this is bbc news i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 8pm. thirty years after the hillsborough disaster — the police commander in charge on the day is found ‘not guilty‘, of the manslaughter, by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. he ordered an exit gate to the stadium to be opened after crowds built up outside leading to a crush on the terraces. the families of the 96 fans who died have campaigned forjustice for decades — today many of them left the court in tears. who put the 96 in their graves? who is accountable for 96 unlawfully killed? what a disgrace this has been today. a leading economic research group says, neither the conservatives nor labour are offering credible spending plans in their election manifestos.

the number of vacancies for nurses in england has risen — tens of thousands more are needed — hospital managers say it's one of the biggest problems they're facing. and supermarkets are urged to charge a lot more for a ‘bag for life‘ — as the amount of plastic being used keeps growing. thirty years after the hillsborough disaster, no one has been held responsible for the deaths of the 96 fans who lost their lives after being crushed in the terraces. today, a jury found the policeman in charge on the day at the fa cup semifinal —

superintendent david duckenfield — ‘not guilty‘ of manslaughter by gross negligence. it's the third time he's been on trial since 1989. as the verdict was read out, there were gasps and tears in court from the families of some of those who died. judith moritz has been at preston crown court. so the family said to me that they almost feel like they've gone backwards legally because four years ago the inquestjury at warrington found the 96 people who died at hillsboro were unlawfully killed. now the family say they've been left without an answer in the criminal court here as to was responsible. it was a moment of history when the verdict was handed down this afternoon, a moment of history and for a long history for a disaster that lasted for three decades. david

hugged his wife, but the hillsboro families let out audible cries. one woman got to her feet and addressed thejudge saying, i woman got to her feet and addressed the judge saying, i want to know who killed my father. david duckenfield has been a blame figure for 30 years, in charge at hillsborough when disaster happened. that he failed is not in dispute but his trial ended with a not guilty verdict, and with tears for the hillsborough families. 96 people are found to be unlawfully killed to a credible standard by an inquestjury, and somebody has got to be held responsible for 96 deaths. it's the biggest sporting disaster in british legal history. all of the families, loved ones, were unlawfully killed, and we've got to live with, well, who is accountable for the deaths, then? the hillsborough families say that over 30 years, opportunities have been missed to prosecute the full number of people and institutions which could have been held responsible for the disaster. with this trial, the jurors only had one man to consider, and they were not willing to make him solely responsible for the deaths.

in 1989, liverpool played nottingham forest in an fa cup semifinal. commentator: liverpool's faithful followers, fed on success in 25 years, are at the leppings lane end. 2a,000 liverpool fans travelled to the city for the fixture. minutes before the kick—off, a huge crowd was still queueing to get into the ground. david duckenfield gave a critical order — open the gate. thousands poured in. but he didn't close a tunnel to the terraces, which were already full. for the first time, we can broadcast him giving his evidence at the inquests four years ago. that is arguably one of the biggest regrets of my life, that i did not foresee where fans would go when they came in through the gates. some fans climbed out of the crush, but most were trapped. these survivors are still coping with the mental scars. i don't know if i passed out, but i remember i gave up.

i knew i was dying. you knew. you just knew that you're going to die. next thing i knew, there was a pile of bodies next to me. we were screaming at a police officer to open the gate, so we could get onto the pitch. i just remember vividly one lad saying, "my brother's in there, dying." we found that moment on the archive footage. 19—year—old ian, in his red tracksuit, traumatised for life. i've had suicide attempts... self—harm. .. i am tattooed, because that was the positive alternative to cutting myself. 96 men, women and children were killed — the youngest aged ten, the oldest a pensioner. brian mathews was 38 when he died in the crush. he came from a large merseyside family who've spent 30 years campaigning on his behalf. people went to that football game as a family. dads went with their sons. dads came home with

their sons in body bags. you went as a family on a saturday, to watch a football team play. there shouldn't gave been any risk that you would not come home. # walk on, walk on...# in 2016, inquests found that the fans were unlawfully killed and they were not to blame, but an inquest is not a trial. david duckenfield was then charged with manslaughter. and now, the jury has found he was singled out unfairly and is innocent of any crime. it may sound like a cliche to say that lessons must be learned. but given this verdict, that has never been more relevant nor important. hundreds of detectives have spent seven years gathering evidence into hillsborough. costing £65 million, operation resolve is the longest ever criminal investigation in england. there have been trials, inquests, investigations and inquiries before, but this verdict means no one

will be jailed for so many lives lost. judith moritz with that report. margaret aspinall lost her 18—year—old son, james, at hillsborough and now chairs the hillsborough family support group. she gave her reaction after the verdict. ido i do not blame the iop cc for what went wrong today. i do not blame the crown prosecution. i blame a system thatis crown prosecution. i blame a system that is morally wrong within this country. that's a disgrace within this nation. 96 people. they say 95, we say 96. were unlawfully killed. and yet not one person is accountable, the question i would like to ask all of you are people within a system of who put the 96 in

their graves? who is accountable for 96 unlawfully killed. what a disgrace this has been today, and what a shame on this country of oui’s. what a shame on this country of ours. i feel so embarrassed to say thatis ours. i feel so embarrassed to say that is the system within our country. i'm really angry, i'm trying to be calm for the sake of these families that have suffered so much, but they have suffered. they have gone through hell, they have gone through all kinds. the people that we have lost along the way. we've lost so many good family members. now my concern is that these families, i look at their faces. please god to come to give them some peace. they deserve it.

most importantly the 96 deserve it and they deserve something from this country that was morally right. as far as country that was morally right. as faras i'm country that was morally right. as far as i'm concerned, and i'm starting to get angry now, that was a kangaroo court that we have all sat through. there was so much evidence that could have been brought forward that was not allowed, it was not allowed, and i would like to know if the jury saw the taylor report. if they had to come if they had gone through that there could not have been any other verdict. there couldn't have been any other verdict but guilty. we all know who is guilty. the families know who is guilty. the families know who's guilty. our city knows who's guilty. he can walk around now and get on with his life with a not guilty verdict, to me that is a disgrace. that was margaret who's son james

died in the hillsboro crash. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are anand menon, director of uk in a changing europe and the spectator‘s deputy political editor, katy balls. the institute for fiscal studies says neither the conservatives nor labour, are being honest with voters — about spending in the run—up to the election. the independent research group has examined both parties‘ manifestos, and says their economic plans are not credible. our economics editor, faisal islam joins me now. what is it about the numbers that don't add up? fruit two different reasons. heard a lot about the liberal party manifesto and numbers that are involved in terms of not just the spending but the taxation

as well, and more borrowing to pay for investment spending. for a couple of reasons, suggesting the sums are so big that a government would not be able to ramp up to spend that amount of money, that was the first problem. the second problem, you've this from jeremy corbyn that the taxes that are raised and there's a large increase in taxes could all come from the top 596 in taxes could all come from the top 5% of business. the sorts of levels of taxation is not credible. it's more honest to talk about the sort of tax rises that would impact indirectly at least on the rest of the economy. if you're trying to find a big increase in spending. on the conservative side there's a number of things that are not costed. they accused the labour party of that and there's a number of things. the social care plan promising people would not have to

sell their houses and there could be quite expensive. a number of investments such as electric car factories and high—speed railfor the north. we are going to leave it there. thank you very much. the number of vacancies for nhs nurses in england increased to around 43 and a half thousand by the end of september — to around 43,500 by the end of september — almost a thousand more than the same time last year. hospital managers say workforce shortages is one of the biggest problems they have to deal with. the need to boost recruitment across the nhs has already proved to be a key issue in the election debate, as our health editor, hugh pym reports. we start off with four nurses down, that number can increase if nurses call in sick. georgina is on a day off from her nursing post in a busy a&e department. she has been a nurse forfive years and says it is more stressful than ever. because of staff shortages and increasing numbers of patients. you are really pushed,

when you are processing volumes of people rather than delivering really good care to people. it's very hard, and to be really honest, my satisfaction in myjob is a lot less than it used to be, because it really is very hard to keep feeling that you are doing a safe and good job. so, what are the party plans for england? the conservatives say that 19,000 more nurses will be trained, with grants restored, and another 31,000 will come from foreign recruitment and better retention. labour wants 211,000 more nurses trained, with £1 billion every year invested in restoring bursaries. and, more on top through better retention and recruitment. the liberal democrats want to target extra help for nursing students. health thinktanks say that if there is no new policies, the current vacancy total of just over 40,000 will increase to around 70,000 in four years time. the big challenge of health care is we must run to stand still, a growing population and an ageing population with more chronic disease.

what that means is we need more and more staff, so although the number of people employed in the nhs is increasing a bit, it is not increasing anywhere near the fast enough pace to cope with that rising demand. staff shortages are obvious on the front line right now, capping public—sector in previous years and the scrapping of nurse bursaries in england haven't helped. the royal college of nursing says more than half of members feel too busy to provide the level of care they would like. georgina says some nurses she works with are close to the limits of what they can tolerate. some of my colleagues, very sadly, are thinking of leaving nursing. and that is so sad because i really believe in nursing, i really believe in the role that we do. their satisfaction in theirjob is so low that they don't want to do that any more, they don't want to take the risk. georgina wants to stick with the job she loves, for whoever forms the next

government, it will be critical to find ways in which to hold onto others like her, as well as training the nurses of the future. and you can find out more about what each party is promising to do in health care, and other policy areas, on our online election policy, at bbc dot co dot uk the headlines on bbc news. thirty years after the hillsborough disaster — the police commander in charge on the day has been found ‘not guilty‘, of the manslaughter, by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. a leading economic research group says spending plans for both the conservatives and labour don‘t add up, accusing them of presenting numbers that are not credible. eu net migration to the uk has fallen to its lowest level for 16 years.

sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s austin. it‘s another busy night of football across europe. manchester united got things underway in kazakhstan — they took a very young squad to face astana, because they‘d already qualified for the knockout stage of the europa league. but the gamble didn‘t pay off. they were beaten, which means they still can‘t be sure of finishing top of their group. with a place already secured, they decide to play the youngest manchester united side seen in the european competition. while this match did not mean much on paper, for the 17 ages of four debutantes starting it meant everything, and bring his first captains armband for united it was fitting time forjesse lingard to back its first goal in 28 games. but after the break, this

young side showed there was a lot left to learn. playing at this level you have to take your chances. 19—year—old missing on a debut goal. seconds after, dimitri was responsible for united‘s first goal conceded in this season‘s tournament. a pivotal moment, sean will be wanting to go back in time after this. a reminder that mistakes are punished in europe with very little sympathy. they beat a fit english team for the first time, and not just any team, english team for the first time, and notjust any team, and english team for the first time, and not just any team, and what turned out to be a night for football, not youth. wolves have made their way through to the knockout stage tonight, despite blowing a two—goal lead against braga in portugal. they were a goal down early on but they weren‘t behind for long — rauljiminez with the equaliser. and they looked in control with two more goals before half time — including one for adama traore — before braga snatched a 3—3 draw. so wolves missed the chance to go top of the group but there‘s

one more game to go. elsewhere rangers are top of their group after a 2—2 draw at feyenoord — alfredo morelos scoring both of their goals as they came from behind, before the dutch side drew level. steve gerrard‘s side will make the knock—out stage for the first time in eight years, if they draw at home to young boys in two weeks‘ time. and two more games are around 15 minutes old — celtic are drawing 0—0 with rennes. it‘s also goalless between arsenal and eintracht frankfurt. uk athletics has launched an independent review into it‘s handling of their relationship with coach alberto salazar. a panel in 2015 has said there was ‘no reason‘ to remove british athletes from the american‘s nike oregon project, despite claims of anti—doping. salazar was banned for four years in october.

england wicket keeper jos buttler could miss out on the second test against new zealand, which starts tonight, because of a back problem. ollie pope is ready to take the gloves in his absence. but he‘s not done that since february, when he was playing for the england lions. he‘s already in the side though it would mean that kent batsman, zak crawley, would make his debut should buttler fail to prove his fitness. england lost by an innings in the first test and the captain knows their batting has to improve. in terms of when we say about long it does not mean we have to block it for three days and hope that that means, you know, that we will get to a big score. it means reading the situation and making good decisions for long periods of time which allows you to bet long. the way i will do that will be very different to simply and burns, and everyone has their own way of doing it. it‘s just finding that fit around the situation that you find yourself in.

and there‘s live commentary from hamilton on 5 live sports extra tonight — play starts at 10 o‘clock — and there‘s full text commentary, as well, on the bbc sport website. that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more in sportsday at 10:30pm. look forward to that. thank you. eu net migration — the difference between the number of eu citizens coming to live in the uk and those leaving — has fallen to its lowest level for 16 years. the office for national statistics, which published the figures, says fewer people from the eu are coming to britain to work. sarah corker reports. the fenlands in eastern england, home to some of the nation‘s most fertile farm land. and this area has long been a destination for migrants looking for work in the fields and factories. supermarkets and us, the customers, want fresh vegetables all year round. and it‘s tough, physical work. farmers say they‘re finding it

harder to get the number of people they need to meet the growing demand. we‘re all competing for those workers. farmer nick allpress relies on eu workers to pick and pack his leeks. 85% of his employees are eastern european. straight after the brexit vote in ‘16, we saw a marked drop. actually, i think the workers are very unsure whether they are welcome, what their status is going to be, even those who are permanently here now. but now we find, year on year since then, that the availability of capable workers is dropping. since peak levels in early 2016, eu net migration — that‘s the numbers arriving minus the numbers leaving — has fallen to an estimated 48,000, the lowest level in 16 years. but in contrast, net migration from elsewhere in the world has gradually risen to over 220,000, as more non—eu citizens came to the uk to study. one of the things that happened

right after the referendum was a change in the exchange rate, which means that eu workers who are coming to the uk can‘t expect to earn as much in their home currencies as they would have done in the past, and that‘s probably one of the key factors that‘s made the uk less attractive. wisbech in cambridgeshire has seen high levels of immigration. leonardo arrived three months ago from portugal. he‘s here to study. the course i‘m doing will give a lot of opportunities on the job area. and if everything goes right, i think i can have a good job and then come back to portugal. immigration has helped employers here, but it‘s also put pressure on local services and changed the identity of some rural towns. striking the right balance is still a complex calculation. sarah corker, bbc news, in cambridgeshire. several party leaders have been taking part in a live

tv debate on climate change, this evening. ice sculptures sat in place of borisjohnson and nigel farage who both turned down the invitation to join the channel 4 debate. the conservative party has formally complained to ofcom for ‘empty chairing‘ the prime minister — after they offered senior cabinet minister, michael gove in mrjohnson‘s place. well, borisjohnson has refused to say whether he will take part in a bbc interview with the presenter, andrew neil. the leaders of all the other main political parties have agreed, but mrjohnson said talks were still taking place, and it wasn‘t his job to make the final decision. will you sit down and be interviewed by andrew neil on the bbc before polling day? i will have all sorts of interviews with all sorts of people. here i am, being interviewed by you now. i‘m sure active discussions are taking place about future interviews with a number of people. we're talking for five minutes in a farm shop, but will you agree to a proper

interview with andrew neil on the bbc before polling day? i‘m sure that i will be having all sorts of interrogations, inquisitions from all sorts of people. sit down, stand up... prime minister, this is a big interview. all the others have agreed to do it. will you join them in being interviewed by andrew neil on the bbc before election day? i don‘t want to preempt any discussions that may be taking place, but i‘ve no doubt that conversations are going on about or sort of interviews with all sorts of people, and i look forward very much to the result. is that a yes or a no? other people are getting involved in these conversations. it‘s not myjob to do. they will be deciding and discussing... i‘m very happy to be interviewed by anybody, by you, and i look forward to the outcome of those discussions. can you see if you don't do this interview, critics will say that you're running scared, you're chicken, you're afraid of scrutiny? here i am. i‘m being interviewed by you... for five minutes. it's not a full—length interview.

are you saying that you‘re incapable of providing scrutiny? this is a five—minute interview in a farm shop. it's not the same thing. well, i‘m very happy to submit to all manner of scrutiny, all manner of debates and have done so, and lots of conversations are happening about that matter right now. so you might do it? all sorts of conversations are happening about that matter right now and other people than me are responsible for those discussions and negotiations, and i do not want to preempt what they may decide. the democratic unionist party says, it‘ll continue to press boris johnson for changes to his brexit deal, if he remains prime minister. launching her party‘s manifesto in belfast, arlene foster said, she remains opposed to the customs changes proposed in mrjohnson‘s deal. the dup propped up the conservative government during the last parliament, but relations soured over the prime minister‘s agreement with the eu. the deal obviously that is there at the moment is not acceptable.

and everyone across northern ireland knows the reasons for that. certainly unionism, as nigel has said, is united in relation to our rejection of the boris deal and therefore it needs to be changed. with polling day exactly two weeks away, labour is changing its election strategy in areas which voted for brexit, in the referendum. members of the shadow cabinet who back an eu withdrawal deal, will be given a higher profile, while more activists are being sent to constituencies where the majority voted leave. here‘s our political correspondent, jonathan blake. jeremy corbyn, when he spoke of this morning about labour‘s environment plans did not address specifically any shift in the party pulse ‘s campaign strategy. he did take time after the speech in a question and a nswer after the speech in a question and answer session to set out in some detail labour about my policy to make it as clear as possible. that is the party would negotiate a new

deal within the eu and that put that to another vote in further six months. he was asked if he had any different message to voters that voted to leave the european union in key parts of the uk, but he said that his message was the same anywhere he went. as he put it people in 2016 did not vote to lose theirjobs or see their rights put at risk and he said the party needs to come together overregulated. it‘s must be acknowledged into that labour is changing their tact for campaign buta labour is changing their tact for campaign but a bit of a shift in more of an attempt by labour and certainly those key figures who support leaving the european union with a new deal within the labour party popping up and campaigning in key parts of the uk, and this here in southhampton is one of those and it did vote as majority to leave the eu and two of the three seats here are held by conservative impedes.

one ona are held by conservative impedes. one on a knife edge of the last election and it‘s something that labour will have their sights set on. as i say, jeremy corbyn while focusing on the environment to gay and leaking that took brexit with close cooperation with european countries would be key, did acknowledge that the break the brexit policy that labour has is something that they need to get across more clearly. that‘s reflected in the united boss saying the policy needs to be explained to her working—class voters that voted to leave. the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, has strongly criticised borisjohnson, describing him as sexist and patronising. at a speech in london today, swinson said "borisjohnson is not fit to be prime minister. notjust because he doesn‘t care , notjust because he lies. but because he is complicit in stoking division and fear in our communities." while in the north of the country — nigel farage has said today, that he doesn‘t believe

boris johnson can be fully trusted. speaking on the campaign trail in kingston upon hull — the brexit party leader told supporters that he feels a tory majority in next month‘s election is inevitable — and that the role of the brexit party will be to hold borisjohnson to account. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with helen willets. good evening. today has seen a transition to much colder, drier air crust on the part of the uk. the cold air is filtering south, so overnight the concern is for ice and particularly where we had the days rain and the surface let down. much brighter tomorrow. still with us in southern areas and meandering southwards. but for many further north the north wind has brought arctic airand bringing north the north wind has brought arctic air and bringing in showers, so will the services stamp but you can see why the from the midlands there‘s a risk of bias. that will be prevalent first thing tomorrow morning. freddy starts off in a

crisp note, i see to say and in the south probably quite great still a lot of cloud lingering in. but for many it looks much brighter and drier day. yes showers in northern and eastern areas and those will continue into the night but a cold night and continue into the night but a cold nightand a continue into the night but a cold night and a lot of drier weather into the weekend away from the southwest. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... 30 years after the hillsborough disaster, the police commander in charge on the day has been found not guilty, of the manslaughter,

by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. the families of the 96 fans who died have campaigned forjustice for decades — today many of them left the court in tears. it is not the 96 in their graves, who is accountable for the 96 killed, what a disgrace this has been today. a leading economic research group says spending plans for both the conservatives and labour don‘t add up, accusing them of presenting numbers that are not credible. eu net migration to the uk has fallen to its lowest level for 16 years. campaigners are calling for higher charges for bags for life, or a complete ban, as research shows households bought an average of 54 a year.

let‘s return now to our main story. 30 years after the hillsborough football stadium disaster, the match commander on the day, david duckenfield has been cleared of the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 liverpool fans. a jury at preston crown court returned their verdict after a re—trial lasting more than six weeks. assistant commissioner rob beckley led the investigation into david duckenfield. my first thoughts are with the 96 people who died in hillsboro disaster, theirfamilies and the many thousands of people who are deeply affected by the events on the 15th of april, 1989. thejury had a difficult and challenging task, examining evidence stretching back decades and i respect their decision.

it may sound like a cliche to say that lessons must be learned, but given this verdict, that has never been more relevant nor important. it is right that an impartial and thorough investigation was carried out, it is right it was presented by the cps to a jury, and it is right that a jury made a judgement on the facts. what is wrong is that it has taken 30 years to get to this point. the passage of 30 years has presented challenges to everyone involved in the legal process, both the prosecution and the defence.

30 years has meant that evidence has been corroded and some people and organisations who should have answered for their actions on the day were simply no longer with us. 30 years during which myths took root about fans being a cause of the disaster now shone through the inquest evidence but also the evidence of both the defence and prosecution in this case to be unequivocally wrong. and 30 years when many people, especially the families have had to relive their terrible experiences.

when all the hillsborough legal proceedings are concluded, we should as a society take time to consider these matters and to learn those lessons. for the sake of the 96 innocent people who died 30 years ago. something like this disaster and the 30 year wait to get to this point should never happen again. thank you very much. that was sufficient —— the assistant commissioner there. many of those who lost family in the disaster were in preston for today‘s verdict and gave us their reaction. 96 people did not come home alive. there were many, many injured and they did nothing wrong. they were not drunk, they were not fighting, they did absolutely nothing wrong

and i am so proud of my brother and the other 95 unlisted survivors and the survivors were the heroes of the day. three high court judges in new london said that this disaster, it was not caused by hooliganism, it was not caused by violence, it was caused by someone not doing theirjob. can i just say something? at the report it was found that no football hooliganism played any part whatsoever in this disaster. three high courtjudges likejenny just said of return the original inquest and said there was no football hooliganism yet when thejudge started summing up to thejury, the first thing he mentions is football hooligans and violence and you all know on the 15th of april... we all know that there was football hooliganism and the 70s and 80s but not on the 15th of april 1989.

it was a carnival day, a sunny atmosphere and all the fans were in a jolly mood and were waiting for this brilliant matchup they would be able to see and they are being blamed for killing their own. the fans where the true heroes on the day but not only did they fight for their lives, they went straight to get to ferry the dying and injured and they have to live with the burden of being blamed for killing their own fans but i would like to think the fans and our survivors and the city of liverpool because without them we would have not got this far. an ordinary county court, 30 years on and a jury that got down to ten as you know. it is not a forum for this. there has got to be something else because they kept saying hindsight and retrospect and whatever. they have got to change the system on this. if you have an issue that is 30 years later, this is not an ordinary crown,

crown court. do you think it is too late now, too late for justice? well, we cannot take this anywhere, there is nowhere else to go with this. we have to live the rest of our lives now. it‘s called a bag for life, it normally costs 10p, and it‘s supposed to help cut down on the number of plastic bags we use for shopping. but now environmental campaigners are urging supermarkets to charge 70p for each bag after it emerged that vast numbers are still being sold. a new report from greenpeace and the environmental investigation agency revealed that last year supermarkets sold 1.5 billion ‘bags for life‘, and instead of cutting their use of plastic, seven out of ten of the uk‘s leading supermarket chains are using more. our science and environment correspondent rebecca morelle has the details.

filling the shelves of our supermarkets, product after product wrapped in plastic. and this new report reveals it‘s on the rise. out of the ten major uk supermarkets, seven have increased their plastic use. and what that has done is it‘s brought uk supermarkets‘ plastic use to 900,000 tonnes, which, i think you‘ll agree, is a really significant amount. and adding to the plastic problem, "bags for life". while sales of single—use carriers have fallen dramatically, they‘re being replaced by these. in 2018, supermarkets sold 1.5 billion of them. that‘s 54 bags per household. how many bags do you think you‘ve got at home? i‘ve got loads. how many? loads. i‘ve got loads. i can‘t count! i have about 26 different varieties, christmas ones all the way through the year. i collect them and use them all the time. i can tell you exactly. i've got three. probably like a cupboard full? and some at work as well

underneath my desk. got quite a few, yeah. but deciding which sort of bag to buy because it‘s best for the environment isn‘t straightforward. what it‘s made from, how it‘s made and transported all contributes towards what climate change. so, take a simple carrier bag. it‘s quite easy to make. it uses a bit of oil and takes a bit of energy, but we generallyjust use it once. a bag for life is heavier and has more plastic in it. that would need to be used more than four times to make it better for the environment. this bag is even stronger, but you‘d have to reuse it 11 times, and a cotton bag would have to be used 131 times. but the supermarkets say they are taking steps to reduce packaging. there‘s a lot happening. it‘s just that we‘re going to have to go much faster than we‘ve been doing, and we have to take customers with us. i think that can be challenging. plastic pollution now affects

every part of the planet. but stopping this problem won‘tjust be down to supermarkets. consumers will have to help, too. rebecca morelle, bbc news. president trump has made an unannounced thanksgiving visit to afghanistan, his first trip to the country as president. air force one touched down at bagram airfield after an overnight flight from washington. the president met afghan president ashraf ghani and addressed us troops stationed there. he‘s announced that the us will be substantially reducing troops in afghanistan, but did not provide specific numbers, and he raised hopes for a revival of peace talks with the taliban. the taliban wants to make a deal, we will see if they want to make a deal, it has to be a real deal but we‘ll see. they want to make a deal because you are doing a greatjob. soi because you are doing a greatjob. so i want to thank you and think the

afg ha n so i want to thank you and think the afghan soldiers for really, i have spoken to a lot of you today and you are saying they were fighting hard. i was impressed with that so i want to thank you. three teenage boys have admitted threatening two women who who were subjected to homophobic abuse on a bus. melania hey—mon—at and her date christine hannigan were pelted with coins on a london night bus in may. the teenagers, aged 15, 16 and 17, admitted public order offences ahead of a scheduled trial at highbury corner youth court. the family of harry dunn, who was killed when he was knocked off his motorbike, has begun legal proceedings against the foreign office. harry‘s parents argue that granting diplomatic immunity to the main suspect in 19—year—old harry‘s death, was wrong in law. the foreign office has said it would oppose and seek costs for anyjudicial review. the first funerals have been held in vietnam for some of the 39 people

found dead in a refrigerated lorry in essex last month. families of 16 of the victims have held services. the bodies of the other people who died are expected to be returned to vietnam from the uk this weekend. china has accused the united states of sinister intentions and has threatened counter measures — after president trump signed into law support for protesters in hong kong. the legislation requires us officials to assess whether the territory has enough autonomy from china to justify the special trading terms with the us hong kong currently enjoys. nick beake reports. this university campus has been the battle ground for one of the fiercest fights in the struggle for hong kong. and their primitive weapons kept the police at bay. today, though, officers moved in and began the clear up. well, all morning the police

have been gathering up the unused molotov cocktails the protesters left behind. and at the same time, china has been accusing president trump of throwing in his own petrol bomb into the situation in hong kong. i hereby grant you a full and complete pardon. as well as granting pardons, the president hasjust signed off a new law which could scrap the special trading status the us gives hong kong. that is if china isjudged to have eroded hong kongers‘ freedoms. the move provoked fury in beijing, where officials said america had taken the side of violent criminals. translation: the chinese government will oppose any external forces interfering in hong kong‘s affairs. we advise the united states not to act arbitrarily, otherwise china will take firm countermeasures. all consequences of this must be borne by the united states. but back in hong kong, the pro—democracy movement, which hasjust triumphed in local

elections, thanked president trump for a second victory inside one week. one prominent activist called on other countries to follow the us‘s lead. for a us president to sign on the hong kong human rights and democracy act, that is a remarkable achievement of all the hong kongers. itjust encourages world leaders around the world and politicians to be aware that it is time for them to stand with hong kong. but, at the trashed university, the beijing—backed police are collecting evidence against protesters, which it hopes will stand up in court. all this in a city in crisis that is provoking increasing tension between the world‘s two superpowers. nick beake, bbc news, hong kong. it is 8:45pm...

the headlines on bbc news... 30 years after the hillsborough disaster — the police commander in charge on the day has been found ‘not guilty‘, of the manslaughter, by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. a leading economic research group says spending plans for both the conservatives and labour don‘t add up, accusing them of presenting numbers that are not credible. eu net migration to the uk has fallen to its lowest level for 16 years. for decades the black sea was used as a dumping ground for plastic and chemical waste from south eastern europe — with things so bad that scientists considered parts of the sea almost entirely dead. in this special report, our correspondentjonah fisher travelled across the region to find out whether there‘s any prospect of recovery. this is the dnieper in ukraine. for decades, large rivers have washed away eastern europe‘s

waste into the black sea. we‘re being shown what‘s known as blooming. it happens when excess nutrients, often from fertilisers, cause a rapid growth in algae, starving the water of oxygen. decades of regular blooming has killed off life in large parts of the black sea, creating underwater deserts where onlyjellyfish thrive. on the black sea‘s eastern coast in georgia, we see and smell another of its big problems. so this is the main rubbish dump here in batumi, but the big issue for here is that it‘s only about 300, 400 metres from this rubbish dump to the black sea itself,

and there‘s a waterway which basically leads all the way down there. taking rubbish with it. this is just one of numerous examples around the black sea of how easily poorly managed waste can get into the water. we have already kind of disturbing evidence that the marine litter, which is number of floating items per square kilometre, is almost doubled compared to the mediterranean sea. it is the worst situation for all the european seas. even more alarming is the evidence of how deep the contamination goes. we‘re on board a research vessel hundreds of kilometres from shore, and this probe is being sent two kilometres down to take samples from the seabed. analysis of the mud has revealed

the presence of tiny fragments of plastic, known as micro plastics. the scientists also have worrying news about what they‘re discovering in the water. the biggest threat is coming from pharmaceuticals, especially from antibiotics. because if there is antibiotics in the black sea that means the bacteria will develop here that will resist the antibiotics and mean that ultimately that medicine doesn‘t work any more? yeah, this is now a real problem. people are dying from that. taken together, it‘s a sobering catalogue of environmental woe, testament to decades of neglect and abuse. but in the next part of our black sea journey, we look at what‘s being done to turn things round, and discover that projects thousands of kilometres awayjust might make a difference. wow! jonah fisher, bbc news, in the black sea.

tomorrow is the shopping bonanza that is black friday. nearly £8 billion was spent online across last year‘s black friday sales, and similar sums are predicted to be spent this year. but there are concerns that the extra pressure to buy at this time of year, is leading more people to turn to loan sharks to cover the bills. our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith has been investigating. deals, offers, promotions, it is the black friday bombardment and because it is easy to rack up big bills at his wrecking something else as well. it can happen anywhere — it can happen in people‘s houses, it can happen on the doorstep, it could happen at school gates, it could happen in the workplace. cath is helping victims every day — those who‘ve turned to a loan shark for cash when they felt they didn‘t have an alternative. last year we had over 50% of the people we helped were in work. we‘ve hit the highest number of homeowners we‘ve ever seen. the people who borrow from loan

sharks is definitely getting more varied. so now there‘s a move to try and stop people getting into debt before we even reach christmas. this is going to be the web of wonder... here in bradford they‘re taking a stand against black friday and organising a "buy nowt" friday instead. free crafts and handmade gifts — they‘re hoping for up to 300 people through the doors, getting advice on avoiding debt and spending less. the starting gun to christmas has been brought back earlier. they feel the pressure from the children. from society to spend that money early and by doing so it‘s not leaving that money available for later. obviously you‘re encouraging people to be saving here. yeah, definitely. allana has already started to see people struggling to pay their bills. sometimes they're not paying some of their priority bills, just to be able to afford christmas presents for the children. and black friday as well — it feels like an extra temptation. it does, yeah. black friday, when you've got things on offer,

you know, £20 or £30 cheaper, and you might buy one thing, but then you can be buying other things, adding into that basket. avoiding that temptation is hard, but those who turn to illegal loans find themselves trapped. cath will never forget one woman who paid off her debt, but kept paying when the loan shark made the worst threat. he‘d actually picked up her teenage daughters from school and walked them home, and he was nice as pie to them. he bought them ice cream on the way home. but, for her, that image of him standing there with the two teenage daughters was "this is what i could do if i chose to", and she carried on paying him for another four years. as advertisers go into overdrive in the ramp up to black friday, saying no to a loan is becoming increasingly hard. colletta smith, bbc news, in bradford. back now to the general election, and throughout the campaign bbc news is reporting from ten parts of the uk where seats will be closely contested. reeta chakra barti has been in cheltenham. this is a key election battle ground where there is much to fight for. this is a marginal constituency

which has been held by the conservative since the 2015. one of a swaithe of seats a one then across this region and the southwest. in 2017 they held it byjust over two and a half thousand votes. for the liberal democrat to us for seat four years ago, it is now a top target. when it comes to brexit, they voted 56% to remain in the european union. well, we have been looking at one of the issues that could play in this election in england, and that his school funding. we have been to schools both rated as outstanding by ofsted who said the pressures of years of inadequate funding have taken their toll. in the last decade of our children‘s lives, school budgets per pupil have been cut by 8%. schools say it‘s becoming a struggle. how many words do you need? at st gregory‘s primary school, half of the children have english

as a second language. a majority come from homes in some of the most deprived parts of the country. you can do it. i know you can. the head teacher says her budget has failed to keep pace with rising costs. three years ago, charlotte blanch had to lay off 12 staff, and now... it‘s tough. it‘s really tough. this year we‘ve had another squeeze and i‘ve lost... i‘ve had to make savings of another £47,000. so actually, at the moment, if i‘m honest with you, we are coping. we‘re not really managing and we are on our knees. you‘re on your knees? mm—hm. so in cheltenham, just as elsewhere, parents told me they‘re being asked to help, opening their wallets for state—run tax funded schools. i‘m happy to contribute for the things that are very much above and beyond but at the moment, we‘re asked to contribute for things that should be covered by the government. being a taxpayer, sometimes i don't agree with it. but i can see why they ask. we have had a letter sent to us from secondary school to say how things, tight things were so we have

to make a contribution. so that‘s voluntary? it is a voluntary but you are encouraged to pay for it. at balcarras, a top—performing secondary school, the head teacher told me that parental contributions have gone up four—fold in the last seven years. changes to the way that schools are funded have helped balcarras, but not enough. he says there‘s a lot at stake. we‘re a comprehensive school. we believe that every kid should get a fair chance and should be educated really well. and this is about life chances. it‘s about social mobility and, ultimately, if you want social mobility, you have to pay for it. there has to be some proper level of funding. # i want it all. # and i want it now # they‘re rehearsing for the end—of—term play with what could be a political slogan. schools won‘t get it all, but the main parties are pledging to increase funding over time to the level it was at

ten years ago or more. for these schools, it can‘t come soon enough. reeta chakra barti, bbc news, cheltenham. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with helen willets. that evening, seeing a transition from mild and wet weather that we have ha rd from mild and wet weather that we have hard for autumn and much colder weather as we approach the end of the week. it looks drier and funnier but it will be my asked chloe —— colder. low—pressure is pushing to scandinavia and the other one just about held at bay and there we had this high pressure coming through and the ointment overnight will be ice having had so much rain that the services will be left damp particularly on the pavements and showers that follow on from the rain and this prevents frosts here but

the midlands northwards, the risk of temperature is falling to freezing or below and getting some icy conditions for the morning rush. the main concern could be a bit of nest and shallow valley fog. a bright sparkly day for most and the south and west where the weather front is lingering and a little bit of patchy rain will lingerfor much lingering and a little bit of patchy rain will linger for much of the day. feeling chilly of christ with a northerly wind which eases a little as we go through tomorrow night and more widespread frost however again we have weather fronts approaching and from the southwest and that is our concern as well with more rain going into the start of the weekend but why the to freezing or below in the towns and cities through friday night so could be a little icy and could have fog problems as well but largely fine and dry and this weather system here is going to bring more cloud back and we think and will take in the cloud that is fair across southwest england and southwestern parts of wales and

might push the rain as far east as hampshire and because it is coming into cold aira hampshire and because it is coming into cold air a could be wintry over the morris. keep an eye on that elsewhere is and cut off the feed down the north sea coast so perhaps drier and sunny year here. the low pressure was get away south and not great news as we can see for central and southern parts of europe at the high pressure then gives many of us a dry day on sunday and just a few showers nipping around the top area of high pressure into northern parts of high pressure into northern parts of scotla nd of high pressure into northern parts of scotland and a lot of dry and u nsettled of scotland and a lot of dry and unsettled weather as we have into the forecast period but there are areas in force and you can find those on the website.

hello, i‘m ros atkins, this is outside source. thirty years after the hillsborough disaster — the police commander in charge on the day is found not guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. david duckenfield was in charge of the fa cup semi—final in april 1989. he ordered an exit gate to the stadium to be opened after crowds built up outside leading to a crush on the terraces. the families of the 96 fans who died have campaigned forjustice for decades — many of them left the court in tears. who put the 96 in their graves? who is accountable for 96 people unlawfully killed? what a disgrace this has been today.