legal history is made — in a landmark moment at the old bailey, the sentencing of a murderer was broadcast live for the first time in england and wales. jemma mitchell was given life with a minimum of 3a years for killing herfriend, and dumping her decapitated body in devon. you have shown absolutely no remorse, and it appears that you are in complete denial as to what you did, not withstanding what, in myjudgment, amounted to overwhelming evidence against you. we'll be assessing the significance of that live broadcast from the old bailey. also this lunchtime... christmas elections loom in northern ireland, after the deadline passed for power sharing to be restored.

elon musk says his takeover of twitter is sinking in — but what will it mean for free speech on social media? a tale of two communities in the west highlands coping with the cost of living — one has seen energy bills soar and the other hasn't. and cash is king — the royal mint starts making new 50p coins featuring king charles iii. and coming up on the bbc news channel, england's hopes of progressing at the t20 world cup hang in the balance, after their match against australia is abandoned because of rain. good afternoon. in a moment of legal history,

the sentencing of a murderer has been televised and broadcast live for the first time in england and wales. an old baileyjudge gave jemma mitchell life in prison, with a minimum term of 3a years, for killing her friend from church, and then dumping her decapitated body in devon. thejudge described her as "extremely devious". laura foster is at the old bailey. mitchell has become the first murderer and the first woman to be sentenced on television in england and wales. following a change in the rules allowing cameras into court over the summer. today at the old bailey, nearly all of the police officers who worked on this case were present, and the victim's family were watching via video link from around the world.

make kuen chong, also known as deborah, was a devout christian. she metjemma mitchell through the met jemma mitchell through the church. metjemma mitchell through the church. a woman she described as a spiritual healer. that turned into murder all because mitchell wanted to inherit her estate. today the old bailey the judge concluded that mitchell was extremely devious, sentencing her to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 3a years. there is the chilling aspect of what you did to and with her body after you did to and with her body after you had killed her. you have shown absolutely no remorse. and it appears that you are in complete denial as to what you did. notwithstanding what, in my judgment, amounted to overwhelming evidence against you. it judgment, amounted to overwhelming evidence against you.— evidence against you. it was on the 11th ofjune — evidence against you. it was on the 11th ofjune last _ evidence against you. it was on the 11th ofjune last year, _ evidence against you. it was on the 11th ofjune last year, mitchell- evidence against you. it was on the 11th ofjune last year, mitchell set i 11th ofjune last year, mitchell set off for deborah's on carrying a large suitcase. when she emerged from the property with deborah's

body inside, judge richard marks kc casey said it was clear she had injured her hand that it must have occurred during the curse of the killing. it was two weeks later when rachel travelled to the seaside resort of salcombe in devon from her london home. this cctv shows the car being driven 50 metres from the woodland where deborah's headless body was later found. a statement by deborah's sister was read out by the prosecution in court. it will be 3a years before mitchell will be eligible for parole in what thejudge will be eligible for parole in what the judge described as a profoundly shocking case. before the sentencing, mitchell could be seen waving at her mother in the public gallery and blowing

kisses. but as her sentence was passed, mitchell shook her head repeatedly. as she was taken away from the dock, her mother put out her hand and waved goodbye. there are lots of questions about this case that will never be answered. i did mitchell keep deborah's body for a fortnight? why did she decapitate her? as part of her degree, mitchell was taught anatomy and the dissection of human bodies. the judge told mitchell that stood her in great stead when she cut off her head. although why you choose to do that remains a mystery, said the judge. that remains a mystery, said the 'ud.e, ., ., that remains a mystery, said the we . . ., ~ that remains a mystery, said the we . ., ., ~ with me is our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds. quite a moment to see that televised sentencing. how significant is it? anybody can go along to the old bailey and watch a case like this in person and see justice happening bailey and watch a case like this in person and seejustice happening in front of their eyes. at this really has opened up, to a certain degree, what happens in major trials in

crown courts. it was, i think you will agree, crown courts. it was, i think you willagree, enlightening, and, in this case, very shocking. i think that was what the government wanted. they wanted people to be able to see the court as open and transparent when they changed the rules in 2020, to allow filming in court in england and wales. it is already allowed in certain circumstances in scotland. but there are very strict rules. there has to be a seniorjudge involved. you just saw the beginning and end of the sentencing. just the judge on camera, nobody else allowed to be seen. there were concerns when the rules were changed that that witnesses and victims and jurors would not want to take part in trials. it is also said thatjudges might be put under pressure, either physically or threatened. that might be an issue for them if they were to appear on camera. but i think it will be seen as a success. and i don't think we will see much of a distinction of the system for some time. because when you think about

it, the concern aboutjuries and trials becoming entertainment are utmost in the minds of the judiciary. you can't really see how you could extend it beyond what we saw today. you could extend it beyond what we saw toda . ., ., ~ , ., saw today. tom, thank you. tom simon's. elon musk — the world's richest man — has finally taken control of the social media platform twitter, in a deal worth £38 billion. he's reported to have fired a number of the firm's top executives. it brings to an end an on/off takeover saga that has gone on for months. mr musk, the boss of tesla and spacex, says he believes in absolute free speech, and there's speculation that some people who've been banned from twitter, including former us president donald trump, may now be invited back. here's our north america technology reporterjames clayton. when elon musk made a surprise entrance into twitter this week, he was carrying a bathroom sink. "i am in twitter hq, let that sink in," he said. elon musk is one of the most famous

businessman in the world. the south african born tycoon already runs tesla and spacex, along with several other companies. he's phenomenally successful. tesla is the most valuable car company in the world. but it seems he had designs on a social media company. it's been a long road to get here, an unbelievably topsy—turvy deal. it's worth reflecting on it. when elon musk had an offer accepted to buy twitter in april, he could barely contain his excitement. but that initial enthusiasm soon began to wane. tech stocks were plummeting, and many wondered whether he'd paid too much for twitter. mr musk tried to pull out of the deal. twitter, though, wasn't having any of it. the two sides were due to face a judge who would decide if elon musk had to legally buy the company. but then, another reversal. suddenly elon musk did want to buy twitter. officially, he said he was buying

the company to create the everything app called x, the details of which are still sketchy. but it's also likely that mr musk believed that he would have lost the court case and wished to avoid facing a potentially damaging deposition. so what does this deal mean for the future of twitter? well, it appears as though mr musk is going to sweep aside twitter�*s top executives, including its chief executive parag agrawal. it means musk would be free to enact his vision of free speech. that may well mean that one donald trump, banned from twitter after the capitol hill riots, will be invited back onto the platform. the controversial us president, though, now has its own social media platform, truth social, and says he will not reactivate his account. we'll see. things are never dull with elon musk. expect lots of ideas, lots of changes and lots of uncertainty, at what elon musk describes as the world's virtual town hall. james clayton, bbc news.

let's go live now to our technology editor, zoe kleinman, who's in glasgow. what sort of changes to twitter could this takeover mean? he says he wants twitter to become more of a haven for free speech. he says he wants to open it up more. although he says he doesn't want to become a free for all health scape. those were his words. perhaps he realises how chaotic that might be. the other thing i think is really interesting is the idea he has hinted at but never elaborated on, which is this everything up, this thing called x. we don't have anything like that in the west but in china they do. it is called wee chat. it is a one—stop shop for everything. it's where you do your

shopping, your social media, order your pizza. are we likely to have something like that here? could twitter be that? twitter has not done a lot and all the years it has been here. it has been pretty stagnant, it is kept with the same amount as cheap users. something needs to happen. maybe what he does next you shake it up will finally start to see it go.— the prime minister, rishi sunak, has defended his decision not to attend the cop27 climate summit in egypt, arguing it is right for him to focus on economic challenges at home. here's what he had to say. i think everyone will remember that last year we hosted one of the most significant cops in recent times. and that was important because what we did there was set the targets and the road map for the world to follow if we're going to meet our climate ambitions. and i think, actually, everyone should also be really proud of how we're doing. we're one of the countries that has decarbonised the fastest. we now get over half our energy

from zero carbon sources. our political correspondent, jonathan blake, is at westminster. he has been criticised for not going to this cop27 summit but he is defending his decision quite robustly? defending his decision quite robustl ? , . ., , ., robustly? yes, and it was never a civen the robustly? yes, and it was never a given the prime _ robustly? yes, and it was never a given the prime minister- robustly? yes, and it was never a given the prime minister would i given the prime minister would attend the cop27 in egypt next month. but his predecessor, liz truss, while she was in office briefly, wasn't expected to attend, and some world leaders from other big economies, france and the us, may well be there. so rishi sunak�*s decision to stay away has left the uk looking for some like it is not treating the efforts to tackle climate change with the priority that it should be. labour are leading the criticism of rishi sunak not going to know. they say it is a failure of leadership and he should be on the world stage convening others to tackle the huge issue, which is linked to the energy supply

crisis and the cost of living in general. but for rishi sunak, he clearly wants to stay in the uk and focus on pressing domestic matters. namely, the budget expected in the middle of next month. and on that, there are a fresh warnings about the scale of what is to come. sources at the treasury talking about a massive black hole to fill and saying people should not underestimate the challenge of how 12 the decisions are. what will those decisions be about which taxes to increase and where to cut spending? the prime minister will only say again today the government would act fairly and to protect the most vulnerable. jonathan, thank you. jonathan blake, or political correspondent. a new election to the northern ireland assembly may be called today, after the deadline to restart power—sharing passed at midnight. the election is likely to be held just before christmas, probably for the 15th of december, after a political crisis that has meant months of deadlock. back in may, for the first time, the nationalist party sinn fein won the largest number of seats

in the stormont assembly. but the biggest unionist party, the dup, has refused to restore power—sharing, because it says northern ireland's place in the uk has been undermined by the post—brexit trade deal, signed by boris johnson. that deal — the protocol — means that goods transported from great britain to northern ireland are subject to checks. well, it's thought yet another election may only deepen divisions. our ireland correspondent chris page has the latest. as autumn turns into winter, voters here are set to go back to the polls. another instalment season has come and gone a without the formation of a devolved government. the party which became the largest in the last election in may claims the democratic unionists. it is not a question — the democratic unionists. it is not a question of— the democratic unionists. it is not a question of disagreement - the democratic unionists. it is not|

a question of disagreement among the democratic unionists. it is not - a question of disagreement among the parties, it is not a question the parties, it is not a question the parties can't agree, the dup have prevented all of the other parties who want to form an executive from doing so. there isn't a need for an election. i understand the frustration of the public and elected representatives. there was an election in may. the problem we haveis an election in may. the problem we have is a refusal to honour the outcome of that election. but the dup sa s outcome of that election. but the dup says its _ outcome of that election. but the dup says its voters _ outcome of that election. but the dup says its voters are _ outcome of that election. but the dup says its voters are backing . outcome of that election. but the | dup says its voters are backing its decision to stay out of stormont for now. ~ ., , ., , decision to stay out of stormont for now. ~ ., , , my now. we went to the people in may this ear, now. we went to the people in may this year. and _ now. we went to the people in may this year, and we _ now. we went to the people in may this year, and we made _ now. we went to the people in may this year, and we made absolutely| this year, and we made absolutely clear_ this year, and we made absolutely clear that — this year, and we made absolutely clear that we could not come in all conscience, — clear that we could not come in all conscience, nominate ministers to an executive _ conscience, nominate ministers to an executive that is required to impose a protocol— executive that is required to impose a protocol that harms our economy, harm's— a protocol that harms our economy, harm's our— a protocol that harms our economy, harm's our people, and prevents us from _ harm's our people, and prevents us from getting access to medicines and other vital— from getting access to medicines and other vital supplies from the rest of the _ other vital supplies from the rest of the united kingdom. that was the mandate _ of the united kingdom. that was the mandate we were given by the people who voted _ mandate we were given by the people who voted for us. the mandate we were given by the people who voted for us.— who voted for us. the political s stem who voted for us. the political system in _ who voted for us. the political system in northern _ who voted for us. the political system in northern ireland - who voted for us. the political system in northern ireland is| system in northern ireland is different to almost anyone else. it is based on the good friday peace agreement, signed in 1998, after a

long conflict. a majority of unionists and irish nationalists must agree to share power for a devolved government to be formed. the dup says it won'tjoin the coalition until the brexit trade border with the rest of the uk is scrapped. in the election five months ago, sinn fein became the first nationalist party ever to win the most seats. but the dup remains the most seats. but the dup remains the biggest unionist group. so it still has a veto. how is sharing here has always been fragile. devolution has only been properly operating for a little more than two out of the last six years. northern ireland is now heading into its fourth assembly election over that period. the impact of political paralysis has been felt widely. business leaders say potential investors are being put off. we investors are being put off. - understand there are difficult political issues there, but for businesses, we need decision—making. we have had six years with really no

decisions being made, and we have got many areas that need to be looked at. got many areas that need to be looked at— looked at. the most imminent decisions _ looked at. the most imminent decisions will _ looked at. the most imminent decisions will be _ looked at. the most imminent decisions will be made - looked at. the most imminent decisions will be made by - looked at. the most imminent decisions will be made by the | decisions will be made by the public. after the midnight deadline passed, the westminster government came under a legal duty to call a stormont election. but campaigns in northern ireland tend to create more divisions and not bring politicians together. cleaning up the political debris afterwards may make resolving this crisis even more challenging. so the splendid building which is meant to be the home of devolve government in northern ireland has fallen silent. at midnight the local ministers who had been in office in a caretaker capacity had to leave their roles so civil servants are basically running this part of the uk from here on in. it is over to westminster, and the northern ireland secretary has tweeted he is very disappointed that a power—sharing executive wasn't reform and he says he will give an

update on his legal obligation to act, the stormont parties are working the assumption that the assembly election will be held ten days before christmas, when you speak to just about anyone in northern ireland, it isn't hard to detect that there is very little enthusiasm for the idea among both politicians and the public. thank you chris. the time is 13.18. our top story this lunchtime. jailed for life — a woman who killed herfriend and dumped her body. the first murderer in england and wales to have their sentencing televised. swedish engineers in the final stages of developing the first ever crash test dummy to represent the average woman. coming up on the bbc news channel. lewis hamilton says he has no intention of retiring any time soon. the seven time world champion is yet to win a race this season, and is currently sixth in the world

championship standings, ahead of the mexico grand prix. the cost of living crisis is driven in large part by soaring energy bills, and we've been taking a look at how energy costs are affecting different areas. in the west highlands of scotland, two picturesque communities have very different experiences. in one, energy bills are well above the uk average, while in the other, a hydroelectric scheme means there's been no increase at all. this report from our scotland editor, james cook. winter is coming, and in the highlands they're worried. energy bills here are way above the uk average, and rising. life in rural scotland does bring great rewards. just look at the scenery for a start. but it also comes with great challenges, and many people here will tell you those challenges are now intensifying.

this community ferry hops to and fro between glenelg on the mainland and the isle of skye. but the cost of diesel to run it has jumped 70% in the past year. how difficult is that, as a business? well, it is difficult because we always run on really quite tight margins here. and we're still expected, as a social enterprise business, to meet rising costs, with very small profit margins. it does make me really nervous as to how we might be able to continue in the way that we are. at the heart of glenelg village is the hall, but it's not cheap to maintain, especially when the electricity bill has soared from £800 a quarter to more than £a,000. there's a church group. there's indoor bowls, indoor football, kids' youth club. they're going to have to look, "can we run our club,

"can we not run our club?" so if we increase our prices, there's no way that we can run the hall at the costs that are currently given. all right, rhona? in the glenelg inn, energy is not the only worry. brexit, and a lack of affordable housing, have made staff hard to find, and inflation is pushing up the price of supplies. i really love this business, but it is becoming much more challenging for me. i'm a bit scared about going into next year. i'm scared about the staffing issue, the prices, the power prices, obviously. sail south, though, and it's a brighter picture. this is the knoydart peninsula, accessible only by boat or a two day hike. that means it's not on the national grid. power here comes from this hydro scheme. run by a community project called knoydart renewables. if it wasn't for knoydart renewables, the population,

which is about 120, with all the businesses, which are paying all the taxes they're paying, wouldn't be sustainable economically. we would probably have 20 or 30 people living here, with tumbleweed blowing down the streets. and you're effectively insulated from this energy emergency that everyone else is facing. the energy emergency has no effect on us, in terms of electricity production. in the local brewery they see the hydro as a blessing. we're not going to be receiving the same price hikes that grid based consumers are. so for you, how important is this hydro scheme to keep you going? it's critical, really is. so we know we'll be able to keep the lights on and keep the beer coming. and that sense of confidence is shared throughout this community. there's more people here. there's more new businesses. there's triple the amount of kids in the school than there was when i was there. and there's room for development. so i'm building a house right now, and it means that i know that i will be able to have power, which is obviously very important.

0ptimism, yes, but it's confined to this rare corner of the country without an energy crisis. james cook, bbc news, knoydart. the latest figures on covid levels in the uk are just out, based on a weekly survey carried out by the office for national statistics. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh is here. fergus, what do the figures tell us? so the figures say round two million people across the uk would have tested positive for covid, in the week up to the 17th october. that is round one in 30 people, and it is unchanged from the previous week, so some reassurance there, some variation round the uk, there is plenty of covid circulating but it looks like the autumn wave of covid may have peaked. 0micron has been

round for nearly a year now, some of the impact denting that wave may be down to more than 10 million people now have had their covid autumn booster. 0f now have had their covid autumn booster. of course, it is not the only virus that is circulating. flu, we had almost none in the last couple of winters so little natural immunity about. those levels of flu are rising, especially in young children, young children are eligible for a nasal spray flu vaccine, 33 million eligible for a flu jab and other viruses. respiratory diseases which can cause chest infection, norovirus, so there are plenty round every winter, all of them can put pressure on already pressurised nhs. fergus, thank you very much. a team of swedish engineers are developing the first ever crash

test dummy to represent the average woman. women are more likely than men to be injured in the same types of crash, and some scientists say this is partly down to a lack of representative dummies to test vital safety features. shiona mccallum reports from sweden. crash test dummies are used to test how well car safety features protect people against injury. but not everyone is equally protected. women are three times more likely to suffer whiplash than men, if they're in a car that is hit from behind. although whiplash isn't usually fatal, it can cause serious impairment disabilities. sarah's car was hit from behind last month. it was a really big shock at the time, and my daughter was absolutely crying her eyes out. her neck was hurting. she said her back as well. got stiff neck and shoulders. the anxiety of, are you going to be able to do yourjob

because of your aches and pains? some scientists say more representative crash test dummies are an important step in improving car safety. engineers here in sweden have been busy working on the first crash test dummy that represents the average woman. in order to ensure that you identify the seats that have the best protection for both part of the population, you definitely need to have the part of the population at highest risk represented. currently, the industry predominantly uses average male dummies in car safety tests, although there are a number of dummies with different weights, ages and sizes. the crucial point, though, the average female is not represented. you can assess how it interacts with the seat during the crash, and also how well it protects the occupant. doctor linda's dummies are designed specifically to test how well cars

protect people from injuries in low impact rear collisions. females are somewhat shorter and lighter than males on average, and then we also have differences in muscle strength, which plays a role in terms of how you respond to a crash. the engineers are performing tests on the dummy, to see what happens to her in a simulated rear crash. you see that this is a very low severity, its seven kilometre per hour, there will probably not be a scratch on your car, but you see the amount of motion that goes on in our body. it has taken decades to get here, but doctor linda's work, which will be published next month, brings with it hopes that women will one day be safer behind the wheel. shiona mccallum, bbc news, sweden.

england's hopes of reaching the semi finals of the men's t20 world cup are in the balance, after their match against australia was abandoned. persistent rain throughout the day in melbourne meant the game never got under way, and leaves england probably needing to win both their remaining matches to have any chance of progressing. ireland's game against afghanistan was also washed out earlier. manufacturing has begun of the new 50—pence coins featuring the image of king charles iii. it's based on pictures of the monarch from his 70th birthday. 0ur correspondent hywel griffith has been to the royal mint in south wales to take a look at the new coins. freshly minted, and coming to a till near you. the new 50p is the first of the carolean coins. for now, they're under tight

security — you need special permission just to touch one. but from december, they'll circulate alongside the queen's coins, which won't be withdrawn. keeping the currency current is a significant moment. martin was the man charged with creating the image and getting everything in proportion, knowing eventually his work would end up in millions of pockets and piggy banks. you don't want to make it, for example, too cheerful because this is a serious... this is a very serious symbol. and yet it needs to be light enough to put across his humanity. it's getting in the subtlest of possible ways those emotions, rather than, as it were, ears or nose or eyes. these days, cash isn't really king. 0nly15% of payments are used using coins and notes. but having a new monarch on the money still represents the biggest change

here since decimalisation. |archive: the buildings her majesty| opened house the processes involved in the converting of blank discs into coins, decimal naturally... the queen, and then prince charles, saw for themselves how much it took to strike new sovereigns, all part of a process that goes back over a millennium. we've actually been around as long as the royal family has. so we've struck for every monarch, including from alfred the great up to today. so something we've done a long... a lot of times before, but something we haven't done for a very long time. eventually, every denomination will carry the king's image. they'll be introduced on demand, to ensure the cash flow keeps coming. hywel griffith, bbc news, at the royal mint. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. . thank you. gp, our extraordinarily mild spell of weather continue, it has been very persession tent and

where you get yourself into sunshine