we have to go back to sima kotecha-— we have to go back to sima kotecha. ~ . , ., kotecha.rd the sentence. huw edawrds has - kotecha. we have just heard the| sentence. huw edawrds has been given a six—month suspended sentence for two years. six months jail sentence suspended for two years with our requirements to complete a sex offender programme, plus 25 sessions. he has been given a suspended sentence for two years, meaning he will go to prison but if you reoffend during that time he will go to jail. let me reiterate that, huw edawrds has been given a six—month jail suspended for two years sentence with a requirement to complete a sex offender programme, plus 25 sessions. ~ ., offender programme, plus 25 sessions. ~ . , sessions. we are 'ust getting that sentence _ sessions. we are just getting that sentence coming - sessions. we are just getting that sentence coming into i sessions. we are just getting | that sentence coming into us. sessions. we are just getting i that sentence coming into us. a six—month jail sentence suspended for two years. we are just hearing that t

sima kotecha is monitoring this.ns today, that this has been described as a really big fall from grace for huw edwards, who was one of the most familiar and respected faces on british television. so a little bit of context, especially for our international audience. especially for our internationalaudience. i especially for our international audience. i am being told we can cross over to westminster magistrates�* court to speak to my colleague sima kotecha, who was there when huw edwards made that entrance. just talk us through what we can expect today when that sentencing hearing starts in around 50 minutes�* time, sima. just moments ago, huw edwards made himself into court. he came out of a black london taxi. he had a wheelie bag he was dragging along through the glass doors behind me. he was flanked by police and people who looked like members of his legal team. who looked like members of his legalteam. he who looked like members of his legal team. he could be sentenced today after pleading guilty to three counts

for the time being, sima kotecha, thanks _ earlier.ma kotecha, thanks for being there l earlier. for the time being, simal kotecha, thanks for being there at westminster magistrates�* court. sima kotecha, who has spent the whole morning just covering those events there, now that we have the sentencing of huw edwards. sima kotecha was touching on in her broadcast that huw edwards was one of the most trusted and recognisable faces on british television, but he has now been given that suspended six—month sentence for child abuse image offences, which does mean that he does avoid going to prison. until last year, he was of course one of the main presenters on the bbc�*s news at ten and off fronted coverage of major national events, but his sentencing marks the end of a career in broadcasting which has spanned more than a0 years. our media and arts correspondent has this report. — for decades, the calm, trusted face of bbc news, and here are arriving in court injuly facing charges of possessing indecent images of children. minutes later, he

sima kotecha - grounds. sima, for the moment, thank you. sima kotecha at - thank you.r, is in rome to discuss issues including migration with the italian prime minister, giorgia meloni. he has had a breakfast meeting with business leaders already. he told them that the relationship between the uk and italy was a good, strong historic run and they were very close allies. he said he was looking forward to meeting giorgia meloni later. 0ur southern europe correspondent, mark lowen joined us in italy with more details. italy is the eu member which sees the highest number of migrant arrivals and yet this year the number has fallen by 64%. so sir keir starmer is here in rome, his first meeting in office with the italian prime minister, giorgia meloni, to learn from what italy has done. now, i can tell you what italy has done. i could probably tell this to mr starmer if he asked me. there have been some financial sweetness to the main countries of origin where the migrants have set off, that is tunisia and libya. last year, the eu gave tunisia 105 million euros to try to boos

sima kotecha, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo is in westminster.as an absolute crisis in the prisons. some i think there is an absolute prep crisis already. it is one unpalatable option he is going to take most of another photo thatis to take most of another photo that is can you send half the prison population to a country that has capacity to take them such as estonia where prisons are only half full. dentistry was made today this was considered by the former government but is not something which the current government has got any plans to do. and no announcements on this are expected. there are longer—term plans which labour have and in the autumn we are going to get a ten year plan for prisons. 0f a ten year plan for prisons. of course they have to increase capacity and find the resources to do so. but also the prisons minister before he was appointed made it very clear he thought far too many people were being sent to prison in the first place and more should be done on rehabilitation. so it could be that we seep again very difficult political

we were hearing from sima kotecha. we will get her back in a while. to lord falconer, a labour peer and barrister who sought the secretary of state forjustice from 2003 till 2007. thank you very much for joining us. talk to us about the significance of this particular case, if you would, from the court system's point of view? it from the court system's point of view? , , , u, of view? it is very significant because it — of view? it is very significant because it is _ of view? it is very significant because it is such _ of view? it is very significant because it is such a - of view? it is very significant because it is such a public. because it is such a public display of how the criminal justice system deals with the depiction of sexual acts against children. it is a very well publicised case and people will form a view as to how the criminaljustice will form a view as to how the criminal justice system will form a view as to how the criminaljustice system deals with these sorts of cases, so it is a very significant thing as a message about how the cr

our senior uk correspondent sima kotecha was given full and rare access to hmp pentonville in londonhat she found. siren blares. chaos in hmp pentonville. shouting. we're the only broadcast journalists given access... it's a code red. ..to one of britain's most dangerous jails since the current crisis. 0k, come on, folks. and some prison officers are so frightened of being targeted on the outside that we've had to blur theirfaces. hmp pentonville! staff are overstretched. .. another alarm here. ..and on the verge of breaking point. you worry about, you know, opening the door in the morning and making sure that they're alive. anything could happen. there's been deaths in prison. all right, what have we got. coming this afternoon, then? each day more bus—loads arrive, making this jail one of the most crowded in the country. can you stand in the middle of the black and yellow box for me? they undergo body checks. so this scanner will show whether they're hiding anything inside their body? yeah. any drugs, any weapons? yeah. just there, there's a gap — that will be the entrance of his an

sima kotecha, bbc news, hmp pentonville. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.or, copernicus, has said that during the past three months, the club experience the hottest june and august ever recorded, and the hottest day on record. reports from the agency said that 2024 saw the highest temperatures ever recorded for the northern hemisphere summer, beating last year's record. the report suggests that this string of record temperatures increase the likelihood of 2024 being the hottest year on record. let's speak to the .it . it doesn't appear to be a particularly hot summer, but elsewhere it has?— particularly hot summer, but elsewhere it has? yes, look at euroe, elsewhere it has? yes, look at eumpe. it _ elsewhere it has? yes, look at eumpe. it has _ elsewhere it has? yes, look at europe, it has been _ elsewhere it has? yes, look at europe, it has been some - elsewhere it has? yes, look at. europe, it has been some method to europe's. the balkans and eastern cyprus and greece has peaked. but if you look at the west, atlantic france and the uk, ireland, and patter

our senior uk correspondent sima kotecha reporting there.picture of a teenager suspected of shooting dead four people at a school in the us state of georgia. colt gray, who is m, was arrested on campus and will be prosecuted as an adult. police are trying to determine how he obtained the assault rifle they say he used in the shooting. he'd been interviewed by police last year for making online threats about a school shooting. two 14—year—old pupils and two teachers at the apalachee high school in the city of winder were killed. nine others including another teacher and eight students were taken to hospital. breaking news on this story and some clues about where he obtained that gun, police in georgia say they now have arrested the father of the a0 new a boy called grace who was charged with shooting four people dead at that high school on wednesday. 0n social media, police said 5a—year—old colin gray would face 12 charges including four counts of manslaughter, us media have reported that last year, as a christmas gift, he had bought his son

sima kotecha, bbc news, hmp pentonville.entonville prison, then go to iplayer and look for last night's bbc news at ten. the royal navy has named the serviceman who was killed in a night—flying training exercise in the english channel two days ago. lieutenant rhodri leyshon died when his merlin helicopter came down in the channel. two other service men survived. his family say he was immeasurably loved by his parents, siblings, partner and friends. the cost of a first class stamp will rise for the second time this year to £1.65 from next month. that's up by another 30 pence. royal mail says it is facing "urgent" financial pressure caused by inflation and declining demand. our business correspondent marc ashdown is in central london. explain more about it, mark? i'm glad you are sitting down, sophie, because these price rises are truly eye watering. if you cast your mind back to march 2022, it cost 95p to post a first—class letter, so that is a 74% increase in price in just two and a half years, and of course, the devil is in

sima kotecha, bbc news.ential race will be won or lost in key swing states — which are all worth a different number of electoral college votes. the latest polls show that in key battlegrounds such as pennsylvania, michigan, arizona and wisconsin donald trump and kamala harris are virtually neck and neck — any leads a candidate may appear to have are still within the margin of error. in the next few weeks they're traversing the country — in a race as tight as this, every vote matters. one of those key states as we mentioned is michigan — it's worth 15 electoral college votes this time. my colleague caitriona perry is in saginaw doing her own polling. saginaw city here is one of the swingiest cities in the swingiest county in the swing battleground state of michigan. to the west of michigan, you have very republican areas, around detroit, you have very democratic areas. of course, the news coming from dearborn today is that the uncommitted movement there who refused to vote forjoe biden in the democratic prima

sima kotecha, bbc news.risoners will be freed early, 40% through their sentences, rather than 50 under previous guidelines. the government says it's not a good policy, but the only solution in the circumstances. let's speak to nick hardwick, he is the former chief inspector of prisons and is former chair of the parole board for england and wales. thank for england and wales. you for being with us this thank you for being with us this evening. what most concerns you about this policy of releasing early?— of releasing early? well, i don't think— of releasing early? well, i don't think the _ of releasing early? well, i l don't think the government of releasing early? well, i - don't think the government have any choice in the short—term, but to do what they are doing, it isn't a question of whether it isn't a question of whether it will be enough, so there's no choice, i think. but it's like, you know, you squeeze the balloon in one place, the bulge just moves down, it goes somewhere else. so the risk i think o

sima kotecha, bbc news.inue to rise slightly faster than the bank's target level, with the latest inflation rate remainingat 2.2%. well, we've chosen to hold rates today. we've made a lot of progress, inflation's come down a long way, and of course we were able to cut rates in august. but ourjob is to make sure that inflation is sustainably at the 2% target. there are still some precious, we have seen services inflation is still elevated. so i think we are now on a gradual path down — that's the good news. i think interest rates are going to come down. i'm optimistic on that front. but we do need to see some more evidence. of course, we will be looking at this at every meeting. the city of springfield in ohio hit the headlines last week when donald trump wrongly claimed that immigrants from haiti were eating pet cats and dogs. that was during the presidential debate. now the republican candidate says he's planning to visit springfield on the campaign trail. city leaders say they'd prefer him to stay away and

. —— sima kotecha.nt let 1,700 people out from multiple prisons to make more space. but now some of those released have told the bbc they have not been tagged when they should have been, like this offender who was inside for drug offences. he agreed to speak to us as long as we didn't reveal his identity. i'm supposed to be tagged on day one of coming out ofjail within a matter of hours of leaving the place. without that tag on my leg, nobody is watching me. tags are used to monitor the whereabouts of offenders who are given a curfew when released to minimise the chances of them reoffending. that's three probation officers we have now spoken to who say this has been a problem for some time now. they are concerned that if these people are not tagged, they could pose a threat because nobody knows what they are doing or where they are. the government said the company which manages the tagging, serco, is to blame for the delays. tonight, the prisons minister james timpson said... meanwhile, serco have said.

sima kotecha, bbc news, hmp pentonville.ing news to bring you, an 18—year—old american activist has been shot in the west bank. palestinian media says israeli troops intervened, firing tear gas at the demonstrators and there has been no commentator so far —— make no commentator —— aysenur ezgi eygi has been short. no comments so far. there has been quite a few attacks from settlers so she was working for a local campaign group, with them trying to... from military defined that said by local media that police tried to suppress the demonstration with stun grenades, live fire and tear gas and the of this, she was struck in the head by a bullet and was taken to a hospital in nablus but died later. she is a graduate of the university of washington of languages and culture and helps under resourced communities so that really explains why she was there. so far there is no great detail added to this by the palestinian media other than they do claim that she was shot by israeli soldiers and thatis shot by israeli soldiers and that is

sima kotecha, bbc news.thin government about his chief of staff sue gray. during a series of bbc interviews ahead of the labour party conference, sir keir starmer was pressed on a range of topics, including his most senior aide and a donor buying his clothes. 0ur political editor chris mason was watching. it's a bit like speed dating, isn't it? yes, it's a long list. you have onl 'ust it? yes, it's a long list. you have onlyjust started. _ it? yes, it's a long list. you have onlyjust started. only _ it? yes, it's a long list. you have onlyjust started. onlyjust - onlyjust started. only 'ust started, onlyjust started. only 'ust started. mi onlyjust started. only 'ust started, got to i onlyjust started. only 'ust started, got to go * onlyjust started. only 'ust started, got to go all h onlyjust started. onlyjust started, got to go all over| onlyjust started. onlyjust i started, got to go all over the united kingdom. aha, started, got to go all over the united kingdom.— started, got to go all over the united ki

let's see if we can speak to our senior uk correspondent, sima kotecha, who has been following the live reporting by our colleagues who are inside the court room. cameras are not allowed inside, of course, but they are relaying that information to us outside. we are expecting to hear the sentence and the associated remarks in under half an hour if things go to plan. that's right. we've already heard from the prosecution and the defence in court, both speaking about huw edwards's mental health. the magistrate has now left the court to have a think about the sentencing in the sentencing remarks, so huw edwards has also exited the court with his legal team, and we are told that the magistrate should be backin that the magistrate should be back in the court at around 12:30pm with his decision. over the last 20 minutes or so, we have heard the defence say that mr edwards wishes to apologise. he wishes the court to know how profoundly sorry he is. he said he recognises the repugnant nature of such images and the heart it has done to those who appear in such images. for his part in that, he sa

sima kotecha, bbc news, hmp pentonville. still to come on today's programme...u are. welcome along to sportsday, this friday lunchtime. i'm adam wild. a quick—fire 50 from ben duckett gets england off to a solid start to the third test at the oval. in new york, americanjessica pegula gives the home crowd plenty to cheer as she storms into the us open final. can wales give new manager craig bellamy a winning start as they get their nations league campaign under way in cardiff? good afternoon. we'll begin at an overcast 0val, where england have been put into bat on the first morning of the third test against sri lanka. 20—year—old bowlerjosh hull is ready to make his test debut, but they are all being made to wait as bad light brought an early end to the morning session. matt graveling has been watching. england were looking to the brightest of periods under the gloomiest of skies. it has been two decades since they won every test played over a summer, but the lads are likely 2—0 diogo. the last time was in 2004 in this man had just been born, joe show given is a

sima kotecha, bbc news, hmp pentonville.tical correspondent ian watson. in terms of the government response to what referred today, again another record high in terms of numbers, what have they been saying? i numbers, what have they been sa in: ? ~ , saying? i think it is the latest figures - saying? i think it is the latest figures showing | saying? i think it is the - latest figures showing 88.5 thousand figures in the jails which is a very close to capacity and about 8000 more regarded to reasonable if prisoners will be in decent accommodation but there is huge pressure. the early release scheme starts next week so that could take come in due course, 3000 prisoners out of the system but demand is still very much there so... the problem for them as as they have some long—term solutions but some short—term extreme pressures so they are saying they will unveil a ten year strategy for prisons this autumn and what will that include? it has to address the issue of prison places, they blend the last government for providing far

sima kotecha, bbc news, hmp pentonville.nd welcome. record prison numbers, we werejust watching what it is like in one prison, i mean it, the prison service is at breaking point, isn't it? , , ., ,_ service is at breaking point, isn't it? , , , it? yes. it is a system completely on it's it? yes. it is a system completely on its knees- _ it? yes. it is a system completely on it's knees. the _ it? yes. it is a system completely on it's knees. the kind of- it? yes. it is a system completely i on it's knees. the kind of problems in your piece just then are typical of the whole system and frankly their prison said a significant us and pentonville. it is a prison system at breaking point. [30 and pentonville. it is a prison system at breaking point. do you su ort system at breaking point. do you support one _ system at breaking point. do you support one of — system at breaking point. do you support one of the _ system at breaking point. do you support one of the options - system at breaking point. do you support one of the options

our senior uk correspondent sima kotecha is outside westminster magistrates�* court.ith him wearing a blue cardigan, a white shirt, and he smiled at some of us on the outskirts of where he was walking. he went in through the glass doors behind me and then through security. my understanding is in court number one, they are waiting for him to appear in the dock. all the seats are taken by the national media, so there is a heavy media presence as expected because he is such a big name. he could be sentenced today after pleading guilty to three counts of making images of children but there is a possibility that magistrates sends

our senior uk correspondent sima kotecha was given full access to hmp pentonville in london — here isg. we're the only broadcast journalists given access... it's a code red. ..to one of britain's most dangerous jails since the current crisis. 0k, come on, folks. and some prison officers are so frightened of being targeted on the outside that we've had to blur theirfaces. hmp pentonville! staff are overstretched. .. another alarm here. ..and on the verge of breaking point. you worry about, you know, opening the door in the morning and making sure that they're alive. anything could happen. there's been deaths in prison. all right, what have we got coming this afternoon, then? _ each day more bus—loads arrive, making this jail one of the most crowded in the country. can you stand in the middle of the black and yellow box for me? they undergo body checks. so this scanner will show whether they're hiding anything inside their body? yeah. any drugs, any weapons? yeah. just there, there's a gap — that will be the entrance of his anus, basically. gosh, you would think that would hurt. as of t

but first, our senior uk correspondent sima kotecha was given full access to hmp pentonville in londonfound... siren blares chaos in hmp pentonville. shouting we're the only broadcast journalists given access... it's a code red. ..to one of britain's most dangerous jails since the current crisis. 0k, come on, folks. and some prison officers are so frightened of being targeted on the outside that we've had to blur theirfaces. hmp pentonville! staff are overstretched. .. another alarm here. ..and on the verge of breaking point. you worry about, you know, opening the door in the morning and making sure that they're alive. anything could happen. there's been deaths in prison. all right, what have we got coming this afternoon, then? _ each day more bus—loads arrive, making this jail one of the most crowded in the country. can you stand in the middle of the black and yellow box for me? they undergo body checks. so this scanner will show whether they're hiding anything inside their body? yeah. — any drugs, any weapons? yeah. just there, there's a gap — that will be the entrance of his anus, b

sima kotecha, bbc news, hmp pentonville.ing the growing use of highly addictive synthetic opioids. among them, is the powerful sedative xylazine, which is most commonly used by vets for the treatment of livestock and horses. the tranquiliser, which is sometimes mixed with heroin and fentanyl, is also known as the zombie drug, due to its effects on users. if injected directly into the bloodstream, xylazine can cause large, open skin ulcers to form. these ulcers can go on to become infected, causing rot and, in severe cases, even lead to the amputation of limbs. the drug has been blamed for a rising number of deaths across parts of the us, and now the government here is banning its use outside of the veterinary industry, with a new c classification and a prison sentence of up to 1a years for anyone caught producing or supplying it. we're joined now by dr caroline copeland, who is the director of the national programme on substance use mortality. good morning. could you explain more about the physical impact this drug has on th

live to our senior uk correspondent, sima kotecha who is outside westminster magistrates court.oday? what are we thinking could happen toda ? , ., ., ., , what are we thinking could happen toda ? , ., ., ., today? 63-year-old huw edwards could be sentenced — today? 63-year-old huw edwards could be sentenced later _ today? 63-year-old huw edwards could be sentenced later after _ today? 63-year-old huw edwards could be sentenced later after pleading i be sentenced later after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children. but there is a plus ability, as you say, that the case is sent to the crown court because the magistrate feels he does not have sufficient sentencing powers. a reminder of the case, huw edwards was sent hundreds of explicit images on whatsapp. 41 of explicit images on whatsapp. 41 of those images were of children and seven of those images were deemed to be of a serious sexual nature. two of those images involved a child between the ages of seven and nine. so when i was back here injuly when he pleaded guilty, his barrister told the court m