this was the first day of rolf harris boss boss defends team putting the case on his behalf but the first himself will not be giving evidence. he's appearing at this trial from video evidence. he's appearing at this trialfrom video link evidence. he's appearing at this trial from video link in prison where he is being held because of his pre—existing convictions and he's been forced to attend this trial because of his age and frailty and that's why he told the jury he couldn't remember clearly events that were 30 or a0 years ago. the qc told the jury if the defendant can say no more to you than i can't remember being there the evidential importance is actually quite weak. instead his defence barrister has been questioning the convictions mr harris already has, one of those relates to a community centre in portsmouth where he was found guilty of assaulting an eight—year—old girl in 1969. today witnesses were called by the defence people who had involvement with that community centre—back in the late 90s 60 is, people who knew it well and they all told the court they could never remember ro

defence his defence barrister instead has been questioning the convictions that rolf harris already has and one of those relates to a community centre in portsmouth where he was found guilty of assaulting an eight—year—old girl in 1959. today witnesses were called by the defence, people fled involvement with the community centre back in the late 1960s, people who knew it well and they all told the court they could never remember rolf harris actually appearing there. indeed someone from his management company who was involved in booking his appearances at the time also said in court she would never have booked rolf harris to appear at that kind of event at that time because of the level of fame he had achieved. that is part of the defence strategy to question the pre—existing convictions, part of the prosecution case is that that shows the propensity he has for this type of offending. but his defence barrister said in short, we say the jury barrister said in short, we say the jury got it wrong in the first trial and we do not say that lightly, we have enormous faith in the jury system bu

after rolf harris signed the book, they left.had made it up after rolf harris was convicted two years ago, she said, no, this is true. thank you. refugees and migrants are dying in europe's sudden cold snap, and the united nations refugee agency is urging governments to do more. the unhcr said several migrants had died from cold and exhaustion in bulgaria, and it called on greece to move migrants from poor conditions on islands to better facilities on the mainland. our correspondent sian grzeszcyk reports. desperate to get out of the bitterly cold waters, these, just some of the 800 migrants and refugees that were rescued from the mediterranean sea yesterday. the italian coastguard helped them of the six rubber boats they were trying to cross in. freezing temperatures in europe over the last week have caused the un to call on governments to do more to help migrants. in greece, the situation was so bad that this ship was sent to lesbos at the request of the greek prime minister to house migrants, amidst health warnings that condit

the former entertainer, rolf harris, won't give evidence at his trial for seven offences of indecent a0 years ago wasn't good enough. # city of stars. # the critically acclaimed musical la la land has been nominated for ia oscars at this year's academy awards equalling the record for a single film. it's time for the sport. thank you very much, simon and anita. good afternoon. as bernie ecclestone's a0 year reign at the helm of formula one is over, the sport's new owners have resurrected ideas of hosting a grand prix in london, as well as an extra street race in the us. £6.5 billion yesterday. our sports correspondent andy swiss has more. he's the former used—car salesman who came to rule motorsport with an iron grip. but for bernie ecclestone, it's finally the end of the road. over a0 years, he turned formula one from a niche interest into a multi—billion pound powerhouse. oh, my goodness, this is fantastic! but now it has new owners — american company liberty media. they believe the sport can promote itself better, especially on social media, and so they put a new man, chase carey,

this was the first day of the rolf harris defence team putting the case on his behalf. trial through video link from prison where he is being held because of his pre—existing convictions. he has not been forced to attend because of his age, his frailty and that is why his barrister told the jury he could not remember clearly events of 30 or 110 yea rs remember clearly events of 30 or 110 years ago. thejury remember clearly events of 30 or 110 years ago. the jury was told that if the defendant can say no more than i cannot remember being there, the evidential importance is quite weak. his defence barrister instead has been questioning the convictions that rolf harris already has and one of those relates to a community centre in portsmouth where he was found guilty of assaulting an eight—year—old girl in 1959. today witnesses were called by the defence, people fled involvement with the community centre back in the late 1960s, people who knew it well and they all told the court they could never remember rolf harris actually appearing there. indeed someone from his manageme

she says rolf harris signed by autograph book on the left.ted it to police in 2014 after the first trial involving rolf harris. it was put to her by the defence that she had my bike made the allegation of conversation in mind. she said, no, that wasn't the case. she was told that wasn't the case. she was told that she was lying. she said, no, it's true. she was one of seven women to make complaints against rolf harris in this new trial. the evidence here six back to last another five weeks or so. the interesting feature is that rolf harris himself isn't here. he doesn't have to come here to court every day, you doesn't have to face the cameras or see the people". he is on the cameras or see the people". he isona the cameras or see the people". he is on a video link from the prison where he is being held. that is because he is 86 years old and said to be in poor health. he can see and hear everything that goes on in court, and he appears on a screen on the wall. he is recognisably rolf harris with his white hair and beard. he is denying all th

rolf harris won't be giving evidence at his second trial for indecent and sexual assault as his legalclaims thejury in his previous trial ‘got it wrong'. the man who turned formula one into one of the world's biggest sports, bernie ecclestone, is replaced as chief executive after nearly a0 years in charge. and la la land tops the oscars race — with a record—equalling 1a nominations, including best picture. in a landmark ruling, the government has lost its appeal at the supreme court over who has the authority to start the process of taking the uk out of the european union. eight of the 11 supreme court judges ruled that only mps and peers — not the government — have the authority to trigger article 50 and begin two years of negotiations. the president of the supreme court said that leaving the eu would change uk law and the rights of uk citizens — which meant parliament must be consulted. a short time ago mps were told the government would introduce legislation within days to start the formal process of leaving the eu. our political correspondent carole walker reports. this was a case

rolf harris denies the charges.l long haul services to and from heathrow during the three—day cabin crew strike which begins on thursday. they say they will cancel 1% of short—haulflights they say they will cancel 1% of short—haul flights as a way of dealing with that but they are keeping their long—haul services to and from heathrow100% in service. we'll get more on that later. five people have been injured after an explosion almost completely destroyed a house in north manchester. emergency services were called to cecil road in blackley just after 12:30pm. two people were seriously hurt and taken to hospital, with three others described as "walking wounded." a 35—year—old man is in a stable condition in hospital after being injured in a shooting near a primary school in glasgow. detectives say it appears to have been a targeted attack, but don't believe there is an ongoing threat to any other person. the headlines coming up but first the weather. plenty of cloud around with some rain through northern england, the

a barrister de—februarying rolf harris over —— defending rolf harris over charges, the 86—year—old nowa ces over charges, the 86—year—old now faces faces seven charges of indecent assault and one of sexual assault against seven victims between 1971 and 200a. he denies all the charges. this was the first day of rolf harris defence team putting the case on his behalf. the first thing the court heard was that mr harris himself will not give evidence. he's appearing via videolink from prison, where he's being held because of preexisting convictions. he's not been forced to attend because of his age and frailty. that's why his barrister told the jury he couldn't remember clearly events that were 30 or a0 yea rs clearly events that were 30 or a0 years ago. he told the jury, "if the defendant can say no more to you than i cannot remember being there, the evident shall importance is actually quite weak." instead his defence barrister has been questioning the convictions that mr harris already has. one of those relates to a community centre in portsmouth, where he was found guilty of assaulting

rolf harris denies all the allegations. to hear five or six weeks of evidence here and the unusual feature is rolf harris not being here in court himself to attend the trial. the jury has been told that he is an old man who is in poor health. he is 86 now. he is watching and listening via a video link and is visible to everyone in court. that is how he will give evidence. but some weeks possibly of evidence. but some weeks possibly of evidence to be heard here. thank you very much. now something of an update on a story we brought you earlier in the afternoon. donald trump's nominee for secondary of state is still at his confirmation hearing at the us senate. until his nomination, rex tillerson was the ceo of exxon mobile ha has a long—standing relationship with vladimir putin. that grilling, yes, it is still going on. let's hear some of this, he was asked about the allegations of russian hacking aimed at interfering with the us presidential election. do you believe during the presidential campaign russian services directed

rolf harris denies all of the charges.roops, tanks, and armoured vehicles arrive in poland today — the united states' biggest military presence in the region since the cold war. it's to support a nato operation to deter russian aggression, following fears from neighbouring countries since the conflict in ukraine. their arrival comes just days before the inauguration of donald trump, who's signalled he wants to improve relations with moscow. this morning the kremlin has said that the us military build—up in poland is a threat to russia's national security. a 72—year—old female rally driver is coming out of retirement to drive the original car in which she competed in the world rally cup almost 50 years ago. in 1970, bronwyn burrell was the youngest driver in the race from london to mexico. now she's been reunited with her austin maxi sports car, and is preparing to get behind the wheel again to recreate her epic drive. she's currently in training, and john maguire went along to meet her. wembley, 1970, and a car rally marks

after rolf harris signed her autograph book they left.ourt that she had made this accusation up after rolf harris was convicted previously but she said, no, this was true. a a0 year study by british scientists has revealed clues as to why some species stop having babies half—way through life. human beings and killer whales are two of only three species where the female goes through the menopause. researchers say they have a much clearer idea of the crucial role older females play among the killer whale population — and how that could teach us something about human evolutionary history. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill reports. chasing an evolutionary mystery. these researchers have been documenting the lives of killer whales here for four decades. here we go! and their findings have revealed new insight into something we humans share with a mammal so very different from us. 0rcas and humans are two of only three mammals on the planet that stop reproducing partway through our lives. this ito—year study of killer whale society has al

rolf harris, who‘s not attending court in person, denies indecent assault and sexual assault.nto russian is a major clue. but was it criminal piracy, done for money? or something more sinister? nick higham‘s been investigating. please, no, don‘t hang up. do not hang up. calmly, sherlock, or i will finish her right now. the last episode of sherlock, eagerly awaited by millions, but on saturday, a copy was leaked online dubbed into russian. it was a spoiler and broadcasters don‘t like those. everything up to this point has been planned with the intention of presenting this programme, this very important finale, as a global event, as a collective community of fans coming together and very much experiencing it for the first time and this has put a big spanner in the works of that. the russian version was widely shared online. the mystery — worthy of an old—fashioned sherlock holmes story — who leaked it and why? one theory, the episode was put online to damage the bbc, which the kremlin doesn‘t much like at present, because the beeb is increasing its radio broadcasts to russia. an

a woman who alleges she was indecently assaulted by tv presenter rolf harris when she was just 12 yearsthe entertainer put his hand up her skirt after she asked for an autograph. mr harris denies seven charges of indecent assault and one of sexual assault. lord snowdon, the former husband of princess margaret and celebrity photographer, has died. he was 86 years old. the first commoner to marry a king's daughterfor a50 years, the then anthony armstrong jones married princess margaret in 1960. theirs was the first royal marriage to be televised. but they separated after 16 years and eventually divorced. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell looks back at his life. he was the society photographer who took pictures of the royal family, and who married one of its leading members. it was in 1960, at the start of a decade of considerable social change, that the then anthony armstrong—jones married the queen's younger sister, princess margaret. he was an untitled commoner, she was the princess who, a few years earlier, had had to renounce her love for a royal official because he was divorc

the sun follows the latest trial of rolf harris as he faces accusations of sexual assault from sevenictims. where else can we start but with the tramp? —— the trump. he gave his first press conference for six months, the first since he won the election and a lot of it focused on allegations that he is in bed with the russians. literally.” didn't think i would be spending my time reviewing the depth and the discussed of the scatological references of a president elect of the united states. this is, dare i use the word, unprecedented. his first election he is in the mire, he is in the dirt and yet again i cannot discuss with my children what is happening. we don't need to go too deeply into the allegations. essentially, a lot of information has come out concerning possible ties between donald trump and russia and the suggestion is that the russians have stuff on mr trump that colours his view of moscow, perhaps suggesting for explaining his favourable view, some might say, of vladimir putin. it is even worse than that. the central allegation is that the russians have stopped on him tha

rolf harris, who's not attending court in person, denies indecent assault and sexual assault.after being hit by a car on new year's eve in 0ldham. 12—year—old helena kotlarova and zaneta krokova, who was 11, were holding hands when they were struck as they crossed a road. four men have been charged in connection to their deaths. doctors are warning that some nhs patients in england face "dangerous" delays getting specialist treatment through their gps. the british medical association says referral management centres create barriers and take decisions away from gps. supporters of the system say it's a good way to manage resources. 0ur correspondent, jenny walrond reports. for tracheffries, housework is no longer a painful chore, but only because she paid nearly £3,000 for an operation on her leg. i was in so much pain with my leg, 24 hours a day. i wasn't sleeping properly, i was struggling to get through my work. the pain was caused by varicose veins. her gp wanted them treated on the nhs, but his referral was rejected. tracy had to go private. if a gp feels a specialist needs

rolf harris, who's not attending court in person, denies indecent assault and sexual assault.xandra, has pleaded not guilty to eight charges of child abuse. the allegations against bennell all involve a boy under the age of 15 between 1981 and 1986. some patients face dangerous delays getting treatments because of referral management centres used by some gps. they were designed to reduce nhs spending by limiting unnecessary referrals a hospital but the bma says they create barriers and take decisions away from doctors. the bbc has found many referrals were refused because of administration errors. here is hugh pym. if a gp refers you for a hospital checkup or treatment, you might think it would happen automatically, but in some areas, the decision has to be vetted by another organisation, sometimes a private company. and that's the subject of a growing controversy. tracy used to find everyday household chores a nightmare, in constant pain because of her varicose veins. i was in so much pain with my leg, 2a hours a day. i wasn't sleeping properly. i was struggling to get throug

a woman who alleges she was indecently assaulted by the tv presenter rolf harris when she was 12 yearshis hand up her skirt after she asked for an autograph. she told the jury the alleged assault was "horrible" and "wrong". mr harris denies seven charges of indecent assault and one of sexual assault. joining me now is our correspondent dan johnson who's outside southwark crown court for us. explain more about what the jury has been hearing? at have heard from the second complainant in this case, a woman who is now in her 50s. she described how as a 12—year—old she went with her mother antoinette radio station in portsmouth where rolf harris had been appearing on a programme. they went to get his autograph. she describes approaching him as he left the building. he signed an autograph for her mother and then turned to the 12—year—old and then turned to the 12—year—old and said it is your turn now, let me have a cuddle first. she said he put his arm around her, and then down her skirt and touched her underneath her skirt and touched her underneath her underwear. she said, i pulled away, i

rolf harris has gone on trial accused of indecently assaulting seven girls and women.has agreed to pay more than £3 billion to settle the case over rigging emissions levels in the united states. vw — which is the world's second biggest carmaker — admitted in 2015 that it had installed software in hundreds of thousands of diesel cars in the us to cheat emissions tests. the bbc‘s director general, tony hall, has said he wants the iplayer to be the top online tv service in the uk by 2020. he told staff it needed to make the leap from a catch—up service to a "must—visit destination" in its own right. 0ne change might allow viewers to watch an entire series on iplayer before it is shown on television. strong winds have caused disruption in parts of scotland and northern england. the forth road bridge has reopened, it was closed all day after a lorry was blown over. a man has been charged with dangerous driving. there was damage to property and many homes lost power. met office yellow warnings are in place for wind and snow across much of scotland and northern ireland. 0n th

and the sun follows the latest trial of rolf harris as he faces accusations of sexual assaults from sevenictims. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, with me, zeinab badawi. my guest is american journalist theo padnos. from october 2012 to august 2014 he was held hostage in syria by the nusra front, which is allied to al-qaeda. he was beaten, abused, not knowing from day—to—day if he would be shot or spared by his captors. but was he the victim of his own actions? he says the most bitter moment of his captivity was the realisation that it was he himself who was mostly responsible for his ordeal. theo padnos, welcome to hardtalk. thanks very much for having me. why did you decide to go to syria in 2012 to report on the conflict there? you know it was a very dangerous place, it still is. it was certainly dangerous at the time, but i mean, i felt that i could avoid the worst of the dangers. ifelt the real danger to me at the time, i thought, was the regime. i thought they were against western reporters coming in. i didn't have a visa forjournalists and i felt that they were going

a woman who alleges she was indecently assaulted by tv presenter rolf harris when she was 12 years oldhand up her skirt after she asked for an autograph. mr harris denies seven charges of indecent assault and one of sexual assault. sky has withdrawn a comedy programme about michaeljackson, after criticism from the late singer's family. his daughter paris has said the episode of urban myths — which used the white actor, joseph fiennes, to play jackson — was insulting. lord snowdon, the former husband of princess margaret, has died aged 86. the photographer, born anthony armstrong—jones, died peacefully at his home. with me is our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. he had a very colourful life, didn't he? yes, the first, to marry into the royal family for several centuries, tangled certainly in terms of his own relationships, and his death, of course, is a reminder of his first wedding and the chequered history of princess margaret, the queen's younger sister who he married in 1960. she, having had to renounce the great love of her life, group captain peter townsend and the querrey t

a woman who alleges she was indecently assaulted by tv presenter rolf harris when she was 12 years oldrges of indecent assault and one of sexual assault. sky has withdrawn a comedy programme about michaeljackson after criticism from the late singer's family. his daughter paris has said the episode of urban myths, which used the white actor joseph fiennes to play jackson, was insulting. lord snowdon, the former husband of princess margaret and celebrity photographer, has died. he was 86 years old. the first commoner to marry a king's daughterfor a50 years, the news came today. he was the society photographer who took pictures of the royal family and who married one of its leading members. it was in 1960, the start of a decade of considerable social change, that the then anthony armstrong—jones married the queen's younger sister, princess margaret. he was an untitled commoner, she was the princess who, a few years earlier, had had to renounce her love for a royal official because she was divorced. with unbounded enthusiasm, acclaim for princess margaret and her husband when they appeared

rolf harris goes on trial accused of indecently assaulting seven women and girls.on mccoy, president obama calls on the american people to defend democracy as he prepares to leave office. protecting our way of life, that's not just the protecting our way of life, that's notjust thejob of protecting our way of life, that's notjust the job of our military. democracy can buckle when it gives into fear. a couple who met while making lancaster bombers in world war ii celebrate their 73rd wedding anniversary. good afternoon. welcome to bbc news. russia dismissed media reports that it is holding compromising information about donald trump. it comes information about donald trump. it co m es after information about donald trump. it comes after unverified claims in america that russian intelligence agencies are obtained material relating to his businesses and private life. mr trump said: 15 minutes later, he teeted this: —— tweeted this: well, mr trump is about to hold a news c0 nfe re nce well, mr trump is about to hold a news conference at trump towers. live pictures from

the trial has begun of the former entertainer rolf harris, who's accused of indecently assaulting sevenappearing at southwark crown court, via videolink from prison. a man has cut his throat in the dock at a magistrates‘ court in pembrokeshire as he waited to be sentenced for a sex attack. lu kasz robert pawlowski, who's 33, had pleaded guilty to sexual assault. he's been taken to hospital by airambulance. ajury has been a jury has been told that children's author helen baby was murdered by her partner who hope to inherit her money. miss bailey had probably been suffocated, the jury was told. ian stewart was 56 denies murder of the the jury heard today from the home office pathologist doctor nathaniel carey. it was he who carried out the postmortem examination on the body of writer helen bailey after it was recovered from a cesspit below the garage of her home in royston injuly of last year. she had lived there with partner ian stewart. it was he who declared her missing in april and who has been charged with murdering her. he told police she had left a note claiming she needed some spa

a blind disabled woman has described how she felt completely and utterly trapped by rolf harris at his

the trial of former television entertainer rolf harris continues at southwark crown court today, whensexual assault. the alleged assaults, against seven victims aged between 12 and 42, are said to date from 1971 to 200k. just a reminder — find out who's been nominated for the oscars on our special programme. that's at 1.15pm on the bbc news channel, joinjane hill and the film critic jason solomons — that's the oscar nominations 2017. ina in a moment, the news at one pm but first, the weather. a big mixture of whether from a big mixture of whetherfrom one place to the next. we started with fog. that fog did start some problems at some of the airports earlier this morning that it wasn't foggy everywhere. cloud to the north west and sunshine to eastern areas of england. relatively clear skies and the mist lifting. there could be a couple of fog patches lingering through the day but not too many. wales and north west england have a lot of cloud and thatis west england have a lot of cloud and that is thick enough to bring some rain. whether pushing into southern scotla nd rain. whether pus

a woman who said she was indecently assaulted by rolf harris when she was a teenager has told a courtt, dan johnson. joining me from the cord is our correspondent, danjohnson. the court has also been hearing allegations from another woman who says that she was assaulted by rob paris when she was 12 years old. —— i roll paris. she says in 1977 she went with her mother to a radio station in portsmouth. they had heard harris on the programme talking about his favourite songs and decided to go down to wait for him outside. she says her and her mother waited and then approached him as he left the building. she says it was nice seeing someone famous and she went on to describe how mr harris signed a lot of graph for her mother before turning to hire, just 12 years old, she says he turned to her and said, i think it is your turn now. let me give you a little cuddle first. she described the court how mr harris but one arm around her back and another arm down her leg and then up her skirt and into her knickers. she said he touched her what she had never been touched by force. she said was very

we will discuss it later. 0n the sun, following the trial of rolf harris, which is ongoing. press conference. some of the quotes, you can see, you are acting like nazis, that was one of the quotes. he was talking about his own intelligence services. we have a response at this morning from the us intelligence services to the allegation from donald trump that they might have leaked some of those stories. shall we look inside at this picture? this is how a rhinoceros was moved over a lake. i was looking at this, because it looks really dangerous, but a p pa re ntly looks really dangerous, but apparently it is the best way to get the rhino across. he is blindfolded, obviously, so he can't see how high he is. these were taken in south africa's eastern cape. upside down. he was taken by a guy from devon who was on holiday. imagine if you saw that on holiday! not very dignified. it is supposed to be the safest way. looks like bungee jumping. it is supposed to be the safest way. looks like bungee jumpinglj it is supposed to be the safest way. looks like bungee jumping. i would feel