a merseyside police officer has been sacked for gross misconduct — after it emerged he'd shared racistthe story, also reports that he took selfies at a murder scene. an anti—corruption inquiry into the behaviour of ryan connolly uncovered several years of misdemeanours. merseyside police said connolly's behaviour was "deplorable" — and his dismissal sent a "clear message" that any abuse of office would not be tolerated. the hong kong pro—democracy media outlet stand news has said it's shutting down, after hundreds of national security police raided its offices. seven former and current employees were arrested,, for publishing what police described as "seditious publications". stand news, set up in 2014 was the most prominent remaining pro—democracy publication in hong kong. its closure raises further concerns about media freedoms in the former british colony, which returned to chinese rule in 1997 with the promise that a wide range of individual rights would be protected. our correspondent danny vincent has more. i'm standing outside the offices of stand news here. this news outlet is

a merseyside police officer has been sacked for gross misconduct after it emerged he'd shared racistthe story, also reports that he took selfies at a murder scene. an anti—corruption inquiry into the behaviour of ryan connolly uncovered several years of misdemeanours. merseyside police said connolly's behaviour was "deplorable" and his dismissal sent a "clear message" that any abuse of office would not be tolerated. it's almost a year since changes to eu—uk trade came into effect and imports remain below pre—brexit and pre—pandemic levels, according to the office for national statistics. our political correspondentjessica parker has been to visit three companies based in the netherlands, who do business with britain, to see how the changes have impacted them. warmed under led lights, millions of flowers from this dutch grower go to britain each year. extra paperwork after brexit has meant extra costs. more checks are coming but there is no stopping them here. the uk is an important market for us and when we stop exporting to the uk, we lose about 20% of our market so we cannot sell t

a merseyside police officer has been sacked for gross misconduct after it emerged he'd shared racistwhich broke the story, also reports that he took selfies at a murder scene. an anti—corruption inquiry into the behaviour of ryan connolly uncovered several years of misdemeanours. merseyside police said connolly's behaviour was "deplorable" and his dismissal sent a "clear message" that any abuse of office would not be tolerated. the hong kong pro—democracy media outlet stand news has said it's shutting down, after hundreds of national security police raided its office on wednesday. seven former and current employees were arrested for publishing what police described as "seditious publications". stand news is the most prominent remaining pro—democracy publication in hong kong after the closure of the jailed tycoon jimmy lai's iconic apple daily tabloid earlier this year. the raid further raises concerns about media freedom in hong kong. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jon watson. good morning. liverpool slipped up in the premier league title race last n

a merseyside police officer has been sacked for gross misconduct after it emerged he'd shared racistic pictures. the guardian, which broke the story, also reports that he took selfies at a murder scene. an anti—corruption inquiry into the behaviour of ryan connolly uncovered several years of misdemeanours. merseyside police said connolly's behaviour was deplorable and his dismissal sent a clear message that any abuse of office would not be tolerated. lawyers for prince andrew have filed papers to try to stop a us civil case in which he's accused of sexual assault. the documents question whether the woman making the allegation, virginia giuffre, can bring the case in new york — saying she lives in australia rather than in the united states. prince andrew has denied all the allegations against him. new measures have been announced to try to help autistic people in england, scotland and wales into work. currently, just 22% of autistic adults are in any type of paid employment. as part of the scheme, thousands ofjob centre staff will be given specialist accessibility training, which has

where a teenager was stabbed to death has been sacked. 37 year—old pc ryan connolly worked for merseyside policeng kong's last remaining pro—democracy publications is shutting down after being raided by over 200 police. seven people, both current and former employees at stand news, were detained. they are being held for "conspiracy to publish seditious publications". record amounts of snow have fallen in western and northern japan, blocking roads and railways and disrupting flights. thousands of homes are without power. and yet more snowfall is forecast along the coast of the sea of japan. actress, model and activist april ashley, hailed as a "trans trailblazer," has died at the age of 86. in 1960, ashley became only the second briton to undergo male—to—female gender reassignment surgery. she became a prominent campaigner for the transgender community, and was awarded an mbe for her work in 2012. aruna iyengar looks back at her life. april ashley — vogue model, parisian nightclub performer, but born in 1935 as georgejamieson to a working—class family in liverpool. ashleyjoined the merchant navy

where a teenager was stabbed to death has been sacked. 37—year—old pc ryan connolly worked for merseyside policeic pictures. the dangers of compulsive gambling have, for years, been taught to increasing numbers of pupils. now a group of families, who lost relatives to suicide, have devised a hard—hitting education programme, which they say will save lives. it's being piloted at 15 schools in northern ireland, before being rolled out across the uk. you may find some of this report, from our ireland correspondent chris page, upsetting. it's notjust the damage that this does to the person who has the addiction, it's the damage it does to all the family. anniversaries, birthdays, christmas, family gatherings — when he should be there, he is not. lewis keogh was a passionate sportsperson, but he kept his gambling a secret from his team—mates, friends and family. when he was 3a, he took his own life. he says, "every day is a struggle. "all i want is a bit of peace. "please understand addiction is cruel." and that's his exact words. deep down, when he left that note for us, it really was a cry for help

an early morning raid, part of operation toxic, merseyside police's ongoing investigation into countyister borisjohnson seeing for himself the challenge the police face. some 300,000 heroin and crack addicts are responsible for nearly half of crimes like burglary and robbery. the prime minister promising his new strategy will change that. you've got to do two things at once. you've got to be tougher on the county lines gangs, you've got to be tougher on the criminals who are doing it, but you've also got to make sure that you find those 300,000 people and you help them away. you can't simply arrest them time after time and put them back in prison again and again. you've got to do rehab as well. the government's ten—year strategy promises £300 million to pursue drugs gangs. it believes it can take down 2000 county lines in three years. police will get help for more drug tests on arrest, identifying problem users earlier than before. but the strategy also looks at demand. recreational users such as some clubbers will face losing their passports and driving licences if caught. labour say

so they got in touch with merseyside police. devine is a comparatively different name. the centre of your family and the glue that held you all together. he was, very much so, wasn't he? your life had to centre around him, really. what did he need, what was he doing? yes, he had carers. but as far as family was concerned, you know, it was what andrew was doing that was the centre. if we needed to go away for a couple of days or anything like that, we always had to arrange, my daughters would take our place, basically. so he was always very much... and the grandchildren have grown up with knowing no different. uncle andrew was just in his chair. and, um, our eldest granddaughter said she could tell him all her secrets because she knew he wouldn't tell anybody else. how much contact did you have? how involved were you in the hillsborough campaign that was obviously the other families? we weren't really involved in the campaign. i mean, we always supported what they did and always admire greatly people like margaret aspinall, who's done so much. the main thing, there's a d

what about catering receipts or evidence from the police officers on site? martin is on merseyside.f covid. thank you for those. to keep your views coming in. sir roger gale is the conservative mp for north thanet in kent. he told me the prime minister should resign. if he is found to have misled parliament over the downing street event. if misled parliament over the downing street event-— street event. if there is then found that he has — street event. if there is then found that he has misled _ street event. if there is then found that he has misled parliament - that he has misled parliament deliberately, that is a hanging offence. ,, , offence. downing street, his spokesman. _ offence. downing street, his spokesman, has _ offence. downing street, his spokesman, has already - offence. downing street, his| spokesman, has already said offence. downing street, his - spokesman, has already said there was no christmas party.— was no christmas party. downing street saying _ was no christmas party. downing street saying something - was no christmas party. downing street saying something

police scotland say enquiries are still ongoing. everton and liverpool fans united for a minute's applause at the merseyside derby last night, in memoryife crime. ava was stabbed in liverpool city centre last thursday. a11i—year—old boy has been charged with murder. a judgement is expected this morning, in the appeal by associated newspapers in its ongoing privacy dispute with the duchess of sussex. the group — which publishes the mail on sunday — are appealing against the ruling not to hold a full trial, after the paper reproduced parts of a handwritten letter from the duchess to her father, thomas markle, in 2019. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports. it began with a letter written by the duchess of sussex just three months after her wedding to prince harry, and sent in august 2018 to her father thomas. their relationship at the time was difficult. on the 9th of february, 2019, the mail on sunday published lengthy extracts from the letter, which had been given to the newspaper by mr markle. meghan, strongly supported by her husband, brought a civil action against associated newspapers, publishers of the mail on sunday