dozens of children groomed and abused by gangs in manchester were failed by police and social services. that is the verdict of a damning new report. 15—year—old victoria agoglia was in care when she was abused in 2003 — she died of an overdose. her grandmother said the authorities knew she was being abused by the gangs. they knew what was happening and i told them what was happening. and they let them come in and just take her out. in the last few minutes it is understood that flybe the biggest regional operator in the uk has been saved. we'll have the details.

negotiations continue over the sussexes future — as it's revealed that meghan didn't take part over the phone credit cards will be banned for online betting from april in a bid to curb problem gambling. and australia's devastating fires could become all too familiar in other parts of the world, say scientists — if global temperatures continue to rise. and coming up on bbc news. a retirement... and an abandonement. .. the bushfires are starting to affect australia's month in the tennis spotlight as melbourne sits under a smoky sky. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. police and social workers investigating child sex exploitation in manchester 15 years ago knew that children were suffering "the most profound abuse... but did not protect them" — that's the finding of a report

into historical child sex abuse. it says the authorities knew girls in care were being abused by dozens of men, mainly from what it calls asian backgrounds, but did not protect them — partly because of concerns about race relations. police launched operation augusta in 2004, after the death of a 15—year—old girl from rochdale, but the report said it was wound up too soon. judith moritz reports. victoria agoglio lived a short but horrific life. beaten, raped, injected with heroin, and, living in care, the authorities knew what was happening to her. i phoned them and phoned them. her grandmotherjoan tried to get help but nothing was done. and victoria died aged 15. theyjust didn't care. and all these men were doing all this to her, and they all knew about it,

and they let them take her off. they even went into the homes, and they knew what was happening. and i told them what was happening. and they let them come in and just take her out. victoria lived in rochdale. after she died the police opened an investigation into child sexual exploitation in the area. the investigation, called operation augusta, discovered that such abuse was happening here on a huge scale. detectives suspected that as many as 97 men were grooming children as young as 12. but, in 2005, before it could complete its work, that investigation was abruptly shut down. in 2017 this bbc documentary about abuse in rochdale was broadcast. as a result a new review was ordered into the scale of the crime. today it found that 0peration augusta was shot down

prematurely. 0ur report established that most of the children we considered were failed by greater manchester police and manchester city council. the authorities knew that many were being subjected to the most profound abuse, exploitation, and did not protect them. this is a depressingly familiar picture seen in many other towns and cities across the country. the police have now announced that they have begun a fresh investigation into non—recent child sexual exploitation in rochdale. i want to say that i am personally disgusted that these children were not cared for. and the awful abuse that they suffered. i am committed to doing all that we can to make sure that they receive the justice today that they were denied 15 years ago. maggie oliver is a former detective who worked on the first investigation and became a whistle—blower when the case was dropped. she now feels vindicated, but warns against complacency. they will still say

now that lessons have been learned. things are much different now 50 years on. i will tell them there are many things that are not any different, and that is because i know that to be the case. are you still saying that you are still seeing complaints of current abuse? current abuse, current abuse, every day. four of the social workers involved have been referred to their professional standards body. and there are calls for a new inquest for victoria agoglio. her family say that, even after today's report, they still don't have closure. judith moritz, bbc news, rochdale. our home editor mark easton is here. this is called historical abuse but it is still relatively recent and it seems that lessons have not been learned. these failures happen in 2004 and 2005 in the uk had just been through a period of soul—searching about protecting children from abuse. there had been

a new children's act and 30s promised they'd learnt the lessons but as we heard lessons had not been learned. the children were in care and those in authority labelled them as prostitutes and promiscuous, children who they said had chosen to be exploited. the perpetrators all came from one ethnic minority and they recognised it had itself been a victim of prejudice and racism. we like to paint society is neatly divided between law—abiding and criminal, victims and villains. when things are not clear they can become less of a priority. i think we forgot the most important thing but however difficult they may be, the welfare of children must come first. thank you. in the last few minutes it has been announced a deal has been struck to try to save the troubled airline flybe from collapse. it is the biggest regional

operator in the uk. simonjack is at exeter airport. how have they done this? well what they've done is they have said that they would promise to review the airport passenger duty tax in the run—up to the next budget. that is a tax of £13 on every domestic airline flight. many airlines say it has damaged the industry and the government has pledged to review that. that may be code for cutting that. green lobby groups say it is not consistent with environmental targets and say that they will do it in line with environmental targets and they also owe quite a lot of money in air passenger duty arrears and i'm told there will be a conversation between there will be a conversation between the company and hmic about how they could pay that under existing legal time to pay considerations. they say that any company could ask for that

in certain circumstances. so deferring some of the money that the land deferring some of the money that the l and promising that taxes in the future would be lower. consistent with environmental targets. that will be a difficult square, difficult triangle to scrap but the shareholders have put in extra money and that will be a great relief to people around here. and a great relief to the people who work for flybe. some smiles on the desk behind me. some people have been anxious about the story. around 300 people work directly for the airline, 400 here in the headquarters just over the road and hundreds more in supply services to the airline. also great news i think for those people who rely on these services because in places like the isle of man, in aberdeen, southampton and here in exeter, flybe is by far the biggest customer and biggest operator and the government realised it was committed

to improving the connectivity of the region. it was a fundamental ma nifesto region. it was a fundamental manifesto pledge. and if the company had gone bust it would have done nothing to further those ambitions. so borisjohnson said this morning not in the business of saving individual companies but we are in the business of preserving network connectivity in the regions. they regions. they think they found a way to do all those things and it will be interesting to see more detail about what they have agreed. the man who bought british home stores for one pound, dominic chappell, has been told he must pay £9.5 million into two of the company's pension schemes. bhs collapsed in 2016 with a pension deficit of more than half a billion pounds — a year after mr chappell bought the chain from sir philip green. the prime minister has written to the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon to formally reject her request to be given the right to hold a second referendum on independence. in the letter, borisjohnson says that nicola sturgeon and her predecessor, alex salmond, had made a personal

promise that the independence referendum in 2014 would be a once in a generation event. 0ur scotland editor, sarah smith, is in downing street. not so surprising decision. nicola sturgeon knew before she even asked the question about another referendum that it would be a flat from the prime minister. but that does not mean these arguments are not important, this is a constitutional battle that will rage on and on. the prime minister thinks that he can refuse to allow another referendum without provoking a major backlash in scotland where voters are split around 50—50 on whether they support independence. at the moment there is no widespread demand for another vote. 0n the other hand you have nicola sturgeon who thinks that she can win voters over to her side by continuing to make the argument about a democratic deficit and sang scottish voters are being ignored of a brexit and being refused the right to decide the future within the uk. she hopes that

the longer the prime minister refuses to allow this than the more support for independence will grow. but the conservatives are well aware of the risk and coming up with plans for increased spending and new initiatives to build support for the union in scotland. britain, france and germany have triggered a formal dispute process with iran over its violations of the 2015 international nuclear agreement. they said tehran‘s ongoing breaches of the deal, which was meant to stop the country building nuclear weapons, had left them no choice. if the agreement is not saved, european sanctions may be re—imposed on iran. talks are continuing about the future of prince harry and meghan markle. yesterday, the queen agreed to a ‘period of transition‘ for the couple, after they said they wanted to step back from royal duties. the mail on sunday has published its legal defence as part of the ongoing events between the royal couple and the newspaper after it published parts of a private letter written by

meghan markle to her father. here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. a new direction has been agreed. less than 20 months since their wedding, the duke and duchess of sussex, harry and meghan come have been given the go—ahead by the queen to seek a new life and they are making plans to move out and to base themselves in part in canada. harry has visited the country on a number of occasions. the invictus games were staged at toronto in 2017 and meghan lived there for seven years as an actress. there will be questions about their tax and immigration status but canada's prime minister appeared to be offering a cautious welcome. i think most canadians are very supportive of having royals be here. but how that looks and what kind of cost is involved, there's still lots of discussions to have.

0n vancouver island, where meghan is thought to be based with her baby people were unsure whether canada should pay for the cost of their security. they should. it should not be anybody else, i don't think. the queen. the uk government, i don't think. here in england, the promised or declined to offer a thought on the move. i am certain they will sort this out and i think they will be able to sort it out all the easier without any particular commentary from me. meghan believes she has been badly treated by the british media and is suing the mail on sunday because with publication of a letter she wrote to her estranged father. in its court submission published today, the paper says the claimant, meghan, is a major public figure who fitness to reform rural duties on behalf of the crown and to be the recipient of public money is a proper matter for public scrutiny. to which meghan might respond from now on, i will not perform royal duties and it is our intention not to receive public money. but royal duties are what the royal family does.

prince william was at buckingham palace today bestowing honours. it's a staple of royal life. the life to which the queen has devoted herself but from which harry now wishes to break free in deference to his wife. it is a partingy over which the royal family feels great regret coupled with realism. nicholas witchell, bbc news. our top story this evening. an investigation finds that dozens of children groomed and abused by gangs in manchester were failed by police and social services. and still to come — will councillors in england's smallest county have the appetite to serve up its first mcdonald's? coming up on sportsday on bbc news, tranmere's fa cup third round replay against watford is postponed after three days of heavy rain made the league 1 side's pitch at prenton park unplayable. wildfires like the ones that

are devastating parts of australia will become common in other parts of the world by the end of the century if global temeratures continue to rise. that's according to british scientists, who say the average temperature on earth is on course to rise by 3 degrees celsius above pre—industrial levels, by the end of the 21st century. here's our science editor david shukman. day after day, fire crews brave the front lines in a crisis that's still escalating. many of the blazes are out of control and beyond anyone's experience. it's the worst i've seen in 21 years. this is honestly the worst i've seen, the most i've actually been out. it makes it very hard, especially when you've got family and commitments and all the rest of it. in a town in victoria, a ghostly scene — cars burnt and grey with ash. fires are a natural feature of australia, but record heat has made them more severe than usual. something that had been predicted.

climate scientists knew this was going to happen at some point, whether it was now or ten years from now. we were going to get this perfect storm, and it was going to be pretty horrible. we dodged a bullet a couple of years ago when we had a hot summer then. but it was eventually going to transpire. and this seems to be part of a pattern. a new study of wildfires around the world from the amazon rainforest to california says human activity is raising temperatures and adding to the threat, including in europe and many other regions. this was spain last year. the aim of this study was to assess what we know about the risk of wildfires. the scientists found that the total area burnt has actually reduced over recent decades, mainly because dense natural vegetation has been cleared to make way for farmland. but they also say that the length of the fire season, when conditions are right for fires to take hold, has increased by 20% globally.

and they warn that if the average temperature rises by three degrees celsius, which at the moment looks likely, the area burned will increase in size. the scientists involved in the research say the key now is to cut emissions of the gases that are heating the planet. in terms of the urgency, it's getting worse all the time. so the sooner we can rein in emissions, the sooner we can slow the increase in warming and increased climate change impacts. back in australia, as human activity is linked to the fires, it's wildlife that's suffering most. this emergency food is for animals that survived the onslaught. millions of others are thought to have died. the challenge now is to make sure there are systems in place to cope with fires on this scale in future. david shukman, bbc news. the australian open tennis tournament has been disrupted by the bushfires burning

across new south wales and victoria. the slovenian player dalila jakupovic retired from her qualifying match after a coughing fit, saying she was scared about the quality of the air. residents in melbourne have been told to stay indoors. 0rganisers said the conditions were expected to improve and would be "monitored constantly". at least six people have been killed and more than a dozen injured after a sinkhole swallowed a bus in northwest china, triggering an explosion. several people fell into the sinkhole as it spread, covering an area of 10 metres in diameter. at least four people are still thought to be missing. sinkholes are common in china and are blamed on the country's rapid pace of development. you will no longer be able to place bets using a credit card from the middle of april. the move is to try to curb problem gambling. of the 24 million adults who gamble in britain it is estimated that 800,000 use credit cards to gamble.

and gambling commission research suggests that about a fifth of those who use credit cards to bet online are classified as problem gamblers. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith report. what if i told you that the betfair exchange... gambling has never been so popular. millions more people are betting because we have a portable bookies in our pocket. you can bet on sports and supermarket, politics in the pub and play in the casinos in a coffee shop. until now, these online gambling sites allowed you to pay on a credit card, which chris knows only too well is a big temptation. it's difficult to put an accurate figure on it, but i reckon i have lost somewhere in the region of £100,000. it's been ten years since christ first tried to get help for his gambling addiction, but he has fallen off the wagon a few times since then. there've been times when i have been gambling—free for months and then borrowed money from a payday loan

site or a credit card and woke up the next day having lost all my money and created a few thousand pounds worth of debt. how did that make you feel when you relapsed like that? pretty hopeless because it made me feel like i would never sort of get free of this addiction. it's been more than two years since campaigners called for a ban on credit card payments. so why has the regulator been so slow? we expect operators to take steps to ensure that they understand where the money their customers have is coming from and make sure that they are only gambling in a way that they can afford. and we really expect operators to keep their consumers safe. the biggest online sites like bet365, 888, betfair and poker stars say they do want to try and help people with gambling problems. although banning of credit cards does cause a bit of an issue because it was a marker of harm, so when somebody used a credit card, it was an area where you would intervene. we want to make gambling responsible and indeed a very safe activity.

chris is not convinced. gambling by credit card by definition is irresponsible gambling. it is really strange that neither the financial institutions or gambling institutions could take it on themselves to introduce this. so would a ban on spending on credit cards have helped him? a small step but a positive one. so i think it would certainly help in situations like i described with relapsing. for those most vulnerable, every extra barrier brings another moment to think. colletta smith, bbc news. a volcano in the philippines could erupt violently at any moment — and it has meant that almost 40,000 people have had to leave the area. a cloud of ash and fountains of lava have been gushing out of the crater of taal, which lies in the middle of a lake about 45 miles south of the centre of the philippines capital, manila. taal, which is one of the world's smallest active

volcanoes, began erupting on sunday morning, blanketing surrounding areas in mud and ash. these are timelapsed images of a lightning storm swirling around in the huge cloud of volcanic ash. but one couple were determined not to let it spoil their big day, as they tied the knot in spectacular scenes. today the visible activity has died down — but authorities are warning people not to return to their homes due to fears that another large eruption is imminent. england 5 smallest county, rutland, boasts two historic towns, a large lake, and a population of 38,000 people. but there's one thing it doesn t have — and that's a mcdonalds. it's the only county in england not have to a branch of the fast food chain. but that could be about to change. sian lloyd has more. 0akham, in rural rutland — the last fortress against the expansion plans of multinational fast food chains.

mcdonald's wants to open on a retail parkjust outside the town, and the prospect of serving up happy meals here isn't to everyone's taste. for me, rutland is the only county without a mcdonald's, and that's something that's so unique and special about what we do. if you want one, you can drive 15 minutes out of county and get one and come back and enjoy our little gem and support we have that is different and is unique. but the planned drive—thru is dividing opinion. it's not a problem. we've got to move with the times. if small towns like ours don't move with the times, we don't end up being a healthy town. 100% agree. do you? i 100% agree. so, is it the big talking point of 0akham? why should it be? mcdonald's is going to be great for the town. it's going to give loads of kids a job. i've walked in the countryside. that's all you see — fast food rubbish in ditches. and added to that, i think

the obesity problem will not be helped. there are lots of good places to eat in this vicinity. and i think that a place like that might undermine some of the other places, which aren't necessarily expensive. the majority of the town council is supporting the plan. 60 jobs — 30 part—time, 30 full—time, and they'll take on the young and they will take on the old. so, in my eyes, it's a win—win situation. the burger chain hopes its golden arches will find a home in this historic county, but not all rutlanders have an appetite for change. sian lloyd, bbc news, 0akham. time for a look at the weather. here's susan powell. hard to believe that we have yet another wet deep area of low pressure pushing across the uk today. we have seen scenes like this

along the south coast at gosport today with massive waves crashing on the shore, and the wind gusting in excess of 70 mph in exposed spots around the noodles on the isle of wight. —— the needles on the isle of wight. —— the needles on the isle of wight. to the north of the uk we have this low whether —— low pressure area , so have this low whether —— low pressure area, so it is almost like bringing a friend today that is pushing across england and wales. still windy to the far north—west with wintry showers across scotland creating some beautiful scenes in the highlands but also affecting transport on some higher—level roots. here we are this evening with a mucky rush hourfor parts roots. here we are this evening with a mucky rush hour for parts of the midlands and central and eastern ended with heavy rain to come, grinding toa ended with heavy rain to come, grinding to a halt at the end of the night so a soggy story for the and eastern england and temperatures held up by the cloud and rain in double figures. clear skies for the north, frost and ice for scotland

and northern ireland with further wintry showers across scotland. the snow level is anticipated to rise above scotland with showers more likely to fall as rain below 400 metres. 0n higher ground, look at the difference across the uk, much drier and clearer. still breezy but it will take a while to get rid of some of that range from the south—east. a fresh fuel to the south—east. a fresh fuel to the south and i'm a little milder tomorrow in scotland. however respite only short, into thursday, here comes the next area of low pressure barrelling into the atlantic. wet and windy weather across the western side of the uk. friday, some weather fronts across the western side of the uk. friday, some weatherfronts running their way south across the uk. that will mean more showers but come the weekend, high pressure starts to build, so another wet and windy day on thursday, friday, much quieter, and the change for the weekend, lighter winds, and the return of some overnight frost overnight on

saturday into sunday. so after a very lively week things will eventually calm down. a reminder of our top story... children have been failed by police and social services after abuse by criminal gangs in manchester. and a deal has been struck to try to save the troubled airline flybe from collapse. it is europe's biggest regional operator. now we join the bbc‘s news teams where you are. goodbye.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the government has agreed a rescue deal for regional airline flybe to keep the company operating. andrea leadsom says that she is delighted with the agreement.

children abused by grooming gangs were failed by manchester police and local authorities according to an official report. the committee says children were suffering ‘the most profound abuse' but the authorities failed to protect them. but in france and germany have triggered a dispute mechanism against the iran 2015 nuclear deal. and the reaction from canada with marco de's plans to move there part—time. the comet is one who pays for their security. —— the government. here is sports day. hello, i'm hugh ferris. this is sportsday and these are our headlines. coughing fits under smoky skies. how the bushfires have made their mark on melbourne's australian open