tom symonds, bbc news.he story of a british diplomat who's become something of a hero in china after he saved the life of a student who was in danger of drowning in a river near chongqing, in south—west china. stephen ellison, who took up his post as consul general only a month ago, jumped in to save the young woman. our diplomatic correspondent james landale takes up the story. a sunny day by the river, but look closely on the left. someone's fallen in. there is a moment of shock. no one moves. the woman's clearly struggling. she is beginning to lose consciousness. but step forward stephen ellison, her majesty's consul general in chongqing, with natty socks. he didn't hesitate. there is no time to think. there is no time to consider. there is no rational decision. there was a girl in difficulties. ithink if... if no one had taken action, she would have lost her life. as he pulls for the bank, he lifts her face clear. for a short time, he feared the worst. but suddenly, she is breathing again. i'm sure some

tom symonds, bbc news.egal protections for children in care, appeal court judges have ruled. they said gavin williamson should have consulted with the children's commissioner and other groups before scrapping 65 safeguards for children. the court found that consulting such bodies would have been "manifestly in the interest of vulnerable children". parliament did not debate the changes, which were introduced in april. the government has yet to comment on the ruling. scotland is today expected to become the first country in the world to make ‘period products' freely available for women and girls. holyrood will vote later on legislation to introduce items such as tampons and sanitary pads forfree in public buildings. there was originally opposition to the plan, with ministers arguing the cost could exceed the estimated £9.7 million a year. china has launched a mission to try to retrieve rock samples from the moon using a robotic spacecraft, which blasted off last night. it's more than a0 years since the americ

tom symonds, bbc news., after four politicians were expelled from the territory's assembly. all 15 pro—democracy legislators announced their resignation yesterday, in solidarity with their colleagues, who beijing have deemed a threat to national security. the chinese government said that if the resignations were aimed at encouraging radical resistance, the attempt would fail. an investigation into equal pay at the bbc has found no unlawful acts of pay discrimination against women. the equality and human rights commission opened an inquiry last year after complaints about large differences between the salaries of male and female presenters. but the watchdog has made a number of recommendations, including a call for the bbc to improve transparency. david sillito reports. when the bbc was forced to publish the salaries of its highest paid stars, there was fury at the gap between many male and female presenters and correspondents. there were protests demanding equal pay. the bbc admitted there was a problem and

tom symonds, bbc news. you are watching bbc news. our main headlines...over the summer 15.5%. but it is still smaller than before the coronavirus pandemic and there are warnings it will slow again. a nurse has appeared in court charged with murdering eight babies and the attempted murder of ten babies, at a hospital in chester. an investigation into equal pay at the bbc has found no unlawful acts of pay discrimination against women. the equality and human rights commission opened an inquiry last year after complaints about large differences between the salaries of male and female presenters. but the watchdog has made a number of recommendations including a call for the bbc to improve transparency. david sillito reports. when the bbc was forced to publish the salaries of its highest paid stars, there was fury at the gap between many male and female presenters and correspondence. there were protests demanding equal pay. the bbc admitted there was a problem and a number of women were given a pay increase. but an independent investigation says it has found no

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. buildings warmer. not a famous brand, it's usually tucked away out of sight, until now. because when stocks of another brand ran out, builders chose kingspan k15 insulation for grenfell‘s walls and its flammable. i can only apologise for the contents of this e—mail... but when a client queried that in 2008, technical manager philip heath e—mailed that they were, "getting me confused with someone who gives a damn." "imagine a fire running up this tower," he added. a kingspan employee wondered if there might be legal issues. a barrister read out mr heath's response. wintech can go bleep themselves and if they're not careful we'll sue the arse off them." can you explain why you wrote that given win tech were giving entirely accurate advice to their customers? it was totally unprofessional at that time and with... ..on reflection i wouldn't have said that. i think it was just frustration that we were going round in circles with them. he still works for kingspan, which still sells the k15

tom symonds, bbc news.onehenge, more than 30 years after it was first proposed. the transport secretary has approved plans for the a303 near the world heritage site in wiltshire. duncan kennedy reports. it's one of the busiest roads next to one of the greatest monuments. for decades, the debate has raged over what to do with the a303 alongside this world heritage site. now, the government has ruled that the a303 is to be buried into a tunnel, creating a traffic free landscape. the decision has been welcomed by english heritage, who say it will transform stonehenge. as guardians of the stones, english heritage welcome the news the a303 tunnel is now approved and will be implemented. it makes good on a decades long ambition to remove this noisy and polluting road from this very important prehistoric landscape. it's only when you get here on the ground that you realise just how close the stones are to the a303. it's just a matter of about 150 or 200 yards, and this is a road that attracts between 30,000 and 50

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. armed police, show your hands! show your hands!olence to the ring. ali bought a knife off the internet and murdered a college student in birmingham in front of a crowd. it was all over within a minute. another stabbing by another 16—year—old days later, also in birmingham. adam muhammad was walking with fellow student hazrat umar. shortly afterwards he turned on hazrat, leaving him for dead. and his family, including his uncle, a former senior prosecutor, are devastated. hazrat was one of these people who warmed the room when he walked in. he was cheerful, joyful, adored by his own family and extended family. my family‘s grief is repeated, as your survey found, dozens and dozens of times over every year. with the government planning higher sentences for teenage killers, his view? punish them, yes, try and to deter other people, but also at the back of the judge‘s mind must be the view that this person can still make a contribution to society once they are finally released. our 100 killings project has highlighted the factors which

tom symonds, bbc news.sion to try to retrieve rock samples from the moon using a robotic spacecraft that blasted off last night. it's more than a0 years since the americans and the soviets brought home lunar rock and soil for analysis. 0ur science correspondent jonathan amos reports. another lunar mission for china. the country's already sent four highly successful space projects to the moon. two that circled the body to take pictures, and two that landed and released small—wheeled vehicles. but chinese engineers know this latest endeavor will be by far their most challenging, because the chang'e—5 spacecraft is going to try to pick up rocks off the moon's surface and bring them home. that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. it's more than a0 years since the apollo astronauts hopped across the lunar terrain. they collected more than 300 kilos of rock to analyse in earth laboratories. from those samples, we learned a lot about when and how the moon might have formed, as well as other key ev