tv BBC News BBC News May 11, 2018 8:00pm-8:45pm BST
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this is bbc news. i'm eleanor garnier. the headlines at eight. the prime minister agrees to two additional panel members for the grenfell tower inquiry — after pressure from campaigners. we want to know why the fire started, how the fire started. the culture of the institutions that were supposed to listen to the concerns of the community. why did this happen? more money for grammar schools in england. the government says it'll mean more choice for parents — labour calls it a vanity project. ireland's prime minister apologises after more than 200 women were wrongly told that their smear tests were all clear. 17 have since died. it hasn't hit me that i am dying. because i am so worried that people are going to get away with it. also tonight. a warning from a senior united nations expert on racism. tendayi achiume says there are deep structural problems with racial inequality in britain,
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and that brexit has contributed to an environment of increased intolerance. and how much money would you get for this chipped piece of china, that was destined for a charity shop? the answer may surprise you almost as much as it did the owner. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the government has made a significant change to the make—up of the grenfell fire inquiry by agreeing to campaigners‘ demands for a bigger panel. theresa may says she'll now appoint two new panel members to sit alongside thejudge, sir martin moore—bick, for the second phase of the investigation. the inquiry is due to begin hearing
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formal evidence next month. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds has the latest. right from the start, the chairman was under pressure. if i can't satisfy you because you have some preconception about me as a person, that's up to you. some grenfell campaigners said sir martin moore—bick, cambridge—educated, a former appeal courtjudge, had the wrong background to tackle the social failings they believed lie at the heart of this tragedy. when the inquiry got going, their demand was that it be led not by one man, but by a panel of experts. now the prime minister has bowed to pressure. writing to sir martin, she said, "to best serve the increasing scale and complexity of work going forward, i have decided to appoint two additional panel members to support your chairmanship. i hope this decision will provide reassurance to victims and survivors of the fire, the local community and members of grenfell united."
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that is the group which now represents many of those whose lives have been devastated by the fire. it has been gruelling to have to get to this point, but we are here and we need to look forward now. it's a first step. it is positive that we now have this panel and that we will now be able to get to the bottom of everything that happened in the run—up and during that awful night. the two new advisers will sit alongside sir martin when the second phase of the inquiry starts, considering the wider issues behind the fire, next year. and that list of issues is long. we want to know why the fire started, how the fire started. the culture of the institutions that were supposed to listen to the concerns of the community. why did this happen? it's nearly a year since grenfell and the anger that followed. finding two people with the expertise to dig deep into why it happened, two people the community can support, will not be easy.
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no names have yet been suggested. the prime minister will have the final decision. tom symonds, bbc news. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers. our guestsjoining me tonight are nigel nelson, who's the political editor of both the sunday mirror and sunday people, and the political commentatorjo phillips. grammar schools in england are to be given the chance to create new school places, after the government said it would press ahead with an expansion programme for selective schools. headteachers will be able to bid for funding from a £50 million pot if they can show they're helping disadvantaged pupils. our political correspondent alex forsyth reports. townley grammar school in south—east london is in demand. there's a waiting list to get in. these pupils are some
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of those who passed the test and secured their place. i cried, i was so happy. it was really amazing. was it the same for you? yeah, i was really relieved because it is a lot of hard work across the whole year because everyone you know who is your age is going to be doing it but when you get in, it's quite a nice feeling. the head here knows grammar schools are controversial but says the idea of selecting children based on their ability doesn't have to be exclusive. are they in a grammar school because they are privileged? no. i think that perception that we are chock full of white middle—class children is blatantly wrong. grammar schools have been doing a phenomenal amount of work in accessing disadvantaged students and creating opportunities for them. schools like this could now get funding for extra places if they take more disadvantaged pupils. it is part of a wider shake—up. the government has abandoned a plan to allow some schools to admit more pupils based on religion but councils could open new faith schools. this is all about making sure there's enough good school places
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to satisfy demand as the population grows and moves and to make sure we've got good choice for parents right around the country. but at the school gates, it is expanding grammar schools that is causing most talk. a lot of children now, today, do struggle and they do need one—to—one. so extra money anywhere across the curriculum would be helpful. i think it's a good start but it is not enough at all. now the government will put more money into it, that means it opens the door to more children. but critics, including the labour party, say with school budgets under huge pressure, this is the wrong priority. grammar schools do not add anything extra for pupils. what it does is it creams off and takes some children that have been given tuition, who have already got an advantage over other children, and leaves everybody else left behind so unfortunately, the government has shown that they are ideologically driven to help the selected few. because there is opposition to selective education, the conservatives had to ditch what had been a key election promise to lift the ban
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on new grammar schools altogether. they were worried they couldn't get the idea through parliament so this is a slimmed down version. the money for grammar school expansion was already in the pipeline. it might fund a few thousand new places but it is not the sweeping education reforms the government had hoped. but whatever the political arguments, the pupils at townley grammar know how they would describe their school. i think i would say diversity. probably inclusive. how about you ? i would say challenging. in a good way? yeah. and you? i would say enjoyable because i really enjoy it here. alex forsyth, bbc news, south—east london. the head of ireland's health service has resigned over failings in a cancer screening programme, after it emerged that more than 200 women were wrongly told that their smear tests were all clear. 17 have since died. the failings occurred after the tests were out—sourced to an american company.
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the irish government has held a special cabinet meeting to discuss the issue. here's our ireland correspondent chris page. stories like emma mhic mhathuna's have moved and appalled people in ireland. she was given the all—clear from cervical cancer five years ago, but the result of her smear test was wrong. she was only diagnosed with the disease in 2016 and is now terminally ill. the cancer is throughout my body. i've been told, while i have energy, to get things in place for my children. it hasn't hit me that i'm dying, because i'm so worried that people are going to get away with it. the scandal came to light in a court case taken by this woman, vicky phelan from limerick. she was awarded 2.5 million euros in a settlement with an american laboratory which was carrying out tests for the irish health service. doctors have given her between six and 12 months to live. my settlement will mostly be spent on buying me time and paying
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for clinical trials to keep me alive and to allow me to spend more time with my children. if i die, and i truly hope that won't be the case, the money will provide for my family. but the distressing extent of the problem is becoming more clear. the head of the health service, tony 0'brien, has resigned today. the dublin government has held an emergency cabinet meeting. the taoiseach apologised to emma mhic mhathuna. there are certainly no words that i can say that can give her comfort at this time. she is 37 years old, roughly my age, could be my sister or one of my friends. has young children, who could be my nephews. but the women who've received catastrophic news are likely to keep asking questions. emma says that for her children's sake, she wants to leave a legacy to ensure no one else will die needlessly. when you are a parent,
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there is nothing you won't do for your children, so that's why i am going to keep soldiering on as long as i have here. the very personal sense of devastation which families like emma's are feeling have generated a very public mood of anger. chris page, bbc news. the prime minister has been talking to president trump tonight. 0ur political correspondent, chris mason is at westminster. they have obviously covered quite a bit of ground but the nuclear deal in iran, one of those significant things. yeah, very striking reading what we have been told from downing street's side of the story about this conversation between theresa may and donald trump in the last couple of hours, because there is a huge gap between their instincts on
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the iran nuclear deal. we saw earlier in the week, president trump withdrew the united states from the deal. the deal was aimed, when it was signed three years ago, to ensure that iran stops developing nuclear weapons in return for sanctions being lifted. america is in the business of imposing sanctions. the other signatories to the deal, including the uk, argue that mr trump is wrong and that the deal should remain in place. the big question is whether mr trump's withdraw from it effectively means the whole thing is over. i will bring you the words from downing street, published in the last few minutes, about the telephone call. we are told, "the prime minister reiterated the government's position on the iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our european partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld as the best way of preventing iran from developing a nuclear weapons". it goes on to say, "the prime minister raised the
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potential impact of un sanctions on those firms which are currently conducting business in iran and they agreed that talks would take place between our teams". there is a genuine concern around the world, particularly in europe, about the implications for businesses here that do business with iran as a result of the potential reach of these new american sanctions. what is interesting is that this description of the telephone call from downing street concludes by pointing out that the prime minister and the president are looking forward to meeting one another face—to—face in the uk injuly, of course, president trump will be here in the summer. thank you forjoining us. chris mason, our political correspondent, in westminster. we are going straight to washington because the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, is holding a press conference with his south korean counterpart, so we are going to dip into that and hear what they have got is able to america's track record of support for the korean
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people are second to none. if north korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearise, the united states is prepared to work with north korea to achieve prosperity on a par with our south korean friends. the united states look forward to to continue in close cooperation with our south korean allies on this issue and many others. foreign minister, thank you for being with me today, it is a pleasure to work with you. thank you very much, mr secretary, for the very much, mr secretary, for the very warm welcome. let me reiterate my congratulations on you becoming the top diplomat in the united states at this historic moment. secretary pompeo, you have already been at the centre of ourjoint efforts on north korea and i very much look forward to working closely with you. we spoke on the 28th of april right after the momentous inter— korean summit april right after the momentous inter—korean summit and april right after the momentous inter— korean summit and today we april right after the momentous inter—korean summit and today we met just after secretary pompeo's return from pyongyang. during our meeting,
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i congratulated him and president trump for the successful release of the three us citizens, all korean americans, from north korea. this is a promising signal for the upcoming summit between president trump and chairman kim. 0verthe past summit between president trump and chairman kim. over the past weeks, both korea and the united states have been engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts regarding north korea. we briefed each other on the latest endeavours. including secretary pompeo's visit to pyongyang and the korea, japan, china trilateral summit in tokyo which adopted a special statement welcoming the outcome of the south and north korea and summit and expressing the strong hopes for the success of the upcoming us — north korea summit. in this context, secretary pompeo and i discussed preparations for the summit meeting between president trump and chairman kim in singapore on the 12th of june. we agreed that the summit would be an historic opportunity for
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resolving the north korean nuclear issue and securing enduring peace on the korean peninsula. we reaffirmed that our goal is to achieve the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the korean peninsula. in this regard, secretary pompeo and i agreed that the next few weeks will be critical, requiring airtight coordination between the two countries. as announced, president moon will visit washington, dc soon to meet with president trump. the close communication and trust between presidents trump and moon has been the driving force that have brought us to this point of breakthrough for the denuclearisation and peace of the denuclearisation and peace of the clinic —— on the korean peninsula so their meeting on the 22nd will be instrumental in preparing for a successful us and north korea summit. secretary pompeo
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andl north korea summit. secretary pompeo and i reaffirmed that the green and us alliance which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year has long served as the linchpin for peace and stability in the region. we also confirmed that for the last 65 years, the united states forces in korea have played a crucial role for deterrence and peace and stability in the region? —— in the region. we would like to emphasise again the us military presence in korea is a matter for the rok and us alliance first and foremost. after today's meeting, i'm even more confident that our alliance is as robust as ever and that there is no daylight in our corporation on the de—neutralisation and peace on the korean peninsula. once again i would like to thank secretary pompeo for today's fruitful discussions and look forward to building a close working partnership and relationship with him and in addition to the
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upcoming summit meeting in washington, dc on the 22nd of may, i hope to see him again in seoul and reciprocate the hospitality very soon. thank you very much. we have time for two questions, the first goes to the fox news channel. thank you, mr secretary tommy just mentioned and have mentioned before, as have the south koreans that you are looking for permanent, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation. how does the united states specifically defined that? inspections, full facility dismantling, moral less than that? also, you have had more substantive conversations with kim jong—un than arguably any other westerner. what is your impression of him? do you think years rational and simply, what is it like to talk to him? and to the foreign minister, are south korea and regional allies discussing providing any sanctions relief to north korea before the summit between president trump and kim
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jong—nam and what kind of outcome does south korea need to secure its security and does that include the maintenance of current us military assets in the region?|j maintenance of current us military assets in the region? i have spent more time with chairman kim other than perhaps president moon working in this incredibly important challenge that lays before the world. president trump and the world have set the conditions for a successful outcome from the 12th of june and the activities that are necessary to follow therefrom. you asked about my conversations with chairman kim. this question... yes, we had good conversations, conversations that involve deep, convex problems, challenges, the strategic decision that chairman kim has before him about how it is he wishes to proceed and if he is prepared for the assurances that we are ready to provide to him, if he
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is prepared to fully denuclearise. i'm not sure how to define it fully. it is pretty clear what that means. it is pretty clear what that means. it would be an activity that undertook to ensure that we didn't end up in the same place that we had ended up before, multiple passes of trying to solve this conundrum for the world, how to ensure that north korea does not possess the capacity to threaten, not only the us but the world with nuclear weapons. in order to achieve that, it will require robust verification programme, one that we will undertake with partners around the world which will achieve something in a way that no other undertaking is at fault. a big undertaking is at fault. a big undertaking but wonder chairman kim andi undertaking but wonder chairman kim and i have an opportunity to have a sound discussion now and i think we have a pretty good understanding between our two countries about what the shared objectives are. what is
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he like? we had good conversations. some videos have been released and you can see the conversations were warm. we were each representing our two countries, trying our best to make sure that we were communicating clearly, that we had a shared understanding of what our mutual objectives were but we had good conversations about the histories of our two nations, the challenges we have had between us. we talked about the fact america has often in history had adverse arrays who we are now close partners with —— adversaries who we are now close partners with and we wanted to achieve the same. the next question is do... could ijust answer achieve the same. the next question is do... could i just answer that question? your question about sanctions relief, we are very clear that sanctions remain in place until and unless we see visible, meaningful action taken by north korea on the denuclearisation track. the north korean leader has committed to denuclearisation and
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formally so through the declaration, we very much hope to see further steps, more concrete steps towards denuclearisation being produced at the us and north korea summit. we're not talking about sanctions relief at this point. your question about what are we looking at in terms of four— hour own security? we are confident our security. the career, usjoint security confident our security. the career, us joint security stance, which confident our security. the career, usjoint security stance, which is why we say the issue of the alliance on any issue of the alliance, including the military presence in our country is a matter for the allies to discuss and not to be put on the table with north korea. the next question goes to yonhap. hello, secretaries. i have two questions for each of you. we only have time for each of you. we only have time for one. 0k,
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for each of you. we only have time for one. ok, so, one for our minister. cani for one. ok, so, one for our minister. can i say it in korean? translation: recently there was talk that usa k can be reduced, was discussed in the bilateral talks and when president moon visits washington, dc before pyongyang and washington, dc before pyongyang and washington, dc before pyongyang and washington, dc talks, what kind of coordination did you make in the run—up to this upcoming discussion between pyongyang and washington, dc? if these drugs between president trump and zhengjin dc? if these drugs between president trump and zheng jin fully set up and be key issue is saving north korea's wmd andl be key issue is saving north korea's wmd and i guess there's quite a big gap between the us and your standpoint. did you actually discussed the issue with chairman tim? have discussed the issue with chairman tim ? have you discussed the issue with chairman tim? have you narrowed the differences —— chairman kim. do you think he's willing to give up wmd?
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translation: so there was no talk about reducing us fk at all, if there was any tour, it was only about how solid hour alliance is and anyissue about how solid hour alliance is and any issue or discussion about us fk or the alliance should be discussed between our two nations which are in alliance and not between north korea and the us which was confirmed by secretary pompeo. may the 22nd is the day when the us president and the day when the us president and the south korean president will meet again and along the way, president trump and president moon had a close relationship and trust with each other and it plays a key role. in the run—up to north korea and the us summit, the discussion between the two lea d e rs summit, the discussion between the two leaders will play a key role in preparing and setting the tone for the talks. we are making our best effort to best prepare for the summit. your question was about were
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details discussed? we had quite a conversation about it. i'm not going to share that year, we're not going to share that year, we're not going to negotiate the details of the agreement in this setting. —— share that here. we will do it in conversations between the leaders and the working teams who are hard at preparing for the summit. i'm confident we have a shared understanding of the outcome that the leaders want, certainly, president trump and chairman kim but i think president moon as well, we have a shared vision for what we hope when this process is completed, the korean peninsula looks like. i think we have a good understanding andl think we have a good understanding and i think there is complete agreement about what the ultimate objectives are and we began to work through the modalities of how we would achieve that but i will leave conversations about that for another time. thank you, everyone, have a great afternoon. that was the us secretary of state,
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mike pompeo, with his south korean counterpart, speaking in washington. they have been having talks together and mike pompeo said that the release of the three americans we saw released from north korea yesterday had set conditions for a successful summit between the north korean leader and the us president which is due to be happening injune in singapore. sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sarah. let's start then with the european challenge cup final — where it's an all—british affair in bilbao. thousands of rugby fans have descended on city. cardiff blues are taking on a gloucester side who have featured in three of the last four finals. it's currently 7—6 to gloucester at the san mames stadium, which will also hosting tomorrow's champions cup final between leinster and racing 92. the battle to get into the premier league is under way tonight with derby and fulham in action in the championship play—off at pride park.
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fulham finished the season in third place, 13 points above sixth—placed derby. so they've gone into the game as favourites. but it's going the way of derby. they've just taken the lead thanks to cameron jerome's header. livingston and dundee united are also looking for a place in the top flight of scottish football. this is the second leg of their scottish premiership qualification match. livingston lead 3—2 from the first leg four days ago. it's currently 1—1 on the night. the winners of this game are then likely to face either partick thistle or ross county in the qualification final. wayne rooney has not asked to leave everton — according to their manager sam alla rdyce. rooney is being linked with a move this summer to dc united in america's mls. he's thought to have agreed a deal in principle, but has yet to sign it. this is what allardyce had to say about those rumours. there appears to be an interest from dc united, where that is and where that lies and where wayne lies with it, i cannot tell
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you at the moment. so, only after i've spoken to him today will i find out where the situation actually lies. let's put this right, wayne rooney has not asked to leave, and neither has wayne rooney had a confrontation with me. we have not been in any difficult situation, because we are two adults and we talk. kyle edmund is bidding to reach the semifinal of the madrid 0pen. he's up against dennis shapovalov in the quarterfinal right now, but lost the first set 7—5 and it's 6—6 in the second. they are playing the tie—break, 3—3 in the tie—break at the moment. we will update you before the end of the bulletin. and there was a big win elsewhere for dominic thiem. the 24—year—old austrian stunned rafael nadal in straight sets 7—5, 6—3, breaking nadal‘s 50—set winning streak on clay. nadal‘s last defeat on the surface
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was also against thiem, in may 2017. the loss means roger federer will replace nadal as the world no 1. britain's simon yates retained the overall lead at the giro d'italia, with ireland's sam bennett claiming a maiden stage victory. the bora—hansgrohe rider pipped elia viviani just before the line, as the seventh stage ended in a bunch sprint. yates, who took the pink jersey with a 16—second lead after stage six, was among the group of riders to finish behind bennett. lewis hamilton has edged red bull's daniel ricciardo and max verstappen after second practice at the spanish grand prix. there were some high—profile spins in barcelona, including verstappen in an eventful start to the weekend. his red bull team—mate ricciardo came in second to mercedes' hamilton who finished quickest in the second practice. and the weather got in the way of what should have been a historic day for ireland's cricketers. they were all ready to play pakistan in their first ever
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test and then it started raining in malahide, and it didn't really let up. play was abandoned for the day, and they're hoping to get under way at 11am tomorrow morning. that's all the sport for now. it is now 11—3 kyle edmund in the second set tie—break, trailing against denis shapovalov one set down, looking to make the madrid 0pen semifinal. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. you can also keep up to the date with the latest from the player's championship at sawgrass. two british tourists are among three people to have been kidnapped in the democratic republic of congo. it's understood they were visiting virunga national park, near the city of goma, when they were abducted. the park is known as a haven for endangered mountain gorillas. 0ur correspondent ben ando gave us this update. around ten o'clock this
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morning local time, this party of tourists were travelling between two towns in the area when they came under attack from a group of unknown gunmen. it is known that lots of militia operate in this area and the foreign office advises not to go there because it is considered to be very dangerous, it is an area of civil war and last month five park rangers and a driver were killed by militia men. two british tourists, we do not know their identities or who they are, or if a ransom has been asked they were kidnapped along with their driver and a park ranger, a female park ranger who was with them was killed. the foreign office says it is in contact with the authorities in the democratic republic of congo and the families of those involved, but beyond that, details are sketchy. hello there. a bit of everything on the way this weekend, some sunshine at times, but also some areas of rain as well. we have got one area of rain at the moment, this band of cloud and rain working its way eastwards,
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