brianna, who was transgender, was stabbed dozens of times. this was her mother after the verdict. to know how scared my usually fearless child must have been... when she was alone in that park with someone that she called her friend, will haunt me forever. a surprise fall in inflation, driven by lower fuel costs, sparks hopes of an early interest rate cut. junior doctors in england begin their longest period of strike action yet in their dispute over pay. and beating the adults — the eight—year—old from london who's made history at the european chess championships in croatia. on bbc london... coming up on bbc news... back in the premier league — dormer wolves and spurs boss, nuno espirito santo is the new manager of nottingham forest taking over from the sacked steve cooper.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. two teenagers have been found guilty of murdering 16—year—old brianna ghey in a park near warrington in february. the girl and boy, who were 15 at the time, stabbed her 28 times. they cannot be named for legal reasons. outside court, prosecutors said it was "one of the most distressing cases the crown prosecution service has had to deal with". here's our north of england correspondentjudith moritz. brianna ghey�*s family described her as a ball of energy, funny, brave and one of a kind. the 16—year—old was also transgender, though, they say, that did not define her. she was fearless to be whoever she wanted to be. she wanted to identify as a female and she wanted to wear girl's school uniform and yeah, shejust did it. it wasn't a hurdle at all for her. but not everyone

wished brianna well. she was targeted as a murder victim by two teenagers who wrote out a plan to stab her in the back and in the stomach. brianna was lured from her home. she thought she was going to meet herfriend, a 15—year—old girl. but when she got off this bus, that girl had brought a boy of the same age along, too. the group ended up at this park near warrington. it was the middle of saturday afternoon, broad daylight, and there were lots of people walking their dogs. they saw the teenagers walking along this path and hanging around some steps. the exact detail of what happened next is where accounts differed in court. the boy said he had left the others sitting on this bench and then went to the toilet behind some trees, when he saw the girl stabbing brianna. the girl said she had left the group to go and stretch her legs and it was the boy who knifed her. no matter who used the knife, both teenagers are guilty of murder. the children ran off across these fields, leaving brianna with 28 wounds.

her parents were in court for the verdicts. their grief is visibly raw. to know how scared my usually fearless child must have been... when she was alone in that park with someone that she called her friend, will haunt me forever. prior to the trial, i had moments where i felt sorry for the defendants, because they had ruined their own lives, as well as ours. but now, knowing the true nature and seeing neither display an ounce of remorse for what they have done to brianna, i have lost all sympathy. the identities of the children have been protected during the trial due to their age. the court heard disturbing detail about their fascination with dark subjects, including torture. they had a real thirst for death and for murder.

the two of them were quite depraved in terms of the conversations they were having. i think it was brianna's availability or accessibility that led to her being a victim on that day. we believe that there were others, possibly, who it would have been, had it not been brianna. the lgbtq+ community mourned brianna's death at a series of vigils. the police considered whether the murder was motivated by her gender identity, but the case was not built around that as a motive. there was never, ever any evidence of brianna being bullied, and i think what was really hard was that she was portrayed in the media as a victim, and she did not live her life as a victim. she was someone that was loud and proud and confident in who she was. brianna's family say they want that positivity to be what she is known for, that all they ever wanted was for her to be happy and for the world to remember her as the life force she was. judith moritz, bbc news.

well, there were gasps inside courtroom number two as the guilty verdicts were returned, first from the girl and then from the boy. his mother sobbed uncontrollably at the time. but there was no real visible reaction from the two children. they were sitting inside the glass box doc here with their support workers who have been with them throughout the trial, because of their age and also their vulnerabilities. we have heard they are both autistic. the boy is selectively mute. they were led away and the judge told them first that she would be imposing ultimately life sentences when the court reconvenes, and she will beat passing sentence in the new year. judith moritz in manchester, thank you. inflation fell much faster than expected last month to its lowest level for more than two years, raising hopes that the bank of england may cut interest rates sooner. inflation is the rate

at which prices rise, and you can see here how volatile it has been peaking at more than io%. it was back down to 3.9% in november. the bank of england has repeatedly increased interest rates to try to control inflation, driving up mortgage repayments for millions. now some economists think the first half of 2024 could bring interest rate cuts. our economics editor faisal islam reports now from lancashire. up... ..and now sharply down. over the past year, inflation in britain seemed like a runaway train, but it's now coming into land faster than expected here in blackpool and beyond. it has been a hard year or two for curry houses, with hundreds closing. in nearby poulton, this woman says some prices are now stabilising. inflation is definitely killing us, gosh, rice has gone up like 50%. onions, i see. onions, again, up and down.

i remember buying them for £6.99, now they are £13. all the spices have gone up, more or less, a similaramount, really. but these are extraordinary amounts. it is. and even though you are saying some of them are coming down, they are still higher than they were two or three years ago. yes. everything. yes, ioo%. even though the headline rate of inflation has now decisively fallen from the extraordinary heights of a year ago, inflation at these levels is still high by historic standards. and in businesses and in households up and down the country, falling inflation is not falling prices. november's inflation number was 3.9% — a lot lower than expected — but it's made up of different sectors going in different directions. food inflation is less than it was, but still growing at 9.2%. furniture prices are growing at a more stable 2.3%, well down on a year ago. transport prices, including fuel and second—hand cars are negative,

down 1.5% on last year, and household bills are down 3.4%. both of those last two are a bigger share of the inflation basket than food. the only way that we can make life better for families who are working very hard and feeling that they are in a cost—of—living crisis, the likes of which they haven't seen for many, many years, is to get the economy growing sustainably. going into christmas, prices are still rising, especially where it comes to food. so when people go to the shops, they'll find that there are things theyjust can't afford. as well as fuel price falls, there was also more general widespread discounting on the high street and online for clothes, hardware and toys. a weaker consumer is helping tame inflation. and part of that is down to 14 bank of england rate rises slowing the economy. today's number adding to calls for the bank to put that into reverse and consider more rate cuts more quickly in the new year. faisal islam, bbc news.

food still remains a lot more expensive than it was two years ago, about 25% up. so what impact will that have on the cost of christmas dinner, with the big day next week? our cost of living correspondent coletta smith has been finding out. two packs of ten, please, yeah. and then change the turkey breast to two kilos. joe's making a last—minute adjustment to his christmas dinner shopping list, with a few extra guests coming over. six adults, two kids. so i'm hoping three meats is enough, and we'll feed them all, yeah. i guess everyone�*s conscious of the price of everything, aren't they? yeah, i've tried to put it to the side and not think about it, it's one time of the year, isn't it? let's start with the good news, shall we? stuffing and sprouts have actually fallen in price this year, but everything else has gone up. i'll see you soon, bye. the biggest price increases this year have been for carrots, which are up 26.7%. earlier on in the year they did go up in price and it is down to having

to import them from other countries, down to weather and things like that. apple, stuffing, onions. mince pies are next. they're up 25% after big butter price rises. unfortunately, due to the cost of ingredients, et cetera, the company have had to meet that as well, haven't they? so, they have gone up. whereas before people would buy mince pies plus other cakes, now they are just buying the mince pies. and that lovely gravy is up 17.6% this year. while most products have increased in price, the cost of turkey has only gone up by i.2%. bird flu caused big problems last year, but there's plenty of turkeys now. this year's turkey glut is a bit of a relief for fans of the traditional christmas dinner, like me, because of course, turkey makes up the most expensive part of the plate. so, a smaller price rise for turkeys this year has taken some of the heat out of the overall price increase.

whatever the cost, for those settling down to a slap—up festive dinner in the days ahead, the focus will be on enjoying it. coletta smith, bbc news, in chester. junior doctors have begun another wave of strike action in their long—running dispute about pay. the british medical association says the government has not come up with a credible pay offer to compensate for inflation. the government says it has consistently acted reasonably. today's walk—outs started at 7am and will last for three days until 7am on saturday morning. strike action intensifies injanuary when there will be a six—day walk—out — the longest in nhs history. our health editor hugh pym has spent the day at norfolk & norwich university hospital to see how they're coping. at eight o'clock, with the latest bbc news for norfolk, - i'm tim addicott. junior doctors in norfolk- and across the country have just

begun three days of strike action... in norwich and every community around england, people were waking up this morning in limbo because their operations or appointments were cancelled. so we have done this before. we are quite good at this now. hospital planning was being put to the test. we have between 50—70 junior doctors absent from the wards. i think gastro is probably most affected. maternity's cesarean- section list will go ahead. we have a consultant doing that. theatre activity is running within the limits of what we have already discussed, with some cancellations. they have cancelled three quarters of their usual planned treatments. but in the emergency department, they have had to ensure urgent care is provided. we have a 15 minute turnover and then we can... so we can process about 10—12 ambulances an hour. it is always busy. yesterday, we had 24 ambulances arrive in two hours. so on a strike day, if we get that, then it is going to be, yeah, pretty hard, i would say. moving patients safely out of the hospital

is their main concern. the work normally done by thejunior doctors, discharging patients, making sure they get home in time, may be delayed. we will clearly be doing everything we can to make sure that can happen but there is a risk that some people will be spending christmas in hospital who otherwise might have been with their families. so i have had to rearrange my whole day because i don't normally spend the whole day on the ward. consultants like martin have been drafted in to help check on patients. which means i have had to cancel the things i would normally be doing so for me that was a colonoscopy list and cancer meetings which have had to be rearranged. not alljunior doctors are on strike. so we have got some support from some of ourjunior staff today, so that is very helpful indeed. how difficult is it when you don't have juniors to help you on a ward? yeah, we have had previous strike days where we have been completely on our own and that is stressful and difficult because we are doing things we are not used to doing. absolutely devastated, actually.

elsewhere in the region, frieda needs reconstructive surgery after a brain tumour was removed. it was cancelled last month and again because of the junior doctors strike. ijust feel, you know, there is so much focus on mental health issues, but they don't realise, you know, i was just in bits, just come again. ithought, oh, no, please, no. so i'm waiting still. back in norwich, they say the strike makes cutting the backlog more difficult. some staff are putting an awful lot of hours in to try to catch up on this elective programme and we have been making really good progress to bring down those waiting times. and of course, this does put it back. a&e is busy but the message, even on strike days, is that those who really need emergency care should not stay away. hugh pym, bbc news, norwich. hamas says that more than 20,000 people in gaza have now been killed since israel

began its military campaign after the october 7th attacks. hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the uk government, says more than 14,000 of the dead are women and children. it comes as the un security council prepares to vote again on a resolution for a suspension of hostilities. viewers may find this report from our special correspondent fergal keane distressing from the start. the boy lies on the body of his father. his father is among the 20,000 reported dead. but the survivors do not think of the dead in figures of thousands. theirs is an intimate reckoning,

counted in the vanished faces of those they love. from the beginning, they have known there is no escape. from gaza... orfrom grief. in al—aqsa hospital in central gaza, the wounded child holds to symbols of a vanished normality. in a bed nearby, rama, aged 13, who lost ten members of herfamily, and fears she will lose her arm and leg. translation: i appeal to the arab countries to help me get urgent - treatment abroad before i lose my limbs. i dream of a life like other children around the world, where i can once again run and draw.

here of death is ever present. we interviewed this person over a month ago. today, our colleagues caught up with her and her brother. without vital medicine he is suffering from seizures and is terrified by the as many drones in the skies above. i hear a rocket, that is going to drop, it is horrible to say this, but sort of it gives us this sort of relief that it is not us. but that does not mean that we're fully safe. it is like we are next. these are the latest funerals in gaza. the dead, part of a casualty announcement that is, with no ceasefire in sight, almost certainly already being surpassed.

fergal keane, bbc news. let's go to new york now and the united nations security council, where that vote on a suspension of the fighting should take place later. our north america correspondent nada tawfik is there. it has been delayed yet again, it was supposed to take place originally on monday, do we know why? that is right, sophie, i have just seen diplomats leaving the announcement that the vote has been pushed to tomorrow, this is after several delays over several days, all aimed at trying to get the united states on board with the text to avoid yet again another us veto. what would be their third veto to block the council from acting on the israel hamas war. the key sticking point i am told by diplomats is that the united states is against establishing a un mechanism to

monitor aid going into gaza, but an arab diplomat says that that would await the resolution, taking out that mechanism, because that is the focus of it. so, there is a wide gap and in fact the secretary of state antony blinken was asked united states would veto this proposal. he said that they are working to ensure that the aid getting in would not be complicated by any efforts at the un, but even though he said he wanted to see more targeted action by israel in its military operations, he put the blame on hamas asking the international community to force them to surrender. but certainly, sophie, this resolution does have overwhelming support in the council by those who want to see greater action to end the epic suffering of palestinian civilians.— palestinian civilians. never tell for, palestinian civilians. never tell for. from _ palestinian civilians. never tell for, from new _ palestinian civilians. never tell for, from new york, _ palestinian civilians. never tell for, from new york, thank - palestinian civilians. never tell| for, from new york, thank you. our top story this evening. two i6—year—olds are found guilty of murdering the schoolgirl brianna ghey in a frenzied knife attack in cheshire. and still to come —

why a round of applause is often not enough for post—pandemic theatre—goers. coming up on bbc news... with one place left in the semifinals of the efl cup, liverpool meet west ham at anfield — a place that visitors have only won once in the last 60 years. an eight—year—old girl from london has made chess history after being crowned the best female player at the european chess championships in croatia. she beat an international master more than 30 years older than her and drew in the final with the two—time romanian champion grandmaster, who's 5a. ellie price has been to meet her. sa nta! hello! this is what most eight—year—olds focus on at this time of year, but anna is no different.

bodhana is no different. she just had a rather busy weekend. i played a grandmaster on saturday and i managed to draw him. she also managed to become the female champion at the european blitz chess championship, pitting herskills against the clock and 554 other players, mostly grown—ups. i don't really look at how old they are, ijust play the board, so i don't really mind it. she's also played the board with the prime minister, visiting downing street in the summer when the government announced £1 million of chess funding to increase the number of home—grown grandmasters. that being her ambition, she says it may take her until she is a teenager. the chess community, including this former child prodigy, thinks she is on the path to greatness. it is really quite remarkable. if she only goes on to become the first female to become a grandmaster in the united kingdom, i would be disappointed.

i think she will go on and do much more than that. back at her school in north—west london, they're setting up a chess club and the new year. bodhana, who has been playing for three years — since she was five — is already an inspiration. i think she's one of. the best in the world. she always beats me, l so i want to be like her. she's a european champion and you can learn stuff from a european champion as well. learn new moves? yeah, learn new moves. when she started winning her first tournaments, the interest kind - of swept across the school, so it's played at lunchtime. j some well, others not so well, but she's there as a coach - and a mentor when she can be to help other children. - white plays first, so i will play this. bodhana will face some proper opponents next week, when she plays at the international

chess congress in hastings, one of the world's longest running tournaments. checkmate. ellie price, bbc news in northwest london. a pub chef who was convicted of murdering his former partner following an undercover policing investigation has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years. darren osment killed 32—year—old claire holland during a drunken argument after she left a bristol city centre pub in 2012. her body has never been found. toyota has suspended the export of all cars made by its subsidiary brand daihatsu after an independent inspection found that most models did not undergo appropriate safety tests. suspicions arose earlier this year that some tests dating back as far as 3a years ago had been rigged. can donald trump still run again for president next year after the supreme court in colorado blocked him from standing in the state's republican primary? it ruled that the former president was ineligible due to his involvement in the capitol riots on 6th january 2021. here's our north america correspondentjohn sudworth. music plays. # proud to be an american...

on the campaign trail following the ruling, president trump made no direct reference to the legal shockwave now reverberating through america's political system, but the significance is hard to overstate. the colorado supreme court itself spoke of the magnitude and weight of the case and the need to decide without fear or favour before going on to rule by majority decision that president trump is disqualified from holding the office of president. the landmark case was brought by six voters in colorado, some of them republicans, and although it removes mr trump from the primary ballot in that state only, the political ramifications are far wider. these six individuals, i cannot overstate how courageous they are, to bring a lawsuit like this and to bring it out and basically say that the united states constitution

stands for the fact that this country is a rule of law country, and that is what they believed in. crowd chants the case centred on the former president's actions on 6th janary 2021 when his supporters stormed the us capitol and an arcane section of the 14th amendment to the us constitution dating back to the civil war which bars insurrectionists from holding office. with similar cases, some already rejected, others ongoing, in other parts of the us, all of this is almost certain to end up here at the us supreme court, putting the ninejudges, three of them trump appointees, at the heart of this country's partisan politics. with comments attacking migrants... they're destroying the blood of our country, that's what they're doing, they're destroying our country. they don't like it when i say that and i never read mein kampf. they said, oh, hitler said that in a much different way.

and rallying his base, with a narrative of his own victimhood. we are headed into an era in which the government is deciding which candidates are worthy of being voted for or against. that's not our system, that's against our republic, that's against our american values, it just goes against very basic democratic principles. the 2024 campaign, already set to be a major test of the institutions of us democracy, just got messier. john sudworth, bbc news, washington. if you're off to the theatre or pantomime this christmas, you may well find yourself part of a new wave of appreciative audiences giving the performers a standing ovation. audiences on their feet used to be a rarity, but theatre—goers are now literally increasingly on the rise. noor nanji has been finding out why. # good night and join me...# it's a west end show,

it's just about to finish, and then this happens. cheering and applause. in the balcony... in the stalls, it is the same picture. everyone is on their feet and this is not a one—off. here at the choir of man, they say they are seeing standing ovations most nights of the week. did you give a standing ovation? absolutely, yeah. why did you give one? it was just a great show and i think it just shows appreciation. because they were amazing. fabulous voices, such entertainment and so different. did you just go along with it? peer pressure! no, i... - no, no, no, you're swept along with it, aren't you? a few roads away, at sunset boulevard, starring the american singer nicole scherzinger, audiences have even been getting to their feet during the show. and it is notjust in london's west end. it is happening in leicester... liverpool... birmingham... and manchester.

once upon a time... at bristol old vic, a christmas show is under way. built in 1766, this theatre knows a thing or two about changing audience behaviour. i'm definitely seeing a lot more standing ovations. i think that after the pandemic, people are excited to be back in the theatres, having that collective experience. some think the trend has come over from the us, while others say, with ticket prices high, standing up and cheering can be a way to convince yourself that it was all worth it. but if you give standing ovations for everything, do they risk losing their value? we've got to be really careful that we don't become snobs about theatre etiquette. generally, wejust want people engaged. not everyone can jump on their feet, and children also often find different ways to express themselves. today, there is a lot of shouting and cheering. but this time, no standing ovation.

meanwhile, at the choir of man, the standing ovation is still going. noor nanji, bbc news. weather in a moment — but first have a look at this extraordinary sight that lit up the skies over parts of scotland last night. it's what is sometimes known as a mother—of—pearl cloud. it is rarely spotted in the uk because of the exceptional conditions needed, not least air that is around minus 80 degrees celsius. tiny ice crystals form and reflect sunlight, which is what gives the cloud its pearly colours. time for a look at the weather. here's sarah keith—lucas. yes, they are very rare because of that really— yes, they are very rare because of that really cold air which is needed for them _ that really cold air which is needed for them to— that really cold air which is needed for them to form, and they are in fact about — for them to form, and they are in fact about ten miles above our heads — fact about ten miles above our heads. ~ , , ., ., ., , heads. when the sun is at a really low angle. — heads. when the sun is at a really low angle. it _ heads. when the sun is at a really low angle, it can _ heads. when the sun is at a really low angle, it can illuminate - heads. when the sun is at a really low angle, it can illuminate the i low angle, it can illuminate the clouds from below, which scatters the sunlight into these beautiful,

iridescent rainbow colours. so, we have seen more of them today, but thatis have seen more of them today, but that is very high in the atmosphere. closer to earth, our focus that is very high in the atmosphere. closer to earth, ourfocus is going to be on some disruptive weather over the next 24 hours. we have got a storm which has been named by the danish meteorological service. there is the potential for some is the potentialfor some disruption, is the potential for some disruption, with is the potentialfor some disruption, with some is the potential for some disruption, with some heavy showers. this area will be pushing to the north of scotland, down through the north sea, lots of isobars showing that it will be particularly windy. the wind is already strengthening this evening, and we will see some rain coming in which will be quite heavy across scotland, pushing down into parts of northern ireland and northern england during the early hours of thursday, staying cloudy but dry further to the south and east and i think frost will not be a problem, it will be quite mild first thing tomorrow but certainly you will notice the strength of the wind, particularly anywhere north of this line. gusts of up to 60mph widely, potentially up to 80mph up towards the northern isles, certainly enough to cause some

disruption. gales or severe gales.