they're disappointed they had to drop the case. his alleged victim says she stands by the allegation. caroline hawley reports i ,and , and this contains flashing images. out into the fresh air. on the balcony of the ecuadorian embassy julian assange emerged this afternoon to have his say on the end of the swedish investigation against him. today is an important victory for me and for the un human rights system. seven years without charge while my children grew up without me. that is not something that i can forgive, it is not something that i can forget. but prosecutors in sweden have not cleared julian assange, they have simply said they can't pursue the case any further. translation: there are now no further measures remaining which are possible to advance the investigation. in order to proceed, it would be necessary forjulian assange to be formally served notice of the crimes of which he is suspected. this was a measure that was to have been conducted during an interview in london, but mr assange refused to make this possible. this complex international drama began in august 2010 when two women alleged thatjulian assange had sexually assaulted them on a visit to sweden. accusations he has always denied. in december that year he was detained in britain under an international arrest warrant. in may 2012 the supreme court upheld a decision to extradite him to sweden for questioning. and injune mr assange walked into the ecuadorian embassy in london requesting political asylum. the metropolitan police mounted a 24—hour guard at the embassy. by october 2015 it had cost over £30 million. and it is not over yet. julian assange is no longer wanted on an international arrest warrant but the metropolitan police say that if he stepped out of the embassy they are still obliged to arrest him forfailing to surrender to a london court back in 2012. at the embassy this evening his supporters were jubilant. but in sweden, the woman who accused him of rape issued a statement saying he was evading justice, and expressing her shock that the investigation was being shelved. julian assange was not held without charge with for seven years. he was subject to extradition proceedings with in the eu, under the european arrest warrant scheme he would have received a fair trial in sweden had he chosen to go back. the reason this has lasted seven years is entirely down to him seeking refuge in the ecuadorian embassy rather than going to face trial in a country that has governed by the rule of law. the founder of wikilea ks says it was fear that he would be extradited to the united states for leaking classified information that drove him through the doors of the ecuadorian embassy. so despite today's dramatic twist in this long—running diplomatic and legal saga, tonight he is back inside. not for the moment going anywhere. caroline hawley, bbc news. helena lee is outside the ecudorian embassy where julian assange remains this evening. helena, is there any chance of him leaving? i very much doubt it. i don't think his position has really changed very much, despite the news from sweden this evening. when he appeared here on about kenny, he spent some time posing for photographs, he spoke for about 20 minutes. but as we have seen before, he did not answer questions from journalists. he was askedif questions from journalists. he was asked if he would leave the embassy and there was no reply. he was asked if he would surrender to the bail hearing in london and he did not reply. he hinted at the end that he would be willing to have an open dialogue with america, but as caroline hinted, if he leaves the embassy he will be arrested by the met, and he faces the risk of being extradited to america. now, julian assange remains here. there are divisions tonight within the conservative party over its manifesto commitment to means test winter fuel payment for pensioners. the scottish conservative leader, ruth davidson, said she was in favour of retaining the payment for all pensioners in scotland. but the prime minister argued it was unfair that wealthy pensioners received the money, while some families were struggling. here'sjohn pienaar. would you trust are to keep things running, or run the economy? but has theresa may dropped a spanning in the works by keeping people guessing about tax and spending plans, and keeping pensioners guessing about who would keep and who would lose the winter fuel allowance? she was not giving much away. we will ensure that the least well off pensioners are protected. at the moment, we see well off pensioners able to be supported with fuel bills, when struggling ordinary working families are not. i think there is a principle of fairness that underpins this. that is not how all tories see it, especially scottish conservatives under ruth davidson, who greeted mrs may in edinburgh. the scottish tory manifesto says, social security devolution allows us to make different choices in scotland, and so we will protect universal winterfuel scotland, and so we will protect universal winter fuel payments for all older people, and they will not be subject to means testing. we believe there should not be means testing for the winter fuel payment. the reason is, as many viewers will acknowledge, scotland has a colder climate and the different amount of housing stock. devolution allows different decisions. mrs may's answer, she is writing policy south of the border. we have given scotla nd of the border. we have given scotland significant powers in relation to welfare and they make a number of decisions about welfare benefits in scotland. you are a breath of fresh air. more voters might feel the same, ifjeremy corbyn‘s promise to protect the fuel allowa nce corbyn‘s promise to protect the fuel allowance and pensions catches on. labour has been attacked over tax and spending plans which critics say do not add up, but he is hitting back. she has caused a huge amount of anxiety. she has not set at what level she will change it. we think it should be kept and it will be kept under labour, and it will be universal. just one way for the snp to go, right that theresa may. taking the winter fuel payment away from pensioners who have paid in all their life is just wrong. from pensioners who have paid in all their life isjust wrong. the from pensioners who have paid in all their life is just wrong. the winter fuel payment is not a kings ransom. not all tories south of scotland with mrs may on pensioners and policies like social care. one former minister said they would be opposing her, except there is an election on. mrs may once more backing for potentially unpopular decisions if public money is tight after brexit. you can bet she would hesitate to make risky promises if she was not confident of winning. the tories look upbeat about the campaign, whether or not they always ee, campaign, whether or not they always agree, but life could get tougher for them, for a lot of people afterwards, whoever wins. well, while she was in scotland today theresa may refused to give more details about a manifesto pledge that a second scottish independence referendum would not take place, unless there was "public consent" for it. sarah smith is in edinburgh for us. sarah, do we know what's meant by "public consent"? i asked exactly that, would she be relying on opinion polls, or if the snp wina relying on opinion polls, or if the snp win a majority of seats in scotla nd snp win a majority of seats in scotland at the election, would that demonstrate public consent? and she would not define exactly how she would not define exactly how she would decide if there was public consent for another vote, and said she would rather we were not talking about independence at all because she thinks this debate could weaken her hand in brexit negotiations, and accused the snp of being obsessed with independence. although it is the tories in scotland who are making another referendum central to their election campaign. they are handing out leaflets with "independence" in block capital letters. they think by saying they are the only ones who can stop another referendum, they can attract unionist voters, while nicola sturgeon says that a vote for the snp is about to make scotland's voice heard. theresa may absolutely ruled out the idea of giving her a seat at the brexit negotiating table, saying that she, theresa may, will negotiate for the whole of the uk. the former television star rolf harris has been released from prison, after serving nearly three years of his sentence. the 87—year—old is currently on trial on four counts of alleged indecent assault against three teenagers between 1971 and 1983, all of which he denies. he will attend the trial at southwark crown court in person from monday. the serial killer stephen port was jailed for life last year after he killed four men. their bodies were all found outside his flat or in a churchyard nearby. yet their deaths were not initially treated as murder, and detectives missed a number of chances to catch the killer. now the families of the victims say they're dismayed by slow progress of an inquiry into why the police took so long to catch him. here's daniel sandford. the graveyard in barking that was stephen port‘s dumping ground for three of the bodies of the four men he killed with the date rape drug ghb. his first victim was 23—year—old anthony walgate. the last, 25—year—old jack taylor. theirfamilies have been waiting for an investigation by the independent police complaints commission into why detectives failed to spot that there was a serial killer at work for so long. but this week they told me their patience has run out. i don't feel that the ipcc are in control of the investigation at all. i think it's the police dictating to what stage it goes, what pace it goes, which is disgusting. stephen port used dating apps to lure the men to his home. he then gave them lethal doses of ghb. his first victim, anthony walgate, was found at the door of his flat. the others, in nor near the local churchyard over the next 15 months. the police were asked on numerous occasions if the deaths could be linked. the ipcc investigation is designed to work out why detectives were so reluctant to connect them, but 20 months on, not a single police officer has been questioned. the explanation for the further delay is an argument between the independent police complaints commission on the one side and the police officers, the police federation and their lawyers on the other side, over the amount of time it would take to go through the 7000 pages of evidence and 750 emails. but while the two sides argue, the families are getting no closer to the truth. the ipcc denied that there has been a row, saying the officers have asked for time to understand and absorb the information that will be put to them in interview, which we've agreed, so that the evidence we collect from them is as robust and complete as possible. it's very frustrating, disappointing, like you've been let down all over again. i think we all feel that. we know we want answers to this and the ipcc dragging their heels is not helping us at all. the families really want to understand whether the men's murders were misinterpreted because they were gay, orfor some other reason, and they are worried that the police officers' memories will fail further if they are not interviewed quickly. daniel sandford, bbc news. our top story this evening: prosecutors drop rape charges against wikileaks founder julian assange, but he remains in hiding in the ecuadorian embassy. and still to come: in the latest in our your election series, we hear the concerns of a chemist in bolton? coming up in sportsday on bbc news: wimbledon won't have to make a decision on whether they hand maria sharapova a wildcard place. the former champion has decided she will go through qualifying ahead of this year's tournament. it's been a year since the ban on so—called "legal highs" came into effect, but they are still available in many british cities. known as new psychoactive substances, or "spice", the legal highs were made class b drugs, which meant they had to be taken off the shelves on the high street. they may not be visible now, but there are warnings that the sale of spice has been driven underground asjeremy cooke reports. they are new psychoactive substances, nps. not so much a problem, more so an epidemic. known as legal highs or spice. it's got a psychological addiction you might associate with crack cocaine and the physical addiction and withdrawals that you'd associate with heroin. a year ago, they were banned. just because they say it's illegal, doesn't mean you can't get it. thatjust makes people more determined to get it. in edinburgh, the drug subculture has been all about heroin, the needle and the syringe. so here, many chose not to smoke nps, but to injected. unbelievable, people losing their lives, people losing limbs. grant is homeless, and alone. that drug is the worst that i've ever used. worse than heroin? worse than heroin, worse than cocaine, worse than crack cocaine, worse than all of them put together, but better. it's crazy. we get a fair amount of drug use here. the street work charities average team are here to help. they've seen first—hand the devastation caused by nps. edinburgh was among the first cities in the uk to ban legal highs back in 2015. even the users i've spoken to myself who now no longer use speak about how that was a terrible episode in her life, and they're glad that the ban has come into place. but nps is still on the streets here, as users like rab now know. i've lost numerous people over, and it is not nice. friends have died, others have been left with terrible scars, the drug destroys the flesh where it's injected. a few of my mates have holes in their legs at the moment. that's because of legal highs. a mega haul of seized street spice at the headquarters of police scotland's nps unit, the only one of its kind in the uk. each one gram package costs a tenner, enough here for countless hits with a street value of hundreds of thousands of pounds. even before the ban, police scotland had been working to take out assembly plants like this one, where nps, brought in from china, was prepared and packaged, ready to flood the streets. we will never arrest our way out of the issue of new psychoactive substances. it's about informing young people of the dangers these substances present, and making sure that they make as best an informed decision as possible. at manchester metropolitan university, they‘ re preparing a report on nps in their city. early conclusions are that spice dealing has been driven underground, but it's still available and extremely dangerous. some estimates suggest it is 700 times more potent than traditional forms of cannabis. as soon as you take one street dealer is taken out, theyjust come back with somebody else. i don't think you can stop the street level dealing. and if you have dealers, you have this. for the young street homeless here, spice remains a clear and present danger. it's made vulnerable people more vulnerable, people turning on each other, people who smoke together are now selling to each other, stealing from each other. people are being put out to beg to pay for the spice habit, it has made things a hundred times worse. for beth, the ban on legal highs has been irrelevant. she's clean now, butjust a couple of months ago, this 22—year—old single mum was on the street, and on the spice. i didn't wash, didn't clean my hair, didn't care about nothing. i wasn't bothered. itjust took everything away. banning doesn't work, what might work? i think you need to look at mental health and that. there is a reason why people wanting to smoke it, notjust because it is banned, not because it is legal, not because it is illegal, there is a problem with that person. they can't deal with their thoughts. a year in, then, the ban is having mixed success. spice is no longer on sale in high street shops. but the young and the homeless are still finding it, still learning that a new kind of high comes with a new kind of low. jeremy cooke, bbc news, manchester. a former youth team coach at newcastle united has been charged with 29 sexual offences. george ormond, who's 61, will appear in court next month following an investigation by northumbria police into historical child sexual abuse. danny savage is outside st james' park for us. when this investigation began at them end of last comment newcastle united football club said they would cooperate fully with it. since then, the allegations have been investigated by northumbria police. today came the first charges against george ormond, he is 61 years old, he used to be a youth coach here some years ago at newcastle united. he also worked at other clubs in the area as well. he has been charged with 29 historical child sexual offences, dating back between 1973 for the earliest, and 1998 for the most for the earliest, and 1998 for the m ost rece nt for the earliest, and 1998 for the most recent over a 25 year period. it is understood that the allegations have been made by 17 different individuals, all of them are male. mr ormond will appear before newcastle magistrates injune for the next part of this case. a local authority in greater manchester has asked all funeral directors to reject any request to commit the body of the moors murderer ian brady. brady, who killed five children with myra hindley died on monday. the council, which includes supper with more, once funeral directors to have no involvement in the disposal of his body. now let's return to the election. and throughout the campaign we've been asking voters what issues are important to them, and what they'd like to see changed. today, it's the turn of thorrun govind, a pharmacist from bolton, who's been talking to amol rajan. we are helping bridge the gap between health and social care. we area between health and social care. we are a vital resource, and we want to keep providing the service we do. i ama keep providing the service we do. i am a community pharmacist based in the northwest. this is an election issue because if the cuts to community pharmacy, which impact our patients, so if we are worried about the nhs, we should worry about community pharmacy and the part it plays within the nhs. pharmacists and pharmacies are really pressurised environment at the moment, and we are trying to do the moment, and we are trying to do the best for the patient, but it is also a safety issue. we are not handing out apples and pears, we are handing out apples and pears, we are handing out apples and pears, we are handing out drugs that can potentially kill someone. we need to make sure that pharmacies are provided appropriate funding to have the right amount of staff to make sure we can be safe. with community pharmacies, the clue is in the name. the great thing about pharmacies is they tend to be in areas where there is high health inequalities, so if we weren't here, i wonder where the patients would go and how they would fare. brexit poses new challenges. brexit is going to impact our community pharmacy. some of the regulations, such as the eu. medicines directive, which involves scanning every item into the pharmacy, will have a big impact on staffing. we require extra staff to do that. how can we do that with the cuts? what does the future look like for community pharmacies like this? it looks bleak. we will have pharmacy closures. we don't know how many will close, but it will impact on the nhs, because more people will visit a any —— a&e. some of the vulnerable patients will suffer. with weeks to go, she is clear on what basis she will cast her vote. ifi what basis she will cast her vote. if i can find a party that will support local community pharmacies and value the work that we do in helping save money for the nhs, and helping save money for the nhs, and helping provide for our patients, there may have definitely got my vote. and if you want to find out more about the different policies the parties are offering you, or indeed find out how to contact us with an issue you want exploring, then do go to our website, that's bbc.co.uk/election2017. football now and celtic are on the verge of a remarkable achievement. if they win or draw their last scottish premiership match this weekend, they will have been unbeaten for the whole season. andy swiss reports. when they first stepped out last august, they could barely have dreamt it. a season the like of which football has rarely seen. nine months, 37 games, not one single defeat. last night's thrashing of partick put celtic on the brink of history, a chance to become the new invincibles. i think any football coach, manager, player will tell you the difficulty of it. it doesn't matter what country it's in, what league it's in, it's a huge testament to the professionalism, and the quality and the mentality of the squad. in england, arsenal won the league unbeaten in 2004, but in scotland, no one's done it since 1899. here on sunday, celtic could break a host of records. so far, they've scored some 104 goals and notched up 103 points. but perhaps most remarkably, they're some 30 points clear of their nearest rivals. it could be the biggest title winning margin in history. but is that healthy? the decline of rangers has left celtic with little competition. ali mccoist right through the celtic defence... and one of scottish football's most famous voices fears for the future. and it looks as if rangers are going to be out of it for quite some time, because of lack of money, and only their big support keeps them going. so yes, it has been far too easy. and people will have to admit, they're beginning to lose interest. celtic fans, though, may disagree. exactly 50 years since the so—called lisbon lions won the european cup, they could have another team of history makers, the league champions in a league of their own. andy swiss, bbc news, celtic park. time for a look at the weather. here's sarah keith—lucas. an end to all the rain? sunday should be a decent day, a mixed forecast. some sunshine, this is somerset earlier in the day, a lot of heavy showers around, too. humanists clouds producing the showers, you can see it in the images. further east, more persistent rain, and an area of cloud. this was nottinghamshire. cloud and rain, the rain is now pushing its way northwards. we will see rain across north east england, eastern scotland, too. elsewhere, heavy and thundery showers ease away through the evening and overnight, too. saturday morning, many of us with clear skies, dry and quite a fresh start to the day. there will be the around from the word go, particularly in northern and eastern parts of scotland. a soggy day to come, here. elsewhere, another day of sunshine and showers. the showers tomorrow are hit and miss, but they will be at times heavy and thundery through the course of the afternoon. not a bad day between the showers. warm sunshine, 18 or so, but keep the brolly close to hand. sunday, most showers fade away. the better day of the weekend for most of us. if you showers in the north—west, but might wind, temperature is not doing badly, up to 20 by the time we get to sunday. and we have fine and settled weather for the week ahead. through the weekend, here is your summary, through the weekend, here is your summary, heavy showers, some sunshine through saturday, fewer showers, dry through the day on sunday and it. to feel warmer, too. those temperatures creep up a few degrees into the new working week. swedish prosecutors dropped a long—running rate investigation into wikileaks long—running rate investigation into wikilea ks founder long—running rate investigation into wikileaks founderjulian assange, but he remains holed up tonight in the ecuadorian embassy in london. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me. and on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. you are watching bbc news. let's look at the headlines. julian assange has appeared in public for the first time since swedish prosecutors said they would no longer pursue a rape allegation against him. julian assange, who remains inside the ecuadorian embassy in london said he was prepared for dialogue with british and us authorities. seven yea rs and us authorities. seven years without charge while my children grew up without me. that is not something that i can forgive. it is not something that i can forget. labour has criticised conservative plans to means test winter fuel payment. the shadow chancellor said the change could affect 10 million older people. theresa may defended the policy saying it was based on fairness. families of