reach sunday and next week, it we reach sunday and next week, it will turn much colder again. that is all from me, goodbye. scotland's former first minister appeared in court in edinburgh this afternoon. afterwards, he vehemently denied the allegations. i am innocent of any criminality whatsoever. we'll have the latest live from edinburgh. also on the programme tonight... a big rise in the number of violent crimes in england and wales over the past year. the sister of premier league footballer emiliano sala begs rescuers not to give up hope, as they call off the search for his plane missing in the english channel. translation: i'm asking you, please, don't stop looking for them. it's been three days, and i've still got hope that they're alive. and the director of a controversial oscar—nominated film, about the boys who killed toddler

jamie bulger, says he won't pull out of the awards. and coming up on bbc news, there are five wickets forjames anderson, as england bowl out the west indies on the second day of the first test in barbados. good evening, and welcome to the bbc news at six. scotland's former first minister, alex salmond, a man who has dominated politics in scotland and the uk for decades, has today been charged with two attempted rapes, nine sexual assaults, two indecent assaults and breach of the peace. mr salmond appeared in private at edinburgh sheriff court this afternoon. afterwards, he strenuously denied the allegations,

saying he was innocent of any criminality and would defend himself to the utmost in court. alex salmond was arrested yesterday by police who've been investigating allegations against him since last september. our scotland editor sarah smith is in edinburgh. sarah... sophie, when the full list of charges against alex salmond was made public this afternoon, people we re made public this afternoon, people were shocked. politicians and the public alike really taken aback that a former first minister could appear here in court charged with such a long list of serious sexual offences. alex salmond arrived to find some die—hard reporters to greet him. marching in straight through the front gate, he made no attempt to avoid the cameras all immediate questions. on his way

to hear the formal criminal charges against him. inside the court, in a private hearing, which neither reporters nor the public were allowed to attend, mr salmond heard he is facing a total of 14 criminal charges. that includes steven charges. that includes steven charges of indecent assault, nine separate charges of sexual assault —— leaver charges of indecent assault. at this point in the proceedings mr salmond was not required to enter a plea so he did not indicate to the court whether he intends to plead guilty or not guilty to those charges. half an hour later, he came out to declare his innocence publicly. so let me say at the outset, i am innocent of any criminality whatsoever. i refused absolutely these allegations of criminality, and i'll defend myself to the utmost in court. i've got great faith in the court system of scotland. i've got recent cause

to have great faith in the court system of scotland, and that is where i will state my case. first minister nicola sturgeon and the rest of the scottish political establishment are clearly rocked by the scale of the charges against the former first minister. well, i know this will be a shock to many people, but as police scotland have said today, these are now live criminal proceedings, and now more than ever it would be completely inappropriate for me or anyone else for that matter to comment in any detail. alex salmond dominated scottish politics for decades. first minister for seven years, he led the country into an independence referendum, which you didn't win, but which changed scottish politics completely. for the next few months, his battles will be in court, as he faces numerous serious criminal charges. sarah smith, bbc news, edinburgh. there's been a big increase in violent crime in england

and wales; it's up i9% compared to the year before. figures from the office for national statistics show that the number of killings, including murder and manslaughter, has increased by 14%, making it the highest it's been since 2007. robbery went up by i7%, as did recorded sexual offences. the number of firearms offences hasn't changed drastically, but knife crime has; it's risen by 8% with almost 40,000 victims of knife crime in 12 months. a warning, june kelly's report contains distressing images. keelan wilson was 15 when he was set upon and stabbed late at night near his home in wolverhampton. this was keelan with his mum, kelly. as he lay dying he said, tell my mum i love her. kelly lost her oldest child as she was expecting her youngest. the four—month—old will

never know her brother. a number of teenagers have been arrested since the murder eight months ago, but so far no one has been charged. everyday it is torture, it is not a life worth living. every day, if i catch myself smiling with the baby, i feel guilty, because keelan catch myself smiling with the baby, ifeel guilty, because keelan was mac not here, and ifeel like i shouldn't be enjoying life at all, andi shouldn't be enjoying life at all, and i don't enjoy life. it's like a life sentence. and then you realise he's not coming home, and it's devastating, every single day something happens. there's no words really. it's the west midlands force which is investigating the killing. crime here is up by io%, so above the national average, and today the message from those running the force was "we need more money to tackle this rise in crime". just tell me your name because at the minute

you're going to be arrested. and of course the police themselves can be urgent assistance! footage victims. urgent assistance! footage from one officer's body worn camera shows how she suffered head injuries after she was attacked while trying to make an arrest. in recent months, there have been some appalling attacks on the elderly. peter gallstone who was 98 was badly hurt during a burglary and died later from his injuries. police chiefs stress such crimes are rare, but they and labour politicians have long been warning that losing 20,000 officers would affect the crime rate, and the government's response? don't make a link between fewer police officers and an increase in violent crime. police officers and an increase in viole nt crime. the police officers and an increase in violent crime. the drivers are that, you can't put it down to one thing, it is compensated. in birmingham, these residents, frustrated at not seeing any police, are now carrying out their own patrols. we shouldn't

be doing this, it is not up to us to do this, but rather than sitting at home and moaning about it, we want to get out and do it and that is what we are kind to do. the government says it is responding to the demands on police without a £970 million of extra money in the coming year. june kelly, bbc news. the search has now ended for premier league footballer emiliano sala, and his pilot david ibbotson, after their plane vanished over the english channel. they took off from nantes in france on monday evening, on their way to cardiff, but contact was lost off alderney in the channel islands. sian lloyd reports. the family have questions about what happened, but today emiliano sala's sister wanted to focus on efforts to find her brother and his pilot. she believes they are still alive. translation: emiliano, my brother, he's a fighter. emiliano sala sign

for cardiff city at the weekend, but he's been missing since monday night, along with 59—year—old david ibbotson, who was piloting the light aircraft that disappeared off the channel islands. an extensive search operation has been carried out but this afternoon a decision to call off the rescue effort was taken. that decision has been difficult, as you can imagine, not least because there are a huge number of people, both here in the uk, and in france, who have been involved in this search of the last three days. the 28—year—old striker had played for french club nantes. today, the captain said the team were not giving up hope. translation: we ask you to stand in solidarity with us, to be united, and to respect the family who absolutely refuse to grieve and continue to believe. but the conditions where the plane went missing have led rescuers to say any chance of the survivors is remote.

we have heard that the search for your brother has been called off, what is your message at this stage? translation: i'm asking you, please, don't stop looking for them. it's been three days and i've still got hope that they're alive. it's terrible, it's desperate not knowing anything. we don't have certainty of anything. we don't have certainty of anything. his sister only arrived in south wales from argentina last night, and is being supported by relatives and her brother's footballing family, both here and in france. she told us she hopes to go to the channel islands, where her brother was last heard from. sian lloyd, bbc news, cardiff. the chief executive of the aircraft maker, airbus, tom enders, has said that it was a "disgrace" that businesses could still not plan for brexit. the company warned it could move its wing—building operation out of the uk in the future if there is a no—deal brexit. katherine bennett, senior vice—president of airbus in the uk explained why airbus

issued their warning today. we felt that we were getting to a crunch time. there was a lot of false allegations that a managed no deal could work and we just wanted to be clear for us it would be catastrophic — we would see chaos at the borders and our wing parts and our satellite parts could potentially get held up. our business editor simon jack joins us now from the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. strong language from airbus, and similar warnings from other businesses? yes, and airbus have always been one of the loudest voices in the chorus of the loudest voices in the chorus of warnings about the damage a no—deal brexit could do to its company and indeed the rest of the uk economy, and today the outgoing, andi uk economy, and today the outgoing, and i think that is important, the outgoing chief executive tom enders cranked up the rhetoric with those words like disgrace, and the madness of brexit, and here in the uk catherine bennett saying that number ten in fact urged them to make clear the damage that that could do. in

fa ct, the damage that that could do. in fact, business minister richard harrington said he was glad that airbus had come out and spoken like this and almost dared the prime minister to sack him by saying if he wasn't the right man for the job, so be it, but he thought this was an important message to get across. the question is will this have any effect? senior government sources tell me that theresa may has had a light bulb moment about the impact that a no—deal brexit could have on manufacturers. liam fox has said eve ryo ne manufacturers. liam fox has said everyone is getting too complacent about the no deal not happening, but i have to tell you that the business leaders and the political ones gathered here do think that leaving without a deal is getting less and less likely. the head of the trades union congress, frances o'grady, has told the prime minister to "stop playing to the bad boys at the back of the class" over brexit, and "start listening". theresa may is trying to find a compromise with union leaders, after her brexit deal was voted down by mps last week. jeremy corbyn is still refusing to hold talks with the prime minister whilst the possiblity of a no—deal brexit is on the table, but labour itself is struggling

to contain its own divsions on the best way forward. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. look who's come to t. what will you be saying to the prime minister, len mccluskey? len mccluskey, union leader, who has never even mccluskey, union leader, who has never even met theresa may before, but since her deal went down, number ten badly needs help. don't hold your breath. i'm not full of optimism, but is this just a pr stu nt for optimism, but is this just a pr stunt for the media and for you to say that you've consulted with trade union officials, or is this a genuine attempt to see if we can talk about issues that matter to us? when does labour have to compromise? for me, it is really about the prime minister. she needs to take an initiative demonstrating she is serious, and opening up of the

discussions. number ten is trying to show the unions, mps and knew they mean business. a new promise tonight of protection for new parents at work has emerged. they hope that will show the government's mind, as well as the door, is opened, but... the prime minister frankly has to stop playing to the bad boys at the back of the class. he has a job on his hand, though, to keep labour in step on brexit. a tiny number of jeremy corbyn's mps already backed the prime minister's deal. a few more privately say they might in the end, but right now while leaving without a deal is still a possibility, jeremy corbyn went even talk to the prime minister about it. what we are calling for is the government to take no deal off the table, negotiate seriously with other parties, and with the european union, in orderto other parties, and with the european union, in order to move other parties, and with the european union, in orderto move in other parties, and with the european union, in order to move in the direction of an agreement, which gives us the customs union, the market access and protection of rights. even though they haven't got

the numbers to make it happen, plenty of labour mps and members are on the street trying to push for a referendum. was streeting's the mp for ilford north, where the majority voted to leave. i voted to come out, i don't care what anyone said, that is how i feel. if there was another referendum, would you vote again? yes, but why should we? did we vote twice you to get in? i would like another referendum. i voted to leave. i would vote to stay in now. i would rather put myjob at risk by opposing brexit fan vote to put my constituents's jobs at risk by supporting it. asked different part of labour in different parts of the country what to do about brexit, and there are different answers. they are not split from top to bottom like the tories, but both our main parties struggled to stick to a single script. our top story this evening:

one of britain's most high profile politicians for more than 30 years, scotland's former first minister alex salmond, has been charged with two attempted rapes and multiple sexual assaults. i'm chris mason, i'm in luton, joined me later as we work out the jargon around brexit. on bbc news, petra kvitova reaches herfirst grand slam final since injuring her hand ina grand slam final since injuring her hand in a knife attack. she will face naomi osaka in the australian open showpiece. the man who killed a woman in a speedboat crash on the river thames in 2015 and then fled the country, will appear in court in the former soviet republic of georgia tomorrow for an extradition hearing. jack shepherd was convicted and sentenced in his absence to six years injuly, for the manslaughter of charlotte brown. the 31—year—old says he hopes to overturn the verdict.

today the home secretary, sajid javid, told the georgian authorities that charlotte's family wanted justice to be served helena lee reports. jack shepherd, charlotte brown's keller, himself into keller, handing himself into georgian police yesterday - ten fi on the run. —— killer. before months on the run. —— killer. before he was arrested he spoke to a tv station in georgia. my name is jack shepherd, i was involved in a tragic accident in 2013 in which a local, charlotte brown, tragically died. he was convicted of the manslaughter of charlotte on the left. three days after this photograph was taken she was killed in a speed boat crash. this is the upturned boat moments after it happened. charlotte was found unconscious in the water and died in hospital. her sister said she is shocked at how jack shepherd appeared on georgian television.

she is shocked at how jack shepherd appeared on georgian televisionm seems like he has convinced himself he is innocent in this situation. he has been found guilty and convicted of manslaughter. how can someone continue now, still, to be in denial about their actions? tonight, jack shepherd is being held in this detention centre in georgia. his lawyers are deciding whether or not they will fight his extradition back to the uk. right nowl they will fight his extradition back to the uk. right now i have information based on my client that he was threatened by some people, people in great britain. if he goes to jail people in great britain. if he goes tojail in great people in great britain. if he goes to jail in great britain he will have the problems there. it's not clear whether shepherd will refuse to come back. the former head of extradition at the cbs says he is more likely to want to come home. —— cps. i have no doubt the conditions

are horrendous. he will have a miserable time. i suspect one of the reasons he has handed himself in is because he doesn't want to be a fugitive and once it all over with. cha rlotte's fugitive and once it all over with. charlotte's father says his thoughts are with his daughter. the loss of my daughter is perhaps hiding the feelings i have towardsjack shepherd. i think the process needs to seek its way out. nothing will bring charlotte back. tomorrow, shepherd is expected to be seen in a georgian court for the first time since he handed himself in. helena lee, bbc news. russia has warned america not to interfere in venezuela, after the country's opposition leader declared himself acting president yesterday. the us, which immediately recognised juan guiado's claim, has hit back by saying the regime of the current president, nicolas maduro, is "morally bankru pt" and undemocratic. despite having the world's largest oil reserves, the country has suffered years of economic difficulties. spiralling inflation and shortages of basic goods and medicines led to more opposition protests in the country's capital

caracas yesterday. our north america editorjon sopel is at the white house. russia is warning of catastrophic consequences of external powers —— if external powers get involved, so what is donald trump doing now? donald trump is going about this in a rather orthodox way. come to build alliances. latin american countries we re alliances. latin american countries were fast to come out in support, so was canada. jeremy hunt is in washington today, he has given his backing to the moves by president trump demanding that maduro stand aside. there will be further sanctions. that is certain. the secretary of state, mike pompeo, talked about how the regime had become morally bankrupt, but also demanding that the venezuelan military protect guiado, and ensure

his safety as the interim president. one other thing donald trump has said, he says he is ruling nothing out, everything is on the table. presumably including military action. there is no plan at this stage for any kind of invasion i have heard of, but a naval blockade that would hit venezuela's fuel exports, that would be a real hammer blow to their economy. thanks very much. the mother of james bulger, the toddler who was murdered by two ten—year—olds in liverpool in 1993, says she is disgusted by a new oscar—nominated film about the boys who killed her son. she wants its director vincent lambe to withdraw from the oscars, after his film, detainment, was nominated. he insists he never intended any disrepect to the family, but won't pull out of the oscars. colin paterson reports. do you know why we want to talk to you, jon? detainment is a 30—minute drama about the murder of the two—year—old james bulger in liverpool in 1993. it uses the actual transcripts of the police interviews

with the two boys who killed him, ten—year—olds robert thompson and jon venables. this week, it was nominated for an oscar. the film's irish director believes it's an important work. public opinion now is that those two boys were simply evil, and anybody who says anything different, or gives an alternate reason as to why they did it, or tries to understand why they did it, they get criticised for it. i think we've got a responsibility to try and make sense of what happened. why didn't you tell the bulger family you are making the film? i mean, it's something that we did think long and hard about, and i wanted to meet with them to try to explain, you know, why we made it... this is afterwards? afterwards, yeah, and also why we didn't get in touch. this was long after it was at screenings and film festivals? yes, yes. was that a mistake? so, i do regret not telling them about it sooner. more than 120,000 people have signed

a petition calling for the film to be withdrawn from the oscars. his mother, denise, says the nomination has left her family distraught. seeing the images of actors playing, especially james, it's just... it's horrendous. i just can't get that image out of my head again of him being led away. i think it shouldn't get the oscar. and if he feels that strongly about hurting the family, i think he should pull it himself. the director says that won't be happening. i wouldn't withdraw it from the oscars. it's like saying, you know, should we burn every copy of it, you know? i think it would defeat the purpose of making the film. whose idea was it to take him? the controversy has now even started to make headlines in hollywood, where in exactly one month's time it could be named an oscar winner. colin paterson, bbc news, dublin. let's take a look at some of today's other news. the rise of drug resistant superbugs is as big

a global threat as climate change — according to health secretary matt hancock. under new government plans, the number of prescriptions for antibiotic drugs is to be cut by 15% over the next 5 years. and drug companies are to be given financial incentives to discover new antibiotics. a 94—year—old political campaigner has won an eight—year legal battle to have his details removed from a police database of domestic extremists. john catt had never been convicted of any crime. the european court of human rights ruled that it was unlawful for the authorities to keep files on him. adults in england diagnosed with stage—1 skin, prostate or breast cancer have the same chance of still being alive a year later as the general population, according to new survival estimates from the office for national statistics and public health england. the higher survival rates are thought to be due to more of these cases being diagnosed earlier. back, now, to brexit, and if you're baffled by all the jargon that's constantly bandied around by politicians and journalists, we have

some help for you. all day, bbc news has been breaking down the language about brexit that is routinely used, but rarely explained. our political correspondent chris mason is at the university of bedfordshire in luton. hello from myjungle ofjargon — the terms that tumble and gush out of mouths like mine every second sentence. we've been chatting to people in luton about the terms that baffle them. people can sometimes get bored by it. it is a big mission for us today. we have been out and about in luton asking what it is around brexit that baffles them. what is article 50? this is the element of a treaty that allows a member state to leave. it set a two—year timetable for the

process of getting out, and the uk is getting towards the end of that timetable. as things stand, we will reach it on friday the 29th of march at 11 o'clock at night. let's go for another question. what is the backstop? the backstop is all about the border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. as things stand, things can flow across that easily, stuff and people. the backstop is an insurance policy to make sure that can continue to happen after brexit under any circumstances. i reckon we have got time to squeeze in one more. what is no deal? this is if the uk leaves the european union without any overarching deal, and if that were to happen the uk would trade by rules set down by something called

the world trade organisation. and would then try to secure free trade agreements with lots of different countries around the world. that is about all that i can stomach. back to you. and you can do some jargon—busting of your own online. go to bbc.co.uk/brexit — and click on brexit jargon explained. time for a look at the weather, here's alina jenkins. nojargon in this no jargon in this forecast. it was cold, it is getting milder. we have seen changes in western areas of the uk this afternoon, more clouds and milder conditions. drizzle here in cornwall. it is courtesy of this warm front and behind it milder air. it has been settling in over western fringes of wales and northern ireland. ahead of it, colder air. clear skies this evening, so we could initially see a touch of frost. also ice and snow for a time across the northern half of scotland. that will fade away as the cloud builds from the west, bringing outbreaks of rain, and milder air,

and some of that milder air sinking south and east. it'll be a much milder into the night, 10 celsius across areas. two to 4 degrees across areas. two to 4 degrees across east anglia and south—east england, so a chilly start to the day here but it won't be long until the milder air arrives. a cloudy, breezy, if not windy day. light and patchy rain at times, never amounting to much, but it'll be more persistent over the western side of scotla nd persistent over the western side of scotland in the afternoon. temperatures between nine and 12. northern scotland will still see something colder. on sunday we start to see the colder air returning. saturday, cloudy day, mainly dry for england and wales, but persistent rain arriving into northern ireland, western scotland, and snow for the northern highlands. elsewhere, spells of sunshine, quite breezy, but a mild day again, highs between ten and 12 celsius. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me,

and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. hello, this is bbc news, the headlines... the former scottish first minister alex salmond appears in court charged with a number of cou nts in court charged with a number of counts including attempted rape. he denies all the charges. counts including attempted rape. he denies all the chargeslj counts including attempted rape. he denies all the charges. i refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and i will defend myself to the utmost in court. police in england and wales say there has been a steep rise in the number of violent crimes including knife crime. the search for the missing plane in which the football emiliano sala was flying to wales on monday has been called off. his