tonight at ten: new figures show crime is up in england and wales by the largest annual increase in a decade. violent crime and sexual assaults have risen, while the long term decline in theft has been reversed. jamel boyce was stabbed last year. he's now in a vegetative state, his family left counting the cost of the rise in knife attacks. every day i go to see him — it's like going to a funeral. that's not jamel, that's not how i know him. so it tears me up. it rips me it up every day i see him. recorded violent crime is up 18 %, as home office figures show police numbers are at their lowest in more than 30 years. also tonight: after four days of brexit talks, there are still fundamental disagreements over citizens‘ rights between the uk and europe. ajoint us and european police operation shuts down two of the biggest illegal market places on the dark web. a third of dementia cases could be prevented, if more of us looked

after the health of our brain throughout our lives. he was one of the greatest surrealist painters. now salvador dali's body has been exhumed in a paternity case. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news: we'll have all the latest from the open golf. and it's a third gold medal for hannah cockroft at the world para athletics championships. good evening. the drop in crime over the last twenty years may be at an end. compiling reliable figures is complex, but there's been a big increase in recorded crime in england and wales. the number of offences rose by 10% in the year to march — the largest annual rise in a decade. violent offences increased by 18%

and there was also more robbery and car crime. domestic burglary cases were up by 6%. part of the increase can be explained by better recording of crime, but as our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports, government experts are convinced now the overall trend is on the rise. jamel boyce, who in the few minutes of a frenzied knife attack in south london last october was left in hospital blinded and with permanent brain damage. a victim of what appears to be rising violence in england and wales, particularly in our cities. i see him every day. it's like every day i go to see him it's like i'm going to a funeral. that's not jamel, that is not how i knowjamel, it's not how i want to rememberjamel. it tears me up, it rips me up, every day i see him. another stabbing in manchester in january. today's18% increase in violence is based on the crimes actually recorded by police.

it's sometimes been an unreliable measure, but all the same, government statisticians think the fall in crime of recent years may be on the turn, even if the headline figure is possibly too high. a large part of that volume increase, in violence especially, is due to improved recording, rather than a genuine rise in crime. having said that there are some categories of violence at the more serious end of the spectrum, like murder, attempted murder, knife crime and gun crime, where we think the rises are genuine and reflect an uptick in violent crime. ministers concede there have been increases in some crimes, but don't agree that it could be because of austerity or because the number of police officers is at its lowest level since 1985. i absolutely refuse to accept that there are economic reasons underpinning this. when it comes to funding, which i know people are concerned about, the facts are these — we are investing around £8.5 billion worth of public money, taxpayers‘ money,

into policing this year. for more than two decades crime has basically been falling, but now police forces are having to face the real possibility that certain crimes are on the rise again. and that includes burglary of people's homes. up here in east london, up 6% across england and wales. so what are officers doing about it? the first thing is we tackle those who we know are causing the most harm. that's our prolific burglars. the second thing is around our crime prevention piece, so we would encourage people to do the basics around crime prevention. so things like locking doors and windows at night is so important. crime figures aren't easy to interpret. a separate official survey of people's personal experiences still suggests crime overall is falling, but that survey tends to react slowly when trends change.

daniel, how much can we rely on these figures? i think the office for national statistics thinks they are now reliable. normally, if you we re are now reliable. normally, if you were looking at these long—term trends committee would tend to look at the giant opinion poll known as the crime survey of england and were. that gives you a good idea about how crime is changing over five or ten years, but is in very good at reacting at the moment the trend is actually stopped going down and maybe start going up. that's why the statisticians are looking at the recorded crime figures, recorded by police forces, and although those have changed a lot in recent years and police are desperately trying to record more crimes that are reported to them, there is a sense amongst the statisticians when they peel away or wash peel away all of that they are seeing real rises in crime, particularly in violent crime. are

there any overarching reasons as to why there's been a rising crime? criminologists have spent whole career is trying to work out what causes crime. there are social factors, people feeling disenfranchised, economic factors, people feeling they don't stake in society, things like drugs and frankly, fashions among young people. what makes this so political as it was the prime minister theresa may who was home secretary, presided over these big cuts in police numbers. it's the current home secretary amber rudd who has gone on seeing the numbers falling to this moment we have today where we have the lowest numbers since 1985. that's allowed the opposition parties and police federation, which represents rank—and—file members, to say it's no coincidence that you have the lowest police numbers in 30 yea rs have the lowest police numbers in 30 years and the biggest increases in crime in ten years. it's easy for them to say that it's very difficult for the government to say it's not true. daniel, thank you, daniel sa ndford true. daniel, thank you, daniel sandford at the home office. after four days of brexit talks, the eu has asked the government to clarify in more detail exactly what it wants from the process.

europe's chief negotiator, michel barnier, says there are still "fundamental" disagreements about citizens‘ rights. the brexit secretary david davis described this week‘s talks as robust, and insisted there was a lot to be positive about. our europe editor katya adler examines how much progress is being made. europe‘s odd couple — negotiating brexit together, at opposite ends of the table. their goals — one for the uk, the other favouring the eu — are dramatically different. they agree a brexit deal is possible, but after week two of negotiations, acknowledged it will be tough. the uk should clarify... one... clarification. ..two... clarification. ..three, the eu‘s visibly exasperated chief brexit negotiator called a total of eight times here in english and french for clarification of the uk‘s brexit vision. without that, he said, negotiations couldn‘t progress. david davis was more sanguine.

clearly there‘s a lot left to talk about and further work before we can resolve this. ultimately getting to a solution will require flexibility from both sides. what about concessions from the eu side? where will the eu show some give, perhaps as a trust—making exercise — isn‘t there any wiggle room? translation: negotiations have only just started. of course there are compromises to be made, but it‘s too early to talk about them. we‘re not there yet. week two of brexit talks have now ended with no major breakthrough on some of the thorniest issues. the uk‘s so—called brexit bill, and the rights of eu citizens in the uk, and british expats in the eu. key sticking points there — the uk wants to check the criminal record of all eu citizens wanting to stay, while the eu says uk expats would lose the right to move to other eu countries. there has been some modest progress.

this is a joint eu—uk paper on citizens‘ rights, colour—coded to show areas of agreement and disagreement. not every negotiating session can end in harmony, but the uk is under time pressure to move on from divorce issues like this to talk of the future with the eu, our biggest trading partner. the uk‘s trade secretary was in geneva today, to talk about global opportunities, but he admitted an inbetween stage may be needed after brexit to ease the uk into its new future. it won‘t happen overnight. frankly, i‘ve been waiting to leave the european union for a very long time. another two years, say, wouldn‘t be too much to ask. brussels is still hearing all sorts of voices in britain‘s brexit debate. the eu waits impatiently for that clarity while there‘s still time to negotiate. katya adler, bbc news, brussels. one of the key sticking points

in the brexit negotiations is the size of the so—called divorce bill that the european union wants the uk to pay upon leaving. some eu leaders have indicated they believe the cost of the uk‘s outstanding commitments could be as high as £88 billion, and they say talks on any new trade deal cannot begin until the sum is agreed. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins is here to take a look at some of the issues. no nation state has ever left the european union before, so think of this as the first divorce in history. how on earth do you calculate a possible bill to be paid? the british government did seem to concede last week that there would be debts to settle but then boris johnson, the foreign secretary, said brussels should "go whistle" for the money. the sums that i have seen that they propose to demand from this country seems to me to be extortionate and i think go whistle is an entirely

appropriate expression. i'm not hearing any whistling. just the clock ticking. so how much does the eu want? the eu‘s chief negotiator has never publicly put a number on the uk‘s exit bill, but unofficial estimates have ranged widely from £18 billion to about £88 billion or 100 billion euros. so how could that break down? what does the eu suggest the uk‘s obligations are? well, the largest could be for improving eu road, rail and other transport links which the uk committed to paying its share of. and what about pensions for eu staff, particularly those who are british? what share of that and other long—term obligations will the uk be expected to pay? this is not a complete list and all of it will be vigorously disputed from both sides of the negotiating table. if the british side is tough, expect at least equal toughness on the eu side, this is about money, after all. there are other sticking points of course, particularly over the rights of eu citizens in the uk, and uk nationals living in the eu.

there is still a huge gulf over any post—brexit role for the european court ofjustice. neither side minimises that divide. let‘s take a look at the timeline for the next divorce negotiations. three rounds of brexit talks are scheduled for august, september and october. then in late october, at a summit in brussels, eu leaders will assess progress. the eu side says it‘s only after theyjudge enough progress has been made that they will then allow formal discussion to begin on britain‘s post—brexit relations with the eu, including, crucially, trade. the reality in all of this is there is no precedent to rely on so expect little or no clarity until everything is finally settled, assuming that‘s even possible. james robbins there. our europe editor katya adler is in brussels. david davis says there‘s lots to be

positive about after the talks. michel barnier is a bit more cautious. where does the truth lie, do you think? we have to take a deep breath and realise we‘re just at the beginning of this process, so we can‘t expect too many huge leaps. we also have to think that we‘ve moved quite fast in the last 12 months in the end. think about emotional response of the brexit vote in the uk, but also here in the eu. both sides are sitting down and working through things, issue by issue, since the last few weeks from now. that‘s because both sides have realised they need a deal and they wa nt realised they need a deal and they want a deal. of course there are going to be bumps in the road. some of them smaller, like we heard today, that uk citizens who remain in the eu won‘t be able to move from country to country, transferring their rights, but this isn‘t seen as a make or break issue. much more difficult is the role of the european court of justice. difficult is the role of the european court ofjustice. the eu insists that when it comes to eu

citizens‘ rights in the uk after brexit it still has to solve disputes in the british government says no way. it‘s hard to see how they‘re going to get around that one. normally in divorce as it‘s left to the lawyers and when it comes to trade agreement is the detail is left to technocrats, but brexit is a highly politicised issue both in the uk and the eu and that is what is making this a lot more complex. katya adler live in brussels. two of the largest market places, in a hidden area of the internet known as the dark web, have been shut down. the alphabay and hansa sites had been associated with the trade in drugs, weapons, counterfeit goods and stolen data. the operation to shut them down involved police in america and europe. angus crawford has the story. hidden, illegal and hugely profitable, hansa and alphabay, from drugs to guns, credit cards to counterfeit goods. now closed permanently, thanks to operation bearnet.

good morning, this is the largest, dark market web—based take—down in world history. announced in washington to celebrate the work of police in the us and in europe for shutting down 40,000 illegal sellers. this is two of the top three marketplaces. we‘ve taken out the infrastructure supporting the trading of 350,000 different types of illegal drugs and other illicit commodities, so this is a big impact. dark websites cannot be found on google, but only by using a specialist search engine. messages are encrypted and anonymous, payments by virtual currency like bitcoin, almost untraceable. buyers log on, choose a product and have it delivered to their door. tonight, more than 30 sites are still operating. 40,000 vendors put out of business.

it is a huge result for law enforcement, but buyers will always find new suppliers. it has taken me about 20 seconds to register on this dark web market. it is now offering me anything from cannabis, to speed, to cocaine. for computer experts that is just the nature of these markets. other sites will come along to take its place, but it will take a while for them to become established. it is an issue of trust, many of these sites abscond with their customers‘ funds after a few months and therefore it takes a while before people trust them. the fbi calls it the most sophisticated criminal marketplace on the internet. and we have been here before. in 2013, police broke into silk road, the first and most notorious. it made its creator, ross albrecht, a multimillionaire, but he is now serving a life sentence with no hope of parole. more vendors and users may soon be following him to prison.

as part of the day‘s operation, dutch police took over and ran hansa for a month. 10,000 customers expecting a delivery may instead get a knock on the door. angus crawford, bbc news. new research suggests one in three cases of dementia could be prevented if more of us looked after the health of our brain throughout life. an international study lists nine key risk factors, including a lack of education, smoking and physical inactivity. the scientists also say people with hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia. our medical correspondent fergus walsh has more details. these runners aren‘tjust improving their fitness, they‘re reducing their risk of developing dementia. i joined the serpentine running club in hyde park. their motivation is as much mental as physical. for me, it‘s mindful,

it‘s relief for stress, and itjust helps me be more resilient during the day. it makes me more connected, i think, emotionally. it also makes me, actually, just more alert. ijust think it must be benefiting my long—term health. the main risk factor for dementia is old age, butjust as with cancer and heart disease, we can all significantly reduce our chances of developing it. that means thinking about our brain health throughout our lives, keeping our minds and bodies active. what‘s good for your heart is good for your head. there‘s really strong evidence that there is an associational link between heart disease and risk factors for heart disease and diabetes as well, are clearly associated with dementia later in life. she speaks spanish. learning a new language can help build what‘s called cognitive reserve, strengthening the brain‘s networks. so it can still function in later

life despite damage. a new study says a third of dementia cases could potentially be prevented if nine risk factors were addressed. they are — lack of education, hearing loss, smoking, depression, social isolation, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes. alcohol and diet may also play a role. eve laird is part of a study in edinburgh which is trying to identify changes in the brain that may be an early warning sign of dementia many years before symptoms emerge. her mother has alzheimer‘s, so this is personal. she got it when she was 58. i‘m now 44, and i think that only leaves me a few years to really enjoy life. so many traits i see in myself, similarities between myself and my mother, that it would be no

big surprise if i was diagnosed later on in life as having dementia. what we are looking at here is the mri scan itself. it looks completely healthy. there‘s nothing we can do to guarantee a life free from dementia, but this research shows we can increase our chances of a healthy old age. fergus walsh, bbc news. the government‘s been accused of betraying rail passengers, by scrapping plans to electrify major rail lines in wales, the midlands and the lake district. the department of transport, says replacing diesel engines with new bi—mode trains that use overhead power lines or diesel offer a better deal for taxpayers. sir vince cable has been confirmed as the new leader of the liberal democrats. he was the only candidate to put themselves forward to succeed tim farron and at 7a he‘ll be the oldest leader in the party‘s history. here‘s our political correspondent

vicki young and her report contains some flash photography. and our liberal democrat leader, vince cable. most would be relaxing into retirement at the age of 7a, but not sir vince cable. he is still burning with ambition and fighting for britain to stay in the european union. what we now need is an exit from brexit. we must consult the british public at the end of the process to put to them the choice, do you wish to accept what is coming down the track, jumping off a cliff and hoping there was a tree to catch you? or do we want to stay within the european union? but wasn‘t that pro—european message rejected by voters at the election? sir vince thinks there is a mood for change. there is quite a high possibility i think that brexit will not happen. what will emerge over the next two years i suspect is a significant deterioration in the economy and i am very clear that the public

did not vote to be poor. so i think when you add all that together, you see a picture which is very different from the one which we fought in the general election. the liberal democrats are the fourth largest party at westminster, but sir vince cable says politics is so volatile that it is impossible to predict what might happen in the next few months, let alone the next few years. he says no one should rule out a lib dem breakthrough. but is he the man to make that happen? sir vince does have a higher profile than his predecessor tim farron. his passion for dancing led to this christmas tv appearance, but he will need more than fancy footwork now. friends highlight his experience. he seemed to enjoy his brief stint as interim leader ten years ago. the house has noticed the prime minister‘s remarkable transformation in the last few weeks from stalin to mr bean. and he was one of the few

politicians to predict the financial crisis. although naturally closer to the labour party, sir vince accepted the role of business secretary during the conservative—lib dem coalition. vince cable says british politics is badly lacking common sense and moderation. that is what he is promising to provide. vicky young, bbc news, westminster. the former american football star and actor oj simpson is to be released from prison this autumn after serving nine years of a 33—year sentence for armed robbery. mr simpson told the court he had done his time. james cook is in los angeles for us now. just fill us in on the background to all of this. yes, that is right, oj simpson was jailed nine years ago for raiding a hotel room in las vegas to try to read gain some

sporting memorabilia from his illustrious career which he claimed was his. today he appeared from the lovelock correctional centre in the desert of nevada by video link which brought to mind as it was carried across the united states on tv, his sensational trial and even more sensational trial and even more sensational acquittal in 1995 for the murders of his ex—wife nicole simpson and her friend the murders of his ex—wife nicole simpson and herfriend ron goldman. today that was the elephant in the court room, it was not mentioned explicitly, as the parole board officers said oj simpson had been a model prisoner and he had behaved himself in prison, adhering to the rules and posed a low risk of offending. on that basis they decided he was eligible for parole. oj simpson was emotional at that moment and said thank you, thank you, thank you, and clasped his hands together and could be released as early as the 3rd of october.

the lead singer of the band linkin park, chester bennington, has died at the age of 41 in a suspected suicide. formed in 1996, linkin park have sold more than 70 million albums worldwide and won two grammy awards. the band had a string of hits including faintand in the end. there‘s a three—way tie for the lead at the end of the first day of the 146th open championship at royal birkdale. some of the world‘s best golfers are competing for the famous claretjug, but no—one from britain or northern ireland has ever won the trophy on the course. already the weather has played a big part in the fortune of the players as andy swiss reports. good morning, ladies and gentlemen. welcome to the open at royal birkdale. a warm welcome for the fans, but not exactly for the players. a brisk breeze meant testing conditions for the early starters and for most the leaderboard made grim reading. among them birkdale‘s hometown hero tommy fleetwood. as golf‘s star of 2017 was blown off course,

no amount of local knowledge can help you there. his problems, though, were soon dwarfed by rory mcilroy‘s, five bogeys in the first six holes. he seemed a shadow of his world—beating best. but from the depths he somehow clawed it back, a show of battling brilliance. still six behind but still fighting. hopes for a first english winner in 25 years were led by paul casey, just one off the lead, while ian poulter is close behind. he has struggled with form and fitness recently, you would scarcely have guessed it. but in the afternoon sun it was the american challenge that blossomed. jordan spieth, brooks koepka and matt kuchar sharing the lead. and prize for shot of the day? that has to go to charley hoffman at the very first hole. a touch of beginner‘s luck perhaps. if only golf was always that simple.

a day then of mixed conditions and mixed fortunes and with unsettled weather forecast this open test could get even tougher. andy swiss, bbc news, royal birkdale. it was enough to test even the strongest of marriages as the duke and duchess of cambridge found themselves pitted against each other in a rowing race in germany. they were coxing rival boats in the city of heidlelberg, the latest stop on their european tour. after some words of advice from their team mates, william got off to a good start and ultimately proved too strong for kate with his boat winning by almost a length. it was then his honour to celebrate the occasion by cracking open a barrel of beer at the finish line. within the last couple of hours, the exhumation has begun of the body of one of the most celebrated artistic figures of the twentieth century, salvador dali. the highly unusual process was ordered by a court in madrid following claims by a tarot card reader that the surrealist painter was her father.

our arts editor will gompertz is at dali‘s theatre museum in figueres where he was buried in 1989. this is the salvador dali theatre museum, a popular visitor attraction on the north—east coast of spain, and tonight the site for a highly controversial exhumation. underneath this blank stone slab in the middle of the theatre‘s glass—domed atrium, unbeknownst to most, lies salvador dali, the local artist who became a global superstar. it was his wish to be buried beneath the stage in his dali world museum, where he has lain in peace after his death in 1989. but tonight he is being exhumed on the instructions of a judge, in order to settle a paternity claim being made by pilar abel, a tarot card reader from a nearby town who says she is his love child. translation: we have the testimony of the person who worked

in a supermarket and delivered products to salvador dali. dali paid this person to let him know what pilar‘s mother was doing. there are more testimonies, but this one has been notarised. behind me is the house that salvador dali created with his wife, gala, and it is along this piece of coastline that pilar abel says her mother antonia met the famous spanish artist in the mid—1950s and started a clandestine affair. salvador dali was embalmed before he was buried by this man, who says tonight‘s excavation will be laborious. translation: there are three parts to the process, the first is the technical one which is the lifting of the slab which weighs 1.5 tonnes. the second is the extraction of samples from the body of salvador, probably from his teeth and bones. the third part is the laboratory tests esxtracting dna from the samples taken.

if the dna sample confirms pilar abel‘s claim to be dali‘s daughter, she could be entitled to one quarter of his estate which is reported to be worth at least £300 million. that is a lot of money and i am standing in front of the museum where the forensic team have been working for the last few hours. i am hearing they are reasonably close to finishing. there has been a media blackout, it is top secret. only those who have to be there either there. they have even put a tent over the area so the drone cannot fly over and take pictures. we will maybe find out in september the