welcome to verified live. we start here in the uk — where reports that the biggest water supplier, thames water, could be on the brink of collapse have prompted the government to say, it is prepared for a "range of scenarios." thames water, which serves 15 million people, has been under pressure over its performance, including spills of sewage, and is reportedly struggling with £14 billion of debt. this lunchtime, the company said, it is working "constructively" with shareholders to secure the new funding needed to support its turnaround. here's our business correspondent emma simpson. thames water is the biggest water company in the country, serving 15 million customers in london and the thames valley. underfire for leaks, dumping sewage raw in rivers, a complex, privately owned business that is now under financial

pressure as well. the main problem is that the company has nearly £14 billion of debt, so it has a substantial interest bill to pay every year. that interest bill is currently going up because interest rates are going up. some interest rate payments are related to inflation, which is very high. at the same time, it's having to spend over £1 billion a year in infrastructure, water mains, stopping leakage and there's a regulatory review coming up in a few years which may mean it will have to invest even more. thames water needs to raise money from somewhere but if it can't get it, the government is looking at options. we need to make sure thames water as an entity survives. there's a lot of work the government is doing on resolving sewage. up until now, the regulator has been focused on keeping consumer bills down but there is a lot of infrastructure work that needs to take place and we need that entity to survive. in a statement, thames water says it's working constructively

with its shareholders in relation to its funding needs. ofwat, the regulator, is being kept fully informed on the progress of the company's turnaround. the ceo sarah bentley was leading it, but she resigned yesterday with immediate effect, adding to concerns. it's an absolute scandal, what has happened. huge dividends paid out, huge debts taken on, customer bills rocketing, sewage being dumped into our rivers, so the government has got to come forward and explain what are they going to do to sort this out. the financial resilience of this whole industry may be tested, given the sale of investment now needed. by 2050, the environment agency and the water companies believe that about 50 billion needs to be invested to get sewage overflows down to an acceptable level. you're talking about very large sums of money to restore and enable our water infrastructure

and sewage infrastructure to be fit for purpose. but whatever happens, thames water will continue to flow to customers. in the longer term, though, higher bills for all consumers is in the works. emma simpson, bbc news. live now tojustin urquhart stewart, co—founder of the online investment environment regionally. justin, welcome, how perilous is set stomach of the situation for thames water? . ., , stomach of the situation for thames water? _, , , stomach of the situation for thames water? . ., , , ., water? the company itself will have to no water? the company itself will have to go through _ water? the company itself will have to go through a _ water? the company itself will have to go through a major _ water? the company itself will have to go through a major change, - water? the company itself will have to go through a major change, it - to go through a major change, it doesn't mean as consumers we lose all our sewer and water management, that'll still carry on. by the company itself will have to go through a very significant change. but there's something new in this, we've been watching a storm build up for years ever since we saw privatised back in 1989 when it promised to be replacing all those victorian sewers — yet only last

year we see ads for replacing victorian sewers, they had quite a bit of time to do it. the problem is they arejust bit of time to do it. the problem is they are just living sewage and water, but they are leaking cash. what you've got is a debt level of £40 billion, and about half of that is in an indexed link death, which we all know with inflation going up, that's gone up significantly so it's running out of cash stash indexed link debt. private equity companies have gone in with even more... and that's left them with this huge amount of debt, and we've got lots more expenditure coming down the line. 50 more expenditure coming down the line. , ., ., ., ., line. so in terms of how we got to this point. — line. so in terms of how we got to this point. part — line. so in terms of how we got to this point, part of _ line. so in terms of how we got to this point, part of it _ line. so in terms of how we got to this point, part of it is _ line. so in terms of how we got to this point, part of it is the - this point, part of it is the restructuring of debt that actually happened, how much also shareholders dividends, executive bonuses, all the things i have made headlines for such a long time?— such a long time? yes, and you see that we are — such a long time? yes, and you see that we are supposed _ such a long time? yes, and you see that we are supposed to _

such a long time? yes, and you see that we are supposed to have - such a long time? yes, and you see that we are supposed to have a - that we are supposed to have a regular eye on this thing, yet the regulator has been notifying very publicly that the dividend level doesn't seem to equate to what's being produced by this business, the amount of debt rising very significantly, so they were aware of this and have done nothing about it. and we've seen similar issues with private ionisation companies — it looks as though the regulators were a cleat —— asleep. i'm afraid now it means that it will be more difficult for this company, but it needs to reinvest much more, the shareholders will probably prop up a certain amount more, otherwise we could see this company going probably back into state ownership again. i was auoin to into state ownership again. i was going to ask _ into state ownership again. i was going to ask you _ into state ownership again. i was going to ask you about _ into state ownership again. i was going to ask you about the - into state ownership again. i was going to ask you about the range of scenarios, that's the government quote through the course of the day, do you think public ownership is realistically a prospect here, and a likely prospect? and in terms of consumers, ultimately coming down the track may be in the next couple

of years, is it a big hike in bills? certainly what you'd see is the government not wanting to get involved in going back into nationalisation. they could provide guarantees for the business to make sure it's still in place, they may well be replacing shelves, but it will be looking to attract new shells — what does that mean for consumers? we still get water, hopefully is not still being leaked out, but develop the expected to be reinvesting. unfortunately who pays for it all in the end? you're quite right, it'll be the consumer. justin, thanks forjoining us and for your time. now to ukraine — and the horrifying details of a russian missile attack on a restaurant in kramatorsk. 11 people were killed and rescue workers have spent most of the day, going through the rubble, looking for any survivors. kramatorsk is in ukraine's eastern donetsk region. it's under ukrainian control, but close to parts of the country occupied by russia.

this was scene after the attack. it was a popular busy restaurant, with many families eating out before the nightly curfew. dozens of people were injured — the missile also damaged nearby apartment buildings and shops. among the dead were two 14—year—old twins, yulia and anna aksenchenko. president zelensky said the attack showed russia deserved defeat. arnaud de decker is a journalist who was at the restaurant just before it was hit. he described what he saw. i was in the lounge eating a pizza and drinking a nonalcoholic beer. i paid and left and ten minutes later, i heard a very loud explosion, first one and then moments later a second one, and i immediately understood it was the lounge that was hit. i went to the place and it was an absolute disaster.

the restaurant was totally gone, people wounded in the street and rescue workers were trying to help the people from underneath the rubble. it was absolutely a disaster. the kremlin said they only hit "military" targets, not civilian ones. this was yuri sak, an adviser to the ukraine's defence ministry responding to that. that is ridiculous, every time the kremlin moves their lips they are lying and the world knows this by now so there is no trust to anything they said, and this just underscores that these are not normal people with whom negotiations are possible. these are terrorists who have to be either destroyed on the battlefield, which is what the ukrainian army is successfully doing. during the last 24 hours, we have destroyed 930 occupiers on the battlefield, so they either have to be destroyed or the other alternative

is to surrender and stand trial. of course we will achieve justice and we will bring to account for these atrocities everybody who is behind them, including the top leadership of the kremlin. our correspondent andrew harding has the latest from the scene in kramatorsk. i'm in the centre of kramatorsk, where the missiles hit and the blast area around it is huge, there are buildings all around me, hundreds of metres away that were damaged. right behind me is the place that took what seems to be the hardest hit, a restaurant popular with locals, with soldiers, with journalists and aid workers. i went there a lot myself. we understand that rescue workers are still looking for many survivors who may still be trapped underneath the concrete. we have heard saws and other lifting equipment as those workers try to dig through the rubble. why this particular spot was targeted?

we don't know if it was deliberately targeted by two russian missiles, but it is clearly a popular area in the centre of town and whatever the russians may or may not have been trying to target, it was clear that this was a big city and a busy time of the evening with many, many civilians around. and as we've seen so often in this conflict, many civilian casualties. we will speak to a diplomat who is in the restaurant and a couple minutes. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories making news in the uk. a new report says an estimated 700,000 children in england are being taught in unsafe, or ageing school buildings, which are in need of major repairs. according to the national audit office, the education department has since 2021 assessed the risk of injury or death from a school

building collapse as "very likely and critical." a marking and assessment boycott by staff at queen's university belfast, which is part of uk—wide industrial action, has ended after several months. an agreement to end the dispute follows talks between queen's and the university and college union. 0fcom has launched an investigation into telecomms company bt, following a major disruption to 999 call services on sunday. emergency services across the country reported emergency calls were failing to connect, because of a technical fault. bt, which manages the 999 phone system, has apologised for the problems. you're live with bbc news. more now on the war in ukraine —

it was a weekend of instability in russia, where the wagner mercenary group staged a rebellion against the country's military leadership. in the end, that mutiny proved short—lived, coming to a halt when wagner leader yevgeny prigozhin told his troops to stand down, just hundreds of kilometres away from russia's capital, moscow. on tuesday, belarus's leader, aleksandr lukashenko, revealed that the wagner chief flew to the belarus capital, minsk — but there's uncertainty now over the wagner leader's exact current location. on that, here's our eastern europe correspondent, sarah rainsford. now days later, there are indications that the man who was behind that mutiny is not only still free, there are no criminal charges against him, but it is possible he might actually be back in russia. yesterday, president lukashenko of belarus said he was in that country — certainly we had seen flight tracker data which had shown his flight, his own private jet, had landed in minsk yesterday morning. but yesterday evening, that same plane left belarus and flew towards russia, first moscow and then to mr prigozhin�*s hometown of saint petersburg.

and a second plane, which had mirrored the movements of the first for several days, was also seen flying to saint petersburg. we haven't heard from mr prigozhin himself for some time now, since monday, when he put out an audio recording answering some questions — but many of them still remain very is happening to his wagner group on the ground, those mercenaries that have been fighting in ukraine for a very long time now. frank gardner has been talking to me and gave me the latest on prigozhin himself in the number of fighters expected to go to belarus. the? himself in the number of fighters expected to go to belarus. they are undecided yet. _ expected to go to belarus. they are undecided yet, basically _ expected to go to belarus. they are undecided yet, basically the - expected to go to belarus. they are | undecided yet, basically the kremlin has given the wagner group three choices — you canjoin the russian mainstream army, signed a contract with them, in other words no longer be with the wagner group butjoined

the russian mainstream army, you can go home or go to belarus. now it's not clear under what circumstances they would be going to belarus. there's a lot of confusion here and be perfectly honest, matthew, i think there is still a deal being hammered out. this is still a work in progress between lukashenko, the ruler of belarus, the kremlin, and prigozhin and wagner group, a three—way negotiation that's going on. because the wagner group has served the kremlin's interests very well over the years, since 2014. they have been there go to arms length instrument to carry out certain deniable operations and parts of the world like parts of africa, libya, syria, and of course ukraine. so to lose that altogether would be to the detriment of russia's military — but then again, can president putin ever trust them again? because look at the vitriol president putin spoke with in the

address of his on saturday when the mutiny was fully under way. he talked about betrayal, a stab in the back, brutal punishment for those responsible — well, he's issued a pardon for the wagner partners, saying they were misled and betrayed. yet prigozhin, as far as we know, is a free man. now what we do know, as you said earlier, is that some state, prigozhin didn't land in his plane and belarus. will he stay there? if he does, what will he stay there? if he does, what will he do? how much freedom will he have, will he run wagner's african operations there? president lukashenko has promised him a camp, you can pitch your tents, as he put it. all of this is very alarming to belarus's nato members, specifically poland, latvia and lithuania— they already feel uncomfortable about

tactical russian nuclear missiles placed in belarus, and equally uncomfortable about the idea of all these mercenaries, many of whom are convicted rapists and murderers turning up in belarus. so it's a very unstable situation with a lot of fluidity and a lot of unanswered questions. of fluidity and a lot of unanswered cuestions. ., , of fluidity and a lot of unanswered cuestions. . , , , of fluidity and a lot of unanswered cuestions. ., , , , , questions. really briefly, in terms of what it means _ questions. really briefly, in terms of what it means for _ questions. really briefly, in terms of what it means for the _ questions. really briefly, in terms of what it means for the war - questions. really briefly, in terms of what it means for the war in - of what it means for the war in ukraine, because this is one of the most affecting for dutch affective fighting units for russia? tum fighting units for russia? two thins, fighting units for russia? two things, russia _ fighting units for russia? two things, russia will _ fighting units for russia? two things, russia will not stop its barrage of missiles against ukrainian cities and military targets, but primarily the cities, and nobody will seriously sit down and nobody will seriously sit down and make peace. the war goes on, the counteroffensive continues, the bulk of it is yet to come but they will have a realjob trying to break their russian defenses— that hasn't changed. their russian defenses- that hasn't chanced. ., ~ changed. frank there in the newsroom. _ changed. frank there in the newsroom. let's _ changed. frank there in the newsroom. let's head - changed. frank there in the newsroom. let's head back| changed. frank there in the i newsroom. let's head back to changed. frank there in the - newsroom. let's head back to that russian missile attack in

kramatorsk. live now to sergiojaramillo caro, former high commissioner of peace under presidentjuan manuel santos, leading the colombian peace process between colombia and the farc guerrillas between 2012 and 2016. i was wondering if you could describe what happened? we were there as part _ describe what happened? we were there as part of— describe what happened? we were there as part of a _ describe what happened? we were there as part of a campaign - describe what happened? we were there as part of a campaign we - describe what happened? we were l there as part of a campaign we were running which was called, hang in there, ukraine,, building bridges and showing voices of support. and we were doing a field trip and collecting testimonies so people who live on the ground dust from people who live on the ground. after we are at a restaurant, finally we were

amongst ourselves, and suddenly this dry thump, and everything is flowing through the air in slow motion, and you start looking around trying to understand what's going on and what to do. it understand what's going on and what to do. , �* , understand what's going on and what todo. ,�* , , to do. it must've been absolutely horri in: to do. it must've been absolutely horrifying in _ to do. it must've been absolutely horrifying in those _ to do. it must've been absolutely horrifying in those moments - horrifying in those moments afterwards? it horrifying in those moments afterwards?— horrifying in those moments afterwards? it is, but there's actually a — afterwards? it is, but there's actually a strange _ afterwards? it is, but there's actually a strange calm, - afterwards? it is, but there's - actually a strange calm, because you have to actually concentrate and see how you manage the situation. and how you manage the situation. and how you manage the situation. and how you can help those who were actually injured — i was only hit hard on the leg, but it wasn't much. 0thers hard on the leg, but it wasn't much. others were very seriously injured. and just describe what it was like, how long did it take you to actually process what had happened? itrefoil

how long did it take you to actually process what had happened? itrui’eiiiii process what had happened? well i immediately _ process what had happened? well i immediately saw _ process what had happened? well i immediately saw that the _ process what had happened? well i immediately saw that the very - process what had happened? -ii i immediately saw that the very well colombian writer who had been standing next to the table fell on the ground, and i thought he was injured and bleeding because he had these spots all over him, but it turns out that wasn't blood. i turned to my left and victoria melina was sitting back, immediately next to me and looking extraordinarily pale and immobile, so we started talking to her with and another friend, another colombian journalist, and another friend, another colombianjournalist, and and another friend, another colombian journalist, and there was no reply — i took her pulse, she still had a pulse, we looked around and somebody shouted for an ambulance and making noise, then some paramedics came and started looking after her immediately. so they stood there whilst victoria was being looked after in the ambulance

came and took her. late being looked after in the ambulance came and took her.— came and took her. i've heard other witness accounts _ came and took her. i've heard other witness accounts talking _ came and took her. i've heard other witness accounts talking about - came and took her. i've heard other witness accounts talking about just| witness accounts talking aboutjust the amount of rubble, the amount of screaming they could hear from under the rubble from people who survived the rubble from people who survived the blast but were clearly trapped. you presumably heard that, as well? yes, although we were not inside the restaurant, but the outside terrace which is why, except for victoria, we came out all relatively unscathed, because it wasn't the roof that fell on us, it was the glass marquee that fell on our heads and some beams. bud glass marquee that fell on our heads and some beams.— glass marquee that fell on our heads and some beams. and we've heard from the course of — and some beams. and we've heard from the course of the _ and some beams. and we've heard from the course of the day _ and some beams. and we've heard from the course of the day from _ and some beams. and we've heard from the course of the day from the _ the course of the day from the kremlin, yet again they claim they don't target civilian areas — just give us and our viewers a sense of that area, because in terms of the accounts i've heard, there are

restaurants, apartments and shops, a totally residential, ordinary city centre? , , , ., ., centre? let me use this question to really make — centre? let me use this question to really make a _ centre? let me use this question to really make a call— centre? let me use this question to really make a call to societies - centre? let me use this question to really make a call to societies in - really make a call to societies in the west and the world at large, to frankly wake up — because it is absolutely unconscionable that the russians continue, day after day, to target civilians. western countries have lived with terrorist attacks done byjihadist movements, but here we have a country that's using its military might to target residential buildings, restaurants, train stations and to kill people and to terrorise. and a country that is a member of the security council that should be protecting all of us, should be protecting all of us, should be protecting all of us, should be a guarantor of the national order, and this is completely unacceptable, and the world cannot keep looking the other

way at how ukrainian civilians are killed one day after the next. yes, we need to insist on arming ukraine, ukraine needs all the help it can get, but politically and also from civil society, we need to mobilise and raise the voices in protest at these terrorist acts russia is committing. these terrorist acts russia is committing-— these terrorist acts russia is committinu. ., ~' . ., committing. thank you so much for “oininu us committing. thank you so much for joining us live _ committing. thank you so much for joining us live there _ committing. thank you so much for joining us live there from _ committing. thank you so much for joining us live there from kyiv, - committing. thank you so much for joining us live there from kyiv, we | joining us live there from kyiv, we are very grateful for your time here on bbc news. are very grateful for your time here on bbc news-— straight to breaking news because we are just hearing that wreckage from the titan submersible lost in the atlantic last week have been recovered, and these are the first pictures there as some of the wreckage is brought to shore at st. john's, in canada. those images you can see showing a crane unloading

the wreckage from the arctic ship in the wreckage from the arctic ship in the city's harbour after last week's dreadful events, the deaths of those five people on board as royal canadian mounted police have said, they are looking into those five deaths and the instigation this, and inquiries continue. but the first of the wreckage with distinctive markings there on the side, you can see being brought to shore, those pictures just see being brought to shore, those picturesjust coming see being brought to shore, those pictures just coming into us from canada. let's turn to the situation in paris. protests and unrest erupted in the region around paris overnight, after police shot dead a 17—year—old who failed to stop when ordered to by traffic police. 31 people were arrested and 24 police were injured in a night of disturbances. the teenager, named as nael m, died from bullet wounds to the chest — he's the second person in france, to have been killed in a police shooting at a traffic stop this year.

hughjoined me earlier and told me about how parisians had reacted to the incident. you can see there's quite a lot of bad blood around, a lot of people driving past shouting at us, the media, and shouting insults towards the police as well. so you get the feeling that this is not over, that tonight, it's quite possible there will be more people coming out to express their indignation and anger at what happened. there's this march tomorrow, which the poor mother has called for, and a distinct sense on the behalf of the government that they need to calm this down. when the president comes out and says, before there's been any investigation, that the shooting was inexplicable and inexcusable, that suggests they are very mindful about how this needs to be treated very, very carefully indeed. hugh schofield there. we'll take a

short break, but only come back we will have the latest on that breaking news from westminster, daniel gorski who was standing to be one of the conservative candidates for london mayor, he's left the race after those allegations against him, he's withdrawn from the race, saying with a heavy heart. but that news emerging in the last little while from westminster, so more on that story and the rest of the headlines in a minute. hello there. there has been a lot of cloud around today, cloudy skies at lord's for the test match. some parts of england, though, have seen some sunshine coming through. for example, here in hampshire, it's been very muggy and very warm across many parts of england. scotland and northern ireland will be turning cooler and fresher with some sunshine around, mind you. that sunshine followed the rain that we started the day with. and this band of rain has been quite heavy as it's pushed across scotland, had a few thunderstorms in northern england. the rain is becoming more fragmented. it's going to squeeze down through the midlands,

head to the southeast of england and across east anglia later, and still a few heavy bursts of rain in there as well. clearer skies will continue to follow from the west. a few more showers along the west coast of scotland, but a chillier night for scotland and northern ireland. single figure temperatures here, much warmer and still quite humid across east anglia and the southeast because we've still got rain around first thing tomorrow on that weather front there. it does shuffle away, and then we'll introduce this westerly breeze that will bring cooler and fresher air for all of us tomorrow. but that rain will hang around into the morning across east anglia and the southeast, then it will clear away, and then it'll be sunny spells, a few showers for a while in northern ireland, pushing eastwards across scotland and the odd shower likely across england and wales, although many places here will probably be dry in the afternoon. temperature—wise not too impressive, despite the sunshine, it is cooler air. so 18—19 celsius quite widely, a bit below par, really, for this time of the year. weather�*s coming in from the atlantic, keeping this unsettled theme going.

more weatherfronts bringing cloud and rain into friday, wrapped around that area of low pressure, that's going to hang around through the weekend. we'll look at that in a moment, but for the eastern areas of the uk, friday starts dry and bright with some sunshine. it does cloud over, though, from the west. a little bit of light rain or drizzle mainly over western hills and coast. the more persistent rain comes into scotland and northern ireland as the wind picks up, and look at the temperatures, only 16 celsius in glasgow, 21 celsius perhaps in london. that area of low pressure, i mentioned it, it's going to hang around to the north of scotland, and around that we're going to find some stronger winds, particularly for northern parts of the uk, touching gale force maybe in northern scotland. and that's where we're going to see most of the rain saturday and into sunday. some showers and a bit of sunshine for scotland and northern ireland, one or two showers for northern england. but further south, it should be dry.

this is bbc news. the headlines... white mcdaniel christy withdraws from the contest to become the conservative candidate for london mayor after being accused of groping in 2013. the climate watchdog says the uk has lost its leadership in the uk has lost its leadership in the fight against global warming will stop earlier on this programme, the president of top 26 gauge his

reaction. the the president of top 26 gauge his reaction. ., , ,