the government steps in to take control of the privately run birmingham prison after inspectors say it's in crisis. the highly unusual move comes as prisoners and inspectors describe appalling squalor and violence in the jail, with staff asleep or locked in offices. i've seen people just beaten up in front of staff, just whacked. erm... organised fights. that happens a lot, organised fights. it's not out of control yet, but it's not far from it, and the physical conditions there were amongst the worst we've ever seen. we'll be asking whether other prisons are struggling with similar problems. also on the programme tonight: the pope condemns the "atrocities" of child sex abuse and church cover—ups, in an unprecedented letter to more than a billion roman catholics worldwide. relatives reunited, after 65 years apart — dozens of north and south koreans are finally allowed to see each other again, though forjust a few hours. the british woman who fell from a cruise ship and survived ten hours at sea off the croatian coast

is allowed to leave hospital. continue, action! and the actor idris elba on his move from on screen to behind the camera, as he directs his first film. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news: could liverpool match manchester city and maintain their winning start to the season with victory over crystal palace in the premier league? good evening. birmingham prison is being taken over by the government from the private firm gas, after inspectors said it had fallen into a "state of crisis". the chief inspector of prisons said it was the worst prison he'd ever been to, conditions were filthy, and some inmates were scared to leave their cells. he accused the ministry

ofjustice of being "asleep at the wheel", saying it should have intervened earlier. our midlands correspondent, sima kotecha, sent this report from birmingham. it's one of the country's largestjails but, today, hmp birmingham has been branded as the most violent prison in england and wales. parts of the prison are squalid, it's cockroach infested, it's rat infested. it's disgusting. a former inmate, who was released injune, said it was perilous. we've protected his identity because he's concerned about his safety. i've seen people thrown over the balconies onto the netting. i've seen people just beaten up in front of staff, just whacked. erm... organised fights. that happens a lot, organised fights, where one guy's got a beef with another guy, and they will organise a fight in the laundry room, in the shower room, on the landing, and the staff turn a blind eye. the chief inspector of prisons says

somebody must have been asleep at the wheel for it to get this bad. in a report, he says blatant drug use was not being tackled. staff were often anxious and fearful. and parts of the jail were filthy, with vermin, blood and vomit on the floor. the prevalence of drugs, the levels of violence, the lack of order, discipline and control within the prison has led to a state of affairs where it's verging on being out of control. it's not out of control yet, but it's not far from it, and the physical conditions there were amongst the worst we've ever seen. the government, whose officials were working alongside gas, says the situation is appalling and they are now taking it over on a temporary basis. the fault is something that partly lies with us, partly lies with gas. but this isn't really about the blame game for me, this is about sorting it out. there were warning signs at the prison in 2016,

when a riot broke out after keys were stolen. hundreds of inmates were let out of their cells. critics have questioned why nothing was done beforehand, even though officials knew the violence had been escalating. last year, nearly 1,200 assaults, including fights, were recorded at the jail. gas has been in charge here since 2011, but today's disturbing report is bound to raise some questions about its role in running prisons. the company has welcomed the findings and says it's an opportunity to urgently address some of the problems. a bit of weed... a recent video — filmed by inmates inside the prison — smoking what looks like cannabis. downing street says it has confidence in gas‘s leadership and that the company runs prisons effectively. but some former staff disagree.

you didn't really have any control over the prisoners. the prisoners were controlling you. the prisoners were running the jail. now the onus is on the government, and the new governor, who has a month to come up with a plan to turn things around. sima kotecha, bbc news, birmingham. our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw, is here. are there any indications is the prisons are struggling with similar problems? the problems at birmingham are certainly of a different order to different prisons but certainly, problems are widespread. the ministry ofjustice does performance ratings for all 118 prisons in england and wales and the most recent figures last month show almost half are giving them concern 01’ almost half are giving them concern or serious concern. 15 prisons were rated as causing serious concern, birmingham was one of those 15. the

only privately run jail amongst them. it shows this is notjust a problem affecting private—sector prisons, it also affects jails run by the public sector. the majority of prisons causing problems local prisons for men where you have a large number of inmates coming out on remand, serving short sentences, difficult to keep a stable population. 0ne characteristic is high levels of violence and we can see that here in a graph of the number of assaults in england and wales in prisons. the 2,000 assaults, a huge increase since 2013. this is the rate assaults per 1,000 prisoners so it shows the real level of assaults is going up considerably. what is causing that? certainly, people will say, the experts will say it has been contributed to by a reduction in resources and staff cuts, particularly up until 2016. there was a big reduction of front—line staff of around 6,000, which has

been partially reversed since then, but that has clearly created major problems, with a lack of experienced staff. you have also had the spread of nuisance that excel cannabis su bsta nces of nuisance that excel cannabis substances and prisoners are more inclined to use violence and that is what is causing the problems in prisons. thank you. pope francis has told the world's roman catholics that "no effort must be spared" to prevent sexual abuse against children and to ensure it is never covered up. in an unprecedented letter, the pope condemned what he called the "atrocities" involving hundreds of priests in the american state of pennsylvania. and he expressed his shame that the church had shown no care and had abandoned those he described as the "little ones". from pennsylvania, nick bryant reports. the pennsylvania child abuse scandal has shocked and appalled. a report alleging that 301 priests preyed on as many as 1,000 children over a 70—year period, and that church leaders hid the allegations away in a secret archive. who'd have believed me?

a priest! last week, the attorney general‘s office in pennsylvania released a video with testimony of three victims. i was groomed, starting young. the day i met him, i was around 18 months old. the pennsylvania report is deeply disturbing. it includes allegations that a ring of priests manufactured child pornography and gave victims gold cross necklaces to identify them to identify them to other predators as optimal targets. pope francis didn't mention the pennsylvania allegations during his sermon yesterday at the vatican, but he did so today, in an unusually forthright letter to the world's 1.2 billion catholics. "with shame and repentance, we acknowledge, as an ecclesiastical community, that we were not where we should have been. that we did not act in a timely manner, realising the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives. we showed no care for the little ones. we abandoned them." juliann bortz was abused by her

priest as a child in the 1960s. the pope's letter offered her no comfort. i don't believe anything the pope has to say at this point. i've lost faith. i've lost faith in my religion, i haven't lost faith in god. big difference. i believed my religion all my life and they lied and they lied and they lied, so his statement today means nothing to me. the claims made in pennsylvania are just the latest in an ongoing worldwide scandal for the church. police in the vatican arrested a former papal diplomat earlier this year on suspicion of possessing child pornography. in australia, an archbishop has been convicted of concealing child abuse by another priest. in chile, all 31 of the country's bishops offered to resign over a child sex scandal and cover—up. and in ireland, historical abuse is reported to have been endemic. pope francis is expected to meet victims when he visits next week. it's just a ploy and a sham,

because he is coming to dublin at the weekend. if he is in any way genuine about this statement and if he is sorry about all these atrocities, let him agree to an inquiry. this is thought to be the first time the pope has addressed sex abuse with the worldwide catholic community. maybe a belated acknowledgement of the full enormity of the crisis. nick bryant, bbc news. pennsylvania. a man accused of driving a car at pedestrians, cyclists and police officers last week outside the houses of parliament has appeared in court for the first time. 29—year—old salih khater, who's a british citizen born in sudan, was charged with two counts of attempted murder. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, was in court. it was last tuesday, at 7:37 in the morning, that a ford fiesta ploughed through a group of cyclists on the edge of parliament square. it was last tuesday,

at 7:37 in the morning, without stopping, it drove up the access road to the house of lords car park and smashed into the security barrier. because of the location and the use of a vehicle, counter—terrorism officers led the investigation. salih khater, the driver of the car, has now been charged with attempting to murder cyclists at the junction of parliament square and with attempting to murder the police officers who leapt out of the vehicle's path. this morning, he was brought to court for his first appearance in the dock. salih khater wore a grey t—shirt and white trousers and confirmed his name and his address, in birmingham. asked what nationality he was, he said sudanese and then quickly corrected that to british. a refugee from sudan, he only got his british citizenship six weeks ago. born in darfur, in sudan, he came to britain in 2010, after travelling for two years through africa and europe. he continued his education here, while also working as a security guard. this morning's hearing lasted less than six minutes. the chief magistrate,

emma arbuthnot, told salih khater that he would remain in custody until his next appearance in court at the old bailey in 11 days' time. daniel sandford, bbc news, at westminster magistrates' court. the group representing hospitals and ambulance services in england has warned there needs to be better contingency planning within the nhs for a no—deal brexit. in a letter seen by the bbc, nhs providers say the risk to services is "real" and they have received "mixed messages" on where responsibility for brexit planning lies. 0ur political correspondent, ben wright, is in westminster. why is it such a concern for the nhs? well, in the last couple months, nhs bosses have been candid in public about the preparations they are making in case the uk and the eu failed to reach a final brexit steel. the health secretary matt

hancock has talked about the need to stockpile vaccines and medicines, and equipment. they had of nhs england has said the preparation going on now is extensive. what is interesting is this private letter from the body that represents nhs providers, including hospital trusts, to manage us, suggests there is real anxiety within the health ca re system is real anxiety within the health care system about how this planning is going. the letter says that the work of hospital trusts is being hampered by radio silence from nhs england and the greater clarity and better coordination is needed urgently at a national level. in response to this letter, an nhs spokesperson said they are preparing for every eventual brexit eventuality which was a priority and the government was leading that contingency planning. but this letter, i think, contingency planning. but this letter, ithink, is contingency planning. but this letter, i think, is a contingency planning. but this letter, ithink, is a reminder that when we talk about a no deal outcome, we are not only talking about a potential impact on trade in seven months' time, and later this week, the government will publish the first of about 80 papers setting

out how it was handel and prepare for a no deal. across a huge range of areas from aviation, citizens' rights and help. ministers say they can get the deal, they want one, and tomorrow, the brexit secretary 23 macro will head to brussels to begin the latest round of negotiations with the eu. thank you. -- dominic larocque. european union officials say greece is now a "normal" country within the eurozone, after it received the final payment of its bailout programme. in the biggest bailout in global financial history, the greek government was given emergency loans totalling more than £250 billion. the economic crisis in greece in 2010 lead to rioting in athens and threatened the future of the whole eurozone. the world health organisation says cases of measles in europe have reached their highest level for eight years. more than a1,000 people were infected in the first six months of this year — nearly double the number for the whole of 2017. more than half the cases were among children who had not received the mmr vaccine. rescue efforts are being stepped up in the indian state of kerala,

which has been hit by the worst monsoon floods in a century. although the weather has improved, some areas are still under water and indian military helicopters are airlifting stranded people, and dropping food supplies to those they cannot yet reach. more than a00 people have died in the floods and thousands have been marooned. from cochin — kerala's commercial capital — yogita limaye has sent this report. as the water recedes, people want to go back home. but it isn't dryjust yet. praveen and his family left their house in thrissur five days ago. today, he has returned to take a look. but the water level has only gone down a few inches. these low—lying areas, there are many pockets like these where you still find water. it is completely cut off from the mainstream. for us, it is going to take at least a week to kind of get back to complete normalcy.

but some don't have a house to go back to. chandra's home has been swept away. he is a tailor and struggles to make ends meet. "i don't know what to do," he says. more than half a million are in need. and here, supplies are coming in that could help. bags of rice, clothes, water — it's all being stocked at this indoor stadium, where it's sorted and re—packed before it's sent off. hundreds of people have volunteered, many of them students. people have just lost everything that they have earned over their entire lives. now this is going into a house that they do not know if it'll stand, or it will crumble on their heads. ijust wanted to do something, do anything at all, rather thanjust sitting at home, watching the news. relief efforts are going on at a frantic pace. this lorry behind me has come in from the neighbouring state of karnataka, bringing boxes of bottled water.

they are taken to the centre, and from here they will be dispatched to areas across kerala. where it's not possible by road, relief material is loaded onto boats to be distributed. "they need food here," shouts this man. locals crowd by the shore. they have to stock up when they can. they don't know when the next boat will come. translation: we have nothing to eat, nothing to drink. we don't even have a bed. the water has destroyed everything. for those who had to flee from their houses, the supplies will help them get through the next few days. many of them are still to find out what's left of their homes and belongings. yogita limaye, bbc news, kerala. after decades apart, dozens of people from south korea have been reunited with their relatives living over the border.

a ballot was held to determine which families separated by the korean war would be allowed to meet — forjust a few hours and under close supervision at a tourist resort in north korea. one woman, who saw her son for the first time since 1950, said she'd never imagined the day would come. from the south korean capital seoul, laura bicker reports. a warning this does contain flash photography. after more than 60 years apart, it can be hard to find words. some just throw themselves in their brothers' arms. others offer a deep bow. "i remember how beautiful you are," says one sister to another, as they try to recognise features not seen in decades. earlier, as she prepared to head north, this 92—year—old

couldn't stop thinking about what she would do when she saw her son. he was only four years old when they were separated. translation: i'm hoping to throw my arms around my grown—up son. i think i would like to ask where and how were you, who did you live with? newsreel: more than 80,000 civilians have already left. mrs lee was one of thousands caught in the chaos as refugees tried to head south at the end of the war in 1953. she lost sight of her husband and son as she was put on a boat. within days, the border was closed. she was trapped in the south, her family in the north. when the moment came, it took only one glance for her to break into a run. for now, all thoughts are on these first precious hours together. even though they both know they are also likely to be their last.

this woman knows what these families are going through. this frail 83—year—old had her one chance three years ago. over 50,000 are still waiting to see their loved ones. translation: it was so good to meet them. but when i was separated from them, it was worse than not meeting them at all. my sisters kept saying how hard it was living in north korea. it broke my heart. these are the human faces of the korean conflict. a symbol of an enduring bond between the two nations, but also a reminder of the pain of decades of division with no end in sight. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. venezuela has removed five zeros from its currency as part

of attempts to curb hyperinflation. president nicolas maduro has announced a raft of measures to tackle runaway prices. but critics remain unconvinced that the measures will do anything to improve the lives of millions of people in the impoverished country. more than 600 jobs are likely to go at a company which handles deliveries for house of fraser after it collapsed earlier this month owing the firm more than £30 million. the department store chain was bought out of administration by the owner of sports direct, mike ashley — but he's already said he won't pay creditors for debts incurred before his takeover. our business correspondent emma simpson is here. how many creditors are we talking about? there are hundreds, including xpo logistics, a big global company and it has two distribution centres, in milton keynes and in

wellingborough near northampton and they supply house of fraser and there has been a dispute over payment, and xpo logistics stopped processing orders and last week house of fraser had to take down its website and cancel orders and the website and cancel orders and the website is still down. sports direct has no legal obligation to settle any of the debts for all suppliers before it actually bought the business. when administration happens, suppliers often end up taking the hit. neither company has commented. clearly it has not been resolved because sadly the gmb union said 627 workers got redundancy notices on friday. meanwhile, the luxury retailer selling handbags, mulberry, its share price collapsed by 30% today after telling the stock market collapse of house of fraser would cost it up to £3 million. we

are starting to see the ripple effects from this huge retail collapse. thank you. the woman who survived in the adriatic sea for 10 hours overnight after falling from a cruise ship 60 miles off the croatian coast has left hospital. kay longstaff was pulled from the sea yesterday morning after apparently falling from the cruise liner on saturday night. she said she was very lucky to be alive. guy de launay sent this report. kay longstaff returning safely to dry land on a different sort of ship. the croatian coastguard rescued her from the adriatic after she spent a whole night treading water. i fell off the back of the norwegian star, and i was in the water for ten hours, so these wonderful guys rescued me. this is the moment she was pulled from the sea on sunday morning. her rescuers said she was tired and a bit sunburnt, but remarkably well, considering her ordeal. translation: the person was exhausted and in shock.

but soon after she was pulled on deck, and after liquids were offered to her, she was herself and we could see she had sustained no physical injuries and no scratches. kay spent the night here at pula general hospital. she was discharged this afternoon and left without making any further public statements. but her doctors say that her adriatic adventure doesn't appear to have caused her any physical harm. she is in good condition, probably because she is a young and healthy person. and nothing happened to her after ten hours in the croatian sea. kay was on board the norwegian star, filmed here on an earlier cruise. it is thought she was on the seventh deck, close to the back, when she fell. the ship had left the port of dubrovnik and was heading north. but roughly 60 miles out from the coast of croatia, kay longstaff went overboard. the ship made several turns to try to find her. only later did it go on to its final cruise stop of venice.

everyone is still asking how kay could have survived that long treading water. perhaps her previous experience as airline cabin crew may have helped, or her apparent dedication to yoga. the majorfactors in survival in this case are going to be in the warm water, which was about the same temperature as a swimming pool, the fact that it was calm, so there was not a great requirement to work hard to keep her airway clear of the water. that she was female, which helped her float, because females have more body fat than males. whatever happened, it seems like an incredibly lucky escape against the kind of odds which would have broken the bank at a cruise ship casino. guy de launey, bbc news, pula. england face a huge challenge to save the third test after india's captain virat kohli knocked up a century on day three at trent bridge. it allowed the tourists to declare on 352—7, setting england a notional 521 to win.

patrick gearey reports. where would england go from here? nearly 300 runs behind in the test, the best guess was down, like too much of the catching. jos buttler the latest to let one slide in the slips. meanwhile, india progressed slowly through virat kohli and cheteshwar pujara. both men passed 50, in their own time. pujara finally went after lunch — ben stokes' second wicket, still less than a week after being cleared of affray. meanwhile, kohli kept digging england deeper. so england take tea with little sympathy, a38 runs behind. a tired and frustrated team that, at some point, are going to have to bat again. that point would probably be decided by india, who had a few things they wanted to do first. virat kohli went to an almost inevitable century, his second of the series. a superstar, at one with his craft. chris woakes did finally get him leg before, not before time. cue india moving into fast—forward, adding runs wherever they could,

until kohli called them in. the declaration, with india's lead 520. england's turn. a brief session opening batsmen have nightmares about. even alistair cook, who's got more test runs than any other englishman, close. but england got to the close unscathed. until morning. only two days and a98 runs to go. patrick gearey, bbc news, at trent bridge. gatwick airport had to resort to writing flight information manually on whiteboards after a technical issue hit its digital screens. some passengers missed theirflights as a result of the problem. gatwick says the issue has now been resolved and apologised for the disruption it caused. he's best known for lead roles in some of hollywood s biggest films and dramas as well as the tv series luther here in the uk. but now the actor idris elba has taken on a new challenge. he's directed his first film. yardie, which is out next week, is based on a novel set injamaica and east london in the 1970s and ‘80s. he's been speaking to our community affairs

correspondent adina campbell. yardie is a nostalgic film about a time in my life when i was growing up in the mid—1980s, starts off in the ‘70s injamaica. follows a young man who goes through a traumatic thing at 11 years old and finds himself in england, still chasing his demons. why won't you stay? mummy has work, vanessa. she can't stay with me. i think people expect a massive gangster film and it isn't that. it is a story about trauma management, if you like. and this is your first big production as a director? were you not tempted to be one of the main characters, or were you solely focused on being behind the camera and leading from the back? ijust wanted to put all my energy behind the camera, support the actors and let it not be about me, but my vision and their vision and, you know, share that. i want you to be real, yeah? really real.

first—time directors are typically younger than me. but i have had the university of my career, which has been to work with some of the greatest directors. and for your directorial debut, to film back at home, where you grew up in hackney, that must‘ve been quite special. i did an open casting for extras to come and sort of be a part of the film. like, 2000 people showed up. i think they called it idris carnival day for that day. idris castival day. ijust did that. very good! how do you feel that the film industry is going at the moment in terms of bringing in and nurturing new, fresh black talent? i think it is a very healthy time. you and i sitting here right now, you as a presenter, me as a film—maker, it is an amazing thing. that never happened when i was growing up. when we look at england, we should all be proud that we are quite a multicultural society here. and it is starting to be reflected in our stories, in our content and our television shows. still a long way to go, you know, but at the end

of the day there is movement. series five of luther is coming out soon. lots of people excited. are you surprised byjust how popular it is, notjust in the uk but all over the world? yeah, definitely surprised. started off as a six—part series about a warped detective. and has become an iconic character. the luther fan base deserve a really good luther this year and i'm hoping i have given them one. i can't let you go without asking about the tweets recently. see you later! i've got to ask you. am i looking at the next 007? no. absolutely not? no, you're not. would it be a role you would like to do? i don't want to talk about it, honestly. idris, thank you so much for your time. thank you, wicked. that's almost it from us for tonight. newsnight‘s about to begin over on bbc two in a few moments. here's kirsty.