this is bbc news. the headlines: the brother of the manchester arena bomber is being sentenced for mass murder — relatives of the victims break down in tears as they tell the court about the impact of their loss. the body of a teenage migrant from sudan — who disappeared at sea — has been found on a beach near calais. eu leaders say they'll impose sanctions on individuals in belarus — involved in electoralfraud and the repression of the protests. the health secretary announces a dramatic rise in the number of household coronavirus tests in england — to 150,000 a fortnight. we are going to expand it — essentially by almost ten times —

so that we get more detailed information about where the virus is taking root. an inflation—led price hike for railfares — but campaign groups and unions call for a reduction in ticket prices to encourage more people back on the tracks. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the man found guilty of murdering 22 people in the manchester arena bombing in 2017 has refused to leave his cell for his sentence hearing. the judge at the old bailey said he couldn't force 23—year—old hashem abedi to come to court. the two day hearing began with family members of some of the victims emotionally describing how the attack had affected them.

some broke down as they recalled the moment they discovered their loved ones had died. 0ne bereaved mother told the court his horrendous act of cowardice had changed their lives forever. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, is at the old bailey. the old bailey has seen many emotional days in both murder trials and inquests, but this has definitely been one of the most emotional. just to set the scene, hashem abedi, the man who has been found guilty of murdering 22 people in the manchester arena attack, was brought to the court building today but has refused to leave the cells. he was not there in the dock. the judge told those bereaved relatives the court has no legal right to direct a prison officer to use force to compel a prisoner to attend court. this all took place in his absence and without any lawyers. he has asked that his lawyers shouldn't be present. it is also worth saying that of course he has been convicted of 22 murders,

therefore there is an automatic life sentence, but because he was under 21 at the time of those murders, he will not be given a whole life order, he can't be given a prison sentence which says he will never be released, so this hearing is all about working out how many decades it is that he should spend for his minimum term part of his life sentence. but really today has been all about the families trying to explain to the judge the absolute devastation of that manchester bomb attack. we first heard from claire booth, the sister of kelly brewster, who was killed in the attack. claire booth had herjaw broken herself in the attack and was caring for another member of their party. she told the court that she would always feel guilty. "i struggle with feelings of guilt," she said, "that i had no option but to leave kelly to die alone." the court also heard from the mothers of a young couple we have heard a lot about through this trial, 19—year—old liam curry and his girlfriend 17—year—old chloe rutherford.

they had been childhood sweethearts and they both were killed in the manchester arena attack. caroline, liam curry‘s mother said, "all we now have is heartbreaking dreams of what if." she talked as if the future of both families had been snatched away by these two young people that were killed. lisa rutherford the mother of chloe rutherford said, "we have been destroyed." figen murray, whose son martyn hett was killed, talked about the fact that she struggles to go to sleep now before 10:31pm because she always feels guilty that she was asleep at the moment her son was killed during the manchester arena attack. many families felt they couldn't talk about the effect in person, so statements have also been read to the court detailing the absolute devastation that those 22 murders and the many injuries at the manchester arena

attack have caused. the sentence will be passed tomorrow. the head of a human rights charity says the home secretary should consider her position after the body of a teenage migrant from sudan who disappeared at sea was found on a beach near calais. bella sankey, the director of detention action said priti patel had failed to create a safe and legal route for the young person, which directly led to their death. the home secretary had said the death provided a brutal reminder of the abhorrent people smugglers who exploited vulnerable people. meanwhile, the french authorities have rescued 41 people on the french side of the channel. our correspondent simonjones gave us this update.

after they set out the boat capsized. one of the migrants on board managed to make it back to a beach in northern france. he was spotted by someone on the beach. he was taken to hospital and was able to tell the person who rescued him that his friend, a 16—year—old, had disappeared in the channel and couldn't swim. he didn't know where he was. that prompted a huge search by the french authorities. but at about seven o'clock this morning at the discovery was made of the body of that 16—year—old migrant on a beach in sangatte just down the coast from calais. we have already heard some reaction, what reaction has there been? the warning over the past two months and years has been migrants are risking their lives crossing the busiest shipping lane in the world on small boats. today once again we have seen a number of boats making that journey across the channel, one was seen very close to folkestone. in terms of the reaction, the home secretary priti patel has described this as a tragedy. we have had similar sentiments from politicians over in france. in the uk labour have said this shows the government haven't been

competent in addressing this issue and they haven't shown compassion. i think what this does do is put some real pressure both on the british and french government to try to get a grip of this issue. the two sides have held talks recently because we have seen a record number of people making this crossing. in many cases young people. i was out on the channel a couple of times in recent weeks. i saw these overloaded boats, people bailing water out of the box. we see how dangerous it is. but people are determined to get to the uk despite the warnings. there were four deaths of people taking this attempt last year and now in use today of another one. a man who rammed several vehicles on a motorway in berlin is being investigated for what prosecutors say was "an islamist—motivated attack". six people were injured, three of them seriously. the 30—year—old man drove into several ca rs and motorcyclists on the motorway. the attack is being investigated as having either a political or religious motive but prosecutors have not ruled out psychological issues.

two of pc andrew harper's killers have launched appeals against their manslaughter convictions. albert bowers and jessie cole are seeking permission to challenge their convictions and their 13—year sentences. it comes as pc harper's widow launched a petition for tougherjail terms for people who kill emergency services workers. andrew harper died when he was dragged behind a car driven by fleeing quad bike thieves last year. in the latest 2a hour period, a further 16 people in the uk have died after testing positive for covid—i9, according to government figures. that takes the total number of uk covid deaths within 28 days of a positive test to 41,397.

railway season ticket holders and commuters in england and wales will see a 1.6% rise in fares surprise jump in inflation. it'll affect about half of rail fares — which are pegged tojuly‘s retail price index. the office for national statistics said rising petrol prices and additional ppe costs helped contribute to the increase in prices. our business correspondent sarah corker reports. the morning commute across the pennines from huddersfield to manchester. it's normally packed. but in the era of coronavirus, rush hour is anything but. despite the slump in passenger numbers, rail fares are set to rise next year, angering some today. if the service was going to improve i wouldn't have a problem with it. if the service is going to stay as bad as it is then yes, i don't think it is fair. they make all the promises but never, ever change it.

never. and i have been getting on the train 25 years. i can't see us ever going back full—time, especially not in the immediate future. i suppose that is subject to change, depending on what happens with covid. but at the minute it isjust one or two days a week, no pressure to sort of go in fulltime. regulated fares including season tickets are set to go up by 1.6% injanuary. for huddersfield to manchester that is an annual rise of £15 to £2771 per year. for brighton to london, it is up £80 to more than £5,000 a year. despite the government encouraging workers to get back to the office, rail travel is still below one third of what it was before this crisis began and the way many of us work and travel has changed permanently. passenger groups want a radical shake—up of the fares system. the department for transport says

any fare increases in england and wales will go straight into crucial investment in the railways, while transport for scotland say they are considering the options on future fares and have delayed the rise. passengers just want flexibility. the traditional season ticket was incentivised to people travelling four and five days a week. we now want to see bundles where people could get ten journeys for the price of eight or nine. get them travelling again as they go back to the office one or two days a week. as lockdown has eased, consumer price inflation rose to i% injuly, boosted by rising petrol, furniture and clothing prices. despite the increase, it is still low for historical standards and restaurants like mexican chain wahaca have been passing on the cuts in vat to customers. given everything that has happened over the last four months, the best we could do was to give

people a real reason to go back out, so passing on the 15% vat cut through all of our pricing was really important. we do not hold it against anyone who has not done that because everyone has had a very hard time, but for us we have always been known for great value and we just wanted to reiterate that to our customers. the bank of england said earlier this month that it expects inflation to drop again soon. good news for consumers but tough times ahead for businesses weathering this economic storm. sarah corker, bbc news. well we can speak now to zoe lamb who normally commutes to london from redhill in surrey via southern and thameslink. thank you forjoining us. i want to get a few facts clear if i may one of all. before lockdown, you are commuting into the city. what was

the cost of your season—ticket? commuting into the city. what was the cost of your season-ticket? my ticket with about £3500 a year. —— was about. and it lockdown you have been working from home and presumably there is now a possibility you might not be coming into central london quite so regularly. so what impact might that have on your bank balance?” regularly. so what impact might that have on your bank balance? i think i am looking to go back somewhere between two to four days a week. probably averaging about three. this season probably averaging about three. this season take it as it is priced would be about the same price as if i do three daily tickets. there is an option of a weekly ticket. i haven't fully explored that but what i wouldn't get is that benefit of the reward of being a commuter and the convenience of having a ticket preloaded and not having to lose time queuing up the daily tickets all the time. what would be a better

solution for you? we keep hearing about flexible tickets. what does that mean exactly? there is a couple of things for me. taking the convenience point, a key card which they have that is extremely unreliable in terms of unloading tickets, working through the barriers, working with tfl would be extremely helpful. and then also just in terms of cost. i would like something to reflect the benefit. i'll being our little customer on a regular user. if i did the same journey on a daily ticket price, it will cost me over £6,000. so i take that benefit at the moment and i would like that to be married somehow in a flexible ticket. i think my major concern with it is that the prices always go up front see service saying the same a poor level in my area certainly fought that we have about 70% punctuality

which means if i going four days a week come at least one or two of those days will be disrupted. and also any flexibility that they put it the ticket will not hide or get through the pre—existing hikes and prices that we've had. so all my life we have a red health fair hump where our prices went up significantly. that's a red hill. it is never been readjusted since ten yea rs is never been readjusted since ten years ago. that is going to continue and increasing flexibility increases complexity and i just don't and increasing flexibility increases complexity and ijust don't really trust the company enough to provide a transparent system. so i would like flexibility, but it makes me nervous around being able to understand what my options are and work out with the most cost effective choices i have. you mentioned the word complexity. is it just me, i'm quite prepared to

concede that it is, it does seem to me that to be fiendishly difficult to understand any of this? could it be more complicated? to understand any of this? could it be more complicated ?|j to understand any of this? could it be more complicated? i completely agree. i my line, it is cheaperfor example in some cases to go from gatwick and to skip to my stations. i'm also in this area where we are on an oyster card system so we can use the oyster card that works across london however we are not in across london however we are not in a zone so we never are across london however we are not in a zone so we never are really sure if we tap into type out what fear you will get charged and quite often we look up the statement it doesn't match the daily fare and so, i would welcome that flexibility but they need to be a very simple system i think somebody your report talked about journeys, ten think somebody your report talked aboutjourneys, tenjourneys, think somebody your report talked about journeys, ten journeys, get two free, something that is rewarding the regular commuter who is having to put up with the disruption to the service because we have no other choice. we have to get into work. and i'll be if we are working only two or three days a

week we would have set up meetings andi week we would have set up meetings and i will imagine there to be very packed days and it is notjust us. it is our clients and colleagues come everybody that we are interacting ourfamilies come everybody that we are interacting our families in come everybody that we are interacting ourfamilies in the support system we have for childcare, care, if the service is not there, then the flexibility doesn't really mean anything.” think i understand now. good to talk to you. thank you so much. the headlines on bbc news... the brother of the manchester arena bomber is being sentenced for mass murder — relatives of the victims break down in tears as they tell the court about the impact of the attack. the body of a teenage migrant from sudan — who disappeared at sea — has been found on a beach near calais. eu leaders say they'll impose sanctions on individuals in belarus — involved in electoralfraud and the repression of the protests.

a west yorkshire police officer has been suspended and is being investigated after footage emerged that appears to show him restraining a man and saying "chill out or i'll choke you out". the video shows an officer wrestling a man to the ground before holding him with an arm around the neck. the footage, from halifax, has been widely shared on social media. a warning, you may find the footage we're about to show you distressing. west yorkshire police confirmed that the footage was taken at spring hall gardens in halifax. assistant chief constable 0sman khan said...

the european union has stepped up pressure on belarus over the disputed presidential election, announcing it will impose targeted sanctions on some officials. an emergency summit of eu leaders declared that the election was neither free nor fair, adding that the eu does not recognise the result which handed president alexander lukashenko a landslide win. this was the president of the eu commission ursula von der leyen making the announcement.

we must be firm with those that rigged the elections and are repressing brutally demonstrators. so secondly, there was unanimous support for the eu to be working on sanctions against those responsible for what is taking place. targeted sanctions on specific persons without hurting the people of belarus. the european union also expressed solidarity with protesters in belarus, who have been demonstrating on the streets for days following the result of the election. here's the president of the european council charles michel. the european union stands in solidarity with the people of belarus. and we don't accept impunity. on august the 9th, belarus held elections. these elections were neither free

norfair, and did not meet international standards. we don't recognise the results presented by the belarus authorities. the people of belarus deserve better. president lukashenko has ordered an end to protests in the capital, minsk and he told the european union not to interfere in belarusian affairs translation: we are holding a meeting today of eu foreign ministers or leaders. i would simply advise them before pointing fingers at us to focus the agenda on for example the yellow vests of france, the terrible chaos in the united states, the protests in germany and other countries against coronavirus restrictions. what i am saying is they have lots of problems of their own, so don't point at belarus to deflect attention from the problems that exist in france, the united states, germany and so on. for neighbouring countries

like poland ? which had called for the special eu meeting — the instability sparked by the election result in belarus has been particularly worrying. poland's deputy foreign minister, marcin przydacz spoke to me earlier from warsaw about the concerns in poland. of course as being a direct neighbor of belarus we are deeply concerned about the situation and belarus after the elections which were not fair and free as it was said also during the discussion at the level of european council. of course it worries us not only because of the fact that it is our direct neighbour, but we are culturally linked to belarus, there are a lot of belarusians living in poland and they need our support and help and we wanted to answer to that desire. as we all know for the last 26

years, belarus is ruled by alexander lukashenko who is far from the democratic standard i would say, and finally those thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people protesting in minsk and other cities are struggling for their freedom for the change of power and we believe that they have the right to do that. so, realistically what support can you offer to the people of belarus? we have already proposed a programme of support to the belarusian society that was proposed by the prime minister on friday, five elements of this programme, scholarships for students, also financial support for those who lost theirjobs and lost any other possibilities in the country. we just wanted to also help to facilitate crossing the border for those who are under

pressure or who are in detention and theyjust need