conference in moscow. our russia editor steve rosenberg is there. more than 100 dangerous dogs destroyed a month since a ban on xl bullies — police say they need more cash. # jingle bells, jingle bells # jingle all the way #. and the world's oldest choir — it's official — and coming up on bbc news everton have new owners. the club's takeover saga has ended with the us—based friedkin group now in charge at goodison park. good evening. 51 men have all been found guilty at the end of a mass rape trial in france.

all but two of them are in jail tonight for what they did to this one woman — 72—year—old gisele pelicot. her ex—husband, the man she married in 1973, got the longest sentence — 20 years — for drugging his wife and allowing dozens of strangers to rape her repeatedly over a ten—year period. gisele pelicot said she had waived her right to anonymity during the three month trial so that society could see what was happening. our correspondent andrew harding is outside the court in avignon in the south of france. yes, good evening from avignon at the end yes, good evening from avignon at the end of yes, good evening from avignon at the end of what yes, good evening from avignon at the end of what has yes, good evening from avignon at the end of what has been yes, good evening from avignon at the end of what has been a remarkable day. all of those guilty verdicts really came as no surprise but it is the length, or rather the shortness of some of the sentences handed out that has provoked some consternation at the end of a case that of course has triggered enormous interest and enormous angen enormous interest and enormous anger, both here in france and around the world.

the accused arrived early at the court. faces masked as usual. some with their prison bags already packed. but the crowd here in avignon and the first of cameras and the forest of cameras were not here for the men. this trial has in so many ways now become all about this woman — gisele pelicot. herface at least seemed serene this morning. the rape victim who refused to feel shame. inside the crowded courtroom, thejudge quickly got on with the business of the day. verdicts first, then sentencing for all 51 men. dominique pelicot sat quietly in his glass cage as the judge turned to address him. the defendants will stand up in turn to hear the verdicts. mr pelicot first. the court finds him guilty of aggravated rape. inside the courtroom here, the verdicts have been coming at a furious pace.

guilty, guilty, guilty. dominique pelicot hasjust stood up to be told that he will be sentenced 20 years in prison, the maximum here in france for rape. he showed no emotion, nor did his former wife gisele, sitting quietly on the other side of the courtroom. outside the courthouse, some people celebrated the news. crowd chants. but others were angry that many of the men got lighter sentences than anticipated. "shame," they shouted. back inside, dominique pelicot�*s lawyer told me her client was considering an appeal. i asked what his mood was like. "fatalistic," she replied. "the way he's always been throughout the trial." and then, after a pause, gisele pelicot emerged to make a short statement.

translation: i want to express my deepest gratitude to all the people | who have supported me throughout this ordeal. i was overwhelmed by your support and i drew from it the strength to come back every day to face these long days of hearings. i wanted to open the doors of this trial last september so that society could see what was happening. i have never regretted this decision. i have confidence now in our capacity, collectively, to find a betterfuture in which men and women alike can live harmoniously together with respect and mutual understanding. thank you. it's half a century now since the pelicots met and fell in love. she described him as a perfect husband. but in 2020, dominique pelicot was caught in this footage,

filming up women's skirts in a local supermarket. police soon discovered other videos, proving that he'd been drugging his wife and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her as he filmed. translation: mr pelicot desired total control over his wife. - he wanted to reduce her to an object, a possession to be used for his satisfaction. then he could lend this object to other people. and to do all of that, he needed to drug her. and this wasn't his first crime. dna evidence soon proved pelicot had begun attacking women years earlier. he also took indecent images of his daughter caroline, who was in court today along with her two brothers. she is convinced her father also raped her. this afternoon, pelicot and most of the other rapists were taken away to begin their sentences. there was a moment of tension

outside when one of the defence lawyers taunted the crowd... calling them hysterical, then swearing at them. here comes gisele pelicot now, leaving the courthouse for the last time. she has achieved something quite extraordinary here, this courageous public stance. the impact of that will surely ripple through society here, perhaps for decades. she could, like most rape victims, have chosen to remain anonymous at the trial. instead, listen to the reaction she now receives. cheering. she wanted to change attitudes and perhaps she has. singing. "rise up," they sing. and with that, madame pelicot, engulfed by gratitude, walks on. andrew harding, bbc news, avignon.

day after day during the trial, gisele pelicot sat staring at her abusers. "i've decided not to be ashamed, i've done nothing wrong. they are the ones who must be ashamed," she told the court in october. her bravery and determination drew crowds to the court applauding her and shows of solidarity around the world. sima kotecha looks at the wider impact this trial could have. this shocking case has been a worldwide talking point. in belgium, people protested in solidarity with gisele pelicot, while in australia, women made her a scarf which she wore to court for several days. and over here, the case is very much in sharp focus, in the media and beyond. jade says she was raped while sleeping. she was paid £35,000 in compensation by the crown prosecution service after her case was wrongly dropped. it was a horrific experience having

that kind of realisation waking up to this immense sense of being violated, but not really knowing what had happened. do you think that the pelicot case will have an impact on how sexual violence is viewed in this country? certainly had a rippling effect on myself. it's made me feel a sense of moral courage to come forward, it's made me feel a sense of more courage to come forward, and it affirmed the reason why i waived my anonymity. and i think it's going to have a wider impact on many victims feeling that it's ok to come forward, and as gisele has been saying, the shame is not ours to bear. for some rape victims, anonymity is crucial, though, and enables them to come forward withoutjudgment from others. revealing their identity is a personal choice. the crown court backlog stands at more than 70,000 cases, meaning some victims are waiting years forjustice. the home office says the charge rate in england and wales is under 3%. some lawyers say sexual violence

isn't taken seriously enough. i certainly have that view. if you or i were raped today and reported it, we would not get to trial until february 2027 in this country. and for that reason, victims withdraw, because it takes so much time to getjustice. the hope of many is that gisele pelicot�*s extraordinary bravery will shine as a beacon and tackle the reality that far too many rapists simply get away with it without facing justice for this crime. sima kotecha, bbc news. let's return to andrew harding in avignon. andrew, will this case actually lead to change in france? that is certainly the hope here. we shall see, i guess. that is certainly the hope here. we shall see, iguess. in that is certainly the hope here. we shall see, i guess. in terms of the justice system there is talk of changing the law on rape, consent

and so on. there is also, i think a lot of focus on investing more money into investigations and also providing things like drug testing kits so that women who think their drinks have been spiked can quickly get the evidence that is so crucial in getting these cases to trial and getting convictions. but i think on a more fundamental level, what this trial really has changed his attitude is, because everybody in france has been talking about it. and it is informing so many men about consent, about the fact that drugging and raping isn't something thatjust happens in clubs, nightclubs, and rape isn't something that happens in dark parks at night, these are things that happen in the home, overtime. and these are things that happen in the home, over time. and that is something that i think we'll have a huge impact in france and far beyond. huge impact in france and far be ond. �* ., ., ~ if you have been affected by sexual abuse or violence, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call for free,

at any time to hear recorded information. water bills will rise by an average of £86 in england and wales from april. the initial increase will be followed by smaller rises over the following four years to help pay for infrastructure upgrades and to reduce sewage discharges. it comes as thousands of people have been left without water in parts of hampshire, with cars lining up for supplies. southern water says it's �*very sorry�* for the disruption. our business editor, simonjack, has the very latest. if you wanted an example of the problems facing the water industry, this is it. nearly 60,000 homes around the southampton area are left without water supply, with many schools and businesses forced to shut. southern water says the problem had been caused by a technical issue, leaving many customers high and dry. it's really frustrating, we can't do anything. we can't flush toilets, we can't, you know, have showers, nothing.

so yeah, it's not very nice. it's quite frustrating, especially because the little ones' school is closed as well. and it's nativity season. i'm a plumber. i can't even get water. and southern water customers are facing the biggest increase in bills over the next five years with a hike of 53%, or £222 a year. debt—laden thames water's increase of 35% is short of the 53% they asked for. the ones in blue are for water only, not waste as well. and bear in mind, these figures are before inflation, so actual bills are likely to be higher still. full details available on the bbc news website. the bill rises will help pay for over £100 billion of investment in new infrastructure, like this new storm drain. investment the industry says has been hampered by below—inflation bill rises since 2010. we as an industry have got it wrong, and we put our hands up. we now have the most transparent system in the world. we've got a plan to put it right,

but we can only put it right if we are given the investment we need. and for the last five years, and the five years before that, ofwat has systematically cut those investments so that bills have been falling each and every year in real terms. so how come so many of our waterways, our rivers, our beaches, our entire water system in such disrepair? is it poorly run companies? overpaid executives? greedy shareholders, bad regulation, climate change? in truth, it's some of all of those things over the years, but we are where we are. in a privatised system, it's hard to see how you fix it without putting up bills very significantly. the government says that even temporary nationalisation —— the government knows that people will balk at higher bills but are keen to stress they have taken measures to make sure higher bills don't trickle into dividends and salaries. how much savings would you have in your household? debt charities are warning these bill increases will heap further pressure on struggling households and are urging them to seek help. we've had a 25% increase in clients with debt issues this year alone.

i don't think people are aware that if they contact their water companies they can actually... there's quite a lot of help that they can give, particularly if they are on a low income or particularly if they've got a disability. the government has ordered a complete and independent review of the water industry and the mess it's in, but that won't come in time to change the higher bills coming in april. simon jack, bbc news. uk interest rates will remain at 4.75% after the bank of england voted to hold borrowing costs. the bank said it thought the economy had performed worse than expected, with no growth at all between october and december. inflation was also higher than the bank's target. rates are still expected to fall gradually next year, with the first cut possibly coming in february. russia's president putin says he is ready for talks at "any time" with the us president—elect donald trump, who has vowed to bring the war with ukraine to a swift end without saying how. president putin was speaking

at his lengthy end of the year press conference — and our russia editor, steve rosenberg was there. it would have been hard not to notice vladimir putin today. his marathon end of year event was live on all the main tv channels in russia. it was half phone—in, half press conference. he used it to deny that the fall of bashar al—assad in syria was a defeat for russia, and to say he was ready for talks any time with president—elect trump. after more than four hours, it was my turn to ask a question. "exactly 25 years ago," i said, "when boris yeltsin resigned and handed you power, he told you, take care of russia. but what of the significant losses suffered in your so—called special military operation in ukraine and the ukrainian troops now in russia's kursk region, and sanctions and high inflation? do you think you've

taken care of russia?" translation: yes, - i haven'tjust taken care of it. i think we've pulled back from the edge of the abyss. with everything that was happening to russia before that, we were heading towards a complete, total loss of our sovereignty, and without sovereignty, russia cannot exist as an independent state. from the public, there were video messages asking putin to fix their everyday problems. from the president, there was praise for russian soldiers fighting against ukraine. so what did we learn from four hours of live televised putin? that in his mind, he can't put a foot wrong. events in syria are not a defeat. the war in ukraine is going russia's way. yes, putin admits there are problems, but the whole point of this event was to convince russians that he has the solutions.

and when it was over, well, it wasn't over for me. i was mobbed by russian media wanting my reaction. this is what happens if you've managed to ask the kremlin leader a question. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. our top story this evening... justice at last for gisele pelicot at the end of france's largest ever rape trial — 51 men have been found guilty. and hospices in england are to receive £100 million over the next two years to improve end of life care. coming up on bbc news... a fury of few words — the british heavyweight keeps his pre—fight counsel at the press conference preveiwing his rematch with oleksander usyk for the ukrainian�*s three heavyweight world titles.

more than 100 dangerous dogs have been destroyed every month on average since these xl bullies were banned in februrary. the cost of kenneling dogs that have been seized is also soaring with police saying it could reach 25 million by next april. now senior police chiefs are asking the government for more money to help them cope. here's jim connolly. that must have been the bottom jaws, because that's what was shredded. end up on the wrong side of an xl bully, and the scars take a long time to heal. so that was the top jaws of the dog. and then the worst bit is the shredding. that part was like a horror movie, because i could actually see the blood pumping out of my arm. come on, then. injune, walking in her quiet norfolk village, lisa was attacked by an xl bully. it was so powerful. it just literally was just hanging. ijust remember thinking that, you know, "this is it. what am i going to do?

there's no way i can get it off me". you've got, i mean, a giant dog, literally here. what's going through your head? well, ijust thought, "it's going to kill me". ijust thought, "that's it". people nearby heard her screams and rushed to her rescue. and i asked them to get my phone and ring my husband, ring sean, because i wanted to say goodbye. our exclusive figure suggest police in england and wales are dealing with and seizing more dangerous dogs, so police chiefs want extra money and changes to the law to make it easier to enforce. there would definitely be a strong request for the government to consider additional finances. if you look at the veterinary bills plus the kennelling, by the end of the financial year, we'll be in excess of 25 million. xls are banned unless owners had them exempted, but critics say the legislation is hard to apply because they are not a recognised breed, making assessing them difficult. good boy! owning an xl is also challenging. you get a lot ofjudgment. out on walks, you can get avoided.

you know, when we adopted him, family members didn't want to meet him. they didn't want to have contact with him. but actually, when people do meet him, they realise he'sjust like any other big, soppy dog. so at the moment, i feel like those responsible owners are getting punished, whereas the people that you know, do want them for the wrong reasons are just going to move on and start the cycle again. back in norfolk, lisa's still healing. i go through anger. i go through sadness. if it continues, someone else is going to get killed. someone else is going to get severely attacked. jim connolly, bbc news. four teenagers have been detained for life at bristol crown court for the murders of 16—year—old max dixon and 15—year—old mason rist who were stabbed to death in a case of mistaken identity injanuary. riley tolliver, who's 18, and kodi westcott, who's 17, will serve a minimum term of 23 years. two other teenagers involved can't be named for legal reasons.

a 26—year—old man accused of murdering a mother and two of her daughters has been further charged with rape. kyle clifford is accused of stabbing to death carol hunt, the wife of bbc racing commentatorjohn hunt, and fatally shooting 28—year—old hannah hunt and louise, who was 25, with a crossbow at their home in hertfordshire injuly. he is also accused of raping louise on the same day. he denies all charges, but has not yet given a plea to the rape allegation. downing street says the prime minister has confidence in the treasury minister, tulip siddiq, after she was named in a corruption investigation in bangladesh. the investigation is based on accusations that tulip siddiq's family embezzled almost £4 billion from infrastructure projects there. tulip siddiq's responsibilities as a minister include tackling corruption in the uk's financial markets. our investigations correspondent joe pike is at westminster.

sophie, all of this relates to tulip siddiq's aunt sheikh hasina, who ruled bangladesh for two decades until fleeing the country earlier this year, widely considered to be an autocrat who clamped down on dissent, orwe an autocrat who clamped down on dissent, or we should point out that this investigation has been prompted by accusations made by a senior political opponents of sheikh hasina. her knees, the labour mp and minister tulip siddiq, is accused of trying to broker a big infrastructure deal with russia in 2013 that resulted in £1 billion being siphoned off to private funds. tulip siddiq was pictured with her aunt anne vladimir putin in 2013 at the kremlin, although labour have always said it was before she was a labour mp and she was there on a personal, not official capacity. tulip siddiq hasn't commented on these latest claims, but her allies say they are politically motivated. keir starmer�*s spokesperson has told us he has confidence in her, she denies the allegations and is no longer involved in any government

policy related to bangladesh. but the awkwardness, as you touched on, is that a as a city minister, tulip siddique's duties include trying to tackle crime and money laundering. thank you. gps say they're under growing strain this winter as they deal with staff shortages, sickness and rising demand from patients. data from nhs england shows that gp surgeries delivered nearly 32 million appointments in november — with over 65% of these being face—to—face. it's also emerged that the number of people in hospitals in england with flu has jumped a1% in a week. hospices in england are to receive £100 million over the next two years to improve end of life care. the government says it's the biggest investment in the sector for generations. but will it be enough? our health editor hugh pym reports. it's so tempting to get involved. you know what i mean? for hospices in england, the picture just got a bit brighter.

they get a third or less of their budget from the nhs, the rest coming from charitable donations. today, the health secretary, on a visit to a children's hospice, said more government money was on the way. we're announcing £100 million worth of investment to our hospices to invest in their buildings, their equipment, their services, their support for people, and confirming funding for children's hospices in particular. that's £26 million. hospices have been warning for a while of a financial crisis. in august, we visited st giles hospice in the west midlands, which was planning job cuts. they said costs were rising faster than income. i have 23 beds on this unit that i would easily fill twice over, but i cannot afford to do that. today we caught up with the chief executive for her reaction to the announcement. having some short—term funding to support us in the next year is actually really important and allows us to really focus on the vital work that hospices do

in looking after patients and families at the end of life. and i really have that going into 2025, we are able to open up there's conversations about more long—term sustainable funding model. the new money is for upgrading facilities. hospice managers will try to work out whether they can now release cash for other bills, including higher national insurance. but care homes now want to know what the government can do for them. what about social care providers, who are warning of closures if they don't get support for national insurance contributions? well, i'm working really flat out on social care as well as how. i'm the secretary of state forsocial care, notjust the secretary of state for health. i know the care sector is under pressure. he says there will be more announcements in the new year. # hello, charlie. # hello.

but hospices feel they can at least start 2025 on a more positive note. hugh pym, bbc news. a rise in sea temperatures is bringing more and more species of marine wildlife to our coastlines that are not normally found around the uk. this is warty doris, a sea slug who was found in the wildlife trust's annual marine review. and this visitor, the rainbow sea slug, is usually found in the mediterranean. a group of care home residents — average age 92 — have set a new guinness world record for being the world's oldest choir. our correspondent phil mackie watched them in action in stratford—upon—avon today. # good tidings we bring # to you and your kin...# warming up in the green room. this was going to be a very big day in some very long lives. all 17 singing nonagenarians live

in residential care homes. known as the prime timers, the choir was getting used to some late life fame. chris, at 91, is a mere youngster. in the first place, when they just talked about it in the home, i thought, do i want to be part of the oldest anything? and then when i heard them practising, i thought, well, i do like to sing. i love choral music. i decided to come along and enjoyed it. it's been good fun. # here we are with a song to sing. then the big moment came, with a bit of stage fright at first before they got into the swing of things. # it's christmas. around half of the members of the group have dementia, and singing is a great help. one thing that people always say is that they might forget your name or your face, but they never forget

how you make them feel. when they were first asked to do this, they thought it was a bit of a laugh. now they're in the guinness book of world records. they have an official average age of 94, making this a new guinness world record. congratulations. few of us, at any age, get to have an attempt at world records, let alone at 90 and more. so it really is quite something. we got there eventually. i think we did not too bad. and you are now a guinness world record holder. pardon? you are now a guinness world record holder. yeah, it's wonderful. phil mackie, bbc news, stratford—upon—avon. time for a look at the weather. here's elizabeth rizzini. the question we are being asked most is, is it going to be a white christmas? and the answer to that is

probably not, because it will simply be too mild. but lots of whether to get through in the meantime, including a very windy weekend in store and some rain. a lot of that will be falling through the day tomorrow. but today, we are seeing some sunshine. it's been feeling cold with a north—westerly wind, but the area is set to turn milder as we had to tonight. there will be areas of cloud, outbreaks of rain putting down from the north—west, along with those milder conditions. so we will see the coldest air across parts of south—east england and eastern england into tomorrow morning, perhaps a touch of frost here, but milder further north and west. tomorrow, rain already across scotland towards the north—west and through northern ireland. all of that cloud and rain gradually tracks southwards and eastwards across england and wales through the afternoon. but some sunny spells behind and also some showers. already windy, and that is milder with those westerly winds. it stays

mild on saturday, but it's going to turn even windier, particularly across north—west scotland, caithness. we could see gusts of up to 80 mph. there will be brightness and blustery showers, cloud and rain further south across england and wales. on sunday, the winds will be picking up further south. you can see a tight squeeze on the isobars and niches the winds are now coming from the north—west, so much colder conditions and there will also be some wintry showers, particularly over higher ground. very strong winds, particularly towards western coasts. will the wintry showers last into christmas? no. cold and then turning milder. 6 days until christmas. this is bbc london. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm hugh ferris. our headlines this evening. everton have new owners. the club's takeover saga has ended

with the friedkin group providing fresh hope at goodison park.