today at six: the number of drug related deaths in scotland hits a record — more than 1,000 last year. that's triple the death rate for the rest of the uk and the highest in europe. behind the numbers, lives ruined. behind the numbers, lives ruinedli was in icu, and they got my family up, saying that i was going to die. the scottish government calls for a reform of uk drugs policy. also tonight... the off—duty officers who tried to take on the london bridge attackers — an inquest rules that the killers were lawfully shot dead. trump and america's racism row —

the president escalates his twitter attack on these four politicians. and they hit back. we continue the story of marwa and safa. conjoined but now able to live apart. it's a very emotional moment, we've been working a long time to get them here. they've been through so many operations and now, you know, it's worked! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... 50 years on the from the start of the apollo mission to the moon — a milestone in space exploration. and coming up on bbc news, can rory mcilroy make home advantage count as the open championship returns to royal portrush for the first time in 68 years?

good evening and welcome to the bbc‘s news at six. the latest figures reveal the shocking nature of drug abuse in scotland. the number of drug—related deaths has soared to record levels, reaching well over 1,000 last year. that's more than a quarter up on the previous year. and it means scotland's drug—related death rate is now around triple that of the rest of the uk and higher than the rate reported across the eu — that's according to the data available. the scottish government says it's time to reform drug policy, which is shaped in westminster. here's our scotland editor, sarah smith. talk to any drug user in dundee and they all have stories of friends who have recently died from a drug overdose, and their own near—death experiences.

i was in icu, and they called my family up to say i was going to die. we were up smoking crack till four in the morning, and i took valium and heroin. it is that lethal cocktail of drug use that's largely to blame for the increase in drug deaths. the vast majority of those who died had more than one substance in their system. these street valium pills, which contain all sorts of dangerous chemicals, can be particularly deadly. if you were taking them, and them, and taking heroin as well, and maybe they're on medication as well. so that's happening. you can kick drugs. this gym class for recovering addicts shows what is possible. sharon brand is a former heroin user who now runs recovery projects like this one. but she knows the problem is getting worse. she sees the users are getting younger.

now it's children, it's children. who are taking drugs? that are dying. there are three generations of drug users in dundee now. notjust their parents, their friends‘ parents, their friends‘ grandparents. whoever it is, it is right through my community, right through it. to stop people accidentally overdosing in the streets, the scottish government wants to open medically supervised consumption rooms, where users can take illegal drugs in a safer environment. but the scottish government don't have control over drug laws, and that idea has been blocked by the uk home office. the scottish government have declared the situation and emergency and have set up an expert task force. the evidence is that actions like the safer consumption rooms will make a difference, will save lives, so we should follow the evidence, and i really would encourage the uk government to work with us to make that happen.

drugs are the current crisis. ten years ago scotland successfully slashed epidemic levels of knife crime. experts say it's a problem that needs a similar approach. you know, if you did a venn diagram there is always that same group of people, and what typifies them is trauma and hopelessness. and the fact they are not thinking about next year, they arejust thinking, "is today the day i die?" because they don't care about themselves, and nobody else cares about them either, and what does that say about us in scotland? # all this talk of getting old... # do it yourself initiatives like this open mic night for former addicts and friends try and provide some social support. charities complain there is not nearly enough normal treatment for addicts in scotland, in a country where for the first time drugs are killing more people than alcohol. and sarah smith is in glasgow for us

now. as you say, scotland doesn't control drug policies. iwonder what could be done without a change in the law? well, the scottish government have set up this expert panel they say will look into what they can do without actually having to change the law, but of course it is quite convenient for the scottish government to argue they are being prevented by taking more radical action from westminster, that if only they had control over drug laws they could do so much more including perhaps partial decriminalisation of drugs. the opposition say, well, the snp can't blame westminster entirely for problems made in scotland. and scottish drugs charities have been making it very clear today that they don't think existing treatment programmes in scotland are good enough. they say people are waiting too long to get into treatment, and also the treatment is not that effective. the statistics show that over half of the people who died from taking drugs in 2018 had methadone in their system, something subscribed to help them give up

heroin, people in treatment for drugs, yet they had clearly also taken street drugs, overdosed, and died asa taken street drugs, overdosed, and died as a result. sarah, thank you very much. the jury in the inquest into the deaths of the three men who carried out the london bridge attack injune 2017 has concluded they were lawfully killed by armed police. khuram butt, rachid redouane and youssef zaghba were shot dead by firearms officers after a ten—minute rampage in which the attackers killed eight people and injured 48 more. some of what happened that night was captured by members of the public — in footage that we can now show you for the first time, and which some of you may find disturbing. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. borough market. famous for its restaurants, but that night men armed with knives were looking for victims. come back, come back! unarmed pc bartosz tchorzewski had run to within two metres of them, before backing off. straight away, i see that he has

a vest, or rather a suicide belt. you just have no tools to fight with that kind of danger, so we made a decision to withdraw. go through there! run! "get trojan," one officer shouts. a police term for firearms specialists. run, run! get to the car! get trojan! but for some reason the attackers don't follow them further. a man on a bike tries to get the police's attention, and the officers decide to go back and find the attackers. police, police! well, i guess we are police officers so we have to do something. the firearms officers have to know where to go, so at least we have to know where they are. ijust think we needed to circulate where they were. it's no good not having any eyes on them. so, yeah, wejust, i guess, followed them back into the market,

back down the road, not quite sure exactly where they'd gone. at that point, two bakers also joined the chase, armed only with plastic crates and a broom. stay there! the plan — to distract the attackers, to stop them stabbing any more people. stay there! paul clarke, who's filming it all, tells his family to stay back. they'd seen several people stabbed in front of them in a restaurant, but he also follows to keep an eye on the attackers. siren that siren — the sound of the firearms officers arriving. gunfire i sort of dived myself one way into a shutter, cos i was stood there perfectly in line... there was, like, me

and one of the attackers, and the firearms officers. quite lucky not to have been shot myself. gunfire what the bleep is going on here? the firearms officers left their vehicle so quickly that no—one put the handbrake on, and it rolled into some chairs as the attackers fell to the floor, and two unarmed officers stepped forward to handcuff the suspects — worried about the possible suicide belts. i think if i'd had time to think about what i was doing, maybe i wouldn't have done it. i had one thought, and that was people's lives needed to be saved, and if they were real, then we're all in proper trouble. these dreadful events showed us the very worst of humanity, but it also showed us the very best as well. what stood out were the accounts of tremendous bravery and compassion by the public and emergency services alike. the response that night, under the most extreme and chaotic of circumstances, was quite simply extraordinary.

the three attackers murdered eight people. but all through their rampage, people tried to stop them. without their bravery, they could have killed many more. daniel sanford, bbc news. the woman who's been nominated to be the next president of the european commission says she'd be willing to extend the brexit deadline beyond 0ctober. ursula von der leyen has been setting out her priorities in a bid to win the backing of meps, who've been voting this afternoon. damian grammaticas is in strasbourg for us this evening. this business of finding an eu commission president has been a pretty fractious process, hasn't it? it has, judge, and a real sense of tension here because we expect the result anytime now and nobody knows if she will get through. 0ne brexit she made it very clear she would be prepared to grant the uk or look combat favourably, to extend the

negotiation period beyond that drew boos from the probe brexit meps here but also progressive cheers from the bulk of meps who are open to a pragmatic solution and would not wa nt to pragmatic solution and would not want to see the uk crashed out with no deal. she was also then laying out her priorities for the coming yea rs, out her priorities for the coming years, emphasising things like tackling climate change, on protecting the eu's core values, dealing with the refugee crisis by trying to protect refugee rights, but it is unclear if she will get through because she will not get the bouts of the greens and many socialists. we will know the results very shortly and if she doesn't get through the eu will face a summer of very difficult the wrangling as leaders try to find an alternative. damian, thank you very much. donald trump has renewed his attack on four democratic politicians from minority backgrounds — but insisted he doesn't have a racist

bone in his body. the women have dismissed the president's previous comments — in which he suggested they should "leave" the us and "go home" — as racist. the four congress women have dismissed the comments and called them racist. 0ur north america correspondent nick bryant reports. race has always been the most volcanic fault line of american politics, and one that has always run right through the nation's capital. but never in the modern day has a sitting us president used such deliberately divisive language. donald trump prides himself on being the breaker of traditional rules — it's partly why he was elected, and he has intensified his attacks on the banned congress women of colour... then he claimed... last night, the four congresswomen who were the target of the president's racist twitter onslaught stood in shoulder to shoulder solidarity on capitol hill.

he's launching a blatantly racist attack on four duly elected members of the united states house of representatives. all of whom are women of colour. this is the agenda of white nationalists. the first note that i want to tell children across this country is that no matter what the president says, this country belongs to you. and it belongs to everyone. not many republicans have openly criticised donald trump, and there has been support from the party leadership and top presidential aides. the president said today he doesn't have a racist bone in his body. i have been by his side for over three straight years... people show their real selves in private often enough and i have never, ever heard that man say anything untoward based on race in my experience.

virginia was a battle ground in the american civil war, a conflict that often feels like it has never been truly resolved. so what has been the response to the latest racial flare—up there? it just doesn't feel presidential, at all. i don't really like it. he is the face of america and america is like the ideal melting pot. telling people to go back to their countries because they have different coloured skin is not what america is about. i don't view his words as racist. i know some people believe that. but i understand where he is coming from. yet more division in this land of warring political tribes. and this race row ploughing out you sense pretty much as donald trump intended to, and he wants to keep it going. these twitter attacks are a matter of political calculation. he is trying to sketch out the battle lines ahead of next year's presidential election. studio: nick, thank you very much. it has just

studio: nick, thank you very much. it hasjust gone studio: nick, thank you very much. it has just gone a quarter past six. 0ur it has just gone a quarter past six. our top story this evening... the number of deaths from drugs in scotla nd the number of deaths from drugs in scotland is at a record high, more than a thousand last year. and coming up — remembering the inspirational moment 50 years ago today that launched man to the moon. i knew at that point that that's what i wanted to do. i wanted to be involved in that side of life. coming up on sportsday on bbc news, andrew strauss, england's former director of cricket, reveals how four years of hard work helped deliver a world cup success. this week we are telling the remarkable story of twins, safa and marwa from pakistan, who were born joined at the head. surgeons at great 0rmond street hospital in london separated the sisters over the course of three major operations, lasting more than 50 hours. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh and producer

rachael buchanan were given exclusive access over nearly a year. our second report shows how the twins were finally separated, and the months of rehabilitation that have followed. and just so you know, it includes pictures of the operation on the girls. safa and marwa share a single skull. the two—year—olds have already undergone two complex operations at great 0rmond street hospital to prepare them for separation. now, finally, that day has come. their brains, locked together since birth, are eased apart. so this is safa's brain, that's marwa's brain. so they are now separate, apart from that piece of dura? after seven hours, the final connections of bone and tissue are severed. fantastic... at last, after three major operations, the twins are no longerjoined.

what was the moment like when they were separate for the first time? what did that feel like? it's a very emotional moment. we've been working a long time to get them here, they've been through so many operations, and now it's worked! so you've still got, what, four or five hours to do? yes, we have to put them together now. so we've taken them apart, and we have to reconstruct their heads. marwa is still in the operating theatre through here while safa has been moved just next door. for the first time, the survival of each of the twins is not dependent on the other. and that will make it easier for the two surgical teams to regulate their heart rate, blood pressure and other vital signs. safa and marwa's brains used to have a distorted shape. but four months earlier a plastic sheet was inserted between them, and by gradually tightening the pressure, it has largely corrected their appearance — essential before their skills can be rebuilt.

this means both teams can begin reconstruction. the patchwork of skull pieces are shared between theatres. a piece for me, a piece for you. to have enough to cover their heads, they have to divide each bit in two. the bone fragments were pieced together to form the skull of marwa on the left and safa on the right. the gaps were seeded with bone cells. these should slowly close up. the final task is to stretch the skin over their reconstructed skulls. there's just enough to make the join. a pretty amazing day, isn't it? hi, everything is good! at 1:30 in the morning, the surgeons tell the family it's all done.

# hello, safa! # hello, marwa! # how are you today?# then begins the long road to recovery. the twins have daily physiotherapy. this will help them reach some basic milestones — learning to roll, sit, and hold their heads up. # twinkle, twinkle, little star # how i wonder what you are...# but the separation has taken its toll, especially on safa, who suffered a stroke after one of the operations. we made the decision that the bulk of the common vessels go to marwa, the weaker twin. because of that decision, safa suffered a stroke. what i really want to see is the weakness that safa has at the moment, and she has a weakness in her left arm and left leg, improves. so for me the big moment is going to be when she walks

and when she uses her left arm properly. because, you know, i have given her that weakness, and for me that is a hard thing. five months after separation, nearly a year since they were admitted to hospital, the girls are leaving great 0rmond street. time to say goodbye to doctors and nurses who have become friends. until the twins are well enough to return to pakistan, they'll stay in london — all paid for by the donor who funded their surgery. the twins are likely to have some learning difficulties, but their mum is overjoyed at the freedom separation has brought.

whatever hurdles safa and marwa may face in years to come, they will at least do that as separate, independent girls. twins still but conjoined no more. fergus walsh, bbc news. and in ourfinal report tomorrow we'll meet another set of twins once joined at the head — who were separated by the same surgical team. regular pay is growing at its fastest rate for a number of years, according to official statistics. the boost to the national living wage in april provided a lift for wages. the conservative party needs to be more honest and open when it comes to tackling islamophobia according to some of its members. the party has come under fire in recent months over its handling of anti—muslim behaviour

in its ranks. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth has been speaking to current and former muslim party members about their experiences — and just a warning, her report contains offensive language. keeping pace with the changing face of britain has at times been a challenge for political parties, and 110w challenge for political parties, and now the conservatives have been accused of failing to tackle anti—muslim hatred in their ranks. the way you look at the family you come from, the ethnic background you come from, the ethnic background you come from, the ethnic background you come from, they tend to judge you on that. this woman is a tory member and former councillor and she says asa and former councillor and she says as a muslim woman she had to work harder to be accepted. as a muslim woman she had to work harder to be acceptedlj as a muslim woman she had to work harder to be accepted. i think it was a judgment that said i don't know who you are, you are standing for the tory party but you come from an immigrant background. you are pakistani and muslim, and a female, you are young, 20 years old, can i trust you? what have we done to say to an immigrant family or a muslim

family you can subscribe to conservative party values? but what we have done is make people feel uncomfortable. many of the allegations focus on online comments shared by tory councillors or members or people claiming to be supporters, things like... the conservative party says when it has been made aware of the small number of cases it has acted swiftly and decisively, investigating and suspending or expelling those involved. but this man who runs a launderette in west london says his complaint was never properly addressed, he was a tory activist who claims he was stopped from standing for election in winnable areas because of his background. ethnicity played, background heritage played a part, and if i was white and i did not have a beard and my name was english, british, i'm

sure i would have had a greater say in determining where i could or could not stand. a conservative spokesperson said he was offered good seats and rejected his claims. he has nowjoined the lib dems. a complaint about islamophobia has been submitted to the equality and human rights commission which is considering whether or not to act. they have been repeated calls for the party to host an independent inquiry into the issue now is about to elect a new leader there is renewed pressure from some quarters for whoever gets the job to take action. i'm proud to say i have never experienced anything like that. but for this young councillor from wilmslow it hasn't been an issue. i have not seen any form of discrimination against myself or any other young people, in fact quite the opposite. they might be some members who have different views but the conservative party has made it very clear if you make any comments which are not accepted in society,

the conservative party will consider removing your membership. the conservative party has repeatedly said it does not tolerate discrimination but some are still pushing for a much firmer stance. alex forsyth, bbc news. it was one of the most extraordinary achievements of all time — the mission that allowed man to walk on the moon. an historic moment that captivated people across the globe. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... 50 years ago today the apollo 11 rocket blasted off from the kennedy space centre in florida. all thoughts were with the three astronauts in the tiny capsule. but there is another side of the story —

the impact it had on the millions who stayed up, watching tv as the mission unfolded. the uk's space agency has been piecing together their stories and the lasting effect that the event had on their lives. here's david sillito. columbia, columbia... here goes the mission with the television camera on it. this is the story of what landing on the moon meant to us. it's one small step for man... 0ne giant leap for mankind. home movies, scrapbooks, photos, a national memory bank of this, where were you moment? the first man on the moon. and of the hundreds of contributors we have been speaking to three of them. i'm with my parents and all of the schoolchildren of myjunior school. there is armstrong. it'sjust myself in the left chair, my dad on the right looking at the television. you're thinking, i've never been up this late! it's four o'clock at the morning. the children got very bored and they were getting up and running round and then dodging, trying to see, and i'm getting so frustrated with this,

i burst into tears. the mission has gone so perfectly so a mid—course correction to tomorrow morning... and the bbc‘s man in the studio was james burke. filling time without pictures for more than four hours. the atmosphere is quite tense because it was something you got one go at. if you got it wrong you got it completely wrong. you can just make out the backpack and the visor in front of it. i had horror dreams the night before that he would be walking down the steps and he would open his mouth and say something and i would say something on top of it. but perhaps the most important thing was just the sheer spectacle of it, the world was watching this demonstration of science and engineering, and for a generation of young viewers it was inspirational. i knew at that point that that was what i wanted to do, i wanted to be involved in that side of life, those programmes. you can talk to an awful lot of people from my generation and later who were inspired. these are the apollo stories

from britain's living rooms, an archive of memories, inspiration, and feelings. i just thought it was the start of bases on the moon leading to bases on mars but it turned out to be a bit different to that. and jackie... it inspired me but i was in this situation that the best i could aspire to was to be a clerk typist. 50 years on she is now a professional space artist. i always knew i would be an outsider of science but i was determined, despite that, that i'd get in there somehow and i did. however, a lot of the tv coverage has been lost, much of the bbc commentary has not survived. thankfully, one eager 12—year—old was recording it at home. and young philip longden even added his own moon commentary.

eagle taking off for the moon... david sillito, bbc news. incredible. time for a look at the weather. here's tim miller. we have a partial lunar eclipse this evening at the big question is will the weather play ball? maximum eclipse time at 1030 and the extent of the land it showing up shows we are cloud free across many areas, apart from are cloud free across many areas, apartfrom in are cloud free across many areas, apart from in the shetland islands. there are a few evening showers out there and they will slowly fade away, but much of the night will be dry, england and wales will have the odd mist and fog batch and there a weather system approaching western scotla nd weather system approaching western scotland so for some it will be turning wetter —— patch. into morrow, looking at the big picture, low pressure coming our way, not just one but a few of these lining up just one but a few of these lining up in ourdirection just one but a few of these lining up in our direction for the next few days, not raining all the time but they will be some rain at times, and

if you want