alison holt, our social affairs editor. _ anything less. alison holt, our social affairs editor.ry much. thank you very much. our top story this lunchtime... a 21—year—old russian soldier is jailed for life for killing an unarmed civilian at the first war crimes trial since the invasion of ukraine. how black and asian women are being harmed by racial discrimination in maternity care wards. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on the bbc news channel... a big day for british players at the french open. emma raducanu is going to make her roland garros debut this afternoon, but harriet dart is already out. scotrail, which runs most train services in scotland, has introduced an emergency timetable, cutting about a third of its services from today. the reduction is because some drivers have refused to work overtime in a dispute about pay. our scotland correspondent james shaw is in queen street station in glasgow for us. james, a lot of disruption for a lot of passengers? yes. if you look at queen street station now at this time of day it looks relatively normal and some of t

alison holt, bbc news.hed a new intensity, with the russians attacking more than a0 towns and storming ukrainian positions in several areas. among the russian forces in the region are two brothers, whose mother has spoken to the bbc, claiming they were conscripts, despite president putin's assurance that only professional soldiers have been deployed. she spoke to our russia editor, steve rosenberg. this is how moscow portrays its soldiers in ukraine — as professionals. but away from the official images, some here tell a different story. marina — not her real name — has agreed to tell me her story. two of her sons are conscripts. the kremlin promised that conscripts wouldn't be sent to ukraine, but her sons were deployed close to the border. when russia invaded, she lost contact with them. translation: for me, time stopped. i couldn't eat, i couldn't drink. i messaged mothers of other conscripts from the same unit. many of them had lost contact with their children too. i got into the car and started searchin

alison holt, bbc news.le ukraine's entry — rap group kalush 0rchestra — are this year's firm favourites — unusually, the uk entry is also among those tipped to win. sam ryder will perform his song, space man, in front of 200 million tv viewers, and he's hoping to break britain's losing streak. 0ur media and arts correspondent david sillito reports from turin. one, two, three... yay! sam ryder. the uk's eurovision hopeful is already a hit in turin. his song, space man, is being hotly tipped. eurovision has helped transform his life. two and a half years ago, december 2019, where was your singing career? i did a little bit of everything. i was a labourer, a dogsbody, basically. so, december2019, yourjob is a labourer? yeah. his journey to fame began with this tiktok video. i thought nothing of it. i went to bed that night and just thought, that was funny. i woke up and 2 million people had seen it. you had 2 million views? yeah, yeah. and it was that that led to eurovision. it was lovely to meet you. let's go

alison holt, bbc news.e office for national statistics. across the uk, 1.5 million people in private households are estimated to have had the virus in the week to may 7th, down from 2 million the previous week. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, is with me. hugh, does this mean covid is now less of a problem? well, in some ways, yes. the 0ns survey, i should say, is the best guide to the underlying picture because it involves regular testing of households, it doesn't rely on people testing themselves and then sending in the results which is the daily figure which has become a lot more volatile. so as you say, 1.a8 million people had the virus last week in the uk, that was down 2a%, thatis week in the uk, that was down 2a%, that is the same sort of rate of decline we have seen in previous weeks. so heading down quite rapidly. the peak in late march was nearly 5 million. and this is the lowest level since mid december. in northern ireland, it is the lowest since mid—november. now, that is all pointing in the right

alison holt, bbc news.ales. prosecutors and police will have to justify requests to obtain mobile phones and social media conversations. the new rules are aimed at preventing the intrusive gathering of personal information. the prime minister of the irish republic has warned that a trade war between uk and european union would be "shocking" and "unnecessary". there are fears that the dispute about planned changes to the post—brexit arrangements for northern ireland could further harm relations. micheal martin is urging negotiators to ensure the row doesn't affect trade between britain and the bloc. a man whose hands were left unusable by an autoimmune disease has been given what is believed to be the world's first double hand transplant for the condition. steven gallagher, who's 48, was diagnosed with scleroderma, which causes scarring of the skin and organs, as well as what he describes as "horrendous pain". but now, he says, he is pain free. 0ur health correspondent catherine burns has the story. these ar

alison holt, bbc news.bout pay, with some drivers refusing to work overtime. scotrail, which has recently been nationalised, says the drivers�* union demands are not sustainable, while the union describes the pay offer as derisory. tens of thousands of manchester city fans are in the city centre this evening to celebrate their team being crowned premier league champions again yesterday. our sports correspondent nesta mcgregor is in manchester now. nesta. firstly, if you can hear me, great. secondly, if you can't, there's not much i can do because i'm in the middle of the party. after nine months of hard work, 38 gruelling games, this is a chance for everyone connected with manchester city to let their hair down. those with any hair left anyway, which brings us nicely onto the city boss pep guardiola because he has promised to be front and centre of the party. apparently his job was to bring the cigars tonight. as we speak, three vehicles are on their way to a night filled with staff and the premier league t

alison holt, bbc news.cial correspondent lucy manning is with me now. what more can you tell us about these charges? there are five charges he's facing, two of them are sexual assault on a man now in his 30s, that is alleged to have happened in 2005 in london. there's also another charge he is facing of sexual assault against a man now in his 30s, that is from 2008 in london, again the same alleged victim is facing a charge of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. the final charge he is facing is another count of sexual assault, that is on another man now in his 30s, that is alleged to have happened in gloucestershire in 2013. during the period these charges he is facing, he was the artistic director of the old vic theatre in london. we don't know when he will appear in court, we understand he is out of the country at the moment. if he doesn't return to the uk, perhaps there may well be extradition. he has always denied any allegations of sexual assault. . , denied any allegations o

alison holt, bbc news. week. the 96—year—old monarch was seen smiling as she was driven onto the showground. it's her first public appearance since march, after she cancelled a number of recent events because of mobility problems. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise. actually, saturday is probably the better of the two days. we have had contrasting conditions today. cool and breezy with a few scattered showers across scotland and northern ireland. early morning cloud broke up. high pressure will quieten down as we go through this evening and overnight and the isa buys are likely to fall so it is going to be a dry, warm, pleasant start to the weekend. that all sounds quite promising. that is how it is likely to stay. it will feel quite pleasant with temperatures peaking into the low 20s. the low 70s fahrenheit. i do need to draw your attention to the potential for thundery downpours of the southwest. they were dressed up to south wales and the midlands and the south—east of england. it could

alison holt, bbc news.me about the strains in the sector. , ., . ., ., sector. listen to the coverage around what _ sector. listen to the coverage around what was _ sector. listen to the coverage around what was first - sector. listen to the coverage| around what was first declared sector. listen to the coverage - around what was first declared as a reform and social care and later the levee and the reality is a vast majority of the money is going into the nhs. ironically as a home care provider, my staff have got hide of insurance bills and personally have high enough insurance bills as a business owner, so i'm paying more in and yet we are not seeing as much coming for those who really need it. and so paying for care and that is absolutely leading to a crisis. timidly the government is getting some extra money from some care workers, better paid characters in terms of national insurance attributions, but that's going into this and if the whole point of the race to do that, they said they corrected to help

alison holt, bbc news. you forjoining us. to remind our viewers first of all that carers uk represents family carers and unpaid carers. i can only assume the pressure on local authority social care is piling even more pressure on them. ~ , , care is piling even more pressure on them. , , care is piling even more pressure on them. , them. absolutely. unpaid carers are teeterin: them. absolutely. unpaid carers are teetering on — them. absolutely. unpaid carers are teetering on the _ them. absolutely. unpaid carers are teetering on the brink— them. absolutely. unpaid carers are teetering on the brink now. - them. absolutely. unpaid carers are teetering on the brink now. if - them. absolutely. unpaid carers are teetering on the brink now. if the i teetering on the brink now. if the social care system is crumbling then unpaid carers haven't had a break since the start of the pandemic so it isjust piling up and up and up on them, and as your case study tanya said, it's our son, we are not going to stop caring but

alison holt, bbc news.an and that the us stands with other nations to make sure china cannot use force in the region. speaking at a news conference in tokyo, he added that china is flirting with danger in taiwan by flying close to the island. the united states is committed. we have made a commitment. we support the one china policy. we support all that was done in the past. but that does not mean, that does not mean that china has the ability, excuse me, that china has the jurisdiction to go in and use force to take over taiwan. so we stand firmly with japan and with other nations not to let that happen. my expectation is it will not happen, it will not be attempted, and my expectation is a lot of it depends on just how strongly the world makes clear that that kind of action is going to result in long—term disapprobation by the rest of the community. very quickly, you didn't i want to get involved in the ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. - are you willing to get involved militarily to defend

alison holt, bbc news.helming force. these shots, released by the ukrainian ministry of defence, show a thermobaric bombardment of their positions. russia's current targets are the twin cities of severodonetsk and lysychansk. they're not cut off — yet. but the only route to them has been under increasing bombardment for days. if it becomes impassable, thousands of ukraine's best soldiers may be cut off, along with civilians. towns across the region are emptying out. translation: idon't- know where we are going. we are just trying to get as far away as possible from the war, that is the main thing. the increasing human cost of this war has led to some people questioning whether it's worth ukraine giving up some land to save lives. recently the suggestion was made by former us secretary of state, henry kissinger, at the world economic forum. it's fair to say it did not go down well here in kyiv. translation: no matter. what the russian state does, there's always someone who says, let's take its interests into

alison holt, bbc news.se technical problems, thank you for waiting. we had just played out the clip of richard bacon, the mp for south norfolk, who said that he was sure that nhs workers had partied during the pandemic as well and the question i wanted to ask, john, i will begin with you, is do you think that some conservative mps simply don't understand the nature of the anger in some quarters, and tonally, are getting this all wrong? i anger in some quarters, and tonally, are getting this all wrong?— are getting this all wrong? i think are getting this all wrong? i think a lot of tory _ are getting this all wrong? i think a lot of tory mps _ are getting this all wrong? i think a lot of tory mps do _ are getting this all wrong? i think a lot of tory mps do get - are getting this all wrong? i think a lot of tory mps do get the i are getting this all wrong? i think| a lot of tory mps do get the anger because _ a lot of tory mps do get the anger because they knocked on doors and they hear— because they knocke

alison holt, bbc news.s been arrested on suspicion of administering poison with intent to endanger life after a child died at birmingham children's hospital. the 27—year—old woman was arrested on thursday and has been suspended from her role at the hospital. west midlands police said an investigation was under way and the results of forensic tests were being examined. the child was being treated in the paediatric intensive care unit. people who are at high risk of developing monkeypox after coming into contact with cases are being asked to self—isolate for three weeks, according to new guidance from the uk health security agency. so far, there have been 20 cases of the illness in britain. austria, israel and switzerland are the latest to report the presence of the virus. mark lobel reports. it is still unclear why we are witnessing this unusual spread of monkeypox, as more patients emerge with the common symptoms of a bumpy rash, fever, sore muscles and a headache. it is something that everyone should be co

alison holt, bbc news.rastically reduced rail timetable comes into force in scotland today. around 700 daily services, a third of the normal number, are being cut. it's due to a shortage of drivers and a pay dispute between the newly nationalised scotrail and the aslef union, as alexandra mackenzie reports. many rely on the rail network, but the new temporary timetable means a significant cut to services. there's two reasons for this. the first is that the pandemic meant we couldn't train enough drivers. that's resulted in a driver shortage. and the second issue is that aslef, the train drivers union, is in dispute with us over pay. that's meant fewer drivers are making themselves available for overtime and for rest days, and that's resulted in cancellations for customers, which have been unacceptable. the last train from edinburgh to glasgow queen street, which is usually at 23.45, will leave at 22.15. if you're travelling from glasgow to dundee, the last train was at 23.10. that changes to 19.10. the glas

alison holt, bbc news. from the bus stop where bobbi anne cloud was abducted last november. today, friends said they wanted to remember bobbi anne as a person. and not what happened to her. many of them, wearing t—shirts to mark her love of music, others dressed in blue, her favourite colour. bobbi anne loved all different kinds of bands, oasis, guns and roses, and so everyone wanted to wear band t—shirts. the letters on one side said bobbi anne, the other side said sister. as the procession began its five mile journey to the city centre, another tribute. applause. it was just amazing to see everyone coming together and sharing the love for bobbi and supporting each other the best they could at that time. and there was spontaneous applause? yes, there was. i think there was a celebration of her life and say thank you for all the wonderful memory she gave us. several hundreds more attended the service at plymouth st andrews church. the number of people that have gathered to express their thanksgiving and lov

alison holt, bbc news.ething thatjumps out and what is mentioned in the report in both instances, relatives raised concerns but it was found that too often these concerns were disregarded and not properly investigated. why not? clearly, these were people who were close to these were people who were close to the dead children.— the dead children. there is no doubt that arthur and _ the dead children. there is no doubt that arthur and stark _ the dead children. there is no doubt that arthur and stark were - the dead children. there is no doubt that arthur and stark were failed - the dead children. there is no doubt that arthur and stark were failed by | that arthur and stark were failed by the child protection system and that is a tragedy. social workers go out every day to do their best for children to help them have really good lives, and we really feel it when we are not able to do it. it is important to take action on the learning from this report. what jumps out at me, social workers need enough time wit

alison holt, bbc news.se of monkeypox has been confirmed in scotland. a total of 20 cases are known in england so far, with updated figures expected to be released soon. people who have come into direct contact with someone who has monkeypox are being asked to self—isolate for three weeks. we're joined now by dr chris smith, a consultant biologist and the host of the naked scientist pod cast. very good to have you with us, chris. how worried should we be about monkeypox?— worried should we be about monkeypox? worried should we be about monke 0x? . , . monkeypox? well, actually, i am reassured because _ monkeypox? well, actually, i am reassured because we _ monkeypox? well, actually, i am reassured because we know - monkeypox? well, actually, i am| reassured because we know about monkeypox? well, actually, i am - reassured because we know about it, we found it, we have found cases, we are following it, there is surveillance happening at all the right things are happening at the numbers are very, very low. it

alison holt, our social affairs editor, has this report. with young people to help them pitch ideas and get their voices heard. and also it will be good to know how you found working on the project as well. her own life was shaped by the crisis in the children's care system that today's report wants to change. after two difficult years, she was removed from her mother by social services. she was ia. in the next months, she was moved between five different homes. for me, being in care felt like a never ending storm. just, like, every day not knowing where the support is going to be from, where am i even going to lay my head? where is the support for the families right at the start when they're struggling? why does it need to be when they've been taken away? and you can't put kids into dysfunction when you've taken them out of dysfunction. it makes no sense. today's review says a radical reset is needed to shift the focus of children's social care away from crisis intervention. it wants more early help available in schools and communities, a

predicts this will rise to 100 thousand in a decade if nothing is done. 0ur social affairs editor alison holte-— person in care. that's right. i was in the care _ person in care. that's right. i was in the care sector _ person in care. that's right. i was in the care sector in _ person in care. that's right. i was in the care sector in 1992. - person in care. that's right. i was in the care sector in 1992. and i person in care. that's right. i was i in the care sector in 1992. and then a wet back into the care sector as a profession i am 20001500 a wet back into the care sector as a profession i am 2000 1500 for 30 years difference.— profession i am 2000 1500 for 30 years difference. when he went back in ou can years difference. when he went back in you can see _ years difference. when he went back in you can see it _ years difference. when he went back in you can see it from _ years difference. when he went back in you can see it from a _ years difference. when he went back in you can see it from a different - in you can see it from a different perspective. did in you can see it from a diffe

alison holt, bbc news.cle two key cities. 0ur correspondentjoe inwood is in kyiv, in the north of the country. good morning. bring us up to date with the latest situation, concentrating on the east. the focus remains these _ concentrating on the east. the focus remains these two _ concentrating on the east. the focus remains these two cities. _ concentrating on the east. the focus remains these two cities. what - concentrating on the east. the focus remains these two cities. what we i remains these two cities. what we understand is they are still trying to do, russian forces, discontinue their encirclement and they are now shelling the main highway that runs to those towns very heavily. there is some amazing footage that has come out overnight, an afp photographer is showing the shells going off one way and the other, the situation is looking desperate. it is why we are seeing these scathing attacks from president zelensky that have come out overnight, he has accused anyone, including henry kissinger, the f

alison holt, bbc news.eady suffered an "obvious" strategic defeat. this as the uk's foreign secretary, liz truss, called on international allies to go "further and faster" in supporting ukraine and restraining the russian leader, vladimir putin. 0ur correspondent joe inwood joins us from the western ukrainian city of lviv. good morning. the big picture stuff is those comments from volodymyr zelensky. i know this morning you are getting more information about what a specific place and a battle that has been going on?- that has been going on? yeah, absolutely _ that has been going on? yeah, absolutely. there _ that has been going on? yeah, absolutely. there is _ that has been going on? yeah, absolutely. there is a - that has been going on? yeah, absolutely. there is a crucial . that has been going on? yeah, i absolutely. there is a crucial city in the _ absolutely. there is a crucial city in the donbas in the east and it sits on— in the donbas in the east and it sits on a — in the donbas in the east and it si

alison holt, bbc news. we will speak to joyce. hospital and preventative, should be far more valued, we just don't know how people will cope in the future, there will be millions of unmet care needsif there will be millions of unmet care needs if something does not happen in the social care sector to find that workforce. to help the most vulnerable people in society. as you suggest, it seems like the problem will get much worse with an ageing population needing more care but at the same time very few newjoiners into the industry given the reasons that you've highlighted. clearly a sign from just pay to attract more workers into the industry, what needs to change? is this a perception, recognition of being a carer is a career and a profession, and thejob we carer is a career and a profession, and the job we desperately need and should be treated perhaps with a bit more respect?— more respect? mortar -- most definitely- — more respect? mortar -- most definitely. it _ more respect? mortar -- most definitely. it is _ more respect? mort

alison holt has the details. arthur, are you going to play for england? no?! why not?protection professionals. star's aunt and step great—grandfather say when family told the professionals they were worried, even providing photos of bruising, they didn't investigate properly thought they were being malicious. if investigate properly thought they were being malicious.— were being malicious. if social services had _ were being malicious. if social services had done _ were being malicious. if social services had done their- were being malicious. if social services had done theirjobs i were being malicious. if social services had done theirjobs in first place, star would still be with us. because they would have come down to see us, seen that there were a problem with star and said, right, we need to step in.— right, we need to step in. maybe if the had right, we need to step in. maybe if they had sat _ right, we need to step in. maybe if they had sat down _ right, we need to step in. maybe if they had sat down and _ right, we need to step in. maybe if they had sat down an