at six — the first drug to tackle the causes of alzheimer's is approved in the united states, raising hopes for patients worldwide. it's called aducanumab, and it's the first new drug that can treat the most common form of dementia for 20 years. my cognitive tests were improving quite markedly. they were getting quite noticeable that my cognitive tests were improving. it's not known if, or when, it will get approval in the uk. also tonight: thousands of british holidaymakers scramble to get home from portugal before the quarantine deadline tomorrow morning. anyone in england aged 25 to 29 will be invited for a covid vaccine from tomorrow. over the top — the prime minister and culture secretary criticise the suspension of england's ollie robinson over racist and sexist messages

posted when he was 19. and jeff bezos — the founder of amazon — will travel into space next month, on his rocket company's first sightseeing trip. and coming up on the bbc news channel: world number one novak djokovic is through to the quarterfinals of the french open, after a scare from italian teenager lorenzo musetti. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the first drug for almost 20 years to treat alzheimer's disease has been approved in the us. it's called aducanumab and it treats the underlying causes of alzheimer's — the build—up of toxic proteins in the brain.

alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia and affects hundreds of thousands of people in the uk. but it could be at least a year before a decision is made about whether to approve the new drug here. our medical editor, fergus walsh, reports. this is an historic moment in the battle against alzheimer's. for the first time, a drug has been approved which tackles not just the symptoms, but the underlying cause of this devastating disease. aducanumab is not yet licenced in the uk and available only as part of a clinical trial, like here, at the national hospital for neurology in central london. aldo, who's 68, was diagnosed with alzheimer's ten years ago and had to stop working as a surgeon. he receives aducanumab every month via infusion and is certain it's helped him.

i felt that i wasn't getting so mixed up. my cognitive tests were improving quite markedly. two years ago, aducanumab was written off as a failure and the trial aldo was taking part in was abandoned. but the manufacturers, biogen, analysed more data and concluded those on the highest doses had better cognition, memory and language. this is the brain of someone with early alzheimer's. the red areas show a build—up of amyloid, a protein which can form toxic deposits. this is the same individual after a year of aducanumab. significant amounts of amyloid have been cleared. this is the first potential treatment that can tackle the underlying causes of the disease and so for— underlying causes of the disease and so for this_ underlying causes of the disease and so for this reason, this really is quite _ so for this reason, this really is quite a — so for this reason, this really is quite a pivotal moment for alzheimer's disease.

in recent years, over 100 promising alzheimer's drugs have flopped, so to now have a medicine that can potentially slow the disease is a huge moment and will encourage scientists to redouble their efforts and find even better treatments. aldo has been back on aducanumab for six months and says he's already beginning to feel the benefits. i've noticed that i'm getting less confused. although it's still there, it's not quite as bad. and i'm just feeling that bit more confident now. aducanumab is suitable only for those with mild alzheimer's, when damage to brain function is still limited. it could take more than a year before uk regulators decide whether to approve the drug. if they do, demand here will be enormous. and fergus is here. how much of a breakthrough could this be? well, this is not a miracle drug, it is not a cure for

alzheimer's, but it is the first treatment to tackle the underlying mechanism which destroys brain function in this most cruel of conditions. and that alone makes this a landmark moment. the scientific reaction has been mixed, many welcoming this as a milestone, which will boost research. but others saying they believe this drug will only have marginal benefits. and it will take years yet to know just how good this drug is. patient groups here reckon that upwards of 100,000 people with early alzheimer's, mild symptoms, could benefit, and they will be pressing uk regulators for an early decision. we don't know about cost, it could be tens of thousands of pounds per patient, peryear. and be tens of thousands of pounds per patient, per year. and if it is approved here, it would be limited to those who had specialist scans to confirm the diagnosis. but alzheimer's, sophie, affects around half a million people in the uk. it

won't be suitable, this drug, for those with moderate or advanced disease. but despite all those caveats, i think this is a moment for cautious celebration.- for cautious celebration. fergus walsh, for cautious celebration. fergus walsh. thank — for cautious celebration. fergus walsh, thank you. _ thousands of british holidaymakers are scrambling to get home from portugal before new quarantine rules come into force in the early hours of tomorrow morning. portugal is being removed from the government's green travel list — just three weeks after british tourists were allowed to return. queues have been building up at covid testing centres near faro airport. passengers need to test negative before being allowed to fly home. anyone who doesn't make it back before 4am tomorrow will have to quarantine for up to ten days. from portugal, jenny hill reports. it's not how they thought their holiday would end. faro airport in the algarve today, a last chance for those who don't want to quarantine to get home. we had to change our flight from wednesday to today and it cost us £140 each, which is disgusting.

for esther and audrey, it's been a stressful weekend. like many, they struggled to secure the tests they needed for the flight home. we paid more money since we got here than what we paid for our holiday. most here thought portugal was a safe bet, until on thursday, the uk government suddenly decided otherwise. bit of a blow, really. it came out of nowhere. we just had to bring our- flightforward by couple of days. we were meant to come back on wednesday, i need - to get back to work. it's not been easy. spending all weekend worrying about how to get back. there are some 45 flights back to britain today. there were more over the weekend, as holiday—makers scrambled to get home in time. it's orderly today, but the overwhelming sense is one of disappointment, notjust for those who had to cut their holidays short, but perhaps more so for this

country's tourism industry. it's just a few weeks since british tourists and hope returned to the algarve after a pandemic year. the uk is portugal's biggest tourism market. so the decision has left this country furious, frustrated and baffled. the algarve is very low in cases. yeah, in lisbon and maybe porto — in lisbon at the moment, i think there's one area there's been a rise, but not here. i mean, everybody comes with a negative test, everyone goes home with a negative test. so, what is the problem? queuing up for those tests today, alison and her family, who'd come to see granny and granddad for the first time in two years. they fly home tomorrow, which means quarantine. yes, we're six hours after the deadline. i ten past ten. how do you feel about that? not happy about it. we're both key workers, actually. i'm a paramedic. amy's a carer in the community. they need us out there. this country can guarantee sunshine and hospitality, but it's no longer sure of its summer season.

well, there are still flights scheduled out of the algarve this evening, a final opportunity for those british tourists to make it home before portugal goes on to the amber list. we have met tourists who said they either couldn't or simply didn't want to cut the holiday short, they are going to stay and enjoy the sunshine. butjust look at the beach, the bar behind me. in any normal year, they would be crammed with holiday—makers and the vast majority of them would be from the uk. and that is why this decision has caused such genuine distress here in the algarve. they will tell you here that they are staying optimistic, hoping that things will get better and soon, but they also say they simply cannot afford another year like 2020. jenny, thank you. from tomorrow, anyone aged between 25 and 29 in england will be able to book a coronavirus test. the head of nhs england said the country was on the home straight of the biggest vaccination programme in its history, which launched just six

months ago. and wales is even closer to jabbing all adults. here's our health editor, hugh pym. the welsh government says it will be the first to reach an important milestone, offering all aged 18 and over a first coronavirus vaccine dose, and that's the aim by next monday. the target for the uk as a whole is for all adults to be offered a firstjab by the end ofjuly. by any standards, this is a remarkable achievement and a tribute to the hard work of all those involved in the programme, to all of those to be —— doing the complex work of planning behind the scenes, and to the thousands of people vaccinating and helping to run the clinics across oui’ country. it was welcome news for those in cardiff we spoke to today. the fact it's opened up to everyone, i think it means we canjust

get to a state of normality quicker. i think that's a good thing, yeah. i know a lot of students in that age range that, i yeah, definitely need to get it because they are out and about a lot. i wales is ahead of the other uk nations at the moment for the roll—out of first doses. 86.4% of the adult population have had a firstjab. in england, it'sjust over 76%. in scotland, just under that. and in northern ireland, 74.8% of those aged 18 and over have had the first dose. in england, from tomorrow, those aged 25 and over will be contacted and encouraged to book a jam online. to book a jab online. over the remainder of this week, the nhs will send texts to people in these age groups and, of course, gps will be inviting people on their lists to come forward. there were no further clues on whether lockdown restrictions will be fully lifted in england onjune the 21st. if they are, limits on customer numbers indoors in restaurants and pubs will come to an end. there have been more warnings from the hospitality industry that they can't make ends

meet under the current rules. you are going to have a long—covid for the economy if you are not very careful. we have got {2.5 billion of historic rent debt that currently falls due in one hit on the 1st ofjuly. but ministers say more time is needed to assess the data. surge testing has been extended to areas of reading and wokingham in berkshire, after some cases of the variant first identified in india were detected. decisions on opening up onjune the 21st may not come until the weekend, as the government weighs up the needs of the economy and keeping the virus in check. hugh pym, bbc news. the latest government figures on coronavirus show in the past 2a hours, one death was reported, and there have been 5,683 new infections. which means an average

of 5,111; new cases per day in the last week. 127,345 people have received a first dose of the vaccine in the latest 24—hour period, and over 40.4 million people have now had theirfirstjab — that's 76.8% of uk adults. while the number of people who've had their second dose of the vaccine in the latest 24—hour period is almost 260,000, which takes the overall number who've had their second jab to over 27.9 million, meaning 53% of uk adults are fully vaccinated. the parole board says a man who raped and killed two schoolgirls can be freed from prison after serving more than 30 years. colin pitchfork was jailed for life after strangling lynda mann and dawn ashworth — who were both 15 — in leicestershire in the 1980s. pitchfork was the first man convicted of murder on the basis of dna evidence. our political correspondent jessica parker is outside the ministry ofjustice. and why is he being released? well,

this was the third review of colin pitchfork by the parole board, but the panel has decided at the age of 61, he is suitable for release. there will be numerous licensing conditions attached that and outlining its decision, the parole board said colin pitchfork had made what is described as good because —— good progress in custody and in 2016, he was moved to an open prison. the parole board says public safety is its number one priority. however, this decision is provisional, it could be reviewed, and a person who could potentially request that review is thejustice secretary, robert buckland. but in order to do that, there would need to be some sort of demonstration that the process to arrive at this decision had been unfair on the decision had been unfair on the decision itself had been irrational. now, the government ministers we understand are looking at the legal advice surrounding this, they have 21 days to decide, but there are suggestions the path to review could be quite narrow. but this is of course a government that has said it wants to prioritise tackling

violence against women and the government is pointing to tougher sentencing plans and is well a root and branch review of the parole board. but that would effect things in the future. in terms of this past case, local conservative mp in leicestershire alberto costa has described the decision today by the parole board is appalling and he is calling on the government to push for that review.— calling on the government to push for that review. police in norway say a body which was washed ashore on new year's day has been identified as that of a 15—month—old kurdish—iranian boy who went missing when his family tried to cross the english channel. artin iran—nejad drowned with his mother, father, elder sister and brother as they attempted to reach britain from france. a dna sample was used to work out artin's identity. relatives say his remains will be returned to iran. at least 40 people have been killed and dozens were injured after two trains collided in southern pakistan. the crash happened in a rural area near the city of ghotki, when a train came off its track

and careered into the path of another travelling in the opposite direction. secunder kermani reports. shouting this baby, lifted to safety, amidst the chaos. standing on top of an overturned carriage, passengers desperately try to help others clamber free. a train travelling from the city of karachi had come off the tracks. then another, going in the opposite direction, smashed into it. translation: that's our carriage, over there. - we were getting down. the children were, too. then the other train slammed into us, right into our carriage. i don't know what happened after that. my wife, my daughter, and my friend all died. some of the injured remain trapped by the wreckage. whilst helicopters helped carry others away. many of the most critical patients have been brought to this hospital, including six—year—old zunaira.

both her legs are fractured, and both her parents are still missing. "it's the government's incompetence," says her relative. "they need to ensure staff are properly trained." prime minister imran khan has promised to conduct a comprehensive investigation into railway safety in the country. but accidents in pakistan are common. this is at least the fourth major rail disaster in this part of the country alone in the past two years. ordinary, often poorer, families paying the price for years of under—investment. secunder kermani, bbc news, rahim yar khan. the time is 6.17. our top story this evening — the first new alzheimers drug for almost 20 years is approved in the united states, paving the way for its use in the uk. coming up — suppliers are warning of a shortage of summer stock after import delays.

a shock omission from team gb squad, gymnast becky downie will not go to the olympics. she missed final selection after the death of her brother. the prime minister has accused the england and wales cricket board of going "over the top" by suspending the bowler ollie robinson for racist and sexist tweets he posted nearly a decade ago. the culture secretary, oliver dowden, called the messages "offensive and wrong," but said the cricketer had apologised for the posts he wrote when he was in his late teens. the england and wales cricket board said robinson had been suspended while a disciplinary investigation is conducted. here's our sports correspondent andy swiss. caught in a cricketing controversy. this was ollie robinson last week receiving his first england cap, but barely had he taken the field that a series of tweets emerged which he posted in 2012 and 2013.

they were racist and sexist, and robinson apologised. i deeply regret my actions, and i'm ashamed of making such remarks. i was thoughltless and irresponsible, and regardless of my state of mind at the time, my actions were inexcusable. the issue, though, is gathering pace. last night, the england and wales cricket board suspended robinson pending an investigation, but that's now drawn criticism from the culture secretary, oliver dowden. he said the tweets were... a spokesman for the prime minister said he supported that view, and so do some within the sport. the correct way for here is not to suspend, but to say, "ok, right, "let's learn from this, let's make you learn from this." make him do the equivalent of community service. go out there amongst county

cricketers, cricketers of any ilk and spread the word. social media is not a thing to be abused, and these are things not to say. standing up against any form of discrimination... - but the timing of this could not be more sensitive. before last week's match, robinson and his team—mates wore shirts with anti—discrimination messages, and many believe as well as education, there has to be a sanction. if you're 18 and 19, you're still an adult, and even as a youngster, i think you know the right and wrong. do you think a ban is over the top? i think it is really important that it is a zero—tolerance stanc on racism, and if you are sending a tweet which is racist or sexist, you know, that there should be sanctions. and if that be a ban, that's what needs to happen. ——zero—tolerance stance. robinson, one of england's most promising talents, remains suspended. and at a time when discrimination

in sport is under the spotlight, so is cricket's handling of this controversy. andy swiss, bbc news. a group of conservative rebel mps have been thwarted in their bid to overturn £4 billion of government cuts to the overseas aid budget. the mps had suggested returning spending from 0.5% to 0.7% of national income next year using a bill dealing with the uk's new science agency. the commons speaker, sir lindsay hoyle, told mps the framing of the debate was out of order. however, he called on ministers to give mps an "effective" vote on the issue. there will now be a three long debate on the government's plans tomorrow, but no binding vote. —— a three hour long debate. kent county council is threatening the home secretary with legal action as it warns its services for unaccompanied child migrants are at breaking point for the second time in less than a year. they say — within just a couple of days — they may no longer be able to accept new unaccompanied children seeking asylum. kent wants other local authorities to help. our home editor mark easton has the details.

this morning, hidden by thick fog in the busiest shipping lane in the world, an inflatable dinghy crowded with migrants was floating without an engine. ship tracking reveals how a french patrol vessel escorted the stricken craft from just a couple of miles off their coast and handed it over to the uk authorities. it's a vile train, with people traffickers keen to include children among their human cargo because that encourages the authorities to rescue the migrants more quickly. any unaccompanied children become the responsibility of kent county council. but with more than 100 arrivals last month and no sign of a slowdown, the council says it'll be forced to close its doors to child migrants within a matter of days. kent is now caring for 403 unaccompanied child asylum—seekers. that's almost double the number the home office says it should accept under its guidelines. only one in five of arrivals have found accommodation in other local authorities, and kent says the currently voluntary transfer scheme must be made mandatory to share the burden.

the council's conservative leader has begun legal proceedings against the home secretary. we have every reason to believe that there is still, at official level, resistance to mandation, to making it a mandatory system, which the legislation does allow for. and our problem has been that we do not believe, we do not see how the system can be lastingly effective without that. the home office is set to announce proposals for a revamped child transfer scheme in the next few days, but the home secretary is insisting it remains voluntary. we have to work upstream to stop these illegal crossings and break up these gangs that are facilitating the issue of illegal migration. the vast majority of the unaccompanied children are teenage boys, often arriving scarred from long and perilous journeys. they can't sleep. they have night terrors. they're not living in - the sense that you'd expect a normal teenager to live. so, you compound those existing

problems with a further delay- that they can't rationalise, - and then, you know, potentially it's a can of worms psychologically is what could happen. - kent county council is demanding clarity and resolve from the government, unconvinced that compensation and exhortation will be enough to deal with a crisis that threatens to engulf them. mark easton, bbc news, dover. trials offering electric scooters for hire are being extended from more than 30 towns and cities across the uk to include six london boroughs today. the government—backed trials aim to assess the risks and benefits of e—scooters. critics say they are a menace to pedestrians and other road users, while proponents say e—scooters offer a low—carbon alternative to cars and buses for people who don't want to cycle. with more and more people now planning staycations this summer instead of going abroad, some companies are warning of a shortage of summer products. things like tents, garden toys and outdoorfurniture are becoming more difficult to get hold of,

according to a survey of suppliers. covid restrictions and the backlog from the suez canal blockage in march are partly to blame. danny savage reports from west yorkshire. there's something missing from the decking behind the dale family. so, it was a set of cedar furniture that we've had for a couple of years, and we used to just love sitting out and admiring the view and having our teas out there. one night a few weeks ago, that furniture was stolen. so, they obviously bundled it into the back of a van without us knowing, and off they went down the road. a shortage has seen a rise in thefts. so, if there's a shortage of things, and if dodgy people can get a hold of them and sell them on and make a bit of money, they'll take it. and that's what they do. it's just stealing to order. at the local garden centre in otley, you can see the problem. some ranges are out of stock. the prospect of a summer at home has seen demand soar. normally if we order a container, it could perhaps come in about, i

you know, 4—6 weeks. and it's taking 3—5' months, you know. and this morning, you know, i witnessed a phone call- from a customer who was asking about furniture and the supplierl promised it for this time - of the year, and it'sjust been notified that it - will come in august. tents are in short supply, too, partly because pubs and hotels like this one are after them as well. here at the devonshire arms, they planned ahead and ordered in march, turning these into outdoor relaxation rooms to replace indoor lounges. if you want to do something more active, then watch out for a shortage of cycle inner tubes. we as consumers may have to change. i think it's managing our expectations, you know. there is a lot of stuff, there is a lot of bread—and—butter things like inner tubes,

like cassettes, you know. basic stuff for bikes that we are struggling with. but it's how you can sort of adapt, preorder those things in, make sure we can keep that supply coming in. summer in britain may mean a domestic spending boom, but the message is plan ahead to get what you want. danny savage, bbc news. tennis, and britain's alfie hewett has successfully defended his french open wheelchair singles title. he defeated shingo kunieda in straight sets to earn his fifth grand slam singles crown. it also means he's now won both the singles and doubles titles in successive years at the tournament. the founder of amazon, jeff bezos, says he and his brother will travel into space next month on his rocket company's first sub—orbital sightseeing trip. the world's richest man has scheduled the journey forjuly the 20th. a third seat on the space—craft is being auctioned off. the current bid stands at almost $3 million.

our science correspondent rebecca morelle reports. heading to the edge of space. this is the new shepard rocket. so far, it's only flown with mannequins. now it's ready for its first real passengers, and jeff bezos, who owns the spacecraft, has announced he will be on board, along with his brother. it changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. it's one earth. i want to go on this flight because it's a thing i've wanted to do all my life. the rocket system will reach 100 kilometres above the earth, where passengers will experience about three minutes of weightlessness, and see the blackness of space and earth's covered horizon. in the future, anyone will be able to take a ride for around £150,000 a ticket. and it's not the only company to test if space tourism is commercially viable. sir richard branson's virgin galactic space plane is expected to carry paying customers by the end of the year. spacex. separation confirmed.

and seats on elon musk�*s spacex capsule cost millions to go into low earth orbit. for now, these trips are only for the super wealthy, but experts say prices should drop. for the young people today particularly, it will become a reality that they could save up some money and choose to go to space, not every day, but it could be something that you could choose to spend a chunk of your savingson, and experience a few minutes of weightlessness. landing gear deployed. the new shepard flight is due to take place injuly. the capsule carrying jeff bezos and his brother will descend back to earth with parachutes, marking the start of a new era in space tourism. rebecca morelle, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. good evening. a one week this week. lincolnshire will most today, 24

celsius, and just up the road from where this picture was taken, some pretty intense showers and thunderstorms. lincolnshire into east yorkshire, part of north yorkshire as well, still numbering around at the moment, but will depart on the next three hours off into the north sea. the rest of the night will be dry, as it will be for most of us, but cladding over in the west. western scotland and northern ireland, patchy drizzle by dawn, temperatures holding in double figures here. countryside, single figures here. countryside, single figures into tomorrow morning, so a pleasant enough start, some good sunny spells around as well, but for northern ireland, west of scotland, a cloudy day. drizzle in the morning, brightening up in the afternoon with some sunshine before afternoon with some sunshine before a light rain and drizzle returns later on. england and wales, compared with today, a lot more sunshine around. blue skies for many, temperatures up a little bit, 22 celsius in eastern scotland with hazy sunshine. into wednesday, low pressure pushing towards iceland, high—pressure to the south of us, and with weather fronts getting close to the north, we will be