aleem maqbool there.istmas day, is starting to unfold its sun shield in a complex process involving hundreds of moving parts. all of them have to trigger at the right time and in the right order for the telescope to work. 0ur science editor rebecca morelle has the story. mission control: and lift-off! the moment of launch for an astronomy mission like no other as the james webb space telescope blasted off. then the rocket casing opened up and the telescope was released into the darkness of space with a million—mile journey ahead. but as it travels, it has a fiendishly difficult task to do — unfolding. it's so big, we didn't have any rocket that's big enough to launch it, you know, fully deployed, so we had to build this telescope to be folded up, to fit inside the rocket. this is really, really difficult engineering but, you know, nasa has never shied away from doing hard things and so, i have full confidence that it's going to work. unfurling the sun shield is the most difficult part of this process. it'

aleem maqbool reports from new york.slaine maxwell will now finally pay for her terrible crimes. her victims were robbed ofjustice for decades, but four of them have helped put a now infamous sexual predator behind bars. each was from a troubled or cash—strapped home, and the court heard how ghislaine maxwell gained their trust. during their explicit and emotional testimony, they told the jury how she instructed them to give the late jeffrey epstein massages that turned sexual. all but one, annie farmer, testified anonymously, using a pseudonym orjust theirfirst name. jane said maxwell participated in her sexual encounters with epstein. kate said after sexual contact with epstein, maxwell asked her if she had fun, saying she was such a good girl and one of his favourites. carolyn said maxwell told her she had a great body for epstein and his friends, before touching her breasts. and annie farmer, the only victim who publicly identified herself, said ghislaine maxwell gave her an unsolicited massage and rubbed her breasts

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in new york.n was 21 years old, a student working in new york when she met ghislaine maxwell who introduced her to jeffrey epstein. she says the two of them assaultted her. she told radio 4 about her experience. some listeners may find her story distressing. i was working doing an internship at a well—known 5th ave retailer, and ghislaine maxwell came in one day, and i helped her. and she was just electrifying. you know, from almost the moment that we met, itjust seemed like we hit it off. she was absolutely magnetic, and we talked about several things while she was shopping that day. it was a really easy conversation that i had with her, and when she was done shopping, i offered to deliver her packages to her, which is something that i would frequently do for high—end clients, but i had a hard and fast rule, and that was i didn't deliver to anyone personally, i would only drop off to hotel concierge or to doormen. so when i called to arrange to deliver her packages that evening, i was instructed

aleem maqbool, bbc news, new york.orney who represented three victims in thejeffrey epstein sex crime case in 2008. thank you for having me. it is a huge, huge pleasure to be here talking about this guilty verdict on behalf of my clients. what talking about this guilty verdict on behalf of my clients.— behalf of my clients. what is your reaction and _ behalf of my clients. what is your reaction and indeed _ behalf of my clients. what is your reaction and indeed what - behalf of my clients. what is your reaction and indeed what do - behalf of my clients. what is your reaction and indeed what do you | reaction and indeed what do you think their reaction will be? well. think their reaction will be? well, i know this _ think their reaction will be? well, i know this is _ think their reaction will be? well, i know this is a _ think their reaction will be? well, i know this is a victory _ think their reaction will be? well, i know this is a victory not - think their reaction will be? well, i know this is a victory notjust -

aleem maqbool reports from new york.ne maxwell will now finally pay for her terrible crimes. her victims were robbed ofjustice for decades, but four of them have helped put a now—infamous sexual predator behind bars. each was from a troubled or cash—strapped home, and the court heard how ghislaine maxwell gained their trust. during their explicit and emotional testimony, they told the jury how she instructed them to give the late jeffrey epstein massages that turned sexual. all but one, annie farmer, testified anonymously, using a pseudonym orjust theirfirst name. jane said maxwell participated in her sexual encounters with epstein. kate said after sexual contact with epstein, maxwell asked her if she had fun, saying she was such a good girl and one of his favourites. carolyn said maxwell told her she had a great body for epstein and his friends, before touching her breasts. and annie farmer, the only victim who publicly identified herself, said ghislaine maxwell gave her an unsolicited massage and rubbed her breasts. sh

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in new york.nce andrew. the duke of york, who is facing a separate civil court case in the united states, was mentioned by prosecution witnesses in claims about maxwell and her relationship with jeffrey epstein. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. caught by the camera in this now—infamous photograph — on the left, prince andrew, in the centre, the then—17—year—old virginia roberts, and on the right, smiling for the camera, ghislaine maxwell. andrew's friendship with ghislaine maxwell goes back more than 20 years. here he is with her injune 2000. at the time, she was jeffrey epstein's girlfriend. epstein was there as well. he, too, was a guest of prince andrew. andrew spoke about his friendship with epstein and his girlfriend, ghislaine maxwell, in his newsnight interview. in 2000, epstein was a guest at windsor castle and at sandringham. he was brought right into the heart of the royal family at your invitation. but certainly at my invitation, not at the royal family's invitation. bu

this report by our correspondent aleem maqbool contains some flashing images.long—awaited verdict... the downfall of the british formersocialite, now a convicted sex trafficker, has been headline news here and one of the four women brave enough to testify to put her behind bars, who was abused as a teenager, has been giving her reaction. i wasn't sure that this day would ever come and ijust feel so grateful that the jury believed us and sent a strong message that perpetrators of sexual abuse and exploitation will be held accountable, no matter how much power and privilege that they have. mr maxwell, could we have a statement on behalf there's been no sense of contrition as yet from the siblings of ghislaine maxwell, or regrets for the victims she played a part in sexually abusing. they released a statement, saying "we believe firmly in our sister's innocence. "we're very disappointed with the verdict." one of maxwell's lawyers, who questioned the motives of the women who came forward to testify, said this wasn't the end. obviously, we are very disappointed with

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in new york.er news: the bodies of 15 people killed when a trailer carrying migrants overturned in mexico were returned to guatemala on thursday. in all, 56 people were killed in the crash in chiapas state earlier this month. of the 37 guatemalan nationals identified among the victims, the remains of only 19 have so far been returned. dozens of migrants have died from violence or accidents in mexico over the past decade. a stranded boat carrying around 120 rohingya refugees from myanmar has arrived in indonesia after it was towed by the country's navy. authorities initially refused to help the boat, but local fishermen organised protests supporting the refugees. they also ferried food and water to those on board. bill de blasio has held his final news conference as mayor of new york. de blasio can point to a list of progressive wins under his leadership, including universal pre—kindergarten, the end of the policing practice known as stop—and—frisk, and paid sick leave. but he has grappled with set

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in new york.nt vladimir putin that the us and its allies will "respond decisively" if russia further invades ukraine — this during the second call between the two leaders in less than a month amid concerns over russian troops massing at the ukrainian border. a kremlin spokesperson said that putin had made it clear that any new large—scale sanctions would be a "colossal mistake". 0ur washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue has the details. president biden and vladimir putin spoke for 50 minutes and if you need any kind of indication of how serious the situation is, this is the second time in three weeks they've had a call between one another to discuss the situation on the ground. we understand that the discussion was robust and serious — and substantive, according to the americans. joe biden laid out two paths, according to his officials — one of diplomacy and discussion, where russia could de—escalate and get back to the negotiation table, but also a separate path, he said, that would be about d

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in new york.o new york, and speak to our correspondent nomia iqbal. this has been a huge moment for her accusers. it this has been a huge moment for her accusers. . , ., , ., accusers. it really has. one of the women that _ accusers. it really has. one of the women that testified _ accusers. it really has. one of the women that testified against - accusers. it really has. one of the - women that testified against maxwell during the trial, annie farmer, who publicly identified herself, had said that she was relieved and you will hear that word a lot, released by the women that testified in the trial, but also by the accusers as well. this was a day they were long hoping for. bear in mind epstein and maxwell had been under suspicion for a long time after epstein killed himself injail two years a long time after epstein killed himself in jail two years ago the spotlight fell on maxwell. the fbi eventually tracked her down at her home here in the us, in new hampshire, where she was arrested on multipl

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in new york.d to twitter early on thursday morning, maxwell's family said they were "very disappointed" with the verdict and had already begun the appeal process. 0ur correspondent nomia iqbal has also been following the trial for us in new york. after six days of deliberations the jury returned their verdict. we were in and out of the courthouse behind me where the trial took place and sawjust how engaged the jury was throughout, even before the verdict was released. they had asked the judge if they could re—examine some of the testimonies, in fact, they asked to look at the testimonies of all of the four women at the heart of the prosecution case again. at the start of the week they had asked for office supplies which was something they needed to try and arrive at their verdict. one of the concerns that the judge had in all of this is the rising cases of 0micron in the city, they have been skyrocketing and she was worried that the longer the deliberations went on for, the more chance there was o

aleem maqbool reports.tches show the moment ghislaine maxwell's victims have waited decades for. after five days of deliberation, jurors decided she was guilty on five counts linked to the sexual abuse of teenagers. and it was four of her victims who helped put her behind bars. the court heard how ghislaine maxwell gained their trust. during their emotional testimony, they told the jury how she instructed them to give the late jeffrey epstein massages that turned sexual. all but one testified anonymously, using a pseudonym or just their first name. jane said maxwell participated in her encounters with epstein. "i was terrified and felt gross and ashamed. "when you're14, you have no idea what's going on," she said. kate said, after meeting epstein, maxwell asked her if she had fun, saying she was such a good girl and one of his favourites. and annie farmer, the only victim who publicly identified herself, said ghislaine maxwell gave her an unsolicited massage. she said, "i so badly wanted to get off the tabl

many thanks once again, the i latest in new york, aleem maqbool.ber of daily covid admissions to hospital in england has nearly doubled in a week, from just over a thousand a week ago, to more than 2,000. and there are still problems across the uk , with the availability of lateral flow and pcr tests. health officials say millions more tests will be made available by tomorrow, new year's eve. so—called nightingale surge hubs are to be set up at hospitals across england, in preparation for a bigger wave of omicron admissions. our health correspondent sophie hutchinson reports. the start of building work on the next wave of nightingale hubs. this one is at st george's hospital in south—west london. the government says it is a contingency measure, in case of a surge in covid patients. but there is concern about who will stuff them. we but there is concern about who will stuff them. ~ ., but there is concern about who will stuff them-— but there is concern about who will stuff them. ~ ., , ., stuff them. we would prefer that the government — stuff them

here's our north america correspondent, aleem maqbool, with the details.control says that people at their most infectious a couple of days before the exhibit symptoms and for that three days after they start to exhibit symptoms, and that's why they say it is right to advise people who test positive that they only need to now i sleep for five days as long as on that fifth day, they are not exhibiting any symptoms of cold dead they are not exhibiting any symptoms of covid or if their fevers have gone and the other symptoms are resolving themselves. but they have changed other guidance as well, they have said that for those who are unvaccinated and feel they have come into contact with someone who's tested positive, they also on need to isolate for five days, after which theyjust have to be careful and should try to test themselves. for those who are vaccinated and have had the boosterjab as well, if they feel they have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for covid, they don't have to isolate at all. again, they have just been advised to we

aleem maqbool, bbc news, new york.st hour or so, we've had this statement from the us attorney's office. it says... one ofjeffrey epstein�*s accusers, virginia giuffre, just released a statement in reaction to the verdicts. in the statement, she says... she goes on to say... earlier, my colleague ben bolous spoke with the author of prince andrew: epstein, maxwell and the palace — nigel cawthorne. he gave his reaction to the verdict. it's really not surprising. obviously the jury took a long time because there were very technical matters involved in the six various charges here, but it was pretty clear from the beginning that the one thing we did know was that jeffrey epstein was involved in having sex with underage women, he admitted it back in 2005, in a criminal case back then, and ghislaine maxwell was around him at that time, so she must have known what was going on. so she would have been... and thejudge what was going on. so she would have been... and the judge already pointed out to the jury at the very beginnin

aleem maqbool reports.rt sketches show the moment ghislaine maxwell's victims have waited decades for. after five days of deliberation, jurors decided she was guilty on five counts linked to the sexual abuse of teenagers. and it was four of her victims who helped put her behind bars. the court heard how ghislaine maxwell gained their trust. during their emotional testimony, they told the jury how she instructed them to give the latejeffrey epstein massages that turned sexual. all but one testified anonymously, using a pseudonym or just their first name. jane said maxwell participated in her encounters with epstein. "i was terrified and felt gross and ashamed. when you're14, you have no idea what's going on," she said. kate said, after meeting epstein, maxwell asked her if she had fun, saying she was such a good girl and one of his favorites. and annie farmer, the only victim who publicly identified herself, said ghislaine maxwell gave her an unsolicited massage. she said, "i so badly wanted to get off the t

let's hear from our correspondent aleem maqbool who's outside the court in new york.ight marks the final fall from grace for ghislaine maxwell, because a jury in the courthouse behind me has decided she wasn'tjust a bystander to the crimes, the sexual offences committed byjeffrey epstein, they decided that she was herself a predator — an active participant in the sexual abuse of teenagers. they did that by finding her guilty on five counts, the most serious of which was for sex trafficking. ghislaine maxwell will now finally pay for her terrible crimes. her victims were robbed ofjustice for decades, but four of them have helped put a now infamous sexual predator behind bars. each was from a troubled or cash—strapped home, and the court heard how ghislaine maxwell gained their trust. during their explicit and emotional testimony, they told the jury how she instructed them to give the latejeffrey epstein massages that turned sexual. all but one, annie farmer, testified anonymously, using a pseudonym or just theirfirst name. jane said maxwell participated in her sexual e

asymptomatic covid — from 10 to five days — amid a surge in cases there. 0ur north america correspondent aleem maqboolevening. this is an attempt to solve the problem of staff shortages but not everyone is happy about it? it hasn't. it is notjust about those who test positive but that is where the centre for disease control start of this and so for those who test positive now, after five days they can end their isolation, that is as long as on the fifth day they don't exhibit any symptoms or if theirfevers have gone don't exhibit any symptoms or if their fevers have gone and the other symptoms are resolving themselves but what they have also said is that for those americans who are vaccinated and have had the booster but think they have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for covid, they don't have to isolate at all, as long as they are careful and wear masks and they get tested around the five—day stage after a feel they have been exposed. this is in recognition of the fact that while there has been a huge surge in cases, it is of a variant that may be more infectious but seems to be lead

let's bring in the bbc�*s aleem maqbool, who was listening across president biden�*s speech.u, but i detected a very different tone from the white house to what we are getting here from the downing street. he says fully vaccinated people have much, much less to worry about. he's also talked about people carrying on with the plans they have for christmas. it's been a much more determined "let's get it on" from the white house and we have with borisjohnson. the white house and we have with boris johnson-— boris johnson. that's true to an extent, boris johnson. that's true to an extent. but _ boris johnson. that's true to an extent, but that _ boris johnson. that's true to an extent, but that doesn't - boris johnson. that's true to an extent, but that doesn't mean l boris johnson. that's true to an - extent, but that doesn't mean there wasn't criticism of this white house. there was certainly lots of focus on getting vaccinated because, as we know, the vast majority of those dying right now of covid related causes are those unvaccinated. so there was a lot of onus on individual

aleem maqbool is in washington.owns, at least federally mandated ones. but we heard an awful lot about vaccination — really putting the onus on the individual to go get vaccinated. and if anything, a lot of the criticism of this administration has been that lettera, it this administration has been that letter a, it hasn't done a good enoughjob in persuading those who are not vaccinated, and in that president's estimate that we heard there, under40 president's estimate that we heard there, under 40 million people, independent estimates say 50-60,000,000 independent estimates say 50—60,000,000 americans are still not vaccinated. so the criticism is that he hasn't only not done a good enoughjob of getting that he hasn't only not done a good enough job of getting them vaccinated, but also he is focused on vaccination, preaching about vaccination and not doing enough about testing. now we heard here that he announced that from january, people will be able to get free at home testing. but until now, the us is not subsidis