tv BBC News BBC News April 26, 2017 3:00pm-4:01pm BST
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this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at 3pm: theresa may accusesjeremy corbyn of not being up to the job of prime minister. but he has hit back saying the tories only represent the rich. the election on 8thjune is a choice between a conservative... yes, between a conservative... yes, between a conservative government for the few and a labour government that will stand up for all of our people. the choice is clear — every vote for him isa the choice is clear — every vote for him is a vote for a chaotic brexit. every vote for me is a vote to strengthen our hand in negotiating the best deal for britain. labour promises a pay increase for nhs staff — and no tuition fees for student nurses and midwives — if it wins the general election. jeremy corbyn will not take part in an opposition leaders debate.
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his spokesman says he's willing to go head—to—head with theresa may but mrs may has already ruled that out. the bbc understands that lee charnley, newcastle's managing director is among several men arrested. it follows raids at west ham and newcastle united football clubs. surrey police is strongly criticised for returning shotguns to a man who went on to murder his partner and her daughter. almost a decade after madeleine mccann disappeared detectives say they are still following a critical lead. in the next hour, firing exercises on both sides of the korean border as tensions with the us rise. donald trump will brief the entire senate at the white house over north korea's missile and nuclear programmes. and why gardeners may have to adapt to new plants and techniques because of rising temperatures. good afternoon and
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welcome to bbc news. there were angry exchanges in the commons today in what was the last prime ministers questions before parliament is dissolved next week. the prime minister said only the conservatives could provide strong and stable leadership. mr corbyn responded by saying the conservatives only represented the rich. our political correspondent iain watson reports. questions to the prime minister. it's fair to say pmqs can be a rowdy affair, but today it felt even more like a political rally than a parliamentary occasion as the election battle lines were drawn. the prime minister launched a pre—emptive strike. even beforejeremy corbyn asked a question, theresa may attacked
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the record of the labour leader's team on security. the plan to disband mi5, to disarm our police and scrap our nuclear deterrent was endorsed by the right honourable gentleman's policy chief and even by his shadow chancellor. and in a sign that they will fight the campaign onjeremy corbyn‘s leadership, conservative mps cheered when he announced how long he had been labour leader. when i became labour leader 18 months ago... this could be the last time that theresa may and jeremy corbyn clash head—to—head before the election. she won't take part in television debates, so the labour leader wanted to denounce just about the entire record of her government today, on health, housing and pensions. and he road—tested a few campaign slogans too. here's one coming up. many people feel the system is rigged against them. then he broadened the attack.
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strong leadership is about standing up for the many, not the few. but when it comes to the prime minister and the conservatives, they only look after the richest, not the rest. they are strong against the weak and weak against the strong. labour are determined that the election campaign shouldn't be conducted on the prime minister's terms, so you may have noticed there thatjeremy corbyn did not mention brexit. theresa may, unsurprisingly, did the complete opposite. every vote for him is a vote for a chaotic brexit. every vote for me is a vote to strengthen our hand in negotiating the best dealfor britain. expect to hear a lot more of that over the next six weeks. meanwhile, the snp deputy leader chose to campaign on the issue of the state pension. and accused the prime minister of
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dodging the issue. pensioners right across this land are right to conclude that this tory prime minister plans to ditch the triple lock on the state pension. and the lib dem leader also attacked his party's former coalition colleagues, the conservatives. 20 years ago, she berated the conservative party for being the nasty party, but her party has never been nastier. but he saved some of his most stinging criticism for labour. the legacy of this parliament is the utter, abject failure of her majesty's official opposition to effectively hold her government to account for any of it. this was the longest pmqs on record, lasting the best part of an hour. but politics is about to move away from westminster. it will now be up to the voters to put the politicians on the spot. joining me now from westminster is our political correspondent alex forsyth. a lengthy and very loud, alex, today
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at pmqs? yes, as iain was saying there, you get the sense we are in full campaigning mode. today, this was an opportunity to campaign and what we're seeing from the parties now is them trying to get the debate on their terms, on their territory, where they think they will do well. so for labour, the push this morning was about the nhs, with policies to increase staff wages and abolish tuition fees for some trainee nhs staff, that came up again during prime minister's questions. there was housing and school funding and the conservatives, they're trying to hake this the conservatives, they're trying to ha ke this about the conservatives, they're trying to hake this about the economy. about stability, about strong leadership through brexit. we heard that time and time again from the prime minister and you will continue hearing it for the next six weeks or so. hearing it for the next six weeks or so. tell us what's been happening in the liberal democrat ranks. there is one man hoping to stand who now can't? that's right. david ward, he was a former mp and currently a
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councillor in bradford. he lost his seatin councillor in bradford. he lost his seat in 2015, but prior to that liberal democrat mp had the party whip suspended for making comments that were critical of israel which some said were anti—semitic. he lost his seat in 2015, but was selected by his local party to stand again in this election prompting criticism of the liberal democrats. this morning the liberal democrats. this morning the liberal democrats. this morning the lib dem leader, tim farron said it wasn't for him to get involved. this is what he said. i'm passionate in tackling and fighting anti—semitism, it is something i made a central part of my leadership these last few years. let's be perfectly honest, there are things david ward said in the past were wrong and above all anti—semitic, it is not the job of the leader to impose who is and isn't the candidate, but i will be clear we will have zero tolerance of anti—semitic remarks, we saw this in the action we took against the
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candidate for luton south yesterday, that will happens anybody who oversteps the mark and engages in any anti—isa oversteps the mark and engages in any anti—is a metric commentary in the coming days and weeks. and no one wants to take on debates? we have had a development in the last half an hour, where tim farron sacked david ward saying he was not be standing as a candidate after the issue came up at pmqs, another issue issue came up at pmqs, another issue is whether or not there will be tv debates. theresa may saying that's not something she would take part in. and we have now heard from labour thatjeremy in. and we have now heard from labour that jeremy corbyn won't in. and we have now heard from labour thatjeremy corbyn won't take pa rt labour thatjeremy corbyn won't take part ina labour thatjeremy corbyn won't take part in a debate which just involves the opposition parties. the argument for that is that labour wants to make this a choice between a labour government and a conservative government and a conservative government and a conservative government and they think that they can only do that by appearing on a platform with theresa may which she has refused. 0nce platform with theresa may which she has refused. once again, this issue of the tv debates will they or won't they happen, and what they will look like seems to be pertinent early on in the election cal pain. alex,
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thank you very much. alex forsyth in we will. meanwhile labour has announced plans to scrap the 1% cap on pay increases for nhs staff in england, and to end tuition fees for student nurses and midwives. it will be partly funded through an increase to corporation tax, but the plans won t be fully costed until labour's election manifesto is published. 0ur health editor hugh pym has been looking at labour's plans. marches by student nurses and midwives in protest at plans in england to scrap state funded bursaries. from august nurses and midwives starting training will need to take out student loans, as with other courses. the government argues this will encourage universities to create a lot more places. but ucas figures show university applications were nearly a quarter lower this year in england. labour says, if elected, it will restore the bursaries due to be scrapped in august.
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the party also wants to end the 1% pay cap for health staff. it says its policies will be paid for by reversing corporation tax cuts. labour also plans to get regulators to draw up guidelines on safe staffing in hospitals and then legislate to make hospitals abide by them. we think it's deeply unfair that our nhs staff have had to suffer from a 1% pay cap continually under this conservative government. we're saying we are going to scrap that cap, we're going to give our nhs staff the pay they deserve and we're going to ask the independent public sector pay bodies to look at the evidence again and come forward with a fair package for our nhs staff, because they deserve better than what they're getting under this conservative government. but the conservatives argue that labour's funding plans for the measures didn't stack up. there's always a case for paying nurses more, they work extremely hard. but labour have already promised this money from corporation tax 12 times. they promised it for university tuition fees,
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for the schools budget. and if you don't really have that money, if you then lift that pay cap, what you end up having to do is to employ fewer nurses and that means less safe hospital wards. the liberal democrats said labour was not being honest with the public about the revenue raised to pay for the policies. newcastle united and west ham united football clubs have been raided in an investigation into alleged tax fraud. it is understood newcastle's managing director, lee charnley, is among several men who've been arrested. hmrc said it deployed 180 officers across the uk and france seizing business records, financial records, computers and mobile phones. fiona trott is at st james' park — home to newcastle united football club. just bring us up—to—date with the latest details on this. it is a fast moving story. that's right. this is
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where hmrc officials came this morning. they were seen behind the milburn stand behind me. as we know 110w milburn stand behind me. as we know now the managing director since 2014, lee charnley was arrested. he is being questioned by hmrc officials this afternoon. while that raid was happening here, there was another search at a house about eight miles away. we understand that home belongs to a football club executive. no official statement from the club today about the search at that home, about the arrest this afternoon. fans in the city, real mixed emotions from them today, of course, they saw their beloved club promoted back to the premier league just two days ago, but there are massive investigation, 180 officers, 50 raided west ham's ground earlier this morning. this afternoon, we're learning that chelsea is also part of this investigation. they're
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helping hmrc with their inquiries the no arrests have been made there. we don't know the specific nature of this investigation this afternoon, but of course, it does follow this parliamentary committee at the beginning of the year when it was revealed that 43 players, 12 clubs, eight agents, all the subject of an open inquiry by hmrc following concerns about tax arrangements within the football industry, but certainly here, this afternoon, lee charnley, managing director of newcastle united has been arrested. he is helping hmrc with their investigation into this suspected the £5 million income tax and national insurance fraud. and as far as we know, fiona, did this come out of the blue today? was there anybody at newcastle who was expecting this kind of action? as far as we know, from people we've spoken to here in the city, this
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really was a huge surprise, of course. suddenly, there are about five or six, seven people dressed in hmrc branded clothing walking behind the milburn stand the we don't know halfs the milburn stand the we don't know ha lfs ta ke n the milburn stand the we don't know halfs taken from the ground, but as you mentioned earlier, phones, files, have been seized in england and france as part of this investigation. at that separate search at the house officers were there for sometime. they didn't leave the property until about 11al this morning. fiona thank you very much indeed. surrey police have been strongly criticised for returning a collection of shotguns to a man who went on to kill his partner and her daughter. 82—year—old john lowe shot christine and lucy lee at his puppy farm in farnham in 2014. a report by the independent police complaints commission has found serious failings at the surrey force. here's duncan kennedy.
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the white—haired figure ofjohn lowe moments after he shot dead christine and lucy lee at his puppy farm in surrey. christine, who was a partner, and her daughter lucy were killed with a shotgun. this shotgun. that had been returned tojohn lowe by surrey police. lowe, seen here at the police station, was jailed for life. today the independent police complaints commission said that surrey police had made a series of errors in handing the gun back to him. but there were lessons for all police forces. we found systematic failings for the local force and also we feel there are lessons to be learned nationally for police forces to ensure that their firearms licensing teams are up to the job. it was in march 2013 thatjohn lowe had his shotguns seized by surrey police after allegations that he had made threats to kill. that complaint was later withdrawn. injuly 2013, the shotguns
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and license were returned to him. seven months later christine and lucy lee were shot dead with one of the weapons. stacy banner, the daughter of christine and sister to lucy, said the police had been warned aboutjohn lowe. i told the police how dangerous he was. i told the police that he would kill. and he did. surrey police have admitted mistakes were made in this case. they say the medical records ofjohn lowe were not properly investigated and that a full risk assessment was not carried out before the guns were given back to him. senior officers say they have apologised to the family of christine and lucy lee. do you accept that if those guns had not been returned then christine and lucy lee could still be alive? well, clearly he used those shotguns in a double murder, a horrific case, seven months after they were returned. i do not think we can ever be asked
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to see into the future, but clearly what should happen in this case is a better risk assessment should have been done and those guns should not have been returned. one member of staff from surrey police was sacked over the case, another retired. the deaths of christine and lucy lee have traumatised the family and changed the way guns are now controlled in the uk. we are getting news in about the case of the soldier, corporal trimaan dhillon who was 26, who has been convicted of stalking his ex—girlfriend, breaking into his her flat and cutting her neck open from ear to ear. flat and cutting her neck open from earto ear. so, flat and cutting her neck open from ear to ear. so, we brought you the news that he had been convicted by thejury news that he had been convicted by the jury there at newcastle crown court. he has been sentenced, we're
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hearing to life in prison with a minimum term of 22 years for the murder of his ex—girlfriend, alice ruggles after he stalked her and then cut her throat. yes, the jury of eight women and four men at newcastle crown court took 90 minutes to cold their unanimous verdict. the court heard, as ben said, that dhillon stalked alice for several weeks before she died and had been aggressive, controlling and manipulative towards her throughout their short relationship. 0ur correspondent has been at court for that verdict and the sentencing and we'll speak to her shortly. one line that's emerging on this, northumbria police denied they could have done anymore to stop that soldier killing his ex—girlfriend, despite the fact that she had reported apparently that she was terrified of him. so we'll bring you more on that details and the implications of it as soon as we
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can. the headlines on bbc news: in the last prime minister's questions before the general election theresa may accused jeremy corbyn of not being up to the job of prime minister. but he hit back saying the tories only represented the rich. the managing director of newcastle united, lee charnley, is understood to be among several men arrested in an inquiry by the tax authorities. firefighters in greater manchester are tackling a blaze at the world—renowned christie hospital. the fire started in the cancer research wing earlier today. and in sport: joey barton's football career is seemingly over. the 34—year—old burnley midfielder has been banned for 18 months — after admitting a fa misconduct charge related to betting. reigning world snooker champion mark selby has breezed into the semifinals, after beating marco fu 13—3 including a 143 clearance, the highest break of the tournament so far. british number one johanna konta
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is through to the last 16 of the stuttgart 0pen. after beating herjapanese opponent naomi 0saka in three sets. maria sharapova will make her return in the same tournament a little later on after serving out her 15 month doping ban. i'll be back with more on all of that at 3.30pm. patients at a cancer hospital in manchester have been moved after a huge fire broke out. the blaze started in a lab building at christie hospital this morning. there were fears that gas tanks on a roof could explode. the hospital says all patients and staff are safe, and some units including all patient areas have been evacuated. a 24—hour strike on arriva rail north will go ahead on friday. the rmt union said the industrial action will take place following the failure of talks to resolve an ongoing dispute over the role of guards. it's the third time workers have walked out over the row.
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the us military has begun installing parts of an advanced missile defence system at a site in south korea, amid continuing high tensions with north korea over its missile and nuclear programmes. in washington the entire us senate will get a security briefing on north korea at the white house today in what's a highly unusual move. from south korea, here's stephen evans. just a few miles south of north korea, 2,000 american and south korean troops practise with real ammunition. they attack targets in the hills with fearsome weaponry. a true show of force. and a show of unity between the military of the two nations, all watched from the grandstand by south korean spectators, unfazed by the current war of words between washington and north korea.
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she says, as we see in these drills, kim jong un will know how strong the south korean military is. and i don't think he'd ever dare to attack us. he says, "i'm certainly more worried than before because of president trump's hardline policy. kim jong un is not the type of person to be pushed around." north korea says this is a rehearsal for invasion. china doesn't like them either. it wants the exercises stopped and for north korea to stop testing missiles and nuclear devices. it thinks that kind of moratorium, a quid pro quo, could be the basis for a deal. it's not likely to happen. right in the south of the peninsula, under cover of darkness, the us deployed an anti—missile system called thad, designed to shoot down north korean attacks.
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there were protests. local people fear the system will be targeted. in north korea, there were also war exercises. north korea has thousands of big artillery guns capable of hitting the south korean capital seoul. and the 25 million people who live there. 0ur washington correspondent barbara plett—usher said donald trump's decision to brief senators could be seen as a move to strengthen his days of his presidency. it is unusual especially if you're talking about all the senators, normally it is the other way round, the officials would be going to capitol hill to give this briefing.
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it was president trump's idea to do it this way. perhaps he wants to underline the message that he is serious about north korea. it is true that there is a real concern about the national security threat from north korea. the assessment here is that the north koreans are able to make sophisticated weapons and better missiles and they might be able to hit the united states within a couple of years and that's really focussing minds here and senators will be wanting to know what the trump administration's strategy is. they will be asking a lot of questions. so far the approach has been to increase the pressure and to have tough rhetoric on military options and to increase military presence in the region, but focus on economic and diplomatic pressure and that will be very much the approach in the next couple of days and weeks. especially leaning on china to do more to squeeze north
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korea, china is its main ally and to check out the options of more sanctioning on pyongyang. there has been talk for instance of an oil embargo. burnley midfielderjoey barton has been banned from all football activity for 18 months after admitting a football association charge in relation to betting. an fa statement said, "it was alleged that between 26 march 2006 and 13 may 2016, he placed 1,260 bets on the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, football matches or competitions in breach of fa rule e8." barton has also been fined £30,000 and warned as to his future conduct. he says it is a harsh sanction for an addiction that he sought medical help for. the number of senior bbc managers earning more than £150,000 a year has risen despite assurances that it would fall.
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the national audit office says the total went up from 89 to 98 during the past four years. but overall the number of managers fell from 540 to 319. next week will be the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of madeleine mccann. detectives say they are still pursuing what they describe as a "critical lead" in the case. the little girl was three when she vanished during a family holiday in portugal. her parents kate and gerry say the tenth anniversary is a "horrible marker of stolen time". and they've promised never to give up looking for their daughter. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. ten years, no answers. a desperate search with the media following every step. what happened here? where is madeleine mccann? this is still a missing persons inquiry. despite 2014's extensive police searches in portugal, there is no definitive evidence she is dead. for six years, with government money, the metropolitan police have been reviewing
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everything from scratch. we have a significant line of inquiry which is worth pursuing. and because it's worth pursuing, it could provide an answer. but until we've gone through it, i will not know whether we're going to get there or not. and that's all the police are saying. this investigation was once pursued by up to 30 officers. now there are just four on the case and a handful of leads. but while there is still something to investigate, there is still hope. madeleine's parents have described the ten year anniversary as a horrible marker of stolen time. they've released a statement promising never to give up. there have been many challenges and low points along the way, they said, but the "warmth, encouragement and positivity we have experienced from the quiet majority has undoubtedly sustained us and maintained our faith in human goodness". this is how madeleine might have looked as she has grown up. her 14th birthday is
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the week after next. it is approaching 3.30pm. we will pause and take a look at the weather with matt taylor. good afternoon. the showers most prolific for the past hour or two across the mid—lands and eastern englandment there are particularly lively ones with hail and thunder and sleet and snow mixed in. there area and sleet and snow mixed in. there are a few showers in northern ireland, the odd one dotted around, but most away from the midlands and eastern england. dry with sunny spells. temperatures struggling to get into double figures. tonight though, we turn chul crisis across the south. the frost arriving for some. temperatures lift during the night. this is scotland and northern ireland, cloud and patchy rain. so frost—free here by the end of the
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night. towns and city centres just about frost—free. frosty, but a bright start for the morning commute. it will be the afternoon before it clouds over with rain. the outbreaks on and off in northern england through the day, but brightening up a touch later. a bright afternoon after a cloudy start. scotland and northern ireland with temperatures around 13 celsius. jay wynne has more in half an hour. this is bbc news, the headlines: in the last prime minister's questions before the general election, labour leader jeremy corbyn said the party would stand up for the many and not the few. but the prime minister said every vote for mr corbyn was a vote for a chaotic brexit. labour has announced plans to increase the pay of nhs staff in england, and end tuition fees for student nurses and midwives. the shadow health secretary said
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the policies would help address staffing shortages that had become a threat to patients. and jeremy corbyn says he will not take part in an opposition leaders debate, saying it is in response to theresa may's refusal to participate. west ham and newcastle united football clubs have been raided as part of an investigation into suspected income tax and national insurance fraud. it is understand newcastle's managing director lee charlie is among one of those arrested. time for sport, here is tim haig. we will hang onto every word. he burnley midfielderjoey barton has said an 18 month ban from all aspects of football "effectively forces him into an early retirement. he's admitted an fa misconduct charge related to betting. between march and may last year,
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the 34—year—old placed 1,260 bets on football matches or competitions which is in breach of fa rules. between march and may last year, the 34—year—old placed 1,260 bets on football matches or competitions which is in breach of fa rules. he was also fined £30,000 and warned about his future conduct. a new 2020 cricket competition will start in the summer of 2020. patrick gea rey told start in the summer of 2020. patrick gearey told me it was an historic moment for english cricket. ever since victorian times, the game has been based around counties. now after this vote of 41 ecb members, 38 supported the change to allow
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non—county teams to take part in a new competition which starts in the summer new competition which starts in the summer of 2020. it will be aimed at young people and families, groups the ecb feels it is not currently reaching. county cricket will continue around it, the existing t 20 blast competition will continue. this new competition will rival the likes of the ideal in india and the australian big bash. surrey and england all—rounder is our has announced his retirement saying he had other ambitions he wanted to fulfil. he is only 25 and began playing for surrey at the age of 28. he made his test debut shortly before he got a masters in history. he was exploring another career, potentially in law. johanna konta is through to the last eight of the stuttgart open. she won the first set on a tie—break and then lost the second, but was strong in the
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decider. it was herfirst second, but was strong in the decider. it was her first match since the controversial fed cup tie against romania last week where she was left in tears after being verbally abused by the home team captain ilie nastase. also maria sharapova makes her return to tennis after a 15 month suspension because of doping. herfirst after a 15 month suspension because of doping. her first opponent was not overly pleased about it. she is of course a great player. personally ido of course a great player. personally i do not have nothing against her. she made her mistakes for sure. less, but she paid and if she can return to play, but without any wild card, any help. mark selby is through to the semifinals of the world snooker championship. he is
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the defending champion. he made a break of 143 which steve davis described as the most astonishing he had ever seen. he dominated his match against marco fu winning13—3 with a session to spare. 143 is the highest of the tournament so far and the world number one himself called ita the world number one himself called it a freak break. it was good practice because i was never in position, i kept putting silly balls from nowhere. i ported a black in the middle and read down the rail. at about 200 miles an hour. when i got to the black i was more nervous than in any other part of the match. iam than in any other part of the match. i am really happy to have knocked that final black in and it was a frea ky that final black in and it was a freaky break. ronnie o'sullivan and ding junhui freaky break. ronnie o'sullivan and dingjunhui are freaky break. ronnie o'sullivan and ding junhui are into the final session of their match. the rocket began 10—6 down and is now 11—8 down
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and he looks like he is on course for a 147. ten reds, nine blacks. this will be his tent. a break of 80 already, well on course for a maximum. that is all the spot for now. in the next hour we will tell you whether he gets that or not. lance corporal trim and dylan will be jailed for life because he killed his ex—girlfriend after stalking her and he had been aggressive, controlling and manipulative throughout their relationship. she said she told the police he felt harassed, alarmed and distressed by his behaviour. the details of this case were
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harrowing. , the family described her as a ray of sunshine which touched hundreds of people's lives. the sentence has been handed down in the last few minutes, a minimum of 22 years for lance corporal trimaan dhillon. throughout the trial we heard during their short relationship he had been controlling, manipulative, jealous, all the while cheating on her behind her back. when she found this out she tried to end the relationship that he would not allow it. he stalked her repeatedly, driving all the way from his barracks in edinburgh to her home in gateshead, sometimes late at night. he was stalking her in effect. 0n the 12th of october last year he actually murdered alice in her own home. he
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was found guilty of breaking into her flat and slitting her throat six times. thejudge described it as her flat and slitting her throat six times. the judge described it as an act of utter barbarism. he said alice must have been in extreme pain and terror threat those final moments. the investigation has been referred to the ipcc? that is right. alice did actually report lance corporal trimaan dhillon to the northumbria police here after he turned up at her house on several occasions. he ignored warnings not to get in touch with her. she was asked on one occasion what she wa nted asked on one occasion what she wanted done about it, whether she felt she wanted to get him in prison. some of the family state m e nts prison. some of the family statements referred to the fact she was such a nice person that she did not want to get him into trouble and did not understand the serious risk he posed to her. they carried out an internal investigation and the results are once more with the ipcc. the suzy lamplugh trust have said
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they do not think alice should have been asked what they thought she should do and it was the responsibility of the police. mps have criticised the system for providing school places in england describing it as "incoherent" and "poor value for money". the public accounts committee is concerned that free schools are sometimes opened in areas without a shortage of places, and where other schools are struggling to make ends meet. here's our education correspondent, gillian hargreaves. ministers believe free schools are key to meeting demand for more school places and they plan to open 500 by 2020. they are state funded, but independently run by charities or groups of parents. the public accounts committee says that while free schools are needed in some areas in england, in others, they're creating as much as 20% spare capacity and wasting public money. there is an ageing stock of buildings and at the same time the government is rushing to fund new free schools, but it's not putting them in good buildings.
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often they are old office buildings, long—standing temporary accommodation, buildings without playgrounds, buildings without sports facilities. we don't think this is a long—term, sustainable approach to the future education of our children. the mps' investigation builds on a national audit office report in february which highlighted how billions were being spent on free schools while existing school buildings were old and deteriorating. this new report notes that last year the dfe provided £4.5 billion to maintain and improve schools, but it still faces significant challenges over the next few years as buildings continue to deteriorate. the department for education says free schools are popular with parents and provide excellent value for money. an annual survey of people treated in accident and emergency units after being assaulted suggests there's been a significant fall in violence across england and wales. 188,000 people
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attended a&e in 2016 — 10 % down on the previous year. but the results are at odds with police statistics which show an increase in violent crime. as our home affairs correspondent danny shaw reports. across the police, there's huge concern about levels of violent crime. in some areas like london, stabbings and shootings are on the increase. while the most recent set of figures for england and wales showed an overall rise in violence of 22%. but a survey of casualty units and clinics, which treat victims of violence, paints a very different picture. it suggests that fewer people are suffering violent assaults. according to the survey, 188,000 people attended hospital last yearfor injuries caused by violence. that's10% down on the figure for 2015. and is the lowest number since the survey began, 15 years ago, figures sharply at odds with the police statistics. for all kinds of reasons, police records are an unreliable measure of violence.
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the most accurate way of measuring violence is either through the crime survey for england and wales or the a&e injury statistics. the only age category which registered an increase in violent injury cases was of children aged under 11. but researchers say that may be a blip because of the small sample size in that grouping. danny shaw, bbc news. extremely small particles of pollution have the potential to evade the long's filter system and end up deep in the body according to a study by scientists in edinburgh. the particles could then build up in blood vessels and raise the risk of heart disease. the study was led by doctor mark miller at the university of edinburgh and hejoins us now
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from edinburgh. thank you for being with us. how did you make this discovery? we have known for a long time that their pollution has striking effect on the cardiovascular system and we suspected particles in the air could get into blood, but we have never shown this conclusively. in this study we used particles about the same size of those from diesel exhausts and we tracked them in the body and we showed they got into the blood and they accumulate at sites of disease. if these particles do get to sites of disease this is where they could have severe health effects. so tiny particles of gold. why was gold your method? ideally we would do this on particles that were in the environment made of carbon, but it is difficult to track carbon in the body. so gold is about the same size as a nano particle from diesel exhaust. it is harmless for
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exposure and you can track it in very low concentrations around the body. what are the implications about what you have discovered is among the idea that these nano particles could build up in blood vessels and raise the risk of heart disease? we have known for a while that nano particles in the air have a wide range of detrimental effects on the cardiovascular system, it is just the biology is not known. understanding the biology gives us extra information that can tell is potentially about what is the most susceptible and which pollutants are the worst off and it will give you an idea of which interventions might be more successful to reduce pollution. that is what you have worked out. in terms of policy and how governments or authorities could make a difference, what would be the implications? something needs to be done quite quickly. it has been known for many decades that
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pollution is bad for you, but only over the last few years has it gained attention. things need to happen more quickly than they are happening now. reduction of emissions from vehicles should be at the forefront of any policies to encourage people and to provide incentives for people to have cleaner vehicles or to use alternative fuel sources. is it mainly pollution from vehicles we are talking about here? yes, there are talking about here? yes, there a re lots of are talking about here? yes, there are lots of different sources of air pollution and many of them will be harmful. but what we showed were on the effects of the heart and the blood vessels and this is what kills people from air pollution and it does appear it is the very smallest particles, the nano particles, that are having especially bad effects on the cardiovascular system. the biggest source of these is from vehicles. thank you so much, doctor mark millerfrom the vehicles. thank you so much, doctor mark miller from the university of edinburgh. patients at a cancer hospital
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in manchester have been moved after a huge fire broke out. the blaze started in a lab building at christie hospital this morning. there were fears that gas tanks on a roof could explode. the hospital says all patients and staff are safe and some units, including all patient areas, have been evacuated. live now to our correspondentjudith moritz for the latest in manchester. we are told five patients were being prepped for various procedures here when the fire broke out. they were moved so their treatment could continue and the smoke from the building which cops fire spread to other areas so patients were moved. but the fire is continuing and the hospital is continuing to run pretty much as normal, though some patients have been moved around the site. the incident commander for greater manchester is jim incident commander for greater manchester isjim hutton and he is here now. bring us up to date and tell us how things are looking.
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smoke is still billowing. we have had a severe fire here, we have been working very hard with firefighters to bring it under control. it is contained, it is not extinguished, but we are working very hard to resolve it so it has less impact on the hospital. the hospital has asked me to remind patients that it is still open to business. we are working as hard as we can to resolve the incident as quickly as possible, but there will be a fire service presence in the area for a minimum of 24 hours. we would ask people to check social media and news channels to remind themselves of the latest update on the incident at the hospital. give us an idea of how severe the damage has been. the fire is contained within the park rib area where the machinery and the air conditioning units are in the
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building. there is a considerable amount of damage to it and it may impact the hospital moving forward. but they have got business continuity plans and we are working with them to make sure the impact is minimal on the patients. what were your concerns coming in to fight the fire? gas on site and that kind of thing? we have isolated as many houses as possible and one of our biggest concerns was about moving the patients. but because of the close cooperation and working, none of the patients have had to be moved away from the immediate area and that has been a successful partnership working. any idea as to the cause? no, we have a fire investigation team on site that will be working with the witnesses to understand what caused the fire. the incident commander here. they are still fighting the fire. smoke is billowing out from here. the flames
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seem billowing out from here. the flames seem to have died down, but there was concern about the smoke spreading which led to some of the pages on site being moved. but they are open for business as usual and anybody coming here for treatment should continue to turn up here. judith mauritz with the latest from the christie hospital. we will have the christie hospital. we will have the latest business news in a moment. first, the headlines. theresa may has accused jeremy corbyn of not being up to the job of being prime minister. jeremy corbyn said the tories only represented the rich. jeremy corbyn will not take pa rt rich. jeremy corbyn will not take part in an opposition leaders brahma debate ahead of the election. that comes debate ahead of the election. that co m es after debate ahead of the election. that comes after theresa may also ruled it out and say she preferred to get out and meet voters. west ham and newcastle united football out and meet voters. west ham and newcastle u nited football clu bs out and meet voters. west ham and newcastle united football clubs have been raided into an investigation of
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alleged tax fraud. it is understood newcastle's managing director lee charnley is among several people who have been arrested. now time for the business news. ba rclays' boss, jes staley, has said access to talented workers after brexit is "tremendously importa nt" for the uk's financial sector. he suggested that immigration, rather than trade, would be the biggest issue for the city of london after the uk leaves the european union. credit suisse says it plans to raise 4 billion swiss francs, that's just over £3 billion from shareholders. swiss banks are under pressure from regulators to boost capital to protect them from financial shocks. the bank raised about 6 billion francs from shareholders back in 2015 and is in the middle of cutting 5,500 jobs. the number of people using twitter has risen and the firm's losses narrowed in the first three months of this year. the number of people that actively use the platform has risen by 14%. however, money made from advertising fell by almost 8%
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from a year earlier. are we heading towards a cashless society? more than a third of europeans and americans would be happy to go without cash and rely on electronic forms of payment if they could, and at least 20% already pretty much do so. will notes and coins become obselete in the future? ian bright, senior economist, ing joins us now. countries in europe and the us are not using cash as much, they go towards electronic payments. is that surprising or is it something we can expect? it has been developing for a long period of time. the information we have in terms of payments from the ecb show that payments by cars, co nta ctless, the ecb show that payments by cars, contactless, credit or debit cards,
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and interbank transfers, paying your bills to electricity companies are even two friends and family to internet banking payments and from mobile phone payments, these payments have been increasing for a long period of time. the movement towards using less cash has been something which has been going on for a long period of time. what our survey tends to show is that people are tending to accept that they can actually get through in their day—to—day lives with less cash than they have done previously. 0ne day—to—day lives with less cash than they have done previously. one in five people say they carry little cash at all. one in three are prepared to say if they had the choice, they would be prepared to go com pletely choice, they would be prepared to go completely without cash. is it a generational issue? are older people more reluctant? there is an element of that, but in the report we did not find a really big difference
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like 80% of older people saying no they would not do it. the differences were smaller than we expected. there is a generational difference, but it is not massively different. why would that be? part of the reason is the cashless payment systems largely work and the advantages of convenience and security are such that even older generations that grew up with cash are prepared to give it a try and see that it actually works. we must leave it there. thank you. thank you. in other business news: a takeover bid for the isle of wight festival is being investigated. the bidder, a company called live nation, became a majority shareholder in march. so, the competition and markets authority is investigating whether the takeover would lead to less competition in that market. it's asked live nation and the festival to operate separately until it's agreed any merger. annual pre—tax profits at online fashion site boohoo have almost doubled to £31 million,
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up from just under £16 million last year. sales havejumped by 51% because of foreign buyers. its share price has more than trebled in the past year to £2 billion. and uber has unveiled plans to partner with plane manufacturers to develop and test a network of flying cars by 2020. uber said it will run trials in the us city of dallas and in dubai. the markets are fairly flat, in the green, some of the joys of the french presidential election is filtering out a little. a lot of a nalysts filtering out a little. a lot of analysts have said that people are overconfident about those results. in the us people are waiting for a big announcement from donald trump on tax reforms and he wants to slash
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corporation tax and cut the highest rate of tax to 25%. we will be back in an hour. we're famous for being a nation of keen gardeners but there are warnings that our immaculate green lawns could become a thing of the past because of climate change. the royal horticultural society says drier summers and more frequent days of "extreme rainfall" in the winter could also threaten gardens with new plant pests and diseases. climate change is having a massive impact on our planet and on so many aspects of our daily lives. gardens act as a good measure of what's happening. and now research by the royal horticultural society says the pace of change has been rapid and will continue, creating a north—south divide in ourflora and fauna. we found as you might expect that
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under climate change, the temperature will be getting warmer both in summer and winter. most interestingly, it has found a greater variability in the climate, so there will be more downpours both in the summer and winter, and in the summer there will be more heatwaves, more frequent droughts and more intense droughts. already, there are plants surviving today that 20 years ago would have been killed off by winter frosts. the rhs says there are pros and cons for gardeners. there will be more work to do, weeding, mowing and pruning. there will be a greater variety of plants living across the uk, but there will also be more pests, especially things like slugs, thriving in the warm, wet winters. you get several very wet days, and then you just get one sunny day, and then you're back to rain again. certainly, you can tell there's less rain each year.
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so you put different plants in to compensate for it. horticulturalists say the way we plan our planting and gardens will also need to change in the future. really, you want to look for plants that are going to be quite tough, quite resilient. here, we have this lovely solomon's seal or polygonatum. that prefers a much more moist soil, but equally is quite resilient, so it will cope with a bit of sun. equally, we then have this lovely black lily turf. this is great because it has got these root nodules. this enables it to store water and nutrients and make it able to cope with drier, tougher conditions. and here at the rhs gardens at wisley, a centrepiece sculpture that seems more pertinent today in these changing times and climes than ever before. john maguire, bbc news, surrey.
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so, how is the weather for gardeners? is there any rain on the way? it has been a lively day—to—day because we have seen a whole lot of showers, although not everywhere. this was taken in cornwall not that long ago. but further east we have seen some long ago. but further east we have seen some much long ago. but further east we have seen some much more long ago. but further east we have seen some much more threatening looking cloud and it has produced rain, hail, sleetand looking cloud and it has produced rain, hail, sleet and snow and it is coming in with this cold, northerly airstream. it is quite chilly out there. the cold air will not stick around for too much longer. we will see milder air heading our way in the next few days. in the meantime, it is still pretty cold out there. they tend to fade away and the skies clear overnight and in the southern pa rt clear overnight and in the southern part of the uk the frost develops.
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further north the frost will not develop because of the wind. gardeners, be aware of that. but the frost should not last too long because it will lift and the sun comes out. it is cold, but at least it is not too windy. in northern england we have got that cloud and patchy rain and it will be cloudy in northern ireland and much of scotland. a few breaks here and there. the rain is not heavy. a bit more of a breeze as you head into the northern part of the uk. that breeze will push this cloud southwards. after the bright start in the south, a lot more cloud in the afternoon and patchy rain develops as well. things should brighten up in southern parts of scotland. temperatures get up to 12 or 13 scotland. temperatures get up to 12 or13 in scotland. temperatures get up to 12 or 13 in glasgow. 11 or 12 for
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cardiff and london. the rain turns heavy for a time across england and it drifts southwards. that will clear away to the near continent by friday. friday looks like a reasonable day for most places. most places will be dry and bright. eight or9 places will be dry and bright. eight or 9 degrees for the north sea coast, but inland 13 or 14. into the weekend and low pressure will develop in the south west and the wind will come in from the south, bringing that milder air with it. a bit of a breeze develops, bringing the milder air with it. the rain could spread its way northwards and eastwards. quite a bit going on over the next few days. keep up to date online. this is bbc news. i'm ben brown.
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the headlines at 4pm: there are angry exchanges in the commons as theresa may accuses jeremy corbyn of not being up to the job of prime minister. but he has hit back saying the tories only represented the rich. the election on 8thjune is a choice between a conservative... yes, between a conservative government for the few and a labour government that will stand up for all of our people. the choice is clear — every vote for him is a vote for a chaotic brexit. every vote for me is a vote to strengthen our hand in negotiating the best deal for britain. labour pledges a pay increase for nhs staff and no tuition fees
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