this is bbc news. the headlines at 11: the fiance of the children's author helen bailey is found guilty of her murder, dumping her body in a cesspit, in the hope of inheriting millions of pounds. astronomers discover seven earth—sized planets. they could harbour conditions to support life. cressida dick is appointed as the metropolitan police commissioner, becoming the first woman in the job in its 188—year history. the white house will scrap guidelines that allow transgender students to use bathrooms which match their chosen gender identity. the bbc is to launch a new television channel in scotland next year, with an annual £30 million budget. and david bowie has been named best male artist at tonight's brit awards just over a year since his death. the fiance of the children's author helen bailey

has been found guilty of murdering her and dumping her body in a cesspit under their garage in hertfordshire. ian stewart, who's 56, drugged ms bailey over several weeks before smothering her in april last year in the hope of claiming a multi million pound inheritance. the couple had met through an online bereavement group. detectives are now re—examining the sudden death of stewart's wife in 2010. our homes affairs correspondent june kelly reports. police recorded ian stewart's arrest at his home. i'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of helen bailey. you're joking! he was stunned he'd finally been caught out. for three months he'd been living with the body of his wealthy partner buried under the garage. my name's helen bailey and i'd like to introduce you to my new book, which is called when bad things happen

in good bikinis. helen bailey was a successful author. as well as murdering her, stewart also killed her dachshund, boris, whom she doted on. ooh, that wasn't supposed to happen! after her husband's death, helen bailey began blogging about her sense of loss. and it was through a facebook bereavement group that she met ian stewart, whose wife had died. but while she was planning their wedding, he was planning her murder. ian stewart's sons were in court to see their father convicted of killing the woman who was about to become their stepmother. last spring, helen bailey suddenly vanished from the home she shared with them and their father in royston in hertfordshire. it took ian stewart five days to report her missing. hertfordshire police, how can i help? hello there, my partner has been missing since monday and has not contacted anyone. three months after helen bailey's disappearance, police began

searching the garage, which was at a distance this laser imaging illustrates how, underneath the hatched door there, there was a well with a cesspit. the police started probing, and it was here below a layer of sewage that they saw an arm. they had found helen bailey's body and buried with her was her dog, boris. there was even a possibility, because she had been drugged, that she could have been alive when stewart put her down here. cctv shows how within hours ian stewart drove to a rubbish tip to dump a duvet. was that duvet taken to the tip because it had helen's blood on it? in police interviews stewart said nothing. he probably smothered helen bailey after drugging her over a long period with his sleeping pills. his motive was money. he was set to benefit massively from her £4 million fortune. if helen had written a book of this story you wouldn't believe it. he probably planned it

all from the day he met her. and in hindsight i don't think he loved her at all, but helen definitely loved him. this is ian stewart's late wife, diane. police are now re—examining her sudden death. she'd suffered from epilepsy and was said to have died from a fit. diane stewart died of natural causes in 2010, it would only be right and proper that we re—looked at what the causes might be. but, of course, it would be part of our inquiries, moving forward from this conviction. at the family home in bassingbourn, in cambridgeshire, diane stewart collapsed suddenly. diane was a very fit and healthy person. the whole of bassingbourn was in shock, i think. you could not believe it could have happened because there was no sign or prior knowledge that there was anything wrong with diane whatsoever. after his wife died, ian stewart was seen with other women before he began his predatory

pursuit of helen bailey. as a writer, she was used to studying human behaviour, but she never learned the true character of the man who was closest to her and who she thought she knew best. astronomers believe they may have made a crucial step towards finding life outside earth. they have found seven new planets with temperatures that should allow water to exist in liquid form. the team of international scientists, including some from britain, say they now expect to be able to establish in the next 10 years whether there is life on any of the planets that are orbiting a distant dwarf star. 0ur science editor, david shukman, reports. an artist's impression of a startling discovery deep in space, around a faint and distant star, much weaker than our sun, is a collection of planets that are surprisingly similar to earth. in all, several of these worlds have been spotted and astronomers think it may change the way

we look at the night sky. the discovery gives us a hint that finding a second earth is notjust a matter of if, but when. an array of telescopes kept watch on one point in space and what the scientists were looking for were tiny clues about the light of a particular star becoming dimmer, on a regular basis, as planets orbited in front of it. they can't see these new worlds, but they know they're there. we are extremely excited. this is the biggest amount of planets that we've found in one go and that look like the earth in composition, size and mass. all seven are close enough to the star and far enough to the star that they could host liquid water, and that's just incredible. this is the latest revelation in a wave of discoveries over the past 25 years of new worlds that exist in solar systems beyond our own. the total of these distant planets now stands at well over 3,000. what makes this discovery so unusual is the sheer number of new worlds spotted

in one go, seven in all. crucially, they'rejust the right temperature for liquid water to exist at the surface. three of them are in what's called the habitable zone which raises the tantalising possibility that they could conceivably host life. but we won't be getting there in a hurry, they're a0 light years away. to reach them, using the rockets we have now, would take something like 700,000 years. there's so much to find out about these worlds, whether the artist's impressions are right, whether it's possible that the conditions for life do exist and astronomers say they'll be a huge effort to try to find out. the more we look, the more planets we find and the more earth—like planets we find, but this is especially exciting because this, sort of, ultra cool star that we've discovered, they're quite populous throughout our galaxy and it's the first time we've had planets going around a star like this and we've found seven of them. the best hope lies with huge

new telescopes that'll come into service soon, improving the chances of getting a really close look at these alien worlds to see, for example, if they do have oceans and maybe, just maybe, discover if there are some hints about life. david shukman, bbc news. a political row has erupted over the compensation paid to the british fighter with so—called islamic state. ronald fiddler was formerly a detainee at guantanamo bay and is reported to have died in a suicide bombing in iraq. lord carlile, who reviewed terror laws for 10 years, said fiddler should never have been paid a penny. tony blair has defended himself from attacks that he was responsible saying the decision to award the compensation was taken by the mainly conservative government. 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar reports. the face of a fanatic, a briton, about to die an is suicide bomber, detained then freed and reportedly handed £1 million compensation

in taxpayers' cash. why? that's now a bitter dispute. jamal al—harith, born ronald fiddler, was among the suspected terrorist detainees held here at guantanamo bay without charge until, following british government pressure, he was freed, to discuss his time behind bars. i was, i was angry, very angry, actually. first, when they told me, i was scared, because i'd been in a cage for so long, i didn't want to leave, strange as it might seem. you didn't want to leave? yeah, my first reaction was, "i don't want to go". tonight, his family insisted he'd been radicalised by what they called the mental cruelty and inhuman treatment, and his compensation was far less than £1 million. it's been hard for us, you know? he's gone now and ijust hope that between him and his maker, he's, you know, done whatever he wanted to do. today, papers and some tory mps condemned labour's role in government. but mr blair has hit back.

he said in a statement: it is just a matter of fact that compensation was decided by the conservative government, by kenneth clarke, the justice secretary, and not by a labour government. but according to this intelligence assessment, on wikileaks, fiddler was a suspected terrorist associated with al-qaeda and yet he was compensated. there was intelligence against these people. but the only way that the actions could have been defended is if the intelligence and the sources of intelligence had been brought out in open court.

and that would have been to undermine the whole of the efforts of the intelligence and security agencies. the immediate circumstances that forced the government to give him money no longer exist, because the law of disclosure in civil claims has been tightened up. but we do need some assurance from the attorney general that this is the case and that someone like him would not receive a million or however many pounds of public money in the future. intelligence can now be used in court, without compromising sources, after a change in the law. but hundreds of britons have travelled to iraq and syria as jihadists, and one former minister told me they are believed to include some who have been monitored, perhaps even detained and compensated in the past. yeah, is that the stock market? there may be more like ronald fiddler. security forces can only try to keep up their guard in future. john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. we're getting some breaking news

from the white house, which has announced it is pushing back the release of the new executive order that donald trump promised would be issued this week. this is the executive order to suspend travel by citizens of server and muslim countries. we don't know whether those countries would still exist in this new executive order. —— seven muslim countries. it is a review of the one he issued, which has been challenged through the courts in america and donald trump, as you may remember, last week said instead of pursuing this legally, which could drag on, he's going to rewrite the executive order and reissue it. and this will get through the courts. the order is now expected to be issued sometime next week according toa issued sometime next week according to a white house official. for the first time in its 188—year history, london's metropolitan police force will be run by a woman. cressida dick said she was thrilled and humbled to be taking

on the great responsibility of the post of met commissioner. ms dick will succeed sir bernard hogan—howe next week. but as our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports, her career at the met has not been without controversy. a new new scotland yard. the metropolitan police's new headquarters. and now it has a new commissioner, cressida dick, flanked by the home secretary and the mayor of london. it's beyond my wildest dreams, an extraordinary privilege. iam very dreams, an extraordinary privilege. i am very humbled. i adore london, i think it's the world's greatest global city, and i love policing and i love the met. i know she cares about the priorities that are also my priorities, about the terror threat in london, about vulnerabilities in this city and i'm really looking forward to working closely with her to make it a great

success. closely with her to make it a great success. a lot of people have helped me along the way from the moment i was first a police constable over 30 yea rs was first a police constable over 30 years ago at hendon. were all those men made up the rank and file but she left them behind. if you think it is the thing for you then really go for it. she ran the trident team fighting london's gun violence. in the furious years 5.2” of ste - hen following the murder of stephen lawrence, she helped the met learn lessons and that led to counterterrorism when in 2005 this happened. cressida dick was in charge of the plainclothed officers who shot dead not a terrorist but jean charles de menezes, an innocent brazilian electrician. his family and their supporters today said that her appointment to the top job was shameful. that post has do have trust and integrity. the person has got to be responsible for the higher standards of professionalism, has

got to ensure the police act within the law and here we have somebody who's forever going to be tainted with the death ofjean charles de menezes. but this is the log of cressida dick's decisions that day, her order at 10:04 cressida dick's decisions that day, her orderat10:0a a.m., cressida dick's decisions that day, her order at 10:04 a.m., stop him. she has always insisted not shoot him. ajury laterfound she has always insisted not shoot him. a jury later found she she has always insisted not shoot him. ajury laterfound she had done nothing wrong although management of the operation was criticised. her new in tray will be full of difficult decisions, many of them focused on two of her biggest challenges, the met‘s squeezed finances and the changing nature of crime. and this is quite a moment for british policing with cressida dick's appointment, the three most senior operational police officers in britain are now women. tom symons, bbc news, at new scotland yard. the headlines on bbc news: the fiance of the children's author, helen bailey, is found guilty of her murder, dumping her body in a cesspit in the hope of inheriting millions of pounds.

astronomers discover seven earth—sized planets. they could harbour conditions to support life. cressida dick is appointed as the metropolitan police commissioner, becoming the first woman in the job, in its 188—year history. a toddler who died after suffering a catalogue of injuries at the hands of her legal guardian should never have been placed with her. that's the finding of a serious case review, which has concluded 18—month—old keegan downer, who died in 2015, was "invisible" to professionals, despite suffering over 150 injuries. kandyce downer was jailed for life after being convicted of the little girl's murder. amy cole reports. little keegan downer, seen here happy and flourishing in her foster home. that all changed when she went

to live with kandyce downer, a distant relative who had been awarded a special guardianship 0rder for her care in 2015. just nine months later she was dead. a serious review into her death found she was failed by a number of agencies. for example, a health visitor only ever made one visit not long after keegan was placed under her guardian. she was placed under her guardian. she was not seen by a gp or nervous after her placement. there was no further contact me by social care. that was one of our failings. we had no policy set out for that for those visits. that is part of what we changed. there needs to be ongoing support. there needs to be a working relationship with those placements. not some primacy that some distant relationship means you have an automatic right to the permanency of the child. the initials assessment

of whether kandyce downer should become a guardian was carried out by an external agency, not the city council. that is no longer the case. the report says that keegan downer was given too much power over who sought keegan downer. in hindsight, thatis sought keegan downer. in hindsight, that is not good enough. that would not happen now. i think one of the other things that has changed, and that needs to be insured following this case, is that those universal cases that would involve the gp and the health visitor would absolutely know that this child is under special guardianship. greater awareness within the wider society is also something the children's charity, the nspcc is calling for. it is tragic this happened too late for this individual child, but changes will happen for the future. what is important is that any member of the public helps social services

and the police and comes forward with information. birmingham city council says it has taken further steps to safeguard children. has anyone been sacked over the death? those people who were in charge are no longer working with us. birmingham children's services is to be taken over by a new trust later this year. amy cole, bbc news, birmingham. the trump administration is expected to revoke the 0bama transgender bathroom bill, a federal guideline telling public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms matching their chosen gender identity. white house spokesperson sean spicer told journalists that "the president is a "firm believer in states' rights" and the new administration had "several areas of concern, both legal and procedural. " kris hayashi is the executive director of the transgender law centre. he agreed that part of the problem is that different states have different approaches to the law. that is a really important question.

so, the first thing i will say is that regardless of what the donald trump administration says, the law here in the us is clearly on the side of transgender students. transgender students are protected from this, nation the law in the us. however, u nfortu nately, from this, nation the law in the us. however, unfortunately, there are many places in this country where transgender students face discrimination. the 0bama administration issued guidance to force schools to comply with the law and make sure all students can get and make sure all students can get an education. if this guidance is rescinded by the trump administration, it does not change the law, it does not change that transgender students across the country are protected from discrimination. it sends a clear message to transgender youth that this current administration in this

current government does not value them and will not protect them. the issue arose, didn't it, because a number of schools in a number of states existed where a transgender person could not use the bathroom of their choice, it had to be their original gender. there are many cases being fought through the courts right now in various states. that is right. we are clear that if the donald trump administration rescinds the guidance that the transgender law centre is arguing, we will fight that. we have a young boy in wisconsin who was singled out to use a different restroom from his peers. we were successful in stopping the school from implementing that policy. that case will be heard in a month before the seventh circuit. also in the us, we have a case, gavin, another

transgender student who was facing discrimination at school and he was singled out and treated differently from all the other boys. in that case will be heard before the us supreme court at the end of march. more help is to be given to support two million people affected by famine in south sudan, and neighbouring somalia. the government has promised another £200 million to provide basic supplies and care for those at risk. south sudan became a country six years ago. a civil war has been raging since 2013. in somalia, a severe drought has caused widespread malnutrition and the country's landscape to become littered with dead animals. kay hoyland is in somalia working for save the children. i asked her if she was surprised by a warning issued by the united nations secretary general that billions of dollars are desperately needed. no, that is no surprise at all. i

mean, it is a terrible situation here on the ground. it is so hot and dry and arid. there is no vegetation. there are dead camels and goats on the ground. malnutrition rates are increasing every day. currently, 360,000 children are suffering from malnutrition. 17,000 of those cases are extreme malnutrition. i met with are extreme malnutrition. i met with a mother today, and she has not been able to feed her children for two days. and when she can feed her children, it is plain rice. that is not enough. we need to remind ourselves that a famine is declared ina ourselves that a famine is declared in a situation has reached a certain point of crisis. could that have been avoided if the world had woken up been avoided if the world had woken upa lot been avoided if the world had woken up a lot in it? it is... it is a crisis. -- up a lot in it? it is... it is a crisis. —— a lot sooner. the people who have not had ran for over two

yea rs, who have not had ran for over two years, it is, in fact, who have not had ran for over two years, it is, infact, the who have not had ran for over two years, it is, in fact, the worst drought the country has seen since 1915. it is an extreme situation and a stressful situation for many people out here. and save the children is here on the ground, and we are scaling up our programmes. we need to do more, and we need more money to do more, you know, to prevent full—scale famine from happening on the ground. you are echoing the words of the un secretary general who, as i said, said they need 4.4 billion by the end of march. it really is a major cash flow problem. when we say a famine, what that actually means is that a certain amount of people are dying each day compared to maybe three months ago when two or three we re three months ago when two or three were dying each day. these famines, oi’ were dying each day. these famines, or the buildup to these famines, has been around for some time. in your experience, the donations are just not there. is there a problem that we are perhaps suffering from africa

fatigue? we need to scale up the operations on the ground. the government does not have the resources to do that. they need the humanitarian agency, like save the children, to do that. we have been doing that in continuing to do that for some time. we need to scale it up for some time. we need to scale it up even for some time. we need to scale it up even more for some time. we need to scale it up even more to do that. you know, the situation is getting worse by the situation is getting worse by the day. and it is the children who are suffering the worst as they are the most vulnerable. i am seeing that on the ground. children are dying every day here. i'm sure your suffering is nothing compared to there, but it must take its toll on you and your colleagues over there, seeing this everyday and having little to know resources. it is tough. we need more money to do what we wa nt tough. we need more money to do what we want to do to help them. we are providing health units and health clinics, and we are trying to reach eve ryo ne clinics, and we are trying to reach everyone that we can. but we cannot

reach everyone. we want to do more. we have that feeling. and people are being overworked on the ground, but we need to save these children's and these families' lives. kay from save these families' lives. kay from save the children. 52:31:35 225.15 l-“kzu in l; —;’ lsz'lt on the social networking site. davies was arrested when he returned to watch the case again on tuesday. the bbc is to create a new television channel for scotland. it will broadcast from seven in the evening until midnight and will cost around £30 million a year. there had been calls for a separate 6am news for scotland on bbc one, but this was rejected in favour of a scottish news hour on this new channel. 0ur scotland editor, sarah smith, reports. there's soon to be a lot more bbc in scotland.

responding to demands for more spending and more dedicated news, does this mean you feel what bbc scotland's been offering so far hasn't been giving audience what is they want? no, i want to give audiences in scotland more choice and i really believe the excitement of saying "we have a new channel for scotland, what's that going to be?" how are we going to schedule it? how are we going to shake sure that we get dramas and comedies, programmes of journalism, talk shows, and, at the heart of it, this one—hour news from scotland, that's a really exciting proposition along with drama, comedy, factual and entertainment programmes made in scotland, for a scottish audience. 0n airfrom 7.00pm to midnight every day, but why does scotland need its own dedicated channel?

at the most basic level, scotland is a nation, it's not a region, like lancashire or whatever. it's important also that you understand that scotland has already separate areas of its civic and public state, its education system, its legal system, its artistic communities and whatever, all of which are befitting of a small, modern nation, and they're not being well reflected just now through the bbc. the new channel will have a budget of £30 million a year. there will be an hour—long news programme at 9.00pm every night, and it's due to launch in the summer of 2018. the long—running debate about whether scotland needs its own separate news programme at 6.00pm on bbc one is now over. viewers in scotland will get a scottish nine on the new channel ghsaéiewiihgtae aegisaig ' "

2.5 minutes until we're on air. nothing the bbc does will ever please everyone and as the corporation has to make cuts elsewhere, viewers in other parts of the country might wonder why scotland deserves special treatment. ee is; eeeeeeeeeeeee;eeeeeefieeee ... ... .. . . david bowie has been named best! at tonight's brit awards, just over a year since his death. the singer, who died of cancer last january at the age of 69, it isa it is a great album. we will have a look at the weather now. thank you. good evening. what a week. after the warmest day of the winter so far on monday, thursday brings some of the

stormiest weather of the winter so far. storm doris has moved to the sea. far. storm doris has moved to the sea. this is the pressure chart for the morning rush—hour. noticed the isobars. they get closer and closer together. as they rush in, lots of rain around. in the morning we will see the wind strength and as well. 0n the northern flank, cold it. for parts of scotland, snow will be the story. a few features of the storm for thursday morning. the snow. the met office has a warning to be prepared. disruption in central and southern scotland, especially in the hills. 20—30 centimetres of snow. it could affect the m74, the m8 and the m90 during rush—hour. winds will be lighter than further south. the next