jim reed, bbc news.ision to slash billions of dollars from its overseas aid budget is illegal. the former top prosecutor, ken macdonald, said the commitment to meet a un target of spending 0.7% of national income on foreign aid was enshrined in domestic law. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, has more. it comes down to an analysis of the existing law, the international development act. the government says this allows for the target of 0.7% of national income on aid every year to be missed. but what this judgment says is, yes, you can miss it inadvertently, by mistake, and come to parliament and explain why you made the mistake and what you will do to correct it. what this judgment says is what you cannot do is say, we are going to miss the target in future deliberately. we will reduce it down to 0.5. lord macdonald says you cannot do that. the lord doesn't give you the power to do it. you can only do that if you put new legislation through parliament and that is why it is unlawful. james landal

jim reed, bbc news. our medical editor fergus walsh is here.s are inevitable. how worried should we be by this development? there are several variants _ we be by this development? there are several variants of _ we be by this development? there are several variants of concern _ we be by this development? there are several variants of concern that - we be by this development? there are several variants of concern that had i several variants of concern that had cropped up over the last year. as you said, thousands of different genetic changes, most of which we don't need to worry about at all. the brazilian variant, p1, is potentially a worry because it has some genetic changes in the spike protein on the surface of coronavirus which may make it less visible to the immune system or parts of the immune system and may make vaccines less effective. but importantly, scientists think that current vaccines will still prevent severe illness and hospitalisation. now the dominant variant here in the uk, the kent variant, which is spreading around the worl

jim reed, bbc news.ief of staff at the manchester airports group. i asked him what the reaction of the industry was to those comments from the defence secretary ben wallace that there may have to be an extension to the ban on foreign holidays. it feels premature to be taking the views we have heard from some scientists about prospects of travel over the summer. i'm not really sure what purpose it serves but i know many people will have heard that and been very disappointed. but as i say, i think it is very premature. the government has set up a task force to look at these issues and we are contributing to that and putting our ideas in about how we can stage a restart of international travel over the summer months. and i think that really needs to be the focus rather than talking in the press about the prospects of travel over the summer. you say premature but perhaps realistic, you know, bearing in mind that we have got new variants and we've got many countries in europe going back into lockdown. the gov

jim reed, bbc news.mber of people in intensive care with covid—19 is at its highest level since late november. patients in the capital paris have been sent to other parts of the country to relieve the pressure on hospitals there, as france's prime minister says a third national lockdown remains a possibility. mark lobel reports. airborne assistance. a patient from paris touches down for life—saving treatment. translation: they arrived by special trains in the spring, - by helicopter in autumn, and each time, it is- a big mobilisation. inside this hospital in western france, things are feeling precarious. translation: it's| a duty of solidarity. right now, it's not very easy because since we are nearlyl saturated, or even already saturated, we have to find j solutions to increase our care capacity in intensive care. - the number of people in intensive care across france has reached its highest level since november. cases are rising once again, testing the limits of a 6pm nationwide curfew and closed resta

jim reed, bbc news. our business correspondent, katy austin is here.go abroad?— or not we can go abroad? following the road map _ or not we can go abroad? following the road map for— or not we can go abroad? following the road map for england _ or not we can go abroad? following the road map for england being - the road map for england being announced, future holiday bookings sword and travel and tourism businesses do see this summer as crucial —— soared upwards. the 17th of may is the earliest possible date that international leisure trips could be aloud but that isn't guaranteed. we don't know exactly what rules will be put in place to enable that restart. a government task force is looking at that at the moment and is expected to report back on the 12th of april. 0ne moment and is expected to report back on the 12th of april. one idea i think is being considered is classifying destinations under a traffic light system of risk, bit like what we saw last year. the group representing uk airlines says their focus is working with ministers on a robust an

jim reed, thanks very much.kingham palace is reviewing its diversity policies in all of the royal households. palace sources have told the bbc that although the work has been under way for some time, it would now include looking at the allegations of racism made by the duke and duchess of sussex in their recent tv interview. the sources said there are already policies in place, but there's an acceptance that more needs to be done. the work is said to have the full support of the royal family. in australia, thousands of people have been told they should be ready to leave their homes in low—lying suburbs of sydney because of the worst flooding the city has seen in decades. seven emergency shelters have opened across the state of new south wales. torrential rain and strong winds are forecast to continue, and floodwaters are not expected to subside until thursday. phil mercer reports. in new south wales, officials had warned sydney was potentially facing a rain bomb. torrential downpours have turned roads into river

jim reed, bbc news. in europe it's a different picture.e suffering a third wave of covid — including the uk and south african variants. the eu is trying to speed up its vaccination campaign after a sluggish start — as it outlined its plans to tighten controls on covid vaccine exports. let's go to our correspondent nick beake in brussels. what have they been saying? on the rate of infection _ what have they been saying? on the rate of infection in _ what have they been saying? on the rate of infection in europe, - what have they been saying? on the rate of infection in europe, in - what have they been saying? on the rate of infection in europe, in the - rate of infection in europe, in the eu countries, more than half now are reporting an increase in the number of people going into hospital with coronavirus, so that is a real concern. you mention some of the variants, the british strain of the very —— virus is now the predominant one in european countries so, as part of this, they are trying to desperately get hold of their vaccination progr

jim reed, bbc news.nd many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are geraldine scott from the yorkshire post and giles kenningham. giles is a former head of press for the conservative party. the government has been warned that its decision to slash billions of dollars from its overseas aid budget is illegal. the former top prosecutor, ken macdonald, said the commitment to meet a un target of spending 0.7% of national income on foreign aid was enshrined in domestic law. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, has more. it comes down to analysis of existing law, the international development act. the government says this allows for the target of 0.7% of national income on aid every year to be missed, but what thisjudgment says is, yes, you can miss it inadvertently by mistake and then come to parliament to explain why you made that mistake and say what you made that mistake and say what you are going to do to cor

jim reed reports. but people we've spoken to say some of its working practices are stuck firmly in the past. alison mcdermott was a consultant in the hr team in sellafield until late 2018. many people have contacted me sharing stories of bullying, harassment, racism. i'll never forget an employee saying to me when i was asking him questions about the culture, he said at sellafield, you've got two really dangerous elements. you've got toxic materials and you've got a toxic culture. she is now taking sellafield to court, alleging her contract was terminated for whistleblowing. sellafield is contesting the case. the bbc has also seen a letter from a group representing ethnic minority workers cataloguing dozens of racist incidents. one muslim man says an instructor at a training course told the class the main threat to the site was "bearded men in flipflops". he then singled me out and mockingly looks under the table at my shoes. he went on to say, they come over on boats, we feed them, clothe them, we hou

jim reed, bbc news.s pay a day after the budget because he was too cowardly to announce it on the day. the government have proposed a 1% pay increase for nhs workers in england next year. speaking this morning while visiting a vaccine centre in north london, the prime minister has defended the government's1% payrise for the nhs. he said ministers had tried to give them as much as they could and other public sector workers were having their pay frozen. i'm massively grateful to all nhs staff and social care workers, who have been heroic throughout the pandemic. what we have done is try to give them as much as we can at the present time. the independent pay review body will obviously look at what we have proposed and come back. don't forget that there has been a public sector pay freeze, we're in pretty tough times. we have tried to give the nhs as much as we possibly can, and that means, in addition to the £140 billion annual money, we have another £62 billion we've found to help support the nhs throughou

jim reed reports. eu countries, there is now one less jab to use. 11 european states have paused to the roll—out of the astrazeneca vaccine while reports of rare blood clots are investigated. translation: i can't understand this. - there are always vaccine risks and my daughter is a doctor and she said do it, it's better to have this vaccine than none at all. translation: it is a precautionary | principle, and then we have to see| what happens next. i am worried about my second dose of astrazeneca in 90 days. the number of cases of blood clots using the vaccine is small. astrazeneca has said 37 have been detected in the uk and eu. but that's after 17 million jabs have been given. in germany there have been given. in germany there have been seven cases of a rare blood clot in the brain in people who have had the astrazeneca jab, with another three in the uk. but with so many taking the vaccine, the difficulty for scientists is working out if that is more than should normally be expected. eu authorities

jim reed, bbc news.kers in england, saying the government's tried to give staff as much as it can. unions have described the offer as an "insult" and, alongside opposition parties, called for a bigger increase. well for more on this we're joined by our political correspondent, jessica parker is the government on the defensive over this? certainly the ad being asked a lot of questions and therefore being full stent or something of a defence but no sign yet they are going to —— forced into a defence but no sign yet they are going to move. the rows broke out on thursday and yesterday nhs dividers pointed to the long—term funding settlement enshrined in law which they say had assumed a higher increase this year ofjust over 2%. the government said longer term funding settlement was enshrined in law, specific increases were not and do something labour shadow health secretaryjohn ashworth was keen to raise this morning. this document is the nhs long—term spending plan. well, i can't read it from here! no, i kno

jim reed, bbc news. nearly complete. the ever given was partially freed by a fleet of tugboats, and is now waiting for the tide to rise for it to be moved further. richard galpin reports. a fleet of tug boats finally managing to pull this huge ship into a position where it no longer completely blocks the suez canal, which is one of the world's most important shipping routes. the operation has been going on night and day, dredgers needing to remove 30,000 tonnes of sand to free the ship. and it has now been partially refloated, but big problems remain. unfortunately the bow of the vessel still remains firmly lodged in the suez canal side, so the operation now is to try and pull that out. at the moment they've got dredging operations going underneath and a lot of tug power try to pull it out, but it seems that it is still very much partially stuck. there are now long queues of ships trying to get through the suez canal. it is estimated 400 are stuck in the area. this map shows just how congested it has bec

jim reed, bbc news.a visit to mosul in iraq, the former stronghold of the islamic state group. speaking to christians and muslims amidst the partially—collapsed buildings of the old town, the pope appealed to the dwindling christian community in iraq to remain in its homeland. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is on at the earlier—than—usual time of 4.35. goodbye. have a very good afternoon. court good afternoon, i'm chetan pathak with your latest sports news. we start in scotland, where rangers fans will be glued to what's happening at dundee united at the moment. celtic need to win if they're to stop rangers being crowned champions this afternoon. and as things stand, rangers first title in ten years. they play celtic in the old firm derby at parkhead in two weeks. they play celtic in the old firm derby, and that's where they will get a guard of honour unless celtic can find the second—half goal. in the english premier league, there's a big gam

jim reed, bbc news. told me there are thousands of variants of the coronavirus, of which the braziliant variant is just one. the brazilian variant, p1, is potentially a worry, because it has some genetic changes in the spike protein on the surface of coronavirus that may make it less visible to the immune system or parts of the immune system and may make vaccines less effective. but importantly, scientists think that current vaccines will still prevent severe illness and hospitalisation. now, the dominant variant here in the uk, the kent variant, which is spreading around the world, is more contagious than the old variant, and it has been shown not to be able to be outcompeted by the south african variant, which there are quite a few cases in the uk. and it remains to be seen whether the brazil variant will have any competitive advantage with that. the only reason we know all this is because the uk is very good at genetics. nearly half of all coronaviruses sequenced in the world have been done here in th

jim reed, bbc news.inic raab said british and eu regulators don't agree with suspending the vaccine. he says you should carry on getting the jab. it is safe, people should get the vaccine, and it's been very clear, both from the mhra — the uk regulator — that the risks of taking the vaccine are no more, in terms of, for example, for blood clots, than the population at large. there is no extra risk in the evidence that we have seen, which is why they have authorised the vaccine and haven't taken any further action. also replicated at the european level. the eu's own regulator has said there is no reason, no reason, no grounds to suspend taking the vaccine or the roll—out, and that is itself backed up by the world health organization, so this vaccine is safe. we respect the processes and procedures that some other countries may need to go through, but the vaccine is safe and people should certainly continue to take it to protect themselves and protect their friends and family. the eu's ambassador to the uk

our health reporter, jim reed, has the details.rt of his report. at 56 years old, the prime minister himself will be part of the next stage of the vaccine roll—out. i'm going to get mine in a couple of weeks. from this week, all those in england in their late 50s will be able to book an appointment for theirfirstjab. i'm focusing on rolling out the vaccine, making sure that we get it into as many arms as possible and using that extraordinary vaccine roll—out programme to deliver a cautious but we hope irreversible road map to freedom. that's what i'm focusing on. there are 1.7 million people in the latest vaccine group in england. in total, 21.8 million people across the uk have now been given theirfirst dose. that's two fifths of all adults. we would remind everybody it's an evergreen offer, so if you haven't said yes the first time, you've still got an opportunity to get your vaccine and get yourself protected. public health officials say the vaccine roll—out should help protect the most vulnerable, allowing us to live with the v

jim reed, bbc news.eu medicines regulator ready to deliver it's verdict on the safety of the astrazeneca vaccine, stay with us because in the business news we will be looking at the german governments decision to to temporarily suspend its use and what the consequences of that might be. let's get some of the day's other news. masked protestors have raided a jail in the haitian capital, port—au—prince and freed four policemen. the jail break comes amid days of street protests by people angry about the government's handling of a surge in gang—led kidnappings and murders. the president declared a month—long state of emergency in part of the city. the creative head of the tokyo olympics has resigned, after making a derogatory comment about a female japanese entertainer. hiroshi sasaki, who was in charge of the opening and closing ceremonies has admitted making remarks about the entertainer naomi watanabe. last month, the formerjapanese prime minister yoshiro mori, stepped down from his role as president of t

jim reed, bbc news.easing of restrictions on outdoor gatherings and group worship in scotland. in an announcement to the scottish parliament, first minister nicola sturgeon said the �*steady steps�* out of lockdown would remain �*cautious�*. from friday, four adults from up to two households will be able to meet outdoors, including in private gardens. for those aged between 12 and 17, the group of four can be from four different households. outdoor non—contact sport for groups of up to 15 can also resume from friday. ttravel restrictions will be eased slightly for young people taking part in organised sport. and from the 26th of march, communal worship will be allowed to resume, with a maximum capacity of 50.the first minister explained more about the new rules earlier. from friday we intend to relax the law so that up to four adults from up to two households will be able to meet outdoors. in addition, we will make clear in the guidance that this will allow for social and recreational purposes as well as

jim reed, bbc news.lator is expected to deliver its findings in a few hours�* time on the safety of the astrazeneca vaccine. germany initially dismissed concerns from some european countries — saying there was no evidence to link the vaccine and blood clots — but then, earlier this weekjoined several other governments and suspended its use. our berlin correspondent, jenny hill, explains why the german government took the decision and what the consequences might be. is germany playing it too safe? infection�*s spreading fast here — cases rising in newly reopened kindergartens. nursery workers have been pushed up the vaccination priority list. izabela and her staff were offered the astrazeneca jab. translation: i think it's devastating. - three of us were vaccinated on sunday. two others would have had it today, but that was cancelled. even if they reapprove it, my colleagues don't want to have it now. germany dismissed concerns about astrazeneca and blood clotting from other countries — it's used 1.6 mill

jim reed, bbc news.ng street has announced a series of measures aimed at improving safety in england for women and girls in the wake of the death of sarah everard. it's after hundreds of people took part in another vigil for the 33—year—old in london last night. dan johnson reports. chanting this reaction, the strength of feeling, isn't just about sarah everard's death, but the wider questions that have been raised about women's safety and the response of the police. yesterday, officers kept a low profile and a mostly hands—off approach, at the start of this gathering in parliament square. it went ahead despite the home secretary urging people to stick to covid regulations, and in defiance of the government's new policing bill, part of which will limit future protests. last night, the home office said it was already increasing the amount spent making our streets safer, from £20 million to £16 million. this investment will go on very practical measures like increased and better lighting, more cctv, to try

jim reed, bbc news. our health correspondent jim reed is here.cts. they say at these very rare effects. they say at the moment they have advised a temporary suspension and the government has followed their advice. you do have to be very careful with these numbers because you are looking at something which is incredibly rare. cerebral thrombosis is rare in the population in general. they are trying to look at the rates in people that have taken the vaccine and compare them to the rate you would expect normally but when you get to rare conditions like that, looking at the normal rate in the population is a pretty tricky thing to do. paul hunter at the university of east anglia has done some interesting work on this and some studies but the rate between 2—5 cases per million and a study from australia showed it could be three times as high, and if it is much higher in the normal population normally it becomes much more difficult to decide if it is the vaccine causing the very rare effect orjust a statistical anomaly, something that would occur natur

our health correspondent jim reed is here.ike this, we might be able to contain it in a better way. we have had this report from the world health organization, a team sent to wuhan in china betweenjanuary and february this year. we have been waiting for the results of that report. we have got them today, some leaks yesterday, but the full report today and they list for possibilities as they see it about how this virus was spread across the world to start with. the most likely, they say is the virus emerged to begin within bats, a hypothesis we have heard for a while. and then spread to a secondary animal before being passed on to humans. they say there is a second possibility, slightly less likely, that the virus came directly from bats. a third possibility, which they say is unlikely, but possible, that it was spread some way through frozen food. that is a hypothesis that the authorities in beijing have been very keen to promote because then at that frozen food it could have come from another country, might not have necessari

jim reed, bbc news.e intend to relax the law from friday we intend to relax the law so that up to four adults from “p law so that up to four adults from up to two households will be able to meet outdoors and in addition we will make clear in the guidance that this will allow for social and recreational purposes as well as essential exercise. meeting will be possible in any outdoor space including private gardens but please do stick to the new rules, gatherings must be a maximum of four people from two households and you should only go indoors if that is essential in order to reach a back garden or to use the toilet. but now please stay as close to home as possible, and we hope to be in a position to relax at least to some extent travel restrictions within scotland in the weeks ahead but our advice is that it would not be safe to do so quite yet. for young people aged 12—17 we want to be even more flexible to enable more interaction with friends so or 12—17 outdoor meetings will also be limited to a maxim

jim reed, bbc news.ecretary robertjenrick says plans to offer a first dose to all adults by the end ofjuly are still on track despite the issue. we are experiencing some supply issues, so it does mean that the vaccine roll—out will be slightly slower than we might have hoped, but not slower than the target that we have set ourselves, which is, as i say, to get those groups one to nine by the middle of april. and if you have appointments, they will still be honoured. so we are going to move forward as quickly as we possibly can, but it won't be as fast as we might have hoped for a few weeks. but then, we have every reason to believe that supply will increase in the months of may, june and july. let's speak to our medical editor fergus walsh. good morning to you. let's begin with this issue. the latest issue of the delay of the soul apply —— of the delay of the soul apply —— of the supply in india. what detail do you have on why that is the case? my you have on why that is the case? m understanding you hav

our health correspondent jim reed reports.ians and scientists. how to open up society without causing another major wave of the virus and more pressure on hospitals. speaking in front of mps, england's chief medical officer was cautious, saying even with a successful vaccine programme, another rise in infections is inevitable at some point. infections is inevitable at some oint. ~ :, infections is inevitable at some oint, . ., , infections is inevitable at some oint. . , , , point. what we can see is, as things are opening — point. what we can see is, as things are opening up. _ point. what we can see is, as things are opening up. all _ point. what we can see is, as things are opening up, all the _ point. what we can see is, as things are opening up, all the modelling i are opening up, all the modelling suggests that some point we will get a surge in the virus, and we hope it does not happen soon.— a surge in the virus, and we hope it does not happen soon. another key ruestion is does not happen soon. another key question is t

jim reed reports.tices are stuck firmly in the past. alison mcdermott was a consultant in the hr team in sellafield until late 2018. many people have contacted me sharing stories of bullying, harassment, racism. i'll never forget an employee saying to me when i was asking him questions about the culture, he said at sellafield, you've got two really dangerous elements. you've got toxic materials and you've got a toxic culture. she is now taking sellafield to court, alleging her contract was terminated for whistle—blowing. sellafield is contesting the case. the bbc has also seen a letter from a group representing ethnic minority workers cataloguing dozens of racist incidents. 0ne muslim man says an instructor at a training course told the class the main threat to the site was "bearded men in flipflops". he then singled me out and mockingly looks under the table at my shoes. he went on to say, they come over on boats we feed them, clothe them, we house them and all they want to do is blow us up. none of m

our first report is from our health correspondent, jim reed.mic, more than 100 flights land at heathrow every day. from the middle of february, anyone from a covid high—risk area has been transferred to a special quarantine hotel. but in the weeks before that, it's now emerged at least four people arrived here from brazil carrying a new variant of coronavirus. well, this is a new virus and so we know it is going to mutate and it's important that we keep an eye on new mutations. 0ur colleagues at public health england are doing a greatjob ensuring that the sequencing capacity in the uk is very high, so we can pick up these variants when they occur, tracing people when they need to. three cases of the variant have been detected in scotland, after passengers flew on to aberdeen. another two positive cases were found in south gloucestershire, after one person returned from brazil last month. the final case is a mystery. that person did test positive for the variant, but didn't fill in their test paperwork correctly. health officials are now asking

jim reed, bbc news.england has said hundreds of people may have been subject to "do not resuscitate" decisions during the early part of the pandemic — without them or their families knowing. a report by the care quality commission found evidence that the dnr decisions — which restrict potentially life—saving treatment — were applied across particular groups, including people with learning difficulties. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. sonia had an absolute zest for life, loved being with herfamily, you know — always smiling, always laughing. son has got the moves. sonia deleon suffered from schizophrenia and had learning disabilities. but it was only after she died in hospital from a heart attack last april that her family say they discovered her medical notes contained a "do not resuscitate" decision — limiting the treatment that sonia could receive. we'd had no consultation. at no point — at no point — were we told that that had taken place. we would have disputed that and we

jim reed, bbc news.�*inhumane' and �*unreal�*. under the proposals, people who enter the uk illegally will no longer have the same entitlements as those who arrive through government schemes. priti patel says the measures are designed to crack down on people smuggling, but campaigners say potential refugees should be assessed on what protection they need, not how they reach the uk. june kelly reports. dover this morning and the latest arrivals have been picked up from their inflatables aren't brought to you. migrants pay thousands of pounds to traffickers for the final pirates leg of the journey to the uk. last year 8500 people arrived here by crossing the channel in small boats. the majority of them are said to have claimed asylum. an end to end reform who are fleeing persecution, and stop them from being put in the hands of people smugglers and criminal facilitators which we are seeing on a daily basis. under what's called the new plan for immigration, the home secretary says that if people arrive ille

our health correspondent jim reed told us more.re the next school year, so in september. interesting because astrazeneca have been running a similar study in the uk to see if that is the case. some very interesting ethical issues, children are not particularly affected by covid so the reason to vaccinate them would not be to protect children from the disease. it is transmission? that is right, it is to stop it in the general community. so we need to come to a decision as a society whether it is something we want or need to do. the headlines on bbc news... a major report says social class and family structure play a bigger part than race in determining people�*s lives in the uk. as germany limits its use of the astrazeneca vaccine to the over 60s, europe braces itself for a third covid wave. don�*tjoin large groups and take your litter home — the message to people out enjoying the sun — as one council decides to close some of its parks. more on that story. nottingham has closed two of its parks after the easing of lockdown restricti

jim reed, bbc news.al is supposed to take place at end of october. the government announced measures to improve safety for women and girls in england and wales including an additional £25 million for better street lighting and cctv. here is richard galpin. amid the morning for the loss of sarah everard, a growing sense that decisive action must be taken and it seems the government is listening. t seems the government is listening. i feel very strongly about this. we want our streets to be safe for women to walk at night or at any time of the day. there is if you like a jigsaw of measures that we have got to put in place. measures that we have got to put in lace. �* ., , , place. amongst the measures the government _ place. amongst the measures the government is _ place. amongst the measures the government is promising - place. amongst the measures the government is promising is - place. amongst the measures the government is promising is a i government is promising is a significant improvement in lightin

jim reed is our health correspondent.is important because there will be a lot of _ linked. it is important because there will be a lot of people i there will be a lot of people watching here in the uk who have had this vaccination. that watching here in the uk who have had this vaccination.— this vaccination. that is right, the startina this vaccination. that is right, the starting point _ this vaccination. that is right, the starting point here _ this vaccination. that is right, the starting point here is _ this vaccination. that is right, the starting point here is that - this vaccination. that is right, the starting point here is that no i starting point here is that no medicine we take can be completely safe. even over—the—counter medicines, paracetamol, aspirin, have side effects. the question the regulators and politicians have to answer is, do the outweigh the benefits? or the benefits outweigh the risks? that is the question that has to be answered are not so typical at the moment when the data we are getting from

jim reed is at the court of appeal. tell us more.ine. back then, the jury heard that they took their commercial sailing boat into the centre of the english channel in the dead of the night to collect the drugs, that were dropped overboard from a container ship coming from brazil. it was then heard that they draw there, sailed their back to the south coast of the island where they hid the drugs wrapped around a boy in the bay, presumably to correct later. the men have always protested their innocence. they have been supported innocence. they have been supported in this case by a charity which specialises in suspected miscarriage ofjustice cases. but after a further hearing here at the court of appeals, thejudge said further hearing here at the court of appeals, the judge said that standing back and looking at all the evidence available, while this is a circumstantial, it was, as he pushes, a compelling case of conspiracy to import cocaine that appeal has been refused. this affects all five men but in particular the two men you mention

we have jack reed and jim on the senate side, we are able to work together. lester, we went into overtime, did not get the bill done until january. -- last year, we went into overtime, did not get the bill done until january. whatever the problems were, whatever the challenges are, we get it done. we did it last her, we will this year. we look forward to working with all of you. i thank you for the opportunity and look forward to your questions. missy: thank you so much german smith. -- chairman smith. my name is missy ryan, i write about important issues, and the pentagon. what we focus on in my area at the washington post, i want to think meridian for inviting me here today. it is a pleasure and honor to be here. both with fred humphreys and german -- and chairman smith. i will be asking chairman smith some questions and then we will open it up for q&a from the audience. be ready with their questions i want to start off with things that you mentioned. alliances, defense partnerships that have been crucial to the way that we thought about national security f

jim manley, 21-year veteran of the united states senate, served as adviser to majority leader harry reed and chairman of the senate labor committee, senator ted kennedy, also jason johnson, professor of politics and journalism, host of new podcast for slate. jim, let's begin with the senate options. get rid of the filibuster has become the easy throwaway line. that we already know is impossible because joe manchin and kyrsten sinema have said they won't vote to do that. and i've outlined why -- trying to get this into reconciliation won't work, mitch mcconnell can strip it out with amendment if you did overrule the parliamentarian. last time the minimum wage was raised, it was squeezed into a defense spending bill at last minute, and that's the way it was done in the past, just stuck on to must-pass bills that then the republicans vote for. last time, george bush was president in 2007 and signed it inside a giant bill with military funding in it. >> and so happened to be working for senator kennedy, author of that bill when we did this. it's a little bit for complicated than that. spent

jim was a terrific partner in getting that done and jack reed is now the chairman of the committee and continues to be the ranking member and we will continue to work together to get things done. that is always our framework. how can the national defense authorized in a bipartisan way to make sure the process continues to work in this year the priorities are one out of we build those partnerships? last year re-created the end of pacific initiative as a way to build partnerships in asia building on the european defense initiative that we had done previously so we want to look for thoseve opportunities to continue to enhance those partnerships. to understand how those partnerships help us deal with the threat environment that we face and a threat environment from a national defense stand point is pretty straightforward progression of china north korea iran and transnational terrorist groups. we have to come up with eu monitor that because that's basically it and there has been a lot of talk recently about shifting towards great power competition with china and russia being more of a conc

reed was spreading another lie. >> governor murphy joint by stacey abrams signed a law expanding early voting. if it stands in stark contrast to george's jim crow voter suppression law. >> laura: explain why this is a lie. they are lying, they have been caught lying. >> it's a flat out lied because the georgia law expanded the early voting. 221 days, more than double the e new jersey period of ten days, if georgia is racist then i guess new jersey is twice as racist because they have half the early voting. to. they imply that georgia has a shorter voting period when in fact it's twice as long. >> laura: al sharpton, you'll be shocked to know was trying to use it to with operational tension as well. he has jumped into the fray and of course licking arms with stacey abrams, watch. >> people cannot in this era of black lives matter movement be identified in any way, shape, or form investing in their own demise. to be partners and sponsors of something that robs us of the right to vote. our dignity would demand we not do that. >> laura: al sharpton lecturing us on dignity, okay. >> it's truly shameless, this propaganda campaign on the left is

jim banks is leading the charge and as an officer himself, he's got a lot to say. >> sandra: put up next, the push from the left to let transgender athletes compete in girl sports. governor kate reedn us live, next. ♪ ♪ with mortgage rates low and home values high refiplus can help you lower your rate plus turn your home equity into an average of $50,000. money for security today. money for retirement tomorrow. refiplus from newday usa. alright, i brought in ensure max protein... ...to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don't (grunting noise) i'll take that. yeeeeeah! 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar drink, play, and win big in the powered by protein challenge! cell phone repair. did you know liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? just get a quote at libertymutual.com. really? i'll check that out. oh yeah. i think i might get a quote. not again! aah, come on rice. do your thing. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ want to save hundreds on your wireless bill? with xfinity mobile, you can. how about saving hundreds on the new samsung galaxy s21 ultra 5g? you can do that too. all on

but, jim, the choice is do you want elections -- and at this point, again, i have always been a champion of the filibuster. i didn't like when harry reedsupreme court judges. but nothing is getting done in washington. when mitch mcconnell yesterday said well, okay, if democrats do that when republicans get elected, we're going to pass all of our priorities. we're going to toughen the border, we're going to pass gun laws. and i thought, okay, great, let's do that because that would mean elections have consequences. right now, elections do not have consequences because, as you said, there is no middle left in the senate. and everybody is just blindly voting the way their party wants them to vote. and a great example of that, i was hoping would have this more moderate center that could get significant legislation done at the beginning because there are moderates out there, conservative/moderates. but you look at a bill that had 76% approval rating with the american people, had 56% approval rating with the republicans, not a single republican voted for that piece of legislation. not one. and they can't say that it spent too much money afte