this is bbc news. i'm anna foster live outside manchester crown court. the headlines: nurse lucy letby is sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others. this was a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder involving the smallest and most vulnerable of children. letby is driven away from manchester crown court to begin life behind bars after refusing to appear in the dock. i'm nancy kacungira in london. our other main headlines: saudi arabia says a report detailing the systematic killing of ethiopian migrants by its border

guards is unfounded. the guards is unfounded. dramatic aftermath of storm hilary the dramatic aftermath of storm hilary after southern california is hit by its first tropical storm in 80 years. and a wind—assisted cargo ship embarks on its maiden voyage in a new approach to reducing carbon emissions. hello, iam nancy hello, i am nancy kacungira, hello, iam nancy kacungira, welcome to the daily global. we will start with the sentencing of lucy letby and go to my colleague anna foster. it has been a day of high emotion. finally last week we were able to report that lucy letby had been convicted of the murder of seven

babies in her care and the attempt and murder of six more, and today was in many ways the conclusion of that legal process, when sentencing was handed down by thejudge, in this case mrjustice goss. lucy letby herself, all being driven her to manchester crown court, exercise her right not to appear in the dock, notjust to hear the sentencing remarks from the judge but also to hear the victim impact statements that were read out, sometimes by the parents of her victims, sometimes by legal counsel on their behalf, and this was really a harrowing and distressing period of time, because at this point, it was no longer evidentialfact, it was at this point, it was no longer evidential fact, it was all about the emotion of the ordeal of the incredibly difficult journey that these parents have been on. they described giving birth to premature babies, the described of the moments when those babies died, and then finding out that lucy letby, the nurse at the neo—

nato unit, who was of looking after them, was the person who had murdered or tended to murder them. it was a difficult time in court. there were tears in the public gallery, and then finally the news from thejudge, the gallery, and then finally the news from the judge, the sentences of lucy letby that she will spend the rest of her life in prison, she will never be released, because each of those convictions was given by the judge a whole life order. our correspondentjudith moritz has been in court throughout the trial. she was in court this morning for the concluding hours of those trial —— this trial. she'll never be free again. so depraved, so wicked, lucy letby will be in prison forever. today, the courtroom reeled as the raw human cost of her crimes was laid bare. parent after parent told of the impact of letby�*s brutality. one clutched a toy rabbit, another wore a pendant

with her baby's hand and footprints on it, which she said made her feel conflicted because the nurse had taken them. and as they spoke, you could hear the sound of weeping around the courtroom, including from the jury. they spoke about seeing their babies suffer and that they'd live with the trauma forever. the mother of baby c said... the father of baby 0 described his son's skin colour changing rapidly. he said it wasn't normal to the naked eye, it was horrific to see and something he'd neverforget. he said his son was quickly christened, and moments later, he was gone. the mother of baby i said... we heard harrowing detail about the effect the babies�* deaths have

had on their parents�* mental health. some have had breakdowns, others have needed medication or turned to alcohol. two said they'd considered suicide. they spoke about their loss. the mother of baby d said... baby g has been been left severely disabled as a result of letby�*s attacks. her parents said... this was a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder, involving the smallest and most vulnerable of children. there was a deep malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions. you have no remorse. there are no mitigating factors.

in their totality, the offences of murder and attempted murder were of exceptionally high seriousness, and just punishment according to law requires a whole life order. the mother of twin babies e and f said that the trial had felt like a platform for letby to relive her crimes but that failing to show her face today had been one final act of wickedness from a coward. the families�* statements will be sent to letby. the mothers of babies a and b said... we heard about memories being forever tarnished. baby p's mother said... having refused to come up from the cells for the hearing, letby was driven away from court, leaving grief, distress and fury in her wake.

judith moritz, bbc news, manchester. as lucy letby begins that whole life sentence tonight knowing that she will never be released from prison and that she will die behind bars, thatis and that she will die behind bars, that is not the end of this story because already the investigation into her crimes has been widened. the trial here only covered a period of a little over 12 months from june of a little over 12 months from june of 2015 to june of 2016 and already the investigating officers in that case have gone back to places where she worked before the contest of chester hospital, they have been speaking to former colleagues and they also told us they are going back and looking again at the cases of perhaps suspicious child deaths on boards, on units where lucy letby may have been working and may have been responsible for the care of those children.

an nhs safety expert has told the bbc that letby�*s crimes might have been picked up earlier if a system recommended 20 years ago had been in place. greater manchester gp harold shipman was convicted in 2000 of murdering 15 patients. the subsequent inquiry called for a system of medical examiners essentially, experts who examine all deaths to spot unusual patterns. but they were only brought in this year. meanwhile, the father of one of the nurse beverley allitt�*s victims says — 30 years on — lessons still need to be learned. gill dummigan, who's the health correspondent for north west tonight,

has this exclusive report. the health secretary orders an urgent investigation into how the nurse beverley allitt was able to murderfour babies in may 1993, it's may 1993, and beverley allitt has just been convicted of killing four children and attacking nine more at grantham and kesteven general hospital. after the trial, the government held an inquiry into what had gone wrong at the hospital. the clothier report came out in 1994 and it identified a number of failings. but a central finding was that because every death and collapse could have another initial explanation, and because nobody could believe that a colleague could deliberately harm children and babies, beverley allitt was able to continue in the unit for more than two months. the parallels with lucy letby are striking. while some senior colleagues did raise concerns about her. those in charge were apparently unable to believe that there might be a killer in the hospital. so how can the nhs take that mindset into account for the future? we should have had a system

for looking at the outcome of babies in neonatal units and to look at adverse events happening to babies in neonatal units. he wants all patient incidents to be entered into a system which automatically raises the flag when an unusual pattern emerges. if we track these things in real time, you can trigger action. you can say, "there's something untoward happening here. it's outside the limits of normal variation. we need to look at it." for years, he's also been calling for medical examiners, independent senior doctors who look at all deaths which aren't seen by a coroner. it was recommended by the inquiry into dr harold shipman, the greater manchester gp, thought to have killed 250 of his patients. that recommendation was made in 2003. 20 years on, those examiners arejust being introduced. do you think that would have made a difference here? i think it might have made a difference, yes. i think that if somebody had asked difficult questions,

at least somebody would have had to look harder at those. and it's entirely possible that at some point what should have happened would have happened, which is somebody should have said there is something very wrong here. gill dummigan, bbc north west today. asa as a result of that, questions are once again being asked about what could be learned from this case and what should change to give patients safety in the future. earlier, i asked conservative mp steve brine, chair of the social care select committee. i asked him what they would be trying to do to make sure any changes are made. the public and to be reassured and confident in the system, and therefore the inquiry is absolutely critical in doing that. it could be sometime before it gets under way. potentially they are investigating

other deaths and therefore it may be liable before gets under way, i think a good point was made the other day —— it may be a while. we need to look at the terms of reference now, maybe the families could be involved in that process, and then we move forward from that. that is the mp who is the chair of the house of commons health and social care committee, a cross party committee of mps, talking about what they would be doing in the aftermath of this case, to try and make sure and he necessary lessons are learned. but at the conclusion of this legal process, as tonight lucy letby begins that whole life sentence in the knowledge that she will never be released from prison but that is by no means the end of this story. the subsequent investigations loaded out continue for many more months and many more years —— will no doubt continue. that is all for now from here at manchester crown court. let me handed back to nancy in london for the rest of the day's news.

thank you, anna foster, for that coverage. let me bring you up—to—date with other stories. human rights watch has accused saudi arabian border guards of systematically killing hundreds of ethiopian economic migrants trying to cross from war—torn yemen. the killings allegedly took place on the border between the two countries between march 2022 and june 2023. human rights watch has spent months collecting evidence, after the united nations made similar allegations last year. if committed as part of a saudi government policy to murder migrants, these killings would be a crime against humanity. the saudi authorities say the report is unfounded. the us has called for a full and thorough investigation. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams has more. in october of last year, a letter was written to the saudi government by a group of un experts — un rapporteurs,

as they're called — outlining some of these allegations, albeit with slightly smaller numbers involved. it took a few months, but eventually the saudi government did reply. they said that they dismissed entirely the idea that there was anything systematic or widespread going on, although they did say they took the letter seriously, and they said that there was simply no evidence to back up this claim. so i think what human rights watch have done — and, by the way, there have been other human rights organisations this year that have tried to pursue these allegations as well — what they've done is try to amass a real wealth of evidence, in terms of eyewitness testimony, dozens of interviews and a great deal of video evidence, often taking on mobile phones by the migrants themselves, to paint this very detailed and very, very disturbing picture. paul adams there. nadia hardman is a researcher in the refugee and migrants rights division of human rights watch.

i asked her to outline the evidence her organisation and documented. look, we have document did his mass killings. i interviewed migrants and asylum—seekers that dissented to cross the border between march 22 and two and june 2023 and they described his horrifying attacks —— march 2022. attacks on large groups of women and children, part of the two groups, massive parts of these groups, and people travelling in small groups, generally targeted with rifles at short range, so really, most of the people i spoke to have sustained lifelong injuries, a lot of people have lost one or more of their limbs. it is just really, really horrible stuff. so the saudi arabian government has said that this report is unfounded, but you've use the word systematic there will just to but you've use the word systematic there willjust to be clear, are you saying this is not about a few rogue border guards, there is a systematic element to this? just expand that. we are being very careful in what we

are saying, but factually approving these are widespread and systematic attacks and may amount to a crime against amenity, because i spoke to so many people repeatedly told me that they are fired on with explosive weapons and/or shot at close range —— crimes against humanity. 42 people, at least hundreds, have been killed at this board. i understand the saudis are denying this and saying it is unfounded, but we repeatedly write to the saudi arabian authorities and we wrote a long letter putting our findings and asking a long list of questions well before he put the report out, we just never received a reply. the only actual public or sponsor your received is in relation to journalists request today. sponsor your received is in relation tojournalists request today. so to journalists request today. so 'ust tojournalists request today. so just explain for those who are not familiar with this migrant route, why are people going to saudi arabia in the first place, where they are coming from, and why with the saudi arabian border guards be treating them this way?—

arabian border guards be treating them this way? yeah, sure. look, it is estimated — them this way? yeah, sure. look, it is estimated thousand _ them this way? yeah, sure. look, it is estimated thousand of— them this way? yeah, sure. look, it is estimated thousand of ethiopian i is estimated thousand of ethiopian migrant work in saudi arabia, there is a huge pull factor especially for women and girls in the dementia worker industry, men and boys, generally in the constructive industry, there are job industry, there arejob opportunities and there are formal agreements between the countries to work in saudi arabia, there lots of jobs. why the border guards are now firing at people and shooting at close range is really question for the saudi authorities, because this route is a brutal and lethal route and people risk their lives all along the way, from the horn of africa, and it is prominently ethiopian, over 90%, and there is abuse by smugglers all across the route. i spoke to women and girls sexually assaulted by other migrants or their smugglers and who are now pregnant and stranded in yemen, and these are abuses that really are

happening throughout yemen and it does not come close to what they then face at the border with saudi arabia. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a bbc investigation has revealed that a black hole in local authority budgets continues to grow. information provided by 190 authorities across the uk revealed council leaders were predicting a shortfall of around £5 billion by april 2026. that's even after making £2.5 billion of cuts. the government said funding for councils beyond the next financial year has not yet been decided. a cargo ship fitted with giant rigid sails the size of aircraft wings has embarked on its maiden voyage from china to brazil. it's hoped the british—designed technology, which uses the wind to help propel the vessel, will reduce carbon emissions by up to 30% and help tackle climate change. former radio 2 presenter chris evans has revealed he has been

diagnosed with skin cancer. he announced the news on his virgin radio show this morning, after returning from time off. he said the mark on his leg would be removed next month, and he urged others to get themselves checked. you're live with bbc news. millions of americans are under flood and high wind warnings after southern california was hit by its first tropical storm in 80 years. storm hilary has now been downgraded, but it has left a trail of destruction. chelsea harvey is a climate reporter for e&e news by politico. thanks forjoining us on the programme. storm hilary, how are you covering that, because this is quite an unusual event? it covering that, because this is quite an unusual event?— an unusual event? it is, it is a very unusual— an unusual event? it is, it is a very unusual event, _ an unusual event? it is, it is a very unusual event, it - an unusual event? it is, it is a very unusual event, it is - an unusual event? it is, it is a very unusual event, it is the l an unusual event? it is, it is a i very unusual event, it is the first time a tropical storm has crossed into california since 1997, actually

comes of these are really quite rare events. �* ., ., , ., , events. and how do we explain why the are events. and how do we explain why they are happening _ events. and how do we explain why they are happening now? _ events. and how do we explain why they are happening now? right- events. and how do we explain why they are happening now? right to l events. and how do we explain why. they are happening now? right to us of a kind of interesting _ they are happening now? right to us of a kind of interesting confluence i of a kind of interesting confluence of a kind of interesting confluence of factors came together to make this impossible —— right, so and interesting. the waters around northern mexico, where the storm formed a middling fall, have been warmer than recently —— has been warmer than recently —— has been warmer than recently —— has been warmer than recently... hillary actually ballooned up from the tropical storm into a category four hurricane in some 2a hours. it did weaken, back to a tropical storm, before making landfall, but those warm waters helped maintain its transfer longer than would have otherwise, and then also we had this interesting unusual series of

weather patterns over the us. typically, what you see over california are these prevailing easterly winds and the winds blowing from east to west of and usually what that would do is cause storms to veer off out to see rather than strike in california. those winds have actually temporarily vanished for the moment because we have this unusual, high—pressure weather system sitting over the central us at the moment, at the same time, a low—pressure system sitting right off the coast of california, what thatis off the coast of california, what that is done is rearrange the wind patterns in between them and so rather than having these easterly winds, over california, the winds were blowing from south to north, which help to push the storm north from mexico into california. find from mexico into california. and even of the _ from mexico into california. and even of the storm _ from mexico into california. and even of the storm was downgraded, it is left behind a lot of rain in the lot of destruction? it absolutely has. it lot of destruction? it absolutely has- it has _ lot of destruction? it absolutely has. it has cause _ lot of destruction? it absolutely has. it has cause flooding - has. it has cause flooding everywhere from the coast all the way into the desert, around palm springs, the storm is now moving into nevada and is causing flooding

close to las vegas, so it definitely has left a trail of destruction. chelsea harvey, thanks forjoining us. chelsea is a climate reporter. let's talk to angela chen, who lives in palm springs and is a news anchor with tv station kesq. great to have you on the programme. palm springs, a lot of rain there. you experience that first—hand? {eek you experience that first-hand? 0k we you experience that first—hand? oif; we have you experience that first—hand? ifl we have gotten easily more than a years worth of rain in the past 12 hours. it has been pretty rough out here. we are not billed for this. this is a desert town, the palm springs area of the most well—known for the coachella music festival. a lot of sunshine, a lot of dust, not a lot of rain, so we have floodwaters and parts of the streets in major thoroughfares, people cannot get to work today, a lot of stores are shot down, are tough to get to, it is a mess around town

will traffic lights are out and we have a power outage. as we're talking right now, there is a rescue operation going on, so a lot of destruction to contend with this morning. destruction to contend with this morninu. , ., , ., ., ~' destruction to contend with this morninu. , ., , ., ., ~ ., morning. yes, i would 'ust look at re orts morning. yes, i would 'ust look at reports that said h morning. yes, i would just look at reports that said tropical- morning. yes, i would just look at reports that said tropical storm i reports that said tropical storm hilary because the heaviest hour of rain ever recorded in palm springs, all roads out of the city have been cut off, so how are people getting around this situation?— cut off, so how are people getting around this situation? some of the roads are 0k- _ around this situation? some of the roads are ok. but _ around this situation? some of the roads are ok. but again, _ around this situation? some of the roads are ok. but again, it - roads are ok. but again, it is tough. the cities have advised everone to just stay home, if they can, but the lights, the traffic lights are out, so it is a lot of congestion around town, there is currently another music festival in town, we have a lot of out—of—towners here. they are stuck, because they cannot get back to the airport, they cannot get back to la on the file because that is all shut down right now. —— on the freeway.

you mentioned is not some theor use to come not billed for this. just explain what has made it more difficult to deal with the amount of rain you've got? for difficult to deal with the amount of rain you've got?— difficult to deal with the amount of rain you've got? for example, a lot ofthe rain you've got? for example, a lot of the house _ rain you've got? for example, a lot of the house out _ rain you've got? for example, a lot of the house out here _ rain you've got? for example, a lot of the house out here don't - rain you've got? for example, a lot of the house out here don't have i of the house out here don't have gutters, because wejust of the house out here don't have gutters, because we just don't get rain, so we're not used high water levels and a lot of rain in a very little amount of time is disaster. we have when speeds pretty strong, overnight, and a lot of places not billed for that. we don't build with wind and heavy rain in mind, so this morning, you are seeing a lot of trees down on houses and cars. the number one lines are down across the valley, a couple city still have not been able to get that back up —— the 911 lines. i am not a developer by don't know what goes into it, but a lot of houses have simply torn away

or broken off because of the force of the rain and winds from last night. of the rain and winds from last niuht. ., , ., , night. so, quite a serious situation. _ night. so, quite a serious situation. been _ night. so, quite a serious situation. been looking i night. so, quite a serious| situation. been looking at night. so, quite a serious- situation. been looking at the pictures of the damage from that. there has been a state of emergency declared by california's governor. an earthquake was expected to strike the region but happily that has not happened. but angela, if we still got you, just briefly, very briefly, only a few seconds left, what advice are you getting now from the authorities?— authorities? they are telling everyone — authorities? they are telling everyone to _ authorities? they are telling everyone to stay _ authorities? they are telling everyone to stay home, i authorities? they are telling everyone to stay home, if. authorities? they are telling i everyone to stay home, if they authorities? they are telling - everyone to stay home, if they can. they are working on rescue at this moment. there are a lot of car stuck in the water. people had to abandon their cars. people have gotten stranded. a lot of people are not able to get in and out of the residential communities because of all the waters there, so a lot of emergency personnel are out right now and they're telling... fik. emergency personnel are out right now and they're telling... ok. stay safe, now and they're telling... ok. stay safe. angeia- _

you're watching bbc news. this is the daily global. i am nancy kacungira. stay with us. hello. a fairly quiet evening out there for most of us after what has been a pretty decent monday with some sunny spells. just a few showers here and there. and i think that's what we're going to get tomorrow — scattered showers with plenty of sunny spells as well. but having said that, there is thicker cloud and some outbreaks of rain across the north—west of the country. this small weather system has swept into northern ireland and scotland. so through the course of the evening and night, closer to this area of low pressure, it will be raining at times, whereas the south of the country is under the influence of a high. so, here, the skies will be generally clear. so through the evening and the night, that weather front moves into the north—west, a spell of showers, a stronger breeze as well, but most of england and wales should have dry weather overnight.

and the early morning temperatures, whether you're in the north or the south, will be around 1a or 15 degrees. a fairly mild start to tuesday. so here's the forecast, then. closer to the low pressure here, which is to the north of scotland, a thicker cloud at times, again, a scattering of showers. i think the south of the country and the south—east will be generally dry and bright, if not sunny, and, again, every bit as warm as monday. so highs of about 25 in london and norwich, 21 expected in liverpool and about 20 or so in belfast. and tuesday is also going to be very warm across much of europe. here in the uk, typically the 20s, but further south, just across the channel, we're hitting the mid—30s, even in excess of a0 degrees celsius in places like lyon. back to the uk, then, midweek, we have some cloud again spreading into the north—west of the country, perhaps some other western areas of the uk as well, so the dry and brighter weather will be always further east and south. again, the mid—20s, so similar temperatures most days. in the north—west, around 19 or so. so is this warmth going to last?

well, the low pressure and the jet stream are right over us towards the end of the week, so anything south of the jet stream is pretty hot, anything north of the jet stream — and more or less underneath it — is generally on the cool side. so it is expected to cool off as we head towards the end of the week, through the weekend and into next week. so no longer the mid—20s in the south, it's going to be closer to about 20 or so. but the high teens still expected further north. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines. nurse lucy letby is sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others. manchester united forward mason greenwood who had charges of attempted rape and assault against him dropped leaves the club. a left—wing candidate wins the first round of ecuador�*s presidential election taking place amid tight security after the murder of a candidate. the premier league footballer mason greenwood is leaving manchester united. charges against the 21—year—old forward, including attempted rape and assault, were dropped in february. manchester united issued a statement, saying...