In the year tojuly. Competition among renters is pushing the prices up with as many as 20 requests to view each available property, up from six in 2019. Data shows there was a 5. 5 increase in rents in london this was the sharpest increase in rent since 2006, and thats despite london being the only region where house prices had fallen. In scotland the average rent was up 5. 7 ina year. And there was an even bigger rise for tenants in wales up 6. 5 . Ben twomey, the chief executive of generation rent, hejoins me now from london. Thank you for coming on the programme. What do you make of those numbers . , � ,. ,. , numbers . Sadly, its not a huge Surrise Numbers . Sadly, its not a huge surprise that numbers . Sadly, its not a huge surprise that we numbers . Sadly, its not a huge surprise that we are numbers . Sadly, its not a huge surprise that we are seeing numbers . Sadly, its not a huge| surprise that we are seeing rents going up. Forso surprise that we are seeing rents going up. For so long theres been failure to address the housing crisis. Their zone of homes, not enough Affordable Homes for renters. Were also seeing a lack of protection during this Cost Of Living crisis for that many people who are renting find the cost of Renting Price is the biggest concern for them, more than bills, more than food just making sure they have a home to call their own that they can have a decent roof over the headis they can have a decent roof over the head is the most important thing. When not seeing placements on the government first. Government first. What things can t and government first. What things can try and help government first. What things can try and help your . Government first. What things can try and help your . Clearly government first. What things can try and help your . Clearly if government first. What things can | try and help your . Clearly if supply is to build more homes, we know that successive governments try and do that to bear in degrees. Not successful enough, even if successful enough, even if successful it takes time. What about the more immediate measures . More immediately. The more immediate measures . More immediately. Its the more immediate measures . More immediately, its quite the more immediate measures . More immediately, its quite a the more immediate measures . Ire immediately, its quite a sight to see the government intervene when Interest Rang for mortgage holders. We havent had anything stick with it for renters without mortgage holders, 12 month grace period for repossessions based on Interest Rates going up. Rates rising to enormous soaring amounts over the years and months. Yet we havent seen any protection from evictions. The price four years ago in england and wales, promised to get rid of section 21, no fault evictions that we havent seen that happen. Were still waiting. In scotland theyve managed to do it. At least until next month and pause in evictions just to give Breathing Space for renters struggling now. What just to give Breathing Space for renters struggling now. What do you think the chances renters struggling now. What do you think the chances are renters struggling now. What do you think the chances are first renters struggling now. What do you think the chances are first the think the chances are first the model being copied and actually implemented . Lap . Model being copied and actually implemented . Model being copied and actually imlemented . ,. , implemented . Law is on the books, its about to implemented . Law is on the books, its about to go implemented . Law is on the books, its about to go through implemented . Law is on the books, its about to go through is implemented . Law is on the books, its about to go through is a implemented . Law is on the books, its about to go through is a bill its about to go through is a bill in the uk parliament. We are hoping that it can press ahead. They introduced it in may so weve actually had Nothing Happened last few months. 0ver actually had Nothing Happened last few months. Over the summer every 15 minutes of the family is packing the bags, not for holidays but to find themselves evicted from their homes. We think there is hope in getting it done but wejust we think there is hope in getting it done but we just need we think there is hope in getting it done but wejust need government we think there is hope in getting it done but we just need government to move faster on this. Move faster on this. Thank you for cominu move faster on this. Thank you for coming on move faster on this. Thank you for coming on the move faster on this. Thank you for coming on the programme. Ecuador, murder of candidate fernando villavicencio. Sunday election, row over replacement, christian zurita. Nowjust days before the election, the Citizen Revolution Movement some of his opponents have been critical for standing for that party because they claim he has connections to other parties. 0ur Americas Regional EditorLeonardo Rocha says this is a traumatic time for ecuador. The political divisions of the country seem to be as bad as ever. What we have here is the party of the formal left wing president complaining against his replacement. A decision will be taken later today by the electoral court. But it doesnt seem like a fair decision by many people in ecuador. They say its more of politics that split the country and poison the atmosphere. A split between right and left thats affecting not only ecuador but many countries in the region. Countries in the region. People, some were countries in the region. People, some were surprised countries in the region. People, some were surprised when countries in the region. People, some were surprised when the l some were surprised when the election was still going to go ahead given whats happened. That decision was made swiftly. We now see candidates Walking Around in bulletproof vest. It is an extraordinary situation in the country. It extraordinary situation in the count. , extraordinary situation in the count. ,. ,. , country. It is, especially for a country. It is, especially for a country like country. It is, especially for a country like ecuador. Country. It is, especially for a country like ecuador. It country. It is, especially for a country like ecuador. It was l country. It is, especially for a i country like ecuador. It was one country. It is, especially for a country like ecuador. It was one of the most peaceful countries in South America until three or four years ago when you had an increase involvement in the mexican drug cartels in the region. What happened there is rival mexican cartels employed local gangs to do the Drug Trafficking for them, drug producing in peru and colombia. That led to a turf war that has affected the political scenarios. After the death of mr vincent and jill another candidate was targeted but survived and another politician killed. The olitics and another politician killed. The politics its and another politician killed. The politics its solved, they clearly is division between the opponents, as you would expect in any election. But the stakes seem extraordinarily high and this election. Do we have any indication of potential results . Yes. The candidate that is preferred, the candidate representing the left, gonzales is a candidate of the former is expected to win. They already had control of congress until may when the president called for snap elections. He was facing impeachment on him, he was going to lose, he was very likely to lose any call for snap elections. Ecuador is an oil rich country with a relatively small population. Lots of resources that could be in a much better situation. And spare the violence of its neighbours. Colombia and peru melee. Now its in that situation. The last is expected to win peru mainly. The left is expected to win. They say they are going to rebuild the country. Divisions will remain and stay there for a long time. Joining calls for a Public Inquiry into the case of a man. Calls for a Public Inquiry into the case of a man who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. Andy malkinson had his conviction quashed last month. It has since emerged the police and prosecutors both had dna evidence that may have exonerated him five years into his sentence. Joe inwood reports. When Andy Malkinson walked out of court last month, he was finally free. I am not a liar. I am not in denial. But i will tell you who is. He was also furious with the police force responsible for his wrongful conviction. Greater Manchester Police are liars and they are in denial. In 2004, he was convicted of a violent rape, purely on the basis of witness identification. There was no dna linking Andy Malkinson to the scene of the crime, but there was the dna of another unknown man on a piece of clothing. The files seen by the bbc reveal that as far back as 2009, greater Manchester Police knew this, as Andy Malkinson told bbc newsnight. I could have been out eight years before i was, yeah. If someone had just looked at that match on the database, if someone had trawled the database. If, well, i have to say, the ccrc had the opportunity back in 2010. They failed. The ccrc is the criminal case review commission, the body tasked with investigating miscarriages ofjustice. In 2012, they turned down his request for an appeal. Its thought cost was a factor. Completely dropped the ball. And the human cost of that for andy, for his family. But also, lets not forget for the victim, who 20 years later is being retraumatized by all this having to come up again as part of andys fight to have the truth come out. All of that could have been spared if the commission had done theirjob properly. They need to apologize. They need to do a full internal investigation and find out what went wrong. Theyre not doing so. And for that reason, their chairs position is untenable. She needs to resign. For andy, the whole system needs reform. The Justice System in the uk, england, is a big mess. Theres no accountability to the police. To the cps. The ccrc is ineffective. If it looks like justice is being done, then thats good enough for them. They dont care about the integrity of the convictions. Both police and prosecutors have previously apologized to Andy Malkinson, while the cps said they did disclose the evidence to his lawyers. The ccrc have been approached for comment. Andy malkinson finally has freedom, but its come at a terrible price. It seems if the system had worked, it could also have come much sooner. Joe inwood, bbc news. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. Bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. If ever anyone was born to conduct a tram, its rebecca brightman. Since the age of five weeks old, she visited christchurch Tramway Village in derbyshire with her mum, sarah, a volunteer driver. Probably about every fortnight. Once a fortnight id come up and shed come up with me and yeah, shed just hang around and ride on the trams. This stop is stephensons place. So perhaps not surprisingly, at 16, rebecca is now following in her mothers footsteps at this museum, celebrating vintage trams. My mum took me here multiple times, and obviously whenever she went off, i went up and ijust kind of liked old transport. Her new role means the pair are making history as the museums first mother daughter crew. For more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. Youre live with bbc news. In tenerife, four villages have been evacuated as ferocious wildfires � with huge potential� continue to rip across the spanish holiday island. The blazing wildfires have ripped through 150 hectares of land in a nature park surrounding the Mount Teide Volcano in the northeast of the island. North korea says the us soldier who crossed into its country last month had wanted to seek refuge there. Its the countrys first public acknowledgement of the soldier. North korean state media says travis king harboured ill feelings towards the us army, and American Society in general. Private king ran across the heavily fortified border with south korea while on a civilian tour of the area. 0ur correspondent in south korea, jean mackenzie, gave us this update. Its been a month now since this soldier dashed across the border when he was on this tour of the demilitarised zone. And he ran into north korea and effectively has disappeared into north korean custody. And this is the very first we publicly heard from the north koreans who say that travis king has told them that he was being inhumanely treated in the army and he was being racially discriminated against, and also that he was complaining, or hed become disillusioned, with the inequality in america. And so for these reasons, they say travis king had said that he wanted to either claim asylum in north korea or a third other country. But this is only what the north koreans are telling us travis king has said, because we havent heard from him directly since he crossed. We havent seen him. And the pentagon has said earlier that they cannot verify these alleged comments. But theres a couple of things i think worth noting, which is, travis king was in trouble with the authorities here in south korea before he crossed, and he was due to be sent back to the us, where he was going to be disciplined by the military, and possibly even discharged. His parents gave an interview to abc news in america just a couple of weeks ago, and they said in this time prior to his return, prior to him crossing, he had said in one of the phone calls that he was experiencing some sort of racism within the military and that his mental state had significantly deteriorated before he crossed. Earlier there was an update from a us defence official on that north korean statemeny, they said that. Junior doctors in scotland have agreed to accept a pay off or ending for the strike action. The deal involves a total pay increase of 17 over two years and will cost Scottish Government £61. 3 million. The us rock band the killers have apologised after frontman Brandon Flowers brought a russian fan on stage during a concert in georgia to play drums. He told the crowd to treat the russian fan as their brother. The crowd reacted with a mixture of cheers, boos and walk outs from parts of the venue. Lets have a look at a video a fan took of the incident. Booing. You cant recognise that someones your brother . Hes not your brother . Booing. No, hes not your brother. We all separate. We all separate on the borders of our countries . Thats what you want to separate on . So im not your brother . Am i not your brother, being from america . Am i your brother . No . Im not your brother . Matt charlton is a musicjournalist and this was his take on the proceedings. Obviously it went wrong in this instance and this man in the crowd was holding up this sign saying, if destiny is kind, ill be your drummer. Now, thats a paraphrasing, a lyric from a killers song called for reasons unknown. Its a good sign. I mean, you cant really dispute that. And then so Brandon Flowers brings him on stage, and it turns out hes russian. Now, im no politicaljournalist, but i do know the history between georgia and russia, the controversy that especially at the moment thats going on with russian immigrants coming into the country and the residents thinking its a bit of a trojan horse with russia occupying the country as well. And Rock And Roll stars arent known to be that au fait with the political goings on of the countries, all the countries, they visit anyway. And Brandon Flowers was probably speaking quite naively at this point. That was expertly and delicately and very well put, if i can say that. So his messages, theyre about brotherhood in his eyes were fairly neutral and straightforward and he hadnt appreciated the nuances of the difficulty of the relations there. Is that right . Absolutely, but you can see where hes coming from. I mean, musicians do live in this slightly ethereal world where everyone is Holding Hands across the borders. I mean, just think of thejohn lennon song. You know, imagine theres no countries. And it is, you know, in modern context, in everything thats going on, its unrealistic and naive. But he was just trying to be the musician reaching across the borders. Now, it was a mistake and they have acknowledged that mistake. But also hes coming from a Mormon Background as well. That is his Family History and it is all about kinship and brotherhood. So hes, yes, itsjust coming from a very naive and sheltered existence. And he was trying to do something good and put across a positive message, but it didnt work. Interesting and you mentioned the acknowledgement there has been an apology and a kind of explanation slash apology. There has sort of its the sort of apology going, im sorry if you feel. That sort of apology sort of not quite an apology. But they i think theyve just been schooled after the fact on the political nuances of a very delicate region, especially at the moment. 0bviously, when were talking about putin wanted by the International Law courts at the moment, and georgia and georgia being right next to that and also dealing with the ukraine fallout. So theyve they had probably had a quick little lesson in that and then issued the apology. Two former British Royal marines have described being shot at by pirates while attempting to navigate the amazon in a world record attempt. John bathgate and ian roberts were attacked close to the colombian border. But they say they managed to fend off the attackers with their paddles. Alexandra mackenzie reports. Yan and i. A couple of lads came up to us. This was filmed after the attack.