and jet washing in wilshire, it's a bigjob. how the westbury white horse is getting a clean—up — for the first time in 20 years. coming up on sportsday later on in bbc news, we will have the latest from old trafford where england has made one change for the must win, forth ashes test. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. a breakthrough, a turning point, a moment of hope — that's how scientists have described a new drug for alzheimer's. donanemab was found to slow the pace of the disease by about a third in patients with early—stage alzheimer's, though it can have

serious side effects. in the uk, almost one million people are estimated to be living with dementia. and around two—thirds of them have alzheimer's. it's a disease that gradually destroys key areas of the brain involved in memory and understanding. this new drug needs regulatory approval. but how soon might it be available? our medical editor fergus walsh spoke exclusively to one of the patients on the trial. hello. are you all right, mr colley? hi, yes. yes. i've got your donanemab here for you... mike colley has alzheimer's disease, yet the 80—year—old feels incredibly fortunate. i'm one of the luckiest people you'll ever meet. just for this. that's because he's been on the global trial of donanemab for two years. he's come with his son for his monthly infusion, at this clinic in london. i seem to get more confident every day. and i'm sure this is

going to be successful. they'll get all the rubbish off the top of my brain and i'll be back to normality. i'm very confident about that. i never thought that i would see my dad just so full of life again. you know, now we have hope and, two years ago, we didn't. and, you know, that'sjust an incredible difference. i'd like you to subtract seven - from 100, and keep subtracting seven from each answer- until i tell you to stop. so what is 100, take away seven? 93. despite mike's optimism, donanemab is not a cure. his memory and ability to process information are still impaired. 86... but full results of the trial show the drug slowed cognitive decline by about a third, enabling many patients to continue leading independent lives for longer. 60... he chuckles i've forgotten already now. i've lost the plot, sorry.

that's ok. in alzheimer's, a rogue protein called amyloid builds up around neurons, destroying connections. donanemab is an antibody which binds to amyloid. this prompts immune cells to attack and clear amyloid from the brain. so, lots of toxic amyloid protein... you can see it clearly in these scans. this patient starts with a lot of amyloid — shown in green, yellow and red — but after six months on donanemab, most of the amyloid has been removed. this is really significant. i mean, this is one of the biggest breakthroughs, insomuch as this disease is a pandemic. it's getting more and more common. and being able to both remove the amyloid protein and demonstrate that that correlates with the slowing, or hopefully steadying of symptoms, is life—changing. so a moment of hope? a moment of enormous hope. this is fantastic.

heuo. — are you ready to come through? yes. all right. donanemab could be licensed here within a year, butjanet north is hoping to get it sooner, as part of the next stage of trials. could you tell me what year it is? oh, dear. she sighs no. 2004, i was going to say, but it's 2020—something, isn't it? 2024? 0k... janet, who's 76, says alzheimer's means she no longer remembers how to use a computer or how to cook. i can't make things nice. i can't cook as i want to cook. i have no timing ability, and that's crucial. erm, itjust drives me potty, because i can't do it. but before any patient gets donanemab, they have to have one of these — a pet scan, a specialised

type of brain scan. the problem is, there aren't nearly enough scanners. currently, hardly any alzheimer's patient has one. there's another hurdle. donanemab has potentially serious side effects. it can cause swelling and bleeding in the brain, so patients will need to be aware of the risks and be carefully monitored. but despite safety concerns, there will be huge demand for this new drug, which mike will continue to receive as long as it helps him. after decades of failed trials, the era of alzheimer's treatment is upon us. and fergus is here. it isa it is a very cruel disease, amazing hearing scientists talk of a moment of hope. are we getting to a point where, in five years' time, alzheimer's will be a very treatable disease?

for some patients, yes. but remember, this treatment is for patients in the early stages of alzheimer's so it will come too late for many. we have to keep our feet on the ground. the benefits of donanemab are modest. it is not a cure. but it could allow patients to stay independent and connected with their families for longer and that is huge for those families. and remember that dementia is the biggest killer in the uk. the drug is not approved yet, but the head of nhs england has said they are already looking at increasing scanning capacity which will be essential if we get wider access to this drug. and there will be a clamourfor it if this drug. and there will be a clamour for it if and when it gets licensed. now, there is a second similar drug which is already approved in the us. it cost £21,000 approved in the us. it cost £21,000 a patient over there. that gives you a patient over there. that gives you a ballpark figure of what that jogger -- a ballpark figure of what that jogger —— that drug and donanemab might cost if and when they are both

approved here, and having two drugs available may drive down the price. but donanemab is not the answer to alzheimer's, but it does represent hope. you saw it with mike and his son in my report. and it will encourage more research and better drugs in years to come.— drugs in years to come. fergus walsh, drugs in years to come. fergus walsh. thank— drugs in years to come. fergus walsh, thank you. _ more than 1,000 children have been moved out of holiday camps in greece which are being threatend by wildfires near athens. a blistering heatwave is intensifying across much of southern europe, with warnings that records could be broken in many places. temperatures in sicily and sardinia are predicted to reach 49 degrees celsius. very high temperatures are also being felt elsewhere around the world. in the us, in death valley — already one of the hottest places on earth — temperatures reached 53.9 celsius on sunday. our climate editor, justin rowlatt, reports from southern spain. gale—force winds fanned the flames of wildfires just

south of athens today. several seaside villages were cleared, as more than 100 firefighters — supported by 11 planes — battled to contain the blaze. and more than 1,000 children were evacuated, as a second wildfire threatened to engulf the holiday camp in southern greece they were staying in. it comes as a second blistering heatwave sweeps into europe. temperatures in southern spain are already pushing into the 405, up to 10 celsius hotter than normal. it means it is almost impossible to work outside. it means it is almost impossible to work outside.— means it is almost impossible to work outside. ., , , , work outside. it has been extremely hot this year- _ work outside. it has been extremely hot this year- i _ work outside. it has been extremely hot this year. i normally _ work outside. it has been extremely hot this year. i normally get - work outside. it has been extremely hot this year. i normally get up - work outside. it has been extremely hot this year. i normally get up at i hot this year. i normally get up at eight or nine in the morning and i have been getting up at five to get things done by nine o'clock, it is just har5h. things done by nine o'clock, it is just harsh-— just harsh. colin brown runs an animal sanctuary _ just harsh. colin brown runs an animal sanctuary inland - just harsh. colin brown runs an animal sanctuary inland from i animal sanctuary inland from alicante. hot animals mean more work for colin, they need to be ho5ed down to keep them cool. you

for colin, they need to be hosed down to keep them cool. you have got sweat all over — down to keep them cool. you have got sweat all over you. _ down to keep them cool. you have got sweat all over you. and _ down to keep them cool. you have got sweat all over you. and it _ down to keep them cool. you have got sweat all over you. and it is _ down to keep them cool. you have got sweat all over you. and it is too - sweat all over you. and it is too hot for the _ sweat all over you. and it is too hot for the tourists. _ sweat all over you. and it is too hot for the tourists. his - sweat all over you. and it is too hot for the tourists. his main i hot for the tourists. his main source of donations. so colin has had to close the place. meanwhile, the local river has run dry and a terrible harvest thanks to the heat and a lack of rain means he is finding it hard to get paid for the horses. at the same time, the money is running out. —— get hey. here's why it's so hot. a high—pre55ure system, held in place by the rapidly moving air high in the atmosphere, known as the jet stream, i5 funnelling heat up from the deserts of north africa and across southern europe. the climate of southern europe is changing, say local people. it is becoming more and more like north africa, the sahara desert i5 becoming more and more like north africa, the sahara desert is slowly creeping into europe, one man told me. what has changed is global warming. me. what has changed is global warminu. . , . me. what has changed is global warmin.. ., , ., ':: :: , me. what has changed is global

warmin.. ., , ., i“, if ., me. what has changed is global warmin.. ., , ., '::::f ., , ., warming. humans are 10096 to blame for the global— warming. humans are 10096 to blame for the global trend _ warming. humans are 10096 to blame for the global trend in _ warming. humans are 10096 to blame for the global trend in high _ for the global trend in high temperatures that we are seeing. so all of the observed global warming is because of our burning of fossil fuels. ~ . , is because of our burning of fossil fuels. . ., , .., , ., ~' fuels. we are seeing record-breaking temperatures — fuels. we are seeing record-breaking temperatures in _ fuels. we are seeing record-breaking temperatures in asia _ fuels. we are seeing record-breaking temperatures in asia this _ fuels. we are seeing record-breaking temperatures in asia this summer, . temperatures in asia this summer, too. china provisionally recorded its highest temperature ever yesterday — 52.2 celsius in xinjiang, in the north—west, according to the uk met office. in the us, a heat dome over the south—west has left ten5 of millions of people under extreme heat warnings. death valley, in california, hit 53.9 celsius on sunday — not far off the all—time global temperature record of 56.7 degrees, recorded injuly 1913. well, i have come down from inland space to the coast at alicante and there is a sea breeze here and it is a placid relief. but people in the

holiday industry are asking, how long will tourists want to continue to come here when temperatures are just so high? and climate change means southern spain, like the rest of the world, is only going to get hotter. sophie. thank you. ukraine's military says it carried out an attack on a strategically important bridge which links the annexed crimean peninsula and southern russia. as the ukranian counter—offensive continues, the kerch bridge is seen as a key target, and a symbol of russian occupation. road traffic has been suspended on the 12—mile crossing, and russia says two of its civilians died in the attack. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports from moscow. it's been called russia's most important bridge, and it's been attacked again. you can see the roads split and sloping. russia says ukrainian naval drones struck at night. two people were killed in the explosion. the bridge links the russian

mainland with annexed crimea. it's a vital supply route for russian troops fighting in ukraine. russian investigators called it a terrorist attack by the ukrainian security services. this was the scene here nine months ago. russia had accused ukraine then of attacking the bridge with explosives hidden in a lorry. ukraine calls this bridge illegal. the 12—mile—long road and rail bridge is not only strategically important to the kremlin, it's hugely symbolic. vladimir putin was first to cross when it opened in 2018, as if he wanted to show the world that russia and crimea were now joined forever. so for the second time in less than a year, the bridge that vladimir putin built, this symbol of russia's annexation of crimea, has come under attack. the kremlin says it will respond by continuing with what it

still calls the special military operation — russia's war in ukraine. but what the kremlin won't be continuing, it said today, is with the deal that had kept global food prices stable. brokered by the un, the agreement allowed ukraine to keep exporting grain via the black sea. moscow, though, says it's not getting what it was promised and will no longer guarantee the safety of shipping. the kremlin insists its decision is unconnected to the attack on the bridge. but right now, russia seems in no mood for a quick compromise. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. sir eltonjohn has been giving evidence for the defence at the trial of the actor kevin spacey, who's accused of sexual offences involving four men. appearing via video link at southwark crown court, sir elton was asked about a charity event he hosted which the actor attended. kevin spacey denies all

the charges against him. our special correspondent lucy manning is at southwark crown court. ona on a video link from monaco, sir eltonjohn and his husband david furnish gave evidence. the singer told the court his name was elton herculesjohn and he was asked about this charity event held at his home in windsor over a number of years. the white tie and tiara ball. the significance is one of kevin spacey�*s accusers said the actor grabbed him hard in the crotch on the way to that event causing him almost to swerve off the road. and there has been some question about how many times kevin spacey appeared at that event. sir eltonjohn said he had been there once in white tails coming off a privatejet he had been there once in white tails coming off a private jet to the event. the barrister asked, a privatejet? to laughterfrom kevin spacey, sir elton said, yes, i don't think he was in a white tails on a

commercialflight. the think he was in a white tails on a commercial flight. the singer was also asked whether he recognised the accuser from a photo when he also asked whether he recognised the accuserfrom a photo when he rushed out of a theatre. he said, normally when i rush out of the theatre, i wouldn't even recognise the queen. later this afternoon, we heard character references from friends and colleagues of kevin spacey. the court heard from these character references that he was a good and honest man who had dedicated himself to charity and to the theatre. as they were read out, the actor in the dock sobbed. he denies all the charges. dock sobbed. he denies all the charaes. . , dock sobbed. he denies all the charaes. , ., ~ dock sobbed. he denies all the charaes. , ., ,, our top story this evening. coming up... hundreds of victims of the post office it scandal, wrongly accused of theft, are still waiting to be fully compensated. and later at 6:30... coming up on sportsday in the next 15 minutes in bbc news, messy makes his grand entrance

at inter miami as 20,000 brave a storm to welcome the world's greatest player to the mls. on our lives in years to come? there have been plenty of warnings about the potential dangers it poses, as well as the opportunities it presents. but how much control do we have over how it'll be used? the prime minister has recently appointed the uk's first ever "ai tsar" — his task is to manage those risks and rewards. our technology editor zoe kleinman has been speaking to him about the challenges he faces. the world is waking up to the potential and the dangers of the most advanced forms of artificial intelligence. across the globe, countries are racing to try to both harness and regulate this technology. here, ian hogarth, a tech entrepreneur, is the man appointed by the prime minister to lead the charge on al in the uk to ensure

that it's developed safely. if we keep feeding these systems more and more computing resource, more and more data and we keep having stronger and stronger incentives for the private sector to accelerate this stuff, when do we cross a line, when these systems become dangerous in a new way? where they become closer to human intelligence or exceed human intelligence? and no—one can tell you a definitive answer for when that's going to be. there's another threat, isn't there, which isjobs. there will be winners and losers on a kind of global basis in terms of where the jobs are as a result of ai. we've got to think about how to protect british jobs. artificial intelligence is developed in a computing system called neural networks, inspired by the complex connections between the cells in human brains, which enable us to think. ai systems are rapidly improving as they're trained on increasingly vast datasets, huge libraries of information which allow them to identify

patterns and solve problems and even learn from their own mistakes. it's got huge potential for good — for instance, in health care, spotting cancer and discovering new drugs. a couple of words to prompt it, and ai can create images too. earlier this year, this image of the pope went viral when people thought it was real. it's not. and that's one of the biggest risks of ai. its potential for spreading false information or simply getting its facts wrong is huge. the big tech companies are in the driving seat for al. i mean, the uk does great when it comes to research and has some brilliant universities. but the honest truth is that there isn't quite enough of a culture of risk—taking or reward for failure and encouragement of failure that really enables you to build outsized successes. and that's why i relocated to palo alto in silicon valley. it's a balancing act that the world can't get wrong.

maximising the benefits and minimising the risks of ai while ensuring that no single company, country or the tech itself grows too powerful. zoe kleinman, bbc news. and today, the head of the national crime agency has warned that the rise in images and videos created by artificial intelligence was also increasing the risk of offenders carrying out offences on people, including children. graeme biggar made the warning in a speech outlining the biggest criminal threats facing the uk. he also said that al is making it harder to identify children at risk of sexual abuse. and we'll be looking at artifical intelligence all week — both here on the tv bulletins and online. there's plenty of coverage too on the bbc news website — bbc.co.uk/news. the prime minister says the government will stick to its commitment to deliver 40 hospitals by 2030 — despite the spending watchdog saying that the government is likely to miss the target. the national audit office said

the project had been beset by delays and cost—cutting. rail passengers face more disruption at the height of the summer after train drivers announced another overtime ban in their long—running dispute over pay. aslef members at 15 train companies will refuse to work extra hours from the 315t ofjuly to the 5th of august. the head of a public inquiry into the post office scandal — which was caused by a faulty computer system — has called for action to stop issues "blocking full and fair compensation" to victims. between 2000 and 2014, hundreds of sub—postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for theft or false accounting — some were sent to jail. many of the victims say they're still waiting, years later, for proper compensation. our business correspondent emma simpson has more. another set of boxes arrive to pack up their belongings. this former sub—postmistress and her family are about to be evicted. her landlord is selling up.

seema misra was wrongly prosecuted for stealing from her post office. she was pregnant when sent to prison in 2010. financially, we lost everything. we lost the business, we lost the property in london. there is no price tag to it. her conviction is now quashed, but she is still waiting for her full compensation. it's getting urgent now. i'm scared, to be honest, i'm really, really scared. fighting the post office was a torture, and getting the compensation is really torture. i don't have any faith left in the way it's been dealt with. the chair of the public inquiry isn't happy how things are going either. what has emerged is a patchwork quilt of compensation schemes, and unfortunately, it is a patchwork quilt with some holes in it. sir wyn is taking a big interest in compensation here in this inquiry room.

some fear it's becoming a scandal within a scandal, from victims being taxed on their awards to money being used to pay bankruptcy debts, to delays, and a looming deadline for the government's a new scheme. today's recommendations aim to fix this. sir wyn williams has taken the gloves off, and he has told the post office, the part of the business, that he will tolerate no more delay, obfuscation or obstacles in the path of compensation. | well, let's now turn to the ceo | of the post office, nick read... today, he told the bbc welcomed today's report and they are working as fast as they can. i think what has become extremely apparent is the scale and complexity of this is more than we thought, and much more than we thought. seema is just desperate to get what she is owed, to buy her own house and finally put the nightmare behind her. emma simpson, bbc news, woking. scientists are carrying out tests

to try to establish why more than 50 pilot whales died yesterday after being stranded on the isle of lewis in scotland's western isles. it was the largest mass stranding in scotland for decades. the pilot whales — part of the dolphin family — are known to form very strong social bonds. it's thought they came into shallow waters after following one whale that got into difficulties. james shaw reports. a desperately sad scene on a windswept beach on the far north—western edge of the british isles. after they stranded over the weekend, expert teams and local volunteers tried to save those that were still alive. finally, they were euthanised to end their suffering. now there is a huge effort to clear the beach. well, i'm hoping that if things go smoothly at the landfill site today, i'm hoping it will take us sort of two to three days to process all these animals. essentially, once we've taken all the samples and we get them to the lab, that's when things start to process, so it will be a couple of weeks

to months, depending on what sort of tests we end up doing. whale strandings are not unusual around the coast of scotland. there are dozens every year. this was a particularly large one, so the question is, why did it happen? it may have been because one of the pod was having problems at the end of a pregnancy, a situation which has occurred before. an animal was having difficulty giving birth, all the other animals came around it — to protect it, we assumed — but in the process of doing that, the entire pod came into shallow waters and got left by the receding tide. and examining some of the pod should help experts understand whether pollution or other human activity at sea was in any way responsible. james shaw, bbc news. in florida, lionel messi has been officially unveiled as inter miami's new star signing. around 20,000 people waited to see

the 36—year—old argentinian star receive the number 10 shirt. the club's co—owner david beckham hailed messi's signing as a "dream come true". now, she wowed tens of thousands at glastonbury last month — but pop superstar lizzo is also inspiring a different kind of acclaim, thanks to this. lizzo, who's better known for her rap, also happens to be a classically trained flautist. and now the british flute society says she's making the instrument cool for young people and "bringing its magic to new audiences". it'll take you a moment to work out what these two are painting — yes, it's a famous feature of the wiltshire countryside. the westbury white horse, which is being fully restored for the first time in 20 years. english heritage is giving it a steam clean and a special paintjob,

to bring this 182 feet high hill figure back to its 18th century glory. from westbury, duncan kennedy reports. in wiltshire, it's time. time for something special. time to renew. time to cleanse. because when it comes to cleaning, there is one horse that needs some serious horsepower. this is the westbury white horse. and it's getting its biggest restoration of this century. the steam will kill any bacteria, and special nontoxic paint, friendly to wildlife, will return it to its original brilliance.

the difference is going to be absolutely dramatic. i mean, already from quite grey that it was, and black, to what we are seeing now, is a huge transformation, and then on top of that it's actually going to be decorated in quite bright white paint, so it's going to be a dramatic change to the landscape, and for westbury. 33 metres or 108 feet from nose to tail, it was carved from the chalk hill in 7042 but later covered with concrete. "1742. historians believe it may have commemorated a nearby battle. the only fight now is to get rid of the algae to preserve it long—term. it's just such an important it's just such an important icon to people today. icon to people today. not just for the people of westbury, not just for the people of westbury, but nationally, but nationally, everybody knows about this horse, everybody knows about this horse, it's just incredibly it's just incredibly important historically. important historically. yes, we may have forgotten what the battle that it commemorated was about, but it is just such a living part of our heritage in this wonderful landscape. the five strong team say it should take about eight weeks

to complete these works. they say then, if it gets an occasional clean—up, this splendour should last another 20 years. amid the white hills of wiltshire, a true equine extravaganza. duncan kennedy, bbc news, westbury. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. quite a quitea gap quite a gap between the weather in southern europe and here, it is so different. enormous contrast. our weather has essentially become locked in place, so the heatwave in southern europe will go on and at the same time the co—unsettled weather we have right now will go on certainly for at least the next week or two so not great prospects for our summer in the short term. but i say not great attorney prospects, it might be very good news that none of this heat is heading our way because these are the temperatures we have seen today

in the south of europe and the north of africa, in tunisia we have seen temperatures of up to 47 celsius. but as we were discussing that is not heading our way because of the jet stream, the wind died down here, along high—pressure to the south of europe and low pressure and cool air to the north of europe anna patten will locked in place for quite some days. today with the low pressure in charge we have seen quite a few showers, heavy ones in places but those are starting to fade, we will see a drier and clearer look as we head through the evening and overnight but not for long because morkel gathers from the west marine into northern ireland and parts of wales, may be the far south—west of anger by the end of the night. a little chilly in the north—east of scotland. milderfurther little chilly in the north—east of scotland. milder further south. tomorrow's whether maker is this scotland. milder further south. tomorrow's whether maker is this area of low pressure and heat area of low pressure and heat continuing in the south of europe. continuing in the south of europe. for us, we will see a piece of heavy for us, we will see a piece of heavy rain first thing in northern ireland rain first thing in northern ireland

and parts of wales, northern england and parts of wales, northern england attorney very wet and southern