britain's most senior police officer contradicts the prime minister over the rise in knife crime. the met commissioner, cressida dick, says there is an obvious link between a rise in violent crime on the streets and cuts to police numbers. i agree that there is some link between violent crime on the streets, obviously, and police numbers. of course there is. and i think everybody would see that. also this lunchtime... a man in britain becomes the second person in the world to be cleared of the aids virus — after a stem cell transplant. i would like to thank my grandma. my sister. my lover. my lover. the government launches the first cervical screening ad campaign, as the number of women having checks hits a 20—year low. the alabama tornadoes — 23 people have died, but dozens are still missing,

as the authorities say they expect to find more bodies. and looking strong as they gear up for this summer's world cup — a big match ahead for england, as they take onjapan tonight. and coming up on bbc news: tottenham can progress to the quarterfinals of the champions league this evening. they head to borussia dortmund with a 3—nil first—leg advantage. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the most senior police officer in britain, cressida dick, has said there is a link between violent crime and cuts in the number of police. the number of young people under the age of 17 who have been stabbed in england has nearly doubled since 2016, according to the latest figures. the metropolitan police

commissioner, cressida dick, says the number of officers has ‘gone down a lot‘ — at a time when demand for policing has grown. yesterday, the prime minister insisted there was no ‘direct correlation‘ between cuts in police numbers and certain crimes. downing street says cabinet ministers will meet to coordinate government support for local authorities. our correspondent, richard lister, reports. an armed gang in broad daylight at renshaw college in lancashire yesterday. you can see one of them brandishing a knife, students were threatened and ii7—year—old was slashed on the arm. a frightening glimpse into britain‘s knife crime epidemic. 0h, glimpse into britain‘s knife crime epidemic. oh, my god! the prime minister said yesterday there is no direct correlation between such incidents and falling police numbers. but in london, which last year saw almost a0 knife crimes a day, the police commissioner is clear, there is a link. there has been more demand for policing and,

therefore, there must be some link between violent crime on the streets, obviously, and police numbers. of course there is. and i think everybody would see that. forces across the country agree they need more officers. this is how their numbers have fallen since 2010, down by more than 20,000. that scale of drop is a very large number of officers no longer on the streets, no longer able to investigate serious crime, no longer able to prevent crime, which is our first and last function. jodie chesney and yousef makki with the most chesney and yousef makki with the m ost rece nt chesney and yousef makki with the most recent victims, she was stabbed to death in east london, he died in greater manchester. time now, say some, for a new approach. police numbers will help but unless we have police out there physically with the confidence to do theirjob, that is not going to make any difference whatsoever. also, there needs to be a national strategy like we have done with terrorism and the prevent campaign, which is a long campaign to get in the schools. we are

placing ribbons in memory ofjodie and also to get people to be aware of knife crime. near the park where jodie was murdered on friday, neighbours are trying to ensure this issueis neighbours are trying to ensure this issue is not forgotten.” neighbours are trying to ensure this issue is not forgotten. i spoke to a lot of my friends and they do seem quite shocked about what has happened. you are a bit unsure whether to let your children out. but we have to let them get on with it and we have to let them get on with it, children have to be able to go out and live their lives still, we can't let them be scared. these murder investigations are continuing and downing street said today the home office would coordinate a series of urgent ministerial meetings to support the police and local authorities in their battle against knife crime. knife crime is a ‘national crisis‘, according to a former minister, who says it should be treated with the same urgency as terrorism. the labour mp vernon coaker said ‘the murder of young people on our streets‘ was an ‘emergency‘. nottinghamshire police is the only

force outside london with a dedicated team working to take weapons off the streets — our reporter, noel phillips, has been given exclusive access to see their approach. siren wails so the officer has just stopped the car on benton road and, straightaway, they‘ve noticed a hammer in the vehicle. these specialist officers are responding to reports of a man with a deadly weapon. the bbc has been given exclusive access to nottinghamshire police‘s knife crime unit — the only force outside of london with a dedicated knife crime task force. do you understand where you have been arrested? stop and search is seen as one of the most intrusive policing powers, but these officers insist it is essential in the fight against violent crime. so, this is what you‘ve recovered from the car? yeah, this was just down by the driver‘s seat, literally within arm‘s reach of the driver. he claims it‘s a tool from his tool box. nearly 900 incidents involving knives were recorded in nottinghamshire last year, compared to 79a in

the previous 12 months. the chief constable says gangs are taking children beyond nottinghamshire‘s borders to rural areas to spread violence, referred to as county lines. i think what we've seen, particularly over recent times, is that we've recovered children from outside nottinghamshire who were born and bred in nottingham. and certainly, they've been used as part of a wider criminal network to go and ply the trade of selling drugs elsewhere. we see probably about a third of that group of people who are certainly touched by either knife crime, viole nt crime or county lines. home office figures show out of a3 forces, nottinghamshire police have seen the highest number of knife crime offences per head of population between april 2017 to march 2018. at nottingham‘s queen‘s medical hospital, one of the biggest trauma centres in the uk, doctors are seeing at least one person a week with severe knife injuries.

nearly every day to nearly every other day, we‘re having someone come in who‘s been the victim of knife violence, and they‘re seriously injured and need a procedure of one sort or another in this hospital, and need to stay in this hospital until we can get them better. last year, medics at this hospital resuscitated 28 children with serious knife wounds — a 50% increase compared to the previous year. i'd say my maximum i've ever seen is, in one night, i had six stabbings. and that was in a 12—hour period, from seven till seven. so, yeah, it's certainly increasing a lot. people say this, people say that, but it was a 14—year—old boy. in this park in nottinghamshire is a memorial for the teenager jaden moodie, who was stabbed to death in east london four months ago. it‘s a crime that has left his local mp demanding action from the government to treat knife crime with the same urgency as terrorism. if a terrorist incident occurs, of course we should deal

with that really seriously, but this is also something which is a national crisis, a national emergency. although nottinghamshire police‘s knife crime unit is barely two years old, its chief constable says the force is already turning the tide when it comes to tackling violent crime. i am absolutely committed to attacking this issue, with all the means that we‘ve got. the home office tell us knife crime is claiming too many young lives and devastating communities. noel phillips, bbc news, nottinghamshire. a man in britain has become only the second person in the world to be cleared of hiv, after he received a bone marrow transplant from a donor who was resistant to the virus. doctors say the treatment is unlikely to benefit many patients, as the chances of finding an exact match from a donor is very small. fergus walsh is here. extraordinary development, but doctors are stressing it‘s too early to talk about a cure? it is fascinating stuff, sophie. this man had cancer so he had a

bone—marrow transplant, and the team at hammersmith hospital were lucky enough to find a donor who was a tissue match, but who also is one of the 1% of the population of caucasians who carry a genetic mutation that makes them resistant to hiv infection. it is a ccrs mutation. and this was passed on to the recipient and that recipient now is 18 months since he has taken no anti—retroviral drugs, so he is hiv free at the moment. and it proves that the first patient back in 2007, who is known as the berlin patient, he is 12 years hiv free. and i think we can probably say he is cured. too early to say with this patient. why not do it for everyone, then? you can‘t because bone—marrow transplant isa can‘t because bone—marrow transplant is a toxic therapy, you would only do it if the patient needed it for a

cancer treatment or something else. it is aggressive, hard to find a match. and because current daily hiv therapy is highly effective, people on medication have a near normal life expectancy, but what it does do is it gives us hope for research into this ccrs mutation which could help about prevention of hiv and potential new treatments. fascinating, thank you. a campaign has been launched to encourage more women to go for cervical cancer screening tests. public health england says the number who take the test is at a 20—year low, even though it‘s a simple procedure. two women die every day from the disease. here‘s our health correspondent, dominic hughes. i‘d like to thank my grandma. my sister. my lover. my bestie. my westie. my mother. thank you for reminding me to go to my cervical screening. this new campaign on cervical screening comes as one in four eligible women in england, those aged between 25 and 6a, don‘t

take up the offer of getting tested. it‘s a similar picture right across the uk, but experts say this simple test is a genuine life—saver. there‘s almost as many reasons why women don‘t take up their invitation as there are women. some women are afraid of the result, and we would urge those women to go for their test, because the screening test is trying to detect early changes, which can be treated, and therefore prevent cancer. around 2,600 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in england each year, and the disease claims nearly 700 lives. that‘s two deaths a day. and yet doctors say if everyone was regularly screened, more than 80% of cases could be prevented. life got in the way of a screening appointment for busy mum of three mandy parker. she put it off for six months. but then came a diagnosis of cervical cancer, followed by a hysterectomy. ijust put it to the side, and i was busy. and now, of course, i regret

not going bang on time. and i think people just need to find that five minutes to go along for the test. it‘s just imperative that people go. do go and have the test. everybody knows that maybe it's not the most pleasant experience, and it might feel a little bit uncomfortable, but it is really very quick, the nurses are so skilled and professional, and they always will put you at your ease. and everybody always says afterwards that it's not as bad as they thought it was going to be. part of the campaign involves rebranding the procedure, so moving away from the idea of a smear test — a phrase which, for some, is confusing, embarrassing, or even frightening — and instead focusing on how screening is a preventative test that could save your life. dominic hughes, bbc news. breaking news this lunchtime. bmw has said it might be forced to stop making the mini in britain, if the uk leaves the eu without a deal.

our business editor, simonjack, is with me. how serious is this? i havejust been onto the phone to them and bmw say this has been a message they have given before but they have to at least consider because they can‘t absorb extra costs on top of production which is referring to ta riffs production which is referring to tariffs are playing in a no deal situation, so this is a sharpening of language in a message they have been pretty clear about, that the introduction of tariffs in no—deal situation would prove an existential threat to production of an iconic british product here in the uk. 0f course, it is not their setback we have had in the car industry, we had hunter announcing they would shut down their swindon plant, they said that was due to their move towards electric vehicles. and nissan said it was the x trail from sunderland, blaming it on diesel products. this is specifically about brexit. none of this will be a great surprise to

the government, the secretary of state for business greg clarke has said in the commons he considered no—deal brexit to be ruinous, in his words, for the uk car industry. government policy is not to have no—deal. however, we are in the middle are very protected negotiations about how to avoid hard border in ireland at the moment and if those cannot be solved, no—deal brexit is still a very real possibility. the mini is currently new “— possibility. the mini is currently new —— made at the cowley plant in 0xford, where would they go if they we re 0xford, where would they go if they were to move? they have an electric plant in the netherlands and they gave an interview which said some production can be lost to a plant they have in austria. so the message from all these global car manufacturers is, we have options, don‘t make us use them, let‘s try and avoid the no—deal brexit. don‘t make us use them, let‘s try and avoid the no-deal brexit. simon, thank you. ministers will resume efforts in brussels to try to secure changes to theresa may‘s brexit deal. the brexit secretary,

stephen barclay, and the attorney general, geoffrey cox, are trying to get guarantees over the backstop plan to avoid border checks in ireland. 0ur europe correspondent, damian grammaticas, is in brussels for us. warnings from bmw like that adding to the sense of urgency. yes, exactly, that bmw warning playing into what you hear both in london from the government there and hear from the government there and hear from the government there and hear from the eu side, who say that to avoid that no—deal, a deal has to be agreed. so can theresa may get one over the line? the key question, as you are pointing out, the minister is heading here today, brexit secretary stephen barclay and attorney general geoffrey cox on their way for meetings this evening, dinner, staying late. the key issue as you are pointing out, that irish backstop question. how are things going? we don‘t know. the signals are ok. at every point so far in this process, the brexit negotiations, lots and lots of them, at critical points, the eu has tried

to give something to help the process along, to get it over that next hurdle. so it seems something will come out of it, will it be enough is the key issue now? it seems very clear the eu is not going to give those big things that eurosceptics want, time limits to that backstop, a unilateral way out for the uk. what it could do and what is under discussion is an additional letter the eu could give with some generous warm words and perhaps even attaching to that some sort of legal significance saying the eu doesn‘t want to have the uk locked into these arrangements in the future, but it will look at alternatives. but will that be enough for geoffrey cox to take back to parliament and to convince mps there in a crucial vote next week? that is much, much harder to see because the eu is saying it will not change fundamentally what is already on the table. it will simply try to help clarify, explain, reassure, and

that may not be enough. labour mps have voiced concerns about the party‘s plans to appoint lord falconer to oversee its handling of anti—semitism allegations. the peer has been asked to review labour‘s internal complaints process, which has been strongly criticised by some mps in the party. 0ur assistant political editor, norman smith, is in westminster. how serious are the concerns over lord falconer? is serious enough, i think, to make it questionable whether lord falconer will be able to take up his post, even though teen corbyn had held the post might go some way to reassure jewish labour held the post might go some way to reassurejewish labour in peace. he has no friend ofjeremy corbyn, he is an old flatmate of tony blair. he was to be given extensive powers to ask for whatever papers and e—mails he wanted, to interview whoever he wanted. but a string ofjewish

labour mps have said this morning that they do not think anyone appointed byjeremy corbyn would be sufficiently independent and, more, one suggests the entire complaints procedure should be taken out of the party and given to an independent body. it has got a bit personal, with veteran labour mp dame margaret hodge suggesting that lord falconer bombarded her with phone call to try to get her to apologise when she was temporarily suspended from the labour party for calling jeremy corbyn an anti—semite. i think it all points to the breakdown interest between mr corbyn and jewish labour mps, which may be irreparable. meanwhile, the conservatives are dealing with accusations of islamophobia? their former chairman, syed abbasi, said the party is in denial about islamophobia and is

gripped by islamophobia. she says there are 50 cases which the party has not taken seriously, most recently involving a prospective conservative council candidate in harlow, peter land, he was readmitted to the party after a series of anti—islamic tweets, one of them saying islam is like alcoholism, the first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem. despite that, he was readmitted and allowed to stand as a council candidate. this lunchtime he has decided to stand down from that position and resigned from the conservative party, but it points to curious symmetry with a labour party leadership under pressure over over anti—semitism and the conservative party under pressure about islamophobia. our top story this lunchtime. britain‘s most senior police officer contradicts the prime minister over

the rise in knife crime, saying there is a link between violence and cuts in the number of police. and still to come... the tiny indian island which is gradually sinking because of climate change. coming up on bbc news... england‘s women could make history tonight. victory overjapan would see them lift the shebelieves trophy and the first silverware for phil neville‘s lionesses. dozens of people are still missing after a series of back—to—back tornadoes swept through the us state of alabama on sunday. rescue teams are searching for survivors. 23 people are known to have been killed, including three children, and officials fear this number will rise. 0ur north american correspondent chris buckler has been to lee county, the worst—affected area. in this corner of alabama, the landscape is scarred by debris for as far as the eye can see. the tornadoes that struck here cut through homes and communities, leaving parts of destruction that are miles long and up to half a mile wide.

we ran around in these woods, ran around everywhere. friends, family. and now it‘s all gone, so... it looks like a bomb went off. i mean, there's just a big crater right there. it used to be nothing but trees and now it's just... you can see the neighbours' house, obviously, but this is completely landscape change. it‘s only when you‘re here where the tornado struck that you can see the force of it. everything that you can see lying just in front of me, this was inside a trailer on the other side of the road. but it has been thrown across the road and everything that was inside is now lying outside, even mattresses. and behind me, there are hundreds and hundreds of trees, all uprooted and lying on their side. a series of tornadoes instantly

darkened the skies on sunday afternoon across georgia, south carolina and florida. but it was alabama that was struck hardest. the tearing, swirling winds hit speeds of 165 miles an hour, ripping roofs from houses. some people had only minutes of warning and not everyone had the chance to escape. oh, that‘s a sweet reunion, isn‘t it, right there? granny‘s 0k. tornadoes are not uncommon in this part of the us, but the number of people killed by this storm stands out, particularly here in beauregard. this is a small community which has been ripped apart. there are children among the dead. this hurts my heart. i love this county and it‘s... it‘s extremely upsetting to me to see these people hurting like this. teams are still searching through the remains of buildings, all too aware that there is a real

possibility of finding more bodies. chris buckler, bbc news, beauregard in alabama. china‘s premier has unveiled tax cuts to boost the slowing economy, and warned parliament to prepare for a tough struggle. li keqiang said the chinese economy faces a crucial year as he addressed the opening of china‘s annual parliament. he announced billions of dollars in infrastructure spending and tax cuts. 0ur china correspondent john sudworth reports from beijing. china‘s parliament opened under a cloud of beijing pollution, but as the 3,000 loyal delegates streamed into the hall, there was no sign of the economic gloom supposedly hanging heavy over this gathering. "are you worried about the economy?", i ask. "of course i‘m not worried," she says, "our country‘s strong."

"the economy‘s getting better and better," this man says. inside, though, the message from china‘s leaders was much more candid, with a list of the serious mounting risks. translation: downward pressure on the economy continues to increase. growth in consumption is slowing. the difficulty private firms face in getting financing has not been resolved. 0ur capacity for innovation is not strong. there are many risks and hidden dangers in the financial sector. so, to shore up growth, he promised tax cuts, more bank lending and — in a clear nod to washington — fairer access for foreign companies. premier li keqiang mentioned the us—china trade dispute head—on, calling it "a profound change".

it is. no us president has ever challenged china‘s economy quite like this, and at a time when growth is already slowing. the promise from parliament today was more economic reform and political control. in china, the two go hand in hand. without economic growth, the fear is there can be no political stability. before they left the first session, the delegates were told of the need to strengthen party loyalty and tighten control over religion. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. the tiny indian island of ghoramara, which sits in a delta by the bay of bengal, is gradually sinking. climate change has caused waters in the area to rise rapidly, and people who have lived there for generations are fleeing. more than half of the land is now submerged, and locals fear it will soon disappear entirely. the bbc‘s devina gupta reports.

trapped by the waters that are taking away his livelihood and home. for this a3—year—old, there is no escaping the effects of climate change. he could be the last of his generation to live on this island of ghoramara in eastern india. he knows it is sinking. translation: there are more flats now, and the water level is rising. there are more floods. my farmland is all in the water. i have to catch fish to survive. more than 50% of the land here has disappeared underwater in the last 20 years, leaving only a.5 square kilometres. scientists say global warming is melting snow caps in the himalayan region and the rivers flowing from those mountains are bringing more water when they empty into the bay of bengal. this is how alarming the situation is. just three months back, there was land here, with five families living in the huts. but all that is left

is that submerged tree. locals have told me it is 30 feet tall, that is about a two storey building. and this is how fast the water is moving in. those who can are leaving. more than half the island‘s population have fled the rising waters in the past decade. it‘s devastating for those left behind, especially for the young. translation: teachers don't want to come and stay here. i want to be a doctor, but how can i study without good teachers? this man left after floods destroyed his home, but safety has a steep price. he lives in a government run resettlement colony on the other side of the river, but refuses to qualities home. —— to call it his home.

translation: this is not my birthplace, this is not where i belong. i was owner of my land, now i have to work hard to make ends meet. but now even this camp is running out of space, and until the government finds a more permanent solution, for the almost 5000 people still stuck on the sinking island, their future could soon be washed away. devina gupta, bbc news, ghoramara. the england women‘s football team take on japan tonight in what could be a defining game for the squad ahead of the women‘s world cup this summer. the lionessess finished third in 2015, and are currently among the favourites to win this summer‘s tournament in france. a victory in florida tonight would give them their first trophy under their manager, phil neville. our correspondentjo currie is with the team, and sent this report. the florida sunshine. a magnet for sun—seekers, spring breakers and senior citizens. and also a haven for wildlife. but for the lionesses, a year ago, the heat got a little bit too much as they missed out on silverware in the final match of the shebelieves tournament.

this time around, they‘re using that heartbreak to their advantage. well, i think i‘ve reminded them of that feeling last year of, you know, that little bit of maybe wejust dropped down a peg or two in terms of our concentration and intensity. the team are in a far, far better place. the thing that i‘m smelling from the players now is that they want to win. england sense victory in this tournament. after an impressive draw against world number one the usa... what an equaliser! ..and beating brazil. the question is now can they hold their nerve against japan, a team who have reached the last two world cup finals? the lionesses have been mixing it with the world‘s best for years, though rarely getting the better of them on the biggest stages. now, though, in their most important year, they look stronger than ever. and success here would be the perfect preparation for victory in france this summer.

that‘s something that england‘s not used to doing as a nation, never mind as a women‘s football team. i think what we‘ve got to get used to is starting to feel like what it‘s like to win, i think that‘s what, kind of, america, germany, france, i think that‘s what carries them through those bad spells. they are champions, they‘ve been champions. i think we‘ve got to find a way of getting to that level, and winning this cup would put us in really good stead for going into a world cup. the lionesses‘ manager will make changes tonight, emphasising that he has belief in his squad. it‘s becoming increasingly clear that the pride also have belief in each other and mayjust be about to make their country proud. jo currie, bbc news, tampa. team! time for a look at the weather. here‘s louise lear. hello, sophie. iwish hello, sophie. i wish i was doing the dog walk this morning, it was glorious. it was chilly but there

was lots of sunshine.