties and the irish government in accordance with the approach with the intention of establishing a basis for moving into more formal political dialogue that leads to restoration of the institutions. these discussions will seek the views from the parties on when and

how external facilitation could play a constructive role in the next round of talks. be in no doubt, no agreement can be imposed from outside northern ireland. it must be reached by those closest to these issues. those have been elected to represent the people of northern ireland. i believe the people of northern ireland want to see a restoration of their political institutions and that is what this government is committed to achieving. this statement represents achieving. this statement represents a clear way forward and the plan for northern ireland and i commend it to the house. reducing mla salaries as the house. reducing mla salaries as the past continues. well over a year since the devolved administration in northern ireland collapsed, public services and people are suffering she says so she is giving civil serva nts she says so she is giving civil servants more power to make decisions and she says she does not believe holding an election would increase the chances of returning an administration. it is autumnal outside. there are

bursts of rain. it isa it is a mixture of sunshine and showers. some of those heavy and thundery. a bit of rain in the south of england but that will not arrive until late in the day. aberdeen 14 degrees. perhaps heavy rain across northern ireland. starry skies

overhead. 0ne northern ireland. starry skies overhead. one or two showers over merseyside, north—east wales and the midlands. rain into eastern scotland later in the night. north—eastern areas will see rain through tomorrow, largely dry elsewhere. changeable into the weekend. that is all. plenty more throughout the rest of the day. this is bbc news.

i'm annita mcveigh. these are the top stories developing at midday. the energy regulator announces a new price cap which it says will benefit eleven million customers in england, wales and scotland — saving the average customer 75 pounds a year. us secretary of state mike pompeo denies being the author of a damning article in the new york times about president donald trump, calling it "sad". britain will brief the un security council today on the arrest warrants it's issued for two russians accused of carrying out the novichok nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. members of the northern ireland assembly are to have their pay reduced as the political deadlock at stormont continues. an inquest into the death of the lead singer of the cranberries, dolores 0'riordan, hears that she died by drowning due to alcohol intoxication. and one of the uk's leading female astronomers will donate her science prize worth £2.3 million to fund women

and under—represented groups to become physics researchers. good afternoon. i'm annita mcveigh. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the energy regulator has announced a cap on the annual cost of gas and electricity for millions of households in an effort to ensure a fairer deal for customers. under 0fgem's proposals, suppliers could charge no more than £1,136 a year — that's for a typical dual fuel customer who pays their bills by direct debit. it's aimed at helping around 11 million households in england, scotland and wales who are on the default tariff with their supplier.

the regulator says that these customers should save an average of £75 a year but those on the most expensive tariff would save more than £120 annually. earlier, 0fgem's chief executive dermot nolan told the bbc why the regulator was introducing the cap. this is a major intervention into the market. parliament has given us the powers and duties and we are moving as quickly as we possibly can to make sure that the 11 million people are protected. what we have done is looked very carefully at all of the data, said what would an efficient market supplier charge, and as a result prices will go down for these customers and they will be sure from now on they are paying a reasonable price for their energy. in the last hour, i spoke to stephen murray, energy specialist at comparison site money supermarket and asked him if the cap

would deliver its aim of a fairer deal for customers. this is a major intervention into the market. parliament has given us the powers and duties and we are moving as quickly as we possibly can to make sure the 11 million people are protected. this reduction still makes them £75 more expensive than at the start of the legislation going through and they are still amongst the highest priced tariffs on the market. the savings from switching can be up to £300 where is at the moment this will reduce bills by £75 for the average user but with another review coming in the next three or four months, at which point it looks as though with the pressure on

wholesale prices that £75 could get cut with the capped price going up again. it is a fairer deal and it will reduce bills but not by any way the amount customers can expect if they engage in the market. it will help people who for whatever reason are not doing what we are told to do, shop around. shopping around is the thing and the crux is whether we are looking at customers who cannot engage in the market or won't engage and we are very keen on government and the regulator doing more to protect vulnerable customers who cannot engage in the market. these customers should be getting the cheapest deals in the market but for those who can engage in the market, absolutely the thing to do is have a look and shop around. there is so much choice around at the moment. there are 70, 80 plus suppliers offering a range of choice. the time to switch

is coming down and it really is the time. 0fgem have recognised this in their own publication today, that this could harm switching levels. prices could start to centre around and these most competitive deals on the market could go. this today could mean people consider they don't have to engage in the market and won't maximise savings they can make, and make sure they pay the cheapest bills they can on their energy. some news coming in from manchester and a coroner sitting there has ruled a 20—month—old child, kayden ba ncroft ruled a 20—month—old child, kayden bancroft died after a series of

missed opportunities to carry out what was described as a straightforward operation. that's coming from our help editor so coroner ruled —— ruling kayden ba ncroft coroner ruled —— ruling kayden bancroft died of natural causes contributed to by neglect. we will be hearing from our correspondent with more on that coroner ‘s ruling soon. a senior white house official has claimed that members of the trump administration deliberately hinder some of the president's actions, in an effort to curtail his ‘impulsive behaviour‘. writing anonymously in the new york times, the source portrays a sense of chaos in the white house. the president has dismissed the opinion piece as ‘gutless', calling the newspaper ‘phony‘, as chris buckler reports. each day seems to bring new claims about what is happening behind the doors of this white house, and the unconventional president in charge here.

the new york times says it was a senior official in donald trump's own administration who wrote its damning opinion piece, although the author insisted on remaining anonymous. they claim the president's leadership style is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective. that many are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his own agenda and his worst inclinations, and that the root of the problem is the president's amorality. and god bless you, and thank you, mr president. mr trump was meeting a group of sheriffs when he was forced to answer questions about keeping control, in what is being painted as a lawless white house. if the failing new york times has an anonymous editorial — can you believe it? anonymous, meaning gutless, a gutless editorial. we're doing a greatjob. the poll numbers are through the roof, our poll numbers are great, and guess what... nobody is going to come close to beating me in 2020, because of what we've done. but fear, a new book written by bob woodward,

one of the journalists who exposed the watergate scandal, is making similar allegations — that many are working to protect america from its president. the new york times said it was proud to have published the piece, which it insisted gave the public a real insight into the workings of the trump administration from someone in a position to know. joining me from new york is cbs news correspondent laura podesta. what is the latest reaction both from the white house and elsewhere to all of this? as far as the president, he is demanding the new york times give of the person who wrote it but the new york times have said they will keep it anonymous. they said it adds significant value to the public‘s understanding of

what is going on in the trump administration from someone in a position to know. the press secretary said the author was a coward and should resign. mike pompeo, who were is currently in india, said this morning he did not write it and the person who did should leave the administration. someone on social media are speculating the author could possibly be mike pence because of the use of one word, loadstar, unique word he is used in speeches before but some speculate the author may have thrown in that word specifically to throw the readers off there sent. yes, big guessing game to find out who the author is. does this make any difference to donald trump's supporters?” does this make any difference to donald trump's supporters? i really don't think so and that's because the president has already declared the president has already declared the media the enemy of the people so

it is tough to get more critical. he's demanding what he calls the phoney new york times give up the name of this person but they are protecting their source. 0k, thank you. joining me in the studio is amy pope, former us deputy homeland security advisor and associate fellow at chatham house. asi as i was saying to mole rat, a la going to see a succession of senior figures coming out and saying it wasn't me? i don't know if mike pompeo was directly asked the question, but highly unusual circumstances. this is extraordinary. the key piece is it was written by an appointee of the administration so it's not a situation where you have a civil servant who has been serving through various administrations. it is someone various administrations. it is someone who was chosen by the trump administration to serve president trump coming out in an unprecedented fashion to the new york times

basically to claim the house is on fire. and does it suggest that whoever wrote this feel that the normal procedure is one would have in an administration for reporting or dealing with any sense of unease that they can't go through those systems ? that they can't go through those systems? it sounds like that is the case. the options are very few. the person can resign, that is the most obvious outcome, but if you resign you lose the ability to influence and if you take the person at their word, their goal is to protect the american people and the constitution. 0therwise american people and the constitution. otherwise it's going to members of the congress to persuade them to take action. as we have seen from donald trump's reaction, anyone who can publicly identified themselves would be out the door very quickly indeed. absolutely, this is a president who doesn't permit for people to

question his authority or call into question his authority or call into question his authority or call into question his ways of doing business. if you question him you are out. we are seeing that time and again. how much does this demonstrate on the fa ct much does this demonstrate on the fact the author of the report have said they are not the resistance on the left, they are working from the resista nce the left, they are working from the resistance from within, until such time as donald trump leaves the white house. how much does this demonstrate republicans actually wa nt to demonstrate republicans actually want to keep him in power as long as they can work around his personality traits? i see this as mostly a call to the congress to take some action. this person is saying i have a duty to the country and constitution and the way we are doing business is basically a workaround to protect the constitution. the real body that has the power to act as the congress. if i am the speaker of the house, i would take this seriously. but as i discussed with an earlier

guest, depending on the results on the midterms in november and once republicans assessed the electoral support for donald trump and how much he has an impact on the fortu nes much he has an impact on the fortunes of candidates, then things could change, couldn't they? they could. but the moment members of congress are essentially afraid to act, afraid of any relating the base. if they lose to the democrats there will be political space for people to start questioning the president, his decisions, and significantly increasing oversight of the administration. that will be fascinating to watch. thank you. more on today's main stories coming up on newsroom live here on the bbc news channel, but now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. the headlines on bbc news...

the energy regulator has announced a new price cap which it says will benefit 11 million customers in the uk — saving the average customer £75 a year. president trump is demanding the new york times name a white house official behind an article which harshly criticises his leadership. britain will brief the un security council today on the arrest warrants it's issued for two russians accused of carrying out the novichok nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. sport now, here's will perry. good afternoon. novak djokovic has called on us open organisers to help players out after struggling with the heat and humidity as he beatjohn millman to reach an 11th straight semi final at flushing meadows. both players

sweated their way through nearly three hours with djokovic coming out on top in straight sets. afterwards, he said he needed ten shirts for the match. i asked the chair umpire whether they are using some formal ventilation or air conditioning down at the court level side and he said he's not aware of it, only what comes through the hallway type of thing. i think this tournament needs to address this because whether it is night or day, wejust to address this because whether it is night or day, we just don't have hair down there. it feels like a sauna. “— hair down there. it feels like a sauna. —— don't have air. golf now and europe's ryder cup captain thomas bjorn has defended his decision to pick sergio garcia as one of his wildcards for this month's contest. garcia has been in pretty poorform of late, failing to make the cut in all four majors this season — but bjorn says he's the "heartbeat" of the team. rafa cabrera bayo will probably be feeling the most aggrieved, bjorn says it was horrible having to tell him — and others — that they hadn't made it.

it was not an easy decision. it was not an easy decision because so many guys have played well and tried hard and put every effort into it. they deserved that we sit down and consider them and take everything into account. but in the end, this was the decision that was reached. and yes, making those phone calls to those four was easy but it was tough to make the phone calls to the ones that missed out. the uefa nations league begins tonight with wales getting their campaign under way against the republic of ireland in cardiff. the tournament is designed to do away with meaningless friendlies and teams can qualify for euro 2020 through it. for wales boss ryan giggs, it's a first competitive fixture since taking over injanuary. we know what we're up against. we're up against a team who is going to work hard, make it difficult for us.

so, proud moment for me. can't wait. just like as a player, the build—up to it. yeah, you've got to do it, but really you can't wait for the game to come. that's all the sport for now. we'll have more for you in the next hour. thank you. an inquest into the death of the lead singer of the cranberries, dolores 0'riordan, has heard that she died by drowning due to alcohol intoxication. the irish musician, who was 46, was found at a hotel in london injanuary. the coroner ruled that her death was a tragic accident. we can cross now to richard lister, who is outside westminster coroner's court. what was said? in court dolores 0'riordan was described as a hugely successful and charismatic woman with a supportive family but she clearly had troubles in her life. the coroner heard she was found submerged in the back in her hotel room at the park lane hilton on the morning of january 15 this room at the park lane hilton on the morning ofjanuary 15 this year. room at the park lane hilton on the morning of january 15 this year. the police said there was no sign of foul play. there was evidence she had been drinking heavily in the

hours before she died. the was open, there were empty bottles in the hotel room. she had consumed enough alcohol that she was at risk of passing out. the postmortem examination gave the cause of death as drowning due to alcohol intoxication and although she was being treated for bipolar disorder on the whole that appeared to be going well and there was no evidence she intended to take her own life. dolores 0'riordan's mother, brother and sister—in—law were here to hear the proceedings today which lasted about 40 minutes, and made no comment on their way out other to say they were relieved it was over. richard, thank you. professor damejocelyn bell burnell, one of the uk's leading female

astronomers, has said she will donate £2.3 million's worth of winnings from a science prize to fund women, under—represented ethnic minoroties and refugee students to become physics researchers. damejocelyn, who was awarded a breakthrough prize for the discovery of radio pulsars, said she believes that under—represented groups will bring new ideas to the field. she told the bbc: "i don't want or need the money myself and it seemed to me that this was perhaps the best use i could put to it." with me in the studio is dr anne—marie imafidon, co—founder of stemettes, a social initiative that helps young women into science. thank you for coming along. dame jocelyn has been a trailblazer but let's reflect on her career and the nobel prize she missed out on. yes,

she was a ph.d. student at the time in cambridge under the people who we re in cambridge under the people who were able to take credit and won the prize back in 1977 she is such an inspirational person, she has done so much. she has lived beyond that time she passed over and it's interesting the headline is she missed out on a nobel prize whereas since then she has more than being given awards to make up for it. and in fact she says it was a good thing because she has won so many other awards and this latest prize, £2.3 million, that she will give so that other people can get into careers in science, what sort of difference will that make? she has had the last laugh because it is bigger then the nobel prize fund but it will make a

difference for underrepresented groups feeling like ph.d. s are an option for them. it's notjust the financial support but also the moral support and sending the message we do want different types of people doing physics and we can have different types of people doing physics. she's famously from the northwest and is a woman so she said she felt like an outsider. and born in county armagh, but she moved around, didn't she? and tell us a little about how you got into science and how and why you set this group up. i have always been interested in mathematics which is creative but also logical so i loved seeing how the vcr player worked or fixing ings together to make them work different way. i didn't really notice actually growing up that i was the only girl often in a lot of these environments so stemettes was

born out of wanting girls to have confidence in their abilities. 0bviously some girls do do this, and that perhaps is not the most welcoming environment for them to be in potentially or they may feel awkward about it so the idea is to create the environment where this is entirely the dumping. yes, we can create safe spaces where girls can feel at home really. with there being an opportunity to meet people in industry and see that if they are the only one in their physics class, they are not the only one in the world doing this so it's a community for them to tap into but also to get inspired and make those connections. and if they haven't already heard about dame jocelyn,

and if they haven't already heard about damejocelyn, they and if they haven't already heard about dame jocelyn, they will look herup about dame jocelyn, they will look her up now. i am waiting for the movie on her life, that will be the final last laugh. thank you for your time today. a coroner has ruled kayden bancroft died after a gross failure in care at hospital. can you tell us more about the background to this tragic case? yes, kayden bancroft was a toddler, he fell out of bed and injured himself, was taken first to stepping hill hospital and doctors realised he needed surgery because he had a hernia affecting his diaphragm and he was transferred to

manchester's children's diaphragm and he was transferred to manchester's child ren's hospital, one of the most prestigious children's hospitals in the uk. when he arrived it was clear he did need an operation and was put on an emergency list, and yet that operation never took place. for three days it didn't take place, he then suffered a cardiac arrest, was revived from that, at the emergency operation but never recovered from the effects of the cardiac arrest and died shortly after. this occurred in april 2016. the coroner has ruled his death was a result of natural causes contributed to by neglect. this is quite an unusual finding fora neglect. this is quite an unusual finding for a hospital to be found to have contributed to neglect. that means there were several missed opportunities, the coroner spoke of missed opportunities to repeatedly carry out this very simple, straightforward operation from which there should have been a good outcome. there were also failures in

communication between members of staff, of the surgeons didn't know that his situation, his condition had fluctuated, he deteriorated. there was confusion over who was meant to be carrying out the operation, and confusion about beds as well. he needed a i depends —— high dependency unit bed. there were a series of systematic failures at the hospital which led the coroner to make this ruling of death by natural causes contributed to by neglect. this was no any discussion about the pressure that the nhs finds itself under and whether this was in any way a contributory factor? the coroner did talk about the fact that a key member of staff wasn't there that day at short notice though they were trying to coverfor notice though they were trying to cover for a notice though they were trying to coverfor a shortage of notice though they were trying to cover for a shortage of staff, and she said that while this placed the

unit under pressure and the unit had been under pressure for several days around the week that he was admitted, she said she'd didn't find this contributed to his death. she said there were plenty of opportunities for the operation to have taken place but because of these communication problems and the confusion over who was carrying out the operation, the confusion over whether these beds were available, she didn't find that that was an issue and pointed more towards the repeated missed opportunities to carry out what should have been a fairly straightforward operation. she said even the mostjunior surgeon she said even the mostjunior surgeon in the team could have carried that out. thank you. northern ireland assembly members' pay will be cut until a functioning executive is restored. the announcement was first recommended by made in the house of commons by the northern ireland secretary, karen bradley. let's hear what she had to say. in parallel, i will take the steps

necessary to reduce assembly members' salaries in line with recommendations made. the reduction will take effect in two stages commencing in november, and to confirm it will not reduce the allowa nce confirm it will not reduce the allowance for staff as i do not think mla staff should suffer because of politicians' failure to form an executive. let's get reaction to this from our island correspondence. is that going to be a popular move cutting mla salaries given they haven't been sitting at stormont for heading for two years now? i think if you asked the average person in northern ireland if they thought it would be a good idea, most certainly would say yes. many would say it is overdue. the page cut karen bradley has outlined in the house of commons is in line

with recommendations made in a report commissioned by the government which was published back in december nine months ago, and that report recommended mla pay should be cut down to just below £36,000 in two stages and that is what karen bradley is going ahead with. the calls for mla pay to be reduced have been growing ever since it collapsed injanuary last reduced have been growing ever since it collapsed in january last year. we have that report in december of last year and now karen bradley has announced she is going ahead with that planned to reduce mla pay and she's also said she is going to have more discussions with the irish government and with the stormont parties with a view to try to get formal dialogue and negotiations restarted to try to get this deadlock broken. but those other announcements she deadlock broken. but those other announcements she made, giving more power to civil servants and also delaying the need for an election to be called, that points to an

underlying pessimism or realism perhaps that there isn't a prospect at least in the near future of getting the politicians back together again. i think that's right, both the london and dublin government will continually say their priority is to restore devolution. indeed the parties in northern ireland will say that's what they want as well but overcoming the disagreements between the democratic unionist party sinn fein has been so difficult. there have been several round of negotiations but none of them have managed to deal with the stalemate so managed to deal with the stalemate so karen bradley has for the time being ruled out the prospect of calling another assembly election. she's also opened the door to the prospect of and independent talks facilitator, perhaps someone from abroad, and said she hopes cutting the salaries of assembly members will end a way act as an incentive

for politicians to get back into government together because whenever they do, the pay will go back up again to the levels they are used to. whether politically it will make a big impact with outstanding disagreements over same—sex marriage and whether there should be legal recognition for the irish language, big sticking points and whether they can be resolved remains to be seen. thank you. a little bit of everything thrown into the, some sunshine and drizzle. this is the scene in dorset. in england and wales, cloud bringing outbreaks of rain. scotland, northern ireland and northern england with thresher air. sunnis the rain clears away. low pressure

developing in the north sea. more rain in northern and eastern scotland. heavy at times. clear skies, a chilly night ahead. tkemali in the countryside, temperatures in single figures. unsettled on friday with low pressure bringing rain at times through the weekend. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: an inquest has found that hospital neglect contributed to the death of toddler kayden urmston—bancroft, aged 20 months, who suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting

for emergency surgery. the energy regulator announces a new price cap which it says will benefit 11 million customers in england, wales and scotland — saving the average customer £75 a year. us secretary of state mike pompeo denies being the author of a damning article in the new york times about president donald trump, calling it "sad". britain will brief the un security council today on the arrest warrants it's issued for two russians accused of carrying out the novichok nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. and an inquest into the death of the lead singer of the cranberries, dolores 0'riordan, hears that she died by drowning due to alcohol intoxication. britain will brief the un security council this afternoon about the investigation into the novichok attack in salisbury. yesterday the prime minister said moscow agents were behind the poisoning. police say they have enough evidence to charge two men. moscow continues to deny any involvement.

lucinda adam has more. we now know the faces of the two russian men accused of the novichok poisonings. it's understood british police may know their true identities, but cctv shows them arriving in the uk under the names alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov. they are seen travelling to salisbury, where it's believed they used this fake perfume bottle to deploy the novichok nerve agent, which would later kill dawn sturgess and contaminate her partner, charlie rowley. theresa may said months of investigation showed this was not a rogue operation. the men are officers of russia's military intelligence service, the gru. the actions of the gru are a threat to all our allies and to all our citizens. and on the basis of what we have learnt in the salisbury investigation, and what we know about this organisation more broadly, we must now step up our collective efforts, specifically against the gru. moscow said the two suspects mean

nothing to them, and accused britain of manipulating information. this the response on the facebook page of their foreign ministry. the woman on the right, maria zakharova, is their head of communications. to reveal so much detail of the investigation so publicly is designed to increase diplomatic pressure on russia. the uk wants more european sanctions, but may struggle to convince its eu allies. the security minister, ben wallace, said the russian president, vladimir putin, bears ultimate responsibility for the salisbury novichok attack. he is the president of the russian federation, he is in chargejust like the prime minister here is accountable for her intelligence services, he is accountable for them. the gru belongs to the military that

answers to the defence minister who answers to vladimir putin so he is ultimately responsible for the actions of his government but also i think we know from the russian legislation and indeed previous activity that gru don'tjust freelance like any intelligence organisation, it will have been authorised at some level. we have said at a senior level of the russian government, other people can speculate as to how direct that is. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has been assessing the reaction from russia. if you look at some of the newspapers this morning you get the full in the russian authorities are trying to discredit the evidence that was presented yesterday on the case, for example, two russians have been accused of murder. the paper

says no proof has been provided. the top two an officer who says that what happened as presented by london is like a cheap soap opera rather than the work of an intelligence agency. this headline, london, without a trial or proper investigation has found russia guilty. it says londoners refusing contact with moscow to establish the truth of what happened in the salisbury poisoning. this paper speaks to a retired fsb general who says that the descendants of ian fleming, the creator of james says that the descendants of ian fleming, the creator ofjames bond, working scotland yard today and our big fantasists. a mocking tone. we have heard similarfrom russian officials criticising british authorities and saying russia has no connection to the salisbury poisoning. denial has been pretty

much russia's default position when accused by the international community of having committed a crime, whether hacking and head of the us election or the salisbury poisoning. a news briefing commenting on this story, we have stated several times and can confirm officially russia has nothing to do with the events in salisbury. we can say that neither the highest leadership of russia or lower leadership and no official representatives had anything to do with the events in salisbury. asked by the bbc if the kremlin was ticking the identity of the alleged suspects, he replied, in order to check their identity, to have legal justification, it is necessary for us to have a request from the british side. saying that had been

no official side from britain. scanning to see if there are other key lines from that statement. those are the key lines coming from that statement from the kremlin. in an historic verdict, india's supreme court has ruled that gay sex is no longer a criminal offence in the country. the ruling overturns a law which has been in place since colonial times and was punishable with up to ten years injail. campaigners outside the court cheered and some broke into tears as the announcement was made. 0ur correspondent divya arya has been following the case from delhi. here, outside the supreme court, there has been excitement and anticipation since this morning. a large number of people from the lgbt community, activists and lawyers have been gathering here. everyone waiting for the final judgment and when it came there was loud cheering. the court clearly said any adults can engage in sexual activity in private and if it is with consent it doesn't matter the gender

or sexual preference. the first challenge to the colonial law actually happened in 1994. initially these challenges were led by ngos, that's groups of people and not individuals, but in the last few years even students, eminent personalities, have come out, claimed their sexual orientation and gone to the supreme court. now they have got the final verdict. two consenting adults having sex of any type in private, that there is consent and it is in private, it will not be an offence under 377. section 377 prescribed a ten—yearjail term, but activists said it was used to harass them and push them into the closet,

a reality they hope will change now. a strong earthquake injapan's northern island of hokkaido has caused a landslide, engulfing several houses. nearly 50 people have been injured and at least 32 are missing. three million buildings are without power. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, says his government has set up a search and rescue task force. an indian—registered ship that's been impounded in an english port for more than two years is finally on the verge of being sold. the malaviya twenty has been stuck in great yarmouth in norfolk sincejune 2016 after its owners fell into liquidation, leading to legal disputes. the four crew have been stuck aboard the boat, a supply vessel, for 18 months, and haven't been paid since late last year. turkey and the us are racing to find a diplomatic solution to avoid a massacre in one of the last remaining rebel strongholds in syria.

the fate of idlib province could be decided on friday, at a summit attended by russia, syria and turkey. three million civilians live in the area, many of them have already been displaced by fighting in other parts of the country. preparing for what could be the final major battle in syria's civil war. rebel fighters in their last remaining stronghold of idlib. they may be surrounded by thousands of government troops but the rebels say they are undeterred. translation: fortifications are ready and all the guys are ready, god willing. tunnels and barricades, everything is ok. the morale of the fighters is high. it is hard to see how the firepower can possibly match that of president assad or moscow. on tuesday russia bombed what it says were positions of a former al-qaeda affiliate. the kremlin says syria's army is getting ready to clear a cradle of terrorism but there have been

widespread international warnings about the impact such action could have. the latest intervention from president trump, this should not be a slaughter. we have three million at least innocent people there and you have to be very, very careful and the world is watching, and the united states is watching very closely. these are some of the civilians who are at risk. already practising putting on makeshift masks to protect from chemical attack. charcoal, cotton wool, a paper cup and a plastic bag, hardly an adequate defence. but, much like these caves used as bunkers, that is all that they have. a community bracing itself for a coming onslaught that the un says could lead to the worst civilian emergency in the seven year civil war. thousands of yazidis are still missing,

four years after so called islamic state attacked them in their ancestral home in northern iraq. 10,000 were killed or kidnapped, the un has called the crimes against the minority group genocide. an international aid effort, backed by a bombing campaign, saved the majority of the population. now, one british aid worker has made it her mission to help find some of the children who are still lost. this camp on a hillside in northern iraq is home to thousands of yazidis families. they are in limbo. every family here has lost almost everything and do not know if their missing loved ones are still alive. i have come here with the british aid worker to meet one family all

ca ptu red aid worker to meet one family all captured by the islamic state four yea rs captured by the islamic state four years ago. the oldest girl taken as a sex slave. this girl almost lost her kidney to traffickers. eight are missing. including a little boy. her kidney to traffickers. eight are missing. including a little boylj am trying to find all of the youngsters that were taken. particularly this boy because i believe we can find him. i cannot promise you that i am going to do my very best. —— but i am. promise you that i am going to do my very best. -- but i am. translation: all the children were taken away from their parents. they took him, he was nine months old when they took him from his mother. i know you are looking for other family members andi are looking for other family members and i wonder if you think you will see them again. translation: it is

really difficult because isis split us up and ourfamily is really difficult because isis split us up and our family is scattered everywhere. we have no idea if they are still alive. we miss them and life without them is hard. we cannot do this alone. we will need help if we are never going to see them again. —— ever. we are never going to see them again. -- ever. this is the highest of offices of the yazidis faith. a few of the people have been found. translation: bauer still around 3000 missing, more than half of them children under 18. most of them are being held by is and summer in displacement camps. the name given him by isis was russell. you know him? russell. i have video from this

child. where did you get it? translation: i was given this by the police. do you think it is him? definitely. no question. amazing. this is how sally has always worked. in the 1980s in bosnia some called her the angel, crossing front lines to rescue injured children and circumventing bureaucracy. she's trying to do the same in a country like iraq. this is the video and i do not know it is him but if you would look at it and tell me whether you recognise any of the children. do you think it might be him? translation: i helped take care of him in captivity. i would recognise him. i know his face, his eyes. the

photos we have seen is a boy of four and that is the age he would be no. finding a child in iraq, confirming an identity, is sensitive and complicated. despite sally's effort the family may never find their little boy. the same for thousands of other yazidis searching for loved ones. but hope in a bleak life. the headlines on bbc news: an inquest finds that hospital neglect contributed to the death of toddler kayden urmston—bancroft who suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting for emergency surgery, and that there was gross failure in his care. the energy regulator has announced a new price cap which it says will save customers £75 a year.

president trump is demanding the new york times name a white house official behind an article which harshly criticises his leadership. the world's largest off—shore wind farm officially opens off the coast of cumbria today. the £1 billion walney facility covers an area equal to 20,000 football pitches and can generate enough powerfor 600,000 homes. our business correspondent ben thompson has been to take a look. the project is the size of 20,000

football pitches. how does it work? i have been finding out. growing investment in recent years has made the uk a world leader in wind technology. last year, wind provided 15% of britain's electricity, more than from coal. the walney extension wind farm covers 145 square kilometres. it took engineers nearly three years to build it and it's already generating enough powerfor half a million homes. in total, there are 87 turbines, the biggest is 194 metres tall. that is taller than the blackpool tower, or 98 times higher than me. i have two people who can explain what that might mean. how important

our renewables in terms of where we get our energy from? our projects like this making a difference. yes. my like this making a difference. yes. my 2030 offshore wind will be doing a flood of electricity generation. you mentioned the size of the blade. it is one of the uk's biggest infrastructure projects. the renewa bles infrastructure projects. the renewables sector is bigger than housing, water and hs2. huge investment. i wonder what difference that makes two targets. we hear about reducing reliance on traditional energy sources and more renewa bles traditional energy sources and more renewables including solar and wind. i re—going to meet those targets? definitely significant contribution to reducing c02 definitely significant contribution to reducing co2 emissions by 80% by 2050. the renewables sector is going to play a major role as announced by

today's investment. it is important today's investment. it is important to ensure when we look at the long—term energy mix we look at the entire picture, combining energy offshore with pv and nuclear to make sure that there is a stable base to ensure energy security in the future. pv is solar. the problem many people will raise is the idea of houses being a bullet is in terms of houses being a bullet is in terms of co nsta nt of houses being a bullet is in terms of constant generation. there are ups and downs in winter. is it reliable? we are going to want to do more of it because it is the cheapest form of power we have. a lot of cost reduction has come from being more efficient, we are generating more power with the turbines. the national grid is not worried about running the grid that the projections we are looking at our 60% or more variables on the

grid. it will be mixed but storage is going to help. last year turbines we re is going to help. last year turbines were on 75% of the time and be powered this country through the beast of the east. what will the future look like? are we going to see more of these wind turbines p°ppin9 see more of these wind turbines p°pping up see more of these wind turbines popping up in oceans and on hillsides? there is huge possibility that there will be more of these offshore wind farms popping up across important seas like the irish sea because it is really efficient and over the longer term the cost is going to come down. another type of target to meet sustainable growth, so target to meet sustainable growth, so in future we are going to use more electric vehicles, using more electricity and some of the things that we do, smart cities, energy storage, this will rely on renewable energy source in the supply chain and ensuring it is notjust that the use phase it is sustainable but throughout the entire supply chain.

that is the take on what the future would look like. many more of these sort of things in our seas around the uk. shallow waters, lots of wind, great places to put these things. the danger we might rely on ita things. the danger we might rely on it a bit too much if it is not going to get us through some of the peaks and troughs but as the cost of these things comes down, the cost of installing, we are likely to see more power comes from renewable sources. english heritage is asking for the public‘s help in identifying world war one nurses who served at england's first wartime country house hospital. no formal records exist for many of the women who worked at wrest park in bedfordshire, but it's hoped they'll be recognised by relatives in photographs which have been transformed into colour. jane—frances kelly reports. no formal records have ever existed of these nurses, who answered a call to serve at this wartime country hospital.

they are in effect the forgotten women of the first world war. now, this rare collection of black—and—white photographs have been transformed into colour, in the hope they will help people to recognise the faces that feature in them, and the stories they tell. after the outbreak of the war, wrest park in bedfordshire was offered directly to winston churchill as a convalescence home. but, as casualties mounted on the western front, it was transformed into a much—needed hospital, with an operating theatre and x—ray equipment. despite looking relaxed in many of the photographs, the women worked long, emotionally draining shifts. we hope to find out more about these incredible images. we have had a great group of volunteers at wrest park, but we had hit a brick wall. we can't find out anything more about these nurses. it is remarkable converting a black—and—white photo into colour. it brings a whole new life, a sense of humanity to these pictures. 1,600 men were treated

on the hospital's wards before a fire broke out in september 1916, forcing it to close. the unofficial way it was established and its sudden closure meant no proper records were kept of the 100—plus nurses who had worked here. english heritage hope identifying them will highlight the enormous contribution women made to the war effort. the weather is back to something typical of the time of year with some rain forecast over the next few days. this is the picture in the isle of wight. not the same seen everywhere. more cloud and rain across parts of wales into western parts of england, showers further north. we have a lot of low cloud

and drizzle around the coast. the bulk of the wet weather will work further eastwards into central, eastern and southern parts of england. later today a few showers for southern counties of england. 0utbreaks for southern counties of england. outbreaks of rain in east anglia. brighter skies for northern ireland. a scattering of showers. showers through central parts of scotland coming in on that these from the north—west. a bit of brightness to end the day in the north. 0vernight the bulk of the rain works from southern and eastern parts. low pressure developing in the north—east. julie. temperatures particularly in the countryside into single figures. low pressure tomorrow morning, all eyes on the north—east of england and eastern scotland, potentially heavy bursts of rain rotating around that low pressure in the north sea. most

other places having a dry and fairly bright day. here are the wind speed and directions. a bit of sunshine around across northern eastern scotland. seeing the cloud and rain. cooler here. later on friday and overnight into saturday will pressure m oves overnight into saturday will pressure moves towards the east but we have more weather fronts coming from the atlantic. saturday is so grey for england and wales, cloud and rain moving from west to east. it may stay dry in the first of. further north, some sunshine for scotla nd further north, some sunshine for scotland and northern ireland. some showers moving their way west across the country. breezy but it will be a little bit warmer than saturday. an inquest into the death of a toddler in manchester,

who'd waited days for urgent surgery has found "gross failure" in his care. kayden bancroft was waiting for a hernia operation at royal manchester children's hospital. a coroner said his death was "contributed to by neglect". as soon as kayden died we lost a rigorous, wide—ranging investigation to establish what had happened to put in place measures to ensure that this does happen again. also in today's programme, the two men britain says were behind the salisbury nerve agent attacks — this afternoon the un security council will discuss the international arrest warrants. donald trump's described as amoral and reckless by one of his own officials — who says he's working to protect the country from the president's "worst inclinations" a new price cap on energy bills.