the first asylum seekers to be housed on a barge off the south coast of england have arrived, with more expected later in the day. three hillwalkers have been found dead afterfailing to return from a walk in glen coe in the scottish highlands. coup leaders in niger close the country's airspace — citing the threat of military intervention from neighbouring powers. and drama at the women's world cup — england beat nigeria after a penalty shoot—out — to the delight of fans at home. cheering and applause hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live, 3 hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them.

we start here in the uk — where the government is once again — under scrutiny — over its decision to house asylum seekers — on a barge off the south coast of england. the first men to be housed on the vessel called the bibby stockholm — began arriving on board today. ministers hope that up to 500 will follow, to await decisions on their asylum applications. the government says it'll help reduce the costs of housing migrants in hotels and today new figures showed that a record number of asylum seekers — more than 50,000 — were in so—called "contingency accommodation". but campaigners have raised concerns about the conditions on the barge — and it's believed that some asylum seekers have had their transfers cancelled after legal interventions. protestors gathered close to the barge in dorset. this was what they had to say a little earlier: i'm against the barge, i think it's extremely dangerous, as has been proved by the fire brigade.

i don't think they should be on the barge. they... it's like a prison. and i think a lot of them will have come from prisons, and it's just appalling. weymouth, portland itself hasn't got the infrastructure — i can see that point of view. but we have to welcome them. they're here now and we have to welcome them. straight to dorset, our correspondent ellie price is there for us now. this is a busy functioning port, there are vans and cars coming and going all day long so it's hard to say exactly how many people have gone on board, in fact there is a

media circus surrounding this part of the port, as have the number of protesters. helicopters and cameramen up on hills filming things all day but it's hard to get a true sense of the numbers. the home office had previously told us there office had previously told us there were migrants on board, a press release not confirming anyone one was on board, that's kind of the point of today in some respects. because clearly there have been people coming through here and getting on board the ship, but the home office not giving firm numbers, a commitment if you like, to how many people are own board. they were lost in legal challenges and people who were due to go on board haven't. it's unclear exactly how many, but certainly the first half have got on. tell me a little more about the criticism about the conditions on board and what the government has said in response.—

said in response. while this is a barae said in response. while this is a barge that _ said in response. while this is a barge that has _ said in response. while this is a barge that has been _ said in response. while this is a barge that has been previouslyl said in response. while this is a - barge that has been previously used to house oil and gas workers off the coast of scotland, previously the capacity of the barge was 220, that's now been more than doubled and it has a capacity of around 500. what they've done is put bunk beds into the previously single occupancy bedrooms to basically double up have any people can stay. i haven't been on it myself but colleagues have been, the government invited reporters to come in. they've got community facilities, they've got showers, they cut toilets, recreational rooms, communal areas where people can go. it's not that people are detained while they're on the barge, they're allowed to get on and off the boat. but protesters are saying it's inhumane to put asylum—seekers who may have been through hardships, prison even, in their own countries to come and be

subjected to living in what they say are terrible conditions. the government of course say it's safe, it's functional, and it's kind of the point. it's not the lap of luxury, and that's the point of this policy is to reduce the cash if you like, the money it costs to house migrants. you said the record number of 50,000 asylum—seekers are in uk hotels across the country, that costs £6 million a day. the government �*s argument is putting them on the barge like this will reduce the cost in time.- reduce the cost in time. their endorser. _ reduce the cost in time. their endorser, thanks _ reduce the cost in time. their endorser, thanks so - reduce the cost in time. their endorser, thanks so much. i i've been speaking to steve smith, of the charity carelicalais, which supports refugees living in france and belgium. i asked him for more details on the refugees — being supported by the charity — who've had their transfers cancelled. intervention by lawyers that have

challenged the screening, from our point of view almost certainly hasn't. it points to a chaotic kneejerk reaction to putting people on board the barge. the people that we deal with, the asylum—seekers that we deal with, are dealing with horrific circumstances in their lives. they could have been in detention, kidnapped, shot at in war zones, watched friends drowned at sea, potentially crossing the mediterranean, and now the potential to put them on board another boat in facilities that effectively, although they are not detention facilities, they might be. screening should have been taken place beforehand to screen out those perhaps with disabilities, people who are traumatised by this form of, accommodation, we clearly haven't seen that happen and therefore challenge that decision at a number of individuals have not gone to the

barge today. just of individuals have not gone to the barge today-— barge today. just on a factual basis, barge today. just on a factual basis. what _ barge today. just on a factual basis, what are _ barge today. just on a factual basis, what are the _ barge today. just on a factual basis, what are the sorts - barge today. just on a factual basis, what are the sorts of l barge today. just on a factual- basis, what are the sorts of numbers you are talking about to have transfers cancelled? figs you are talking about to have transfers cancelled?- transfers cancelled? as an organisation, _ transfers cancelled? as an organisation, we - transfers cancelled? as an organisation, we have - transfers cancelled? as an | organisation, we have only transfers cancelled? as an - organisation, we have only been dealing with 20 or so clients today. and that's the same number effectively that have had their transfer orders cancelled. you will have heard _ transfer orders cancelled. you will have heard some _ transfer orders cancelled. you will have heard some of— transfer orders cancelled. you will have heard some of the _ transfer orders cancelled. you will have heard some of the things - transfer orders cancelled. you will| have heard some of the things that those in government say about legal organisations, lefty lawyers is the phrase that gets thrown around a lot. what do you say in response to that, the central charge that lawyers are thwarting what the government wants to do here and what they say, the people want the government to do? share they say, the people want the government to do?— they say, the people want the government to do? are they lefty la ers or government to do? are they lefty lawyers or is _ government to do? are they lefty lawyers or is that _ government to do? are they lefty lawyers or is that just _ government to do? are they lefty lawyers or is thatjust a _ government to do? are they lefty lawyers or is thatjust a slogan i lawyers or is thatjust a slogan that has been bandied around? it strikes us that the government is very focused on saving money but that could be about the barge and

about people �*s lives. it's not about people �*s lives. it's not about lefty lawyers trying to hobble what the government does, it's about the government trying to find a decent policy for the way forward. that policy must surely include getting rid of the backlog, outrageous backlog of asylum—seekers at the moment. if we could look at history, if we look back ten years, there will be 380 caseworkers in the home office getting through something like ia asylum claims each month. there are about ia00 claims workers working through about four cases each month. the system is completely broken. those with a high likelihood of acceptance for their asylum claim are then brought in by asylum claim are then brought in by a safe route, the same way as ukrainians have been, and asylum claims massively speeded up so we don't have this enormous backlog, therefore an enormous strain on the system. therefore an enormous strain on the s stem. , , , , ., system. just briefly, the government

would reapond _ system. just briefly, the government would reapond by — system. just briefly, the government would respond by saying _ system. just briefly, the government would respond by saying there - system. just briefly, the government would respond by saying there are i would respond by saying there are pull factors, that's what they're trying to get rid of, they're also trying to get rid of, they're also trying to get rid of, they're also trying to reduce this bill of £6 million a day on hotels, in terms of objectives they say there is public support for all of that.— support for all of that. there will clearl be support for all of that. there will clearly be support _ support for all of that. there will clearly be support from - support for all of that. there will clearly be support from certain l clearly be support from certain elements of the public for that. but there will clearly also be support from the members of the public for the more humane, more considered, better preplanned responses. we've got a barge where as was mentioned earlier in the programme, it was built for 220 people but they are trying to cram 506 on board. we've had challenges from the fire brigades union about fire safety. we cannot accommodate people already traumatised by their experiences on water, and two beds per each room that should only hold one person, some room six beds, so therefore

massively increasing attentional for transmission of diseases. yes there are facilities on board, tv rooms and gymnasium and the like, but those facilities were built for less than half the number that are currently considered to be going on board. the currently considered to be going on board. ., . ., ., board. the introduction of the barge comes as the _ board. the introduction of the barge comes as the number _ board. the introduction of the barge comes as the number of _ board. the introduction of the barge comes as the number of refugees i comes as the number of refugees being housed in hotels... a record 50,5a6 asylum—seekers were in contingency accommodation by the end ofjune. the daily cost of hotel rooms is more than £6 million. 136,779 backlog of cases. down from the previous month.

three hill walkers have been found dead after failing to return from a walk in glen coe, that's in the scottish highlands. police scotland said the bodies were discovered during a search, which had been launched after the group failed to return from aonach eagach ridge. the alarm was raised shortly after 9pm on saturday and mountain various such serious situation has arisen search had been going on since around nine o'clock night when these three men did not return when they were scheduled to from the climb, the hill walking that they were doing, a ridge in glencoe. i should expend that glencoe is a spectacular rocky valley just close to the west close of scotland, it's a real magnet for minors and hill walkers, and credible scenery and that west part of scotland. many people go there in the winter but also in the summer to climb, did you hill walking, and this is what these three men or these three people were doing at the weekend. something has gone wrong. we don't know exactly

what, there was a big rescue operation involving helicopters, a number of mountain rescue teams scouring that part of glencoe to find these three men. and that search was successful in the sense that they found them, but sadly all three of them have died. i should stress that this is actually quite an unusual event, even the climbing and hill walking can be dangerous, but three people to die in one incident like this is really quite unusual. occasionally it happens in the winter, particularly because of phenomena like avalanches which can sweep away a number of people at the same time. but three people to die in one incident in the summer is quite unusual. the police will be involved in looking at what has happened, trying to understand what has happened, as far as we know they are saying there are no suspicious circumstances but it appears to be an accident, we will wait to see

more details about the circumstances of this incident and also about the people who are involved. let's turn to the crisis in west africa over the military coup in niger. the country's military leaders have closed airspace and put border forces on high alert, saying the country is ready to defend itself against any foreign aggression. the announcement came a day after the generals defied an ultimatum to reinstate the elected president or face armed intervention from other west african states. in response the west african regional bloc ecowas says it will hold an emergency summit in nigeria's capital on thursday. meanwhile a delegation from the military governments of mali and burkina faso mali is on its way to niger to express solidarity with the junta. we can speak now to drj peter pharm, a former united states special envoy for the sahel region who is now a distinguished fellow on africa at the atlantic council. thank you so much for being here on

the programme. hagar thank you so much for being here on the programme-— the programme. how worrying is the situation now? _ the programme. how worrying is the situation now? there _ the programme. how worrying is the situation now? there is _ the programme. how worrying is the situation now? there is a _ the programme. how worrying is the situation now? there is a threat - the programme. how worrying is the situation now? there is a threat of i situation now? there is a threat of military force _ situation now? there is a threat of military force on _ situation now? there is a threat of military force on the _ situation now? there is a threat of military force on the part - situation now? there is a threat of military force on the part of- ecowas. other hand the deadline has passed and there is yet no conflict. and that gives out some hope for resolving this diplomatically. the escalation of rhetoric certainly when it's not matched by hard—nosed military reality, is very unhelpful. the coup leaders set in their statement a little earlier, the two countries were making military preparations but then produced no evidence of that or which country they were referring to. how seriously though do you take the

threat from 10 one, how seriously is that being taken? i threat from 10 one, how seriously is that being taken?— that being taken? i would take it more seriously _ that being taken? i would take it more seriously if _ that being taken? i would take it more seriously if i _ that being taken? i would take it more seriously if i knew - that being taken? i would take it more seriously if i knew of - that being taken? i would take it| more seriously if i knew of actual preparations to do something other than commitments to hope to get more meetings. the ultimatum i thought was too stretched out. you don't give a one week deadline, you give them a shorter deadline so you know what they really are made of, doesn't mean you invade the day after but that gives you more... they gave them a week to dig themselves and in fact to iron out internal dissent which weakens them junta. molly and burkina faso should do more than send a solidarity delegation. it's time to look how we

can exit this and really try to save the one country in the region that actually has been making tremendous progress, lowest level of violence in five years, idp �*s were being resettled, the government was making tremendous steps forward in all this is now at risk because of the coup. while it is notjust the only coup, this is the third country in quick succession to be taken over by military figures. what does that do to us policy in the wholesale region? —— sahel region. -- sahel region. in burkina faso there were _ -- sahel region. in burkina faso there were large _ -- sahel region. in burkina faso there were large amount - -- sahel region. in burkina faso there were large amount of- -- sahel region. in burkina faso - there were large amount of territory that fell to jihadists and other

military... in nigeryou had actually security forces that trained by the united states, france, and other european allies which had had actually been making progress. ironically the treed units were out in the fields dealing with the extremist, they weren't that garrison troops that carried out the coup. giving the most progress in deradicalisation and lowering community tensions and numerous embassies of health and wellness. this is one of the poorest countries in the world's but they've been making solid progress. it in the world's but they've been making solid progress.- in the world's but they've been making solid progress. if you are still in your— making solid progress. if you are still in your old _ making solid progress. if you are still in your old post, _ making solid progress. if you are still in your old post, what - making solid progress. if you are still in your old post, what would you would be advising western governments to do now? realistically, we have to figure a way out of the conundrum. although the junta

way out of the conundrum. although thejunta has way out of the conundrum. although the junta has arrived... way out of the conundrum. although thejunta has arrived... also way out of the conundrum. although the junta has arrived... also quick restoration of democracy. an election less than two years ago, president bazoum was elected... quick restoration of democracy, only a crisis manufactured for their own selfish reasons. minority within the military and one or two units. thank ou so military and one or two units. thank you so much — military and one or two units. thank you so much for— military and one or two units. thank you so much forjoining _ military and one or two units. thank you so much forjoining us _ military and one or two units. thank you so much forjoining us here - you so much forjoining us here on the programme. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. new figures from the mortgage lender, halifax, says uk house prices have dropped for the fourth month in a row. they were down nought point 3% between june and july. the cost of a typical home is now just over 285 thousand pounds. a law charity has called for any deductions for living costs taken

from compensation paid to wrongly convicted people — to be returned retrospectively. appeal, which last month helped quash the rape conviction of andrew malkinson, said all people who've been forced to payshould get the money back. the nhs system for seriously ill people requiring care at home is struggling to provide sufficient support. that's according to families of people with complex medical needs, and it comes despite a significant increase in spending on so—called "continuing health care". the government says it's putting billions of pounds into extra funding. we'll have more on that story and about 20 minutes' time here on bbc news. a grieving mother and her lawyer have been targeted by an extreme campaign of abuse, after suing a �*conspiracy theory newspaper�* which falsely claimed her son died from a covid vaccine. the irish light repeatedly abused

adele campbell online and its supporters have threatened her lawyer with "execution". the bbc�*s disinformation correspondent marianna spring has the story. so this is a really shocking case. i've been investigating conspiracy theory newspapers for the past few months, looking at ones in the uk and germany, and how they share hate and disinformation. this case is about the irish light, which is the sister publication of the uk light, that we think has a circulation of about 100,000 copies here in the uk. the irish light is a bit smaller, but it ran this front page in november of 2022, the end of last year, and the front page had the headline "died suddenly". and it featured a picture of an 18—year—old called diego. diego featured with another a1 people. and the article suggested that their deaths — and they're all young people — were somehow linked to the covid—19 vaccine, which they described as untested and dangerous, and they referred to the deaths as "mysterious." only diego's death

wasn't mysterious. his mum and family explained how he actually took his own life back in august of 2021. and so his mum, adele campbell, has decided to take legal action against this woman, gemma o'doherty. she's the editor of the irish light. and the case is for harassment with defamation. and essentially it's an attempt to hold to account the conspiracy theory newspapers and the people who are pushing these kinds of ideas. and some of the hate that has ensued since that legal case was launched has been described as shocking by her lawyer, a man called kieran mulholland. these are some of the messages i found on the channels belonging to the irish light, and its editor, directed at, and about, a grieving mother, describing her as a massive fraud, describing her outrageous lies and suggesting that she's mentally unstable in some way. her lawyer has also said he's had threats of executions and shootings. and here's him explaining a little bit about the impact that kind of hate can have. given how the irish light and their supporters conduct

themselves, you can understand why a lot of people were incredibly reluctant to go to a solicitor or correspond directly when they saw the backlash with adele campbell, that it may have been better for them in their views to take a step back and go, "look, i'm just going to put this to the side. i can't deal with this." i put these allegations to the irish light paper and to its editor, gemma o'doherty. they didn't reply to any of the points i put to them, but they did tweet this. they shared several tweets, one where they call me a "disinformation agent", another where they talk about me carrying out a character assassination on the editor of the irish light, because she exposed the vaccine genocide. you can hear more about this case, and the cost of trying to hold to account conspiracy theory newspapers, on a bonus episode of my podcast, marianna in conspiracyland, available right now on bbc sounds. and marianna, it does underline just the repercussions,

now to the women's world cup where england have beaten nigeria — on penalties — to secure a place in the quarterfinals. this was the moment england sealed the victory in a nail—biting penalty shoot out, chloe kelly scoring the winning goal for england. in the other last 16 game, australia beat denmark 2—0. the matildas scored a goal in each half. they will face either france or morocco in quarter—finals. our reporter emily brown was with some fans in derbyshire — at defender milly bright's former club — and captured the moment england clinched victory. lots and lots of cheering. cheering and there we go. it's hard to hear anything over the cheers here! so, jubilation for the fans in derbyshire, but what's the view from australia? our correspondent in brisbane —jane dougall — was following the action. the star of the england squad,

laurenjames, was shown a straight red card. what had happened was she was entangled with one of the nigerian defenders, and it looked as though as she got up, she looked to have stamped on michelle alozie and was sent off so england had to play for the whole of extra time and the remainder of normal time with ten players. it means also that james will now miss the quarterfinals and could face a longer suspension if fifa deem it worthy. as i said, no goals throughout that so it went to penalties and it was nail—biting. england's georgia stanway missed the first one. england thought their chances were over, however nigeria missed their first two penalties.

england will face stiff competition in particular, from australia, who were the other team to progress today. they gave an assured performance to beat denmark 2—0 — and make it through to the quarterfinals. a standout moment in the game — was when matilda's superstar sam kerr came on. she's one of the poster girls of the tournament but has been sidelined by injury — meaning this was her first appearance at this world cup. i want to show you some dramatic footage from alaska, where record flooding led a house to collapse in its entirety, into the river below. the house fell into the river which runs through the alaskan capital. the subsidence prompted city officials to issue evacuation orders for residents on one street. the record flooding came after a glacial dam burst on saturday — which is when trapped water makes it way through thinning ice.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. temperatures are set to rise over the next few days. there's a drier and warmer spell of weather on the way, although it may not last all that long. as i'll show you injust a moment. last all that long. this is what's going on right now. last all that long. we've got quite a potent area of low pressure swirling across northern europe that is bringing some very heavy rain and some gales. but that is going to get close enough to shetlands to strengthen the winds here. the winds starting to pick up here actually as we go through the night. elsewhere, the winds will be lighter. we'll see some clear spells, the odd shower and this zone of cloud rolling in from the west affecting parts of wales and south west england. some bits and pieces of rain, some mist and murk by morning, turning a little more muggy and humid here as well. but where we keep the clear skies, actually another fairly chilly night. so for tomorrow, our deep low continues to swirl in northern europe. the ice, mars squeezing together,

you can see there across shetland. so it is going to turn increasingly windy further south, a significantly weaker weather system, but feeding a lot of cloud eastwards across wales into the midlands, eventually east anglia, certainly southern counties of england, quite murky around some of the coasts, some spots of drizzle. but much of northern england, northern ireland and scotland seeing sunny spells some showers into northeast scotland and wind gusts of 50 miles per hour or more in shetland where temperatures will only get to 12 degrees elsewhere, 17 to 20. so still a touch below par for the time of year. elsewhere, 17 to 20. so still a touch below par for the time of year. now into wednesday, i think we'll see quite a lot of cloud, a bit of mist and murk for coasts and hills and some spots of drizzle tending to feed north eastwards. but some spells of sunshine to you eastern and northern parts. seeing the best of that, turning a little bit warmer for most of us. in fact, maybe up to 2a or 25 degrees in the south. but thursday is set to be the warmest day of all. the southerly winds bringing temperatures wildly up into the twenties. many spots likely to get into the middle 20 celsius, but it will stay quite chilly in the north east of scotland

where we do have the warmth and indeed some humidity. well, it won't last all that long because by friday we see this cold front pushing its way eastwards, outbreaks of rain with that and behind it, we change the wind direction, the winds coming back in off the atlantic. so it will start to feel cooler again as we head into the weekends and there will be some showers or longer spells of rain.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the first asylum seekers to be housed on a barge off the south coast of england have arrived — ministers hope that up to 500 will follow. lawyers for the former pakistan prime minister imran khan challenge a decision to jail him for three years. and we're live at the world's biggest arts festival with hundreds of performers in edinburgh. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's tolsen tollett. hello from the bbc sport centre. england are through to the last eight of the women's football world cup after a dramatic penalty shootout win over nigeria in brisbane. the european champions were under pressure throughout and saw laurenjames sent—off late on, after a stamp on michelle alozie was spotted by var.

georgia stanway missed england's first penalty,