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tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 19, 2024 5:30pm-6:01pm GMT

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a bbc investigation reveals that uk special forces were given the power to veto attempts by elite afghan troops to settle in britain. and the bafta goes to... all right, i can read it. ..0ppenheimer! applause. and oppenheimer was the big winner at the baftas, taking home seven prizes, including best film. the including best film. actress and directorate saman morton the actress and directorate samantha morton gave an emotional speech at the ceremony dedicating her award to children in care. more on that part of last night's events. sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's betty. good evening, matthew. tonight, it's all about the bottom end of the premier league table, as everton host crystal palace, a game which will be overshadowed by the news that roy hodgson has stepped down as palace boss. hodgson, who's 76, was taken ill
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during training on thursday last week amid reports he was going to be sacked. our sports correspondent katie gornall is at goodison park for us ahead of the match. not surprising news necessarily and also that it released his new person who will take over as boss. yes. who will take over as boss. yes, that's right. _ who will take over as boss. yes, that's right, betty. _ who will take over as boss. yes, that's right, betty. in _ who will take over as boss. yes, that's right, betty. in the - who will take over as boss. yes, that's right, betty. in the last i that's right, betty. in the last few minutes, confirmation that oliver glasner, the austrian, will be the new manager at crystal palace. he signed a contract until 2026 and if the former eintracht frankfurt manager who led them to europa league success in 2022. described by the club at the right man with an outstanding record to take charge of the club at a bevel stage in their season. he will not be put in the dugout for the game here at everton tonight with hodgson�*s assistants taking charge of the team was an f ina taking charge of the team was an f in a messy and collocated situation for the club, as you alluded to. there was widespread speculation last week that hodgson would be sacked before he was taken ill at
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the club's training ground. important to say we understand hodgson is recovering well and is now out of hospital. earlier he released a statement confirming he was stepping down as crystal palace manager so the club could bring forward their plans to appoint his successor. he said he has enjoyed his time across six seasons at the club and the chairman pay tribute to him, saying he had a special place in crystal palace history and will not be forgotten. quite simply we owe our continued premier league status to roy. of course this was his second spell in charge at crystal palace. they were iith last season but there has been a dramatic downturn informed this season with just two wins since november. they hover dangerously above the relegation zone, which is where the club felt a change was needed. this was not the way that roy hodgson of course wanted to bring the curtain down on his career and potential as well this could be the end of his very distinguished managerial career, which began all the way back
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in 1976. ., a, . a, in 1976. you say there that crystal palace need _ in 1976. you say there that crystal palace need the _ in 1976. you say there that crystal palace need the points, _ in 1976. you say there that crystal palace need the points, as- in 1976. you say there that crystal palace need the points, as do - palace need the points, as do everton, who are in the relegation zone, right? everton, who are in the relegation zone. right?— everton, who are in the relegation zone, right? exactly. this is a huge aain for zone, right? exactly. this is a huge gain for both _ zone, right? exactly. this is a huge gain for both teams _ zone, right? exactly. this is a huge gain for both teams here _ zone, right? exactly. this is a huge gain for both teams here tonight. l gain for both teams here tonight. everton struggled recently and struggled this season and are in the relegation zone. difficulties for sean dyche on and off the pitch and speaking about this game, he asked if the situation around hodgson�*s future was uncertain. this was before the news today anything most important thing was the health of hodgson. when the game comes around we have to look_ when the game comes around we have to look past— when the game comes around we have to look past that as the points are very important but bigger than the game _ very important but bigger than the game itself, certainly the health is important — game itself, certainly the health is important. everyone is under pressure _ important. everyone is under pressure in the premier league and regardless — pressure in the premier league and regardless of your top, middle or bottom, — regardless of your top, middle or bottom, everyone looking at within the next _ bottom, everyone looking at within the next game. we parcels under pressure — the next game. we parcels under pressure to win games and that's what _ pressure to win games and that's what we — pressure to win games and that's what we are going to do for this
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one _ the club are also awaiting results of their appeal against a ten point deduction they were given by the premier league for breaking the proper and suitability rule. so a crucial time for them will stop if they lose that appeal, it could have huge ramifications for the second charge they were hit with last month. a really big time for them if they wait to see if they have won their appeal or not. this is really a defining moment, i think, their appeal or not. this is really a defining moment, ithink, or everton notjust in terms of matters on the pitch but in terms of their future as well.— future as well. katie, thank you very much _ future as well. katie, thank you very much and _ future as well. katie, thank you very much and enjoy _ future as well. katie, thank you very much and enjoy the - future as well. katie, thank you very much and enjoy the game | very much and enjoy the game tonight. elsewhere, michael beale has been sacked by sunderland. he signed a 2.5—year deal in december and had been in charge forjust 12 games. that makes him the shortest—serving permanent manager in sunderland's history. mike dodds has been appointed as the club's interim head coach until the end of the current season. dodds has been a member of the club's coaching team since august 2021. and that's all the sport for now.
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thank you very much, betty. the bbc has discovered that many nhs patients in england are stuck on hidden waiting lists, potentially running into millions. people who are referred to a specialist for treatment for cancer or heart failure for example are no longer counted on the main waiting lists. our health correspondent dominic hughes has this report. rigby, come on. here. sit. good boy! margaret is living with the knowledge she has skin cancer, and yet has not had any treatment for years. good boy! she was diagnosed and referred to see a specialist, then nothing. the waiting has taken a toll. you can hit really low spots. i think my kids and my grandchildren and my husband as well, they're what keep me going, cos i think i would have
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given up before now. you think, well, i can't do any more. every month, we report on the latest waiting times for non—urgent treatment in the nhs in england. currently that figure is around 7.6 million people, but once you've been referred to a specialist, you're no longer counted on that main nhs waiting list. and you could end up like margaret, one of potentially tens of thousands of people who are waiting for follow—up treatment. now, that could be things like physiotherapy, cancer checks, regular treatment to help preserve eyesight, even surgery. it's not known exactly how many people are facing delays on these hidden waiting lists, as nhs england doesn't collect the figures. every month, around 1.4 million people are taken off the national waiting list because they've started treatment. we contacted 30 of the biggest hospital trusts in england, around a quarter of the total, to ask whether they keep a check on that backlog of delayed care. but only three trusts could provide us with data showing they were recording the number of patients affected.
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there are patients who might have chronic conditions which could, if they were left untreated, deteriorate further, so, for example, patients with certain kinds of eye diseases where they might lose their sight. it's very difficult to get an idea of the number of patients who are waiting for overdue appointments. it's not quite clear which hospitals record it and which ones don't. so, really, we have no idea, but i would guess that it's in the millions. a spokesman for nhs england says there's clear guidance that if treatment becomes overdue and a patient is left waiting, they should be added back onto the waiting list and would then be included in the nationalfigures. when she had a stroke a few years ago, margaret experienced the very best of the nhs�*s emergency care. but now, waiting months for treatment, she feels trapped and anxious. the emergency services are great. but anything else, i'm terrified. you know, it's one of those things now...
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you know, when something else goes wrong... when you're young and healthy, you don't think about these things, but when things start going wrong, it's frightening. dominic hughes, bbc news. let's speak to dr michael] flexer, currently the director for engagement at the wellcome centre for cultures and environments of health. thank you for being here on the programme. this is a real problem, is it not? . ~ , is it not? yeah, well, i think first of all i want _ is it not? yeah, well, i think first of all i want to _ is it not? yeah, well, i think first of all i want to acknowledge - is it not? yeah, well, i think first of all i want to acknowledge how| of all i want to acknowledge how incredibly moving those accounts and stories were that you were just sherry on the piece there. but i think the big question this is really raising his wife are there these kind of pressures on health managers to conceal this waiting? these hidden waiting times are just one of several reservoirs of hidden waiting that on our six year project
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we explored and discussed with patients and service users. there is an incredibly large amount of pressure because waiting is seen always as a form of abandonment, a form of system failure, something intrinsically terrible so there are always these pressures for managers to bring this down, conceal it, hide it. we need to have nationally is a much more sophisticated conversation about what rating really is and its relationship to health.— relationship to health. sorry to dive in, relationship to health. sorry to dive in. but — relationship to health. sorry to dive in, but you _ relationship to health. sorry to dive in, but you think - relationship to health. sorry to dive in, but you think it - relationship to health. sorry to dive in, but you think it is - dive in, but you think it is deliberate concealment as opposed to just a bureaucratic system that somehow has led to this is the end result. people will be really surprised, for example, thatjust surprised, for example, that just the surprised, for example, thatjust the basic numbers are not charted that we were just hearing about. really even the numbers are charted, your reporter said 7.5 main people on waiting lists, but actually there are 7.5 million units of waiting in those units can refer to two or three units attached to a person. so
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a person could be on the waiting list more than once if you see what i mean and get double counted in that. the problem is once you've got a system like waiting time targets, then naturally you were dumb people to game that system and when there are incentives to bring down a headline target, one of the way you do that is by simply shutting people off into some of the other kind of reservoirs of waiting, which are across the nhs was that we've all had the experience to say the pressure on gps to shorten their waiting times for us to get an appointment, but being kind of call on the phone trying to get through to the gp in the first place. in effect, there is an epidemic of people waiting to wait. it is people waiting to wait. it is suggested _ people waiting to wait. it is suggested that _ people waiting to wait. it is suggested that some people on these hidden waiting lists actually could end up with a longer weights than the ordinary waiting list we are all accustomed to. i think you said that our producer in terms of the impact on people, on any of these lists, it's less about the quantity of time and more about the quality of time.
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what did you mean by that? yakima su ort of what did you mean by that? yakima sunport of the _ what did you mean by that? yakima support of the conversation - what did you mean by that? yakima support of the conversation we - what did you mean by that? yakima support of the conversation we want to have this really differentiate between kind of bad waiting, waiting where it's between kind of bad waiting, waiting where its leading the people experiencing worse health outcomes, even distress and death as you demonstrated, and also where actually waiting and being with people is a practice of care itself, these kind of groups waiting time stats are really a poor mentor for understudy what quality of care is. for example we work with people at the end of life, and end—of—life care there is no big heroic therapy people are waiting for this on the horizon. the whole process of care is about waiting with people, it's about being with people as they progress through their ill health, so in these terribly moving stories you gave us in the report, there should be in addition to moving people through actual services, there should be communication, engagement, otherancillary there should be communication, engagement, other ancillary types of
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care and support as well people don't feel that they have just vanished and fallen off the radar. yes, thank you so much forjoining us here on the programme can begin to talk to you, thank you. you us here on the programme can begin to talk to you, thank you.— to talk to you, thank you. you as well. a bbc panorama investigation has discovered that uk special forces blocked troops from the afghan units they fought alongside from relocating to the uk after the taliban came into power. leaked documents show that uk special forces rejected applications despite some containing compelling evidence of service alongside the british military. the uk ministry of defence says it is conducting an independent review. earlier, i spoke to bbc panorama'sjoe gunter. these afghan units, which are known as the triples, they fought alongside british special forces in some of the most dangerous missions of the afghan conflict. and so when the taliban came back to power, they were clearly at risk, and many believed that they would have the opportunity to resettle in the uk. we've seen applications with very compelling evidence of their service alongside the british, but hundreds of those applications
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were denied. and internal documents now seen by bbc panorama, in collaboration with lighthouse reports, show that it was in fact uk special forces that had the veto over these applications and rejected them. but why? we're not exactly clear on why that would be, but there is a lot of anger among some in the former special forces community. and some say there is a conflict of interest here because special forces had this veto power and applications were being rejected at a time when uk special forces were also under investigation by a public inquiry concerning alleged war crimes in afghanistan on operations where these afghan units were present, meaning that those afghan commandos could be potential witnesses to the inquiry. so what have the ministry of defence said as a result of all of this being highlighted by yourselves and your investigation? so the ministry of defence had already acknowledged that some of these decisions were not robust
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and had announced that around 2000 of them will be reviewed independently. they told us that civil servants had the final say over these triples applications, or certainly have the final say. but when we asked them if uk special forces had previously had the final say when these applications were being rejected, they declined to answer that question. so what happens now? because, i mean, these are really serious allegations, aren't they? very serious allegations. so, as i said, around about 2000 of these applications will be reviewed. hopefully people who have credible applications will come into the country and... and reviewed by who? they're going to be reviewed independently by civil servants. that process isn't clear. but those cases, hopefully where they were eligible
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and we certainly know that some of them were very strong, those people if they rightfully will be able to now come into the uk. two police officers have been disciplined over a a whatsapp message about the fatal knife attacks on three people in nottingham lastjune. the force described the message as "crude and distasteful". our reporter aruna iyengar has more details. the two i9—year—old students, barnaby webber and grace o'malley—kumar, and school caretaker ian coates were stabbed to death by valdo calocane in june last year. there was disbelief from their relatives when calocane received a sentence of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. the deaths shocked the country and united a city. now the families have found out officers in nottinghamshire police shared an inappropriate whatsapp message about the killings in the days after the incident. this was also shared with people outside the police force. last night, nottinghamshire police defended themselves, saying they took immediate action when they found out about the message. a disciplinary hearing
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was held injanuary, but they admitted that some of the words in the message were "crude and distasteful", adding that "all officers have been reminded of the appropriate use of whatsapp as a result of this misconduct hearing." one officer is being dealt with in what's described as "a management intervention". another has been given a final warning. the mother of barnaby webber, emma, said it was an abhorrent way to conduct an investigation and said the families hadn't been made aware of this data breach. she's previously criticised the police investigation and spoke about her concerns to the bbc last month. it's also the failings of the police to investigate and act accordingly up to the attacks, and also the investigation of the case we've got real concerns about and the way that we've been managed by the cps. nottinghamshire police say no other officers were found
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guilty of misconduct. the families of the three victims are calling for a public inquiry into the handling of the case. aruna iyengar, bbc news. now let's turn to a story that's been a real talking points through the course of today. headteachers in england have been given government guidance on how to stop children from using mobile phones in schools. although the advice has been welcomed by some, there are questions over how much of a difference the guidance will make. the education minister, gillian keegan, shared her thoughts on the new guidance. i think, to be honest, that this will be successful because where it has been successful, you can see, and many people say, the improvement in behaviour, the improvement in performance, the improvement in the whole school culture is really tangible. so i think many, many headteachers want to do this, and this helps empower them to do it. and we're not the first country in the world.
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other countries have done this as well, but what we want to do is be consistent and ensure consistency across our schools and reset that social norm. that has prompted quite a lot of response. geoff barton from the association of school and college leaders said the government should be focusing on other more urgent situations facing schools. i think there is a little bit of a sense of deja vu all over again, of a government that wants to seem like it's saying something powerful, but largely if it wants to say something powerful, could they do it on the things that matter? funding, special needs, the need for us to be able to stop crumbling schools? all of those things are the big issues for parents, rather than something about mobile phones in schools yet again. earlier, i spoke to pepe di'lasio, headteacher at wales high school in rotherham and the incoming general secretary of the association of school and college leaders union. i asked him if the guidance makes sense. i think it makes a lot of sense, but it does feel somewhat - that the genie is out of the bottle on this one — and for many headteachers, as you've just heard - in your piece there, this is long since i
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passed a priority. it's over a year since my own school here in rotherham i implemented this policy. iand i'm not aware of a school up| and down the country that doesn't have a policy that can prevent - students from having mobile phones or allowing them to disturb lessons. and so it is a bit ofa - non—statement in that regard. it's interesting where you finish, because is that your sense that when you talk to other headteachers, they have policies in place? because i was listening to the secretary of state this morning. she was saying that half of schools in england don't and it's all about consistency. so is she wrong about that in terms of numbers that don't do this? yes. so the data i saw over a year ago - was that over 65% of schools had got this policy in place, and many- schools were added to that number over the course of the last year. and as i say, i'm not aware of a school that doesn't -
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have a policy like this in place. and the key issue, which i think. your piece highlighted, is actually with the social media platforms. it's not the phones themselves that cause the problems. - it is the internet and the access that young people have - via their phones that. creates the problems. i myself was called back into school just last week to deal _ i with a safeguarding issue connected. to a mobile phone where young people were using social media platforms, got access to criminal— and exploitative materials. and that's where the issue - and that's that's where the energies should be used, to get on top - of this behaviour and the governance that's needed with the large companies that are - profiteering on the back of young people's misery in many cases. l the latest on that new guidance to schools. now let's talk about the baftas.
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while oppenheimer got the most awards at last night's british academy film awards, one of the highest honours that the acadmey bestows is the fellowship, and this year's recipient was the actress samantha morton. she spent over a decade in foster care and children's homes. she dedicated her award to "every child in care". see, representation matters. in 2008, i directed my first film, the unloved, and it was about faith. i believe in god, and it was hope and forgiveness. but as much as anything, it was what i wanted to tell little sam. homeless and cold, hungry and alone, that you'll have a family one day and you'll have a life beyond what the government statistics have laid out for you. because you matter. so don't give up. you see the stories we tell, they actually have the power to change people's lives. film changed my life. it transformed me, and it led me here today.
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so i want to thank bafta for this extraordinary honour and for believing that my name is worthy to appear alongside past recipients. and this means more to me than they will ever know. earlier, i spoke to nkechi simms, a young actress who spent time in care as a child and has gone on to achieve international success. i asked her what the dedication of the award by samantha morton meant to her. i mean, it was such a moving speech. i have to admit i'm familiar with samantha and her incredible work and talent, but i wasn't familiar with her backstory. and so what started off was me just admiring a creative receiving such a prestigious award quite quickly turned into a profound and personal moment of admiration for her and herjourney. so i assume from that answer there are so many echoes of what happened to you and to her. is that what you took away? is that why it resonated so much with you? yes, for sure. i mean, i think that a lot of people
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around the world in care will be able to listen to that speech and relate to it. tell me a bit more, then, being in care, the impact in terms of that industry, the obstacles, the difficulties. and weave, then, some of your story into that as well. i think that there is often a lot of stigma and shame attached to being in care. and i think listening to that speech and other young people hearing it will hopefully alleviate some of that. and historically, acting has been an inaccessible industry, and drama schools, expensive and elitist sometimes. and so a lot of young people in care, and samantha touched on it, really dealing with quite difficult things
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in life, homelessness, you know, trauma and don't often have the support system in place to navigate what can be quite a precarious industry. and tell me in terms of the obstacles you faced, give me an idea of that and what film, television actually gives you back. i mean, i grew up watching a lot of old british tv. trainspotting, danny boyle, two pints of lager and a packet of crisps. i really enjoyed working—class british television growing up, and seeing myself on screen and seeing people that had shared similar experiences to me really helped me find my place in the world. and i think that it helped me figure out what i wanted to do and who i wanted to be. and so, yeah, when i came into the industry, i worked for a great charity called the big house to support care leavers and young offenders, and they really used drama to reintegrate young people back into society, cos i didn't have the skills or the funds necessary to go to drama school. at the time, i wasjust
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a teenager struggling to navigate the world, really. so i had no idea how i would've fared in the industry without the support that i received. struggling they have successful now. that brings us to the end of the programme, thank you for watching and see you at the same time tomorrow, bye—bye. hello there. it's staying mild for the time of year for the first half of this week, but towards the end of the week, things are set to turn colder as we pick up north—westerly winds, with increasing chance of wintry showers on hills in the north. tomorrow, though, it's going to be another mild day, and we'll see a band of rain spreading southwards across the country. but tonight, many places will be dry, variable cloud, some clear spells. most of the cloud in northern and western areas, and then we'll start to see that weather front pushing into western scotland, northern ireland, bringing outbreaks of rain here and strengthening winds. so temperatures lifting here, but some chillier sparks further south and east under the clear skies. so, for tuesday then, here's this weather front
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moving its way southwards and eastwards gradually through the course of the day. ahead of it, it stays mild, rather cloudy, some glimmers of brightness here and there. but the rain, heavy at times, will spread across scotland and northern ireland through the morning period, and then start to spread southwards and eastwards across england and wales as we head into the afternoon. but behind it, it brightens up for scotland and northern ireland, sunshine, some blustery showers — a few of these could be heavy — hail and thunder across north—west scotland. ahead of the rain band, it's going to be another largely cloudy day, but very mild, 13—14 degrees here. something a bit cooler further north. that weather front moves southwards, fizzles out. it's dry, clear and chilly for a while for the first part of the night. but then the next low pressure system hurtles in off the atlantic, and the increasing cloud, wind and rain will lift those temperatures, certainly across southern and western areas. so here it is, then, a more active system to move through for wednesday. more isobars on the charts, so it will be windy. we're looking at gales around coastal areas, particularly across northern areas, and a very wet start. some of this rain could be
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quite heavy, and in fact, it's falling on saturated ground, we could see some issues with localised flooding. but the rain mostly clears out into the north sea into the afternoon. skies brighten up, although obviously there'll be some blustery showers to clear across northern and western areas. bit of a hangback of cloud for eastern england and the south—east. fairly mild again, eight to 12 or 13 degrees, but that's the last of the mild days through this week. from thursday onwards, we open the floodgates to a north—westerly wind. you can see the blue colours taking over, so it will be turning chillier for all areas. and because low pressure will be nearby, it will tend to remain fairly unsettled. so temperatures dipping for all areas closer to the seasonal norm. some of the showers in the north could have a wintry element to them.
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today at six, in the first prosecution of its kind, a migrant is convicted of manslaughter after four people drowned crossing the channel in a dinghy he was piloting. the widow of alexei navalny, who died in a russian prison camp, says she will continue his work fighting for their country. the business secretary comes out fighting after allegations by the ex—chair of the post office that the government delayed compensation for the subpostmasters. i would hope that most people reading the interview in yesterday's sunday times would see it for what it was, a blatant attempt to seek revenge following dismissal. new guidance from the government to stop children using mobile phones at school in england. and roy hodgson stands down as manager of crystal palace after six seasons in charge.
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hodgson was taken ill on thursday amid reports he was set to be sacked. today he announced he is stepping aside and crystal palace have already appointed his successor. and in sportsday later in the hour on bbc news, we will bring you the latest talking points from the bbc sport centre. good evening and welcome to the six o'clock news. a man who piloted a dinghy carrying dozens of migrants from france to britain, four of whom drowned, has been found guilty of their manslaughter. ibrahima bah, who is from senegal, agreed with a smuggling gang to pilot the boat in return for a free crossing even though he had no training. it's the first case of its kind and could have implications for future investigations.
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our legal correspondent dominic casciani reports.

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