tv BBC News at One BBCNEWS February 2, 2024 1:00pm-1:31pm GMT
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and coming up on bbc news: debutant shoiab bashir picks up two wickets for england, but india's opener yashasvi jaiswal, is the star of the show on day one of the second test. in a highly unusual move, a judge in manchester has lifted the anonymity given to children with criminal convictions and allowed the naming of the killers of 16—year—old brianna ghey, who was murdered in 2023. eddie ratcliffe and scarlett jenkinson, both 16, are in court to be sentenced for the murder of brianna, who was transgender. she was stabbed 28 times in broad daylight in a park in cheshire in february last year.
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mrsjustice yip previously said that there was "a strong public interest in the full and unrestricted reporting of what is plainly an exceptional case." let's go live to our reporter rowan bridge, who is outside manchester crown court for us now. it has been a highly charged atmosphere in courtroom number two atmosphere in courtroom number two at manchester crown court. the room has been packed with friends and family of brianna ghey wearing pink in her memory. sitting across from them, the two teenage killers convicted of her murder. my colleague nick garnett has been looking back at the case. scarlettjenkinson and eddie ratcliffe, the killers of brianna ghey. the two had been close, trusted friends, at school together, untiljenkinson was temporarily moved to birchwood high where scarlett became friends with brianna. in terms of scarlett, there were no red flags that came up. i think sitting and listening in court to the messages
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between eddie and scarlett was very, very surreal, and trying to imagine that anyone would talk in that way, plan in that way, and for it to be a child that you've actually met is even more shocking. brianna's friend had dark fantasies she shared with ratcliffe. she wrote a letter planning how they'd attack her. he smuggled a hunting knife out of his home. unaware, on a saturday afternoon, brianna went to meet them. they walked to the park and murdered her in cold blood, stabbing her more than two dozen times before running off across the fields, leaving her to die alone. they were arrested shortly after the attack and convicted in december. i feel like they need to be off the streets for a very long time, if not for ever, because i can't see that that level of...
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of, like, darkness i suppose, can ever be rehabilitated. i think that they are both very dangerous and, like i say, they are both in the right place and they should be kept away from society. because i feel like there would be a risk of them committing crime in the future. this is not the first case in which young murderers have had their identification revealed. the killers of two—year—old james bulger named after their trial. bulger were named after their trial. defendants, adults. defendants, children... the man who led that prosecution believes it's rightjenkinson and ratcliffe�*s identities are made public. there is much, much good to follow if these cases are examined very fully, and the public know what went wrong in that particular family. only then can we ask
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ourselves the question, "could this happen in ourfamily?" because at the moment we don't know what went wrong. scarlettjenkinson and eddie ratcliffe are just 16 years old. the decision to release their names will have implications for them and their families for the rest of their lives. but brianna's family see the end of the legal fight as a relief. justice for brianna, who lived a life, like her tiktok videos, loud and proud of who she was. nick garnett, bbc news. studio: rowan, the court is still sitting today, what is going on? this morning we have been hearing from the defence and prosecution ahead of sentencing, which is likely to take place this afternoon. in court the prosecution told how scarlettjenkinson had confessed to a psychiatrist that she had grabbed
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the knife and stabbed brianna ghey. her defence case told the court she had a personality disorder that developed over time for top in mitigation for eddie ratcliffe his lawyer told the court he didn't want to do it. he said he started by saying... excuse me, he started, the kc said, because she didn't want to go through with the attack was that perhaps the most emotional moments in the court were when family statements were read out. brianna ghey�*s mother, estherjoy, told the court how the good memories hurt so much because she is not there to share them with any more. instead she said, i have memories of her funeral, memories of identifying her body, and other trial where two people who murdered her cowardly tried to blame each other. thank ou, tried to blame each other. thank you. rowan _ tried to blame each other. thank you, rowan bridge _ tried to blame each other. thank you, rowan bridge reporting. - and there'll be a special documentary looking at the full story behind brianna's murder, released later today on the bbc iplayer.
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a major manhunt is still underway in london and across the northeast in clapham in south london on wednesday evening. a woman and her three—year—old daughter have been left with potentially life—changing injuries, and her older daughter, who is eight, also injured. it emerged that abdul ezedi, who is 35, is a convicted sex offender, who despite this was granted asylum to stay in the uk, having twice been refused. ezedi also suffered a serious facial burn during the incident. he was last seen in north london, but prior to the attack was based in newcastle. police say he must not be approached and that members of the public should instead dial 999. our home affairs correspondent june kelly reports. on the run, injured and being sought by three police forces. the met, british transport police, and the northumbria force are all involved in the hunt for abdul shakoor ezedi. it's now more than 36 hours since terrible events unfolded in clapham in south london, and a residential road became a crime scene.
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a 31—year—old mother and her two daughters, aged three and eight, were attacked with a corrosive substance. the mother was heard screaming, "i can't see." she and her younger daughter have been left with injuries which could be life—changing. residents and police officers who went to help also suffered burns. this is abdul shakoor ezedi's car. as he escaped the scene he crashed into another vehicle. cctv footage shows some of the attack. the suspect seems to run someone over. he gets out of the car and pulls one of the children out from the back. he then flees with locals in pursuit. abdul shakoor ezedi came to the uk from afghanistan. he was granted asylum on his third attempt and had been living in newcastle. has he travelled back there? a hotel close to the scene of the attack has confirmed that some of the injured had been staying there. it's used by councils
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to house people temporarily. it's now emerged that the wanted man was given permission to stay in the uk after he was convicted of a sex offence and given a suspended sentence. while police are appealing for information, they are stressing he should not be approached. june kelly, bbc news. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford joins us here. daniel — many questions about how he was able to claim asylum, including from the very top of government. so many questions that james cleverly, the home secretary, has asked for a detailed timeline into what happened, ideally by the end of the day. and if not then by first thing monday morning. because there's a lot of issues that this single case has thrown up, issues about violence against women, the use of corrosive substances, appropriate sentences for offences like exposure, and then a crossover between criminal convictions and the
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granting of asylum, and also the involvement of some church leaders involvement of some church leaders in asylum claims. there is a lot to unpack for the home office. what we know so far is that he entered the country in 2016 in the back of a lorry. he was initially refused asylum in 2016, but he went back and asked again for asylum. he was refused a second time, this time having raised the issue that he had converted to christianity. that was appealed again and at the third attempt, essentially the appeal of the second attempt, he was granted asylum in october 2020 by a tribunal in newcastle, after a church leader had said he believed he had converted to christianity. but that granting of asylum came after he had been found guilty, or pleaded guilty, to two sexual offences, sexual assault and exposure, and been given a suspended sentence adding up to a total of 45 weeks. the question is, shouldn't that have said, this is a man who could
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possibly cause serious harm and shouldn't be granted asylum? that's the central question in this case. daniel sandford, thank you. let's get a final update from the scene. charlie rose is in clapham in south london for us. charlie, what's the latest? as we have been hearing, this is now a large—scale manhunt involving three of the uk's biggest police forces, the metropolitan police, the british transport police, and northumbria police. because abdul ezedi also has links to newcastle. detectives will be scouring cctv and speaking to witnesses as they desperately try to track down abdul ezedi. they have advise the public not to approach him but instead to dial 999. this lunchtime the victims of this attack, a 31—year—old mother and her two young children, are still being treated in hospital. the youngest of those two girls, a
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three—year—old, and her mother, police say may well have suffered life changing injuries.— life changing in'uries. charlie rose, thank _ life changing injuries. charlie rose, thank you. _ water companies across britain have forecast above—inflation rises for average household bills. from april, annual charges will increase by an average of 6% in england and by almost 9% in scotland. joining me now is our cost of living correspondent kevin peachey. what will this mean for people? it will mean that £27 more on the average annual bill for people in england and wales. £36 more if you are in scotland. but that's an average, so it very much depends on where you live. in fact there is a slight fall for most people in wales stop and if you have a metre it depends on how much water you use. for the majority of people this is a rise and it will come at a time when water companies are under intense scrutiny over issues like sewage going into rivers. the bills
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actually will have risen more if it were not for the regulator ofwat stepping into penalised a host of companies for missing targets on things like leaks, pollution and so on. but i think this is very much a warm up act before steeper bill rises that are proposed for the five years from 2025. companies say that investment is needed to update what at times is victorian infrastructure stop consumer groups are saying that's all very well but you have to consider wider cost of living pressures and maybe more companies should use more of their profits to help some of those really struggling with their bills. help some of those really struggling with their mus.— help some of those really struggling with their bills.— with their bills. kevin peachey, thank yom _ now, separately, our waterways, including rivers and streams, are facing another pollutant problem caused by rainwater on our roads. it occurs from the rain washing all sorts of debris from the road surface, such as tyre dust and oil, into the local environment. despite the damage it can cause, the issue is not being monitored
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or directly addressed, as our correspondentjonah fisher has been finding out. the river lambourn in berkshire, one of england's precious chalk streams. walk a few hundred metres in one direction and you'll reach the white tent used for the great british bake off. head the other way and the crystal clear water turns dark brown. the culprit — one of tens of thousands of outfalls that drain water off our road network when it rains. so this is the outfall from the m4... charlotte has been testing what she calls the black gunk that lines the riverbed. so there's things like arsenic and lots of heavy metals. tyres and oil and all the things that cars shed. it's just coming straight off the road into the river? straight off the road into the river. there's now much greater awareness and information about the volume of raw sewage that spills
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into our rivers and seas. by contrast, there's very little monitoring of the runoff and pollution that washes from our roads into all the same places. the government accepts it's a serious issue, but freedom of information requests from the bbc to the environment agency have revealed it is doing no regular testing of the impact of pollution from our roads. if you or i were to discharge pollution into a water environment like that, we'd be prosecuted in a heartbeat. jo bradley used to work for the environment agency and we meet up with her where water drains off the m6. it's absolutely horrific. and it literally keeps me awake at night. because they're not monitored, nobody knows the extent of the pollution and then nobody�*s doing anything about it. national highways manages england's motorway and major a—road network and says it's working on solutions. so this is the sediment four bay. we are being shown a reed bed
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in devon which helps filter and capture the pollution before it goes into a nearby lake. dirty water comes in here. this particular basin is to filter out the solids. so the polluted solids will sink to the bottom. there are some signs it's working. the nearby lake that used to receive the run—off. it's almost like a monet painting where you get those nice water lilies flourishing in the background. rob, the park ranger, tells me the once abundant water lilies have started to return. this is a good news story. fixing this everywhere is going to take time and money. about 250 mitigations are due to be completed by 2030, and that list doesn't include the bake off stream. jonah fisher, bbc news. the time is 1.16. our top story this afternoon —
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teenagers scarlettjenkinson and eddie ratcliffe are named as the murderers of 16—year—old brianna ghey, who was stabbed to death in a cheshire park. and still to come, the countdown to tonight's six nations opener, as reigning champions ireland take on france in marseille. coming up on bbc news: this year's six nations gets under way this evening with the two top ranked teams going head to head as france take on ireland in marseille. it's two year's this month since russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine, and one of the cities which has suffered most is kharkiv, in the north—east. many residents have already fled, but those who remain are trying to maintain some semblance of normality, including setting up underground schools. in this special report, our correspondent sarah rainsford has met the children who are living on the front line.
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russia's war has transformed everything in kharkiv, including childhood. nika hasn't been to kindergarten for two years because of the missile threats. her own neighborhood is shattered. so parts of life in her city are moving underground. alongside the metro platform, there are now classrooms full of children, safe here from any explosions. the staff work hard to make it seem normal. and nika loves every minute. it's the first chance many have had for months just to play together and be children again. olha talks a lot about kharkiv�*s strength and resilience. but that doesn't stop her being scared for her daughters. translation: it's | better underground.
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it's safe. a child can continue with a more or less normal life in these conditions. the parents won't worry and the enemy won't get us here. that's why life beneath the city surface is expanding. they're building a whole underground school here with plans for several more. it's been dug out of an old sports field. as kharkiv adapts to a war it once thought impossible and now shows no sign of ending. the russian strikes on this city are intensifying. this family can't quite believe they're alive. we met marina and her mum a few days after a missile destroyed their home. they'd just stepped round the corner when it hit. eight of their neighbours were killed here.
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ijust found my birth certificate. there are fragments of marina's life scattered among the wreckage. only one document of me, and the one document which says that i am who i am. the day after the missile strike, her father put a flag on top of the ruins. no matter what russia do with us, they can kill us, murder, but we stand and we go on. they call this an unbreakable city. but the difference between life and death can be a matter of moments or metres. and sarahjoins us now from kyiv. a glimpse there of the hardship people continue to bear, sarah. eu leaders yesterday agreed to give ukraine 50 billion euros in military aid. what difference will that make to people's daily lives?
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that was welcomed very much here in ukraine, because this is money that has not for front line fighting, this is not for weapons and bullets and missiles, this is for life behind the lives of people like the children you saw in that report. this is about keeping the wheels of government moving, it is about funding the budget, essentially, so that means everything as basic as keeping the lights and heating on here, paying the pensions, but also paying the teachers, the kindergarten teachers, all of the people, the psychologists working in those schools, too, people who are trying to make life as normal as they possibly can in utterly abnormal circumstances and situations. so as you saw there, children underground, and many of them have seen a terrible thing is, some have had their parents killed, some have had their parents killed, some have had their parents killed, some have lived under direct russian fire for some time, so they need an awful lot of help, and that money will go some way to doing that. but talking to people here, i think it is also important for them because
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it is a gesture of solidarity and support. the fact that 27 eu countries voted for that aid package, i think people welcome here, because although we talk an awful lot about ukrainian resilience, the risk is still extremely real, particularly in places like kharkiv which is so close to the russian border. thank ou ve close to the russian border. thank you very much- — close to the russian border. thank you very much. sarah _ close to the russian border. thank you very much. sarah rainsford i you very much. sarah rainsford reporting. at least three people have been killed and hundreds more injured after a lorry carrying gas exploded in the kenyan capital, nairobi. a massive fire quickly engulfed homes, cars, and businesses. the cause of the explosion is still being investigated. climate activist greta thunberg has arrived at court in london for a second day. she and four other environmental activists are standing trial for a public order offence, after being arrested at a protest outside an oil and gas conference in october last year. two boys aged 15 and 16 are due to appear at bristol youth court today after being charged with murdering two teenagers in the city. mason rist, who was 15, and max dixon, who was 16, were stabbed to death
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on saturday night. a 44—year—old man also charged with murder is expected before bristol crown court. the current phase of the public inquiry into the post office scandal ends today. it's focused mainly on the actions of those who pursued and prosecuted subpostmasters and mistresses on false claims of theft or false accounting. our business correspondent emma simpson has been looking at we've learned and at what happens next. in this room over many months, post office investigators, managers, and lawyers got a grilling. it was always... ..the belief instilled in us that there was no issues with horizon. whatever the role, the answers were often the same. am i supposed to have written all this? i might well have signed it. but i don't remember all this. and the odd apology, too. i'm sorry. i feel ashamed that i was part of this.
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but i want to try and help if i can. he's talking about the story of seema misra, watching feet away with her legal team. she was sent to prison whilst pregnant in 2010. her conviction for theft was quashed just over a decade later. the inquiry heard evidence from her case. you remember him? i was there for two days. jarnail singh was the senior post office lawyer. i would not write anything of that nature. he was talking about this email he sent after seema's trial. "it is to be hoped the case will set a marker to dissuade other defendants from jumping on the horizon—bashing bandwagon." that was you — you hoped it? no. that's why you say that it is to be hoped that... no, absolutely no. you can ask me that ten times. the answer is going to be no, no, and no. pathetic. how can anybody be that mean? what was it like to sit there and listen to that? very painful.
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like, you know, when i think, like, a person like him, you know, he was a part of it, and still, like, a denial and all that and everything, it'sjust, like, it was a complete drama. the inquiry also heard that jarnail singh was sent a report about a horizon bug creating shortfalls at dozens of other branches. but this vital information was never passed to seema's defence team for her trial, and the fujitsu horizon expert who gave evidence against her, he also knew about it, but he never mentioned it either. just some of the many failures. today, the inquiry heard that it was all part of the great post office cover—up. what an awful cocktail, a molotov cocktail, that they consistently, over these decades, threw at sub—postmasters, their families, their managers, and their staff,
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in doing so wrecking mental, physical, economic health. the inquiry must consider whether those responsible for this scandal, in the post office, at fujitsu, and in government did not, could not, or would not hear any warning horizon lacked integrity because their ears were stuffed with cash. this inquiry is slowly working up the chain of command, and the next phase starts in the spring. emma simpson, bbc news. the government is offering £1,000 to new nursery workers, or those returning to pre—school care. it's part of a plan to cope with increased demand in england, when eligible working parents of all two—year—olds will get 15 hours of free care from april. but some early years leaders say the recruitment effort is too late. northern ireland's political parties are meeting this lunchtime
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to work out the preparations for tomorrow's election of a new northern ireland executive. sinn fein�*s michelle o'neill is expected to make history by becoming the first irish republican first minister. reestablishing the assembly also unlocks more than £3 billion of central government funding. in cricket, it was a dream start for england's debut spinner as 20—year—old shoaib bashir took a wicket in just his fourth over. he was brought in for the second test against india and dismissed their captain rohit sharma forjust11t. india closed play at 336—6. and this year's six nations starts tonight with what some believe could be a title decider. the two most fancied teams clash in marseilles, as france welcome ireland. a year on from their grand slam, the irish are hoping to win the title again. but this year, some familiar faces are missing, as our sports correspondent andy swiss reports. the six nations journey starts here, marseille the first port of call
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for ireland's fans and players. although their last trip to france is perhaps one they'd rather forget. three months ago, their world cup hopes turned to heartache, knocked out in the quarterfinals. but now, withjohnny sexton retired, it's a new era with a new leader. it's probably the biggest honour of my career to be asked to captain an irish team in a six nations, you know, for me, it doesn't get any bigger. you know, we'll have a huge task on our hands to retain the title, but that's certainly our goal. well, the six nations opener here just might turn out to be the six nations decider. ireland and france are the pre—tournament favourites, but in what is a transitional year, anything is possible. does a bit of damage... france are without their star player antoine dupont, because he's preparing for sevens rugby at the paris olympics. in fact, out of the six captains from the world cup, five are missing this tournament for an assortment of reasons, with only italy's michael lamoureux
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still in place. all sorts of space out wide for england. his side start against england, the world cup semifinalists now led byjamie george. like any six nations post—world cup, it's always an exciting time with lots of new faces and lots of opportunity to make things feel different. and, you know, we saw that after both world cups, really. you know, we've had good success there, and, you know, i guess our responsibility is to hit the ground running. scotland, meanwhile, face wales in cardiff, where the scots haven't won for 22 years, but then, the six nations is always a chance for history. after ireland's triumph last year, that famous trophy is very much up for grabs. andy swiss, bbc news, marseille. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. it is going to get even milder over
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the next few days. we have strong atlantic winds blowing across the uk, there will be more flocks of birds stuck in that wind off the atlantic. here's the headline, i have added a whether symbol here of rain, so an indication that there will be some rain around this weekend, but i also think there will be some brighter weather at least in one or two areas. here's the satellite picture, this big swells in the cloud, planetary waves, and this jet stream here in the cloud, planetary waves, and thisjet stream here indicating where our air masses are coming from. so basically, all the air is coming in from the southern climes, rising on that conveyor belt of wind. so through the course of the day, temperatures, whether you are north or south, typically 13 celsius. i would north or south, typically 13 celsius. iwould not north or south, typically 13 celsius. i would not be surprised if what about something in eastern scotland and reaches 15 or 16 celsius. tonight, admittedly, slightly colder air sneaks into scotland, so in the highlands there could be a touch of frost, but i
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think for aberdeen and the loans at seven celsius, the bulk of england and wales closer to ten or 11 celsius, and about nine celsius in belfast. tomorrow's forecast, a pattern we have been seen for a while, those i suppose you just saw basically sends these west and winds right across the uk, very gusty ones as well, particularly to the east of the pennines, a bit like today, 1t0 the pennines, a bit like today, a0 or 50 mph gusts, to be again another blustery one. brighterfor or 50 mph gusts, to be again another blustery one. brighter for scotland and the lakes, but south of that across england and wales, cloudy with some rain at times. for wales, the six nations, cloudy, about 11 celsius, not terrible, could be worse. sunday, some rain reaching scotland and northern ireland, general of the north—east of the uk, drier little bits and pieces of rain to the south and mild. but i want to point out this weather front, because this is the beginning of a very wet spell for western and north—western scotland. in fact, the
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