today at five: a major review into university funding says tuition fees should be cut to £7,500 a year. the report, commissioned by the government, recommends restoring grants for poorer students, that theresa may admits, shouldn't have been cut. my view is very clear — removing maintenance grants from the least well—off students has not worked, and i believe it is time to bring them back. we'll be getting the view of students, and a university vice—chancellor, on the report's recommendations. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: a six—year—old boy is airlifted to hospital, afterfalling from a rollercoaster at a theme park, in north yorkshire. somehow he got out of the restraint and was hanging out backwards from the carriage, his head kind of

backwards over this way. a few seconds after that he flew out of the carriage and landed on the floor. with the number of candidates for the conservative leadership and prime minister'sjob growing, a former party leader calls for a rule change to avoid chaos. the uk's first next—generation sg mobile network is switched on, but only available in certain areas. and at the start of the cricket world cup — england are taking control against south africa at the oval. it's 5 o'clock — good afternoon. our top story is that a major review into higher education funding has recommended that university tuition fees in england should be reduced to £7,500 a year, and maintenance grants to support poorer students, scrapped in 2016, should also be reinstated. the report commissioned

by the government also says loans should only be written off after a0 years, rather than 30 at present, leaving graduates repaying for longer. here's our education correspondent, frankie mccamley. six students at one college, each with a different plan for theirfuture. some want to go to university. for others, apprenticeships are on the cards. for francesca—lily, money is a big part of her decision. i care for somebody. they can't afford to work because they are disabled. so it makes it harder to then think, "0h, i'll go off to university and have this £40,000—50,000 debt." if they lowered the fees, would that make a difference? i believe you can't put a monetary value on education, so whether that be 7500, 9000, i think so long as the quality of the education is significant enough. lauren chose to do an apprenticeship but would have liked more support, like those at university. i've got a family, a household to run, and i'm on the same basic

rate of pay as a 16—year—old doing the same apprenticeship. but i think a grant or a bursary or even a loan would be more attractive to apprenticeships. the outgoing prime minister, theresa may, commissioned a review looking at post—18 education in england. it's recommending a cap on university fees of £7500, grants for living costs brought back for the poorest students, and tuition—fee loans available for everyone doing advanced qualifications. the current fee, which is high by international standards, can act as a deterrent to disadvantaged groups. a small but significant minority of students are getting poor value from the university experience. at age 29, graduates in some subjects from some institutions earn less than their peers who did not study for a degree. students would be expected to pay back loans up to a0 years, ten years longer than the current system.

the impact is regressive, it's actually graduates who earn less who are going to be contributing more for longer. the review came about because there was a feeling amongst ministers that university costs were just too expensive. there's also political pressure from other parties, looking at reducing tuition fees or scrapping them altogether. but with change at the top of government, some are concerned this latest review could be ignored. it will be up to the government to decide at the upcoming spending review whether to follow their recommendation. but my view is very clear — removing maintenance grants from the least one of students has not worked, and i believe it is time to bring them back. which still leaves uncertainty for future students when deciding what path to take. frankie mccamley, bbc news, in 0ldham. professor nick petford is the vice—chancellor of the university of northampton —

and joins me now. thank you forjoining us. first, what you make of the headline, recommendation of this review, cutting tuition fees to £7,500? it's probably one of the worst kept secrets in higher education, it has been leaked on and off. the number, 7500 has been bandied around the sector for a 7500 has been bandied around the sectorfor a while 7500 has been bandied around the sector for a while and why it brings problems i think there are some opportunities with the review around the reintroduction of the maintenance grant, for instance. but i think it is important to step back and ask why the review has taken place, and it is why the word because theresa may wanted to win over younger voters when jeremy corbyn decided to make university education free. the bottom line is somebody somewhere has to play the 12 billion plus pounds a year to

traina 12 billion plus pounds a year to train a young people. the suggestion is the costs even at £7,500 are still too high, and the whole idea of introducing tuition fees was to try and encourage, through loans and gra nts try and encourage, through loans and grants and so on, more people from poorer backgrounds to get involved in higher education. and that is not happening as much as people thought it would. that is just happening as much as people thought it would. that isjust one of happening as much as people thought it would. that is just one of the myths that continually gets recycled by journalists and myths that continually gets recycled byjournalists and others who want to make a political point about this. the absolute fact is that since the fee went up in 2012 to £9,000, we have seen more young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds attending university than ever before, so clearly that fee, the price on the fee, has not put people off. i think the fear for universities is that if the reduction takes place and there is a lot of, it's just a recommendation, it needs to go through parliament, but if the recommendation is accepted and the fee drops it will

cause severe financial strain on universities and impact the very people we are hoping to recruit from disadvantaged backgrounds. why are the fees are so high in this country compared to others? the fee isjust a replacement of the old teaching grant, so there is no new money really coming into the system. back in 2010, it was a political decision to bring in the £9,000 fee. at the same time, the block grant universities used to get was phased out gradually, so the fee replaces what universities got previously through a fully funded grant. so there is no new money in the system. it is just there is no new money in the system. it isjust a there is no new money in the system. it is just a replacement of the payment. but is it sustainable that stu d e nts payment. but is it sustainable that students are leaving university with £50,000 worth of debt when they get to the age of 29, according to the writer of the report, they are not

earning as much as their peers at that age who did not go to university. and don't have any debt! that again is one of these classic myths propagated across the system... but this is the man who wrote the report, so he has, what colour made that up? he has selectively chosen, as have you, a tiny proportion of students... i'm just quoting the report, i haven't chosen anything. the majority of stu d e nts chosen anything. the majority of students have what is called a graduate premium when they leave university. they earn significantly more than had they not gone to university. there are anomalies, but they are not so for sufficient reason to punish universities in the way your review might do if it is implemented incorrectly. what about the maintenance grants? you would

perhaps agree with theresa may that restoring that makes sense?” perhaps agree with theresa may that restoring that makes sense? i think it's a great idea. there are some good things in the review. but who took that grant away? it wasn't universities, it was politicians. theresa may herself, probably. it's a bit rich for her to claim she's bringing it back when it was her that eliminated the grant for disadvantaged students. i think there are some good things in the report, i like the idea that there will be more focus on fce, more work on apprenticeships, i also think the reduction in the interest rate that stu d e nts reduction in the interest rate that students pay longer term is important as well. to me the most significant thing that might get lost in all this is that they have at surely recommended we move away from the notion of fee and debt and call the payment scheme what it really is which is a student contribution system. it is more akin toa contribution system. it is more akin to a graduate tax than a commercial loa n to a graduate tax than a commercial loan you would get if you bought a

car 01’ loan you would get if you bought a car or house. we all know the controversy surrounding the financially renumeration for some vice chancellors up and down the country. do you think that makes it difficult for people like you to argue forfees to difficult for people like you to argue for fees to stay high? i'm not making any comment on your salary at all, by the way. but does it make it tricky for vice chancellors to argue that fees should stay high when there is this controversy over pay? i get that. i think that is settling across the sector. let's use me as an example, i'm sure you get paid more than i do. take my salary, it is 0.1% of the turnover of the university. if you get rid of me and vice chancellors it is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of money flowing in and out. so to somehow suggest we have a vested interest in keeping the fee high because we are aligning our own pockets is really disingenuous. thank you forjoining us. a boy has been airlifted

to hospital, after an incident at a theme park in north yorkshire. he was transported to leeds general infirmary from lightwater valley, near ripon. witnesses said the child came off the twister ride. his injuries are not thought to be life—threatening. 0ur correspondent, lisa hampele, is with us. police were called at 1130 this morning to this theme park near ripon, and they found a boy had fallen off a ride in the air ambulance was there, and pictures on social media show the emergency services surrounding the boy on the ground and an air ambulance took him to leeds general infirmary. we have since heard from north yorkshire police that he is not in a life—threatening condition. in fact, he was conscious when they arrived. it was extremely lucky he did not die. we have been told the health and safety executive have been informed. and we have been hearing

from people who were there. 0bviously, from people who were there. obviously, it is half term so it is very busy, lots of parents and children, especially on this twister ride which has become renowned, and we have heard from people saying they had hysterical screaming, and we heard from one man, an eyewitness who told us what he saw happen. we looked up to the carriages, it was about 15 foot up, the lad was hanging backwards out as a carriage, somehow he had got out of the restraint and was hanging out backwards from the carriage, his head kind of backwards over this way. a few seconds after that he flew out of the carriage and landed oi'i flew out of the carriage and landed on the floor. everybody started shouting, trying to get the attention of the guy running the machine, but he did see what happened. ten or 15 seconds when past and he eventually noticed and stop the machine altogether and that is when the guys with me jumped over the barrier to see how the lad was. there was an off duty policeman stood next to me and he said i'm a

policeman, can you get out of the way, and he jumped policeman, can you get out of the way, and hejumped in. according to the website for a theme park they say the twister, the ride the boy was on, it gives an awesome, fun packed experience with a track full of seriously tight turns given riders the impression they might not make it round the next corner, with the threat of plummeting onto the tree being a constant source of tension for parents and amusement for kids. lisa, thank you. the former work and pensions secretary, iain duncan smith, has called for changes to the rules governing the conservative leadership race. he says it risks "looking like chaos" because too many mps have entered. so far, 11 candidates have come forward, with the former chancellor, george osborne telling bbc radio 4's pm programme, that it wasn't a bad thing that the party had a proper choice, and that the candidates must be put under proper scrutiny. let's go now to westminster, where we can speak to our assistant political editor, norman smith.

we are used to fields of ten or 15 01’ we are used to fields of ten or 15 or 20 candidates running for us presidential nominations, are we turning more american in this style? i don't think we are because i think there is quite a backlash against this huge range of candidates in a british context. we have never seen such a large field, the most we've ever had in a tory contest was five. we now have 11 with another five potentially waiting in the wings, taking it up to 16 or 17. who knows? but there is no real momentum behind paring back some of these peripheral candidates, culling the candidates, and pretty quickly, because the theories the contest risks becoming logistically unwieldy, protracted, chaotic. and there is a view that some of the lesser—known candidates, frankly who have only thrown their hat in the ring to raise their own profile, knowing full well they have

really no chance of getting elected. so for that reason the executive of the 1922 committee are going to meet on monday to decide whether the party rules need to be changed to, asi party rules need to be changed to, as i say, strip out some of these lesser—known candidates. and what they are looking at is, for example, saying anyone wanting to go into the race needs at least ten mps behind him or her, and those ten can't be on anyone else's list. that will get rid of a lot of the candidates and then on top of that there is an idea that instead of just then on top of that there is an idea that instead ofjust having the bottom candidate dropping out in each of the successive ballots of tory mps, you remove, say, the bottom three and get through the contest much more quickly. i think he will also see pressure on some of the less well known candidates just to pull out, because the fear is they are sort of clouding out the clarity around this contest of the big contenders in the big arguments, so big contenders in the big arguments, soi big contenders in the big arguments,

so i think you will see a real pressure on some of the less candidates to pull out. have a listen to the former tory leader talking about this. this is not like a normal leadership election — this is the point i keep making. this is a leadership election, but to be prime minister, which means that we have to be very focused that the person taking this well, the day after the final result, be the prime minister and have to pick up the pieces of brexit and all the other elements. and that's got to require somebody who really knows where they're going. now, that said, not everyone is against the idea of having a really big field. george osborne, the former chancellor, saying it is good former chancellor, saying it is good for debate, it opens things up. and when you talk to some of those less well—known candidates, they say look atjeremy corbyn, everyone said he didn't have a chance and he won the labour leadership contest. i think also that there is a genuine impatience amongst some younger tories at the old guard who they feel are clogging up the top posts

and feel have had their time, and have failed. mrs may was asked about it today, she joked and said, have failed. mrs may was asked about it today, shejoked and said, it just goes to show we are a land of opportunity. i think, just goes to show we are a land of opportunity. ithink, though, just goes to show we are a land of opportunity. i think, though, for many more experienced tories, the fear is what this looks like to the electorate, and it was put to me that if you want to convince the country that you can organise an orderly brexit, that it is perhaps not a great sign if you can't organise an orderly leadership contest. norman, thank you. the headlines on bbc news: a major review into university funding says tuition fees should be cut to £7,500 a year. a six—year—old boy is airlifted to hospital, after falling from a rollercoaster at a theme park, in north yorkshire. with the number of candidates for the conservative leadership and prime minister'sjob growing, a former party leader calls for a rule change to avoid chaos.

and coming up in the sport, archer ta kes and coming up in the sport, archer takes three wickets for england with a host is well placed to win the opening match of the men's cricket world cup. south africa chasing 300 and 1280 347. kyle edmund is out of the french open. he was full to retire with a knee injury after the first two sets of his second—round match. and liverpool's virtual van dijk says he will swap all his accolades for victory on saturday. we will hear from him at half past five. rescue teams in the hungarian capital, budapest, say there's little hope of finding any more survivors, after a tour boat sank on the river danube. it's thought 21 people are still missing, after the vessel carrying south korean tourists capsized in a collision

with another boat. seven people are confirmed dead. nick thorpe has sent this report from budapest — which does contain some flashing images. the rescue effort continued this morning with little hope of survival for the 21 people still missing. according to eyewitnesses, the mermaid, a 26—metre pleasure boat, capsized and sank within seconds after she was struck by a large river cruiser. video has emerged allegedly showing the incident. translation: what we can see on the cctv footage is the small boat sailing north, as is the bigger vessel. when they reach the pillars of the margaret bridge, the mermaid turns in front of the viking for some reason, and there was a collision. the mermaid was turned on its side, and within about seven seconds it sank. police and rescue vehicles rushed to the scene. there were 33 south korean tourists on the pleasure boat at the time and two hungarian crew.

this is a busy stretch of water often crowded with both large and small craft. weeks of heavy rain and snowmelt upriver in the alps mean the river is swollen and flowing faster than usual, and rescue efforts wese hampered by a continuous downpour. translation: we have 17 units stationed on the shore at different locations. so far, we have hospitalised seven people after their condition had been stabilised, since their body temperature had dropped dangerously. the ambulance service can confirm the death of seven people. attempts to revive them have been u nfortu nately u nsuccessful. as the investigation starts in earnest, there are many questions to answer — first and foremost about the experience and level of training of the crews. the wreck of the tourist ship must now be raised from the bed of the river. it is expected to contain the bodies of many of the missing.

nick thorpe, bbc news, budapest. the uk's first 5g mobile phone network, offering much faster download speeds, launches today. ee has switched on the network in london, cardiff, belfast, edinburgh, birmingham and manchester, but customers will need new handsets. here's our technology correspondent, rory cellanjones. the first new masts have been fitted out, the network has been switched on. now 5g can make the mobile internet reach everyone and everything a lot faster — at least, that's the promise. you'll be able to enjoy much faster speeds. that means you can download things like box sets in seconds rather than minutes. it means you'll be able to do multiplayer gaming in augmented reality. at first, ee is just switching on the network in six cities across the uk, and even there coverage will be patchy. for now, speeds will be roughly five times as fast as 4g, but eventually the new network

should connect millions of things as well as phones to the network, everything from driverless cars to dustbins. the very few people who have one of these phones on launch day may find the 5g revolution gets off to a bit of a slow start, but at least the uk is at or near the front of the pack with this technology. there is, however, one problem. ee and other operators are dependent for some of their equipment on one controversial chinese company. huawei, according to the americans, poses a security threat, and they're urging the uk government to ban it from involvement in 5g. this analyst says an outright ban would have a serious impact. i think it's going to be very negative for the uk. it means we will lose a near leadership position in 56 in europe, and it will slow everything down, and that's disappointing for the networks, but as a consumer i would be disappointed too. the 5g revolution is getting under way, but even without bumps in the road, it'll be three years

before it stretches right across the country. rory cellan—jones, bbc news. our correspondent sarah walton is at covent garden in central london, where people can now access 5g. has it gone? it's fair to say we've had some teething problems with the signal here. we were hoping to be broadcasting to you live over the five g network and indeed we were doing that earlier today, but through the day we have seen the signal speed slow down so we are currently broadcasting in 4g. to put it in context, we are getting 250 megabytes per second on the 5g, if you compare that to what you would get on your home internet which is 50 megabits per second. and this is

nothing to the 500 megabits we were getting earlier in the day. with me is the editor of which computing. is this what we would have expected? teething problems are inevitable. but even 250 megabits, that's pretty impressive. so when we get the high speed internet en 5g what could it mean for our lives? all sorts of things. we will be much more connected, smart cities, smart cars particularly, instead ofjust talking back to the cloud they will talking back to the cloud they will talk to each other and talk about real time problems on the road, so hopefully rhodes will be safer, it will pave the way for autonomous cars. and things like gaming will be pretty amazing, you will be able to do that straight from the cloud because there will be no latency, it will be very fast to connect and it will be very fast to connect and it will be very fast to connect and it will be the end of home broadband, i think. some people may be struggling to get a 4g or even 3g signal in

some places, why do we need 5g? we need to make sure 46 is some places, why do we need 5g? we need to make sure 4g is implemented across the country because it is an important part of digital life these days, you have to be online. so we wa nt days, you have to be online. so we want to see 46 properly implemented before we really go down the road of 56. before we really go down the road of 5g. so all being well we are expecting 5g available across the country in about three years' time. ee say they are working on the issues as will other providers when they launch their networks as well. a report by a think tank which focuses on improving outcomes for people on lower incomes, claims the proportion of workers on low pay is at its lowest since 1980. the resolution foundation argues that poverty pay could be eliminated by the middle of the 2020s — if the government agrees to keep increasing the national living wage. the chancellor, philip hammond, says low pay could be elimated altogether. the point of the day's presentation is around where we go next with the national living wage. we will have reached 60% of median

earnings by next year. that puts us pretty much at the top of the leaderboard internationally, and the question is, can we push the national living wage rate further, possibly as far as eliminating low pay altogether? a "national scandal." that's how ofsted has described support for children with special educational needs in england and wales. today, thousands of parents have delivered a petition demanding that the government takes action, with campaigners saying underfunding has left vulnerable children in limbo. jayne mccubbin has been speaking to one of the families involved. this is when she was hours old. born at 24 weeks, dakota was so small she fit in mary's hand, so small she weighed less than a bag of sugar. they really fought to keep her alive. yeah, and she fought to stay alive, and now i'm fighting for her. mary is one of thousands

who will march in protest today. dakota is now ten and needs help with every aspect of her life from washing to dressing and eating. this is john, our cameraman. hello. but her mum tells me the fight for even basic special—needs support has been a constant struggle. day in, day out. a fight. every day. we've had to fight for the right support plan, fight for the right education, physio, ot, speech and language, and fight for the right home—to—school transport. what do you think of this system? it's unacceptable. in a month, she and two other parents will take their fight even further, to the highest court in the land. the government says it's investing record sums to support children like dakota with special needs — with 350 in extra funding, but councils in england warn they face a £50 billion black hole in the next six years and the most vulnerable are already paying the price. inspections show send provision

in half of over 80 local authorities is failing. even ofsted describes send support as a national scandal. this is why dakota's mum, and others, will march. i'm marching because my school doesn't have enough money. i am marching because currently the education system is broken. i'm marching for all children with special educational needs to ensure that we meet our responsibilities. the protests around the country are unprecedented — as is next month's legal action. "fight" is a word many parents with special—needs children say they are all too familiar with. that fight spills onto the streets today and into the high court at the end ofjune. jayne mccubbin, bbc news. the department for education says it's increased "high needs" funding to £63 billion this year, compared to five billion in 2013, and it's consulting on how to make

the funding system more effective. time for a look at the weather — here's chris fawkes with the forecast. we could see temperatures up to 27 degrees for some of us on saturday. but before we get there, we have had real contrast in weather today. some sunshine across england, and across the north—west it has been quite grim. for northern ireland, scotland, northern england, rain, and more to come overnight. to the south of the weather front, quite dry, but with mist and fog, may be some drizzle. a breezy but mild night for most with cooler air across the far north of scotland. friday, more rain on the way. northern ireland, the finals in england and scotland having the wet weather, and in the western hills of scotla nd weather, and in the western hills of scotland we could see a couple of inches of rain, 50 millimetres,

enough to cause localised surface water flooding. away from the weather front in the north—west, after a cloudy start with some mist and fog, the cloud should thin and break, it will feel humid and close, and the best of the sunshine it could get up to 23 or 24. that is similarto could get up to 23 or 24. that is similar to this afternoon. that is your weather.

this is bbc news — the headlines: a major review into university funding, says tuition fees should be cut to £7,500 a year, with grants for poorer students, reinstated. a six—year—old boy is airlifted to hospital, afterfalling from a roller—coaster at a theme park in north yorkshire. with the number of candidates for the conservative leadership and prime minister'sjob growing, a former party leader calls for a rule change, to avoid chaos. at least seven people have died and 21 are missing

after a tour boat collision on the river danube, in hungary. and the cricket world cup at started today. steve wyatt has the latest. indeed it has. england look set to win the opening game of that men's cricket world cup on home soil with south africa very much struggling towards a target of 312. let's go live to the oval and speak to our reporterjane dougall who live to the oval and speak to our reporter jane dougall who has live to the oval and speak to our reporterjane dougall who has the very latest. you can see what a great view of the oval we have behind us. a sell—out crowd have watched england have a really great day against south africa in the first day of the world cup here at the oval. there were some english hearts in mouths, though, because jonny bairstow went for a golden duck in only the second ball of the tournament. it was in the first over, and it could have been pretty embarrassing for england from that moment on, because

ba i rstow from that moment on, because bairstow had gone so quickly. but they did recover, with scores of 50 or more forjason roy, joe root and captain eoin morgan but it is ben stokes who top scored with 89, and he helped england to their score of 311-8. he helped england to their score of 311—8. south africa came into bat but lost two wickets really cheaply, including captain pfaff du plessis going for five. both wickets taken by jofra archer who has going for five. both wickets taken byjofra archer who has impressed today with his bowling, and england have been doing really well so far, the latest wicket to go with a phenomenal one—handed catch from ben stokes, and it was off the bowling of adil rashid. what an incredible catch that was, worth another couple of looks from that catch, pretty much the catch of the tournament, even though it is only day one. i think it will be hard to find a catch to beat that. give us a sense of the mood around the oval at that

moment, as you say, early days, but it isa moment, as you say, early days, but it is a moment that will take some beating throughout the duration of this world cup. you can imagine their sell—out cloud were pretty vocal when that catch took place and then there were a couple of replays on the big screens, and ben stokes took the deserved applause. england have been doing pretty well. at the moment, south africa are 119—8, chasing a target set by england of 312, a really fascinating day at the oval where prince harry opened the proceedings by saying that due to the diversity of england and wales, every one of the ten nations competing would feel that they had a home crowd. england edging towards victory, thank you very much, jane dougall at the oval. you can listen to live commentary. in england closing in on an opening day win.

liverpool defender virgil van dijk has told the bbc he'd give up his individual awards to win the champions league final against tottenham on saturday. van dijk was named pfa men's player of the year last month but he says european football's biggest competition is the one he really wants to get his hands on. look, football is a team game, and the other day, if you can swap all of these player of the years personal trophies for the champions league, i would do it in no time. but hopefully i won't, i won't have to do. so we are just going to hopefully do it. kyle edmund is out of the french open, after being forced to retire with a knee injury when two sets down in his second round match. the british number one was trailing uruguay‘s pablo cuevas at roland garros. .. and at 2—1 down in the third he called on the trainer... before eventually deciding he couldn't carry on. it means johanna konta is the only british player left in the singles in paris. meanwhile, it was a routine win for world

number one novak djokovic. a straight—sets victory over henri laaksonen sees him move into the third round in paris. he's aiming for his second grand slam title of 2019. serena williams struggled in her first match but not in round two. she beat japanese qualifier kurumi nara in straight sets and will face sofia kenin for a place in the last 16. that's all the sport for now. but i can tell you england havejust beaten south africa by 104 runs in that opening match of the men's cricket world cup. you can follow the cricket world cup and more stories on the bbc website. much more in sportsday with jane and myself from 6:30pm. see you then. patients seeking treatment for depression should be informed of the potential for "severe and long—lasting withdrawal symptoms" when coming off medication. that's the warning from the royal college of psychiatrists, which says official guidance needs to better reflect patients' experiences. existing advice from

the national institute for health and care excellence suggests most people should be able to come off antidepressants over the space of four weeks. but psychiatrists say it is becoming apparent that patients can suffer from symptoms such as restlessness, difficulty sleeping and altered sensations for much longer. we can discuss this more now with michelle lloyd, who's taken prescribed anti—depressants for more than ten years, and believes the side effects of withdrawal from the drugs should be more clearly signposted at consultation. also with me is dr adrianjames from the royal college of psychiatrists. it is great to see you both, thanks for coming along. michelle, if i can start with you? you have been on antidepressants now for a while. during that period, have you tried to get off them? yeah, multiple times, actually. ithink to get off them? yeah, multiple times, actually. i think when i first started taking antidepressants i was very mindful i don't want to be on them forever. i saw it as a kind of short term thing but u nfortu nately kind of short term thing but unfortunately sometimes life has its ups and downs and you find you need

more support than you do. when i had tried to go back to the doctor and say, you know, iwould tried to go back to the doctor and say, you know, i would like to come off them, they obviously give you some guidance about it and say don't just stop, come off them gradually, but every time i have the side effects have just been so extreme that i've always ended up going back on them, because the mood, my mood becomes very, very low, very quickly, and it's hard to maintain a normal life when you're trying to deal with that, going to work, etc, and quite severe side effects, as well. when you were first prescribed them, did the gp or doctor, did they give you any inkling as to the difficulty potentially of coming off them at some point in the future? not really, no, it was all down to my own research i had to do around it. my first consultation was roughly five minutes. five minutes? yeah, i had been living with low mood and anxiety for a long time, it took a lot of guts to go and speak took a lot of guts to go and speak to the doctor about it and i was sent off with a prescription, very

little information about what i was going to be taken, and i think the issueis going to be taken, and i think the issue is the education needed around antidepressants and what they do, how they can affect you, and the idea about coming off them and how you have to be so careful that you do it properly, and also what to look out for and what you can expect, as well. drjames, is michelle's case, is it in the minority, because we know what the national institute for health and ca re national institute for health and care excellence suggest, most people should be able to come off antidepressants over the space of four weeks? well, i think it's important to give a voice to people like michelle, who have had a bad experience of coming off antidepressants, but the majority of people who come off antidepressants do it overa people who come off antidepressants do it over a period of time, and don't suffer the extreme degree of distress michelle has suffered, and it's really important also to remember that depression is a really serious illness. it can be a killer, so serious illness. it can be a killer, so people who are often in a great

deal of distress, it affects their lives, their work, their families, so lives, their work, their families, so it is important people have a range of options to have treatment for their depression. range of options to have treatment fortheir depression. now range of options to have treatment for their depression. now that can be psychological therapies, particularly for mild or moderate types of depression, but antidepressants for those who have a more severe illness are effective but they don't work for everybody. there is no medicine on the planet that works in any condition for everyone , that works in any condition for everyone, and we are saying that not enough attention has been paid to people like michelle, who have suffered more when they try to come off it, and we need more research into this. we need to perhaps look at our perhaps some people more at risk of having withdrawal effects, and are there people we can target with particular drugs who are less likely to suffer them? so we need more research, we need more education, and absolutely, gps, they are hard pressed. we've got some amazing gps, people like their gps, they are at that clinical front line but five minutes is a very short

period of time, so we've argued also today for more money, more time for gps to do the good work that they do. so nice change this recommendation? well, nice are looking at the moment. we thought the time is right to put our voice behind people like michelle, and they will weigh up the evidence. we have looked at the evidence. it is still important to say that the majority of people have mild symptoms that are self—limiting, so they get better by themselves without any other intervention, but that doesn't mean that some people don't have a more extreme experience, and it's all about having that conversation with your doctor, knowing the benefits of the treatment, the alternatives to treatment, the alternatives to treatment, actually having those available, like psychological therapy, often a long wait, it's got better, but also weighing up the risks and benefits to say is it right for you? for cancer drugs, people know that sometimes there are really serious side effects but they still want to take them. but the

most important thing is that people are informed, they can make an informed choice. michelle, how would you characterise your use of antidepressants? they are working for you and that's great, but do you see that you're addicted to them, do you see that you're dependent on them in an unhealthy way at all? yeah, i struggle to think about that side of things, because i think when ido,i side of things, because i think when i do, i think is the way i'm behaving because of the tablets, what is it my general emotions? antidepressants can have an effect on you, in terms of things, it affects your personality slightly. i found i've become very numb to things whereas used to be a very emotional person, which is great in some senses, but not being able to cry can have its downfalls as well because you feel you can't get the emotions out all the time, which has led to self—harm for me in the past, because i just haven't led to self—harm for me in the past, because ijust haven't been able to express those emotions. i do think the side effects and how they affect

you generally need to be talked about more, and doctors need to be more aware of those things, because i think the key is upscaling for gps on giving the antidepressants out and allowing people to know the side effects, and allowing them to know exactly how they affect them, because i was exactly how they affect them, because i was never exactly how they affect them, because i was never told by my gp exactly what these tablets do and how they will affect you. i had to go off and do my own work around that, and it's only down to charities like mind that have that information available. suroor, mind very important indeed. thank you for telling us your story, good luck with everything and dr adrianjames as well, thank you. researchers say people who eat ultra—processed foods, such as chicken nuggets, ice cream and breakfast cereals, tend to be less healthy and die earlier. the studies in france and spain suggest levels of consumption of such foods have soared, but the findings aren't conclusive. here's our health and science correspondent james gallagher. this is ultra—processed food. they're the foods that have been through the most industrial

processing and often have a long list of ingredients on the packet. it includes items like fizzy drinks, crisps and ready meals. ultra processing is a new term, so do we know what it means? crisps and sweets. chicken nuggets from mcdonald's. processed meats, bacon, sausages. white pasta, white bread that has been processed multiple times. a lot of stuff in packets. processed hams, that sort of thing, little chicken bites, that sort of stuff. heavily processed foods, like burgers, are everywhere in our diets. their impact on health was assessed in two studies, which followed more than 100,000 people for up to a decade. so what did the two studies show? the first look at ultra—processed food and death, and it showed that for every ten deaths in people eating the least ultra—processed food, there were 16 in those eating

the most, a 60% increase. the second study looked at heart health, and that found for people eating the least ultra—processed food, there were 242 cases of cardiovascular disease in every 100,000 people every year. now, in people eating the most ultra—processed food, there were 277. the authors of the studies say there is now mounting evidence that ultra—processed foods may be harmful and the research comes out hot on the heels of trials showing these types of foods make us eat more and put on weight. however, much more work is still needed to explain why industrially processing food might have a detrimental effect on our bodies. until then, experts have expressed caution and say these studies are not definitive proof of harm. what we actually need to know is what's behind these associations. is it the ultra—processed foods, is it the nutritional content of them, some kind of additive that is in them, or something to do

with the people's lives of the people who are eating more of them? and i think before we make any changes orjump to any conclusions, we really need to find out a bit more about it. but while the term ultra—processed might feel new, the health advice is very familiar — a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts and seeds also happens to be one full of unprocessed foods. james gallagher, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: a major review into university funding says tuition fees should be cut to £7,500 a year. a six—year—old boy is airlifted to hospital, after falling from a rollercoaster at a theme park in north yorkshire. with the number of candidates for the conservative leadership and prime minister'sjob growing, a former party leader calls for a rule change, to avoid chaos. president trump has called the inquiry by the special investigator robert mueller into russian interference in the 2016 election the "greatest presidential

harrassment in history". his comments come after mr mueller made his first public statement about his report, in which he refused to exonerate mr trump of obstructing justice. prominent us democrats have called for the imeachment of the president. while president trump said his treatment by mr mueller and the media had been a ‘witch—hunt‘. i think he is totally conflicted, as you know, he wanted to meet the fbi director, and i said no. after he left the fbi, he wasn't happy with what i did. i had to do it because it was the right thing to do. i had a dispute. not a nice one, he wasn't happy with what i did, i don't blame him, because it was the right thing to do, but! because it was the right thing to do, but i had a dispute. he loves james comey, so whether it is love or deep like, but he should, he was conflicted. look, robert muller should never have been chosen,

because he wanted the fbi job and he didn't get it and the next day he was picked as special counsel. all this, as prominent us democrats have called for the impeachment of the republican president following mr mueller‘s comments. our correspondent barbara plett usherjoins me now from washington. barbara, it's good to see you. robert mueller made it clear in his statement that under department of justice guidelines he could not indict the president, but there is a real debate about this now in america, isn't there, because the suggestion that he has object —— obstructed justice, that has never been tested in court, as far as indicting a sitting president is concerned? it indicting a sitting president is concerned ? it has indicting a sitting president is concerned? it has never been tested in the courts itself? what mr mueller said, he had never considered charging the president with a crime because guidelines are

you can't charge a sitting president with a crime, so that was not an option, but he made very clear his report did not exonerate mr trump of obstruction of justice, report did not exonerate mr trump of obstruction ofjustice, which was one of the things he was investigating. he said if we had been convinced mr trump did not obstruct justice, we been convinced mr trump did not obstructjustice, we would have said so, and they did not. but what he did say, mr mueller, was that there we re did say, mr mueller, was that there were other avenues to hold a president to account, in effect saying to congress it is up to you to ta ke saying to congress it is up to you to take action here, not the criminal justice system, to take action here, not the criminaljustice system, so he didn't use the word impeachment but thatis didn't use the word impeachment but that is what everybody has heard frankly, and it has intensified the debate within the party. what are the chances of that happening? we know the leader of the democrats in the house nancy pelosi appeals it might be counter—productive and might be counter—productive and might increase the present‘s popularity as happened potentially with bill clinton when he was impeached, and it will probably not get through the senate anyway? yes,

good points all of them, and the ones that ms pelosi herself has been raising. mr mueller‘s first public statement after two years of doing this investigation has intensified the call from some democrats for impeachment, including presidential hopefuls. so far the house speaker nancy pelosi has stood firm with her argument, which is in a sense what one of her allies called it would be a fools errand, because as you noted republicans would not support it, so evenif republicans would not support it, so even if there was an investigation, ultimately there would not be enough votes to impeach the president and this would bleed into a presidential election campaign, so mr trump could label this a democratic witchhunt. they could be anger from democratic voters if house democrats were not seen as paying attention to their bread—and—butter issues instead going after the president. what ms pelosi has been saying is we need to investigate him but at a lower level, at the committee level in congress, and that will continue, and although there have been these intensifying calls for impeachment, so far the numbers are that a large

majority of house democrats to support her approach so we will see where this goes but it is not shifting yet. 0k, barbara plett usher in washington, thank you. a row that's lasted more than five years between the philippines and canada over the dumping of tonnes of rubbish, has been resolved. back in 2014, the authorities in manila discovered canada had sent more than 100 shipping containers of household waste rather than recyclable plastics for disposal, breaking international law. now canada says it's willing to take the rubbish back. howard johnson has more. customs officials are busy at work this week, fumigating canada's controversial containers. the dispute dates back to 2013 and 2014, when more than 100 containers were sent to the philippines in a private business deal. but the paperwork was falsified and said their contents were plastic waste. when the containers were opened, inside, a mix of recyclables, but also household waste and used adult nappies.

a deadlock meant the waste festered in a manila port for half a decade, then last april, just months ahead of crucial mid—term elections, firebrand philippine president roderigo duterte took up the issue. we'll declare war against them. load the containers to a ship and advise canada, i will advise canada that your garbage is on the way. canada agreed to pay for the waste's return but when they missed a recent deadline, duterte said he wanted his government to shoulder the cost. the row has played well with the philippine electorate. i am happy about it. in the philippines, there is a lot of trash here already. i think the way the president handled it is, it's good because he imposed our right as a sovereign country. this saga comes to an end today,

after more than five years. the philippines are about to export their rubbish back to canada. what started as a threat by president roderigo duterte also appears to be influencing other countries here in southeast asia. this week, malaysia said it would send 3,000 tonnes of waste back to developed countries, including the uk, for improperly labelling rubbish as recyclable goods. environment groups say today's shipment detracts from further abuses of the system. this waste was discovered in spot checks. so they're from falsified documents, smuggled in, literally. so i think really we should call it waste trafficking. although far away in the philippines, today's shipment has prompted developed countries to look a better ways of dealing to look at better ways of dealing with their waste closer to home. howard johnson, bbc news, subic bay. it's received wisdom that it's mainly younger people who embrace the latest technological innovations, but could older

generations benefit the most from driverless cars? scientists believe the vehicles of the future will help pensioners stay independent, and feel less isolated. jon kay has the story. electronic voice: where would you like to go today? we'd like to go to the picnic area, please. that would be nice, wouldn't it? yes. maya and jeff are off for a drive... let's go! journey starting. ..but without a driver. turning left. in the grounds of their retirement village, they are testing a computer—operated vehicle. this is amazing. it really is. because they don't know how much longer they'll be able to drive, could this help them get out and socialise? this is the future. well, it is the future. oh, gosh. look we're coming up to. sensors on the pods detect hazards. whoops! that was a sharp stop! automatic braking then prevents accidents. was it scary?

no, it wasn't, it wasn't. it was exhilarating, rather than scary. did you trust it? yes, i did, completely. and i was secure, i had plenty of room, i was comfortable. very impressive. yes. it could be years before these vehicles could be on the roads, but the british team of scientists, psychologists and robotics experts say the pods could work now in enclosed, private spaces, giving residents in homes like st monica's more independence. it's cutting—edge technology, and we're making the future right now, and very privileged to have been a part of that. and also i'm thinking, in the future, maybe i will actually benefit from one of these myself. when you're older? yeah, kind of an insurance policy! journey starting. i went for a ride with 88—year—old monica. turning right. you've made a new friend there.

thank you! she is one of 100 older people who have been consulted in the design of these pods. unable to drive, she thinks they have real potential. it can help us to be independent for as long as possible. turning left. they were a bit late saying that. of course, not all care homes will have the space or the money to have this kind of technology. but the developers say older people should be at the forefront of developing driverless cars. jon kay, bbc news, bristol. the six o'clock news is up next, sophie raworth has a full rundown of what's been going on today, but what about the weather? and it's chris fawkes. weather-wise, we've had some big contrast across the uk from the sunny skies we had earlier on in

cornwall to the rather thick cloud we had to the north and west of the country. on the satellite picture you can see just how extensive that cloud has been, rain bearing is welcome a soggy old afternoon. a few fog patches around some of our english coastal areas, they will likely be thickened as we go into the night. in scotland, the weather watcher described it as dreek, i know what you mean. that will continue as we go on through the rest of the night for scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england too. dry weather further south, the cloud will tend to be thickened, and it will be a mild and breezy night, 13 or 14 degrees the overnight low, a little bit cooler for northern scotland. for the weather story on friday, more rain to come across the north—west of the country, northern ireland, the far north of england, scotland, another wet one. we could see 40 to 50 millimetres of rain for the western hills of scotland, flooding is a

possibility, some big puddles building up on the road as we go through the day, away from these weather fronts in the north—west, through the day, away from these weatherfronts in the north—west, it will probably start off quite cloudy for most of england and wales, if you mist and fog patches around the coasts and hills. it will slowly brighten up with some sunny spells poking through and it will feel quite humid, just like it has done today. with the best of the temperatures we should see highs reaching 24 celsius across eastern parts of england. never that warm in scotla nd parts of england. never that warm in scotland and northern ireland, the high teens generally, but remember we have the cloud and the rain with us here. our weatherfront is we have the cloud and the rain with us here. our weather front is still with us for the start of the weekend but it is quite weak actually, running into an area of high pressure, a little bit of patchy rain, generally brighter skies for much of the day for scotland and northern ireland, still bits of rain around, across england and wales in the sunshine it will get hotter, across eastern england, 27 celsius could be yours come into the low 80s in fahrenheit. the heat doesn't stay with us too long because for the second half of the weekend, sunday sees a low pressure moving and this area of rain is a cold front that

will push its way in. the front itself reaches east anglia and south—east england, really quite late in the day, so it is here where again we will see some of the higher temperatures, potentially between 24 and 26 degrees, just depending on how quick that front arrives. further west, a fresh feel to the weather but at least you'll get some sunshine on northern ireland, so in that respect the weather improving but some big changes taking place in the weather over the next few days. that is the latest forecast.

university tuition fees in england should be cut to £7,500 a year, says a long—awaited review. the cut in fees would be balanced out by extending student loan repayments from 30 to 40 years, but poorer students would get more help. the number of young people from working—class families who apply to and take up places at universities is still a long way from reflecting the country in which we live. today's report also called for much better support for students on vocational courses. we'll be getting reaction. also tonight: a six—year—old boy is flown to hospital after falling from a roller—coaster at lighterwater valley in yorkshire. somehow he'd got out of the actual restraint and was hanging out backwards from the carriage, his head kind of backwards over this way. a few seconds after that,