last week a candidate was shot dead, prompting widespread shock. ecuador has seen a huge rise in violence related to drug—trafficking and organised crime in recent years. our south america correspondent katy watson sent this report from guayaquil, the epicentre of ecuador�*s violence. as night falls, the violence soars. curfew�*s about to kick in, in this part of town overrun by drug traffickers. underfunded and under pressure, the police keep working, some so scared of reprisals by gangs they don't want to show their face. translation: gangs want to win territory. | we're dealing with very violent deaths, people being found hanging from bridges or cut into pieces. international criminal organisations are recruiting people here, but they have lots of money. there's a total imbalance between organised crime and the police trying to stop it.

mexican and colombian cartels have infiltrated local gangs as they vie for lucrative drugs routes. ecuador was hit hard by covid and they've taken advantage of a country broken by a pandemic and by corrupt politics. the police are at pains to show me they're fixing the problem, but when they're having to protect themselves with sandbags in the police station, you realise this is a war without end. this used to be one of the main routes for traffickers. people would come up here with stolen phones and jewellery and exchange those goods for drugs up here, but the police have taken back this area. that said, the police have lost so much more control of the city of guayaquil. the bars on all the windows in this neighbourhood tell you all you need to know about the lack of security here.

angie fears for her four children. the police are powerless, she says. just two weeks ago her neighbour was shot dead outside his daughter's school. translation: all i want is security, that's the only thing that _ will allow us to take our children to school without running the risk of being hit by stray bullet in a shoot—out. people here are still in shock after fernando villavicencio's murder last week. security at campaign events is tight. for the remaining candidates on the campaign trail, crime is what everyone's talking about. we live in an unsafe society. we have to campaign even with a bullet—proof vest.

we also need to work on the social side. we are feeling these organisations with young, new members. organisations with young, new members-_ organisations with young, new members. �* ., ., members. but parading through drug-trafficking _ members. but parading through drug-trafficking territory - members. but parading through drug-trafficking territory is - members. but parading through drug-trafficking territory is not l drug—trafficking territory is not without its risks. shortly after our interview, a shoot—out brought an end to campaigning. politics is complicated here in ecuador. as long as demand for cocaine keep storing, the cartels will fight for domination and the body count will keep rising. katy watson, bbc news in guayaquil. mortgage rates in the us have hit their highest level in 21 years. on thursday the average interest rate on a fixed 30 year mortgage went above 7%. rising mortgage rates have seriously disrupted the us housing market, and mark a long term shift in one of the biggest underlying forces in the us economy. michelle fluery has more from new york for the past year, economists have been fretting about the end of the low rate economy in the united states and it's in housing,

particularly the mortgage market, where rising interest rates most directly hit us homeowners, which is to say many us consumers and voters. now, when mortgage rates rise sharply and, on average, they're now at over 7% and the highest since 2002, then the housing market, well, it tends to slow down. it suddenly costs more to borrow and people who already have a mortgage on the older, lower rates, well, they don't want to move. that's what's happening in the united states. nearly 20% fewer existing homes were sold injune than at the same time last year. mortgage lending companies are struggling and, as a result, they are laying off workers. it will likely weigh on economic growth more broadly as people take on fewer, smaller mortgages and don't feel they're getting wealthier thanks to their home rising in value. so far, the overall us economy has withstood this shock. growth remains strong, but the return to a higher rate economy may onlyjust have started.

the slow—motion collapse of the world's most indebted property developer, china's evergrande, hasjust entered a new stage. the embattled company has just filed for bankruptcy protection in the us... earlier today we spoke with mike coop, morningstar investment management's chief investment officer for the emea region who summarised for us the latest in the evergrande saga. previously, the chinese government got a lot tougher on developers to three years ago. this is in response to excessive use of air. they then wanted to crack down on that and of course we also saw the crackdown on the technology, education companies, but now the pendulum has swung back the other way. here the issue is how to read the way the government is dealing with this. we all know the script of how this works. property

over lending and developing has been going on everywhere for centuries. the issue really is how the government allows this to play out, weather it is a more american—style crunch or a jab weather it is a more american—style crunch orajab and weather it is a more american—style crunch or a jab and ice —— japanese—style long play out. here we have evidence of a longer, slower play out. banks will be fined if they fail to provide free access to cash withdrawals for consumers and businesses under new plans by the treasury. the policy aims to ensure people don't have to travel more than three miles in rural areas to take out money or make deposits. here's our cost—of—living correspondent kevin peachey. the use of cash in our day—to—day lives is declining. contactless cards and digital payments on smartphones mean we may have less need to visit an atm or bank branch, but the government says cash can't be left to die out. cash is important.

it's here to stay for the long—term. many people — the elderly, the vulnerable, particularly rural communities — do depend on that access to cash. and if we want our shops to continue to take cash over the counter, then of course those businesses have got to have somewhere to deposit it. so the rules that we're announcing also cover the ability of businesses to deposit cash in a location that's convenient to them. but convenience is a difficultjudgment. to maintain the current provision of free access to cash, for now, the new rules will state that people should have to travel no more than a mile in urban areas to withdraw or deposit cash. in rural areas, the distance has been set at three miles. there's going to be situations where people are very reliant on public transport and if there's bad public transport in an area, then three miles might seem like a hike to the himalayas. what's important is that this recognises that the banks have a duty to protect their customers and to make sure that those who still rely on cash, which is so many of us, continue to be able to access it.

if they fail in that duty, banks could be fined by the city watchdog. but bank branches are closing at a rate of more than 50 a month. so the answer may be banks sharing premises. the trouble is, progress is slow. so far, only seven have opened permanently in the uk. for those who want to save cash, there's still a long battle ahead. kevin peachey, bbc news. energy builds in the uk are expected to fall. let's get more on this. international gas prices spiked after russia's invasion of the ukraine. this time last year european gas prices were about ten

times higher than their average level over the past decade. in the uk energy bill still remain much higher than what we are used to paying before the war in ukraine. forecasts were published this morning, which might give household some indication of where their bills might set in the autumn. analysts estimate that annual energy bills for a typical household will fall slightly from october to first to £1926 a year, under the energy price cap. in the uk that price cap is set by the regulator and it changes every three months, but what is really important to remember about the energy price cap is that it doesn't limit the overall amount that you will pay for your energy. instead, what it sets a limit on his what suppliers can charge households per unit of energy that they use. so, if you use more than the average amount of gas or electricity you will end up paying more still.

although the uk government stepped in in the wake of the war in ukraine to provide billions of pounds of support, lots of those schemes have now phased out, so campaign groups in the uk, like the end of fuel poverty coalition, suggested that while the price cap might come down this winter might not feel any easierfor this winter might not feel any easier for lots this winter might not feel any easierfor lots of bill this winter might not feel any easier for lots of bill payers out there, unfortunately. at a spokesman for the department for energy security said that the government will always ensure that the energy market is working for consumers to protect them from the sky—high bills. lets go to gabon in central africa — an oil—rich nation, but also known for its biodiversity. more than 80% of the country is covered by the congo rainforest. this week, gabon has become the first african country to refinance its national debt in order to protect the environment. the so—called blue bonds deal

is worth $500 million and it funnels cash to conservation in return for a lower interest rate on the national debt. in turn, gabon says it will spend at least $125 million to widen a marine reserve and strengthen fishing regulations. but critics see this "debt—for—nature" deal as putting environmental decision—making power in the hands of foreign governments, adding that the wealthiest and highest—polluting nations could use it as a way to avoid curbing their own emissions. let's talk to lee white, gabon�*s minister of water, forests, the sea and environment. minister, thank you for making the time for us. talk us through how this works. we time for us. talk us through how this work-— time for us. talk us through how this works. ~ . . ., ., this works. we have created what we call a blue bond, _ this works. we have created what we call a blue bond, which _ this works. we have created what we call a blue bond, which will— this works. we have created what we call a blue bond, which will buy - call a blue bond, which will buy back $450 million of gabon�*s debt, refinance sets, sort of sell it back

to gabon at a reduced interest rate, so our ministry of economy pays less to service the debts and all of what would have been profits to the banks that usually do these sorts if things get recycled into conservation, so we end up generating $163 million over 15 years we will be spending about $4.5 million a year in conservation and at the end of the 15 year term will have enough money in an endowment that means we will have $4.5 million to put into marine conservation forever, so it creates a sustainable fund that will continue to fund marine conservation and improve fisheries in gabon forever.- fisheries in gabon forever. critics have said that _ fisheries in gabon forever. critics have said that this _ fisheries in gabon forever. critics have said that this puts - fisheries in gabon forever. critics have said that this puts gabon'sl have said that this puts gabon�*s environmental concern sits squarely in the hands of western countries, those that owned the debts in gabon.

do you agree with that statement? not really. we have, like many countries, including the uk, we have depth. what we have done here is restructured that debts, paid a smaller interest rates to increase our credit rating and to recycle a chunk of that money into conservation, so it is a win—win scenario. we are not in any way selling gabon�*s sovereignty. it has been put together by the ministry of economy with the support of the nature conservancy and backed by the us international development finance corporation, which allows us to reduce the interest rates. it is an innovative finance method for blue conservation, it is something that has been done in other countries, most recently in ecuador, and we would expect to see more and more

developed nations doing this sort of thing, as we recognise the fact that our ecosystems, the environmental services that they provide to the world, are actually worth cash to the developed nations of this world, whether it is the ocean or the rainforests, where gabon is the most carbon positive country on earth, but we have not seen any finance for our enforced carbon stocks either. what will this do to gabon�*s credit rating? it what will this do to gabon's credit ratin: ? ., �* . ., what will this do to gabon's credit ratin? ., �* . ., ., ., �*, rating? it won't change the nation's credit rating. _ rating? it won't change the nation's credit rating, but _ rating? it won't change the nation's credit rating, but we _ rating? it won't change the nation's credit rating, but we have - rating? it won't change the nation's credit rating, but we have been - rating? it won't change the nation's| credit rating, but we have been able to assign a very good credit rating to assign a very good credit rating to assign a very good credit rating to a small part, to 4% of our debts, and we hope we will be able to replicate the sort of deal for the oceans, but also for our forests and

by doing this partnership with the us we elevate our credit ratings and make these sorts of deals much more viable. ., ~' , ., do not adjust your set. you are not seeing double. this little fellow was born a month ago with two heads and the odds of that are thought to be about one in 100,000. fit, and the odds of that are thought to be about one in 100,000. fix, bit and the odds of that are thought to be about one in 100,000.- be about one in 100,000. a bit of disbelief to _ be about one in 100,000. a bit of disbelief to begin _ be about one in 100,000. a bit of disbelief to begin with. _ be about one in 100,000. a bit of disbelief to begin with. they - be about one in 100,000. a bit of disbelief to begin with. they are l disbelief to begin with. they are rare. i have had twins before and we have even had cyclops snakes where they have one eye in the centre, but never had a 2—headed snake. it should have been two twins in the 9991 should have been two twins in the egg, basically, but they never

split. egg, basically, but they never slit. ., ., , ., ~ egg, basically, but they never slit, ., ., , ., ~' ., , egg, basically, but they never slit. ., ., , ., , ., split. two headed snake generally to class for split. two headed snake generally to glass for more _ split. two headed snake generally to glass for more than _ split. two headed snake generally to glass for more than a _ split. two headed snake generally to glass for more than a few _ split. two headed snake generally to glass for more than a few days. - split. two headed snake generally to glass for more than a few days. the | glass for more than a few days. the trick is to get the meeting. this little au trick is to get the meeting. this little guy is _ trick is to get the meeting. t�*i 3 little guy is feeling really well. he does have a dominant head, which is this side, and that is the one that we feel at the moment. but both head strength. in that we feel at the moment. but both head strength-— head strength. in america, 2-headed snakes can suffer _ head strength. in america, 2-headed snakes can suffer vast _ head strength. in america, 2-headed snakes can suffer vast amounts - head strength. in america, 2-headed snakes can suffer vast amounts of. snakes can suffer vast amounts of money, but exeter exotics say they have nose plans to sell this one. the university of dundee has created a new likeness of bonnie prince charlie. he was known as �*the young pretender�* and led the jacobite rising of 1745 in his claim to the british throne. academics say it's the most realistic representation of him yet.

i have created a recreation of the prince using his death mask. there is the death mask of the prince in the hunterian museum in glasgow and i created a 3d model of that mask. then i compared them. i was not exactly sure if they came from the same caste or knowledge of the death mask. i applied studies about the way people age to the prince and basically sculpted his younger appearance. we basically sculpted his younger appearance-— basically sculpted his younger appearance.

basically sculpted his younger auearance. ~ . ., . ., ., appearance. we are watching a video as ou appearance. we are watching a video as you speak — appearance. we are watching a video as you speak of _ appearance. we are watching a video as you speak of you _ appearance. we are watching a video as you speak of you creating - appearance. we are watching a video as you speak of you creating this - as you speak of you creating this mass, the work in progress. why is it important to do this? i know he is a significant figure in scottish history, but why did you decide to do this? i history, but why did you decide to do this? . ., , ., , ., do this? i decided to show him young because he was _ do this? i decided to show him young because he was 24 _ do this? i decided to show him young because he was 24 years _ do this? i decided to show him young because he was 24 years old - do this? i decided to show him young because he was 24 years old and - do this? i decided to show him young because he was 24 years old and i . because he was 24 years old and i find it a bit crazy really because i cant imagine doing that and i am just three years older than he would be. ijust don't just three years older than he would be. i just don't think that people often think about how old historical figures are. obviously, people were taken as adults much earlier in their lives in the past. at the same time, i cant imagine that they would

be that much different from us. this is art of a be that much different from us. this is part of a university project for you. you have created this mask, the most likely get, the most realistic yet, what will happen to it now? i’m yet, what will happen to it now? i'm not sure. yet, what will happen to it now? i'm not sure- i — yet, what will happen to it now? in not sure. i still need to talk to the museum i work with about it. i haven't really had a chance to have that conversation yet.— that conversation yet. barbara, thank you _ that conversation yet. barbara, thank you very _ that conversation yet. barbara, thank you very much _ that conversation yet. barbara, thank you very much for - that conversation yet. barbara, thank you very much for being l that conversation yet. barbara, - thank you very much for being with us. i appreciate it. councils in england have been encouraged by the government to allow pubs to open earlier on sunday ahead of the women's world cup final. many pubs want licencing laws relaxed, so that fans can buy alcohol as early as 10am. but changing the legislation in time could be difficult, asjoe inwood reports.

across the country, the success of the lionesses has been matched with packed pubs and bustling bars. millions have watched their route to the world cup final, with sunday's clash with spain expected to draw record audiences for the competition and provide a major boost to the hospitality sector. we are expecting a nice boost and we're really pleased that the government has encouraged people to come together to celebrate in pubs and to help people open and get as many people as possible celebrating. we are expecting a million extra customers on that sunday morning, and that could give a boost of up to £40 million for the sector. kick—off is at 11.00 on sunday morning, which means pubs without the right licences won't be able to serve alcohol before the match. the government says it wants them to be able to open earlier. the british beer and pub association wants them to be able to serve alcohol too. but to do that legally,

pubs need to get a special licence, which takes five working days. since england only won their semi on wednesday, there was never going to be enough time for that to happen. parliament could give blanket permission, but they're on summer break. meaning it's now down to local councils to approve temporary licences on a case—by—case basis and in record time. so what do pubs without permission do? they can open for coffee, for breakfast, for bacon sarnies. so you can come along to pubs, bars, get in the spirit and in the mood in advance. have a morning coffee, come and watch the match and then have a drink to celebrate when, hopefully, the women do win the world cup and take it home. as the cliche goes, on sunday, the lionesses will be hoping to bring football home. millions of their fans will be hoping they can watch them do that down the pub.

joe inwood, bbc news. n ig htclu bs nightclubs in the uk have recently been this time in the morning, normally we would have club are streaming out after a night of dancing and enjoying themselves. as i said, we have the place to ourselves this morning. i am taking a look at the state of nightlife in the uk. they have had a really tough time, venues like this. they have been through the pandemic, we had the national lockdowns in the uk and just as they were recovering from that, the cost of living crisis, rising prices, people had less money to spend on energy bills for venues getting more expensive. they have had a tough time and money venues around the country have had to shut their doors for good.

one in three nightclubs have closed permanently over the past three years and it is independent and smaller venues like this one but have had the toughest time. 35% of them have closed since 2020 and in the last year alone, 100 have gone out of business. the pressures are really on, it is a far cry from the 80s and 90s, the heyday of the super clubs. first, let's have chat to the venue manager here. maxim, the patterns you are seeing, what are the pressures you face as a venue, as a business? it is quite tough at the moment. we came out of covid, there was this big return to rave, a month or two and then there was a big crash. there was a steady trudge to try to get people back to the doors to where it was before covid~ _ i think this is partly to do with our audience base, 60% students, very heavily student base. the two year hiatus

that there wasn't students going physically into university, left a gap socially so the older students didn't trickle down where the cool, live events spots are, like meraki. when you are competing with the bigger venues, bigger clubs, chains that can absorb costs more easily, how much of a challenge is that for small venues like this? there is big venues that hold up to 5,000 people in our area. basically, if they put a show on the same night as a show we have, that really makes it hard to predict how many people will come to our show, because it sucks up a massive portion of how many people will be attending an event in the city that night.

russia's defence down a drone over moscow, which are claims on ukraine. ukraine has not yet commented. jones had been used increasingly during the conflict. —— crohn�*s. hello there. it's a fairly cloudy picture across a good part of the uk through the course of this afternoon. we've seen some hefty downpours earlier on, but those tending to fade away. but there is some heavy rain on the way later on. before we get there, though, still some sharp showers across parts of the south—east, in towards the midlands and further towards the northwest in towards northern ireland. some cool winds around north sea coasts as well, picking back temperatures here, but temperatures elsewhere, a humid feel up to around 23 celsius. now we need to look towards the south—west for tonight's heavy rain.

it's the storm system that's been named storm betty and it's going to bring some heavy rain and high winds for many parts of the country as we head into this evening and overnight. you can see that weather across parts of the isles of scilly in towards devon and cornwall, towards dorset, much of wales, really poor conditions if you're out and about having to drive through that, and very high winds around the west coast as well with some high waves and disruption is likely. 0vernight, some hefty downpours, maybe thundery towards east anglia, several weeks worth of august rainfall likely here. and that rain band continues to track north in towards scotland as we head through the early hours. it's a close, humid—feeling night with temperatures for many holding in the mid to high teens. now to tomorrow, that heavy rain still with us across scotland. the winds here brisk coming in from the east and journeying northwards towards the northern isles. we've got a wrap round of cloud and rain in towards northern ireland, southern scotland and towards cumbria. but actually much of england and wales having a decent saturday with some sunny spells and a few showers around temperatures

up to around 24, 25 celsius in the south—east and actually eastern coastal parts of much warmer compared with today. looking ahead to overnight tomorrow night and into sunday, that rain pulling away, but we've still got low pressure anchored to the north—west. that means the closer that you are to that area of low pressure, a number of showers are likely or even longer spells of rain. but the further east that you are generally dry with some spells of sunshine. and once again, temperatures through central, southern and eastern england in the mid 20s, at times further north and west, a bit fresher. but once again, the east coast, not bad compared with recent days. monday is similar. we've got showers or longer spells of rain across western scotland, northern ireland as well. the further south and east that you are, the drier it will be and temperatures up a notch, reaching 26 degrees across parts of the south east. that's the forecast for now.

today at one. .. "we're desperate to win." the lionesses' coach sarina wiegman talks to us, 48 hours before the world cup final. she says the team is resilient, and that playing against spain on sunday will be a special moment. it's going to be a big challenge, also for them, and ijust hope it's going to be an incredible game, and of course i have a very preference who wants to win. sarina wiegman also says she has no plans to leave the job. we'll be live in sydney. also on the programme... banks and building societies are to face fines if they don't provide enough access

to free cash withdrawals. thousands of people queue for evacuation flights, as wildfires get dangerously close to the canadian town of yellowknife. and why younger patients who need a liver transplant are waiting four times longer than people over 60. and coming up on bbc news, another signing at chelsea. romeo lavia joins from southampton for more than £50 million, becoming mauricio pochettino's ninth signing of the summer. hello and welcome to the bbc news at one. with just 48 hours to go to the women's world cup final, the lionesses' coach sarina wiegman says she's desperate for her team to win. speaking to our sports editor dan roan, she said the team has