today at five — £200 million of taxpayers' money is to be spent replacing combustible cladding on private tower blocks. ministers identify more than 150 buildings which still need to be made safe following the fire at grenfell tower in west london two years ago. what has been driving me is that sense of public safety and the interests of those living in those buildings. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: the bbc broadcaster danny baker is sacked after tweeting a joke about the new royal baby showing a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee. as labour launches it's european elections campaign, jeremy corbyn criticises the government's handling of brexit and the cross—party talks.

a stark warning that some communities may have to move because of the threat posed by climate change and flooding. dejavu — tottenham come back from 3—0 down to put ajax out of the champions league — 2a hours after liverpool did the same thing to barcelona. it's five o'clock — our top story: the government now says it will cover the cost of replacing flammable cladding on 166 privately—owned tower blocks in england. much of the work has been delayed by disputes between leaseholders and freeholders about who should pay to replace cladding on theirflats, similar to that which was used on grenfell tower. ministers acknowledged it was causing stress and worry for residents.

sarah campbell reports. expert after expert told the inquiry into the grenfell fire that the aluminium composite cladding which covered the tower block was why the fire spread so quickly and lead to such devastating loss of life. in the aftermath, work was carried out on some buildings, such as these in north london, to remove similar cladding, but the government insisted owners would have to pay the bill for the replacement cladding, and so many didn't. now that's changed. the pace of change hasn't been fast enough. many developers have done the right thing and stepped in, and we expect them to maintain those commitments and how they've done so, but ultimately what's been driving me is that sense of public safety and, indeed, the interests of those living in those buildings. after the grenfell fire in 2017, 176 privately owned tower blocks

in england were identified as having similar aluminium cladding. since then, replacement work has been carried out on just ten of those buildings. the government has now pledged £200 million to cover the replacement costs on the remaining 166 buildings which still have the grenfell—type cladding. it will come as a relief for leaseholders, who in some cases have been told they would have to bear the costs of replacing cladding. it's been stressful and it's taken it's toll on myself and a number of other leaseholders. we are living in an unsafe building and we had huge costs placed upon our heads as well. to be quite honest with you, like i say, the stress is insurmountable at the moment. while the government's change of heart has been welcomed, questions are being asked as to whether £200 million will be enough. of course we welcome this funding. it's one step in the right direction.

there's a lot more that needs to be done, and why on earth did we have to leave 40,000 people in private blocks, not knowing what was going to happen with their lives, turning down job opportunities, delay in getting married, for two years, why on earth did the government do that? it's morally reprehensible that they didn't act sooner. building owners have three months to apply for the government money. until the cladding is replaced, thousands of people will continue to live in fear that their tower block could suffer a catastrophic fire. sarah campbell, bbc news. let's speak now to the architect and fire safety expert, sam webb, who is the co—founder of tower blocks uk — a network for people with concerns about tower block housing safety. he's in our cambridge studio. thank you for being with us. the change of heart from the government, do you welcome back? we do, yes. but as your last speaker said, why has

it taken two years? this is only pa rt it taken two years? this is only part of the problem. there are a number of other buildings clad in other types of cladding, such as that used at one particular building that used at one particular building that was involved in a terrible fire in 2009. that's ten years ago, and the warnings were put out then. if this happens in the middle of the night, the death toll, which in that case was six, would be ten or 12 times as high because people would be asleep. and nothing is being done about that type of cladding. you are

seeing it does not go far enough and i also saying this £200 million, the government needs to spend more than that? yes. there are other buildings as well that we discovered in our research, one type of construction, there are many of those, some of them have been over clad, some have had gas supplies fitted and in some cases, piping for the mains gas runs in the gap behind the installation and the wall of the building, the outside wall of the building, and that's the gap that you actually had

in grenfell tower. so if there is fire there, which sets the cladding outside the cladding, on fire, what happens to the gas piping that is in the space between that cladding and the space between that cladding and the building? you are really saying this is not just about cladding, it is a other aspects of power blocs, it is about the location of gas supplies, it's about fire safety doors —— tower blocks. yes. in the 1980s, when i was investigating one case and the francis clark, one of the co—founders of tower blocks you,

with me, we were asked to look at lots and lots of flats, notjust in london, but all over the country and what struck as was the pause states of the common areas, such as broken fire doors —— pause states of the common areas. fire doors that did not actually shut properly in some cases, some that were missing completely. that is something which exists now. after one house fire it was discovered through incidentally, through the bbc and inside housing magazine that in london and throughout the uk, fire risk assessments were not properly being

carried out by local authorities and building owners. that puts everybody in those buildings at risk. very good to talk to you and get your analysis. thank you very much. the bbc presenter danny baker has been fired from his radio five live show after being accused of mocking the racial heritage of the duchess of sussex by tweeting about the new royal baby using a photograph of a baby chimpanzee. he captioned the image, which showed a couple holding hands with the chimp, royal baby leaves hospital. he deleted the image and apologised for what he called a "stupid unthinking gag". but the bbc said it was a serious error of judgment. jon donnison reports. where are you from? danny baker under siege at his south london home this morning. he'd just got the call from the bbc telling him he had been fired over his offensive tweet.

what did they say to you? the bbc must uphold the honour of... basically, they said to me... it seems the conversation with his bbc bosses ended badly. and i said bleep. bleep. so, by mutual agreement, we've terminated. and this is the tweet in question. it shows a vintage photo of a wealthy—looking couple. we have decided not to show the image in full but they are holding hands with a baby chimpanzee wearing a jacket and a bowler hat. the caption... are you saying you had no idea it was meghan markle's baby? that's the thing... you wouldn't do

that if you knew that. the writer and broadcaster afua hirsch said not only had danny baker compared a baby with african heritage to an ape, but a later twitter apology where he suggested to find the photo racist you would have to have a diseased mind, was a classic example she said, of blaming those who call out racism. she is not the only one who condemned the tweet. it sends out the message it is ok and it is not 0k to be racist and it's not ok to use a platform where many people follow you and see that and think, danny has done it, it is fine. danny baker has had several stints presenting at the bbc. this is the second time he has been fired from bbc radio five live. in 1997 he was sacked after encouraging football fans to make the life of a referee hell. in a statement today, a bbc spokesperson said...

ithought, oh, i know, the posh chimp in the thing. oh, you meant... but danny baker continues to insist he had been stupid, not racist. 0ur entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba is here. danny baker pretty angry with the way her —— the way has been spoken to by the bbc, quite a furious reaction from him. he's taken the view the punishment has exceeded the crime he committed. he admits it was a stupid tweet to send but he thinks the bbc have not handled it in the way they should have and he has been mocking them in series of interviews with broadcasters and print media, he

seems to think the bbc have read intent into his part that was not there. and also take on too much notice of what has been blowing up on social media about the issue and has clearly ta ken on social media about the issue and has clearly taken the view he should have been told off for its but he should not have actually lost his job because he says he had no intention to be racist and that is the key thing in all of this, from his point of view. of course, not everybody agrees. from the bbc‘s point of view, what have they said? they've been very clear, early this morning they took the view he could not continue broadcasting on radio five live and so they said he is a great broadcaster but he has to go. it's grown up all sorts of issues in the fact, should he have sent it in the fact, should he have sent it in the first place —— throwing up all sorts of issues. the bbc have taken the view he was a very experienced

broadcaster, issues of racism have been at the forefront in the past few months in particular and so he should have engaged with these issues before he tweeted. lots of people have taken the view that might be true and what he said afterwards has also inflamed other people as well as was hinted at in that piece in which he said i'm sorry and added other caveats leak can only see this in a racist way if you have a diseased mind, almost hinting he is the victim of a twitter mob, if you like and he is somehow a slight victim in this. 0ne, somehow a slight victim in this. one, should he have done it firstly and also has his apology been sincere enough and went at the issue in the right way. there are people who think the bbc had no alternative. thank you very much. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has promised

to unite the country as he launched his party's campaign for the european elections today. speaking in kent, he said the prime minister had yet to make "a big offer" in cross party brexit talks and that it was "difficult" to negotiate with a disintegrating government. he said that labour would back a public vote if no "sensible" deal was agreed, and there was no general election. jessica parker reports. it's going ahead. everyone admits that now. elections to the european parliament will be held two weeks today. in kent, labour launched its campaign with jeremy corbyn stepping onto the stage. a vote for labour is a vote to bring our divided country back together. labour is the only party with a plan to unite our country and make it work for the many, not the few. and what of cross—party talks on a possible brexit deal with the government? labour has been trudging this path for a while now. in those talks, there

has been no big offer. and the red lines remain in place. it's actually quite difficult negotiating with a disintegrating government, with cabinet ministers jockeying for succession rather than working for an agreement. it is in the country's interests to try to get this sorted one way or the other. and coming into view, a government hope to try and get the ball rolling by introducing brexit legislation ahead of the european elections. it is the government's intention to seek cross—party agreement to get a bill that the whole house can support. it is absolutely essential that we leave the european union and three years on, it is utterly unacceptable that we haven't done so yet. those hopes of progress are pinned on this man, but he has to keep his party on board as well. labour's had some pretty public wranglings on its position over brexit, particularly how full

throated its support should be for a further referendum. for this election, the party has renewed its compromise plan, but after labour suffered losses in last week's local elections some have questioned whether the party needs a simpler message. so all eyes are now onjeremy corbyn, as westminster waits to see if he will play a major part in waving through the brexit deal. jessica parker, bbc news. the snp has launched its european election campaign ahead of the vote on the 23rd of may. voters in scotland will elect six of the 736 members of the european parliament. nicola sturgeon, the leader of the snp and first minister of scotland said that the decision to leave the eu must be reversed. the message we will send as this one. scotland has had enough of being ignored. scotland has had enough of the westminster chaos and

scotla nd enough of the westminster chaos and scotland does not want brexit. 0n may the 23rd, people across this country can vote snp to show scotla nd country can vote snp to show scotland will not be ignored anymore. vote snp to stop brexit and vote snp to keep scotland at the very heart of europe. the fiancee of the first person killed in the london bridge attacks two years ago, xavier thomas, has told an inquest she had a premonition of a terror attack on the day he died. the inquest has begun examining the circumstances of each of the eight people killed. 0ur correspondent richard lister is at the old bailey. just talk us through what was heard today? this was a day that was focusing purely on the first victim, xavier thomas, the first to be killed when he was struck by the van on london bridge and thrown over the railings

into the water. we heard from a very collected but ultimately quite emotionalfor a smack, his partner, who arrived with him on the morning of the attacks a0 weekend —— a very composed but quite emotional christine delcros. they had arranged to go for cocktails at the shard but she was reluctant to go because she had premonitions about a terror attack but she ultimately did not wa nt to attack but she ultimately did not want to disappoint him and so they walked across london bridge and they we re walked across london bridge and they were aware of the van behind them and next thing she knew she was lying injured on the ground she said she thought she had died. as she came round she asked where xavier thomas was, no one seemed to know and his body was only recovered from the river thames three days later. we also heard from our bbc colleague who was on the bridge and one of the people who saw the van striking

people, she jumped out people who saw the van striking people, shejumped out of people who saw the van striking people, she jumped out of the way but she passed the french couple just moments before. she knew they had been struck and went over to help christine delcros. and try to give her your students. she said in an emotional statement to the court after giving evidence people who do these kinds of attacks try to divide us these kinds of attacks try to divide us and she said i found the opposite to be true, and i want the families of victims to know we are not victims of terrorism about survivors. a very emotional scene and many people moved by that statement. there has been questioning by the families over whether or not there were efforts made to find xavier thomas's body because it was three days before it was found. today we heard from some of those who took part in the search, saying after about 15 minutes or so they were fairly sure if there was a body in the water floating they would have found it but if it was submerged then it was

u nfortu nately too but if it was submerged then it was unfortunately too late. the inquest continues tomorrow. eu leaders are meeting to discuss the future of the union at an informal summit in romania. the event, which was scheduled two years ago, was initially planned for the 27 countries to look ahead following the uk's scheduled departure from the bloc on 29th march. brexit is not on the agenda — and britain is not formally taking part. europe's leaders led by emmanuel macron and, close behind, angela merkel, enjoying a moment in the sun. they have weathered a decade of crises, financial cot migration got brexit and now in romania where there is enthusiasm for the eu, and there is enthusiasm for the eu, and the change it is brought, the leaders were here to chart the eu's future. i'm happy to be here, first to

celebrate europe and to speak about oui’ celebrate europe and to speak about our common future. that future is explicitly one without the uk. are you missing the uk? brexit regretted, not just by are you missing the uk? brexit regretted, notjust by the leaders. for the uk you have a message? come back and read joiners. rejoining the eu. some did say they will miss the uk and the contribution it has made to shaping the eu. believing in free trade and fighting red tape in brussels, i always looked at the uk as a strong ally and there will definitely be a voice missing. many were keen to move the agenda on. this is the first time we do not speak about brexit for the past three years so i'm very happy to speak about other topics. among those other things, issues eu leaders are best addressed by

nations cooperating, not alone, challenges posed to the eu view of the world by the us and china, threats by russia. when it was planned it was envisioned the leaders would meet here whilst the uk had quit the eu, brexit may be unfinished business but this is still very much the 27 other nations charting their way forward without the uk. what do you think the eu countries need to focus on in the next five yea rs ? need to focus on in the next five years? climate change, and, thirdly, i believe... climate change. we must get serious about what it is about our policies and how we invest our common money into changing this and also presenting arguments to the us and china and india to follow europe's lead. and the single market is all aboutjobs lead. and the single market is all about jobs and growth and this

lead. and the single market is all aboutjobs and growth and this is what europe's great strength is, the union of 500 million internal markets, not a conglomerate of countries with ten or 20 or 30 billion. as much as the plans being laid by eu leaders it will be the votes of hundreds of millions of eu citizens in the coming parliamentary elections this month at the balance of forces that emerges that will start to mould your‘s new future. of forces that emerges that will start to mould your's new future. -- europe's new future. listening to the leaders of they sound absolutely delighted not to be talking about brexit for once. you are right, they were. there was a visible sigh of relief they could start to grapple with some other issues, you heard them talking about there. also one thing, grappling with the question of the new leadership of the eu institutions that will be put in place at the end

of this year and what we've just had this afternoon is an announcement there will be another summit later this month, 28th of may, immediately after the european elections, that the eu leaders will gather and they will seek to take control of that process , will seek to take control of that process, particularly from the european parliament, to try to name decide whom they will put forward as the names for the new head of the european commission, to replacejohn forjunker, key roles for the next five years and, importantly, the eu will be at that summit —— replace jean—claude juncker. thank you very much indeed. it's been quite an extraordinary couple of days for english football after two of the most unlikely comebacks saw liverpool and tottenham book their place in the champions league final. for the first time in 11 years, two english will contest the final in madrid next month. and as liverpool did

on tuesday night — the tottenham player couldn't hold bank their excitement of reaching their first european cup final. # that the fire in your heart is out # i'm sure you've heard it all before # but you never really had a doubt # i don't believe that anybody feels the way i do about you now cheering 0n the minds of supporters from both teams will be how much will the price of ticket and flights to the spanish capital. liverpool and tottenham have been allocated around 16,500 — that's less than half of athletico madrid's brand new wanda metropolitano stadium, which has a capacity ofjust under 68,000. and they're not cheap — just over half of the tickets will cost more than £150.

the best seats will set support back more than £500. as well as tickets, supporters travelling to madrid will have to pay upwards of 1000 pounds for flights from london, and nearly £1500 from liverpool. that doesn't take into account costs for accommodation. let's discuss this in more detail with gron brookes — secretary of the spirit of shankly — the unofficial liverpool supporters' trust. he's in our merseyside newsroom. thanks for being with us. it will cost liverpool fans lots of money, isn't it? understandably, after tuesday night eve ryo ne understandably, after tuesday night everyone was delirious after seeing one of the best european cup performances ever and especially at anfield, that we get to enjoy so often but the next day is tainted quite a bit when you wake up to 900% increase on the place of flights,

hotel bookings getting cancelled and relisted for many times the price. then we find out we only got 16,500 tickets and then the price of those tickets, it takes the shine off it somewhat. let's talk about the ticket allocation, 16,000 for each of the clu bs allocation, 16,000 for each of the clubs in the stadium of nearly 70,000 people, you wonder who are the other people getting tickets. i think uefa needs to be clear about where the tickets are going. i imagine many are going to uefa sponsors as well. given the sponsors wa nt to sponsors as well. given the sponsors want to be associated with football to access supporters and sell their products i think they need to consider the impact it has on supporters at the game. let's also talk about the escalating cost of flights to madrid. i know one of the merseyside mps was really talking about airlines profiteering from this but i suppose you could

argue it'sjust a question of from this but i suppose you could argue it's just a question of supply and demand and, sadly, for that day demand is massive. supply and demand and the way markets work but, equally, it is a monopoly for liverpool fans and supporters who ever got to the final, effectively got a monopoly over going there, people do not have a choice and that's not really a market working, it isa that's not really a market working, it is a monopoly. we now fans trying to get to the champions league final last you had lots of problems, you do not want to see that repeated. we expected it to be better at this time around, we were told kiev was on the far side of europe with limited capacity in terms of airport space, infrastructure, we expect would going to one of the major european capitals in madrid this time would be better but those reasons that were brought out last time and would not apply now, it appears nothing has changed. at the quick prediction of the result? as long as we win. are you confident?

always confident, always confident. thank you for being with us. and now let's get a look at the weather. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz with the forecast. we've had some showers again today. the skies were clear tonight and it'll turn nippy across north—eastern areas of the uk. after a chilly night, tomorrow further showers in the forecast, not as many of them around tomorrow. at the moment, a lot of cloud across the uk, particularly across northern parts of england. the southwest has done quite well, devon and cornwall, the south coast of wales, some lovely sunshine. here is the weather for tonight. still a few evening showers overnight, but the north is looking clear, dry, and cold. zero in newcastle, 6 degrees in cardiff, which is chilly enough first thing. tomorrow starts sunny for most of

us, but through the through the morning the clouds will bubble up once again, and we'll get one or two showers. i suspect most of the showers. i suspect most of the showers will be across the southern half of the uk, rather than in the north. top temperatures tomorrow, 17 in london, still chilly in newcastle, 10 degrees, you are up to date. this is bbc news. the headlines... ministers identify more than 150 buildings which still need to be made safe following the fire at grenfell tower in west london two years ago. the bbc broadcaster danny baker is sacked after tweeting a joke about the new royal baby showing a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee. as labour launches its european elections campaign, jeremy corbyn criticises the government's handling of brexit and the cross party talks. prepare for the worst — a stark warning that some

communities may have to move because of the threat posed by climate change and flooding. all of the latest sport now. we've already had three nights of incredible football drama this week and could we be set for a fourth tonight? arsenal and chelsea will both be hoping to make it a second all english european final when they play in the second legs of their europa league semifinals. chelsea will be taking on eintracht frankfurt. 1—0 from the first leg. joe wilson is outside stamford bridge. that away goal in germany a week ago, that could prove crucial, couldn't it? i think couldn't it? ithink so, couldn't it? i think so, i think it's an enabled chelsea to feel confident. if it finishes goal as they will go through. i think they will expect to win this game with some degree of

comfort. they are playing an eintracht frankfurt team who are coming here having performed exceptionally well in the europa league so far this season. they are fourth in the indus league. this is their biggest game since 1980, i suppose, when they reach the final of the uefa cup. —— in the bundesliga. again spy leverkusen at the weekend they lost a 6—1. —— against bayern leverkusen. when we turn our attention to chelsea, this will be a chelsea side this evening which, we can presume, will start with eden hazard in the team. remember, he came on as a substitute in the first leg. there is no n'golo ka nte. we expect in the first leg. there is no n'golo kante. we expect him to be injured after picking up a hamstring injury against watford. 0ne after picking up a hamstring injury against watford. one very important subplot to this whole game is the

fa ct, subplot to this whole game is the fact, or the expectation, that this might be eden hazard's last game for chelsea at stamford bridge. nothing confirmed, but there is expectation he will leave in the summer. it has been the point of a lot of speculation. i'm sure he would like to leave with some big silverware. if chelsea go on to win this, will it change the perception of the manager, maurizio sarri, because it's been a difficult first season in charge? good question. i think it well. on one level, maurizio sarri has said, we've done ourjob, we know we will be in the champions league next season, getting into the top four is the most —— isn't the most important thing. i think it is, in a way. if you look at what liverpool and spurs have managed to do with mauricio pochettino and jurgen klopp, they are managers that have moulded the tea m are managers that have moulded the team into their image, they have formed a bond between the players and the fans with the way they've gone about things. no manager here at chelsea has been given the opportunity to do that, really. finishing in the top four is ok, but

when you get to a final, you go through all of that, the possibility of lifting a trophy, the emotional journey, i think that will enable, possibly, maurizio sarri to form that bond between himself, the players, and the fans, that only winning hiv can do. we are braced for even more, or even moura. thanks. arsenal will be travelling to valencia with a 3—1 lead from the first leg. this competition is their only realistic hope of champions league football next season. arsenal fa ns league football next season. arsenal fans will be hoping that unai emery maintains his great record in the competition, he won it three years ina row competition, he won it three years in a row from 201a to 2016. danny cipriani says he was honoured to be named the player of the year by the rugby players association. voted for by his fellow professionals. danny cipriani wins after guiding gloucester into the play—offs. he is now targeting

premiership glory and a place in england's world cup training squad. that's all the sport for now, you can find more on all of those stories on the bbc sport website. i will be back with more at 6:30pm on sportsday, see you then. thanks very much. see you then. more than £1 billion a year will have to be invested in flood defences in england and in some cases entire communities will have to move to protect homes and infrastructure from the effects of climate change. that's according to the environment agency which says more than five million people could be affected. 0ur environment analyst, roger harrabin explains. floods have wreaked havoc in the uk in recent years. 17,500 properties were flooded and several bridges collapsed in storms desmond and eva. the collapse of tadcaster bridge sent locals on a ten—mile round—trip to get from one side of town to the other. the environment agency forecasts more intense bursts of rain and continuing coastal erosion

with climate change. it says currently two—thirds of properties in england are served by infrastructure that is at risk of flooding, and it calculates that, for every home flooded, around 16 more suffer problems with power, transport or telecommunications. we should invest heavily to protect properties, it says. we can't continue to wage a war against water by building ever higherflood defences and barriers. so we are preparing for resilience measures, bringing in a range of different methods for better protecting communities against flooding and climate change. some whole communities may have to be abandoned to get them out of harm's way, the agency says. meanwhile, house building on flood plains to cope with the uk's growing population will mean properties built on a flood plain will double over the next 50 years. and that in turn will mean more

spending on protection. green groups say the uk should be trying harder to prevent climate change in the first place. we believe resilience is undeniably important to protect communities up and down the country who are at risk of flooding. but, if the government really wants to protect those communities, we need to tackle the climate crisis at its heart, and to do that we've got to urgently invest in greener transport, cleaner energy and doubling the uk's tree cover. but extreme weather looks here to stay, however quickly the uk cuts its own emissions. the government said it was taking flood risks very seriously and would be seeking evidence for its own flood policy in the autumn. roger harrabin, bbc news. well, greenhouse gases released during air travel contribute to climate change, but a tiny proportion of passengers choose to offset the impact of their flight.

new research has found thatjust 1% of passengers pay for carbon offsetting. jet fuel is one of the biggest causes of carbon dioxide pollution, and now scientists warn we have just 12 years to stop a "climate catastrophe". here's our environment reporter, laura foster. over a billion passengers fly every year. at bristol airport this lot are pretty excited for their trips. but have any of them ever heard about carbon offsetting? no, never, no, never. i have. i don't know where you go to buy that. it sounds like a really good idea. i suppose people will be able to feel less guilty about flying. so what is carbon offsetting exactly? well, it's where you attempt to balance out your share of emissions from your flight. you pay extra. that money goes to environmental projects which reduce carbon dioxide. for each passenger on a return flight between london and south africa, the co2 emissions are roughly the same as those produced from heating your home for a year.

balancing out these emissions would add around $26 to your fare. that money is spent on things like solar panels, planting trees and capturing methane gas. bbc research shows only half the world's biggest airlines offer customers the chance to pay to offset their carbon footprints. professor neil harris believes both governments and airlines need to do more. all opt—in schemes tend to have low take—up, whether it's for kidney donation or whatever, so having it as opt—in does not help. secondly, i think there's a lack of clarity what the scheme is, so you want to know that your money is being well spent. and thirdly, some people willjust be trying to save costs. but it's not the only thing that can help reduce the impact of your flight on the environment. choosing a direct flight rather than one with a stopover, because a lot of the emissions are produced during take—off and landing. even small things like taking less baggage, because the higher weight the more fuel used. some say carbon offsetting doesn't go far enough and that

people need to fly less. others feel offsetting is better than doing nothing. laura foster, bbc news, bristol airport. dozens of civilians have been killed during two weeks of intense bombardment in northwest syria. the syrian government backed by russia has been carrying out airstrikes in the last rebel stronghold of idlib. 200,000 people have been forced to flee the fighting. with more from neighbouring lebanon — martin patience reports. she was pulled from the rubble into the darkness. this little child was only one of her family to survive the air strike. her family only one of her family to survive the air strike. herfamily had only one of her family to survive the air strike. her family had fled their home village in search of safety. their best option, a chicken farm where they lived in a hen house. now she is being cared for by her grandfather.

translation: my son, his wife, ann two of their children died, and only his daughter survived. we collected the bodies from the hospital and buried them. she's the only one left. russian and syrian aircraft have been seen in the skies above north—west syria. idlib province remains the last rebel stronghold. an agreement last year was supposed to end the fighting, but that's now been shattered. activists say the russian backed syrian regime has been striking hospitals. targeting medicalfacilities is been striking hospitals. targeting medical facilities is considered a war crime. for the sick and injured there is no escape. 0nce war crime. for the sick and injured there is no escape. once again, syrians are taking shelter wherever they can find it. the war is older

than many of these children. people here fear the syrian government may now launch a ground invasion in a corner of the country where there is nowhere to run. martin patience, beirut. nearly one—in—five police officers across the uk have symptoms of post—traumatic stress disorder, according to a major study by the university of cambridge. the research found that many try to continue working with the condition, and only a minority of staff have been clinically diagnosed. our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw reports. he's a policeman who runs towards danger. not afraid to break down doors or break up a fight. but pc lee jackson was floored by ptsd. post—traumatic stress disorder. someone tried to gouge my eye out and i was blinded for a short while.

i dealt with that. thought i could, as i had done hundreds of times before, move on from it, but i was having flashbacks. i would wake up in a sweat, physically feeling like i was back living that moment again. a new survey of almost 17,000 police officers suggests that ptsd is far more common than thought. 90% of those surveyed said they had been exposed to traumatic events. one in five of those officers reported symptoms of ptsd far higher than in the general population. yet the vast majority of police said they would go to work as usual, even if they were suffering from stress, anxiety or depression. post—traumatic stress disorder is not a lifelong condition but it needs to be nipped in the bad and it needs to be addressed and this means a change to operational policing. the time for the british stiff upper is over. but policing remains unpredictable and dangerous. these four officers were stabbed

by a man who lured them to a house in london with a false 999 call. a national police well—being service is being launched to provide more support across england and wales. it will be needed for officers with physical injuries and those with longer lasting mental scars as well. danny shaw, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... the government will pay for replacing grenfell tower—type cladding on private tower blocks in england — at a cost of £200 million. the bbc broadcaster danny baker is sacked after tweeting a joke about the new royal baby showing a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee. as labour launches its european elections campaign, jeremy corbyn criticises the government's handling of brexit and the cross—party talks. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this

is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. david beckham has been banned from driving for six months. appearing at bromley magistrates court, he was given six points for driving his bentley while using a mobile phone in london's west end. the former england captain was charged after a member of the public told police they had seen him driving while on the phone. david lumb gave this update from outside the court. he was wearing a grey suit, white shirt, he was greeted by a large number of press and media keen to ta ke number of press and media keen to take his picture. the court heard this incident took place on november 21 last year in the western part of london. he was spotted by a member of the public on his mobile phone. that member of the public to a number of pictures of him. the court heard that at the time he had two existing offences and six point already on his licence. the solicitor representing david beckham

said he couldn't actually remember this incident, but he decided he was going to plead guilty at the earliest opportunity. he pointed out to the court that his client loved driving, particularly taking his children to school. the district judge said she had no choice but to put another six point on his licence, which therefore bans him from driving. she said, i take into the account that at the time the traffic was slow moving but that, as you know, is no exclusive in law. it was still distracting and still poses a risk to yourself and other road users. he was given a £750 fine and was told to pay a victim surcharge of £75. let's take a look now at some of the other stories this hour. police in northern ireland investigating the murder of thejournalist, lyra mckee, have arrested three men and a teenage boy under terrorism legislation. the 29 year old was shot dead while observing rioting in londonderry last month.

thousands of troops have taken part in a parade in moscow to mark the 7ath anniversary of the soviet union's victory in world war two. the russian president, vladimir putin, attended the annual march in the capital's red square — which showcases russian's military tanks, planes and artillery. early results from south africa's general election show the governing anc ahead of its rivals, and on track to win well over fifty percent of the vote. the party took 62% of the vote at the last general election in 201a — anger over the economy and corruption may have eroded its appeal. the final results will be announced on saturday. the number of universities with a financial deficit has more than doubled in the past five years, research by bbc news has found. a quarter of higher education providers spent more money last year than they received in income. unions say the figures show the higher education system is under growing strain, whilst the government says its policies have boosted universities. david rhodes reports.

for second year student maria, she didn't think the finances of her university would matter to her until she noticed staff being made redundant. there have been a lot of cuts, actually, around academic staff. if you need help with your dissertation is, your projects, your work. we know we can see our academics are quite stretched in the amount of work they are doing. it has put a lot of mentor stress on students. staff cuts at the university of bradford have been caused by financial pressures and more universities across the uk are feeling the strain. —— mental stress. 18 education centres said they were in debt. that was back in 2012. that has more than doubled for

2017 and 2018. there is an impact on universities and there is a change in terms of the environment. there are pension increases, potentially, which will have an impact on university finances. the university of bradford has one of the largest deficits in the country caused by a redundancy programme and improvements made to student accommodation. we are in the middle ofa accommodation. we are in the middle of a two to three—year programme in reshaping the way we operate internally. that plan will leave us ina internally. that plan will leave us in a viable and sustainable position over the medium term. universities in england are now worried about an introduction of tuition fees, their main source of income. labour want to abolish them. the conservatives are considering a plan to reduce them from £9,000 per year to £7,500. but universities say a cut in fees would have consequences. larger class sizes. they might have less contact time. potentially fewer resources available to support their learning. the government says its

policies have boosted the sector by £6 billion since 2012 and the decision about tuition fee levels is expected to be made later this year. david rhodes, bbc news, bradford. train companies are making it difficult hard for passengers to claim compensation when their service is significantly delayed, according to new research. the consumer group ‘which?’ found that some train companies require passengers to submit 2a separate pieces of information. it says an automatic system for paying refunds is long overdue. 0ur transport correspondent, tom burridge reports. catch a train and if you arrive more than 30 minutes late, you might be entitled to half your money back. an hour and it could a full refund. —— an hour and it could be a full refund. but getting the money you're owed often isn't easy. we had a lot of delays and cancellation with my trains all the time, but i've never claimed

it, because there's no point claiming it. i heard that via someone on the train, talking to someone else. i thought i'd give it a go and a couple of weeks later, after i tried it, i got my money back. i don't really know how to go about it, like, how to get the compensation, i don't really know. so i'd probably think about it and then just forget, and not actually go through with it. according to one survey, only around a third of eligible refunds are actually claimed back. the consumer group ‘which?’ says it's because the system is too complicated. it found that some train companies were asking claimants for as many as 2a separate pieces of information. when you're considering a system now that is asking for reams of information, 2a separate pieces of information, train companies often put forward the idea they're trying to prevent fraudulent claims coming through. the easiest way that could happen is now looking at automatic compensation being put in place. systems need to be updated. smart cards need to be introduced. these are all things these train companies should be getting to grips with, sooner rather than later.

train companies say they're working to make compensation claims easier and that information from passengers is necessary to guard against fraudulent claims. some operators automatically pay compensation, but it's still the exception, not the norm. and passenger groups say that needs to change. tom burridge, bbc news. an ancient burial site discovered between a supermarket and a pub in essex is the last place you would expect to find an anglo—saxon prince, but experts have described one such discovery as the uk's equivalent of tutankhamun's tomb. the site in southend is believed to mark the resting place of the brother of a 6th century king. 0ur correspondent debbie tubby has been in southend. most of the artefacts have been brought here to southend museum, and they were only discovered because of roadworks 16 years ago.

since then, 50 experts have been working on the project. one of those is liz barham from the museum of london archaeology. just explain to me how you can compare this to the tomb of tutankhamun? this burial is full of wonderful things. as carter said when he first peered into the team. and it's full of exotic, imported goods. it's got gold and items, and also many personal items that belong to the person who is buried. —— as carter said when he first peered into the tomb. you found gold crosses on his eyes? yes, that shows us that this is probably the earliest elite christian anglo—saxon burial ever found. it's a very personal thing to do, you know, i think his family probably put them there to show he was a christian, and he obviously wanted that. the only thing left of him were these fragments of teeth. yes, these are the only remains we have, because his body is completely rotted away, over 1500 years. this tells us that he was an elderjuvenile, or possibly a full adult man. also because of the arrangement of the burial goods within the grave. a buckle was found midway.

that showed the height of him, five foot eight, just two inches shorter than me. that's right, so we can tell that he had gold crosses over his eyes, a belt buckle at his waist, and then garter buckles, or a type of shoe buckle right at the bottom, so we can estimate his height. can you tell me who he is? well, that's subject to much debate. this burial is dated to the late sixth century. so, he is a very, very rich, possibly a prince of the royal house, and maybe even seaxa, who lived at that time. we know he disappeared from the records of that time. it could be his father, sledd, or it could be just an extremely rich and influential man from that period. the debate will continue. lovely, thank you very much indeed. now, the site has been completely excavated, all of the items have been brought here now, and on saturday, for the very first time, the public will be able to see them. debbie tubby, bbc news. time for a look at the weather — here's the forecast. it is looking quite changeable,

certainly for the next couple of days. it has been topsy—turvy, like yesterday, we had the heavy showers, thunder and lightning, hail, yesterday, we had the heavy showers, thunderand lightning, hail, heavy showers around in the last few hours, as well. on the satellite image, a lot of cloud out there, and some of these clouds are rain bearing, shower clouds, particularly down towards the south and south—east earlier on where we had cracks of thunder. in cornwall and devon, a beautiful day, and for the south coast of wales. sunny skies there. different story further towards the east, the showers will probably continue for a time into this evening and overnight. very hit and miss. they are only small, only and miss. they are only small, only a few mild across, one moment they are over one city and then they have moved on. for many, a clear night. for the south and west, to be clear, and the north—east, but it'll be chilly in newcastle, temperatures dipping down to zero first thing in the morning. possibly below zero outside of town. tomorrow starts sunny but showers will get going

quickly. the clouds will be bubbling up quickly. the clouds will be bubbling up and by the time we get to lunchtime there will be some downpours. but maybe not as many, but not —— not in the same places we had today. sometime tomorrow, the most will be in the east of the uk. if you want dry weather, that's good news, if you don't, then it isn't, because the gardens do need more rain. it's dry. but as far as most of us are concerned on saturday, its variable amounts of cloud, hit and miss showers, decent day if you don't mind a sprinkle for a little while. 15 degrees in london, 17 might be the top temperature, newcastle still quite chilly at 11 degrees. the high pressure really sta rts degrees. the high pressure really starts to build across the uk into sunday. it is right over us. it does dry out. there will be light winds. that will give time for the heir to warm up, we could get up to 18 in london, and starting to warm up in the lowlands of scotland, up to around 16 degrees. the higher around

us isa around 16 degrees. the higher around us is a blocking high, meaning once it starts establishing itself across this part of europe it won't shift. it is looking settled, dry, and eventually we will start to see some of this warmer weather here for more central parts of europe drifting into our direction. the outlook is that the weather will be gradually settling down, it'll get sunnier and sunnier, and warmer and warmer, as it should do, really, this time of year!

tonight at six — the bbc radio presenter sacked after his tweet about the royal baby led to accusations of racism. radio five live's danny baker tweeted a picture of a chimpanzee with a caption saying, "royal baby leaves hospital". for a picture like that to come out by somebody who has quite a lot of status is beyond me, i was genuinely upset. we have found this to be abhorrent. yes it was, that's why i took it down. we'll be looking at why so many people have found the tweet so offensive. also tonight: two years after grenfell the taxpayer will step in after many