urfan sharif and beinash batool were found guilty of her killing. sara's uncle, faisal malik, was found to have caused or allowed the death of a child. her teacher remembers sara as a happy girl who loved to sing. she was such a cheerful little soul, and i think that's what's really heartbreaking because she was such a special little girl. also tonight... in syria, after the fall of a dictator, many want revenge for the atrocities of the assad regime. there's a real strong sense of excitement, expectation, anger as well. they want to see this man dead. the host of the fifa world cup will

be... saudi arabia! good news for the kingdom, but activists say it's bad news for human rights and the environment. and the marathon swim of a humpback whale — one of the longest and most unusual migration journeys ever recorded. and coming up on bbc news: manchester city look to put their patchy form to one—side, on a crucial night of champions league action — they take onjuventus. good evening. the father and stepmother of sara sharif, the ten—year—old girl whose body was discovered at her home in surrey last year, have been found guilty of her murder at the old bailey. sara endured more than two years of abuse, including being burnt and regularly beaten, suffering dozens of injuries. her uncle was found not guilty

of murder but of causing or allowing the death of a child. her family fled to pakistan after the killing. speaking outside court, surrey police said this was one of the most difficult and distressing cases they'd ever dealt with. in a special report tonight, we'll hear from sara's headteacher and we'll retrace her family's flight from england to pakistan. but first helena wilkinson has more on today's verdicts, and a warning — her report contains distressing details. sara sharif loved to sing and play the guitar. she was a confident, caring little girl. but in august last year, she was murdered after months of brutal violence.

more than a day after sara had died, her father called the police. he had left sara's body alone at home in woking in surrey and fled with his family to pakistan. this was the moment police arrived at the house. police! upstairs, under covers in a bunk bed, they found sara's body. her father had left a note. it said, "it's me, urfan sharif, who killed my daughter by beating." the little girl had around 100 injuries, including broken bones, bruises, burns and bite marks. police discovered this cricket bat with sara's blood on it and a metal pole that her father hit her with as she lay dying. hours after sara was murdered, her family were at heathrow, heading for pakistan.

but after months on the run, sara's father, stepmother and uncle returned to the uk and were arrested. the body of sara sharif was discovered. you are therefore arrested for murder of sara sharif. during the trial, sara's father initially denied almost everything in the witness box before dramatically changing his evidence. today at the old bailey, urfan sharif and sara's stepmother, beinash batool, were found guilty of her murder. as sara's father was convicted of murdering his daughter, he stared straight ahead. sara's stepmother, beinash batool, sobbed as she was also convicted of murdering sara. the ten—year—old's uncle, faisal malik, cried as he was convicted of causing or allowing sara's death. the murder of a child is absolutely shocking, but the horrific nature of the abuse sara suffered during her short life has made this case

particularly disturbing. today, justice for sara has been served. after the verdicts, sara's mother, olga sharif, described her daughter as a princess and said she would always be in her heart. helena wilkinson, bbc news at the old bailey. before sara was even born, her family was known to police and children's services amid growing concerns of neglect and violence in the family, including against one of sara's siblings. the acting head of the nspcc says a review must identify ways in which sara could have been better protected to prevent such tragedies happening again. daniel sandford takes a look at sara's story, and a warning — his report contains details you may find upsetting. special messages for her. in sara sharif�*s old classroom, memories of a much—loved school friend, her head teacher recalling a joyful young pupil.

sara was a very caring, very confident little girl who wasjust smiling all of the time. i remember saying to her, "sara, what do you want "to do when you grow up?" and she said to me, "i want to sing." she said, "i want to be on x factor and i want to win it." but behind the smiles, sara had a very troubling life. serious domestic violence against other children in herfamily meant social services were involved, even before she was born. for a while, she lived with her mother, olga sharif, but allegations that her mother tried to drown her meant she moved back in with her father and his new family. once again, children's services were involved. but herfather�*s parenting included punishment beatings. her stepmother, beinash batool, messaged her sister, "urfan beat the crap out of sara and my mind is all in bits.

"she's covered in bruises, literally beaten black." in march last year, sara sharif�*s school saw bruising on herface. a six—day investigation by children's services ended with them simply asking the school to monitor sara. a month later, in april, her father took her out of school, so no monitoring was possible. byjuly, here at her new home, out of sight of neighbours, the beatings accelerated. in around six weeks, she suffered 25 broken bones and a serious brain injury, but nobody took her to hospital. sara would help with the washing. judy lozeron lived next door and noticed sara was subdued. i never saw her smile or do anything that a child maybe should do. and that worried me, really, but not... it didn't make me feel suspicious. on the 8th of august,

sara's young body could take no more and she died without even being taken to hospital. she was such a special little girl. hard to put into words, actually. i don't think i've ever felt such sadness. urfan sharif and beinash batool now face life sentences for murder while an independent review looks at the involvement of surrey children's services in sara sharif�*s short tragic life. daniel sandford, bbc news. after sara's body was discovered, urfan sharif, sara's father, beinash batool, her stepmother, faisal malik, her uncle and five of sara's siblings were the subject of a police hunt across pakistan for several weeks. caroline davies and her team spent months tracking down the man who says he gave them shelter, hiding them from the authorities.

punjab's rural heartland, more than 6,000km away from woking, the route, the roads the sharif family took. but where and how did they stay undiscovered? we're off to meet a man who's related to urfan sharif by marriage and, through the conversations we've been having, we think he might know more about how the three adults stayed hidden for so long in pakistan. months of searching, tip—offs and leads led us to this door in a one—track village. during the hunt, police suspected rasikh munir of hiding the family. speaking exclusively to the bbc before the trial began, he told us how he did it. this is irfan's room? this. translation: they stayed here. they used to sleep here. they used to use this table for food. they used to sit here with beinash

to contact the lawyer and to discuss how they should talk to police in the uk. rasikh is known to the police. as we talk, i notice a gun tucked into his waistband. he tells us it's for his safety. within days of arriving in pakistan, rasikh says the family were in hiding with him. if the police raided, how did they never find you or the children? translation: from this roof, you could see the police - from all four sides. then i used to take them here. we used to go inside the fields. you hid in here? yes, with children. they were scared. they couldn't understand what was going on. you still hid them from the police, knowing that the police wanted to talk to them about sara's death? i helped urfan and the young kids. if i hadn't helped them, they would have been completely helpless. rasikh told us that, despite the police hunt, he still took the family out

for haircuts, pizza and ice cream and moved them between here and sara's grandfather's house two hours away. it was at the grandfather's house in september 2023 that police raided and found the five children. now, incredibly, rasikh says the three adults were there too but hid in a neighbour's garden. if true, it means that, as we filmed, the adults were metres away from us. how were they not found? translation: the family knew they were coming i because there is a big lcd to which cameras are attached. they were watching everything. rasikh says the police pressure meant the adults decided to fly back to the uk. sara's siblings were left behind. the trial may be over, but the damage reverberates — five children who lost their sister still in limbo in pakistan and a little girl who lost her life.

caroline davies, bbc news, sialkot. daniel sandford is with me. sara's family were known to all the principal agencies — the police, social services and so on, even before she was born. how on earth could sara have slipped through the net? this case raises two big questions. how was that given that sara had been discussed by social even before she was born because of concerns about violence, how was that she was nearly taken into care, and then the samejudge in same department nearly taken into care, and then the same judge in same department were discussing her when she was six, how was it that when the school reported bruising on herface when was it that when the school reported bruising on her face when she was ten social services�* only decisive action was to ask the school to monitor sara, and how was it that when the school was asked to monitor sara and her father took out of

school to be home—schooled, nobody was able to go and check on her, so she was beaten to death out of sight? those are really important questions. given the role that schools now play in child protection, who are protecting the kids, who are not in school? and many experts want to use this case to improve child protection and particularly for those kids who are not in school.— shops are reopening and people are returning to work in the syrian capital damascus three days after the fall of the assad regime. but many people across the country want to see revenge for the atrocities that happened under bashar al—assad�*s rule. today, rebel fighters have broken into the tomb of the former president, hafez al—assad, bashar�*s father. images show a coffin and parts of the mausoleum, in the family�*s home town, on fire. and large crowds gathered in a suburb of the capital, damascus,

for what they believed would be a public execution. there are some disturbing images injeremy bowen�*s report. if only moving from dictatorship to freedom was as simple as climbing onto an abandoned tank and posing for pictures. the family was in power in syria long before these children�*s parents were even born, but a lot of anger built up and it is being released. sometimes politely by quite families at the former president�*s home, it was looted after they fled, the end of what must have been an elegant lifestyle. now the house is secured by fighters, they borrowed the fighters�* transfer photos until a few days ago they would not have dared to look through the gate. the visitors were still getting used to living without fear of the regime. people were living in hell and he

was in his palace, he didn�*t care about what they were going through. he made them live in fear, hunger and humiliation. even after we entered damascus, people would only whisper to us because they were still afraid.— still afraid. anger at the assads is a family affair. _ still afraid. anger at the assads is a family affair. much _ still afraid. anger at the assads is a family affair. much stronger- a family affair. much stronger revenge was in the minds of the crowd, a part of damascus that suffered grievously. theirfury deepenedin suffered grievously. theirfury deepened in 2013 when military intelligence operatives through at least 41 local men into a mass grave and shot them dead, a video of the massacre was leaked and one of the killers is under arrest, people had come here to watch him being hanged. imagine if someone knocked on your

door and _ imagine if someone knocked on your door and took you by force and did not tell_ door and took you by force and did not tell you — door and took you by force and did not tell you anything. throughout the afternoon, _ not tell you anything. throughout the afternoon, more _ not tell you anything. throughout the afternoon, more and - not tell you anything. throughout the afternoon, more and more i not tell you anything. throughout - the afternoon, more and more people arrived until thousands blocked the streets. when rumours flew around that the execution was started, the crowd surged back and forth, jostling for the best position. not wanting to miss a thing. the man they wanted hanks had been the local bus, a thief as well as a killer, he stole my house and money, they said. of course i want him dead, i would have _ of course i want him dead, i would have done — of course i want him dead, i would have done it — of course i want him dead, i would have done it myself— of course i want him dead, i would have done it myself with— of course i want him dead, i would have done it myself with my own. have done it myself with my own hands _ have done it myself with my own hands but — have done it myself with my own hands but i — have done it myself with my own hands but i could _ have done it myself with my own hands but i could not— have done it myself with my own hands but i could not find - have done it myself with my own hands but i could not find a - have done it myself with my own hands but i could not find a way, j have done it myself with my ownl hands but i could not find a way, i wanted _ hands but i could not find a way, i wanted to— hands but i could not find a way, i wanted to kill— hands but i could not find a way, i wanted to kill him! _ hands but i could not find a way, i wanted to kill him!— hands but i could not find a way, i wanted to kill him! somehow they decided the _ wanted to kill him! somehow they decided the execution _ wanted to kill him! somehow they decided the execution was - wanted to kill him! somehow they i decided the execution was happening down the street and stampeded. if syria�*s new rulers do not want change to be measured in blood, they will need to control the desire for revenge. there is a real strong sense of excitement, expectation, angeras sense of excitement, expectation,

anger as well. they want to see this man dead. they don�*tjust want justice to be done, they want to see it being done, notjust because of his crimes. but because of the boundless cruelty of the assad regime. we boundless cruelty of the assad re . ime. ~ , ., boundless cruelty of the assad re . ime. ~ , . , . boundless cruelty of the assad reaime. ~ , . , . ., regime. we 'ust want 'ustice after 14 ears! regime. we 'ust want 'ustice after 14 years! m h regime. we just want 'ustice after 14 years! m the h regime. we just want justice after 14 years! in the end, there - regime. we just want justice after 14 years! in the end, there was i regime. we just want justice after| 14 years! in the end, there was no execution. — 14 years! in the end, there was no execution. at _ 14 years! in the end, there was no execution, at least _ 14 years! in the end, there was no execution, at least not _ 14 years! in the end, there was no execution, at least not yet, - 14 years! in the end, there was no execution, at least not yet, it - 14 years! in the end, there was no execution, at least not yet, it was| execution, at least not yet, it was probably a rumour that thousands wanted it to be true. when the weight of dictatorship is lifted, powerful forces are unleashed, how they are dealt with shapes what comes next. an 18—year—old from london has been sentenced to a year in prison in dubai for having a sexual relationship with a 17—year—old girl. marcus fakana, from tottenham, met the girl, who is also from london, while on holiday in september. the girl�*s mother reported him to dubai police after seeing pictures and messages on her daughter�*s phone. the age of consent is 18 in dubai,

and it�*s 16 in the uk. marcus fakana says he feels abandoned by the british government. our top story this evening... the father and step—mother of ten—year—old sara sharif have been found guilty of her murder. you of her murder. have got to work out what these pictures you have got to work out what these pictures spell? a christmas quiz from gchq, the government�*s intelligence agency: can you solve this puzzle? coming up on bbc news: england�*s start is delayed in south africa due to weather, as the women�*s one—day series is finely poised — they�*re among the wickets, but can they get the job done in potchefstroom and clinch the victory. the hosts for the 2030 and 2034 men�*s football world cups have been announced, with the first of the tournaments

being staged across spain, portugal and morocco. but there�*s controversy over saudi arabia being chosen to host four years later, because of human rights abuses and environmental concerns. here�*s dan roan. saudi arabia has been tightening its grip on world sport, spending billions to become a destination for major events. but today, fifa delivered the prize it craved most. the host of the fifa world cup 2034 will be... saudi arabia! with the inevitable victory confirmed, these the scenes in riyadh. with fifa cosying up to the saudis in recent years and a fast—tracked process appearing to pave the way for them, this had seemed a formality since last year, when it emerged that their bid would be unopposed. earlier, in a highly controlled virtual meeting at its zurich headquarters, members of fifa�*s congress encouraged to vote

by acclamation in favour. this is such a historic moment, not only for the saudi arabian football federation, not only for these children behind me, but for the growth of our sport in asia and across the world. saudi arabia�*s ambitious plans involve 11 new stadia, including one 350 metres above the ground in the futuristic and still to be built desert city of neom. but with the world cup, like neighbouring qatar�*s two years ago, set to be staged in winter to avoid the extreme summer heat, there are concerns over its impact on a congested football calendar, on the environment and on human rights. workers will be exploited. many will die. activists may be put in prison for criticising what is happening. fans risk discrimination. the saudis deny they�*re sportswashing the country�*s human rights record, last year its sports minister telling me the world cup would help it diversify its economy and to modernise.

every country around the world has room for improvement. no one is perfect and we acknowledge that and we are reforming, and these events help us perform. and these events help us reform. norway�*s football federation abstained from today�*s acclamation, but the fa were among many others to support the saudis, saying it had assurances that gay fans would be welcome at the world cup. despite the controversy, saudi�*s sporting revolution gains pace. dan roan, bbc news. around 5,000 homes are still without power in south and west wales, days after storm darragh swept through. some have been told services won�*t be restored until ten o�*clock tomorrow night. here�*s tomos morgan. conversation in welsh. although water supply was restored yesterday, four days on since storm darragh, mark�*s butcher is still without power. madness, it�*s been absolute madness, the way things have been going. i just get frustrated because we�*ve only got how many days left before christmas and i�*ve got to get all this work done before christmas, and i get all this piled on top of it.

as a generator keeps a chunk of his fresh meat cold, a large portion of his stock has been ruined. it�*s all defrosted. i�*ve got game and venison. expensive meat, then. expensive meat, yes. so that will have to go to the bin? that will go to the bin. over the road in rhydlewis, it�*s been a challenge to keep warm. we'd be freezing without that, really cold. and the other rooms in the house, what are they like? well, they're central heating, so they're freezing. we've been sleeping in here. sleeping in this room on the sofa to keep warm and leaving the fire on overnight? yep. angie�*s tropical fish of 15 years are also struggling without heat. looks like there's two dead ones that got in the filter there. it's quite sad, they're my babies. i've had them so long.

it's going to be sad if they all go. the 300 residents here have been told they should have power back by tomorrow evening. not the easiest run—up, then, to the festive period in rhydlewis. tomos morgan, bbc news, ceredigion. police investigating crimes linked to the post office horizon it scandal are looking at "dozens" of potential suspects. hundreds of postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty horizon software showed money missing from their branch accounts. police are looking into the role of post office and fujitsu employees, but say any charges won�*t be laid until after the final report of a separate public inquiry is published. farmers have blocked roads around the westminister parliament, urging ministers to consult with them on changes to inheritance tax. farms had been exempt, but the budget imposed a 20% inheritance tax on some assets, half the normal rate. sir keir starmer, insists the "vast majority" of farmers won�*t be affected.

new figures suggest the annual cost of renting a home in the uk is more than £3,000 higher than it was three years ago. and the property website, zoopla, is forecasting further increases next year. colletta smith is in rochdale. as you say, a rented property going on the market now is going to set you back an extra £270 a month more than it would have done three years ago in 2021. the silver lining for renters in these statistics today is that in lots of areas, particularly big towns and cities, we are starting to see those price increases ease a little. but that is not true here in rochdale and lots of other satellite towns on the outskirts of bigger cities, because what we have seen over the last couple of years is more people move out of those expensive cities and

into areas like this where they could potentially get more bang for their buck for a rental property. what happens as a result of that is that it has pushed up prices here. so in rochdale, we are now seeing rents hit 11.9% increase compared to this point last year. that is the highest of anywhere in the uk, closely followed by blackburn and birkenhead. that means smaller towns, where people often have lower than average incomes, are now facing the highest rental hikes.— the highest rental hikes. colletta smith in rochdale. _ scientists say this humpback whale has made one of the longest and most unusual migrations ever recorded. it was spotted in breeding grounds off the coast of colombia back in 2017. five years later, in 2022 when it was next spotted, it had made its way at least 8,000 miles to zanzibar in the indian ocean. no one knows the route it took, or why it made such a long and unusualjourney, but scientists hope he could now bring a little diversity, to the gene pool.

a strong, adult, healthy—looking animal, so there is no reason for him not to be reproductively successful in zanzibar. so absolutely, we hope that that was the case, yes, and that he diversified the genetic pool of the western indian ocean population. this is the first image of a galaxy, much like our own milky way, captured by nasa sjames webb space telescope. it s called firefly sparkle. scientists say these star clumps are significant because they might help reveal how our pallab ghosh has the story. littered across the night sky are distant galaxies. zoom in, and we come to firefly sparkle, a very early star system. balls of different colours because the clusters are at different stages in theirformation.

i just love this sparkle galaxy with its christmas lights shining, as it was when the universe was just 600 million years old. and i find that amazing that humans now have built a telescope that allow us to peer so far back in time that we can see these very, very, this nascent phase of the galaxies forming in such a beautifully festive way. in space, the further you look, the further back in time you see. that�*s because of the time it takes for the light to reach us. it takes around a second for it to reach us from the moon. for the sun, it�*s eight minutes, and for the closest star, it�*s four years. but the light from firefly sparkle is from not long after the very beginning of the universe, and it�*s taken 13 billion years to get to us. firefly is too small and too far away to be detected by the james webb telescope, but luckily, there are a cluster

of galaxies in between, which acted like a gigantic magnifying glass, which enabled us to see in incredible detail the formation of a galaxy like our own milky way in the process of forming. this artist�*s impression, published in the journal nature, shows what firefly sparkle really looks like. it�*ll help astronomers learn more about how our own galaxy was created. pallab ghosh, bbc news. gchq, the government�*s intelligence agency, has revealed its annual festive brainteaser for school children. the seven puzzles are designed to encourage young people to consider a career in cybersecurity. here�*s the first puzzle. phil mackie has sent us this report, and if you don�*t want to know the answer to this one, look away now! the greatest minds of britain�*s spy headquarters, gchq, have been at it again and set their annual quiz for budding james bonds. every year, the director at gchq

sends out a christmas card with lots of puzzles on the back. we�*ve printed one of them up to see if we can find any potential spies here at the german christmas market in birmingham, and i�*m the man who�*s been licensed to grill. you�*ve got to work out from the picture.... first up, this group here for their work christmas party. have a look. money centre ham... you can take a quantum of solace knowing that not everyone gets it straight away. is that king? king? what�*s that one? ham. maybe the whittles, over from australia to visit family, will do better. can you work this out? ok, so it�*s dollar king ham... buckingham palace! well done! brilliant. it wasn�*t long before everyone went from a dr no to a dr yes. buckingham palace! yeah, you see? another word for a dollar?

buck. buckingham palace! yay! we got there in the end. well, i think it�*s easy when you know how, isn�*t it? but i don�*t think we�*ve unearthed any new james bonds here today, but they have had a bit of christmas fun. phil mackie, bbc news, from birmingham with love. time for a look at the weather. here�*s tomasz. high, clive. it�*s very quiet on the weather front compared to what we had a few days ago. not much change expected by the rest of this week. is going to be pretty cloudy, quite chilly. the wind has been strong blowing out of the east around this area of high pressure that is anchored itself across the uk, some drizzle in places too. so little on the damp side and we will have more of that tomorrow. the winds are light in the centre of this high pressure across scotland, so that will allow a frost to form. it was

very frosty last night. this coming night, in sheltered