warning from the eu's top diplomat. here in the uk, a damning report says an undercover police unit, he unit, which gathered evidence on left wing and anarchist groups for four decades, should have been disbanded. a former seniorjudge has been looking into the work of the special demonstration squad, which was set up by london's metropolitan police in 1968. sirjohn mitting says the organisations it was investigating posed no threat. in some cases police officers had sexual relationships while undercover and used dead children's names to create theirfalse identities. our home affairs correspondent june kelly has been following the story. janik is the first report in this inquiry which is actually set in motion in 2015. it’s

inquiry which is actually set in motion in 2015.— motion in 2015. it's looking at these activities _ motion in 2015. it's looking at these activities in _ motion in 2015. it's looking at these activities in this - motion in 2015. it's looking at these activities in this first . these activities in this first report of a group of officers that was set up by scotland yard, they were called a special demonstration squad, and they were set up in 1968 commander report is focusing on the years between 1968 in 1975. back in that period, this group was spying on organisations like the anti—apartheid movement, the women's liberation front, and also trade unionists. the chair of the public inquiry is asking the question, did the end justify the means? the chair, a very senior legal figure the end justify the means? the chair, a very senior legalfigure is saying he doesn't believe it does because he thinks the information that was being gathered from these groups, they were getting information from organisations who did not pose any threat to the british state, they were not involved in any serious crime and he said the tactics they used which were very intrusive, you had to ask was it worth it, and he has concluded that it wasn't.

harriet wistrich is foudning director of the centre for women'sjustice — and a solicitor of 25 years. she represented the eight women who brought claims against the metropolitan police — arising from being deceived in relationships with undercover police officers. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. let me ask you first of all for your reaction to what has happened today.— for your reaction to what has happened today. this is the first re ort of happened today. this is the first report of what — happened today. this is the first report of what will _ happened today. this is the first report of what will be _ happened today. this is the first report of what will be several, i think, overtime report of what will be several, i think, over time from the undercover policing inquiry. it has been a very, very long time coming, because the inquiry was set up in 2015, and that was four years after the women who i represented first started, first became aware of this awful practice of undercover officers who were in relationships with them. now, the first interim report looks at the early period of the operation

of the special demonstration squad, which was set up in 1968 at the time of the protests around the vietnam war, and initially it wasjust of the protests around the vietnam war, and initially it was just set “p war, and initially it was just set up for the purpose of gathering information about protests around that. but it started, their decisions were made to extend the surveillance operation to a whole range of different protest organisations and others that may have caused or may have threatened public disorder. what sirjohn has said, and he hasn't as yet reached any conclusions, specifically around the sexual relationships, although, he does note that in this early period, there where about 1k relationships with women that were known about from that early period, and we know there is going to be

very many mark coming out as we go along. what he has concluded, however, is that the actual operation of the sds was completely disproportionate and unjustified and unlawful, and it should've been disbanded, and had it then disbanded, and had it then disbanded, reviewed and the decision made, as sirjohn has identified, that, you know, if served, you know know very useful purpose, it certainly didn't justify that a level of intrusion or hiding undercover.— level of intrusion or hiding undercover. ., ., ., undercover. herriot, and a you represented — undercover. herriot, and a you represented women _ undercover. herriot, and a you represented women who've . undercover. herriot, and a you - represented women who've brought claims against them at the police, i've been reading about relationships long—term relationships. some women had children with these police officers. what kind of impact has this had on these women's lives?—

these women's lives? well, it is unsurprisingly — these women's lives? well, it is unsurprisingly had _ these women's lives? well, it is unsurprisingly had a _ these women's lives? well, it is unsurprisingly had a very - these women's lives? well, it is unsurprisingly had a very major| unsurprisingly had a very major impact. i think what's the uas need to think about is the impact, first of all, of being in a long—term relationship with somebody who has completely deceived you as to their identity. i mean, the comparison might be somebody who had another family at the same time, which did happen in these particular cases, but on top of that, more horrific thing is to realise that not only where they being deceived as to the identity of this person with whom they need lifelong commitments, they believed, but that person had been put into their lives and resurfaced by the state to spy on them and their friends. by the state to spy on them and theirfriends. now, that is deeply destabilising. it would make anyone paranoid if you think actually, why is the state doing this? why does the state think that, you know, we

are not living in east germany. we are not living in east germany. we are not living in east germany. we are not living in apartheid south africa or some totalitarian states. we are living in supposedly liberal democracy, and how can this possibly be justified? democracy, and how can this possibly bejustified? it's been terrifying for them. and psychologically, they have all been impacted by it. what have all been impacted by it. what do ou have all been impacted by it. what do you want _ have all been impacted by it. what do you want to _ have all been impacted by it. what do you want to see _ have all been impacted by it. what do you want to see happen? well, | have all been impacted by it. what| do you want to see happen? well, i think, ou do you want to see happen? well, i think. you know. — do you want to see happen? well, i think, you know, we _ do you want to see happen? well, i think, you know, we need - do you want to see happen? well, i l think, you know, we need to continue with the inquiry and to hear more about this, and i would say as a general conclusion about sexual relationships, there should be a clear change in the law that says undercover officers should not ever be having sexual relationships with those they are spying for, and that could amount to a criminal offence. so that sends a very clear message to them. for the women involved, they still haven't had closure because although they discovered that they are victims of undercover

police officers, they still haven't had access to their files, they haven't had access to the disclosure, what was written about them. they wanted that information and they also want all of this opened. so many officers involved have protections in terms of anonymity, still quite a lot of the information that has been before the inquiry is being held in secret. and this whole thing needs to be opened up. this is a deeply, deeply embarrassing and scandalous parts of our history of policing, and it needs to be laid bare the stop and think it's also very important to recognise the continuity between the start of this operation and what we have seen very recently in the net today as exposed in the kc report,

and as exposed in what we have been doing around the place perpetrator domestic abuse. this practice that was allowed to continue is part of a culture that has enabled misogyny to exist within the metropolitan police and more widely. you know, that shows how there has to be a complete transformation. i know that there are some efforts to completely transform policing, but we need to massively tackle the whole culture within policing, and recognise that there will be many people, particularly men, probably attracted to policing because it gives them the possibility of power and abusing their power, and therefore we need to institute the air accountability,

vetting, control, misconduct so that... ., vetting, control, misconduct so that... . ., ~ vetting, control, misconduct so that... . ., ,, . that... harriet, thank you so much. good to talk— that... harriet, thank you so much. good to talk to _ that... harriet, thank you so much. good to talk to you _ that... harriet, thank you so much. good to talk to you there. - that... harriet, thank you so much. good to talk to you there. thank. that... harriet, thank you so much. | good to talk to you there. thank you once again for taking the time to speak to us. nicola sturgeon has told the uk covid—19 inquiry that her government "did not get everything right" during the covid pandemic. the former first minister of scotland said she regretted diverting resources away from emergency planning during 2019, as the possibility loomed that the uk and eu might not reach an agreement over brexit. the consequences of a no—deal brexit, compared to what we faced with covid, of course, pales into significance, but at the time, looking at the yellowhammer assumptions, had they come to pass, they would have been severe. we were talking about availability of food in the shops and medicines for the national health service, so we had no choice but to do that planning. i deeply regret any implications that had our our emergency planning in other areas.

live now to our health correspondent catherine burns who's 0ur health correspondent catherine burns who's at the covid inquiry. we are we a re halfway we are halfway through this first module, and so far, we have been seeing certain themes being picked up seeing certain themes being picked up over and seeing certain themes being picked up overand again seeing certain themes being picked up over and again from uk wide perspective. the necklace surgeon today, this was her chance to get things from a scottish perspective. so we heard her thoughts on brexit, another thing that keeps coming up over and again another thing that keeps coming up overand again in another thing that keeps coming up over and again in this inquiry is the focus on a possible flu pandemic. a lot of the planning was looking at flu rather than other possible practices. so she was asked about that and said, well, yeah, the plan wasn't adequate, but it wasn't entirely useless. she wanted to make the point that it's all very well and good having a plan. it canjust sit there on a shelf, she said the question that used to keep her awake was about having the capabilities to deal with that. actually, if your plan had focused on wider pandemics come he might have helped us capabilities in place, which he had to say, yes, that is fair enough.

another thing that is coming up a lot is when authorities were planning for a pandemic, were they asking the right questions because mexico where they sang, right, what will he do when there is a catastrophe? 0r will he do when there is a catastrophe? or were they asking what can we do to stop the catastrophe? so here i felt like she had a little bit of a go at the uk government because she essentially said in the scottish government, we never, ever thought that it was inevitable that there was always going to be a certain amount of harm and we were always trying to suppress the virus. she said that that was a little bit of a plaintive difference between her and westminster. 0verall, she was asked how the uk government worked at the scottish government and she said, actually, reasonably well. she said it was a little bit informal rather than systems, but generally, they got on pretty well together. the other thing that we came to today was really interesting evidence of sirjeremy, an influential scientist. the standout point from him i thought was when he said we are living in an age of pandemics.

he said we can expect them to be more frequent and more complex. he spoke a lot and took a moment to celebrate uk scientists and said they are the jewel in our crown. but it is really important that we value them because one another pandemic comes along in the future, he said we want to be prepared unless we keep those resources in place. these are the kind of messages that we are hearing over and again in this inquiry. a that another three weeks left of preparedness and the themes are coming through over and again, they want more talk of resilience and they want more of a focus on wider pandemic planning. catherine burns reporting _ wider pandemic planning. catherine burns reporting there. _ the european union is warning that russia has become unstable and more dangerous following the short—lived mutiny at the weekend by the wagner mercenary group. as she arrived for a two—day summit in brussels, european commission president ursula von der leyen said the "aftershocks" of the wagner rebellion were still playing out. she said discussions would focus on efforts to "double down" on military and financial support for ukraine as it fights back against russia's invasion

we will discuss ukraine against the backdrop of the mutiny we witnessed last weekend, and this showed deep cracks in vladimir putin's system. this mutiny of last weekend will also have aftershocks that we will see — the more it is important that we double down on the support for ukraine, be it military capability or financial support. lithuania's prime minister warned about the threat posed to neighbouring eu member states by the presence of wagner mercenaries in belarus. we are extremely concerned about belarus. i cannot say it's for 100% but this is very likely that he is already there i call them like this,

they could be emerging belarus any moment, and when they could turn against us. survivors are calling for an official apology for what they say was the forced repatriation of unmarried mothers from britain to ireland during the last century. thousands of irish women and girls were sent back — despite having the legal right to live in britain. and there's increasing evidence that children were sent to ireland — even though they were born in the uk to mothers who had settled there. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page reports. she came on the ship or boat, as it was. and there were other mothers on there. i was wrapped in a blue blanket. she must have loved me so much. maria cahill is recounting a journey which happened in 195a. she'd been born in london,

a british citizen. her mother, philomena, was irish and wasn't married. this was their destination — an institution for unmarried women and girls in castlepollard in county westmeath. i should never have been in ireland — that's my take on that — because i was born in london. the mother and baby homes, as they were known, were seen as places of punishment. maria was eventually adopted. later, mother and daughter looked for each other. after philomena died, maria discovered they'd both lived in edinburgh at the same time. repatriations were organised by british and irish state agencies and religious charities until the 19705. research, so far, has revealed around 3,000 cases, but campaigners believe the real figure is higher. archives indicate welfare officials in britain regarded unmarried irish

mothers as a burden on resources. the cost was something that theyjust kept coming back to, and this was part of the reason for the repatriation scheme. it was supposed to be an optional scheme for the woman. all of the women that i spoke to, they all said they did not know that. they felt like it was completely forced, that they did not have a choice. maria's daughter says the state authorities, such as councils and church organisations, should apologise. an acknowledgement that that happened and an apology for it would be enormously welcome. but as long as it stays silenced and under the carpet, you know, it's as if all of that happened and she's gone through all of this and we've struggled with all of this for no acknowledgement and no reason. the irish government said it recognised the deep hurt of many survivors who were repatriated and that comprehensive birth information services were now in place.

several organisations in the uk who researchers have linked to repatriations didn't respond to a request for comments. maria has spent decades investigating the mystery of her own early life. my advice to women who have gone through this and are going through it is to keep strong. there's always a paper trail. it might have taken me a0 years, but, eventually, the bits and pieces were coming together. she hopes a bigger picture will become clear — the full truth about the lonely westward journeys across the irish sea. chris page, bbc news. now, thousands of us will be looking to get away this summer, but this year a foreign break is likely to cost significantly more. new figures show that prices for package holidays to many popular destinations have risen steeply over the last year. 0ur cost of living correspondent

colletta smith reports. when it comes to chat about holidays, in here they're professionals. apologies for that, we will take you now to the us president to i think it is getting a press conference or talking about the us supreme court's ruling on the universities admissions cases. if ruling on the universities admissions cases. u. , _, admissions cases. if colleges could use a race not _ admissions cases. if colleges could use a race not as _ admissions cases. if colleges could use a race not as a _ admissions cases. if colleges could use a race not as a determining - use a race not as a determining factorfor admission but as use a race not as a determining factor for admission but as one of the factors among many in deciding who to admit from a qualified already qualified pool of applicants. today, the court once again walked away from decades of precedent and as dissent has made clear. the dissent states that today's decision, "rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress." i agree with that statement from the defence —— from

the dissent. the court has effectively ended affirmative action and college admissions, and i strongly, strongly disagree with the court's decision, because affirmative—action is so misunderstood, i want to be clear, make sure everybody is clear about what the law has been and what it has not been until today. many people wrongly believe that affirmative action allows unqualified students, unqualified students to be admitted ahead of qualified students. this is not... this is not how college admissions work. rather, colleges set out standards for admission, and every student, every student has to meet those standards. then and only then after first meeting the qualifications required by the school, the college looks at other factors in addition to their grades, such as race. the way it works in practice is this, colleges first establish a qualified pool of candidates based on meeting a certain grade, test scores and other

criteria. then and only then, than and only then it is from this pool of applicants, all of whom have already met school standards that the class is chosen after weighing a wide range of factors among them being race. you know, i have always believed that one of the greatest threats to america, and you are tired of hearing me say it is diversity in and i believe that. if you have any doubt about this, just look at the united states military. the finest fighting force of the world. it's been a model of diversity, and it's not on the made our nation better, stronger, but to save her. i believe the same is true for our schools. save her. i believe the same is true for ourschools. i save her. i believe the same is true for our schools. i have always believed that the promise of america is big enough for everyone to succeed and that every generation american, we have benefited by opening the doors of opportunity just a little bit wider to include those who have been left behind. i believe our colleges are stronger when they are richly diverse. 0ur

nations are stronger because we use, because we are tapping into the full range of talent of this nation. i also believe that while talent, creativity and hard work are everywhere across this country, not equal opportunity, it is not everywhere across this country. we cannot let this decision be the last word. we cannot let this decision be the last word. the court can render a decision, but it cannot change what america stands for. america is an idea, an idea, unique in the world, an idea of hope and opportunity, possibility of giving everyone a fair shot, of leaving no one behind. we've neverfully lived up one behind. we've neverfully lived up to it, but we've never walked away from it either. we will not walk away from it now. we should never allow the country to walk away from that dream upon which it was founded, that opportunity is for everyone, notjust to founded, that opportunity is for everyone, not just to feel. founded, that opportunity is for everyone, notjust to feel. we need a new path forward, a path consistent with the law that

protects diversity and expands opportunity. so today i went to offer some guidance to our nation's colleges that they review their admission systems after today's decision. guidance has consistent with today's decision they should not abandon their commitment to ensure student bodies of diverse backgrounds and experience that reflect all of america. what i propose for consideration is a new standard where colleges take into account the adversity a student has overcome when selecting among qualified applicants. let's be clear, underthis qualified applicants. let's be clear, under this new standard, just as was true under the earlier standard, students first have to be qualified applicants. they need a gpa and test scores to meet the school standards. 0nce gpa and test scores to meet the school standards. once that test is not, then diversity should be considered, including a student's lack of financial means, because we know too few students of low income families whether in big cities or

rural communities are getting an opportunity to go to college. a poor kid, maybe the person and herfamily goes to college, gets the same grades and test scores as a wealthy kid whose whole family has gone to the most elite colleges in the country and whose path has been a lot easier, well, the kid who faced tougher challenges has demonstrated more grapes, more determination, and that should be a factor that colleges should take into account, and many still do. it also means examining where the student grew up and went to high school. it means understanding that the particular hardships that eat individual student has faced in life, including racial discrimination, individuals have based on their own lives. the court says, "nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering applications and discussion of how race has affected his or her life. be it through discrimination or

inspiration or otherwise." because the truth is we all know it, discrimination still exists in america. discrimination still exists in america will stop discrimination still exists in america! today's decision does not change that it's a simple fact will stop at the student has had to overcome adversity on the path to education, colleges should recognise and value that. our nation of colleges and universities should be engines of upward mobility, but today, too often, that is not the case. statistics, one statistics, students from the top 1% of family incomes in america are 77 times more likely to get into an elite college than one from the bottom 20%. there ou than one from the bottom 20%. there you go. that — than one from the bottom 20%. there you go. that is — than one from the bottom 20%. there you go, that is presidential _ you go, that is presidential by responding to the supreme court decision, which has ruled that universities in the us can no longer consider race and ethnicity in

university admissions. this is important because the judgment and ethnicity in university admissions. this is important because the judgment ends decades of old practice, affirmative action, that boosted education opportunities for african—american and minorities. he is responding to that in washington. mark, of course, on that story, as always, on our website. mark, of course, on that story, as always, on ourwebsite. forthose mark, of course, on that story, as always, on our website. for those in the uk, the six o'clock news is coming up. don't go anywhere. stay with us here on the bbc. hello there. it wasn't the most promising start to the day on thursday. a lot of cloud around for central and eastern areas with some rain, too. but that all cleared out of the way, and the air turned fresher through the day with these sunnier skies working in for most of us, so didn't end up being too bad. there's the weather front then that brought the early morning rain, and that was significant rain for some. for example, in parts of essex, in andrews field, we had 12 millimetres of rain, half an inch recorded in the space of six hours. this was actually more rain than we'd seen for the whole of the month ofjune.

before this, there'd only been seven millimetres falling. it has been very dry for parts of eastern england. 0vernight tonight, well, initially we've got clear spells and a fresh feel to the weather, so not a bad start to the night, but it will be turning progressively damper and more humid from the west as we go through the second part of the night. so eventually, it'll start to turn out to be quite muggy. along with that more humid air that will be pushing in as we go through friday, we will have some low cloud, some mist and fog patches around some of our western coasts and hills, and spots of drizzle falling pretty much anywhere, but particularly so in the west. a bit of heavy rain for a time into western areas of scotland. so completely different day today, sunshine certainly in short supply and a muggy feel to the weather. temperatures for the most part between 18—21 celsius. the weekend weather prospects — we start to lose that muggy air as a cold front works its way in through the night. and then, saturday and sunday, we're in this basically west—northwesterly airflow. so a fresher feel to the weather returns as we go

through saturday morning. there will be quite a brisk wind with us throughout the whole of the weekend, and close to an area of low pressure to the north of scotland. here, we'll see showers or some longer spells of rain across the northwest. a few showers getting into the north west of england and northern ireland, but moving through with time, there'll be some sunshine — the driest and brightest weather through the afternoon across more southern parts of england and wales. it'll still feel quite warm where the sunshine pops out. and it's a similar story, really, on sunday — again, there'll be some longer spells of rain across the north west of scotland, else a few showers across the northern half of the uk. the driest, sunniest weather further south. still quite windy, temperatures for the most part between 17—23 celsius, but turning a bit cooler in the northwest of scotland. into next week, low pressure stays close to the north of the uk. so it's a case of quite unsettled weather with showers, or some longer spells of rain in the north.

today at six — another setback for the government's plans to deport asylum seekers to rwanda as it's ruled unlawful. as thousands continue to cross the channel... judges at the court of appeal said rwanda should not be considered a safe third country for asylum seekers. the government says it will appeal the decision. the british people will no longer the british people will no longer indulge the polite fiction indulge the polite fiction that we have a duty or infinite that we have a duty or infinite capacity to support capacity to support everyone in the world everyone in the world who is fleeing persecution. but labour says the policy who is fleeing persecution. but labour says the policy is "completely unravelling" is "completely unravelling" calling it "unworkable, calling it "unworkable, unethical and extortionate". unethical and extortionate".

also on the programme... also on the programme... more clashes on the outskirts of paris during a march for a 17—year—old boy who was shot dead by police. the soaring cost of all—inclusive holidays abroad.