applause thank you, now we move into open debate, i invite all members who wish to speak today to press thereof we st wish to speak today to press thereof west to speak buttons now and i call oi'i west to speak buttons now and i call on ruth davison to open. —— press their request to speak buttons now. i set out some of my own priorities la st i set out some of my own priorities last week for the parliamentary year ahead in edinburgh, i began by pointing out the next week marks the 20th anniversary of the devolution referendum of 1997. it sometimes feel as if we have spent time trying to prove him right. i hope that, as we mark 20 years of devolution, we now move on to a wider debate about political substance as well. to that end, i and my colleagues are

committed to challenging the government and scrutinising its decisions but also to proposing our own alternative way forward in what i hope will be a spirit of respectful debate. that is with a clearaim — to respectful debate. that is with a clear aim — to use the powers of this parliament to make a difference to the lives of the people who live here. or at least that's the plan. so in response to the first minister, please let me begin by seeking out what common ground exists and to find out what i can welcome in her speech today. given how much the snp‘s poached from the conservative manifestos over recent months, i'm tempted to suggest their programme for government should be called something borrowed, something blue. today i'm happy to welcome the government's proposalfor an education reform bill, that's because the principle of reform has been consistently put forward by the scottish conservatives these last five years. however, support for the detail of that bill will limited because there's growing concern that

farfrom because there's growing concern that far from delivering real independence, the government is attempting to centralise control with its governance reforms and that would be unacceptable. to borrow from the snp‘s dictionary for a moment, while we support reform, we'll not support a school's power grab from this scottish government. i'm general lynley pleased to see the inclusion of frank's law in today's programme. it's absolutely a policy whose time has come. scots who need care shouldn't be divided by an arbitrary line of anal. i pay tribute to amanda patel who has campaigned on this for years with amazing dignity and strength. i say to the first minister if she wishes to the first minister if she wishes to expedite this so we can get it working as soon as possible, i believe she'll have the chamber‘s support and she'll certainly have mine. i'm pleased to say the campaignfora new mine. i'm pleased to say the campaign for a new offence drug—driving will be brought forward by douglas ross. 0n the issue of

public sector pay, the scottish conservatives supported the government, both here and across the rest of the uk in choosing pay restrict for public sector workers, instead of redundancies, as they sought to stabilise the economy following the financial crash. having righted the ship, it's time to revisit that restraint. depending on which part of the public sector the scots work in, their salaries can be set by holyrood or westminster. although we await timing, it's right to revisit pay and restraint today. on homelessness, we urge the government to commit to a new national homelessness strategy for scotland, all parties are committed to that. it's an important and necessary step which will allow us to turn the page on the past and make sure we no longer label consensual behaviour between same—sex people a crime.

we are also entitled to be sceptical. we had 12 months where it's fair to say that delivery‘s not been top most of this government's list of priorities. today the first minister comes to the chamber with 16 bills. minister comes to the chamber with i6 bills. last year she came here with 15 and only got through four. the public are entitled to ask, if today's i6 the public are entitled to ask, if today's 16 are in front or behind last yea r‘s leftovers today's 16 are in front or behind last year's leftovers in today's 16 are in front or behind last yea r‘s leftovers in the today's 16 are in front or behind last year's leftovers in the queue. there are also areas where the scottish conservatives will not offer their support. areas where we'll fight every step of the way because the snp government's simply got it wrong. they've brought forward a programme to raise taxes and keep robbers out of the jail. presiding officer, nicola sturgeon has played down in her speech sentences of 12 months or less. but let me tell you right now, l7% less. but let me tell you right now, 17% of less. but let me tell you right now, l7% of all offenders done for attempted murder or serious assault received a sentence of less than 12 months. more than a quarter of all sex offenders are given jail terms

of less tha n sex offenders are given jail terms of less than 12 months. we see the needin of less than 12 months. we see the need in many areas for criminals to be taken off the streets and we see that nowhere greater than in domestic violence and abuse cases where keeping an offender in the home environment means others can never break free. i would remind the first minister, domestic abuse takes many forms, financial psychological and intimidation, as well as physical. she's linked the bills and we'll fight to ensure the option of jail is there, otherwise the snp‘s soft touch scotland just got a whole lot softer. ona lot softer. on a citizens basic income scheme, we'd be concerned if we thought that anything would ever come of it beyond trying to write the headline and the bone she's growing to the green party. when her commit extends only "to working with interested local authorities to fund research into its concept and feasibility", we are sleeping pretty easy on the conservative benches tonight. now it's clear from the first minister's words today that the snp has

realised that the absence of domestic legislative activity over the last year was a mistake and it's now trying to change tack. for all the warm words however i'm afraid to say the evidence suggests the snp still hasn't got the message. on brexit, the first minister is right that new powers will come to this place after we leave the european union and we will support that process. but the first minister must recognise that the country has had enough of constitutional squabbling. brexit must not be used as another opportunity to retreat to their comfort zone of talking process. instead of the first minister wanting to find consensus on this matter, it must approach the matter pragmatically. we can'tjust talk about where powers lie. all of us talk about where powers lie. all of us need to start talking about what to do with the powers that we have. just look at the huge channels we face in scotland and the ones that have come to light since we last met. a survey of more than 3,000 nurses found half believe patient

ca re nurses found half believe patient care is being compromised because of insufficient staffing. scotland concluded the government's failed to provide adequate staffing for the nhs in the long—term and today, the isd scotland report shows record vacancies for consultants and midwives. there are the equivalent of 3200 posts unfilled. figured showed the number of drug deaths in scotla nd showed the number of drug deaths in scotland rose by 23%. the scottish parliament's education scotland rose by 23%. the scottish pa rliament‘s education committee's warned there is a real risk of increasing shortages of head teachers in the future. as i said last year, the entry is bulging and we last year, the entry is bulging and we need action. it's clear — if it's going to reearn the trust and respect of the people of scotland, we respect of the people of scotland, we also need a new approach from the scottish government. one that shun thompson overpromising and underdelivering of the past compounded by trying to cover us all up compounded by trying to cover us all up when facts emerge. i'll give way. i'm grateful. i wonder if she could

tell the chamber if she thinks the vacancies in the national health service will be helped or hindered... problem with sound. what would they say a year or two yea rs what would they say a year or two years ago, five years when labour, when us, when the liberal democrats and the green party brought workforce planning to this chamber. they said nothing. absolutely nothing. but let's have a look again at the record over the summer. this time last year, the snp government's big announcement was a new £500 million scottish growth deal. yet last week we scottish growth deal. yet last week we learnt the new deal‘s yet to provide a single penny to any scottish firm and we asked why the delay. last year the snp staged

major announcements where gps were told the government was committed to increasing the proportion of nhs funding going into primary care, but over the summer, gp leaders have warned this cast iron promise was now warned this cast iron promise was now being watered down. grand promises but in reality less than some promises but in reality less than some of their parts. people want a government prepared to face up to the issues, but too often we have had a government which has tried to hide them away. a government which tones down a report criticising cuts tones down a report criticising cuts to further education. one which urges all if scotland to water down its warnings about the future of the nhs which doesn't confront its failings but is more concerned with trying to fool people into not noticing. for the tenth year on a trot it's promising jam tomorrow. a government which complains about the leaves it doesn't have but seems terrified of the once under its control. as the main opposition party we'll seek to push the scottish government to a bolder path

by ourselves pushing for change. last week i set out initial ideas focussing specifically on ways to help solve scotland's housing crisis. nobody in this chamber i believe can be satisfied with the current situation where young people find themselves shut out of the housing market until their mid 30s. for a new generation no longer believes that they'll match the living standards of their parents. so we must act. if you speak to people in the sector, they are utterly frustrated by the drift and delay they've seen from this government on planning. drift which is deterring investment and sending it to manchester or liverpool or birmingham or glasgow or ahher dene. 250,000 homes a year must be —— 25,000 homes in scotland must be built a year. we need to address the current state of housing in scotland. that is why we'll continue to push the scottish government to use its growing capital budget to make sure no—one has to live in a hard—to—heat home. a transformation

investment in home officialcy would bea investment in home officialcy would be a win—win for scotland, creating jobs, reducing carbon emissions, improving health and helping householders with energy bills. that is why in government we'd introduce a new target to ensure that every home is energy efficiency rated c or bby home is energy efficiency rated c or b by the end of the next year and the end of the next decade and as opposition we'll write the measures into the bill that the snp brings forward. on the nhs, tomorrow we'll unveil the advisory panel made up of practitioners and health professionals, it willjessica chapman inhow best we sustain the health service and its traditions for the long—term. there is i think plenty of consensus in the chamber that we need to face up to challenges in the nhs and we want to play our part in that. on education, we'll press the scottish government to press real power down to school featu rers to press real power down to school featurers and head teachers because they know their school best. we'll set out fresh ways to ensure there are enough teachers in schools. we'll report back soon with a full review of the curriculum for

excellence. the warnings made by professor lynsey paterson at the weekend cannot be dismissed out of the hand as the snp government's sought to do. the urgent priority must be to address or decline literacy and numeracy standards and we literacy and numeracy standards and we need teachers with more flexibility for routes into teaching. we need root and branch reform of agencies. we'll support prison reforms that will focus on rehabilitation. we need to give judges the tools to punish the worst criminals by backing whole life sentences. we must act here to listen to the concerns of rural scotla nd listen to the concerns of rural scotland to reflect the concerns of people who too often feel left out of scotland's public debate. we have had enough of hearing about who is to blame for a lack of rural broadband. people just want to see both governments get on and sort it out. on the economy, we'll seek to lead a debate here in this place on the need to put growth first. the time for endless theoretical bebait with the state of our economy and a future constitutional position is

over. we need to focus on the pressing issue of how we grow the scottish economy now, how we increase productivity and train and retrain our people for the jobs of today and the jobs of tomorrow. the new financial powers here mean scotla nd new financial powers here mean scotland needs to raise closer to what it spends. we'll continue to argue this year that dragging scotla nd argue this year that dragging scotland down with ever more punitive taxes is not the right way. the first minister is opening the door on greater tax rises today and we door on greater tax rises today and we say stop taking ever more money from the pockets of scotland's workers. we must instead owe for growth. the scottish government's own growth. the scottish government's own review of business rates last month urged ministers to rethink their tax rises. if even their own report is critical of their policy, surely it's time to listen and the snp bluntly needs to decide what it believes in. it's gummed up the market. on the air passenger duty, it's recognised the benefit of taxing competitively. on issues like atp, we'll seek to work with the snp

to deliver something that could be of huge benefit to scotland. we only wish shaved show consistency. we are hearing that they'll march left wards this year and i would urge the first minister to remember other people too, the small firms, employers and taxpayers of scotland. on that note, the scottish government's announced a business development back. i welcome the focus on providing finance for capital investment and i won't be ideological about it. it would be remiss of me to avoid that pointing out that yet again we have been here before with the establishment of new banks. the scottish government announced the scottish business bank as far back as 2013. it was dropped before the first programme for government towards the end of 2014. since then it's not only been made a few times but the plan's changed from the setting up of the dedicated bank to being part of the existing

scottish investment bank. and guess what, it still doesn't operate. over promised and underdelivered is a theme with this government. now, given the parliamentary arithmetic of this place, i don't seek to downplay the that. we all await the courting ritual of the winter months, though it may be that mr harvey will find competition as a suitor from mr harvey will find competition as a suitorfrom mr rennie. sometimes i can muster sympathy for if first minister, but what all parties will be looking for from all sides of the chamber is a sign of change because, if this government is to earn back the trust and respect of the people of scotla nd the trust and respect of the people of scotland which it has squandered in the last year, it must change and fast. it must show it understands the difference between a genuine complaint and the politics of grievance. it must accept responsibility for all its record in scotla nd responsibility for all its record in scotland and fix the mistakes that it's made. it must be frank about the huge challenges that scotland

faces and not seek as its first response to bury bad news and pretend it doesn't exist. given what we know, we'll await to see whether today's warm words with backed up by action before making a judgment. the government should know this — after this last year, it's on bra baition with the people of scotla nd bra baition with the people of scotland —— probation. it's time to change tack and time to deliver. thank you. applause. thank you very much. i call alex roley. thank you, presiding officer. can i ta ke thank you, presiding officer. can i take this opportunity to welcome eve ryo ne take this opportunity to welcome everyone back to parliament and can i also take this opportunity to congratulate all who were involved in the construction and design of the queens ferry crossing, the magnificent new bridge linking the wonderful kingdom of fife to the lothians. it was good to be at the

hoping and i hope more people will enjoy the delight of fife by using it. i also want to congratulate all the workers involved in building the aircraft carriers. the hms prince of wales will have its naming ceremony in row scythe this friday and i say well done to everyone that was involved. the first minister in her speech today has announced an extensive programme for her government and she'll be looking for support across this chamber. i want to be clear that labour will not pause for the sake of opposing and we'll work constructively with the government to decide what is in the best interests of the people of scotland to do so. equally, i hope the government for its part will be more open. she's listened to us and

agreed to lift the public sector pay cut. this is to be welcomed —— pay cap. the national investment bank is also good news. this was part of labour's general election manifesto. u nfortu nately, however, labour's general election manifesto. unfortunately, however, without a labour government in westminster, it won't harm the £20 billion of lending to get it started. we very much welcome the announcement. it's important to say who is put charge of what will be a vital part of scotland's vital economic structure. however it seems in other areas of government, they were close to the ideas and experiences. carrying on with the poor education governments

reforms, criticised by all in the sector, is... let us remind ourselves of the fa cts . let us remind ourselves of the facts. fewer teachers came to power under the snp, one thousand fewer support staff than when the snp went to power. class sizes bigger than when the snp came to power. spending per pupil across all ages is down. if pupils spend had remained the same as the 2010—11 levels, primary schools would be 726 million pounds better off in secondary schools would be £308 million better off. i cannot see how what is proposed

today addresses any of this. indeed it seems to me it's a classic avoidance technique when in doubt restructure. it did not work for police scotland, fire and rescue, it did not work for colleges and it will not work for our schools. presiding officer, i have used much of this summer recess to meet and listen to people and listen to what they have to say. the teachers i spoke to over the summer told me about the impact of the cuts in schools and in classrooms. work loads that they have been completely run off their feet. crass sizes that are far, fartoo run off their feet. crass sizes that are far, far too large. the need for more teaching assessments in their classrooms. they told me... —— class sizes. studio: that is alex rowley. first

appearance since kezia dugdale stood down. following nicola sturgeon's statement, outlining her programme for government, saying an education bill will deliver radical change in the running of schools, new petrol and diesel cars will be phased out in scotland by 2032. 1% cap on public sector pay rises will be lifted. we'll fully implement frank's law. scottish conservative leader ruth davidson said for the tenth year on the trot the snp are promising jam tomorrow. let's go to lorna gordon who is listening to that. any rabbits pulled out tfl the hat —— out of the hat? that. any rabbits pulled out tfl the hat -- out of the hat? felt to me like a pick ‘n' mix programme, the snp attempting to have something for eve ryo ne snp attempting to have something for everyone in what nicola sturgeon announced today in the chamber of the scottish parliament. behind me there is an awful lot of detail to pick. i thought the announcement on

electric cars was interesting. she was saying how there was a hope to phase out all the petrol and diesel ca rs phase out all the petrol and diesel cars eight years ahead of the uk government, an ambition to make scotland's longest road the a 9 close to 300 miles long running up the spine of scotland an electric highway. headline—grabbing interesting policies but the nitty—gritty stuff is to do with education, the proposals to hand more powers to head teachers, their proposals and criminaljustice, a presumption against short—term sentencing and of course, as you say, frank's law, personal care for those who need it who're under 65 yea rs of those who need it who're under 65 years of age free of cost. the snp say they'll support what they feel is fit but already criticising some of the proposals, not least in the area of education. ruth davidson, the leader of the conservatives saying, she has concern that the proposals will centralise, rather than deliver independence to schools. alex rowley, the interim

leader of labour saying the education reforms proposed are purely and poor dogmatic policies on the part of the snp. lorna, thank you very much. back to you later. our correspondent eleanor garnier is at westminster. rather a lot going onthank isn't there? it's the first day of term for mps and you can probably hear it's a bit loud because they are all catching up after their summer holidays, finding out what they've all been up to and of course talking about brexit. that is going to be what they are talking about in the commons this afternoon and later on this week too with david davis giving an update, reporting back after those tense talks last week. we heard michel barnier, the eu chief negotiator

saying progress hadn't been made and that the clock was ticking, that phrase he likes to use quite a lot. on the other hand, i think david davis and the government will say actually these talks are very technical and very important and lots of those techie details actually they did make progress over. actually they did make progress over. he'll be making a reassuring tone in the commons this afternoon. of course, for the prime minister, a difficult couple of months? that is right. on thursday we are going to start debating the eu withdrawal bill. that is the legislation that will transpose all of the eu laws that affect us and there'll be a few days of debate on that. we won't get any big bust—ups at that stage, it's further down the line when mps start putting down amendments that tory mpsi putting down amendments that tory mps i think are threatening to give theresa may a bit of trouble because, alongside labour and the snp and the liberal democrats, that's when theresa may's i thinky

wincy majority is going to give her lots and lots of trouble —— incy—wincy. that is when she could face defeats. thank you very much. four serving members of the army have been arrested on suspicion of belonging to a banned far—right group and planning terrorist offences. the men aged between 22 and 32 were arrested this morning in england and wales in an operation involving the police and the army. earlier i spoke to our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani and i asked him how the operations to arrest the men unfolded. it started with the west midlands counter—terrorism unit, one of the largest in the country, working with collea g u es largest in the country, working with colleagues in wales and the east midlands. they've obviously been trying to investigate this group, national action, which was banned last year. the four arrests, three are men in their 20s, so they were

arrested in birmingham, ipswich and northampton, the fourth man who is 32, he's arrested in powys, we are not quite sure where but we know it's certainly in powys. addresses have been searched. then we discovered that these men were all serving members of the army and the ministry of defence has confirmed that they are serving in the armed forces and it's been providing support to the police during this operation. we have no information about where the men were arrested, whether it was on ministry of defence property, such as at a base or whether it's at home addresses, we are or whether it's at home addresses, we are trying to clarify that at the moment. all the men now are being held in birmingham and are being held in birmingham and are being held on suspicion of two charges, suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism and suspicion of being members of national action which has been banned since last year. that latter allegation, if proven in court, could lead to up to ten years in prison. what happens next? the police have 14 days to hold the men,

orup to 14 police have 14 days to hold the men, or up to 14 days and then they have to either charge or release them. i think what is interesting about this is that to arrest four people in relation to a banned neo—nat digroup is quite unusual. usually we are talking about islamist extremist groups such as al—muhajioun group, in this case four members. the group was banned after some of its members applauded the murder ofjo cox mp and the group's staged a number of confrontational, albeit small, but confrontational, albeit small, but confrontational and belligerent rallies across the uk, waving nazi flags, giving the hitler salute, that kind of activity and effectively calling for violence. that was enough to push it over the threshold to be banned under terrorism legislation. since that's happened, a number of the counter—terrorism units around the country have been increasing their focus on national action trying to work out what it's up to and to arrest four people in one go on submission of being members is quite

a significant chip in their activity. more on that later. here is chris with the weather. we are looking at hurricane irma, the strongest atlantic hurricane for ten years. here it is and it's heading at the moment for antigua. the winds gusting to 210mph. it's going to be a damaging, devastating storm for this part of the caribbean working into the british virgin islands as well. here today, it's a day of patchy rain, cloud for england and wales, feeling humid. scotla nd england and wales, feeling humid. scotland and northern ireland seeing brighter weather. overnight, the humidity eases away. clear spells overnight. it will be a fresher night compared with recent nights and we'll have lost the mist and fog that we have seen overnight. overnight lows 11 or 12. tomorrow, a

decent day. most starting off on a fine note. fair weather cloud bubbling up throughout the day. a few showers for the north and west of scotland, perhaps sneaking into cumbria as we head through the day. well scattered for most. highs between 15 and 20. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at 3.30pm: four serving members of the army have been arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism. the men, aged between 22 and 32, are alleged to belong to the banned neo—nazi group, national action. a serious case review finds social workers missed signs of danger before the toddler was murdered by her own mother. the russian leader, vladimir putin, has warned that "military hysteria" over north korea could lead to a global catastrophe. mr putin also dismissed america's call to impose further sanctions on pyongyang, saying the country's leadership would rather "eat grass" than abandon its nuclear programme. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has been outlining her legislative programme at holyrood.

she has confirmed that the 1% cap on public sector pay rises in scotland will be scrapped next year. the duke and duchess of cambridge have been awarded 100,000 euros in damages by a french court after a magazine printed topless pictures of the duchess five years ago. the court ruled the images were an invasion of their privacy. it's time for the sport. olly foster is armed with his tablet ready for the sport. the world heavyweight champion anthonyjoshua has confirmed that his next fight will be in cardiff at the principality stadium on october 28th against the bulgarian kubrat pulev. joshua holds three belts and pulev is the mandatory ibf challenger. joshua last fight was the unification spectacular bout against vladimir klitchko at wembley stadium. the ukrainian has since retired ruling out a rematch. the 36—year—old pulev has only lost one of his 26 pro—fights and that was to klitcshko

two years ago. greetings, fight fans — i hope you are all well. on 28th october, i will be defending my ibf, wba, ipo title. my opponent is game. he is ready, and it has been a long time coming. i can't wait to get back in the ring. joshua says all three belts are on the line, but it mayjust be but it mayjust be the ibf by fight—night that's at stake. the wba and the lesser regarded ibo may take those titles out of the equation because he isn't facing their challengers. there were world cup qualifying wins last night for northern ireland and scotland. england stayed top of their group by beating slovakia but fifa are awaiting the match officials report from wembley after dele alli appeared to make an obscene hand gesture at the referee. the tottenham forward insists that it was directed towards his teammate kyle walker as they shared a joke. i have not seen, but i've

been made aware of it. they were mucking about and dele gestured towards kyle. so i don't know what's visible on the picture and what the angle of the picture is, but the pair of them have a strange way of communicating, but that is what they have said when it was raised. i have not seen it myself. wales will be looking to preserve the home nations 100% record over the international break. they beat austria 1—0 in cardiff on saturday, they're in kishinau for tonight's match against group d's bottom side moldova. gareth bale and his team—mates are two points behind the republic of ireland in second spot and four adrift of leaders serbia. but they play each other tonight so it's a chance for wales to make up some ground. we have got four finals to keep our hopes alive. if we win all four we have a great chance of being top, if not we get into the play—offs.

yes, one down, three to go. this is still important. we'll be going into the match prepared very well, very confident, and we know they will make it difficult for us but we will be giving everything to get those three points and put ourselves in an even better position. the jockey davy russell has been given a four—day ban after punching a horse on the back of her head before a race in ireland last month. he was originally given a caution, but an appeals body of the turf club decided that was unduly lenient. he had argued that he wanted "the horse to concentrate". otis gibson expects james anderson to continue playing international cricket beyond the ashes series. england's leading wicket taker goes into the test at lords. three wickets shy of 500 in tests. he turned 35 this summer. he's sixth in

the all—time list of test wicket takers. he is only playing one format of the game. he is only playing test match cricket. if you say to him, look, i want you to get yourself fit to play ten games of cricket a year then i'm sure that's something he would snatch your hand of for that situation. like i said, he enjoys going back to lancashire as well and contributing there. he just loves the game, you know. i think whilst he's still fit and strong and so on, i think he will wa nt to strong and so on, i think he will want to continue for as long as he can. it's the first quarter—finals at the usa open, starting later this afternoon — much later on, the big match of the day sees venus williams against petra kvitova in the women's quarter—finals. you can catch up with all

the latest on the tennis pages at the bbc sport website. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. ayeeshia jayne smith was only 21 months old when she was murdered by her mother. a serious case review has found that social workers weren't focussed enough and care professionals allowed concern for the toddler's mother to overshadow the child's needs. kathryn smith was jailed for at least 19 years, for stamping on her daughter at her home in burton—on—trent in staffordshire in 2014. phil mackie reports. the smiling face of ayeeshia—jayne smith, or aj, as a family called her. only 21 months old, she was murdered by her mother during a savage outburst. my daughter is not breathing... this was the 999 call kathryn smith made after stamping on her daughter so hard that the child's heart was literally broken. she's not breathing. can you hear anything coming from her mouth? no, there's nothing. she's gone. smith is serving a 19

year prison sentence for murder. her partner matthew rigby three and a half years for allowing the death of a child. even during their trial it was clear social workers and medics might have missed opportunities to spot the abuse. today's serious case review identified 17 different agencies involved in aj's care and made the recommendations. social workers showed a lack of professional curiosity and were too quick to believe kathryn smith's lies and it tragically reveals there was a growing sense of unease and that a meeting was held to discuss aj. it happened the day before she died. i just want to recognise that ayeeshia—jayne's death was an absolute tragedy. it's been devastating for everybody involved in her care. but mostly for her family. i have already met with her family and we accept all the findings.

i accept all the findings of this review. and for those errors of practice which should have been stronger, i have apologised to the family and i am truly sorry that on this occasion we were not... we did not prevent death. medics who treated her at the queens hospital in burton also missed signs of abuse. thinking she had suffered a fit brought on by a childhood fever, known as afebrile contusion. known as afebrile convulsion. we had two instances where he definitely didn't exhibit enough professional curiosity and ayeeshia—jayne's attendance. it turns out it wasn't afebrile convulsion. we didn't to family situation as much as we should have done and didn't ask enough questions. the report highlights some other problems including an intervention

by the child's natural father who was ignored when he raised concerns. since her death social workers have been issued with new guidance. but it was too late for what was described as a loving and lively toddler. the russian president vladimir putin has warned of a "global catastrophe" if military tensions with north korea continue to increase. he was speaking after south korea's navy staged a major exercise off the country's east coast as a show of strength following pyongyang's latest nuclear test. our correspondent, robin brant, reports from the south korean capital. for the second day running, south korea has been displaying its military might. this time it was the navy, in what was described as a massive live firing exercise off the eastern coast. to show how this country could defend itself or attack. there's no doubt the military is stepping up its readiness.

the ministry of defence said the us had agreed to sell south korea more weapons. that was after approval was given yesterday to restore the us missile yesterday to install the us missile defence system here known as thaad. but all this could lead to a global catastrophe according to the russian president. he said tougher sanctions wouldn't work either. translation: the use of sanctions of any kind in this case is already useless and inefficient. as i told my colleagues yesterday, they will eat grass, but they will not give up this programme if they do not feel safe. but further sanctions with the threat of military action is exactly what the americans told the united nations is the answer. his abusive use of missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. war is never something the united states wants. we don't want it now. but our country's patience is not unlimited. the recent self—defensive measures by my country, dprk,

are a gift package to none other than the us. the us will receive more gift packages from my country as long as it relies on reckless provocations and futile attempts to put pressure on the dprk. this is north korea's border with china, where further sanctions would bite. but beijing is reluctant to cause any further waves yet. you could forgive people heading home here in seoul this evening for perhaps feeling a little bit confused. on the one hand they have seen images of their military preparing maybe for a confrontation. and yet they have a president here who has talked instead about a new round of economic sanctions. and now russia, not far to the north, has stepped in and labelled those useless and may be ineffective. as the volume around the chance

of conflict increases, there was this injapan. a silent protest in hiroshima. a place where they know what nuclear devastation looks like. china's role in handling pyongyang is complex — it has made clear it does not want to see a nuclear—armed north korea but neither does it want to see the regime there swept away — partly because millions of refugees would flood into china. our china correspondent john sudworth is in dangdong, on the border between china and north korea. the chinese city of dangdong is a very good place to contemplate china's position in the north korean nuclear crisis. if we pan across the river you can see just how close the two countries are at this point. they are connected by that iron bridge behind me and almost all of north korea's trade in goods, as well as its vital crude oil supply, flows across this border. you can see an antiquated north korean power station on the other side there. a sign ofjust how dilapidated

its energy infrastructure is. donald trump's argument, of course, is that china could, if it wanted to, simply force north korea into submission by turning off this lifeline, but when you look at this proximity, you can see why the chinese leadership see things very differently indeed. their fear is that pushing north korea towards regime collapse will bring chaos and instability, factional infighting, possibly even war, right up against this border, and that is why beijing is insisting that it will not contemplate a total trade embargo. it will not contemplate talk of military options. all it wants to see is a return to dialogue and that has been its position all along. president trump has said that he would allow japan and south korea to buy more us military equipment.

he tweeted, "i am allowing japan and south korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the united states. a report commissioned by bell pot ingathered found they spread misleading information. the company's misleading information. the compa ny‘s chief executive misleading information. the company's chief executive resigned over company's chief executive resigned over the weekend and says it accepts that lessons need to be learnt. post apartheid south africa was meant to be the rainbow nation. but over 25 yea rs, be the rainbow nation. but over 25 years, one family has acquired a degree of power and influence that critics say is anything, but democratic. the three gupa brothers own a democratic. the three gupa brothers own a conglomerate. with a reputation to salvage they gave the

british pr firm bell pottinger a call. they ran a campaign for the guptas‘. call. they ran a campaign for the guptas'. all the journalists who we re guptas'. all the journalists who were writing about state capture or we re were writing about state capture or were interested in this new crony network, really you could see almost daily there would be these largely driven on twitter and social media, insulting images. and only now do you understand that it was actually a constructed campaign. the scandal claimed the scalp of several staff at the firm including one of the partners and the ceo. now the trade body that represents britain's pr industry has chucked bell pottinger out. it is the harshest penalty. it was the worst piece of pr work that i have seen in ten years. the pr

industry is a professional one. bell pottinger is neither of those. last nightan pottinger is neither of those. last night an adviser said the company was finished. i think it is probably getting near the end. you can try and rescue it, but it won't be very successful. this scandal has sent shock waves through the british pr agency and through the democracy of south africa. the prca is a trade body rather than a regulator and when some rich individuals or families are prepared to spend huge sums to protect their reputation well some pr firms will take the money. and a ticking off and temporary ban from a trade association isn't going to change that. but for opponents of president zuma this is not about the state of pr as the state of south africa. one family's grip on power is tightening, even as the reputation of their pr advisers is now in the gutter. an inquest has opened and adjourned

into those killed in a minibus crash. the identities of those who died were confirmed. the government has taken control of croydon's children's services. it blamed weak management of the south london borough at all levels for failing to ensure social workers followed protocols for missing children and those at risk of sexual abuse. croydon connell says it is working with ofsted to implement changes. a man swept to sea off cornwall yesterday afternoon has died. he was one of two men who were washed off rocks while fishing near padstow. a search for a second man has been stood down.

thousands of people are continuing to escape from myanmar. a minority group is being targeted and it forced tens of thousands to flee over forced tens of thousands to flee over the border that's according to the un refugee agency. our correspondent is at a refugee camp near the border. these are the latest batch of refugees who arrived into bangladesh from myanmar. lots of children as you can see. a lot of women. of children as you can see. a lot of women. they have been walking for days. they're exhausted because whatever food they had to eat along the way has run out. some are dehydrated, but the biggest thing is they have made to relative safety. on that side is myanmar‘s state where over the past few days we have seen where over the past few days we have seen fresh fires break out a p pa re ntly seen fresh fires break out apparently from burning villages, there is no way to verify this and

these people are fleeing for their lives. they will head to any kind of temporary shelter they can find by the side of a hill, inside a building, just to get a bit of protection. it's starting to rain. the biggest thing now is even though they have got to safety, what will happen to 7 7 editnextsubtitle they have got to safety, what will happen to ? ? editnextsubtitle? they have got to safety, what will happen to ? ?editnextsubtitle? they have to be fed and eventually they need to find some place to live, some need to find some place to live, some place to build their lives again. last year 29 sperm whales became stranded on the beaches. it puzzled scientists because they were healthy. now scientists think they might have been the victims of large solar storms. matt mcgrath explains. crowds gathered on the coast of norfolk in february 2016 to see this ocean giant washed up on a popular tourist beach. around the north sea, more than two dozen other sperm

whales were found stranded in the first two months of last year. scientists were extremely puzzled. the creatures were young, healthy and disease—free. now it is thought the northern lights may have played a role in the losses. the aurora are the visible evidence of large solar storms which distorted the earth's magnetic field. this can cause species like sperm whales to lose their way. after big solar storms in december 2015 scientists say the confused creatures swam into the shallow north sea and beached themselves trying to find a way out. researchers at london zoo autopsied a number of whales stranded on british shores. it is a possible factor that we have the whales that got into the north sea for no known reason got into the north sea for no known reason and once they are in there, they can't find their way out and become so disorientated and dehydrated and stranded. that's what

happened in last year's events. why they ended up there? we will probably never know there is too much uncertainty in terms of where they came from and we will never really know what caused last year's events. researchers at london zoo and a team at nasa are investigating the impact of solar activities on the impact of solar activities on the strandings of species around the world. there is a stewedy during the next month. it might shed some light on the role of solar storms on species. researchers are investigating whether a trip to the seaside can help people with depression or loneliness. graham satchell explains. we are off the coast of falmouth.

suzy and ian live with anxiety and depression. there is something very special about being on the water. it's such a calming place. you can leave whatever troubles you've got behind. and you can escape. there are behind. and you can escape. there u behind. and you can escape. there are group sessions on board and eve ryo ne are group sessions on board and everyone works as part of the crew, but the charity says the sea itself has a therapeutic quality. there is something going on it is hard to define, but it is something to do with space. something to do with challenge. power. ian started feeling depressed and withdrawn after retiring from the fire service. there is something eternal about the sea, isn't there? about water. i'm so lucky to be living in cornwall and to have a pension and to be able to do this, you know. what about people who don't live near the coast? a team of researchers from the university of

exeter, a 360 virtual reality camera and a dronement they are trying to ca ptu re and a dronement they are trying to capture the power of the coast for people who can't get there themselves. accessing and having exposure to natural spaces can be beneficial in terms of combatting depression. we are trying to bring that blue space in for people who can't access it themselves. in our project it is for people living in ca re project it is for people living in care homes who can't get outside so easily. nicky's project is part of much larger european research into so—called blue health. will it work? bring it over your glasses. pop the earphones down. it's on my nose. that's great. nicky is trying out her videos on a group of volunteers. 0h, her videos on a group of volunteers. oh, that's amazing. it's beautiful. some of the pictures are calm and relaxing. one could definitely fall

asleep. others more interactive, stimulating. that's coming behind me! laughter well, i thought it was a really interesting experience. it's not something i've done before. it feels like you're there. where did you come from? anything, i think, connected with sea or rivers, water, it takes away some of the day—to—day drudgery of life. what we wanted to do was test whether the environments really were relaxing and stimulating and today we found out that the way that people reacted to them was the way we hoped they would so we will be taking the videos forward now into our care homes project. nicky will ta ke our care homes project. nicky will take her head sets into care homes next year, to bring blue health to those who can't access it themselves. some breaking news. we'rejust

hearing from newcastle crown court that 35—year—old mohamed azram has been sentenced to 12—and—a—half yea rs has been sentenced to 12—and—a—half years for sexual exploitation and drug offences. we are hearing from our correspondent fiona trott who was in court. so 35 mohamed azram jailed for 125—and—a—half years. a 44—year—old has been sentenced to 29 yea rs 44—year—old has been sentenced to 29 years for 44—year—old has been sentenced to 29 yea rs for offences 44—year—old has been sentenced to 29 years for offences including rape, conspiracy to insight prostitution and a separate drugs conspiracy. they are among 18 people convicted as part of investigations into

sexual exploitation. the judge sentencing the rest of those convicted through the course of this week. so the first sentences are beginning to come through. fiona trott is in court and we will be hearing more from newcastle crown court later this afternoon. we are still waiting to hear from david davis, the brexit secretary, he will update the house of commons on the latest on the brexit talks. now the weather. chris fawkes has the forecast. it was a murky and humid start to the day, but beautiful weather watcher picture sent to us from shropshire. the rain band has been pushing eastwards. most of the rain has been light and patchy over recent hours. we have got the brighter skies working in scotland and northern ireland. perfect ingredients for making a few

rainbows. heading through to the evening, we will keep a lot of cloud across england and wales and it's humid outside. temperatures into the low 20s, but feeling warm and close. fresher conditions with the sunshine across northern ireland and scotland, but overnight, the fresher conditions sweep in as that band of rain clears away from eastern counties of england and it will start to feel cooler and fresher. more pleasant overnight with temperatures around 11 or 12 celsius. a few showers across the north—west particularly north—west scotla nd north—west particularly north—west scotland where it will be windy. wednesday looks something like this. a flat ridge of high pressure will bring us a mainly dry day. plenty of sunshine to start off the day, but a bit of fair—weather cloud will bubble up. the cloud could be thick enough to bring passing showers across the north—west of scotland where it will remain windy. temperatures down on recent days and feeling fresher. 15 to 20 celsius. now the wednesday fine, quiet day of weather is brought to us by that area of high pressure there. that's moving away. through thursday, and friday and into the weekend, we have

this area of high pressure sat over the british isles and that's going to be bringing some windy conditions with rain or showers in the forecast through thursday, friday, and into the weekend. it will feel cool at times in the north—west. temperatures in glasgow around 14 on thursday and friday. this is the latest though on hurricane irma. it isa latest though on hurricane irma. it is a category 5 hurricane with the winds gusting to 210mph. it is the strongest atlantic winds gusting to 210mph. it is the strongest atla ntic hurricane winds gusting to 210mph. it is the strongest atlantic hurricane for ten yea rs strongest atlantic hurricane for ten years and it will make a direct hit around about antigua in 12 hours' time. so that's in the early hours of wednesday morning local time. as well as the damaging and devastating wind gusts there will be a storm surge that could reach 11—foot in places and as well as that, there will be some torrential falls of rain. it is notjust antigua, the british virgin islands and on towards portry ka, these areas could

see extensive damage from this extremely powerful hurricane. that's your weather. this is bbc news. i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at four. four serving members of the army — alleged members of a banned far—right group — have been arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism. the toddler murdered by her own mother — an apology from social services after a review finds the child's needs were overshadowed by concerns for the parent. i've apologised to the family and i'm truly sorry that on this occasion we didn't prevent her death. a show of strength from south korea's navy; president trump says america will sell military equipment to seoul and tokyo to counter the threat from the north korea. first minister nicola sturgeon promises an end to the public sector pay cap in scotland, as she sets out her legislative programme for the coming year.

with inflation on the rise, it's not sustainable. our nurses,