tonight at ten — record numbers of people are dying on british streets, because of drugs. among the worst hit areas, the north east of england, where mostly heroin and cocaine are wrecking lives. we continue our series of special reports on britain's drug crisis. as a nation are we failing to protect our children? yes, i think we are. also tonight... politicians react to jeremy corbyn's call for a government no confidence vote, and him becoming prime minister. standing here you really get a sense of the size of this creature. and we report from one of the biggest dinosaur graveyards in the world, where new species have been discovered.

and coming up on sportsday on bbc news — england are bowled out on the first day's play of the second test at lord's, leaving them plenty to do if they are to level the ashes series. good evening. the extent of britain's drug crisis has been laid bare in the starkest terms, as new figures reveal drug—related deaths have hit appalling levels. the number of people dying as a result of substance misuse, mainly heroin and cocaine, has jumped by the biggest annual rate since records began. the statistics for england and wales show a 16% increase in overall drug poisoning deaths, and comes weeks after record figures too, for scotland. it's the north east of england that has the highest number of fatalities

from illicit drugs per head of the population, followed by wales and the north west. in a moment we'll have more on the dramatic rise in drug deaths, but first, we've been reporting on one of the key factors behind the crisis throughout this week — the supply of drugs from britain's cities, to its towns and even villages — what police call the "county lines". ed thomas has our special report. as heroin deaths reach record highs, for three months we've investigated the rise in county line drug dealing, exploited teenage drug runners, vulnerable, long—term users. just taking it to feel normal. with heroin and crack cocaine, trafficked hundreds of miles every week. oh, my god! put your legs down. having watched that footage, it's quite distressing, really, because it's bringing home the reality. you can't not be shocked. as a police officer of 25 years' experience, that's the harsh reality

of what is happening in towns and cities across our country. we showed our reports to assistant chief constable chris green and to child safeguarding head, sarah o'brien. at times during ourfilming, the flow of teenage drug mules between merseyside and north wales seemed relentless. you've got that there in case you get taxed, haven't you? this is not just a st helens problem. this is a national problem. there are children out there on the street today who've gone missing who we cannot keep safe. there are children out there today who are in the type of houses that you featured in your film. they are at risk. can we keep all of them safe at the moment? no, we can't. put that knife down. so at the moment in st helens, children—wise, we have three missings. we discovered a network of children's homes in st helens targeted by county lines gangs. there's chaos. if it gets bigger, then there's just not enough of us. criminal exploitation is a crisis. and i think the funding is a crisis.

mental health services are at breaking point. schools are at breaking point. social care is at breaking point. so we need more resource putting in. as we filmed in north wales, one officer told us he no longer arrested heroin and crack cocaine users for personal possession. his priority was to protect and safeguard child dealers. you ask any of the users, have i ever locked them up for having personal bits on them... as a person, i can absolutely understand someone making a decision to say, do you know what, i need to try and get into that house to make sure that people are safe, to make sure i've not got any children in there from elsewhere who are vulnerable. officers provided this footage showing a young child being arrested. screaming. stop biting!

i'm not biting. they said the child had slipped into crisis after being exploited by criminals. probably in that moment he was absolutely terrified. oh, my god! put your legs down. banging. stop banging your head. and he's somebody‘s child. and we collectively as a society, particularly for these vulnerable young people who are in care for whatever reason, we need to protect them. quite often it is absolutely right that a young person needs to be arrested. it'sjustified, it's reasonable, and it's lawful. it doesn't make good watching. no cop comes into work wanting to go out and arrest children. no one. as a nation, are we failing to protect our children? yes, i think we are, from criminal exploitation. drug gangs, grooming thousands of vulnerable children. record drug deaths. county lines, one of the most complex policing challenges of the 21st—century. ed thomas, bbc news.

our home editor mark easton is here. sobering details, of britain's drug crisis in that report, on top of the record number of deaths due to drugs misuse that we are finding out about. now, what's driving all this? for some people it is about cuts and when it comes to drug deaths it's about cuts to treatment services, but behind that argument i think is a more fundamental question. should drugs policy be about law enforcement? should it be about banning substances and then prosecuting those involved with them stew mark or should it take a public health approach, reducing harm, both to the users as we saw in that report, and to wider society and the difference can be seen in the government's approached two approaches that experts argue would actually save lives. for instance, giving free heroin to heroin users when other substitution therapies don't work. another is medically supervised consumption rooms, where

users can take street bought drugs safely and without the fear of prosecution. and then of course there is de—criminalising and even legalising drugs, so that supplies and suppliers can be regulated. but the idea of state involvement in those kind of areas goes against the government's key message, which is that drugs are dangerous and people should not take them. in fact an independent review of drugs policy, commissioned by the home office, explicitly rules out any change to the existing legislative framework oi’ the existing legislative framework or government machinery. in other words, it rules out the kind of shift in thinking that the government's critics say is essential to saving lives. 0k, government's critics say is essentialto saving lives. 0k, mark easton, thank you, our home editor. the liberal democrat leader jo swinson says she's willing to meetjeremy corbyn to discuss plans to avoid a no—deal brexit. it follows a letter from the labour leader to opposition parties and conservative rebels, calling for support on a no confidence motion, to end

borisjohnson's premiership. if it passes, mr corbyn says he'd become caretaker prime minister, for a limited period, and ask the eu for a delay in brexit. here's our political correspondent, ben wright. just another day in westminster. a protest about the potential risk to farming from a no—deal brexit, and politiciansjostling to prove they have the best strategy for trying to stop it happening. labour'sjeremy corbyn has written to other opposition party leaders, asking them to back him as a caretaker prime minister. that's why i'll put the motion of no confidence, and that's why we, the labour party — by far the largest opposition party — have, i think, a responsibility to take over to ensure there is no cliff—edge brexit. it is possible for mps to install a new prime minister without there being a general election first but... for this to have any chance of working, some tory mps would have to join forces with opposition parties — and that is

a very big step to take. i think it would be absolutely extraordinary if any conservative mp considered even for one minute installing jeremy corbyn in downing street. you know, jeremy corbyn would wreck our economy, you know, he'd destroy people's jobs, their livelihoods. the snp do sound keen onjeremy corbyn's idea of trying to form a new government, delaying brexit again, and then holding an election. we'll work with anyone, and we'll explore any option to stop brexit. it's no secret i'm not a great fan ofjeremy corbyn, but we won't rule out any option if it helps to avert what is a looming catastrophe. the lib dem leader, jo swinson, says she wants to discuss ways to work with jeremy corbyn but insisted the labour leader does not have the commons support to become prime minister. there is no way he can unite rebel conservatives and independents to stop borisjohnson. it's not even certain he would secure all the votes of labour mps.

by refusing to back a jeremy corbyn led interim government, aren't your own red lines scuppering the whole idea? jeremy corbyn, i think, in his heart of hearts, knows he can't command a majority in the house of commons. and so this is about having a plan that works. so among mps who want to try and block a no—deal brexit, there is a big disagreement over methods and tactics. ministers insist that the uk will leave the eu at the end of october, whatever parliament attempts. if bringing down the government doesn't work, mps opposed to a no—deal brexit may try and force borisjohnson to ask the eu for another delay — but time is not on their side. ben wright, bbc news, westminster. israel has banned two us congresswomen from visiting the country, after donald trump claimed they "hated israel and all jewish people". rashida tlaib and ilhan omar are democrats, who've criticised israel's policy towards the palestinians.

the israeli government says they've been denied entry because of their support for a boycott of the country. our north america editor, john sopel, reports. have two newly elected members of congress ever created the stir that ilhan omar and rashida tlaib have? they were the first two muslim women to be elected to the house. they're both on the left of the democratic party, neither is a fan of the israeli government, both are outspoken, and donald trump relishes going after them. omar has a history of launching vicious anti—semitic screeds. her colleague, representative rashida tlaib... booing. ..agreed with omar‘s characterisation of 9/11 and said that members of congress who support israel forgot what country they represent. and they haven't been shy in dishing it straight back to him.

we have said this president is racist, we have condemned his racist remarks. i believe he is fascist. this is normal political knock—about, but this morning donald trump tweeted this... "it would show great weakness if israel allowed representative omar and representative tlaib to visit." "they hate israel and alljewish people, and there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds." moments later, israel announced its ban on the two congresswomen's visit. the government says it welcomes critics and criticism but... translation: israeli law prohibits the entry into israel of those who call for and work to impose boycotts on israel, and this is what the interior minister decided regarding the two congresswomen, and i agree with him. for donald trump, this isn't about who goes in and out of israel — it's about the next election, and he wants to personify the democratic party as these two women.

he's vilified them as being anti—semitic, left—wing extremists, anti—american. and the more that democrats get behind them, the more he likes it. but what israel stands to get out of this is harder to fathom. the us president and israeli prime minister are tight, but this decision hasn't only alienated democrats. many republicans are critical too, and even aipac, the pro—israel lobbying group, has said it's wrong. john sopel, bbc news, washington. police in malaysia investigating the death of the british teenager nora quoirin say they've found no evidence of violence. the 15—year—old from london was found dead ten days after she disappeared while on holiday. a postmortem examination found she'd suffered internal bleeding, probably caused by hunger and stress. howard johnson reports from malaysia. after nora quoirin's body was discovered on tuesday,

a senior pathologist was dispatched from the malaysian capital, kuala lumpur, to carry out a postmortem examination of the london teenager. today, at a police press conference, the first details of how she died were revealed. translation: the real cause of death was internal bleeding of the intestines which may have been caused by not having any food over a long period of time. the state police chief went on to stress he believes there was no suspicion of foul play. nora is believed to have died about two to three days before her body was found. no element of abduction or kidnapping. the teenager, who lived with her parents in london, had been missing for ten days. the family have always insisted, given nora's learning difficulties, it is very unlikely she would have walked off alone. the malaysian police have always treated nora's disappearance as a missing—persons case. behind this gate is the road that

leads to the palm—oil plantation where nora's body was discovered on tuesday. today, the family said that they would like people to end the speculation about how nora died and to give them the space to grieve in peace. although today's police announcement will have gone some way to clarifying how nora died, the circumstances surrounding her disappearance still leaves many questions to be answered. howard johnson, bbc news, pantai, malaysia. the family of a british woman who died after being set alight in barbados say they are shocked and devastated by her death. natalie crichlow, who was 44, was on the island taking care of her disabled brother back injuly when her family say she was attacked by an intruder. she suffered 75% burns and died in hospital last week. a man has been stabbed outside the home office in central london. police say the victim's injuries are not life—threatening. a 29—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion

of grievous bodily harm and possessing cs spray. the number of female students taking exams in a—level sciences has overtaken the number of males for the very first time. but the publication of a—level results for hundreds of thousands of students across the uk has also revealed a sharp drop in those awarded the top a and a* grades. here's frankie mccamley. ok! i'm all right with that, oh my gosh. oh my gosh, just about! the results are in — after weeks of waiting. for some, there is no hiding it's good news. an a in my epo, and then a, b, b, so i'm into manchester, i checked ucas, i mean. that's what i needed! just outside the college in stourbridge, there is a huge sense of relief — the wait is over. tears of happiness, a day for celebration that the hard work paid off.

across england, wales and northern ireland, the number of students getting top grades dipped slightly to 25.5%. the overall pass rate, though, was the same as last year at 97.6%. and after conscious efforts, for the first time, more girls took a science a—level than boys. now students have got their results, for those who want to go on to university, they have more choice and control than they ever have done before over what course they want to do and where they want to do it. it's a buyer's market. and students here are taking advantage of all sorts of options for the future. i'm going on to an apprenticeship in accountancy in audit in birmingham. i didn't want to walk out of a degree and not have any work experience. for me, the career i wanted, i had to go to university, which obviously i don't mind. kind of figure it out

as i go along and then see — maybe uni, maybe not. but i only want to go if it's something i'm really interested in. in the college student support centre, olivia really wants to go to university, but she didn't get the grades. i'm not good at exams, so i stress myself out too much, and i don't do as well as i could do. aston university clearing, how many i help you? she's one of many turning to clearing after doing better or worse than expected, but with the dip in top grades, questions are being asked about standards. if you look at the reforms in both the a—levels and the btec qualifications, there have been quite a lot of changes, so we expected the number of as to come down, but i don't think that the standards are any less — in fact, i think they are pretty rigorous. after phoning around, olivia has been offered a place at the university of reading. one happy ending following a day of mixed emotions across the country. frankie mccamley, bbc news. a court in gibraltar has ordered

the release of an iranian tanker which was seized by royal marines last month on suspicion of supplying oil to syria in breach of eu sanctions. gibraltar‘s government says tehran has given assurances that the vessel, the grace 1, wouldn't deliver its cargo to syria. the ship's seizure led to a diplomatic row between london and tehran. in retaliation, revolutionary guards seized a british—flagged tanker which is still being held by the iranians. at least three soldiers have been killed in an exchange of fire between pakistani and indian military forces along the line of control which divides the disputed territory of kashmir. meanwhile, there have been protests in birmingham and london over delhi's decision to remove the limited autonomy kashmir enjoyed in the parts of the territory india controls. thousands took part in the demonstrations. kashmir is india's only majority muslim state. our correspondent secunder kermani is in islamabad.

just how bad did you good today with that flare—up over the border? just how bad did you good today with that flare-up over the border? well, there were conflicting reports about what happened along the line of control. the pakistani military says that three of its soldiers and five indian soldiers were killed, while the indian army denies it suffered any the indian army denies it suffered a ny losses. the indian army denies it suffered any losses. clashes between the two sides in the region are not uncommon, but this comes at a dangerous moment. last week, india's trip to be part of kashmir that it controls, which has been home to a long—running insurgency, of its special, more autonomous status. now, analysts believe this is part ofa now, analysts believe this is part of a drive by the hindu nationalist government in india cracking down on a muslim majority province, and the move has infuriated the authorities here in pakistan, who believe that kashmiris should be given an option to vote for independence from india and become part of pakistan instead. the prime minister, imran khan, has called on the international community to intervene, and tomorrow

the united nations security council will hold a closed doors discussion about kashmir, but indian officials remain adamant that their policy there is an internal matter, so tensions look set to escalate. 0k, secunder, thank you for that, secunder, thank you for that, secunder kermani there in islamabad. one of the biggest sites for dinosaur bones anywhere in the world is being excavated in the us state of wyoming. the dig, which has been dubbed mission jurassic, has already unearthed more than a dozen fossils and footprints, and researchers think there may be more than 100 dinosaurs buried there. the bones are painstakingly unearthed and reassembled likejigsaw puzzles. palaeontologists say the site is so rich in bones it will keep them busy for at least 20 years. our science correspondent rebecca morelle has the story. a hot, dusty landscape extending for miles. but emerging from this barren terrain,

a dinosaur graveyard, where the bones of some of the biggest creatures ever to roam the earth are being discovered. where does this fit on this mass? that slots straight in here. so you found the pelvis? yeah, it's brilliant. that's amazing! the dig is called missionjurassic. what is fantastic about this site, there's multiple bones from at least a dozen individuals already poking out of the ground. when you realise we have only really scratched a corner of this square mile, there is going to be dozens, if not 100 plus dinosaurs lurking in the rocks of thejurassic here. this dinosaur drowned in a flash flood and was then caught up in a logjam. the tree trunk it was crushed up against is still preserved millions of years later. these are just some of the amazing bones that are being discovered at this site. right here, you have an arm bone. next to it, a giant shoulder blade. and then you can just begin to see the backbone starting to emerge. and standing here, you really get a sense of the size of this creature. it's a type of sauropod,

which from nose to tail measured 30 metres long. and scientists think it might even be a species that's new to science. there are so many dinosaurs here. excavating each bone is a painstaking process. so it takes people power. but how do you tell bone from rock? try licking it. 0k. quite sticky? yeah. because it's porous, and it's sucking onto your tongue. so that's. .. rock doesn't do that, but bone does. the rocks are from thejurassic period, 150 million years ago. a golden age when dinosaurs exploded in shape and size. dinosaurs are getting really, really, really big, and there are loads of them. there are loads of different types, and they are all walking around on these flood plains, eating presumably huge forests. and that is a really good question, actually. where were all these huge forests, and how did they get enough food to eat?

the dig is like going back in time. a meat—eating allosaurus has been found here, and herds of plant—eating diplodocus also grazed on this landscape. before that, there was a vast inland sea. marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs were abundant in these waters. this dinosaur dig is expected to last 20 years, but the team says the efforts will be worth it to unlock the secrets of the jurassic past. rebecca morelle, bbc news, wyoming. in the second ashes test at lord's, australia have dominated play after putting england in to bat. the tourists are 30—1 in theirfirst innings after bowling england out for 258. joe wilson watched all the action. lord's wore red for the strauss family — for andrew, who played 100 test matches, for his sons, who rang the ceremonial bell, but really for their mum. ruth strauss died from a rare form of lung cancer — a charitable foundation carries her name. it was a reminder, even to the

players, that there is a context. i'm hoping for a very competitive day's cricket today, but also some moments where all 22 players come together and go, cricket is big but there are bigger things in life as well. the day deserved engrossing cricket — it got it. australia dismissed jason roy for none. they gotjoe root lbw for 1h. rory burns looked at the game his way — some good shots, some fortune, he made 53. to get him out, cameron bancroft held a catch that made you catch your breath. the fielder had to react the instant the ball left the bat and then cling — got it. jonny bairstow made a welcome 50 and proved that even the boundary turned red, there. 258 was england's total. but that was not end of the day. the floodlights were on, and it was england's turned to bowl. few have bowled with so much anticipation

behind them asjofra archer — he didn't quite succeed. but stuart broad did. david warner gone, and that wicket was enough to keep england believing. joe wilson, bbc news, at lord's. that's it, now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. have a very good night.

hello and welcome to sportsday. these are the headlines tonight. england feel the heat — bowled out as play gets under way in the second ashes test. wolves and rangers keep their europa league dreams alive. and scotland head coach shelley kerr and her regrets following a row with her players at the end of the women's world cup. hello and welcome.

england trailing 1—0 in the series, after yesterday's wash—out, play finally got under way in the second ashes test at lords. but at times england may have wanted the rain to come to their rescue, bowled out on day two for 258. australia in reply losing david warner as they closed on 30—1. joe wilson was at lords. this was a day at lord's when cricket was put into its correct context, i think. cricket was put into its correct context, ithink. the cricket was put into its correct context, i think. the guest of honour was andrew strauss with his two sons. they will read, many spectators will read, many parts of the ground were turned red and this is and support of ruth strauss, his wife who died of a rare form of lung cancer and the foundation in her name is now trying to do research and raise money. i'm sure andrew would have wanted today is a full day of proper ashes cricket, engrossing stuff, and that is what

we got. brave decision from the streller is my captain to bowl first and it paid off. josh hazlewood brought in to australia's team and it was him who took two early wickets including jason roy, whose test match education continued with a duck today. these things happen. england would have been relieved and pleased to seejonny bairstow find some form, he made a half—century, as did rory burns, who picked up where you left off in birmingham, to an extent. fantastic catch by cameron bancroft, so close to the bat to get rid of him. outstanding. 258 from england didn't seem like much but, then, as the day turned into evening, as the floodlights we re into evening, as the floodlights were switched on, australia found themselves batting in tricky conditions and found themselves losing david warner before the close of play. this match will resume in an intriguing state but, remember, we have had two days already, and with some weather around, time here at lord's is of the essence. yes and wickets the order of the day for england tomorrow.

only two players passing 50, jonny bairstow and rory burns as we saw. but the surrey batsman feels england's 258 keeps them in the game. compared to the total, we could have eked out a few more and could have got a few more and extended our game but i think it's game on and we are amongst them. obviously, but are day pupils in this test series, and they are looking at different ways of getting me out. they ran past me and mentioned it within about three balls. i was well versed in what i was prepared for what i was getting. it is just was prepared for what i was getting. it isjust a was prepared for what i was getting. it is just a good battle, was prepared for what i was getting. it isjust a good battle, isn't was prepared for what i was getting. it is just a good battle, isn't it? we have to make sure we are doing the basics good of the bat and bat for long period of time. they have world—class bowler so it'll be challenging but fingers crossed we can dig deep, and if we can better couple of big partnerships and for a long time, hopefully we will get in

a decent position.