this is bbc news. the headlines: donald trump's presidential campaign accuses the uk's labour party of foreign interference in the us election. the us secretary of state says now is the time for israel to end the war in gaza — to capitalise on its success against hamas. a new alzheimer's drug is rejected for widespread use in england because of how much it costs. and — mine�*s a pint — the group of friends who've met at the pub every week for more than half—a—century. hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. a new alzheimer's drug has been rejected for widespread use in the health service in england, after the health spending watchdog said that it "doesn't currently demonstrate value for the nhs". it comes as the uk's medicines regulator said that donanemab could be licenced for use

in the uk. it is the second disease modifying alzheimer's drug to be rejected by the national institute of health and care excellence, nice, in a matter of months. with me is our health correspondentjim reed. so, first of all, i mentioned the drug's name, donanemab, tell us a bit more about the drug. tell us a bit more about the dru~. , . tell us a bit more about the dru. _ , ., ., tell us a bit more about the dru~. , ., ., ., drug. there is a lot of excitement _ drug. there is a lot of excitement not - drug. there is a lot of excitement not just . drug. there is a lot of - excitement not just about drug. there is a lot of - excitement notjust about this excitement not just about this drug but this type of drug at the moment. for the first time, these new drugs coming on stream are notjust altering, changing the symptoms of dementia and alzheimer's by actually trying to do something about the underlying disease. that is what this does. we now think that alzheimer's is by plaques in your brain called amyloid proteins. this drug actually latches onto those proteins and stops them forming, breaks them down, if you get it early enough in the

progression in the disease, early enough after diagnosis. so what we have to decide is, is it worth giving these on a population wide basis across the nhs? that is what the health spending watchdog has been looking into today and it decided this drug in particular, donanemab, can slow the progression of alzheimer's by between 4—7 months. it might not sound very much in the great scheme of someone's life but if you are someone who wants to go outside, play with their children, go on holiday, their children, go on holiday, the fact you can slow the progression of alzheimer's by 4-7 progression of alzheimer's by 4—7 months is exciting. the question is, is it worth the money? they have looked at this and decided by quite a long way, a big measure, it is not. they say the cost effectiveness of this drug is five to six times above what nice would normally consider an acceptable use of nhs resources, so at the moment it will not be approved for widespread use in england. there are so many families affected by this illness. how does nice reach this decision,

help us go behind the scenes? it is a really difficult decision to make because you are trying to weigh up the cost effectiveness of a drug against doing nothing, which is the current way that alzheimer's is a disease is treated. so they have to look at for example social care costs. if you give this drug, it might mean someone can live a relatively normal life are longer months. if you don't, you have someone who might have to go into a care home, maybe having to be cared for at home and that has a cost attached to it. so they are trying to weigh up both things at the same time, which is not easy. that is what they have said here. there is also theissue have said here. there is also the issue of side effects from these drugs and we know they can call some quite serious side effects, like microbe leads in the brain and swelling in the brain. i think in the longer term, these are the first two drugs of its type that have come to market and been developed. we know another 20 or so drugs using similar technologies are on the way.

what organisations like alzheimer's society are saying is although this is disheartening, the longer term prognosis for people with dementia is much more positive thanit dementia is much more positive than it has been in recent years. than it has been in recent ears. . , , ., , years. has there been any reaction — years. has there been any reaction to _ years. has there been any reaction to this _ years. has there been any reaction to this decision? | years. has there been any i reaction to this decision? we have had _ reaction to this decision? we have had a — reaction to this decision? - have had a reaction from the alzheimer's society who say although they are disheartened by this decision today, they expect more drugs like this to come on stream and talk about the fight for hope against dementia in the long term. thank you very much, jim reed. the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is seen as one of the great successes of the pandemic, credited with saving over six million lives in its first year. but in rare cases, it was also responsible for serious side—effects like blood clots in the brain — which in some cases, were fatal. now, the financial scheme set up to support those injured by vaccines has been criticised as being �*arbitrary�*, with the payouts too low. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh has been to meet some of those affected. jane wrigley used to be a runner, now she can barely walk.

do you want to hold my hand? yes, please. 0k. before i had the vaccine, i was a very independent, active woman doing half—marathons. and now, i have no independence. i can't even shower myself, can i? no. jane suffered a blood clot in her brain two weeks after her first dose of the astrazeneca vaccine in march 2021, and required emergency surgery. as other cases emerged throughout europe, doctors gave the vaccine induced clots a new medical term — vitt. lisa shaw, a presenter at bbc radio newcastle, was 44 when she died — three weeks after her first astrazeneca covid vaccine. her death was attributed to vitt blood clots. lisa's husband gareth is bringing up their

son zach on his own. he made a claim through a government scheme set up to support those harmed by vaccines and eventually received £120,000. the amount of this one—off payment hasn't increased since 2007. she died because she took the product that the government told her to get, and they believe that £120,000 is what makes up for that loss. i think it's insulting. my son will go through the rest of his life without a mam. gareth waited a year for his payment — jane, two years. she agrees the money is inadequate. it doesn't really compare to what it's taken away from me. i mean, ian can't really work. i can't work, either.

from 2000, there were an average of two successful claims a year under the vaccine damage payment scheme. post—covid, there have been 188 — all but a handful for the astrazeneca vaccine. a further 253 people were told that although the vaccine was responsible for their injuries, they didn't meet the threshold of 60% disability, and so get nothing. of nearly 16,000 covid vaccine claimants, around half have yet to be notified of the outcome. but the harms caused have to be set against the huge benefits of covid vaccination. it's estimated vaccines prevented over 120,000 covid—related deaths in the uk up to september 2021. adam finn was a member of the committee which advised the government on covid vaccines.

the protection these vaccines were able to deliver rapidly, even just after the first dose, really saved a lot of people's lives. but he believes the vaccine damage payment scheme is flawed and needs reform. at the moment, we are seeing what appears to be a fairly arbitrary compensation scheme, presumably designed to be simple and effective. but it's not really responsive to the level of disability that people experience and it's certainly not changing over time as the cost of living rises. around 50 families affected by vitt blood clots are taking a group legal action against astrazeneca for compensation. both the department of health and astrazeneca said their sympathy went out to anyone who had lost loved ones. the government says it will look closely at the concerns of affected families. astrazeneca said it couldn't comment on ongoing litigation,

but patient safety was its highest priority, adding, "regulators around the world state the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare side effects". the legal case could take years to have a full hearing. and our medical editor fergus walshjoins me now. from salford. just looking at your report, how much hope is there that we could see more compensation for those affected by this story?— by this story? that is the big question- — by this story? that is the big question- i _ by this story? that is the big question. i think— by this story? that is the big question. i think it _ by this story? that is the big question. i think it is - by this story? that is the big question. i think it is quite i by this story? that is the big question. i think it is quite a | question. i think it is quite a telling intervention from professor adam finn, a very important figure in the world of vaccines. for him to step up and say that the current system actually risks undermining vaccine confidence because this

protective system, the scheme, he said is arbitrary and not fit for purpose as it stands. i think that is an important intervention. but it is partly down to money. the figure of £120,000 hasn't increased since 2007. if it had simply gone up with inflation, it would be now £200,000 but a lot of priorities that the government has got, and we have the budget coming up, so it remains to be seen whether or not they will be an alteration to theirs. in fact, at the covid inquiry, the next sessions of the covid inquiry injanuary, are going to look at the vaccine roll—out and they will look at the vaccine damage protection scheme. so perhaps we might see some movement on it next year. how do reports of side effects affect vaccine uptake in the uk? ., . ,

affect vaccine uptake in the uk? ., . ., uk? there are concerns about a piateauing _ uk? there are concerns about a piateauing of — uk? there are concerns about a plateauing of vaccine _ uk? there are concerns about a plateauing of vaccine uptake - plateauing of vaccine uptake across a whole range of diseases. for childhood vaccines, there have been a resurgence in things like hooping cough and that is a concern, because the uk is not hitting the targets it needs to for vaccine coverage. it is absolutely vital that anyone who has seen this article doesn't then say, well, actually, i'm not going to have my covid jab or take my child for theirjabs. my covid jab or take my child fortheirjabs. it my covid jab or take my child for theirjabs. it is very much the case that the benefits of immunisation vastly outweigh any risks, and this particular vaccine, this particular concern over the astrazeneca vaccine, which is no longer used, does seem to be responsible for a huge spike in vaccine damage payment claims and awards and that vaccine is no longer used.—

no longer used. and 'ust a little earlier �* no longer used. and 'ust a little earlier on fl no longer used. and 'ust a little earlier on the h no longer used. and just a - little earlier on the programme we were talking about this breaking news around the outside as jug breaking news around the outside asjug and breaking news around the outside as jug and the decision by nice. you have covered the alzheimer's disease for many years now. how difficult is it to get new drugs approved for the condition? it is to get new drugs approved for the condition?— the condition? it is very difficult _ the condition? it is very difficult and _ the condition? it is very difficult and this - the condition? it is very difficult and this will. the condition? it is very difficult and this will be | the condition? it is very l difficult and this will be a huge disappointment to the families, there is a documentary on bbc iplayer that i have done which is still available, that this drug, it is not perfect. as you heard, it comes with potential side effects but it can buy families extra months and that can be crucial. it can make the difference between seeing your grandchild and recognising them and being with your family and being independent and i think it is a point worth making that the first cancer drugs that

came through, the new drugs that came through in the 70s in chemotherapy, they were not perfect at all and still aren't but we learn from those. i think the really positive thing is that we are now on the brink of a really positive development and more drugs for alzheimer's are coming through. thank you very much. 0ur medical editor, fergus walsh. and a special programme is available with the full story — covid vaccine: fighting for a payout. that's on the bbc iplayer now. ijust want i just want to bring you ijust want to bring you some breaking news now, which is that the manchester arena attack survivors martin and eve have won their high court harassment case against the former television producer richard hall, who claims that 2017 bombing was staged. this is some breaking news we have coming in, that the manchester

arena attack survivors martin and eve hibbert have won their high court harassment case against the former television producer richard hall. now, an independent commission, set up by the uk and welsh governments, is to examine how to improve the water industry, amid crumbling infrastructure, pollution and rising bills. it's been described as the largest review of the sector since the late 1980s. our business editor simonjack reports. water bills are going to rise a lot if we are going to fix a crumbling water infrastructure that has seen sewage spills, leaks and outages soar. it's provoked public fury at the company's many — like becky mulvey from ilkley — have seen as prioritising profit over people. i'm not prepared to pay more in my bills until i am ensured that we are going to get our rivers, lakes and seas cleaned up. i am not paying more for debt and for dividends and for people to line their pockets. absolutely not.

the government agrees the industry and regulation isn't working, which is why it's launching the biggest review of the industry in the 35 years since privatisation, which could see the reform or abolition of current regulators. the water industry itself welcomed the move. i don't think anyone can look at the current system and think that it's working well. we have not had enough investment in the past and our system is creaking under the weight of climate change and population growth. and, ultimately, ithink all of us bear some responsibility for that, including the regulator, which has consistently denied sufficient investment to be put into the system. but this new commission will not report back until next spring. the negotiation about how much bills will rise in england and wales over the next five years is happening now. 0fwat initially agreed to average price rises of £19 a year, or a total of 21% above inflation, by 2030. but the numbers vary a lot depending on company and their spending needs. 0fwat agreed to a rise of 44%, or £37 a year, for southern water customers, but only 11% — or £9 a year — for customers of northumbrian.

water companies have invested nearly £200 million since privatisation in facilities like this new storm drain to cope with higher rainfall. but they've also paid out 50 billion in dividends, millions in pay and saddled some companies with unsustainable debt. the government say nationalisation would cost taxpayers billions and take years in which the problems would only get worse. so whatever this new commission concludes, it seems inevitable that the failures of the past will mean higher bills in the future. simon jack, bbc news. new figures show a big rise in the number of people struggling with buy—now—pay—later debts. money wellness — one of the uk's biggest debt support agencies — say they've seen three times the number of people needing help with this kind of debt in the last year. the typical person asking for help now has more than two buy—now—pay—later debts — that's up from last year. and the average debt is around £330 — but even smaller levels of debt can be tricky to manage, as our cost

of living correspondent colletta smith has been finding out. itjust takes its toll, especially on my family, as well, because i don't ever see them, hardly. buying now and paying later was normalfor morgan. he thought spreading the cost of a few expensive things would help, but it didn't because he fell behind on his repayments. i had to pull a loan out to pay klarna off. but then i had to pay that loan off and i had to pull another loan off and itjust kept going on and on and on. so i was just spiralling myself into a bigger black hole. so he switched to night shifts for a higher wage, desperate to claw his way out of debt. you just have to work to the bone to be able to afford them loans, as well as afford items and food for your children or yourself. what impact do you think having those debts hanging over you has had on you and yourfamily? i used to be, like, adventurous, outgoing and everything like that,

and ijust turned to a closed shell and i was hot—headed and i was just stressed, depressed. i've learned my lesson now to stay away from these type of companies, especially if they don't offer you any affordability checks, because that's how they get you. klarna say they run an eligibility check on every new purchase and that average customer debts are still well below credit cards. but despite their growing popularity, buy now, pay later loans aren't regulated. the government are planning to introduce rules, but they won't come into force until 2026. in terms of the budget, we'd like them to push that regulation through. more and more people now are being forced into a position where they're using credit like buy now, pay later to just make it through to the end of the month. and you can use some of them now at supermarkets — that shows people are really struggling to afford the essentials. where i live, it's for over 55s.

we're all oldies here. despite energy bills dropping a bit over the summer, more people have been falling behind on their payments. i work five days a week, i get a wage and then i get a little bit from universal credit, but it's still not enough to pay the bills. so getting hit with that surprise bill, or suddenly being told that you're in debt can really send — well, it sent you down a bit of a spiral. yeah, it was just gut—wrenching when i got that bill and i was panicking because i didn't want to get into debt again, i've still got 200 on my gas and electric bill, but i don't know how i'm going to pay. after removing the winter fuel payment from most pensioners and with no extra help on the horizon for any other households, it's no wonder so many people are worried about the future. but since the last budget, there has been a ray

of hope for some of those struggling with debts. people who owe less than £50,000 can have their debts wiped away completely as the last chancellor scrapped the charge for debt relief orders in april. we can get them debt—free quicker because we haven't got the burden of this payment. it means that we can take that burden off people. they can address their mental—health problems, they can be happier and healthier, more healthy and hopeful about the future. there is now an easier route out of debt, but also a wider road into it as everyday bills continue to rise. colletta smith, bbc news. the inquest into the death of 16—year—old schoolgirl brianna ghey is due to start today. brianna was stabbed to death in a park in february last year. the inquest, which is expected to last three days, will examine what might have been done to prevent her death.

now, imagine meeting the same group of friends at the pub on a thursday night for 56 years. well, that's exactly what a group of six friends from south yorkshire have been doing since 1968. the men, all now in their early 80s, believe they have only missed about two dozen meet—ups. 0ur correspondent, joe inwood was with them earlier, and found out more about how they have been able to keep this tradition alive. it's a little early for drinking but i guess if you're celebrating more than 50 years of being friends, well, why not? you can make an allowance. i'm going to bring in ken here, he's one of the original members of the group. you've had a huge reaction worldwide to people finding out about your group, your friendship. what's it been like? the reaction? yes. well, it's amazing. i can't understand it. i think a friend of mine summed it up when he said, "i can't understand what the fuss is, about some old farts sitting in a pub",

and i think i agree with him. but you have — every week — you've barely missed a week. what is it, what's so special about this friendship to all of you? well, it's difficult, really, it's difficult, but i think we're all very similar, from similar backgrounds. we all have a tremendous sense of humour. we can laugh at ourselves and, yeah, it'sjust the camaraderie. now, i'm going to bring in peter over here. peter, you have been speaking about the themes that you guys talk about. every week, there's different subjects. how has it changed over the 50 years you've been doing this? well, originally, it was soccer and sex, and now it's pensions and prostates. we quite often talk about our ailments now, which we never talked about when we were younger. we didn't have any! so, yeah... but...the amount of subjects that we cover at the pub

is just tremendous. and there are, do you think, lessons that younger people, younger men especially, could take from your friendship in opening up to each other and being honest about how they feel and being honest their feelings for each other? well, yeah, but the problem is nowadays, they've all got mobile phones. they meet up on social media. we're from the old school, we're from the rock and roll days, we all meet up, it's nothing to do with phones. there's a proper social reaction between us all. and just quickly, there was a period, of course, during the covid pandemic when you did have to meet up over zoom. how did that change everything for you guys? well, it carried on as it was, actually. the only thing that changed is that some of the lads that left, one went to australia, one went to pennsylvania, theyjoined us on zoom. so we actually had a bigger group when we were on zoom

than we have on a normal week. i'm going to bring in bill very quickly. bill how much has this meant to you, this friendship, over the course of your life? oh, it's has made - a fantastic difference. in the earlier years, - i could only visit occasionally because of work commitments. but since i've retired, i've i become a full—time thursday night lad like the rest of them and i wouldn't miss— it for the world. yeah, ijust carry on. thank you very much. that's peter, bill, brian, paul, dick and ken. it's 56 years of friendship. i think that is probably something you can raise a glass to, even on a wednesday morning! hear, hear! cheers, everyone. joe inwood is reporting there. before we go, a reminder of our breaking news this hour, which is that two manchester arena bombing survivors have won their high court harassment

case against a former television producer who believes the attack was staged. martin hibbert and his daughter eve sued richard hall for harassment and data protection over his claims and several videos and a book that the attack was staged. the father and daughter suffered life changing injuries at the ariana grande cancer in may, 2017, with mr hibbert left with a spinal—cord injury and ms hibbert facing severe brain damage. now following the judge's ruling, mr hibbert said that this was a comprehensive victory for them. he said, i am really pleased, not only with the overalljudgment but also the overalljudgment but also the many comments of the judge as to how unacceptable hall's behaviour was. that is all from us here on bbc news. now it is time for the weather with carol kirkwood.

hello again. it's been a really foggy start to the day across some parts of england and wales — not all, of course, and it will take its time to clear. should lift by late morning. you can see there's not much in the way of isobars. no wind really to move it along, but it is pretty breezy across the far northwest of scotland and here, we will see a few showers. some showers also coming in across southern england, remnants of yesterday's weather front. they shouldn't move too much further north now, but a lot of dry weather, some bright spells and some sunny intervals, with temperatures today, 13 to 16 degrees north to south. as we head through the evening and overnight, we shouldn't have any issues tonight as we had this morning with the fog. there's more of a breeze and stronger winds out towards the west, with more cloud around irish sea coasts, western scotland and the southwestern approaches producing some dank conditions. but a mild night in prospect, 10 to 12 being our overnight lows. tomorrow, we'll hang on to the strong winds, particularly in the west, but it will be a breezy day wherever you are. again, we've got all this low cloud, mistand murk along western coasts. rain arriving later, push further east, something

drier and brighter with some sunny intervals and top temperatures up to 16 degrees. then as we move into friday, this area of low pressure comes our way with its various weather fronts. so the first one's going to be pushing east, taking its rain with it and you can also see the curl around that area of low pressure bringing in further rain or showers. now the position of this could still change, but it looks like it will be pretty windy on its southern edge. but through the day, more dry conditions developing with some sunshine or, again, bright spells. temperatures 12 to about 18 degrees. into saturday, well, our low pressure tends to fill and move away. but we do have another weather front coming into the west that is also going to bring in some rain. showers along the south coast. brighter conditions in between, temperatures 12 to 15 degrees. so down just a little bit on what we're

looking at in the next couple of days. then as we head on into sunday, well, the weather front will push across us, bringing in some rain. unsettled for some on monday, but it looks like next week it will brighten up, particularly early on in the week.

live from london, this is bbc news. donald trump's presidential campaign accuses the uk's labour party of foreign interference in the us election. a new alzheimer's drug is rejected for widespread use in england because of how much it costs. the world health organisation postpones a planned mass polio vaccination campaign across most of northern gaza due to escalating violence. and, after their trip to australia, king charles and queen camilla arrive in samoa for a commonwealth summit. hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. we start in the us, where donald trump's presidential campaign has made a legal complaint against the labour party here, for what it claims is illegal foreign contributions and interference in the us election.

a statement from the trump—vance campaign