live from london, this is bbc news. a court rules that prince harry was a victim of phone hacking, awarding him £140,000 damages. the former daily mirror editor issues this denial. i also want to reiterate — as i've consistently said for many years now — i've never hacked a phone or told anybody else to hack a phone, and nobody has produced any actual evidence to prove that i did. a british boy found alive six years after he disappeared is due home in the coming days. french authorities say he walked through four days through the pyrenees. and scientists reveal new research on how air pollution affects the brain. the latest on that story.

welcome to verified live. prince harry has been awarded £140,000 damages in his phone hacking case against the publishers of the daily mirror. a high courtjudge ruled this morning that on 15 occasions, the duke of sussex was the victim of hacking or other unlawful methods of getting stories about him. in a statement, prince harry said, "it's a great day for the truth" and called on the police to launch a criminal investigation into mirror group newspapers. our media corrspondent, david sillito, reports. this has been a landmark case. prince harry said his life had been blighted by illegal press intrusion and, today, thejudge mrjustice fancourt ruled that, yes, his phone had been repeatedly hacked by mirror group newspapers. outside court, a statement was read out on behalf of the duke. "today's ruling is

vindicating and affirming. i've been told that slaying dragons will get you burned, but in light of today's victory and the importance of doing what is needed for a free and honest press, it is a worthwhile price to pay. the mission continues." thank you very much. 33 mirror group articles have been presented to court — 15, thejudge said, had been sourced by illegal activity. hacking, he said, had been widespread and habitual between 1996 and 2011, and he concluded that a former editor of the mirror, the tv presenter piers morgan, had known about the practice. piers morgan has repeatedly denied involvement. referring to one story about kylie minogue and evidence from the writer omid scobie, mrjustice fancourt said, "i found mr scobie to be a straightforward and reliable witness and i accept what he said about mr morgan's involvement in the minogue/gooding story. no evidence was called

by mgn to contradict it." the judge also named former senior directors of the company, one of them, former chief executive sly bailey, who had told the leveson inquiry in 2012 that there was no evidence of hacking. we have only seen unsubstantiated allegations, and i have seen no evidence to show me that phone hacking has ever taken place at trinity mirror. this, thejudge said, was untrue — she had known for years about the practice and turned a blind eye. hacking, he said, had been widespread and habitual at the mirror since 1996. this is, of course, far from the first hacking case the mirror has lost. prince harry was today awarded £140,600 in damages, an amount that could increase considerably as other stories are considered. but costs and damages of more than £100 million have already been paid out to many other victims. the company, now known as reach, said, "we welcome today's judgment

that gives the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago. where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly and we have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation." for prince harry, this is a landmark moment. it's 132 years since a senior member of the royal family appeared on the witness stand. but today's court victory is only one of a number of cases he is bringing, in a battle against newspapers he says have brought misery through relentless and illegal activity. david sillito, bbc news. first, we would like to apologise and ericjust after 2pm in which we said prince harry had won his phone hacking case against the publishers of the daily mail, it was the daily mirror and not the daily mail, it is worth making that clear before we

move on. —— apologise for an error we made. the daily mirror's former editor piers morgan made a statement in the past hour. he said he never hacked a phone — or told anyone else to. the judgement finds there is just one article relating to the prince published in the daily mirror during my entire nine—year tenure as editor that he thinks may have involved some unlawful information gathering. to be clear, i had then, and still have, zero knowledge of how that particular story was gathered. all his other claims against the daily mirror under my leadership were rejected. with regard to the judge's other references to me in hisjudgment, i also want to reiterate, as i've consistently said for many years now, i've never hacked a phone or told anybody else to hack a phone, and nobody has produced any actual evidence to prove that i did. i wasn't called as a witness — this is important for people to know this — by either side in the case, nor was i asked to provide any statement. i would have very happily agreed

to do either or both of those things, had i been asked. no did i have a single conversation with any of the mirror group lawyers throughout the entire legal process. piers morgan speaking in the last hours. uk officials in france are preparing to fly home a british teenager who was found alive six years after he disappeared. alex batty — now 17 — was last seen travelling to spain with his mother and grandfather. the boy was found on wednesday, near the city of toulouse. in the past hour, prosecutors have given more information about how alex came to be found. translation: he's not able to give us the exact surroundings _ of where he was in the pyrenees mountains. but it appears, according to his tales, that he moved from from the east side of the pyrenees all the way, and he left to spend times travelling across the different places in the pyrenees,

without settling anywhere. he never stayed very long where exactly... where he was exactly. but when his mother said to alex that they needed to go to finland, alex batty decided to stop this journey and left, left his mum and started to walk for four days and four nights. he was mainly walking at night and sleeping during the day. um, he then walked until he found out, until he encountered a young person who brought him and got him by car. later on, he was walking through gardens and sleeping in areas in the wilderness. and then, he was found on wednesday night.

live now to paris, where i'm joined by our paris correspondent, hugh schofield. we were taking that news conference a while ago, some extraordinary detail that we were told. yes. a while ago, some extraordinary detail that we were told. yes, very interesting- _ detail that we were told. yes, very interesting- a _ detail that we were told. yes, very interesting. a key _ detail that we were told. yes, very interesting. a key fact _ detail that we were told. yes, very interesting. a key fact that - detail that we were told. yes, very interesting. a key fact that what i interesting. a key fact that what instigated him to leave was they were going out of finland and they think the mother is now in finland. so the british investigation, and thatis so the british investigation, and that is the only investigation that is really open into the disappearance will now focus on finland because they need to find the mother. another interesting fact that came out, apparently, the mother's father, in other words, alex batty�*s grandfather, died six months ago because alex batty apparently told investigators and prosecutors and the gendarme he participated in some kind of farewell ceremony, a meditation by

the grave or whatever it was of his grandfather six months ago. and we learnt that for the last two years, he has been in france moving around in this itinerant community, sometimes ten, 12 people, he said there were other nationalities. there were canadians and indians and spanish with them. didn't speak of any other children, though. and oddly, they seemed to go wherever they went in a convoy of cars and always took with them solar panels. prosecutors said it was kind of a market garden, i assume that means they took with them their vegetables they took with them their vegetables they must�*ve been growing. there was obviously a cult—like atmosphere in the group. no suggestion of a religious cult, more a kind of way of life cult and obsession it seems with energy. they were afraid of electricity and other forms of energy that came through wires and

so on and always brought solar panels with them. so a lot of detail. yes, this idea that because there was this planned move to finland, he decided that was it, he wanted to get out and he started this amazing journey travelling, walking by night, sleeping by day, he had 100 euros on him which he saved or been given and then he encountered this young driver who took him down to toulouse. the authorities _ took him down to toulouse. the authorities talked about phobias of modern life in terms of instigating what you have described, but there was no explanation as to why. this was no explanation as to why. this was a boy on a missing list that was being looked for, why he was never found, no sightings, nothing until a couple of days ago.— couple of days ago. there is a secific couple of days ago. there is a specific reason _ couple of days ago. there is a specific reason why _ couple of days ago. there is a specific reason why the - couple of days ago. there is a | specific reason why the french should have been looking specifically for him, —— no specific reason. but the gendarmes are interested to know why the two years, a boy of school age went

under the radar and there was no sighting of him or report of a younger male who should have been at school not being at school and wandering around. normally, that would happen in france where they are very strict on this kind of stuff, but he was kept below the radar. the gendarmes will want to mount a separate investigation into the family, but to work out why it was and where it was this family were moving and why it was they managed to keep this boy who should have been at schooljust managed to keep this boy who should have been at school just to themselves. have been at school 'ust to themselves.�* have been at school 'ust to themselves. ., ., , themselves. hugh schofield in paris, thanks. around the world and across the uk, you're watching bbc news. a body has been found after an explosion and fire at an industrial estate in south wales. the fire destroyed at least one building. police are investigating the cause of that fire.

households face paying extra on energy bills to help suppliers recover nearly £3 billion in debts from customers who can't pay their bills. 0fgem is proposing lifting the energy price cap by £16 from april. the watchdog said it wanted energy companies to use the extra funding to support struggling customers. six of lionel messi's jerseys worn during last year's world cup have sold for a combined £6.1 million at auction. messi captained argentina to victory at the tournament with his country, beating france on penalties in the final. the six jerseys were from the first half of the final, semi—final, quarter—finals, last—16 ties and two group games. you're live with bbc news. israel has said it is opening the border at kerem shalom for aid.

the decision has been welcomed. by by the world health organization. and by the white house national security adviserjake sullivan, who is visiting the region. mr sullivan, who has today met the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas, called it a �*significant step'. hugo bachega told us more. an important announcement by the israeli authorities because this is going to allow more humanitarian aids to be delivered to gaza. four days, we have been talking about the desperate situation, humanitarian situation in gaza with widespread shortages of basic supplies —— humanitarian aid. hospitals under a lot of pressure with the health system on the verge of collapse. so now more trucks carrying basic supplies will be entering gaza. up until now, all trucks were entering

the territory through the rafah crossing on the border with egypt. and now israel is saying the kerem shalom crossing point will also be open for the delivery of humanitarian aid. and this comes on the second day of the visit by the us national security advisorjake sullivan, he was in ramallah in the occupied west bank and met the president of the palestinian authority mahmoud abbas. and yesterday, he had meetings with the israeli leadership. and i think the message from the biden administration was that he was trying to tell the israeli military to change tactics in gaza and to move to a phase that he described as more targeted and precise attacks, to target the hamas leadership in gaza. this is obviously amid international pressure on the israelis as there have been concerns

about mounting civilian casualties in gaza and also the worsening humanitarian situation. and fighting in gaza continues and we heard the iron dome intercepting rockets here over the city, reports say that three rockets were intercepted by the country's military. the first timejerusalem came under attack in several weeks. so again, timejerusalem came under attack in severalweeks. so again, it timejerusalem came under attack in several weeks. so again, it shows these groups continue to have the capacity to launch rockets at israel is this offensive, this military offensive continues in gaza. hugo bacheaa. offensive continues in gaza. hugo bachega- i _ offensive continues in gaza. hugo bachega. i have _ offensive continues in gaza. hugo bachega. i have spoken _ offensive continues in gaza. hugo bachega. i have spoken to - offensive continues in gaza. hugo bachega. i have spoken to an idf colonel. she told me more about the news of recovering three bodies in gaza. we are recovering three bodies in gaza. - are talking about bodies that were found while israel was acting, the idf on the ground operation in the

northern gaza strip. the details that have come out that all three are individuals who were kidnapped on october the 7th and was seen alive on october the 7th and the initial reports that have come out of israel because they still don't have details is that they were murdered by hamas in captivity and found in the tunnels themselves. 0ne found in the tunnels themselves. one of them was 19 and as his mother said, he had asthma. and they had kidnapped him without, because in the israeli military, it is conscripted is, not the kind of military you are used to and she was very worried about him the entire time. i don't know additional details, this is what the idf has let out until now.— let out until now. your special forces are _ let out until now. your special forces are trying _ let out until now. your special forces are trying to _ let out until now. your special forces are trying to get - let out until now. your special forces are trying to get the . forces are trying to get the hostages out. there was an incident to attempt last friday. that is going on, is it, alongside those negotiating teams that were operating out of qatar? there is

auoin to operating out of qatar? there is going to be _ operating out of qatar? there is going to be consistently - operating out of qatar? there is going to be consistently the - operating out of qatar? there is | going to be consistently the time operating out of qatar? there is . going to be consistently the time to get to the hostages themselves. we both understand clearly the hostages are the get out ofjail card free for the terrorists in especially the top echelon. in that sense, the expectation today is the more or less 130 hostages because we don't know exactly who is alive or dead, hamas have never shared that information with anybody, so most likely, they are with the top echelon to be used in a very horrible way. today, the idf also put out from one of the places that they were looking to get to hostages they were looking to get to hostages the different capabilities that hamas have been trying to use to lure the israeli soldiers using the idf hostages, where they had microphones with voices in hebrew, meaning they are really trying to use them into the different booby—traps. i am certain we are trying to get to them, but it isn't like we understand that is easy. there was an ambush a couple of days

ago in which nine israeli soldiers lost their lives. in terms of the broader tactics, the defence minister saying only yesterday the war would go on for several months. is it your understanding that the totality of the war, is there the possibility within the next few weeks that israel may move to what the americans have been pushing for, a much more targeted approach in terms of tactics? i a much more targeted approach in terms of tactics?— terms of tactics? i think that we are already _ terms of tactics? i think that we are already there. _ terms of tactics? i think that we are already there. there - terms of tactics? i think that we are already there. there is - terms of tactics? i think that we are already there. there is such | terms of tactics? i think that we l are already there. there is such a big gap and we talk about military issues and how people understand them in the attacks on the southern gaza strip, the tactic in and around khan younis if you look at it has been much more targeted because in the northern gaza strip, israel did try and that was to save lives and that doesn't mean it always does so. you say that, president biden described it as indiscriminate bombing a matter of days ago. he also bombing a matter of days ago. he: also said a number of other things. he absolutely said that, he also said that hamas needs to be

destroyed and they back that. he did sa that, destroyed and they back that. he did say that. but — destroyed and they back that. he did say that. but in _ destroyed and they back that. he did say that, but in terms _ destroyed and they back that. he did say that, but in terms of— destroyed and they back that. he did say that, but in terms of the - say that, but in terms of the tactics and indiscriminate bombing, do you accept that part of his conclusion? i do you accept that part of his conclusion?— do you accept that part of his conclusion? :, :, ~ ., conclusion? i do not think that we do indiscriminate _ conclusion? i do not think that we do indiscriminate bombing. - conclusion? i do not think that we do indiscriminate bombing. i - conclusion? i do not think that we | do indiscriminate bombing. i think when we are in urban warfare, no military knows how to do it in a very exact way. the fact we are doing it with the ground forces all of the time, the fact that as you just mentioned soldiers have been dying and have been killed inside this ground operation, indiscriminate would mean we would do it from the air, we wouldn't care. we care, we target, we try to do so. hamas hides behind the civilians, that doesn't mean we are doing it indiscriminately. it is the way that hamas. .. doing it indiscriminately. it is the way that hamas... but doing it indiscriminately. it is the way that hamas. . ._ doing it indiscriminately. it is the way that hamas. .. but you talk about maximum effort _ way that hamas. .. but you talk about maximum effort to _ way that hamas. .. but you talk about maximum effort to avoid _ way that hamas. .. but you talk about maximum effort to avoid civilian - maximum effort to avoid civilian casualties, but how can you say that when half of the air to ground munitions that have been used up and guided munitions, what is called dumb bombs, according to us

intelligence, 40% to 45% of the 29,000 munitions use so far have been unguided and they pose a much greater risk to civilians in densely populated areas. that has come from us intelligence. i populated areas. that has come from us intelligence.— us intelligence. i would have you go in interview — us intelligence. i would have you go in interview british _ us intelligence. i would have you go in interview british officers, - us intelligence. i would have you go in interview british officers, not - in interview british officers, not israeli because you don't seem in that sense to accept the response i give. every military uses the different types of munitions, they are used in different spaces. the fact we have used all different kinds, that is what all militaries do, that is not unique in an urban area or in any other place. the difference in that sense between the exact and the guided munitions and the ones you are calling dud munitions, there is no difference, it is about where you try to attack. let me bring you the latest lines. 0ne let me bring you the latest lines. one of the world's largest shipping companies has said it is suspending the passage of vessels through the

key red sea area following attacks by yemeni rebels. maersk said the maersk gibraltar was targeted while travelling from 0man tojeddah in saudi arabia. ships will now go and detour around africa instead. so a significant development after another houthi missile was fired earlier in the day. specialist police divers who've been searching for the missing british mother of three gaynor lord have found a body in the river wensum in norwich. norfolk police say, although the body has not yet been formally identified, ms lord's family has been told. she was last seen a week ago, after leaving work early on friday afternoon. 0ur correspondent navtej johal is in norwich. it has been exactly a week since 46 mecca went missing and this case has had a lot of unanswered questions. but today, hugely significant development. a0 minutes ago, norfolk

police issued a statement confirming that officers searching for gaynor lord had recovered a body from the river wensum which runs alongside wensum park, the last place where gaynor lord was seen on friday last week. this case has attracted so many questions and so much interest in the last few days. my colleague has been looking at the past week since gaynor lord went missing. gaynor lord, a mother of three, went missing last friday. police officers have been searching for her in a specific area of the river wensum in norwich. her clothes, phone, glasses and jewellery were found in wensum park. painstaking work in searching the ground and water continued this morning. this is the last—known sighting of gaynor lord before she went missing. these pictures released by the police show the 55—year—old walking down st augustines street

in norwich city centre. gaynor lord left jarrold department store on friday afternoon. this cctv image appears to show her smiling, but she left an hour and a half before her shift finished. she was then picked up on cctv cameras hurrying through norwich. she spent 30 minutes in the grounds of the cathedral. a friend of ms lord's said she was upbeat and happy and talking about christmas just days before she disappeared. her family and friends have been waiting anxiously for news of her whereabouts. aruna iyengar, bbc news. dozens of officers have been involved in this search, it has taken a great deal of effort, we know they have spoken also to lancashire police, who were involved in the nicola bulley case earlier this year. this morning at around 11am, there was a sudden burst of activity. i was probably about 200 metres away from where the focus of the search in the river was taking place yesterday when all of a

sudden, officers, vehicles, forensic vehicles, divers, or descended on the same area in saint martin's road. we saw a boat into the water, three officers on board and a couple of divers entering the water, all focusing on a relatively small section of the water. and you could tell that something significant was happening. and as we have learnt now, there was something significant happening, a body was recovered by officers searching for gaynor lord. and this will of course, is significant news. it is news which the family have been informed of and the family have been informed of and the police are supporting them. the effects of air pollution on hearts and lungs are well documented, but there's now growing evidence that different pollutants also affect our brains. here's our science editor, rebecca morelle. breathing in polluted air, in the name of science. briony evans is a volunteer at this manchester university lab, where scientists are trying to learn about the impact of fumes on the brain. here, we've got everything

that we need to conduct the experiments, to expose the participants to air pollution. the team is looking at four different kinds of pollution — diesel from an engine, cleaning products, wood smoke and cooking fumes from a pork chop. the pollutants are carefully measured and piped into a giant plastic bag. are you feeling 0k? the volunteers are exposed to a different fume on every visit to see which ones have the biggest effect on the brain. you could imagine that we find that wood burning is worse than diesel, is worse than cooking, for example, this would then allow people to make lifestyle choices about their exposure to the different pollutants. the world health organization says that almost all of the global population — 99% — are breathing in air that exceeds the who limits on common air pollutants, and the combined effects of outdoor and indoor air pollution is contributing to seven million premature deaths every year.

this makes it the leading environmental cause of premature death. are you ready? begin. the participants carry out cognitive tests before and after their exposure. while we know how air quality affects the lungs and heart, less is known about the brain. the quality of the air you breathe, over the long term, is associated with increased risks of mental illness, poor cognitive development in children, and dementia. so what we're trying to do in this study is understand not the nature of the association, but why there's an association. deep breath in, and blast it out. taking part in the experiments is a big commitment, but one that briony says is worth it. anything that can be done to find out things that cause us damage just in our normal way of life, that can be changed, seems like a really valuable thing to do. it will take several months to analyse the data, but the results could mean we think

differently about how our everyday activities affect the air we breathe. rebecca morelle, bbc news. we will take a short break. when we are back, we will have the latest after hungary blocked extra aid to ukraine. reaction from kyiv. hello. it's a reasonably mild, but cloudy, day out there for most of us. most places also looking dry, which is good news after the fairly soggy start to december that many of us have seen. as we head into the weekend, a lot of dry weather around, mild and breezy, lots of cloud. but there will be increasing amounts of wind and rain across the north—west of the uk as weatherfronts move in here. not moving south too quickly because we've got high pressure that's stalling across southern parts of the uk, keeping things largely dry and keeping those weather fronts at bay, at least across much of england and wales. for the rest of the day,

a bit of brightness just breaking through that cloud at times, particularly for parts of east anglia, north—east england, eastern scotland as well. the breeze coming in from a south—westerly direction. so it is fairly windy, particularly across the north—west of scotland. we could see gusts of about 50 miles per hour or more in the far north. mild for most of us. temperatures around about 11 or 12 degrees in the west, but still a little cooler across parts of eastern england, where we're sticking in single figures. but through this evening and tonight, then, just a bit of drizzle across the north—west of scotland, most places looking dry. fair amount of cloud around, perhaps even the odd pocket of mistiness where the winds are a little bit lighter in the south. so the lowest of the temperatures will be for the south—east of england and east anglia. i think a generally mild and frost—free start to your weekend. the mild air mass is with us. you can see the orange colours on the map. the winds coming in from a south—westerly direction through the course of the weekend. so, yes, frost—free, i think we're not expecting anything wintry through the weekend, but we are expecting some wet weather on saturday. that's just going to sit across the far north—west of scotland, i think. there could be the odd spot of drizzle for south—west scotland, cumbrian fells, for instance.

whereas further south, yes, a lot of cloud. but you should stay dry, mild and breezy for most of us. so around about 12 or 13 degrees, a touch warmer, in fact, than recent days. but head through saturday night into sunday, and this front really sticking around. in fact, we could see up to 175 millimetres of rain through saturday night into sunday across parts of the north—west of scotland. some rain for northern ireland, perhaps north—west england as well. but there could be some flooding issues across the north—west of scotland, where an amber weather warning is in force through the course of sunday. further south, though, you're more likely to stay dry, perhaps a bit more sunshine, in fact, for parts of southern england on sunday. looking ahead into next week, i think the wettest day is going to be tuesday. some heavy rain fairly widely. it's a little bit up and down, but a fairly cloudy and unsettled week ahead. bye— bye.