hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... a 16—year—old boy has been found a 16—year—old boy has been found guilty of the abduction, guilty of the rape and murder rape and murder of of six—year—old alesha macphail — killed on the isle six—year—old alesha macphail. she disappeared from her home on the isle of bute last summer. the judge said her killer had committed "some of the most wicked and evil crimes" the court had ever heard. crimes such as this are extremely rare, and i am glad that we've been able to getjustice for alesha and her family. alesha's mother said "words cannot express how devastated i am at losing my beautiful girl". we'll be live in glasgow. also on the programme... the people having to wait six months for disability payments, because assessors, are too tough. therapy, occupational therapist, neurologist, all the different people involved in my treatment,

somehow she was able to override that. in the row over shamima begum, who ran away to join the islamic state group, jeremy corbyn says, she has a "right to return to britain". the government is told gas boilers and cookers should be banned from new homes, if it's to meet carbon emission targets. and, could breaking dance its way, into the olympic games in paris? coming up on bbc news, england bring injack coming up on bbc news, england bring in jack nowell and ben coming up on bbc news, england bring injack nowell and ben moon for their six nations match against wales, who pick gareth anscombe at fly—half. good evening, and welcome

to the bbc news at six. a 16—year—old boy has been found guilty of the rape and murder of six—year—old alesha macphail, on the isle of bute, lastjuly. he can't be identified, because of his age, but the judge at the high court in glasgow, said he'd committed "some of the most wicked and evil crimes" the court had ever heard. the trial lasted nine days, and the testimony was often harrowing, as details of alesha's death were revealed. the boy will be sentenced next month. our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon, is at the high court in glasgow for us this evening. yes, clive, alesha's senseless and barbaric murder shocked the small community on bute, and people right across scotland. her mother wept in court as the unanimous verdict was read out in a victim impact statement, her father read out in a victim impact statement, herfather said day—to—day life had become almost impossible since her murder. her teenage killer showed no emotions as

he was put in handcuffs and led away. here you go. alesha macphail, a little girl who loved dancing, who dreamed of being an internet star, but who was brutally murdered by a 16—year—old boy who took her from her home while her family were sleeping. alesha's mother, seen here with her boyfriend and alesha's father, were in court throughout. they heard harrowing evidence about what had happened to their child. the police read a statement on their behalf. words cannot express just how devastated i am to have lost my beautiful, happy, smiley wee girl. i'm glad that the boy who did this has finally been brought to justice and that he will not be able to inflict the pain on another family that he has done to mine. last summer, shortly after school ended, alesha travelled to the isle of bute. her parents had split up shortly after she was born and she was going there to spend part of the holidays with her father and her grandparents.

bute was described in court as a safe place, a place where many people would leave their doors unlocked. on the night alesha went missing, her grandmother had left the key in the door to their home. that would not be unusual, the court heard, in this small island community. before going to bed, alesha's dad tucked her in, saying he'd see her the next morning. but that night, the teenager let himself into the family's flat, armed with a knife he entered the little girl's room and carried her away. he raped and killed her. she suffered brutal and catastrophic injuries. her 16—year—old murderer tried to blame someone else for his depraved crimes but cctv from the night showed him leaving his house repeatedly. a knife from his kitchen was recovered on a beach. fibres from his trousers were found on the clothes alesha had been wearing. the teenager also sent a video of himself to friends with

the message, "found the guy who's done it". in an earlier message, he claimed he might kill for the lifetime experience, and an internet search on his phone asked, how do police find dna? his dna was found all over the little girl's body and clothes. it all added up to a mountain of evidence. on bute, people have been left struggling to understand. we are a community where everybody knows each other and we have borne it together. it's been in the air. people have supported each other in all sorts of ways, just the simple human ways of being there for each other but it has been a terrible trauma for everybody. alesha's family said she had been a beautiful, beautiful, happy girl. her mother's wish for her daughter, to be remembered for who she was, not her tragic death. lorna gordon, bbc news, at the high court. people who challenge rulings over their disability benefits are having to wait longer to get the money they're entitled to. a bbc investigation into personal independence payments has found some claimants in england,

scotland and wales, are losing out on hundreds of pounds every month. on average, it's taking around six months for a tribunal to hear a case, compared to less than three months, four years ago. and one in ten of those who appeal have to wait more than ten months for a decision. and despite the delays, nearly three quarters of claimants win their case. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan, has the full story. well, apologies for that, we will bring that peace to you when we have it. in the row over shamima begum, the teenager who left the uk to join the islamic state group in syria, the labour leaderjeremy corbyn, says she has a "right to return to britain". ms begum has had her uk citizenship revoked by the home secretary sajid javid, a move mr corbyn says is "extreme".

british nationals can only be stripped of their citizenship if they have dual nationality. two former government ministers are warning they will quit the conservative party if the uk leaves the european union without a deal, a day after three tory backbenchers left the party to join the newly formed independent group, now made up of former members of labour and the conservatives. the 11 defectors say they expect more to join them in the coming days. our chief political correspondent, vicki young, has more. there is a new team at westminster, and speculation that some more signings could be on the way. brexit is part of the reason mps have broken away from their own side to join an independent group in parliament. one former conservative cabinet minister said she could not stay in her party if there is a no—deal brexit. stay in her party if there is a no-deal brexit. we are becoming a single issue party that's consumed by brexit. that's not a recipe for

success. by brexit. that's not a recipe for success. i think we need to wake up and smell the coffee now, because if we don't, then what we will be looking at is a postmortem on the conservative party. another colleague, also campaigning against brexit, has similar worries.|j colleague, also campaigning against brexit, has similar worries. i want to try to make my party act in the national interest, that's the thing oi'i national interest, that's the thing on which i'm focused. if i were to get to a point where i felt my party was no longer doing that, then i would have to resign the whip. these three mps quit the tory party yesterday, accusing the prime minister of a dismal failure to stand up to eurosceptics. theresa may wrote to them today rejecting their criticisms, and insisting she led a modern, open hearted party. we are ina led a modern, open hearted party. we are in a very serious time, as we try to reach the end of getting the right outcome for the united kingdom on leaving the european union so i hope we will all be able to support the prime minister and get the deal through next week. theresa may has another deadline looming, next week some mps will try to seize control

of the brexit process. they want to stop the uk leaving the eu without a deal. ministers have threatened to resign over the matter, so there is even more pressure on the government to bring back its deal to parliament as soon as to bring back its deal to parliament as soon as possible. theresa may has been back in brussels this week, desperate to get changes to their withdrawal agreement that will satisfy mps back home. the labour leader has been making his case to eu negotiators too. the danger of a no deal exit from the european union for britain is a very serious and present one. we from the labour party had made it very clear that we do not countenance a no deal exit because of the danger tojobs. senior european figures share those concerns. the reality in a way that the worst can be avoided, but i am not very optimistic when it comes to this issue. and was this a clue about the current mood in brussels? i have something like a brexit

fatigue, you know? chuckling in the coming days theresa may will need the art of persuasion to convince the eu to budge. and her unhappy mps to stay. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. a bit more now onjeremy corbyn's comments about shamima begum, the 15—year—old who ran away to islamic state, she is now 19, ran away to syria. he says she has a right to return to the uk. our correspondent daniel sandford is at the home office tonight. jeremy corbyn's argument is that she was born in britain and therefore she should be allowed to return to britain and face justice. allowed to return to britain and facejustice. he said it is obviously clear she will need some help when she gets back, presumably help when she gets back, presumably he means the radicalisation, and that she has some difficult questions to answer. but he says it would be an extreme manoeuvre to ta ke would be an extreme manoeuvre to take away her british citizenship when she is someone who after all

was born here and has lived all of her life here. sajid javid the home secretary had insisted he had taken senior advice from lawyers and from officials before he made the very dramatic decision to take away her citizenship, but he is running into not just political trouble but citizenship, but he is running into notjust political trouble but also a bit of legal trouble, as well, with some human rights lawyer saying just because she has the right to bangladeshi citizenship, she doesn't actually have it now, and so depriving her of her british citizenship, sajid javid is still effectively rendering shamima begum stateless, so this is still an argument that is not really over and has many months to run, i think. thank you, daniel. rescue workers have ended their search for victims of a huge blaze in the bangladeshi capital, dhaka. officials are trying to identify at least 70 people who've died. the fire began in a chemical store on the ground floor of a block of flats, spreading rapidly to neighbouring buildings. more on that story about people who

challenge rulings over their disability benefits having to wait longer to get the money they are entitled to. we need to get these made up for mother's day. sam jennings runs a pep-up mother's day. sam jennings runs a pop—up florist in south london. multiple sclerosis limits her ability to work full—time. multiple sclerosis limits her ability to work full-time. since my mobility has declined a bit, cole helps me out as my arms and legs. weight balance problems including numerous falls led the ao—year—old to apply for personal independence payments in march 2017. the application included an assessment bya application included an assessment by a health care assessment who concluded that sam had no mobility issues. despite the fact i had given evidence from multiple disciplines, neurologist, physiotherapist, all the different people involved in my treatment, somehow she was able to override that, despite not being an ms specialist. with little savings

and her deteriorating health increasingly locking her indoors, last summer sam was forced to crowdfu nd last summer sam was forced to crowdfund to pay for a mobility scooper. a few times when i've had the chair i have burst into happiness when i have done something and thought, my god, i haven't done this for ages. like going to algae is not the most rock and roll thing to do but when i went there just to buy apples and didn't have to spend £40 and wait three days, it was emotional. sam's fight continues. a tribunal will hear her case next month, almost two years after she first applied for pip. the department for work and pensions say only a small number of claimants pursue their cases to court, and they are working to improve the system. but this welfare adviser who has won dozens of cases that tribunal says problems with the initial health assessments are creating a backlog. the number of cases that are turned down, and people are lodging appeals, and the syste m people are lodging appeals, and the system just can't cope with the amount that are coming through,

which is inevitably increasing the delays. this is what rejection by the dwp looks like. total, total lies. what she described there was not my daughter. sue campbell lost her daughter victoria last july. not my daughter. sue campbell lost her daughter victoria lastjuly. the 33—year—old had agoraphobia and fibromyalgia, which left her body in co nsta nt fibromyalgia, which left her body in constant pain. last march she was assessed for pip and told she was not eligible. weeks later, she was admitted to hospital. it destroyed her, she gave up. she didn't fit into what you call normal society, but she was a human being. and she was my daughter. and she was my friend, and my world. the week after victoria died, a tribunal decided she was eligible for pip. sue has since successfully sued capita who carried out the assessment on her

daughterfor carried out the assessment on her daughter for maladministration, effectively making inaccurate statements. she has been awarded £10,000. i didn't do it for the money, i did it, i did it for them to try and admit they were wrong. to get somejustice for to try and admit they were wrong. to get some justice for my daughter. because she was ill, and she deserved the support to let her live? yes, i really do believe that if they haven't cut her pip off, my daughter would be still here. sue's memories of victoria are understandably clouded by what she considers to be an avoidable death. capita told us that procedural problems meant the court failed to consider their defence against the family's claim. michael buchanan, bbc news. our top story this evening. a16—year—old boy has found guilty of the abduction, rape and murder of ales ha the abduction, rape and murder of alesha macphail. and coming up, break dancing, could it be a new

olympic sport? coming up on sports day, eight manchester city fan is fighting for his life after an alleged assault after wednesday's champions league match at schalke. german police say he was punched during a skirmish. advisors to the government on climate change say gas boilers and cookers should be banned in new homes within six years. the committee on climate change says the move is crucial to the uk meeting legally binding targets, on carbon dioxide emissions. so, what can we do to change or adapt our homes in the battle against claimate change? our correspondent emma vardy has been finding out. this is extremely energy efficient. these are very high quality windows. keeping things snug is the key to making the energy we do use go so much further.

in future, developers could be forbidden from connecting homes to the gas grid entirely. electric has the advantage that it can be produced sustainably — wind turbines, photovoltaic cells. paul designed this house to use very little energy at all. there are extra upfront costs but payback longer term. that's to do with the fabric of the building, the materials, the windows, the doors. what about for social housing and housing associations in future? it lends itself perfectly to social housing. the good thing about it is, it is using so little energy, the idea of fuel poverty is completely gone. the report says all homes would need to produce zero emissions by 2050. that means making new builds well insulated and airtight with triple glazed windows and ensuring water efficiency with low flow showers and taps. it also means using eco—friendly construction techniques like timber frames instead of concrete or steel. meanwhile, there is also a lot you can do to improve existing homes

such as putting in better insulation, installing low carbon heating systems such as heat pumps, and replacing existing appliances with energy efficient ones. and, like the new builds, you can conserve water using devices to reduce the flow on showers and taps. the home builders federation believes banning gas in new homes is unrealistic because alternative energy sources have their limitations. those recommending the more drastic measures say the government should also reinstate incentives for the simple things homeowners can do like insulating your loft. the government needs to put in place the kind of policies actually that used to exist and you need to be firm about making them a permanent feature so that the market responds and so that householders know what to do. the government's pledged to phase out installations of the most un—environmentally friendly types of heating by the 2020s and has said it will consider the recommendations which are urging them to go much further. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.

the american actorjussie smollett has been arrested in chicago after being charged with filing a false police report. the star of the tv series empire, had claimed he'd been the victim of a homophobic and racist attack by two men last month. but chicago's chief of police says the actor may have staged it all, because he was dissatisfied with his salary. aleem maqbool is in chicago for us. jussie smollett is due to appear at this courthouse very soon but we have already heard stunning details from the police who feel thatjussie smollett, dtb actor, inflicted his own injuries in now appears to have been a petition that a fictitious attack and that also they have recovered a check that he paid two meant to stage it with and a warning that this report on this extraordinary case on which donald

trump has even commented on, it contains some flash photography. it is a humiliating full from grace. used to appearances on the red carpet, actorjussie smollett has now been snapped for his mugshot, arrested for concocting a fake hate crime against him. he is best known to us audiences for playing jamal lyon, a sensitive, slightly troubled r&b singer in the tv series empire. this is exactly where jussie smollett says he was attacked in the early hours of the morning when he had gone out to get food. he says two men punched him, subjected him racist and homophobic abuse, even at one point shouting at him that this was make america great again country, suggesting they had been trump supporters. my manager was still on the phone, so i picked up the phone and i said, brandon, and he's like, what's going on? and i said, i wasjustjumped. and i looked down and i see there's

a rope around my neck. the president himself was among the many who came out to condemn the attack. i think that's horrible. it doesn't get worse. but police now say two brothers, seen here buying ski masks ahead of the incident, were paid by smollett himself to stage the attack because, they say, he was unhappy with his salary. empire actorjussie smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career. i'm left hanging my head and asking why. why would anyone, especially an african—american man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? hate crimes have seen a dramatic increase in the us of late but the police and rights advocates alike have talked of their dismay at the harm jussie smollett has done to those who really have suffered. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in chicago.

for the first time in the history of the catholic church, bishops from around the world are meeting at the vatican, to confront the issue of the sexual abuse of children by the clergy. pope francis convened the four day summit, saying the world expects "concrete measures" to be taken, to tackle the continuing scandal. our religion editor martin bashir is in vatican city, martin... good evening, yes, this summit is focused on an issue that threatens to overwhelm the roman catholic church. in addition to presentations and group discussions, the bishops have been meeting with survivors of abuse as they try to plan a way forward. proceedings began on the west side of the vatican just behind me. a sombre rendition of morning prayer

marked the opening of this gathering of bishops, where the agenda has not been set by scripture, but by scandal. before any speeches, synod hall fell silent to acknowledge the suffering of those abused. pope francis outlined the purpose of this summit. translation: we must listen to the shout of the little ones that demand justice. may the virgin mary illuminate us to try to heal the serious wounds of the scandal of paedophilia. all eyes are on the vatican, as pope francis seeks to develop protocols and practices that could be applied across continents, and in a church that numbers more than 1.2 billion. but one survivor, who was abused by a predator priest in chile, says any new safeguarding policies could still be obstructed by local clergy. the bishops are the ones that are messing this up for everybody,

because they go to their dioceses, they go to their countries, and they tell a different story. they nod their heads in front of the pope and say, yes, your holiness, we'll do this, but then they go back to their countries and they do quite the opposite, they keep covering up, they keep this culture of abuse and cover—up, so it's really, frankly, terrible. back in the hall, those same bishops heard from senior clerics, confessing, sometimes tearfully, to the failings of the church. the wounds of the risen christ carry the memory of innocent suffering... but they also carry the memory of our weakness and sinfulness. pope francis has given the bishops 21 points to help guide their discussions. he wants the church to replace silence and secrecy with disclosure and transparency. but cultural change in a multicultural institution may

be the biggest challenge of all. martin bashir, bbc news, at the vatican. now, should this be an olympic sport...breakdancing. the international olympic committee is to consider including it at the paris 2024 games, with the organising committee saying break dancing would make the olympics "more urban" and "more artistic". our sports correspondent richard conway has more. it is enough to make your head spin. break dancing, or breaking, as it's more commonly known, has risen from the basements and streets of new york in the 1970s and is now headed to the dizzying heights of the paris games in 2024. breaking has come from such a small thing and in such a small amount of time, it came from just people in the bronxjustjamming and stuff and it's come up to this huge thing and people are going to see it

in the olympics and be inspired, like, you know, i want to do this. but while it requires strength, agility and dedication, is it really worthy of a place at an olympics? this dance is so focused on competition. for the last 20, 25 years, we have seen people choreographing and dancing as though their moves are weapons. for me, it makes sense, you know what i mean, there's no reason why it shouldn't go up to that level. breaking is going from the streets to the stadium and it will get its chance to shine in paris in 2024. whether it can remain on the podium at the olympics, that remains to be seen. big respect for each of them. breaking featured at the youth olympics in buenos aires last october and pulled in the crowds. more traditional sports, such as karate and squash, appear to have lost out for 2024 and that, it seems, is all part of an effort by officials to keep the games relevant to a younger audience. now, the decision to include breaking in paris has given b—boys and b—girls across the country

golden ambitions for the future. when you saw like usain bolt or mo farah and they run and win they get that medal and they stand up on those things, that's what i want to feel like. i want to be like them but in breaking kind of style. the olympics is welcoming a new generation to its age—old ethos of faster, higher, stronger. as the world turns, so, too, must the games. richard conway, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. good evening, some exceptional february temperatures today particularly with the sunshine and there was a lot of that as you can see and in parts of eastern scotland temperatures reached 18.3 degrees. the record for now in scotland in february with 17.9 set in 1897 and we broke that today. there was more cloud in the south coast, and that will tend to spread out tonight into

the midlands, east anglia with some fog patches developing. further north and west, extra cloud and patchy rain, not particular cold but elsewhere the temperatures down to 45 degrees. if you are travelling early tomorrow in the south—east, central or southern england and into the midlands, east anglia, maybe east wales and northern england can expect a mixture of low cloud, some missed and potentially fog and some of the fog patches could be quite dense so it might cause some poor travelling conditions. where the fog forms it could be quite slow to clear and forms it could be quite slow to clearand might forms it could be quite slow to clear and might spoil the day a bit in parts of the south—east. elsewhere, a lot of sunshine again. a bit patchy cloud and rain in northern ireland but the temperature is doing very nicely. once again or 14 degrees in the best of the sunshine and may be 17 or 18 even. at the weekend, not much will change. some warm days with some sunshine, still some chilly nights, it's only february, and potentially foggy mornings. on saturday morning

they could be some fog in eastern areas, then sunshine but noted this frontal system bringing rain into northern ireland, western scotland and maybe west wales later but those temperatures are still above where they should be, we should be around 6-9d they should be, we should be around 6—9d and even looking at sunday, good temperatures, dry weather, spells of sunshine but some early fog. thank you. that's it, goodbye from me and now let's join the new steams where you are.