the home secretary yvette cooper has been chairing a meeting to look at ways of tackling criminal gangs who smuggle people across the channel. the ministers in the uk border force discussing what more can be done to stop crossings with our home editor reporting. the government claims the deaths of 12 migrants in the channeljust off the french coast earlier this week is evidence of both the moral imperative in destroying the smuggling gangs, and also that measures to disrupt the criminal networks are having an impact. the home office says it suggests the business model of the smugglers

is under pressure. more people are being crammed into less seaworthy vessels, with intelligence suggesting the gangs have increased their charges, including demanding payment for children. almost 22,000 migrants have arrived in britain after attempting to cross the channel this year, more than 7,000 since the election. having scrapped the previous government's rwanda plan, the labour administration is under pressure to prove it has a plan to stop the boats. at a meeting of senior government ministers, intelligence agencies and law enforcement bodies in london today, the home office will say a0 small boats and engines were seized in an operation in bulgaria in recent weeks. that there are currently 70 live investigations, including operations targeting gangs in libya, romania and southeast asia. meanwhile, plans to house asylum seekers, including small boat migrants at raf scampton, a former ministry of defence site in lincolnshire, have been scrapped. the home office says it would have cost £122 million over three years, and no longer represents value for money. even the civil servants that

came to visit the site in february last year said it was not suitable so they already know that. with the investment, the history and heritage that is here, we cannotjust stand by and let that all get ruined. we had to do something about it. however, critics say the government is not moving quickly enough to deal with the small boats crisis. after promising the rapid recruitment of a border security commander to oversee the response two months ago, downing street has now said the appointment will be confirmed in the next few weeks. today's meeting, styled as a landmark operational summit, is an opportunity to demonstrate some progress in the challenge of destroying the smuggling gangs. mark easton, bbc news. the prison population in england and wales has reached another record high, meaning jails are badly overcrowded and struggling to cope. the head of a new scheme starting next week

when you inmates will be freed at an earlier point in a sentencing to try and bring those numbers down, our senior correspondent has had special access to pentonville prison in north london. alarm blares. chaos in hmp pentonville. we're the only broadcast journalists given access... it's a code red. ..to one of britain's most dangerous jails since the current crisis. 0k, come on, folks. and some prison officers are so frightened of being targeted on the outside that we've had to blur theirfaces. hmp pentonville. staff are overstretched. another alarm here. and on the verge of breaking point. you worry about, you know, opening the door in the morning and making sure that they're alive~ — anything can happen. there's been deaths in prison. all right, what have we got -

coming in this afternoon, then? each day, more bus—loads arrive, making this jail one of the most crowded in the country. can you stand in the middle of the black and yellow box for me? they undergo body checks. so this scanner will show whether they're hiding anything inside their body. any drugs, any weapons. yep. most of the inmates are on remand, so they're waiting for their trial or sentencing. others are doing time for crimes such as murder, robbery and rape. and anything can happen. alarm blares. there's an alarm gone off. yeah. i'm going to go and see. it's a code red. a code red alarm involves blood or burns. an inmate has self—harmed. a moment of apprehension as they assess the situation. can you talk me through what's happened? yes, we've got a prisoner who's self—harmed here. he's made superficial cuts to his arm.

staff say overcrowding is leading to an increase in self—harm and violence... ..because of inmates' frustration with being locked up for longer. across the wing, michael's inside for drug offences. there are some people who simply don't care about prisoners. they're like, "they broke the law, they should be locked up. shouldn't be a hotel." but you are supposed to be rehabilitated inside. do you think prison is providing a rehabilitation? no. it's a punishment, it's not a rehabilitation. it's hard to rehabilitate yourself in a place where you've got gang violence, postcode wars, drug violence, money wars. if you've got beef there, violence there, drugs there, people collapsing here, the staff, they're outstretched. they're trying to do this, this, this and this. but now you want help, as well. moments later, another alarm. the fifth of the day. yesterday, there were more than 30.

they've just jumped on the netting. prison officers are running up the stairs to try and get them down. what the staff are saying is that it can turn really quickly. a quiet moment can become chaotic within a matter of seconds. as one prison officer said, it's like the flick of a switch. staff do what they can to calm things down. you told me about it yesterday. and very quickly they're back on normal duties. there must have been some hairy moments? they kind of — they all kind of blur into one because it's not like, oh, once in a blue moon something happens. it's like day in, day out, you kind of are dealing with incidents from self—harm to violence to kind of people with severe mental health issues. gang violence is an ongoing threat at pentonville and has had some serious consequences for staff. this prison officer broke both her wrists while separating two gang members during a fight. it's probably the biggest

thing in london. stressful? stressful. yeah, stressful. sima kotecha, bbc news, hmp pentonville. and some breaking news to bring you, an 18—year—old american activist has been shot in the west bank. palestinian media says israeli troops intervened, firing tear gas at the demonstrators and there has been no commentator so far —— make no commentator —— aysenur ezgi eygi has been short. no comments so far. there has been quite a few attacks from settlers so she was working for a local campaign group, with them trying to... from military defined that said by local media that police tried to suppress the demonstration with stun grenades, live fire and

tear gas and the of this, she was struck in the head by a bullet and was taken to a hospital in nablus but died later. she is a graduate of the university of washington of languages and culture and helps under resourced communities so that really explains why she was there. so far there is no great detail added to this by the palestinian media other than they do claim that she was shot by israeli soldiers and thatis shot by israeli soldiers and that is something that is not proven as yet. the israeli military say they are now looking into the incident but there is no further comment than that. dwain fields, the first black briton to walk to the north pole, has been named as the uk's new chief scout,

replacing their grills who are standing down after 15 years and said scouting changed his life as a boy. —— replacing bear grylls. dwayne fields ended up on a path that took all the way to the north for now he said it is his vesture —— his chance to give back. it his vesture -- his chance to give back-— his vesture -- his chance to cive back. ., ., give back. it gave me the world of confidence, _ give back. it gave me the world of confidence, made _ give back. it gave me the world of confidence, made a - give back. it gave me the world of confidence, made a big - of confidence, made a big difference to me. i approach the scout have in north london and i was scared, anxious, so shy i could not speak to anyone and i remember walking out of that scout hub feeling ten feet tall because i was believed in and i had been given the

ability to believe in myself as well so my confidence grew. he ste -s well so my confidence grew. he steps into _ well so my confidence grew. he steps into pretty big shoes with bear grylls the outgoing chief scout and a 3k he was the youngest man to take on the role having already climbed everest. he stepped down after 15 years and said being chief scout had been the greatest honour of his life. scouting has a long history in britain and it was in london more than 100 years ago lord baden powell was acclaimed chief scout of the world. a title no one else has held since. the movement has held since. the movement has come a long way since with generations learning life skills with scout leaders. the venture scouts, now known as explorers, opened their doors to young women but it was not until 2007 that it became mandatory for all sections to let girls in and now it is fully inclusive and young people of all backgrounds are actively encouraged to get in

touch. it is notjust camping and canoeing now with activities from coding to community projects offered among young people so what do they think of the new leader? seems like genuine person and is really passionate about scouting which is nice to see and i think you will do a good job. and i think you will do a good 'ob. . , and i think you will do a good 'ob. ., , ., and i think you will do a good 'ob. .,, ., ., and i think you will do a good 'ob. ., ., ., .,, and i think you will do a good 'ob. ., ., . job. he was a scout as a child so he knows _ job. he was a scout as a child so he knows the _ job. he was a scout as a child so he knows the experiencesl so he knows the experiences people — so he knows the experiences people will go through. i got to meet him _ people will go through. i got to meet him last _ people will go through. i got to meet him last year - people will go through. i got to meet him last year and i people will go through. i grrt to meet him last year and he was amazing, really connected with us and was really inspirational so i think it will be great for us.- will be great for us. the scouts more _ will be great for us. the scouts more so - will be great for us. the scouts more so of - will be great for us. the | scouts more so of course will be great for us. the - scouts more so of course is will be great for us. the scouts more so of course is be prepared but nowadays that is as much about being prepared to ask big questions and listen with open minds as it is about bringing a penknife. great stuff and now it is time for a look at the weather. hello. it's another afternoon of huge weather contrasts. now there will be quite large

parts of the uk that have lots of sunshine to look forward to, and it will feel warm, particularly across northern and western areas of the uk, with temperatures running well above average 25 in manchester and 26 in liverpool. parts of east anglia could get up to a humid 27 c. however, if you're stuck in the south of england, it's a different story. a lot of cloud and we have had some heavy downpours here through the day today. still1 or 2 left over into the afternoon, but i think more generally the rain will turn at least a little bit lighter for a time as you go through the afternoon. but the temperatures here nothing really to write home about away from that band of rain. yes, we've got that warm sunshine to look forward to, although there will be some areas of low cloud and mist that continue to linger and loiter across parts of eastern scotland and eastern england, just keeping the temperatures pegged back here. 0therwise warm in the sunshine, 26 degrees there in liverpool. now, overnight tonight, our weatherfronts will finally give up the ghost across southern counties of england so it will become drierfor a time. we'll see a return of low clouds and mist and fog patches, particularly across eastern scotland, eastern england.

and with that comes the threat of occasional spots of drizzle as well. it'll be quite a humid night, the weekend still dominated by this area of low pressure. the low, if anything, will bring the threat of some heavy showers further northwards. with time now for england and wales here, where we'll see the lion's share of the showers on saturday. quite a clump of showers look set to come in through the morning, i think across parts of lincolnshire, yorkshire, maybe into northeast england too. so watch out for those further southwards. yes, you could see some thunderstorms break out, but i think it's across scotland and northern ireland that the weather should stay dry with the best of the sunshine and some of the higher temperatures as well. for sunday showers, perhaps some longer spells of rain still with the same area of low pressure. again, the majority of the downpours will be focussed across england and wales, leaving scotland and northern ireland drier but potentially turning a little bit cloudier.

temperatures here high teens to low 20s then into next week. a change in the jet stream pattern will bring us some colder air moving down from the north, and with that, an area of low pressure that could bring some quite persistent rain for a time across northern areas. 0therwise, showers with the weather turning a lot cooler and fresher for all of us. live from london. this is bbc news.

breaking news in the last hour — a 26 year—old american woman has been shot dead in the occupied west bank. we'll get the latest from our correspondent injerusalem. a 14—year—old boy has appeared in court after the high sachool shooting in georgia. his father has also been charged with murder. at least 17 pupils have died after a fire broke out in the dormitory of a boarding school in central kenya. here at bbc verify, we have been looking to old images, shared as if they are from the overnight fire in kenya. a man who set fire to asylum seeker hotel has been handed the longest sentence yet after riots. and a historic football win for san marino — we'll find out why.