the prime minister apologises to a libyan man and his wife who were forcibly returned to libya during the so—called war on terror. abdel hakim belhaj and his pregnant wife were kidnapped in 2004 in a joint british american operation — today the attorney general said their treatment had been appalling. on behalf of her majesty's government, i apologise unreservedly. we are profoundly sorry for the ordeal that you both suffered and our role in it. we will have the latest on that government apology. also this lunchtime... the bank of england has left interest rates on hold and cut its growth forecast, saying the economy has suffered a temporary soft patch. president trump welcomes home three american prisoners released by north korea after being accused of spying. my proudest achievement will be — this is a part of it — but will be when we denuclearise that entire peninsula. britain has joined other countries

in urging israel and iran to step back from conflict after an exchange of fire overnight. and, star of eastenders and the carry on films, dame barbara windsor, has been diagnosed with alzheimers disease. and coming up on bbc news... swansea city manager carlos carvalhal is set to leave the club at the end of the season, with the club on the brink of relegation. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the british government has issued a formal apology to a libyan man and his wife who were forcibly

returned to libya and detained there during the so—called war on terror. the attorney general told the commons that the prime minister, theresa may, has written to abdel hakim belhaj and his wife to apologise for their appalling treatment. the couple were kidnapped in south—east asia in 2004, in a joint mi6—cia operation, and were handed over to the gaddafi regime. our security correspondent frank gardner reports. closure today for fatima, she has received half a million pounds compensation and an official apology from britain, 1a years after she and her husband were illegally rendered to a libyanjail with help from mi6 and the cia. her husband, abdul hakim belhaj, was an islamist rebel leader who became a military commander in tripoli after the fall of colonel gaddafi's regime.

before that, he says, gaddafi had him tortured in these jails for six yea rs him tortured in these jails for six years and he blames britain. translation: what happened to me is illegal and deserves an apology, especially from people who claim to respect human rights. today in parliament he got that public which —— apology and unequivocal admission of failings. on behalf of her majesty's government, i apologise unreservedly. we are profoundly sorry for the ordeal which you suffered and our role in it. the uk government has learned many lessons from this period. we should have understood much sooner the unacceptable practices of some of oui’ unacceptable practices of some of our international partners and we sincerely regret our failures. tony blair's government embraced colonel sincerely regret our failures. tony

blair's governmer itembraced colonel for libya's reward it or filsmanfilng tlfiyé 5 chemical reward it or filsmanfilng tlfiyé 5 chemical weapons reward it or dlsmanfilng elfiya 5 chemical weapons programme, but : wreng turning. ’ ' " : wreng turning. by ’ ' " f wreng turning. by 2004, ’ ' " it took a wrong turning. by 2004, belhaj had fled libya and was living in china, applying for uk asylum. he was arrested in malaysia along with his pregnant wife and flown to a cia prison in thailand. from there he was transferred to libya and handed over to the gaddafi regime. western intelligence always suspected belhaj had been a dangerous extremist close to al-qaeda which he denies, he and his wife never gave up in their demands for an official apology and a token £1 in compensation. what they got today in parliament was much more, a sizeable compensation for mrs fatima belhaj, and an admission the government were indeed complicit in their appalling

treatment. the bank of england has voted to keep interest rates on hold, at 0.5%, despite previously indicating this would be the month when they would start to go up. it said weak growth during the snow at the beginning of the year was likely to be temporary but it wants to see a pick—up in the next few months before raising the cost of borrowing. our economics correspondent andy verity reports. if inflation no longer looks as threatening, we are not all feeling it yet. the squeeze on living standards caused by prices are rising faster than incomes may have eased but here in newark people look on that like the sunny weather, you cannot be sure it will last. it's 0k, cannot be sure it will last. it's ok, it's ok, it is ok but you see things creeping up but that is life, isn't it? the cost of living is going up quite significantly and the wages really aren't. i don't think

things have got tighter recently, not noticeably. with inflation still above the target, the bank of england has been considering raising interest rates for a second time but it has been decided not yet. but the government thinks the economy still has underlying momentum. what is the sensible thing to do? do you act now or wait to see evidence that that momentum is reasserting? the judgment of the majority of the committee is you wait to see evidence of that reasserting. the message that comes across today is there is certainly less urgency in terms of rate rises and probably the bank today thinks rates don't need to rise as much as they previously did. making it more expensive to borrow money could apply brakes to an economy struggling to get started. higher oil prices have pushed up petrol by 7p per litre in the last year, one reason why

consumers are tightening their belts. interest rates have been rock bottom of the nine years now with the official rate at 0.5% or less. as recently as march, the city were almost certain interest rates would rise today but since then there have been signs of an economic slowdown and the fear is raising rates now might make matters worse. inflation at the last count was 2.5%, less than expected. in the first three months of the year, gdp grew by 0.1% and output in the construction industry was down 4.9%. three months ago the bank of england was predicting the economy would grow by 1.8% this year, now it has revised that down to 1.4%. an interest rate rise is now not expected until november or later. royal bank of scotland has agreed a 3.6 billion pound fine with us regulators to end a long—running investigation into its actions before the financial crisis. the bank, which is partly owned by the taxpayer, had been accused of selling

risky financial products. our business editor simon jack is here. so that is the figure that has been agreed, what does it mean? it's not often you think of a £3.6 billion fine as good news but it is in a way for a few reasons. firstly it is hopefully the last big check rbs will have to sign to pay for the sins of the past over the financial crisis and the intervening time. the other thing is it is slightly smaller cheque, some thought it could be double that. the real significance means that if it is in the clear now, it can start to think about selling itself back into the private sector. remember it is 70% owned by the taxpayer, would put £45 billion into it, we can now look to get some of that money back. there have been things like the mistreatment of customers and a lot

of bank closures, it has been a very dark decade but there are signs now it is emerging into the light. i would have to say though that it is very unlikely taxpayers will get back the £45 billion they put into this in full but over time it might grow in value. it is not right to think of this is an investment we made in the bank, this was a rescue ofa bank made in the bank, this was a rescue of a bank on the brink of total colla pse of a bank on the brink of total collapse and threatening to take uk economy with it. a brighter ahead. all right, thank you. president trump has personally welcomed home the three american detainees released by north korea. speaking at andrews air force base, he described the men as incredible people and said it was an honour to have played a part in their release. the white house considers the move a gesture of goodwill, in advance of a planned meeting between donald trump and the north korean leader kim jong—un. chris buckler reports from washington. this was a return that only months ago would have been unthinkable. then america and north korea seemed on the verge of war. now the release of these prisoners

has been hailed as a gesture of goodwill between the countries. and it is a diplomatic victory for donald trump. i am very honoured to have helped these three folks, they are great people. i got to speak to them on the plane, they have been through a lot. but it is a great honour. the true honour is going to be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons. of the three americans, the one held longest in north korea was kim dong—chul, a pastor. he was detained in 2015 and sentenced to ten years hard labourfor spying. kim sang—duk who was known as tony kim worked at the university in pyongyang, he was detained in april 2017 charged with espionage. kim hak—song was detained

a month later, a christian missionary held on suspicion of hostile acts. these releases contrast starkly with the return of this man less than a year ago. the american student was sentenced to years of hard labour for stealing a propaganda poster in north korea. he eventually was flown back to america suffering from unexplained brain injuries, and died just days later. at one stage, president trump's angry words and even threats looked like they could bring conflict with north korea. instead, the newly released americans believe he put pressure on kim jong—un that ensured that they could return home. the us secretary of state went to pyongyang to oversee the releases and finalise details of the much anticipated summit between president trump and kimjong—un to discuss denuclearisation. the photos of mike pompeo and mr kim laughing together made the front page of north korea's normally anti—american

state newspaper. if there was ever a symbol of change, it is this. but even those images could not compare to the obvious joy of those mr pompeo brought home. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. barbara plett usher is in washington. which side benefits more from this release, barbara? ithink you which side benefits more from this release, barbara? i think you can probably say it is a win—win at this point, definitely a diplomatic victory for president trump which he can play out with drama on the tv news shows. the fact he went to the airport in the middle of the night shows how important he thought it was. he mentioned kimjong—un had released these men early rather than during the summit itself and took that as a sign of goodwill and a sign that his high—stakes gambit would be a success. as for kim jong—un is given up his last american prisoners so his last

bargaining chips of this kind but he could show that he wanted to create a good atmosphere for the summit, and having the summit in and of itself is a win for him because he gets to stand next to the us president on the world stage. that doesn't mean he will necessarily give in to us demands about his nuclear weapons, there is still a lot of hard bargaining ahead. thank you. israel has launched air strikes against iranian targets in syria. israel said the action was in response to a rocket attack by iranian forces on its positions in the israeli occupied golan heights. the foreign secretary borisjohnson condemned iran's rocket attacks, and said israel has the right to defend itself. our correspondent yolande knell is in jerusalem. how much of all of this is about that decision by president trump to pull out of the iran nuclear deal? there will certainly be those who saw the deal is something that acted

something of a break on the activities in the region but tensions have been rising for some time between the israelis and the iranians when it comes to syria, in fa ct last iranians when it comes to syria, in fact last night wasn't even the first direct military confrontation between them. we are on the golan heights looking across to syrian territory and i havejust heights looking across to syrian territory and i have just been speaking to an israeli military spokesman about reports there were shelling skirmishes here before the rocket barrage that came from the iranians. he wouldn't comment, saying only he regarded iran as the aggressor but we know within a short time that, 20 rockets were fired towards israeli territory by what the israelis say was the iranians from a military base south of damascus. 16 of those didn't read israeli territory and four were intercepted ivy iron dome system.

before that israel launched what it describes as a wide range strike on iranian facilities inside syria, including munitions warehouses, logistics facilities and the rocket launcher itself which they said was destroyed. israel and iran have been ona destroyed. israel and iran have been on a collision course for some time and last night marked a significant escalation. thank you. the time is 1.15pm. our top story this lunchtime. the prime minister apologises to libyan couple abdel hakim belhaj and his wife fatima who were forcibly returned to libya during the so—called "war on terror". coming up. why school children across the world are going the extra mile for their health. can britain's kyle edmund beat another big name at the madrid open, as he charges into the world's top 20? dame barbara windsor,

one of the most well—loved figures in british showbusiness, has alzheimer's disease. the actress, who's 80, is famous for her roles in nine carry on films, and for playing pub landlady peggy mitchell in eastenders. her husband scott mitchell says she was diagnosed with the illness four years ago but that her condition has worsened in recent weeks. lizo mzimba reports. get out of my pub! the years, the queen of the queen vic, dame barbara windsor is undoubtedly showbiz royalty. in a newspaper interview, her husband scott mitchell said it was in 2009 he first noticed she was having more difficulty learning her lines, just before the first time she left eastenders. my dearfriend. five yea rs later after a

eastenders. my dearfriend. five years later after a series of medical tests, she was diagnosed with alzheimer's. she left eastenders tattoo years after that. scott told the sun newspaper this. tens of thousands of people develop alzheimer's each year in the uk, a condition that can put huge amounts of pressure on those diagnosed and the people around them. sadly, too many people have felt it is not possible to speak about it, they have to keep it to themselves. they and their family get isolated. so it is right to talk about it and eve ryo ne is right to talk about it and everyone can play their part to support barbara and the 850,000 people with this around the country. her co—star ross kemp said this.

she is continuing with charity work and has risen even recorded a documentary on show business, a demonstration that her diagnosis isn't stopping her doing what she has done for decades, entertaining millions across the country. an 18—year—old woman has gone on trial at the old bailey accused of planning a terror attack in the uk. safaa boular, from london, is also charged with planning to travel to syria where she intended to marry an islamic state fighter. she denies the charges. our home affairs correspondent june kelly is following the case. safaa boular was said to be of an

extremist mindset when at the age of 16 she began a relationship over social media with and is fighter in syria. the court was told they declared their love for each other and they planned to marry and have children. the old bailey also heard they each planned to don a suicide belts and then as hussain put it depart the world holding hands and taking others with them in an act of terrorism. now, the court was told in the months after they began their relationship, british security services were in fact monitoring the couple and were undercover agents engaged with the same having conversations with him and posing as sharing his extremist mindset. the seine was killed in syria. these undercover agents switched to communicating with safaa boular. and she told them the same had under

her, under his guidance, she had planned an act of terrorism in the uk and he had told her all she would need was a car and nice. there had been discussions about firearms and grenades. thejury was been discussions about firearms and grenades. the jury was told this attack, she had looked at the area around the british museum and the jury around the british museum and the jury was told this would have involved serious injury and loss of life. more than 25,000 people have had operations cancelled at the last minute, according to figures from nhs england for the first three months of this year. it comes as the latest cancer statistics show that not one part of the uk is hitting targets for treatment. our health correspondent catherine burns reports. it is no news is that this winter was tough for the nhs. injanuary we saw huge pressure on the front line with queues in a&e, patients treated in corridors, and non—urgent

operations and outpatient appointments put on hold. now we know from new year until april, more than 25,000 operations we re april, more than 25,000 operations were cancelled at the last minute, and then almost 3000 did not get treatment within 28 days of cancellation. last minute means anything from when a patient of ice at hospital or on the day surgery happens. the bbc has analysed data on cancer treatments, in england, 85% of patients are meant to start treatment within 62 days of cancer been suspected. that target is 95% for the rest of the uk. not one country is achieving that. ron andrews should have started treatment for a tumour on his liver by last march, it didn't happen until october. by that stage his cancer was terminal. it would have made a difference if i had been seen. have made a difference if i had been

seen. she nodded, she nodded and said, yes. cardiff and vale university health board apologised for communication problems but said the cancer had been difficult to diagnose. in the last 12 months there have been more than 170,000 urgently preferred suspected cancer cases, the vast majority, over 140,000, were seen within two months, but around 30,000 were kept waiting. the targets were put in place for a good reason, it is important from diagnosis you know when something will happen. it is important they are met. it is not straightforward, all sorts of factors straightforward, all sorts of fa cto rs get straightforward, all sorts of factors get in a way which we need to resolve. the targets and cancelled operations all point to the same thing, a health service under extreme pressure. nhs providers which represents chief

executives says urgent steps must be taken to address issues like staff and bed shortages. if you want to find out how your local service is doing, you can use the bbc‘s nhs tracker at www. bbc.co.uk/nhstracker. shares in bt have dropped by more than 9%, after the firm announced it's cutting 13,000 jobs around the world. bt said it's part of moves to create what it's called a lean and agile organisation, and respond to intense competition in the telecoms sector. food could become much more expensive in the uk after brexit, if a trade agreement isn't reached, according to a new house of lords report. the committee says that the tariff on imports is likely to rise, and that this would lead to price increases at the checkout. brexit—supporting politicians counter that prices will fall when unnecessary regulation is removed. our environment correspondent claire marshall has the details. half the food we eat is imported.

30% of this comes from the european union. the uk is now negotiating its own trade deals, but it is not clear what the terms will be. according to the lords report, if there is no agreement, there could be severe price rises for shoppers. if we apply the equivalent of european tariffs, then, on average, that is some 22% on food prices that are imported. not all of that would go on food prices itself, but it obviously would have a major effect on the price of food. the report also warns that if there is no trade agreement, we could see more scenes like this. it advises there is not the staff, it systems or infrastructure. britain's ports could be choked. we went to a truck stop near chippenham in wiltshire. at the moment, a two—minute delay at customs leads to a 17—mile tailback.

it seems more checks will be needed, does that worry the truckers? we need a bit of common sense in the haulage industry. i'm hoping now with brexit, we might get some common sense around the rules that are already in place. are you worried about changing rules than? no, not at all. it won't make any difference whatsoever. we'll still be here. it's a little bit on the line. as a driver, i don't think you will see much change, really. the department for the environment says it is considering how it will best manage border checks and controls without impacting the smooth flow of trade. it will respond to the report in due course. claire marshall, bbc news. the england and wales cricket board is launching a strategy to engage what it believes is the untapped potential of british asians in the game. a lack of effective talent spotting, and access to equipment, are seen as problems that need to be overcome. our sports correspondent joe wilson is in east london. a grade two listed pavilion here,

thatis a grade two listed pavilion here, that is the history. here, we have a vision of the future, lots of girls getting ready to start some cricket drills, in this ethnically mixed pa rt drills, in this ethnically mixed part of london. and interested spectators here. a local coach here, and tom harrison. from your perspective, what is the significance of cricket to this part of london? we were one of the pilots three yea rs we were one of the pilots three years ago and in the iconic position of three years ago there were 20 days of cricket here. through consultation and the community, there is 130 days of cricket by a diverse community. tom, that is an

expression of the passion. you know 30% of recreational cricket players are from south asian origin, how come that is not seen at elite level? that is what this plan is about, the opportunity of mobilising this massive passion for cricket we see in south asian communities around the country. this addresses the barriers that potentially have beenin the barriers that potentially have been in place. that might be with girls, traditionally very few female coaches, how do we train more female coaches, how do we train more female coaches so girls can play more cricket? how do we get urban cricket ce ntre cricket? how do we get urban cricket centre is activated through the network of big cities around the country where people can play? that has been an issue, just a couple of examples of the many we have put in this action plan. and you need role models. we have seen players coming

through, moeen ali, monty panesar, but what about coaches? we need role models throughout, it is notjust about international players but community leaders, like some of the great people we have running the drills here today. and giving opportunities to people from different backgrounds to get involved in cricket. the ceo of the ecb. the drills are continuing. and around the country, as this is notched. the bottom line is, sports is such a competitive element and cricket must engage anybody it can find, anywhere, and that is pretty urgent. schools around the world are being urged to consider introducing what's known as the daily mile, to improve the health, fitness, and attention span of their pupils. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports from stirling. for six years they have been running the daily mile at this school in stirling. no matter what the weather is, at some time in the day they will stop their classwork,

go outside and get on the move. even the very youngest. they are encouraged to take part. the teacher sometime says, let's go out and freshen you up. when you go back in you will be more relaxed. do you sometimes not feel like doing this? sometimes. but when you go out and do it, it makes you feel better. we do it in all weathers, it is really good to keep fit. the daily mile is striking in its simplicity. just 15 minutes every day spent away from the classroom. you don't get out of your uniforms, you just change your shoes and go for a run. this is the first time this exercise, which is in addition to pe 5..,_ ££f~ ::«’ z 7 ——;;f

to work properly, it has to be almost every day, apart from when the beast from the east is there. children who do the daily mile are fitter, have less