today at six — rebekah vardy loses her libel case against colleen rooney. of vardy�*s evidence wasn't credible. it's a disaster for rebekah vardy. her brand, her career, in the sense of being a personality, has been completely ruined. when most libel cases are settled out of court, we'll have more on the impact of this high profile hearing. also on the programme: the infected blood scandal of the �*70s and �*80s — thousands of surviving victims

should receive immediate six figure compensation, rules a judge. two people are arrested, after a nine—year—old girl died in a suspected stabbing. and i'm in birmingham, as we head into a huge weekend of sporting action. hosts england made it a golden start to the commonwealth games. alex yee stormed to victory in the triathlon — with more medals up for grabs this evening. and how the lionesses are inspiring at the next generation as england prepare to take on germany in the euros finals on sunday. and coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel: we'll round up all the action on day one of the commonwealth games, including

a look at the 3x3 basaketball, which is making it's debut. hello and welcome to the bbc news at six. rebekah vardy has lost her libel case at the high court. in what had become known as the wagatha christie trial, the wife of the former england footballerjamie vardy had sued coleen rooney after she accused vardy of leaking private information about her to the tabloid press. in a statement after the verdict, coleen rooney said she was pleased with the judgment, but added that the case should never have gone to court. rebekah vardy said she was "extremely sad and disappointed", and that it wasn't the result she'd been expecting. our correspondent colin paterson has followed the trial and sent this report. two footballer wives, both with huge social media followings and brands in their own right. rebekah vardy, married to

leicester city striker, jamie vardy, and coleen rooney, wife of england's all—time top goal—scorer, wayne rooney. they went head—to—head in a libel trial at the high court. today's judgment could not have gone much worse for rebekah vardy, her evidence described by the judge as "not credible, and on occasions, manifestly inconsistent, evasive or implausible." it's a disaster for rebekah vardy. you know, her brand, her career in the sense of, you know, being a personality, has been completely ruined because she's effectively been found to be a liar by a high courtjudge, which is going to be hanging around her neck for the rest of her life. the case all centred on an accusation made by coleen rooney in october 2019. she'd been doing some detective work to investigate who was leaking information from her private instagram account to the sun newspaper. coleen rooney created fake stories to try and deduce who was behind the leaks. she blocked every account apart from one.

days later, the stories appeared in the sun. only then, and after the use of ten dots to ramp up the tension, did coleen rooney reveal in an online post that the one account she'd allowed to read these works of fiction was rebekah vardy�*s. rebekah vardy said that this accusation had caused untold damage to her reputation and she was left with no option but to sue coleen rooney for libel. but in court, things began to go wrong for mrs vardy. coleen rooney's legal team accused her of being evasive and of changing her story. today, the judge said that rebekah vardy had actively engaged time and time again in the process of selling stories about coleen rooney to the sun via her agent, caroline watt — seen here on the left. the judge said it was likely both of them had destroyed crucial evidence, including caroline watt�*s phone being dropped into the north sea. when rebekah vardy was giving her evidence at the high court, i was sitting about five feet away and saw as she repeatedly broke

down, and when she was accused of lying under oath, she put her head in her hands and sobbed. she looked like she was thinking, "why have i brought this to the high court?" with today's judgment, she will be seriously regretting doing so. in thejudgment, coleen rooney and her husband, wayne rooney, were described as having given honest and reliable evidence and crucially her original post with the accusation was ruled to have been substantially true. in a statement, coleen rooney said... coleen rooney has struck a majorvictory, major, major home run here. and it makes her look, in a sense, a certain amount of statesperson over this. she understands the game. vardy doesn't.

she is a pantomime baddie, and we look at all these big celebrity moments as a great british pantomime. this afternoon, rebekah vardy said that she was disappointed and devastated by the judge is finding. she also asked to an end for what she called the vile abuse against her family. abuse the judge today also recognised. rebekah vardy hoped this case would restore her reputation, that reputation has now fallen further. colin paterson, bbc news. and our home editor mark eastonjoins me now. this really raises some striking situations around media law and how we are all publishers now.— we are all publishers now. indeed, it's very much _ we are all publishers now. indeed, it's very much a — we are all publishers now. indeed, it's very much a 21st-century - we are all publishers now. indeed, it's very much a 21st-century libel| it's very much a 21st—century libel case, if someone said to you i am a publisher you might think they are in the book trade or a newspaper owner but all publish up means is somebody who announces in public and these days anyone can put things on social media, twitter, facebook,

instagram, in 2022 we're all publishers basically. what the case shows is the laws that apply to a media baron or newspaper tycoon also apply to people with a social media account and especially if they've got lots of followers like rebekah vardy and coleen rooney have, hundreds of thousands or millions of people reading everything they put up. as thejudge people reading everything they put up. as the judge said coleen rooney's post was published in vast numbers of people and seen more than 30 million times on twitter alone and although coleen rooney won today you may remember sally burkle, wife of the commons speaker and katie hopkins, far right commentator both lost libel cases after tweeting on advisedly and paid damages of several thousand pounds but what really cost them was the legal bill, running into six figures in both cases. damages in the case today are

likely to be modest but at the cost of paying for all those lawyers could be north of £2 million. that is what traditional publishers know only too well in libel cases, the only too well in libel cases, the only real winners are the lawyers. mark, thank you. more than 4,000 surviving victims and bereaved partners along with bereaved partners, should receive an immediate compensation payment of at least £100,000 each. that's the recommendation of the judge leading the public inquiry into what's been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the nhs. the government says it will consider the recommendation with the �*utmost urgency�*. if the government accepts it, it'll be the first time compensation will have been paid in the uk, after thousands of people were infected with lethal viruses, including hiv and hepatitis, through contaminated treatments in the 19705 and 805. our health correspondent jim reed has this report. in 1978 richard warrick was given

a new treatment for the blood disorder haemophilia. he later found out it was contaminated with two forms of hepatitis and hiv. the impact on his life was devastating. no life insurance, no pension. everything that the normal guy on the street that would be the norm, that isjust gone. we were advised, well, we were told in no uncertain terms to have our one and only child aborted, so we lost a child because of the risk to the child of hiv. but richard and other victims of this disaster have often had to survive on benefits and annual support payments unlike in other countries, full compensation has never been paid. it is recognition of the harm that has been done to us. compensation to families and victims will enable them to get on with their lives and... yeah. you've been waiting a long time for this. been waiting a long time for this. too long.

today, then, an important moment. the chair of the public inquiry made his first formal recommendation, that some interim compensation should be paid now with more possible later. i've decided to recommend interim payments of no less than £100,000 are made to all the infected people and all the bereaved partners currently registered with the schemes. in a room in the inquiry building messages are left in bottles remembering loved ones. since the start of the inquiry in 2019 one infected person has been dying every four days. in total 2500 have lost their lives. steve always felt the treatment destroyed his life. sue remembers her husband steve, as she visits his grave in devon. he was infected with hepatitis c after being given contaminated treatment, and died in 2018. i had my earning power taken away from me. my husband had his earning power taken away. we lost our home, we lost

everything we had. why shouldn't i financially — because that is the only thing the government can now give me — have some part of what i lost? the government has said it would consider the recommendations with utmost urgency though it is unclear where the money, possibly £400 million would come from. if it agrees, thousands of victims could receive the first ever compensation payments before the end of the year. jim reed, bbc news. two people have been arrested in connection with the death of a nine—year—old girl, after a suspected stabbing in lincolnshire. police launched a murder investigation following the incident in boston last night. the girl has been named as lilia valutyte, and lincolnshire police say they believe it was an �*isolated incident�*. our midlands correspondent navtej johal has the latest. they have been coming here all day.

people shocked and shaken by the most awful news, trying to show their support. police were called to this quiet lane in boston town centre yesterday evening at around 6:20pm. 0fficers said a nine—year—old girl died of what they believe to be a stab wound. we do believe this to be an isolated incident. her parents are being supported by specially trained officers at this very difficult time and i can only imagine the grief and pain that they�*re going through. the girl�*s name has been confirmed as lilia valutyte. two people have an arrested but police have not given any details of who they are or what they have been arrested on suspicion of, citing operational reasons. extra officers have been brought in to patrol the area but the incident has made some people in this town question their own safety. you can�*t live in boston, you can�*t. it�*s not safe. no more. you don�*t feel safe here? no, i don�*t. sick to my stomach. a poor innocent nine—year—old. how could anybody do that to a nine—year—old? disgusting. we don't walk around here at night—time. l you don�*t feel safe?

no. no way. no way would i feel safe. lilia died in the shadow of boston�*s historic church. inside people have been lighting candles in her memory. every life is precious, every human life. when it is a child, there is something very deep in that that affects us, when we lose children. the police are urging anyone with information to come forward, but they are also urging people not to speculate about this incident on social media. meanwhile, the people in this town are asking the same question again and again. how could this have happened? navteonhal, bbc news, boston. with the price of gas and electricity climbing ever higher, the government has unveiled details of its plan to support people through the cost of living crisis. all households in england, scotland and wales will be given £400 this autumn to help towards fuel bills. so how will we get the money? our business correspondent

emma simpson is here to explain. thanks, jane. this is a key part of the government�*s £15 billion support package. every household is eligible for the £400 payment, which comes off energy bills. it starts in october, with a discount of £66, rising to £67 a month from december to march next year. how you receive this money depends on how you pay your bill. if you pay by direct debit, you�*ll see an automatic deduction. more than four million households use prepayment meters. if you have a so—called smart meter, you�*ll also see an automatic top up added to your account. but it�*s a bit more complicated if you�*re on a traditional prepayment meter. customers will get a voucher via text, email or in the post which they�*ll need to redeem in person at their usual top up point. the discount may not touch

the sides, given what�*s happening to gas prices and the implications for our bills. have a look here at the wholesale price of gas in the uk. you can see how it spiked to record levels after russia invaded ukraine — and it�*s rising once again. that�*s because russia has tightened the squeeze on the flow of gas to europe, and concerns are growing there about whether there will be enough supply when winter arrives. this is berlin cathedral, almost in darkness. some german cities are already trying to reduce energy consumption by turning off the lights on public monuments and imposing cold showers in swimming pools. in what is a deepening energy crisis across europe. jane. the time is 18:15. our top story this evening: rebekah vardy loses her libel case against coleen rooney — after a high courtjudge rules significant parts of vardy�*s evidence were not credible.

still to come, thousands of train drivers due to get more in the latest strike action to hit the railway. i�*ll the details. and coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel: we�*ll bring you news of england�*s netballers as they begin the defence of their commonwelath games title that they won so thrillingly in australia four years ago. now with the latest from the first full day of competition at the commonwealth games, let�*s head to reeta chakrabarti in birmingham. hello, jane. it�*s been a successful opening day for england and for scotland, with meadows and the triathlon. alex yee won the men�*s event with a storming run to come from behind and georgia taylor—brown

took silver in the women�*s just ahead of scotland�*s beth potter who got bronze. nesta mcgregor has been watching all the action. yellow might well come, everyone, to the 2022 commonwealth games! as far as ports go 3301.1 2022 commonwealth games! as far as orts . . , ., ., , 2022 commonwealth games! as far as nol�*tsaa'” ., , ,. , ports go you would rightly describe sorts as a ports go you would rightly describe sports as a walk — ports go you would rightly describe sports as a walk in _ ports go you would rightly describe sports as a walk in the _ ports go you would rightly describe sports as a walk in the park- ports go you would rightly describe sports as a walk in the park -- - sports as a walk in the park —— welcome, everyone. as far as sports go, you�*d hardly describe triathlon as a walk in the park, well, unless you live round the corner. for me, coming and watching it at the park was brilliant, because it�*s usually dogs swimming in the lake, let alone people. it was great. been watching the tournament, i thought it was quite amazing, really. it's really special to have it in a local area. a world class field, all eyes were on england�*s alex yee. the olympic silver medallist vying for commonwealth gold. however, hayden wilde seemed keen to cause an upset. the athlete from new zealand was always in the lead or thereabouts. a test of endurance and stamina. in this event, it�*s not always who starts best but who finishes strongest. and with a few kilometres to go,

alex yee took the lead and never looked back. and there you have it, the first gold medal of these games, and it�*s going to england�*s alex yee. medal secured, a hug from mum, a curry later to celebrate — dad�*s paying apparently. what does this mean compared to the olympics silver and all the other titles? well, i keep saying it, but i think this is probably my most treasured moment ever, so i think for me to be able to pick up a flag and, yeah, i worked hard towards this race this was one of my focuses, so, yeah, it�*sjust cool. alex yee, full of glee, and soon after attention turned to the women�*s sprint race, and the crowd were treated to a dominant display from bermuda�*s dame flora duffy. gold in australia four years ago, gold again today in the birmingham sunshine. england�*s georgia taylor—brown finished second, and there was a bronze medalfor scotland�*s beth potter. meanwhile, at arena birmingham, no medals were up for grabs, but defending pommel horse champion rhys mcclenaghan is a virtual certainty for monday�*s final.

the 23—year—old from northern ireland with an impressive display as he notched up the session�*s highest score. it�*sjob done! wales secured their first medal of the games on the cycle track. para cyclist james ball with a silver in the tandem 1000 metre time trial. the gold went to scotland — neil fachie maintaining his 100% record at the commonwealth games. nesta mcgregor, bbc news. of course it�*s notjust in birmingham that we�*ll see sporting action this weekend, because attention is very much turning to london, and the final of the euros, where england�*s women will be taking on germany at wembley. 0ur sports correspondent natalie pirks looks ahead to the match. lovely build—up. in the footballing lesson dished out to sweden, one goal will be remembered above all. 0h! oh, wow!

she might not have started a game yet, but superstar alessia russo�*s outrageous back heel has inspired a legion of copycats. come on, england! yeah! at charlton athletic, where russo learned her trade, they�*ve all been having a go. here, she�*s always been a star. her audacious ability no revalation. i'm not surprised that she's done something as spectacular as that, because i know what she's capable of doing. you know, if we ever got to the cup final, or the knockout stages of a tournament, you know, alessia would always be the one to score the winning goals. germany are pressing... she has a rival in the great goal stakes, though. her second in the game and germany lead withl a quarter of an hour to go. that was alexandra popp�*s sixth of the tournament, and was confirmation that germany are back as a football powerhouse. played in by griggs. chance for six, six i scored by germany. the eight—time european champions beat england in the 2009 final — a 6—2 thrashing in helsinki. midfielderjill scott is the only

current squad member who experienced that defeat. it�*s like night and day, really, but we don�*t want to forget everybody that came before and wore the shirt, because that is why we�*re here today. so it�*s going to be a great moment, even thinking about it, i think my voice goes a little bit, but we just have to try to remain logical, and it�*s one more game to go out there and achieve our dreams. after the world cup semi—final defeat in 2019, results dipped, but sarina wiegman�*s reign has been transformative. since the dutch coach took thejob 19 games ago, the lionesses are unbeaten. they have scored a remarkable 104 goals with just four goals conceded. victory on sunday would seal an astonishing turnaround in fortunes in under a year in thejob. final question — and i know you love this phrase — but is it coming home? that�*s something english too, i learned. i know the fans are singing it

in the stadium, and it�*s really nice because we get so much energy from our fans, and they have supported us so well. i hope we win the trophy. let�*s keep it with that. a wembley showdown against germany in front of the largest crowd seen for a women�*s european final. if that doesn�*t inspire a generation, nothing will. natalie pirks, bbc news. i�*m joined now by our sports editor dan roan. we�*re spoilt for choice, aren�*t we? for quality sport. so much to look forward to. _ for quality sport. so much to look forward to, reeta _ for quality sport. so much to look forward to, reeta just _ for quality sport. so much to look forward to, reeta just after- for quality sport. so much to look forward to, reeta just after the i forward to, reeta just after the captivating opening ceremony last night there has been so much action to enjoy on day one of the actual sport. some early home nations success with the likes of alex yee of england, new faculty of scotland, the highlights of course. it is a reminder of what makes these games special, fully integrated para— sport programme, new women�*s cricket at edgbaston this evening. these are part of the kind of atmosphere

athletes at the tokyo games last summer were denied because of the pandemic preventing spectators, so this feels very special. today the organisers confirmed 1.3 million tickets have been sold for these games which means it is the best attended on british soil ever. but lots to look forward to this weekend, as you have been saying, and on sunday attention will indeed turn to wembley where england�*s lionesses at the chance of glory and what would be a first ever historic major title if they can prevail against germany in what could be a defining day, notjust for women�*s football but for women�*s sport as well. ten years ago we had super saturday at the london games and we mightjust have super saturday this weekend. 50 might just have super saturday this weekend. . ., ., ., ., weekend. so much to look forward to. dan, many thanks. _ that�*s all from us here in birmingham for now. back to you in the studio, jane. reeta, thank you. 5,500 train drivers are expected to walk out on strike tomorrow in a dispute about pay. their union, aslef, have described

the action as a "last resort", saying the rising cost of living means workers are facing a real—term pay cut. and there are more strikes planned in the coming weeks. 0ur transport correspondent katy austin is at paddington station in london. just remind us what is happening fair, katy. yes, we�*ve already seen strikes by rail workers in the rmt union —— what is happening where, katy. this walk—out is planned by train drivers and their union, aslef, says it is because a pay rise is needed to match the increase in the cost of living and that terms and conditions have to be perfected. train companies say they do want to give a pay increase but reforms have to happen to afford that and they say they want proper talks. but for now they want proper talks. but for now the walk tomorrow is set to go ahead on seven companies, and some of those will be running no trains at all. some of them will have only very limited services running. actually, there will also be no services on the heathrow express our

london northwestern even though they are not directly involved in this dispute. another strike is also planned by the train drivers, aslef, this time on nine train companies, and that is for saturday the 13th of august. but there is other industrial action in the diary as well by other unions. the next national strike, the rmt union at network rail on the 14th, that is scheduled for the 18th and 20th of august and the tssa union also has some action planned on those days. so unless settlements can be reached to stop these strikes going ahead, a summer of real disruption looks set to continue. summer of real disruption looks set to continue-— to continue. katy, thank you. katy austin, at london's _ to continue. katy, thank you. katy austin, at london's paddington. . austin, at london�*s paddington. american actor will smith has reiterated his apology to chris rock after he slapped him on stage at the oscars in march. in his first public statement in three months he said he did reach

out to rock but the comedian says he is not yet ready to talk. there is no part of me that thinks that that was the right way to behave in that moment. there is no part of me that thinks that the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults. will smith. a hosepipe ban is to be introduced in parts of southern england after a lack of rainfall and extreme temperatures. the restrictions for southern water customers in hampshire and the isle of wight begins next friday. and scientists have said last week�*s record temperatures in the uk wouldn�*t have happened without man—made climate change. here�*s our climate correspondent, jonah fisher. the campsites of the new forest are hard and parched. this has been a dry year — the driest since 1976. and in hampshire, the isle of wight

and the isle of man, a hosepipe ban was announced today. it has also been hot. and last week there were unprecedented temperatures recorded in england, scotland and wales. but why was it so extreme? for the last ten days, some of the world�*s leading climate scientists have been working around the clock to establish what role humans played in last week�*s heatwave. so what did the scientists find out? firstly, they said the extremely high temperatures — 40.3 celsius seen in lincolnshire — are still a rare event, there isjust a one in 100 chance of that happening in any particular year. but here�*s the really interesting bit. they ran their weather models without the greenhouse gases that warm atmosphere and they found last week�*s heatwave was made more than ten times more likely by climate change. the scientists concluded the record temperatures were due directly to man—made global warming.

we would not have had last week�*s temperatures without climate change. that�*s for sure. if we want to keep a heatwave like this a rare event, we really have to get to net zero greenhouse gas emissions very soon. net zero is the point where we stop adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. it is written in uk law that we must get there by 2050. so how are we doing? the uk has made a lot of promises, some of them are even world—leading promises. but we�*re not turning to the rhetoric into action. we�*re not yet seeing investments on the ground, policies that can catalyse action. the heatwave shows we need to reduce emissions and build resilience to the effects of climate change, those are where we need to focus energy moving forward. until the world stops emitting greenhouse gases, temperatures will continue to rise and heatwaves will become hotter and more frequent. jonah fisher, bbc news.

time for a look at the weather — here�*s darren bett. hello there, jane. it has been a warmer day today. more sunshine around across the uk. we did see the cloud tending to build here and there and it certainly did to rather cloudy in birmingham for the commonwealth games. there is a lot of cloud for the next few days in birmingham for the commonwealth games, and we may well start to see some rain arriving as well. sunday and perhaps in demand as well. that cloud and rain isjust waiting here in atlantic. you can see this conveyor belt of cloud heading towards northern ireland already and thatis towards northern ireland already and that is where we are seeing some rain during this evening. some wet weather here and we will see that rain pushing its way into scotland over the irish sea and into the far

north of wales and into northern england, but again for the south it is going to be dry with some clear spells, and quite a warm start to the weekend. typical temperatures 16 degrees by this stage. but we start with a lot of cloud and for northern parts of the uk in particular it is where we will have some rain in the morning. scotland and northern ireland should become drier and brighter, keeping some rain across northern england perhaps into west wales, some low cloud, generally dry to the midlands towards the south—east of england and with some sunshine at times it will still be very warm. those temperatures again up very warm. those temperatures again up to around 26 or 27. again, like today we have the low 20s in scotland, northern ireland and northern england but we still have this push of cloud coming all the way across the atlantic and that cloud will be picking up overnight into the second half of the weekend. then we have the potential for some

rain.