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Covid messages leak a massive betrayal, says Matt Hancock - BBC News

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Journalist Isabel Oakeshott says it was in the "national interest" to publish ex-health secretary's texts.

UK Politics

Matt Hancock collaborated with journalist Isabel Oakeshott on his book Pandemic Diaries Ex-Health Secretary Matt Hancock has accused a journalist of a "massive betrayal and breach of trust" after she leaked texts he sent during Covid. Isabel Oakeshott defended releasing WhatsApps she obtained when working on Mr Hancock's book, arguing it was in the "overwhelming national interest". However, Mr Hancock said the messages were released in a "biased account to suit an anti-lockdown agenda". He also denied her claim he had sent her a "menacing" message over the leak. The Telegraph has been handed more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages linked to Mr Hancock's time as health secretary at the height of the pandemic. It began publishing the texts earlier this week. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Isabel Oakeshott reveals why she leaked the messages In a statement released on Thursday morning Mr Hancock said: "When I heard confused rumours of a publication late on Tuesday night, I called and messaged Isabel to ask her if she had 'any clues' about it, and got no response. "When I then saw what she'd done, I messaged to say it was 'a big mistake'. Nothing more." Mr Hancock argued the public inquiry into the pandemic was the right place for analysis of what went on - saying he would reply to the "substance" of allegations at the inquiry. He apologised to those whose messages had been published by the Daily Telegraph, saying: "I am also sorry for the impact on the very many people - political colleagues, civil servants and friends - who worked hard with me to get through the pandemic and save lives." "Isabel and I had worked closely together for more than a year on my book, based on legal confidentiality and a process approved by the Cabinet Office. Isabel repeatedly reiterated the importance of trust throughout, and then broke that trust." A collection of more than 100,000 messages sent between former Health Secretary Matt Hancock and other ministers and officials at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic have been obtained by the Telegraph. Here are our stories on the leaks: The text messages were passed to the newspaper by Ms Oakeshott, TalkTV's international editor, who has been critical of lockdowns. She was given copies of the texts while helping Mr Hancock write his book, Pandemic Diaries. The BBC has not seen or independently verified the WhatsApp messages nor the context in which they were sent. Ms Oakeshott has strongly defended her decision to release the messages saying she was someone "acting in the overwhelming national interest". She has not revealed how much she has been paid by the Telegraph. "Anyone who thinks I did this for money must be utterly insane," she told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme. "This is about the millions of people, every one of us in this country, that were adversely affected by the catastrophic decision to lockdown the country repeatedly on the flimsiest of evidence, often for the political reasons. "I wanted to get to the truth of it," she said. Asked when she told Mr Hancock she would share the messages, she replied: "I didn't tell him." "Not one journalist worth their salt would sit on a cache of information in such an important matter, such a historic matter and cover that up," she said. Pressed on the claim that Mr Hancock sent her a menacing message following the leaks, Ms Oakeshott said: "I'm saying that he sent me a message at 01.20 in the morning. It wasn't a pleasant message." Ms Oakeshott had initially told broadcasters she had signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Mr Hancock during the writing of her book. However, she later told the BBC's political editor Chris Mason that there was not an NDA but rather a "really standard terms of agreement between us". Responding to Mr Hancock's strong criticism, Ms Oakeshott said: "This isn't about embarrassing individuals or making individual politicians look bad. "It's so much bigger than that, it is about the entire country. And if we're going to talk about betrayal, then the way I see it is the betrayal of every one of us, who were let down by the response to the pandemic." Asked if she was worried other politicians would stop trusting her with information, she said "No, because I'm really good at what I do. I do stories in the public interest, and I make judgments." An NDA is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material that they need or want to share with each other, but also want to restrict access to - similar to doctor-patient confidentiality or lawyer-client privilege. Sometimes known as "gagging orders", "hush agreements" or "confidentiality clauses", NDAs typically prevent people making trade secrets or other specified information public. They can also apply to allegations of misbehaviour in the workplace after a settlement has been agreed, or anything likely to damage an organisation's reputation. But like any other contract, they can not be enforced if the specified activities are illegal. If someone breaches an NDA, they break a contract, leaving them open to being sued. But there is a public interest defence - the 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act protects whistleblowers. The publication of the messages has sent shockwaves through the political establishment as the public inquiry into the pandemic picks up pace. At Prime Minister's Questions, Rishi Sunak defended the public inquiry as the "right way" to scrutinise the handling of the pandemic and urged people not to focus on "piecemeal bits of information". This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. PMQs: Rishi Sunak quizzed on claims of leaked Hancock messages by Sir Keir Starmer Sir Keir Starmer called for Mr Sunak to ensure the inquiry had all the support it needed "to report by the end of this year". Mr Hancock has already given a partial account of his time as health secretary, with the help of Ms Oakeshott, in his book, Pandemic Diaries. The book was widely viewed as an attempt by Mr Hancock to rehabilitate his reputation after he resigned as health secretary over breaching social distancing guidance by kissing a colleague. Last year, Mr Hancock said he would not be standing as an MP at the next general election, after receiving criticism for joining the reality TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64818969

Too late to save environment, says Green Party co-founder - BBC News

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Michael Benfield says the situation is very dire, and mitigating disaster is now the best hope.

UK Politics

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: Green Party co-founder Michael Benfield tells the BBC that the battle for the world's environmental survival is now lost. One of the founders of what would become the Green Party of England and Wales has declared "it's too late" to save the environment. Michael Benfield, who helped set up the new political movement in the 1970s, said he believed the "battle for the world's environmental survival" was "at this moment, lost". Speaking at an event to mark the party's 50th anniversary, Mr Benfield told the BBC he had become "somewhat of a doomsayer" about efforts to protect the environment. "I think we have succeeded in helping to educate... but we have failed in dealing with the battle for environmental survival. "I'll say to you now that it's too late. The battle for the world's environmental survival is, at this moment, lost," he said. The scale of the solutions which he believed were necessary would be simply too unpalatable for any political party to propose, he argues. The focus now, he thought, would have to be on mitigation. "It doesn't mean to say that we can't perhaps do other things to put things right, but it's a very dire situation that we have," Mr Benfield said. He was speaking 50 years since the first public meeting of PEOPLE, which would become the Ecology Party in 1975 and the Green Party in 1985. The group was formed in a Coventry pub by Mr Benfield, fellow estate agent Freda Sanders and solicitors Lesley Whittaker and her late husband Tony. The three surviving founders of what would turn out to be Europe's first green political party were among those who gathered at the London School of Economics to mark the milestone. In a speech to the gathering, Green MP Caroline Lucas, warned: "We don't have another 50 years." She said: "We are living through maybe one of the most consequential decades of human history, which I appreciate is a very big thing to say. "The climate and nature crises are more critical than ever, and it feels to me that what falls upon the shoulders of the Green Party is a most extraordinary responsibility but an awesome opportunity as well." Deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales Zack Polanski said it was "vital" to be "honest about the urgency of the situation", but cautioned against underestimating "the importance of hope alongside practical action". "I think that's the vital space the party occupies today, which is both that vision for a hopeful future and tangible real-life examples of where we're making change," he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64815875

Pulp bassist Steve Mackey dies aged 56 - BBC News

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The musician, who had been in hospital for the past three months, died on Thursday morning.

Entertainment & Arts

Steve Mackey with Jarvis Cocker at the premiere of Pulp, a documentary about the Sheffield indie band, in 2014 Pulp bassist Steve Mackey has died at the age of 56, his family has confirmed. The Sheffield musician played on hits including Common People, Disco 2000 and Lipgloss, after joining Pulp in 1989. His wife Katie posted a message to social media on Thursday, saying he had been in hospital for the past three months with an undisclosed illness. "We are shocked and devastated to have said goodbye to my brilliant, beautiful husband," she added. "Steve was the most talented man I knew, an exceptional musician, producer, photographer and filmmaker. "As in life, he was adored by everyone whose paths he crossed in the multiple creative disciplines he conquered. "I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the NHS staff who worked tirelessly for Steve. He will be missed beyond words." This Instagram post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original post on Instagram The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip instagram post by steve__mackey This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Pulp posted their own tribute shortly afterwards, informing fans that their "beloved" bass player had passed away on Thursday morning. They shared a photograph of the musician from their 2012 tour, spending a day off in the snow-capped Andes. "We had a day off and Steve suggested we go climbing," the band said. "So we did and it was a completely magical experience. "Far more magical than staring at the hotel wall all day (which is probably what we'd have done otherwise). "Steve made things happen, in his life and in the band. We'd very much like to think that he's back in those mountains now, on the next stage of his adventure." This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original tweet on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Pulp This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Rock band Arcade Fire also paid tribute, posting: "Steve you were one of the most beautiful people we've ever met, a true friend. Thank you for letting us spend time in your presence, and for believing in the spirit of music with such ferocity." Singer MIA described him as a "great mentor", adding: "Forever glad to have worked with you and thank you." Model Kate Moss posted: "Steve. Gone too soon, rest in peace." Another friend, actress Patsy Kensit, wrote: "Such a great man. Devastated." Pulp are due to go back on tour this summer for a series of reunion shows. Mackey chose not to take part in the concerts, telling fans he had decided to concentrate on his "music, filmmaking and photography projects" instead. Massive Attack, another British act who enjoyed success in the 1990s, paid tribute by sharing a black and white image of Mackey, while quoting a lyric from his band's track Sorted For E's & Wizz. This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original tweet on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post 2 by Massive Attack This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The musician was born in Sheffield in 1966, and attended school with another Pulp alumnus, Richard Hawley. He joined the band in 1989 - a decade into its career - and first appeared on their third album Separations. After signing to Island Records in the early 1990s, the band hit the big time with classic albums including His 'N' Hers and Different Class, with frontman Jarvis Cocker becoming one of the most beloved characters of the Britpop era. Speaking to Pulp's official website in 1996, Mackey said he'd enjoyed the rollercoaster ride of fame. "I think if you are in a band that are popular then you might as well enjoy it." he said. "That's what we always wanted to do and I don't think there is anything wrong with being silly. You'd be throwing away a bit of a golden opportunity - you might as well be a librarian all of your life." This YouTube post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original video on YouTube The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. YouTube content may contain adverts. Skip youtube video by PulpVEVO This article contains content provided by Google YouTube. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Google’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. YouTube content may contain adverts. After the band went on hiatus in 2002, Mackey co-wrote and produced songs for artists including MIA (Galang, Sunshowers), Florence + The Machine (Kiss With A Fist) and Arcade Fire (Everything Now). He also played a cameo in the 2005 film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as one of The Weird Sisters - a rock band that also featured Jarvis Cocker and Radiohead musicians Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway. Pulp are scheduled to play a string of festivals in summer 2023, including Isle of Wight, Latitude and Trnsmt. He also photographed and directed campaign images and motion advertising for many leading brands including Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs and Armani. Mackey teamed up with Pulp again for their 2012 reunion; and also co-curated London's Frieze Art Fair for a number of years in the 2000s. He married stylist and magazine founder, Katie Grand, in 2009. Mackey also leaves a son, Marley, who was born in 1996. Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64827409

Beer firm hits out at bottle deposit scheme - BBC News

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Innis and Gunn is among hundreds of producers which have not yet signed up to the recycling scheme.

Scotland

The founder of Innis and Gunn has questioned the legality of the deposit return scheme One of Scotland's most recognisable drinks brands is among hundreds which have not signed up to a controversial new bottle recycling scheme. Dougal Sharp, the founder of Innis and Gunn, questioned the legality of the scheme and raised concerns about its costs to businesses and consumers. A total of 664 producers had signed up to the deposit return scheme by the Tuesday deadline. It was initially estimated that about 4,500 producers would need to register. However First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs that number had now been revised to "below 2,000". She said the companies that have registered are responsible for 95% of drinks sold in single-use containers in Scotland. The scheme is designed to boost recycling via a 20p deposit on single-use bottles and cans. Registration will now be open until the scheme's launch on 16 August. Mr Sharp told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that there were too many unanswered questions about the scheme, including whether or not it was legal. The brewer said he had taken advice from lawyers before deciding not to sign up before a deadline on Tuesday. He said that many companies "felt they had no choice" around joining the scheme as it would affect their ability to trade in Scotland from 16 August. But he feared the scheme would drive "enormous price pressure on to consumers". "A four-pack of our lager might go from £5 to £7 - I think that's a scandal in the middle of the biggest cost of living crisis we can remember," he said. Under the scheme, a 20p deposit will be added to all single-use drinks containers made of PET plastic, metal or glass. Consumers can claim their money back by returning the container to retailers and hospitality premises that sell such single-use products to take away. "You'll get some of that money back, but you won't get all of it back," said Mr Sharp. "My great fear is that there aren't enough reverse vending machines for people to return their cans and bottles to, and if there isn't, how do you get money back?" All three SNP leadership contenders have said that the scheme will not go ahead in its present form. Kate Forbes and Ash Regan want to pause the scheme, while Humza Yousaf said he would exempt smaller firms for a year. But Mr Sharp said he wants it to be ditched. "The scheme is going to destroy the existing [recycling] infrastructure and create new infrastructure," he said. "If that isn't wasteful I don't know what is. I think there are better ways to do it." He said some money from drink sales should be ringfenced to invest more in the existing recycling industry in Scotland instead of the new scheme. Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said the scheme would still launch as planned on 16 August and registration for producers will be open until then. The Scottish Greens co-leader said the industry had been challenged to "do their part to tackle the climate emergency" but she understood that there were concerns for small producers that the government was "systematically working to resolve". Speaking in Holyrood on Thursday, Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross called the scheme a "complete disaster". He said the voices of businesses across Scotland had been ignored. During First Minister's Questions, he asked Nicola Sturgeon to clarify how many businesses should have signed up by the Tuesday deadline. Ms Sturgeon said: "At the outset of introducing this scheme, it was estimated that there were around 4,500. "However, significantly less than that will have to register because once groups of companies registering under one registration are identified, the estimated number of individual producers/importers will be below 2,000." She added: "The vast majority of product is actually produced by a relatively small number of producers. "As of yesterday, more than 90% of product and of the market is covered and that is the crucial point. If it was the reverse, that would be a problem." David Harris, Circularity Scotland chief executive, told BBC Scotland there had been "misinformation" and "misunderstandings" over Scotland's scheme. He urge anybody who feels that their business is going to be impacted by these regulations to contact Circularity Scotland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64823432

Florida resident dies from brain-eating amoeba - BBC News

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Officials suspect the victim was infected after rinsing their nasal sinuses with public tap water.

US & Canada

A Florida resident has died after becoming infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba, officials say. Health experts in Charlotte County, in southwest Florida, say the victim was probably infected after rinsing their nasal sinuses with tap water. Naegleria fowleri infects the brain through the nose. Officials say that drinking it is not dangerous. Infections are almost always fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Officials have not identified the victim. On 23 February, the Florida Department of Heath said that a patient had been infected "possibly as a result of sinus rinse practices" utilising tap water. On Thursday, a spokesman for the state health agency confirmed that the patient had died. Officials across multiple government agencies are "continuing to investigate how this infection occurred," spokesman Jae Williams said. He added that officials are "working with the local public utilities to identify any potential links and make any necessary corrective actions". The amoeba typically lives in warm fresh water such as swimming pools, lakes and ponds. The person lived in Charlotte County, Florida, but has not been identified by officials It can lead to a severe infection if it enters through the nose, but it is normally safe through the mouth because stomach acid kills the single-cell microorganism. According to the CDC, around three Americans get infected each year, often with deadly consequences. Between 1962 and 2021, only four of the 154 people infected in the US survived. Officials warn that to avoid infections people should not rinse out their nasal passages with untreated tap water. Sterile or distilled water are preferred options. Tap water can also be used if it is boiled for at least one minute and cooled before use. People are also advised to avoid taking on water in their nose while in swimming pools or bathing or showering.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64831778

Silicon Valley Bank: Global bank stocks slump despite Biden reassurances - BBC News

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US authorities have stepped in to protect customers after the collapse of two American banks.

Business

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Is this the start of a financial crisis? Bank shares in Asia and Europe have slumped, despite reassurances from the US president that America's financial system is safe following the collapse of two US lenders. The falls come after authorities moved to protect customer deposits when the US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank collapsed. Joe Biden promised to do "whatever is needed" to protect the banking system. But investors fear other lenders may still be hit by the fallout. On Tuesday, Japan's Topix Banks share index fell by more than 7%, putting it on course for its worst day in more than three years. Shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the country's largest lender by assets, were down by 8.1% in mid-day Asian trading. On Monday, Spain's Santander and Germany's Commerzbank saw their share prices dive by more than 10% at one point. A string of smaller US banks suffered even worse losses than European counterparts, despite reassuring customers that they had more than enough liquidity to protect themselves from shocks. The volatility has led to speculation that America's Federal Reserve will now pause its plans to keep raising interest rates, designed to tame inflation. Mr Biden said that people and businesses that had deposited money with Silicon Valley Bank would be able to access all their cash from Monday, after the government stepped in to protect their deposits in full. Many business customers had faced the prospect of not being able to pay staff and suppliers after their funds were frozen. BBC North America Technology correspondent James Clayton spoke to people queuing up all day outside the SVB branch in Menlo Park, California, to access their funds. As the bank was no longer offering wire transfers, they were taking out their money in cashier cheques. This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original tweet on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by James Clayton This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Silicon Valley Bank - which specialised in lending to technology companies - was shut down by US regulators who seized its assets on Friday. It was the biggest failure of a US bank since the financial crisis in 2008. It had been trying to raise money to plug a loss from the sale of assets affected by higher interest rates. Word of the troubles led customers to race to withdraw funds, leading to a cash crisis. Authorities on Sunday also took over Signature Bank in New York, which had many clients involved in crypto and was seen as the institution most vulnerable to a similar bank run. Mr Biden promised that covering the deposits would not cost taxpayers anything, and instead be funded by fees regulators charge to banks. As part of efforts to restore confidence, US regulators also unveiled a new way for banks to borrow emergency funds in a crisis. Yet there is concern that the failures, which came after the collapse of another US lender, Silvergate Bank, last week, are a sign of troubles at other firms. Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics said the US authorities had "acted aggressively to prevent a contagion developing". "But contagion has always been more about irrational fear, so we would stress that there is no guarantee this will work," he added. Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at the stockbrokers AJ Bell, said: "The first rush of relief has been replaced by niggling concerns that the era of high rates might be more difficult for some banks to stomach than had been previously thought. "In the US, bank stocks slid despite Joe Biden's pledge that 'whatever is needed' will be carried out to prevent more dominos from tumbling." The failure of SVB has re-ignited debates - similar to those seen following the 2008 financial crisis - about how much the government should do to regulate and protect banks. The chair of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, says there will be a thorough and transparent review of the collapse. Mr Biden called for tougher rules and emphasised that investors and bank leaders would not be spared. "They knowingly took a risk... that's how capitalism works," he said. Still, Republican Senator Tim Scott, seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2024, called the rescue "problematic". "Building a culture of government intervention does nothing to stop future institutions from relying on the government to swoop in after taking excessive risks," he said. Once again people are worried about banks. Once again there is intense debate about bailouts. But this isn't 2008. Following the global financial crisis, the focus was on reforming banks considered "too big to fail". Today's problems are centred around medium- and smaller-sized banks. Both of the banks that collapsed - Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank - had the same thing in common: their business models were too concentrated in one sector and they were over exposed to assets whose values came under pressure from rising interest rates. The criticism is that they should have foreseen this and they didn't. US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has gone to great lengths to signal the Fed's intention to raise interest rates. Since most banks are well diversified and have plenty of cash on hand, the assumption is that the risk to the rest of the banking sector is low. That won't stop regulators looking into what went wrong and what rules need to change. And the pressure on small- and medium-sized banks hasn't gone away. What happens to the US economy and the fight against inflation also remains to be seen.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64935170

Ukraine war: Heavy losses reported as battle for Bakhmut rages - BBC News

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Both Ukraine and Russia have reported inflicting significant losses in the eastern city.

Europe

Ukraine and Russia have reported inflicting heavy losses as the battle for Bakhmut rages on. Moscow has been trying to take the eastern Ukrainian city for months in a grinding war of attrition. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces had suffered more than 1,100 deaths in the past few days, with many more seriously injured. Russia said it had killed more than 220 Ukrainian service members over the past 24 hours. The BBC is unable to verify the numbers given by either side. Analysts say Bakhmut has little strategic value, but has become a focal point for Russian commanders who have struggled to deliver any positive news to the Kremlin. Capture of the city would bring Russia slightly closer to its goal of controlling the whole of Donetsk region, one of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine annexed by Russia last September following referendums widely condemned outside Russia as a sham. Ukrainian commanders, who have committed significant resources to defending the city, say their strategy aims to tie Russia's forces down and prevent Moscow from launching any further offensives in the coming months. "In less than a week, starting from 6 March, we managed to kill more than 1,100 enemy soldiers in the Bakhmut sector alone, Russia's irreversible loss, right there, near Bakhmut," Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address. He added that 1,500 Russian soldiers were wounded badly enough to keep them out of further action. Russia's defence ministry said Russian forces had killed "more than 220 Ukrainian servicemen". The commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said the Russian mercenary Wagner Group was attacking his troops from several directions in a bid to break through defences and advance to the central districts of the town. The paramilitary organisation is at the heart of the Russian assault on Bakhmut. Its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has staked his reputation, and that of his private army, on seizing Bakhmut. He said on Sunday that the situation in the city was "difficult, very difficult, the enemy is fighting for every metre". "And the closer to the city centre, the fiercer the fighting," he said in a voice recording published on Telegram. After his envisioned capture of Bakhmut, "we will begin to reboot" and "will start recruiting new people from the regions", he said. And on Saturday, the Institute for the Study of War - a US think tank - reported that Moscow's offence was stalling. "Wagner Group fighters are likely becoming increasingly pinned in urban areas... and are therefore finding it difficult to make significant advances," it said. There were about 70,000 people living in Bakhmut before the invasion, but only a few thousand remain. The city was once best known for its salt and gypsum mines and huge winery. Those who remain in the city risk a hazardous existence, with four people injured in Bakhmut on Monday, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Like Russia, Ukraine has also given Bakhmut political significance, with President Zelensky making the city an emblem of resistance. When he visited Washington in December, he called it "the fortress of our morale" and gave a Bakhmut flag to the US Congress. Western officials estimate between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured so far in and around Bakhmut. A draft law introduced in the Russian parliament on Monday aims to push back the age bracket for compulsory military service, from the current 18-27 years to 21-30. Reuters reported that, due to the transition period between the old legislation and the new, 2024 and 2025 would see the conscription age span 10 or 11 years rather than the usual nine - meaning more men would be eligible to fight. Russia's previous attempt to draft thousands of new recruits into the Ukraine war met with some resistance. In September the announcement of a partial military mobilisation saw long queues form at border crossings as men of draft age sought to flee the call-up. The Kremlin said reports of fighting-age men fleeing had been exaggerated. Besides the Bakhmut fighting, seven residents were injured elsewhere in Donetsk region on Monday, governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Further east in Luhansk, regional governor Serhiy Haidai said the Russians had "significantly intensified shelling" on the front line. He added that Russia was bringing more and more equipment and troops to the area. Elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, there were 47 attacks on Ukrainian troops in Zaporizhzhia, according to the regional administration.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64935449

Gulnara Karimova: How Uzbek president’s daughter built a £200m property empire - BBC News

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Gulnara Karimova bought homes and a jet with funds obtained via bribery and corruption, a report says.

World

Gulnara Karimova and some of her portfolio in London A dictator's daughter who moonlighted as a pop star and diplomat spent $240m (£200m) on properties from London to Hong Kong, a report has found. Gulnara Karimova used UK companies to buy homes and a jet with funds obtained through bribery and corruption, the Freedom For Eurasia study says. It adds that accounting firms in London and the British Virgin Islands acted for UK companies involved in the deals. The story raises fresh doubts about the UK's efforts to tackle illegal wealth. British authorities have long been accused of not doing enough to prevent criminals from overseas using UK property to launder money. The report says the ease with which Karimova obtained UK property was "concerning". There is no suggestion that those acting for the companies linked to her were aware of any connection to her nor that the source of funds could have been suspicious. No-one who provided those services in the UK has been investigated or fined. For a time Gulnara Karimova was tipped to succeed her father, Islam Karimov, who ruled Uzbekistan as president of the central Asian state from 1989 until his death in 2016. She appeared in pop videos under the stage name "Googoosha", ran a jewellery company and served as ambassador to Spain. But then in 2014 she disappeared from public view. It later emerged she had been detained on corruption charges while her father was still in power and she was sentenced in December 2017. In 2019 she was sent to prison for breaching the terms of her house arrest. Prosecutors accused her of being part of a criminal group that controlled assets of more than $1bn (£760m) in 12 countries, including the UK, Russia and United Arab Emirates. "The Karimova case is one of the largest bribery and corruption cases of all time," says Tom Mayne, one of the researchers on the Freedom For Eurasia report and a research fellow at the University of Oxford. However, Karimova and her associates had already sold some of the property allegedly acquired with corrupt funds. Freedom For Eurasia researched property and land registry records to identify at least 14 properties it says were purchased before she was arrested, with allegedly suspicious funds, in various countries, including the UK, Switzerland, France, Dubai and Hong Kong. The report to be published on Tuesday 14 March, titled Who Enabled the Uzbek Princess?, focuses on five properties bought in and around London, now worth an estimated £50m - including three flats in Belgravia, just west of Buckingham Palace, a house in Mayfair and an £18m Surrey manor house with a private boating lake. Two of the Belgravia flats were sold in 2013 before Karimova was detained. In 2017, the house in Mayfair, the Surrey mansion and a third flat in Belgravia were frozen by the Serious Fraud Office. Freedom For Eurasia's report also names firms in London and the British Virgin Islands that it claims were used by Karimova or associates to enable them to spend the proceeds of crime on the properties as well as on a private jetliner. Karimova's boyfriend, Rustam Madumarov, and others now alleged to be associates of hers were listed in official documents as the "beneficial owners" - a legal term for the person who ultimately is in control - of companies based in the UK, Gibraltar and the British Virgin Islands. But the report says they were just proxies for Karimova, who used the firms to launder hundreds of millions of dollars. Accountancy services for two UK companies linked to Karimova - Panally Ltd and Odenton Management Ltd - were provided by SH Landes LLP, a firm formerly located on New Oxford Street in London. In late July 2010, SH Landes sought to register or acquire another company. The aim was to purchase a private jet for around $40m (£33m), with Madumarov named as the beneficial owner. In fact, according to the report, Karimova was really behind the purchase. Karimova's former property in Mayfair, London, was seized by the Serious Fraud Office When asked at the time about the source of his funds, SH Landes replied: "We believe that the question regarding his personal wealth is not relevant in this situation." This was seemingly because the money to buy the jet was not being provided by Madumarov out of his personal funds. The London-based firm later said Madumarov's wealth came partly from a mobile phone company based in Uzbekistan, Uzdonrobita. Questions had already been raised about the company's possible links to Karimova. As far back as 2004, an article for the Moscow Times had alleged that Karimova siphoned some $20m out of Uzdunrobita using fraudulent invoices. A former adviser had also accused Karimova of "racketeering". Because it was a high-value transaction linked to a high-risk jurisdiction, Uzbekistan, the report argues that SH Landes should have conducted "enhanced due diligence" - thorough background checks to ensure the source of funds was legitimate and not derived from criminal activity. SH Landes also submitted the 2012 financial statements for Panally Ltd. The report says in September 2013 they were signed off by a close associate of Karimova's: Gayane Avakyan, then aged 30. The previous year, the BBC had published allegations that Avakyan was the registered beneficial owner of Takilant, a Gibraltar-registered company at the centre of "a high-level multi-million dollar fraud and corruption scandal in Uzbekistan". In a statement to the BBC, Steven Landes said: "SH Landes LLP was never engaged by Gulnara Karimova. SH Landes LLP did act on behalf of Rustam Madumarov. "SH Landes LLP obtained due diligence on all its clients and relevant regulatory authorities were notified and kept appraised." Tom Mayne of Freedom For Eurasia said the apparent ease with which Karimova managed to buy so much UK property was concerning. "It took the authorities until 2017 to do anything, years after other countries had already frozen bank accounts and properties that belonged to her," he added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-64915348

Oscars 2023: Everything Everywhere All At Once cleans up with seven awards - BBC News

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The sci-fi drama gets seven awards, with Michelle Yeoh the first Asian woman to win best actress.

Entertainment & Arts

Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win best actress, as Everything Everywhere All at Once dominated at the Oscars. The dazzling multiverse adventure won seven awards including best picture, director and original screenplay. Accepting her statuette, Yeoh said: "For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. "And ladies, don't let anybody tell you that you are ever past your prime." Yeoh's co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis triumphed in the supporting actor and actress categories. In the history of the Oscars, no other film has ever won best picture, best director and three acting prizes. In Everything Everywhere All at Once, Yeoh plays a Chinese-American laundrette owner who is mired in a tax audit, stuck in a crumbling marriage and struggling to connect with her daughter Joy. But when she discovers different versions of herself in the multiverse, she must tap into their skills in order to save the world. "This is proof that dreams do come true," Yeoh said in her speech. "I have to dedicate this to all the moms in the world because they are the superheroes, and without them, none of us would be here tonight." Everything Everywhere All At Once directors Daniel Scheinert (left), Daniel Kwan (right) and producer Jonathan Wang (centre) The 60-year-old enjoyed a late surge in momentum in this year's Oscars race, ultimately overtaking the early frontrunner Cate Blanchett. Yeoh is only the second woman of colour to win best leading actress, following Halle Berry for Monster's Ball more than two decades ago. Best leading actress has historically been far less diverse than the supporting actress category, where Ariana DeBose, Yuh-jung Youn, Regina King, Viola Davis, Lupita Nyong'o and Octavia Spencer have won in the past decade. Elsewhere, Brendan Fraser capped his extraordinary comeback after years away from the Hollywood spotlight by winning best actor for his performance in The Whale. Thanking the film's director, the 54-year-old said: "I'm grateful to Darren Aronofsky for throwing me a creative lifeline." "I just wanted to say thank you for this acknowledgement," he said. Addressing his fellow nominees, he said: "You laid your whale-sized hearts so we could see into your souls, like no-one else could do, and it is my honour to be named alongside you in this category." Fraser was a huge film star at the turn of the millennium, starring in films such as George of the Jungle and The Mummy. But he spent years out of the spotlight as he struggled to recapture his earlier success, mostly taking on smaller roles. That changed when he was cast in The Whale as an overweight professor trying to repair his relationship with his estranged daughter. Fraser transformed his appearance for the film, which also won best make-up and hairstyling. Much like Fraser, best supporting actor winner Quan has enjoyed a comeback narrative this awards season. The actor catapulted back into the spotlight thanks to his role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. He told the audience: "Dreams are something you have to believe in - I almost gave up on mine." The 51-year-old took an extended break from acting after rising to fame as a child star in films such as The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. In an emotional speech, the Vietnamese-American actor said: "They say stories like this only happen in the movies - I cannot believe it is happening to me. This is the American dream. "My journey started on a boat, I spent a year in a refugee camp, and somehow I ended up here, on Hollywood's biggest stage... Thank you so much for welcoming me back." Jamie Lee Curtis' victory in best supporting actor marks her first Oscar in a 45-year acting career Curtis won the first Oscar of her 45-year acting career by scoring best supporting actress - one of the tightest categories of the night. "I know it looks like I'm standing up here by myself but I am not, I am hundreds of people," Curtis said in her acceptance speech. "The entire group of artists who made this movie - we just won an Oscar." Everything Everywhere also won best editing, best original screenplay and best directing for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert - jointly known as Daniels. Accepting best picture, Kwan said "I realised growing up that one of the things we can do for each other is shelter each other from the chaos of this crazy world that we live in. Thank you to the storytellers who did that for me." All Quiet on the Western Front, Netflix's German-language World War One epic, finished the night in second place with four awards - best international feature, original score, production design and cinematography. Its success at the Oscars follows a string of technical wins at the Baftas, but the film failed to replicate its British victory in the top category. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio was named best animated feature. The Mexican filmmaker said: "Animation is cinema, animation is not a genre and animation is ready to be taken to the next step." Wakanda Forever's Ruth E Carter repeated the best costume design victory she scored with the original Black Panther. She dedicated the prize to her mother, who died aged 101 last week. Wakanda Forever's Ruth E Carter dedicated her award for best costume design for her late mother There was a British win for The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse. The adaptation of the illustrated Charlie Mackesy book, which aired on BBC One over Christmas, won best animated short. The award for best documentary feature went to Navalny, about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the events related to his 2020 poisoning. In his speech, director Daniel Roher dedicated the award to Navalny, who has been imprisoned for two years, saying: "Alexei, the world has not forgotten your vital message to the world." Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, added: "Alexei, I am dreaming of the day you will be free and our country will be free, stay strong my love." There was a win in the best sound category for Top Gun: Maverick - one of the biggest box office hits of the past year - while Naatu Naatu from RRR won best original song. Elsewhere at the ceremony, a dressed-down Lady Gaga sang a stripped-back rendition of Hold My Hand (from Top Gun: Maverick) while Rihanna sang Lift Me Up (from Wakanda Forever). Kimmel joked that dancers from Indian film RRR would appear behind any winners whose speeches went on too long The 95th Academy Awards ceremony was hosted by US chat show host Jimmy Kimmel, who opened with a monologue which reflected on the past 12 months in the film industry. "They say Hollywood is running out of ideas. I mean, poor Steven Spielberg had to make a movie about Steven Spielberg," he joked, referring to the director's autobiographical best picture nominee The Fabelmans. He also made jokes about the cancelled Batgirl film - commenting that the character was "the first superhero to be defeated by the accounting department". The US comic described Avatar: The Way of Water as "another opportunity for James Cameron to do what he loves doing more than anything else - drowning Kate Winslet" (the actress also appeared in Cameron's Titanic). Jimmy Kimmel brought a donkey on stage - a reference to the Banshees of Inisherin "It was a big year for diversity and inclusion," Kimmel continued, "we have nominees from every corner of Dublin." The Banshees of Inisherin had four acting nominations, including Colin Farrell and Kerry Condon. "Five Irish actors are nominated tonight which means the odds of another fight on stage just went way up." Finally, Kimmel referenced the event that overshadowed last year's ceremony: Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. "If anyone here commits an act of violence during the show, you will be awarded best actor," Kimmel said, to much laughter, "and permitted to give a 19-minute speech".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64935289

Mother of Caroline Flack does not accept Met Police apology - BBC News

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Christine Flack says her daughter would still be alive if she had not been charged with assault.

UK

Caroline's mum told the BBC she thinks about her daughter "every day, every hour, the whole time" The mother of Caroline Flack has said she rejects an apology given by the Metropolitan Police about how her daughter's case was handled. The TV star was facing prosecution for assaulting her boyfriend when she killed herself in February 2020. The Met last month apologised to her mum, Christine Flack, for not recording the reason why she had been charged. Christine told the BBC she rejects that apology, while the force said her arrest had been handled appropriately. It is three years since The X Factor and Love Island host took her own life. She had been due to appear in court over the alleged assault of her then-boyfriend, Lewis Burton, in the weeks before her death, in 2020. Following her arrest, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) initially decided Caroline only receive a caution - a decision that was appealed by a senior Met officer and resulted in her instead facing a charge of assault by beating. A coroner later ruled the presenter killed herself because she knew she was facing prosecution and feared the publicity a trial would attract. Following her death, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) carried out a review of the Met's decision to charge her. The review "did not identify any misconduct" by the Met. However, the IOPC did ask the Met to apologise to Caroline's family about not recording its reason to appeal the original CPS decision. Last month, the force apologised for not officially recording why the presenter had been charged. Christine has previously said her daughter had been treated differently because of her fame. Speaking to BBC Newsnight's Victoria Derbyshire, she said she does not accept that apology, adding: "It just seems wrong. They haven't said why there were no notes taken, why nothing was recorded. I don't know whether they're covering something." Christine Flack believes her daughter would still be alive if she had not been charged with assault When asked if she thought her daughter would still be alive if the caution had remained and Caroline had not been charged, Christine told Newsnight: "I do, I really do." "Once all the pictures came out in the newspapers and things were written about her on social media - they just picked up the bad," she said. "There was a lot of good, but Caroline wasn't reading the good - she was only reading the bad." She added: "She lost her job straight away, without even being found guilty or going to court. She had another series axed." Christine says she will not stop campaigning for a more comprehensive apology from the Met for the way it dealt with her daughter in the hours before she died. Following her arrest, Caroline was taken by ambulance to hospital because she had self-harmed. She was later locked in a cell for 24 hours, which her mother believes was unnecessary. The Met told the BBC the arrest had been handled appropriately. A spokesman said: "Our thoughts and sympathies remain with Ms Flack's family for their loss and we are sorry for the impact this has had on them. "When a person is arrested they can be held in custody for a period of up to 24 hours to allow officers time to gather evidence and investigate the alleged offence. "A review by the Independent Office for Police Conduct did not identify any misconduct in relation to the handling of Ms Flack's arrest, however, it concluded that an officer involved in the investigation should receive reflective practice." Christine told Newsnight her biggest regret is not speaking out publicly in the hours after her daughter's arrest to correct what she describes as "lies'" printed by the press. "Things that went into the press that she hit someone with a lamp or a fan - that was just totally untrue," she says. "And nobody ever came out and said, 'No, that didn't happen.'" Watch the Newsnight interview in full at 22:30 on BBC Two or on BBC iPlayer If you, or someone you know, have been affected by mental health issues or self-harm, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64909550

Why am I the only male Scottish footballer to come out? - BBC News

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Zander Murray asks why he is the only male senior Scottish footballer to reveal publicly that he is gay.

Scotland

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'I want to inspire young men to be themselves' - Zander Murray Is football homophobic and what can we do if it is? Those were the questions I wanted to answer when the BBC Scotland Disclosure team approached me about making a documentary. My decision last September to become the first male Scottish senior footballer to come out publicly as gay was not an easy or quick one. It took a lot of hard work. I had told my family and close friends 18 months before but it had actually taken 20 years to get to the stage where I was able to be my true authentic self and continue to play football. I'm now 31 and football is the game I have loved from the moment I started kicking a ball as a small child. I was obsessed. I played all the time and I was better than most other kids. By my teens I was I playing for Motherwell's youth team but I was also beginning to realise I was different from my friends. I knew I was gay and I fought against it. I fought it because of the kind of conversations I was having in the changing room. Zander Murray scores against Sauchie Juniors in the Scottish Cup These were the sorts of conversations young lads have - about girls, being tough, playing hard, and the language used to describe gay men was not what you would call inclusive. We were just boys and didn't know any better but it did set me apart from my team-mates. While going out on the pitch was my relief, I slowly turned away from the game and gave up on my dream of playing football professionally. In my 20s I started playing seriously again, building up through smaller teams. It was only after I joined Gala Fairydean Rovers, and became their top goal scorer, that I gained the confidence to be honest about who I am, and felt ready to tell the world. The overwhelming majority of people were positive. I was looked after by my club, and treated as just the same old Zander by my team-mates. I'm not completely alone. Other players in Australia, England, and the Czech Republic have also come out publicly. Things are changing. But there is a long way to go. Nearly 3.5% of the UK male population identifies as gay or bisexual. So with more than 1,000 professional male footballers in Scotland you'd expect about 35 of them to be gay. Yet I'm the only one who's publicly out. Why am I the only one who has felt able to do this? In the course of filming the documentary I've heard first-hand testimony from fans, amateur players, and my friend the referee Lloyd Wilson, about how homophobic language makes them feel. About how it excludes and hurts people. About how it damages them. One player with the LGBTQ+ friendly team Saltire Thistle told me he had tried to come out to his football friends at 18 but he was left shunned and isolated. It took him another 12 years to tell the world who he really was. That broke my heart, but seeing him kicking about and chatting freely to his new team-mates gave me huge hope. There is a lot of work to do. A survey last year showed only 6% of gay men take part in team sports. And many say it's homophobia that's stopping them joining in. There is a problem here, so how do we tackle it? This season, the Scottish Football Association introduced Disciplinary Rule 81, which results in a 10-match ban for any player or club official who engages in homophobic abuse, or any other form of discriminatory behaviour in and around football. This has been used 22 times this season. And 17 of these have been because of a homophobic slur or a homophobic action on or around the field of play. That accounts for 77% of all such cases. That number shocked me. But I agree when the SFA told me that it shows officials and clubs are feeling empowered to take a stand and report such behaviour. I believe education is also important. The SFA and the charity LEAP have a "Football vs Homophobia" strategy, which I support. I also join the charity "Time for Inclusive Education" in going out and meeting youth teams, talking to the next generation of players about being respectful, kind, and welcoming. I feel very lucky. I'm now signed to Bonnyrigg Rose, fulfilling my dream of playing in the professional leagues. It has been an amazing six months for me, but I'm not calling on other gay male players to come out. That's their business and their decision. I just hope my story can help empower others to accept themselves. As one of the fans I met said: "Football is the beautiful game and it deserves to be beautiful for everyone."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64888400

Gary Glitter: Paedophile former pop star recalled to prison - BBC News

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The singer, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.

UK

Gary Glitter was one of the biggest music stars of the 1970s Disgraced former pop star Gary Glitter has been recalled to prison after breaching his licence conditions, the Probation Service has said. The singer, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was freed in February after serving half his 16-year jail term for sexually abusing three schoolgirls. His recall comes just over a month since being freed. Upon release, he was subject to licence conditions including having a GPS tag. The pop star, 79, was one of the biggest music stars of the 1970s. He was jailed in 2015 for attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one of having sex with a girl under 13. A Probation Service spokesperson said protecting the public was their "number one priority", adding: "That's why we set tough licence conditions and when offenders breach them, we don't hesitate to return them to custody." Gadd had been held at HMP The Verne, a low security category C jail in Portland, Dorset. When he was released he was also subject to close monitoring by the police and probation officers, with the Ministry of Justice saying at the time sex offenders "face some of the strictest licence conditions". Gadd was not added to the sex offenders register for these crimes, because they were committed before the register was introduced. However, he was already ordered to sign the register for life when he returned to the UK after he was found guilty of sexually abusing two young girls in Vietnam in 2006. Gadd had been at the height of his fame when he attacked two girls aged 12 and 13 after inviting them backstage to his dressing room. His youngest victim had been less than 10 years old when he crept into her bed and tried to rape her in 1975. Gadd had denied allegations against him but was found guilty after a trial lasting three weeks. In 2015 at the time of sentencing, Judge McCreath said he could find "no real evidence that" Gadd had atoned for his crimes and described his abuse of a girl under 10 as "appalling". The allegations that led to Gadd's imprisonment came to light when he became the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree - the investigation launched by the Met in 2012 in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal. Gadd, who performed as Gary Glitter, had three UK number ones including I'm the Leader of the Gang (I am!). His fall from grace began decades later in 1999 after he admitted possessing thousands of images that showed child sex abuse and was jailed for four months. Upon being freed he went abroad and in 2002 was expelled from Cambodia amid sex crime allegations. He was later convicted of sexually abusing two young girls in neighbouring Vietnam in March 2006 and spent two-and-a-half years in jail. On returning to the UK in 2008, he was forced to sign the sex offenders register. In 2012, he was arrested at his London home following an investigation by detectives, before the case that led to his latest conviction came to trial in January 2015.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64946392

Still time to save Our Wild Isles, say UK conservation charities - BBC News

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Three of the biggest conservation charities team up to try and halt the destruction of nature in UK.

Science & Environment

Three of Britain's biggest conservation charities are joining forces to try to halt the destruction of UK nature. They say they want to use their collective voice to call on everyone to act now to protect the natural world. Between them, The National Trust, WWF and RSPB have 8.5 million members. "We've come together because whilst we have spectacular nature here in the UK, it is in crisis," said Tanya Steele, the chief executive of WWF, which has 1.5m members. The "Save Our Wild Isles" campaign aims to use Sir David Attenborough's new five-part series focusing on UK nature to help catalyse action. The first episode of Wild Isles was broadcast on BBC1 last night and highlighted some of the stunning wildlife that still exists in the UK. But Sir David warned viewers "how fragile and fragmented our nature is". He said the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. "Never has there been a more important time to invest in our own wildlife," the 96-year-old told viewers, as he sat surrounded by puffins on the island of Skomer off the Welsh coast in the final scene of the first episode. The RSPB and WWF are credited as co-producers of the series, but the BBC says they had no editorial input on the programme. "We need to use the love which people have for nature and amplify it to make sure everyone plays a part to make a difference," said Hilary McGrady, the director general of the National Trust, which has 5.8m members. The charities want individuals, businesses, public bodies and our politicians to participate. "It will take every single one of us to play our part," said Rebecca Munro, the executive director of the RSPB, which has 1.2m members. Charities can't do this on their own, she told the BBC. "It needs to be individuals. It needs to be communities coming together. It needs to be businesses, and it needs to be our leaders." The charities say there is just enough of the UK's natural world still left to save The campaign urges us all to "Go Wild Once a Week". That could mean making space for nature in our local neighbourhood by planting wildflowers in a window box or green space, eating less meat or getting involved in a community project or urging our leaders to take action for nature's recovery. A YouGov poll commissioned for the new campaign found that 76% of people are worried about the condition of nature in the UK. But the poll also reveals we have no idea how bad things are. Just 5% of people rated the UK as one of the worst countries for protecting nature, while 55% said they thought the UK was doing as well as the rest of the world or better. The truth is the UK is in the bottom 10% of countries globally for protecting nature, according to the Living Planet Index produced by the Natural History Museum.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64903069

Ukraine war: Life in Mariupol under Russian occupation - BBC News

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Russia captured Mariupol in May after a brutal siege. Now, it's trying to win hearts and minds.

Europe

The invading Russian forces damaged some 90% of residential buildings in Mariupol Finding people willing to speak to me from Mariupol was never going to be easy. After 10 months of Russian occupation, fear and distrust are the two most frequent responses I encountered when looking for someone who could tell me how things really are in Mariupol, in Ukraine's south-east. "I think you are a Russian journalist. You won't like what I've got to say. People like you kill if you tell them the truth," said one social media user who claimed to be from the port city. Russian forces put the people of Mariupol through a horrific months-long siege, before finally capturing it last May. I eventually found three residents willing to speak to me at length: a local city councillor, a retired pensioner and an engineer. All spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals from the local authorities installed by Russia (who block access to occupied Ukraine by Western journalists). They paint a picture of a massively expensive campaign conducted by Russia to win over the hearts and minds of the people of Mariupol, and rebuild a city damaged beyond recognition by Russia's own troops. The purpose of this campaign is to assimilate Mariupol and make it Russia's own. Their accounts corroborate each other, and are confirmed by social media posts about recent developments in Mariupol. Before this war began about half a million people lived in the city. According to UN estimates, 90% of residential buildings were damaged or destroyed, and 350,000 people were forced to leave after Russia attacked in February 2022. Your device may not support this visualisation It is difficult to estimate the exact number of people killed as a result of the relentless shelling of Mariupol, but Ukrainian authorities say more than 20,000 died there. Russian-installed authorities in Mariupol say some 300,000 people are now living there. The people who spoke to me from Mariupol said their city had been inundated with labourers from across Russia, as well as from Central Asia. Oleg Morgun, the Russia-installed "mayor" of Mariupol, says some 70,000 of those currently in the city are construction workers and members of the Russian military. New buildings have appeared and many buildings damaged during the bombardment have gone. For example, the Russian military has built a whole new district comprised of a dozen apartment blocks in the western part of Mariupol. It is called Nevsky, after the River Neva, on which President Vladimir Putin's home city of St Petersburg stands. According to Russian state media, St Petersburg is the main sponsor of the reconstruction of Mariupol. Russia is building new housing to replace what it destroyed "It says on the bus: St Petersburg and Mariupol are twinned cities. There are slogans everywhere telling us that we're part of Russia now," pensioner Maria (not her real name) told me. "I liked things the way they used to be. Now we live in fear. We have no idea what to expect." In the houses that escaped relatively unscathed after months of fierce fighting, the Russians are replacing windows, radiators and sometimes heating and sewage pipes. Heating, running water and electricity supplies have largely been restored. Buses are running and full of passengers again, although the electric trolley bus and tram networks are still out of action. Many schools, hospitals and shops have reopened as well, although numerous traders are selling their wares straight from the pavement. Maria was particularly impressed with one school rebuilt under Russian rule: "It's so beautiful, covered in multi-coloured squares." According to her, the number of children in Mariupol now is greater than schools can currently accommodate, so they have classes in two shifts: one in the morning, and another in the afternoon. Russia has imposed its own Russian-language curriculum in occupied areas - complicating efforts to get children back to school. Shops have reopened and power is back, but many traders are selling their wares on the pavement The fast-paced rebuilding of Mariupol has provoked envy in Donetsk, the regional capital occupied by pro-Russian forces since 2014, which has been neglected by comparison. The Russia-installed head of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, has even had to deny rumours that the capital will be moved to Mariupol. There are other important ways in which Russia is putting its stamp on Mariupol. For example, local residents are under pressure to obtain Russian passports. Ivan, the Mariupol city councillor I spoke to (not his real name), said locals often formed "huge queues" trying to get Russian passports. They were required if you want to find formal employment, especially with government agencies or in the public sector, he explained. Also, they made it possible to travel to Russia without additional stringent checks known as "filtration", he added. Ukraine believes 20,000 people died during the siege of Mariupol "So they have deliberately created a situation where you get problems if you have Ukrainian papers, you have to deal with red tape, you have to wait. On the other hand, if you get a Russian passport, that's where your problems end: 'You're one of us now'. Things get simpler if you receive a Russian passport," Ivan said. Mariupol is also becoming part of Russia's financial system. The Ukrainian currency, the hryvnya, has been phased out, and now the Russian rouble is the only currency accepted in shops. Russia is channelling huge amounts of money into pension payments for residents of Mariupol, raising them in many cases compared with what they received from the Ukrainian authorities before the war. So residents of Mariupol are able to draw two pensions - one from Russia, another from Ukraine. Naturally, it is a situation many local pensioners are happy with. Russian pensions are another reason why elderly residents are queuing up to get Russian passports - many pensioners believe the documents will be required in the future to continue receiving payments from Russia. The media currently operating in Mariupol are also hard at work promoting a uniformly pro-Russian agenda. Many current residents of Mariupol are there because they were unable to leave the city when the Russians attacked, due to illness or old age, or because they welcome Russia's presence. "We've suffered enough under Ukraine. Now we can breathe again," one social media user told me, before breaking off all contact. New signs for the city are decked out in the colours of the Russian flag The fast-paced campaign of reconstruction and the resulting sense of restored normality, the generous pension payments and the intensive media campaign targeting the people of Mariupol, all stimulate the spread of pro-Russian sentiment in the city. "I'm sick of all the propaganda in the papers. They started publishing it from day one, telling us how well things are going," said Yuri, the engineer (not his real name). "I feel out of place in my own city now. People are different, my city feels different now." City councillor Ivan said: "It's become difficult for me to say pro-Ukrainian things to my voters. It's tough being pro-Ukrainian in a pro-Russian environment. Unfortunately, Ukraine is losing the hearts and minds of people in Mariupol." Those who are still in Mariupol may be happy to see a degree of normality return to their city, but there are those who suspect Russia of pursuing ulterior motives. Popular Ukrainian journalist Denys Kazansky argues that Russia uses the new houses it has been building in Mariupol to distract attention from all the destruction it caused in the city and elsewhere in his native Donetsk region. "If they destroyed 10 hospitals and then rebuilt one - this isn't reconstruction. It's not something they can be thanked for," he said. "You can be happy as much as you like about a school being rebuilt, but what do you do with the thousands of people Russia has killed?" he said. "You can't rebuild them. You can't bring them back."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64887890

Hamburg Jehovah's Witnesses in shock after mass shooting - BBC News

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Services have been cancelled across the city as police say they cannot rule out a copycat attack.

Europe

"We pray together, we cry together," says community representative Michael Tsifidaris In a brightly lit hall on an industrial estate, rows of empty chairs are arranged in front of a plain wooden lectern. Hamburg's Jehovah's witnesses have cancelled all services following Thursday's deadly shooting in another meeting hall in the city which claimed seven lives, including that of an unborn child. The attack took place shortly after worshippers finished their service. Police have told them that they cannot rule out the possibility of a so-called copycat attack, says Michael Tsifidaris, who speaks for the community here. He's smartly dressed in a business suit, but looks exhausted. It's clear that he's still deeply shaken. Two of his friends were killed in the attack. He tells us he spent Thursday night with survivors in hospital, and at the police station. But he also comforted relatives as they waited in a hastily arranged emergency centre for news of their loved ones. "It's hard to imagine - a group of people are sitting together during an evening in the church, reading the Bible, singing, praying together. Then they spend a couple of minutes together to talk to each other after the meeting, Then, all of a sudden, a scene of love becomes a scene of hate and death." The fact that the killer was a former member of the Jehovah's Witness community here makes the tragedy particularly hard to bear. There are about 4,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in and around Hamburg. The community is divided into smaller congregations, each with their own meeting place, known as a Kingdom Hall. Detectives investigating the mass shooting have said the killer left the Jehovah's Witnesses on terms which were "not good". Mr Tsifidaris says he doesn't know why the man left, didn't know him personally, and appears reluctant to talk about him. Those who leave the Jehovah's Witnesses are often "disassociated" or cut off by most members of the community; a practice sometimes referred to as "shunning". The police have revealed they recently received an anonymous letter, in which the author warned the attacker had a gun, was mentally unstable and harboured anger against religious groups, including the Jehovah's Witnesses. "He left the community two years ago and now, all of a sudden, he's showing up and is acting against all the principles we stand for," says Mr Tsifidaris. "What we know is that in the religious context, there is a community he knows, there is a community he was part of, so this is a community he focused his hate on. He knew the premises, he knew the arrangements." For now, the community is meeting online. Mr Tsifidaris, who refers to his fellow members as brothers and sisters, speaks often of the comfort to be found in supporting one another. "We pray together, we cry together." Uppermost in their thoughts are those who remain seriously injured in hospital. He's adamant that their treatment is not compromised by a refusal to accept blood transfusions - Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God forbids this. They are not yet out of danger, he tells us, but the doctors say there's a fair chance most will survive. For now, the focus is on supporting the bereaved and the traumatised. No one, he says, is left alone in their grief. This attack has left a city in mourning and a community in shock and horror. It will, says Mr Tsifidaris, take years to heal. Jehovah's Witnesses services were cancelled after the mass shooting

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64932138

Scientists track iceberg the size of London - BBC News

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Two bergs the size of Greater London and Cornwall are drifting towards an area where they could affect shipping and nature.

Science & Environment

A76a: The ice extends to great depth below the waterline British scientists are tracking two of the world's biggest icebergs as they drift towards areas where they could affect shipping, fishing and wildlife. These city-sized frozen blocks which have broken away from Antarctica can take decades to melt and wither away. A group of researchers photographed one named A81 as they were flying off the UK's Halley base for the season. This berg is as large as Greater London. Another team sailed around A76a, an even bigger one the size of Cornwall. This behemoth is not just similar to the English county in size - at over 3,000 sq km - but also in shape: it's long and thin. Some have likened its appearance to a giant ironing board. Prof Geraint Tarling was on board the Royal Research Ship Discovery which took the opportunity to inspect the berg as it drifted out of Antarctica's Weddell Sea into the South Atlantic. "It was directly in our path as we sailed home so we took 24 hours out to go around it," the biological oceanographer told BBC News. "We got in quite close in some places, and had a really good view of it. We collected water from around the berg using special non-contaminated pipes under the ship, so we've got lots of samples to study." The British Antarctic Survey scientist said the huge flat-topped, or tabular, icebergs had a considerable influence on their environment - both disruptive and productive. Iceberg A81 is as big as Greater London As they melt, they put prodigious volumes of fresh water into the sea, which can make it hard for some organisms to function. On the other hand, the melt also releases the mineral dust that was incorporated into the ice when it was part of a glacier scraping along the rock bed of Antarctica. This dust is a source of nutrients that will spur life in the open ocean. A76a originated far to the south of its present position, having calved from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in May 2021. It's now heading north, carried by currents and winds towards the gap between the British overseas territories of the Falklands and South Georgia. There is some concern that it could swing east towards South Georgia and get stuck in the shallow waters of its continental shelf - or possibly at the series of nearby islets known as Shag Rocks. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. In either location, it would be a complication for local wildlife and people. "If it does become grounded, our major concern is break-up and the impact of (smaller) icebergs on vessel movements in the area," explained Dr Mark Belchier, the director of fisheries and environment with the government for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. "Although the tourist season is coming to an end, our fisheries operate during the winter months so it may impact on their operations. It does have the potential to cause localised issues for some of our wildlife, although that's likely to be less of an issue if it breaks up over winter when most animals can forage over greater distances and don't have to keep returning to land to feed young - or have moved away from the island completely." A81 broke away from the Brunt Ice Shelf at the end of January. It had been expected to calve several years ago, but somehow managed to hang on to the continent by the slimmest of icy threads, defying scientists' predictions. Its eventual destiny is to follow A76a out into the shipping lanes of the South Atlantic. A BAS team had the opportunity to fly over the berg when they closed up and left the Halley research station at the end of the Southern Hemisphere summer season. It's often hard to gauge the size of icebergs when viewing their white mass in pictures. But for both A81 and A76a, it's worth remembering that what you see is only a fraction of the objects' bulk. The visible cliffs rise above the waterline by tens of metres, which means the ice extends down from the water surface by hundreds of metres. A block of ice known as A23a is currently the world's largest berg. It measures some 4,000 sq km in area. Like A76a, it calved from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, but a very long time ago - in 1986. The block has spent the decades since as an "ice island", grounded in the south-central Weddell Sea.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64919341

Masatoshi Ito, billionaire who made 7-Eleven a global giant, dies at 98 - BBC News

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Masatoshi Ito's company brought 7-Eleven to Japan - where a quarter of stores are now located.

Business

Japanese billionaire Masatoshi Ito, who helped turn 7-Eleven convenience stores into a global business empire, has died aged 98. He died last Friday from old age, operator Seven & i Holdings said in a statement. "We would like to express our sincere gratitude to him for his kindness during his lifetime," the firm said. There are more than 83,000 7-Eleven stores around the world, with a quarter of them located in Japan. In 1956, Mr Ito took over a small Tokyo apparel store business that had been run by his uncle then half-brother. Mr Ito later renamed it Ito-Yokado and turned the business into a chain of one-stop stores that sold everything from groceries to clothes. It went public in 1972. Around the same time, an executive at Ito-Yokado, Toshifumi Suzuki, spotted a 7-Eleven store during a visit to the US. Ito-Yokado later forged a deal with 7-Eleven's owner - the US-based Southland Corporation - and opened Japan's first 7-Eleven in 1974. Mr Ito's firm moved to acquire a controlling stake in Southland Corporation in March 1990. "I am frequently asked if I succeeded because of hard work or because I was just lucky. Actually the answer is some of both," Mr Ito said in an interview. "I was fortunate to have started out in business right after the war - the same time that a broad-based consumer society was beginning to develop in Japan." In 1992, Mr Ito resigned from his position at Ito-Yokado over alleged illegal payments made by three executives to yakuza gangsters to keep order at a shareholders' meeting. Ito-Yokado was renamed Seven & i Holdings in 2005. The "i" in its name is a nod to Ito-Yokado and Mr Ito, who was the company's honorary chairman. Mr Ito was also influenced by his friendship with Austrian-American management guru Peter Drucker. "In the early years of his relationship with Dr Drucker, the two would connect in America or Japan and spend long evenings discussing the world economy, the Japanese economy, and the direction in which Mr Ito should be planning," according to the Drucker School of Management, that counts Mr Ito as a major donor. Prof Drucker called Mr Ito "one of the world's outstanding entrepreneurs and business builders."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64935490

Roman burial unearthed at hidden Garforth cemetery - BBC News

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The remains are described by archaeologists as a "once-in-a-lifetime find".

Leeds & West Yorkshire

Multiple burials in the same grave are among those found at the ancient cemetery in Garforth Skeletal remains of a high-status Roman woman encased in a lead coffin have been unearthed at a hidden cemetery dating back 1,600 years. Described as a "once-in-a-lifetime find", the female remains were discovered along with 60 other bodies at the site in Garforth, Leeds. The skeletons are believed to include both late Roman and early Saxon men, women and children. It is thought to be the first Anglo-Saxon cemetery found in West Yorkshire. A process known as carbon-14 dating will help determine a precise age of the remains Several archaeologists worked for weeks excavating the site and removing the lead coffin The cemetery was discovered as part of a standard archaeological survey on the site, which had been earmarked for development. Experts said the fact the coffin had been made out of lead signified the skeleton was someone of importance. David Hunter, principal archaeologist for West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service, said: "Lead coffins were expensive. The fact the family gave this person the expense of getting sheets of lead and the expertise to make the coffin, then it tells us a lot." Other burial practices found in the cemetery indicate early Christian beliefs as well as Saxon burials, which were accompanied by personal possessions such as knives and pottery. Mr Hunter said: "At Garforth we've got the Roman graves which are roughly east west in alignment and the Saxon graves which are north south in alignment, so the differences stand out like a sore thumb." Archaeologists who worked on the excavation hope the site can help chart the largely undocumented and historically-important transition between the fall of the Roman Empire in about 400AD and the establishment of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that followed. Mr Hunter said the discovery would also help fill in historical gaps about the Kingdom of Elmet - the huge swathe of land before it was broken down into Yorkshire subdivisions. It is hoped the lead coffin will be displayed in a future exhibition at Leeds City Museum Describing the unearthing of the cemetery as a highlight of his career, he said: "This has the potential to be a find of massive significance for what we understand about the development of ancient Britain and Yorkshire. "The presence of two communities using the same burial site is highly unusual and whether their use of this graveyard overlapped or not will determine just how significant the find is." Although the exact location has been kept confidential at the developer's request, the excavation was in part prompted by the previous nearby discovery of late Roman stone buildings and a small number of Anglo-Saxon style structures. Other artefacts giving clues to the age of the site were unearthed Now the dig is complete, expert analysis of the remains will take place, including carbon dating to establish the precise dates as well as chemical tests that can determine details such as individual diets and ancestry. Because about half of the skeletons were younger than full adult age and consisted of some multiple burials, they will also be examined for signs of disease or injury. But knowing exactly who these people were is something that will never be established. Mr Hunter said: "We can find out through archaeological means and by scientific techniques a lot about their lives and where they came from but unfortunately we will never know their names." Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-64917979

BBC boss Tim Davie denies climbdown over Lineker impartiality row - BBC News

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"We have had lots of discussion" with Gary Lineker, Tim Davie says, as social media review announced.

UK

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. BBC director general Tim Davie insists he has not backed down in the face of an uproar over the suspension of Gary Lineker. He said he took "proportionate action" after a row erupted over impartiality when Lineker criticised the government's asylum policy in a tweet. He added: "We believe we did the right thing. I think I did the right thing." The suspension brought chaos to schedules as pundits and commentators walked out in solidarity. After a compromise was reached to bring Lineker back on air, he tweeted his thanks to Davie and acknowledged he has an "impossible job keeping everyone happy". On Monday Davie also announced an independent review which will be carried out on social media guidelines - a move Lineker has agreed with. In an interview with the BBC the director general told me: "What we've agreed and I've spent time talking to Gary and we've had lots of discussion is that between now and when the review report is out, Gary will abide by the editorial guidelines, and that's where we are." I asked Davie how was he so out of touch with his own corporation, staff and programmes that he did not foresee the chaos that would happen. Davie replied: "They obviously were put in a very difficult situation. "I think people across the BBC, if you talk to them, are all very passionate about our standing as an impartial broadcaster. "I want to fight for a BBC where we can have proper calm debate, facilitate free speech." Davie said the decision to pull Lineker off air was always about buying some time until the two sides could come to an agreement over his political tweets - and said that was exactly what had happened. Lineker has "agreed to abide by the guidance whilst the independent review takes place," he added. The word "guidance" indicates this is about the BBC's social media guidance introduced by Davie in 2020. Back then it outlined "high-profile presenters" - even those not directly involved in news and current affairs - have an "added responsibility" to avoid being seen taking sides on matters of political controversy. As with all guidance, the challenge will be how that is interpreted. But, there seems to be an agreement on both sides to try to calm things down while an independent reviewer examines the rules. In a series of tweets Lineker said he was overwhelmed by support and was pleased he and the BBC "have navigated a way through this". Lineker added: "I'd like to thank Tim Davie for his understanding during this difficult period. "He has an almost impossible job keeping everybody happy, particularly in the area of impartiality. "I am delighted that we'll continue to fight the good fight, together." The disruption to programmes has also clearly surprised the BBC's top managers. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: The weekend of BBC football show chaos... in 90 seconds They were probably expecting that Match of the Day might look a bit different - in the end it went on air but was cut to a 20-minute highlight reel with no punditry, commentary or opening theme, though viewing figures were up by almost half a million at 2.58m. But, other radio and television programmes dropping off the schedules and being radically truncated is a pretty clear sign there are many within the BBC who feel Lineker has been treated unfairly. BBC Two's Sunday afternoon coverage of the Women's Super League went ahead without studio analysis and had to rely on world feed commentary, while Radio 5 Live was forced to plug gaps in the schedule with pre-recorded programmes for a second straight day. Match of the Day 2 followed the main programme's much-reduced format - airing for just 15 minutes - and was without the usual commentators and host Mark Chapman. The show started the same as Saturday's Match of the Day, where a continuity presenter apologised for the lack of commentary, which was followed by the opening credits that featured the words: "Premier League Highlights" without the usual theme tune and credits. There are also those who are furious that such a highly-paid star of the BBC has not been punished for describing a statement by the home secretary on a key matter of public policy as "beyond awful" and comparing the language used to set out the government's asylum plan to "that used by Germany in the 30s". Nor has there been an apology from Lineker for tweets that the BBC says broke its guidelines. It has bought the BBC some time but as soon as the review findings are announced millions will be watching Gary Lineker's tweets very carefully.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64940114

Royal Ascot 2023 style guide looks to recycled and rental outfits - BBC News

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The racecourse's 2023 style guide encourages racegoers to embrace pre-loved and rental outfits.

Berkshire

Ascot has published its latest style guide, encouraging racegoers to "raid grandma's hat boxes" and scour charity shops. Renamed The Royal Ascot Look Book, the racecourse is embracing sustainable fashion for 2023. The guide urges racegoers to "dream up an outfit that is authentic to their personal style and approach to sartorial shopping". Felicity Barnard, the racecourse's commercial director, said there were very few events that allow people to "embrace dressing for a special occasion on such a global scale". She continued: "Each year Royal Ascot becomes the most followed display of sartorial elegance and individual flair - a true celebration of style that is woven into the very fabric of Ascot's DNA. "This year sees an exciting evolution for what has been known as the Royal Ascot Style Guide for more than a decade. "For 2023 Ascot is proud to unveil the Royal Ascot Look Book where, for the first time, we look to inspire people through six new fashion edits that draw from current styling trends. "Responsible style remains a key part of Royal Ascot as we continue to find ways to dress, whether that is renting occasion wear or investing in forever pieces." Announcing the new fashion direction in a statement, the racecourse said it was inspired by fashion magazine editorials and hoped it would entice racegoers to "get lost in the magical world of occasion wear". "From retro-inspired vintage looks evocative of the 1970s to exquisite tailoring and avant garde millinery, the Look Book is a fashion feast with inspiration to suit all budgets," it added. Look Book photographer Damian Foxe said it had been a joy to be part of its evolution as it moves away from a means to communicate the dress code towards becoming a source of fashion inspiration. "For 2023, we have decided to completely move away from creating a Look Book dictated by enclosure, in favour of one which puts style centre stage," he explained. "In many ways, I think this reflects what we are seeing as the evolution of style at Royal Ascot and the myriad of looks on show from racegoers." Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-64937552

Hemsby: Two more homes on cliff edge demolished - BBC News

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Officials say the properties needed to be removed before they fell into the sea due to coastal erosion.

Norfolk

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Mary Withey's home was demolished on Sunday morning, making it the second of three to be removed Two more homes close to the cliff edge in Norfolk have been demolished amid fears they would fall into the sea. Residents left their chalets in The Marrams in Hemsby on Friday after the sandy cliffs beneath them eroded. Some of the properties were within 1m (3.2ft) of the cliff edge. A third property was pulled down on Saturday after several outbuildings were lost to the sea during high tide on Friday night. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. It took just a few hours to bring the first Hemsby property to the ground on Saturday Nicolette, who was passing by as the second of the three homes was being pulled down, described it as "brutal" and said it was an "emotional experience" watching it. She said: "People lived there, they enjoyed their times there and to see what coastal erosion is doing to not only the nature, the environment, but people's lives is really sad." Trevor, who was with her, added: "I guess these people have seen it coming slowly for a number of years but it's happened so much quicker than people ever expected." Sue, whose property was the first to be taken down, said it was "soul destroying". Along with her neighbours, she spent Saturday morning hurriedly packing up her belongings before the demolition teams moved in. Sue said she wished more could have been done to save her home of three years. Sue, who did not want to give her surname, said watching her home being demolished was "soul destroying" Watching her house being destroyed with her head in her hands, she said: "We've got some very happy memories there because it's got lovely energy to it, lovely atmosphere." The demolition work is taking place on the north side of Hemsby gap in the direction of Winterton-on-Sea. The gap is a break in the dunes used by the lifeboat crew to access the beach. Ms Withey said she felt "very sad" about the situation Mary Withey was not there to witness her home being demolished on Sunday morning. She said on Saturday that she and her partner "had got what we can" before the teams moved in. "I'm not OK with it, it's been my home, I don't want to move... it's very sad," said Ms Withey, who lived in her house for four years. Rob Eastaff, head of demolition, said other properties were at risk Now all three homes have been demolished, a clean-up operation will take place on Monday. All the materials will be taken to recycling centres, Rob Eastaff, head of demolition at the site, said. The 50-year-old said it was "not pleasant" demolishing the homes, especially because he remembered going over the dunes to get to the beach as a 10-year-old boy. He said to see the erosion that had happened over the past 40 years was a "terrible" thing. Other properties are currently at risk, "but at the moment we are only engaged in these three", he added. The two homes taken down on Sunday were on the eroded dunes on the north side of the gap Lance Martin's property on the south side of the gap is one of those still at risk. Mr Martin, who has lived there for almost six years, rebuilt what he described as his "dream home" after dragging it back further in-land. After this weekend, however, he said there was less than 1m left at the back of his house. He had hoped to move it again but there was uncertainty over whether his home could be saved. Lance Martin has already moved his home further in-land Mr Martin's property is teetering on the cliff edge Jane Beck, head of property and asset management at Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said it was "extremely sad" for those involved. "We're trying to do everything we possibly can to help them through that process," Ms Beck said. The beach and surrounding area at Hemsby should be avoided, she added, and she urged people to stay away for their own safety. The homes are being demolished before they fall into the sea The only access road to properties on the Marrams has also been cordoned off and is expected to collapse. Daniel Hurd, coxswain with the Hemsby lifeboat crew, said measures should have been put in place earlier Great Yarmouth Borough Council's chief executive, Sheila Oxtoby, said the authority was looking to bring some rock on to the beach to protect the road access to a number of other properties as a "temporary solution". It is understood 1,900 tonnes of granite are due to arrive on Wednesday. Hemsby Lifeboat coxswain Daniel Hurd, however, said the current situation could have been resolved earlier. He said: "I just think it's absolutely ridiculous, this has been an emergency for years and it's taken this weekend for them to see it's an emergency to then get a rock berm put on the beach." But the council said it was a "real minefield of making sure that what local government and the authorities do is the correct line of procedure". Hemsby, near Great Yarmouth, is home to about 3,000 people and was once home to a Pontins holiday camp. Seven bungalows along The Marrams had to be demolished when sandy cliffs washed away in March 2018 and, in December 2013, "the worst storm surge in 60 years", destroyed seven homes. Do you live in the area? How have you been affected by any issues raised here? You can share your experience by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-64930989

Bill Tidy: Cartoonist who appeared on Countdown and Countryfile dies aged 89 - BBC News

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Bill Tidy's family has paid tribute to "the most brilliant cartoonist and the very best dad".

Entertainment & Arts

Bill Tidy appeared on many television shows including The Chris Stuart Cha Cha Chat Show in 1985 Bill Tidy, the cartoonist who was known for his quick artistry on shows including Countdown and Countryfile, has died at the age of 89. His family paid tribute to "the most brilliant cartoonist and the very best dad" after he died with his children, Sylvia and Rob, by his side. Among Tidy's greatest works in a decades long career were The Fosdyke Saga and The Cloggies. But his health declined in recent years after he suffered two serious strokes. In a statement on his official Facebook page, Tidy's family said: "It is with huge sadness that I have to share with you the tragic news that we lost our dad, who is not only the most brilliant cartoonist but the very best dad two sons, a son-in-law and a daughter could ever wish for." Tidy, who was born in Tranmere on Merseyside in 1933, did not receive any formal artistic training growing up and instead started his working life in the Royal Engineers branch of the Army. His cartoonist career began when he sold a sketch to a Japanese newspaper in 1955. This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original tweet on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by David Quantick This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. He went on to publish cartoon strips in a host of UK national newspapers, including The Fosdyke Saga for the Daily Mirror and The Cloggies for Private Eye. The Fosdyke Saga became so popular it eventually became the subject of a 42-part radio series for the BBC from 1983. Over the years he also appeared on television shows such as Watercolour Challenge, Countdown, Blankety Blank and Countryfile and he illustrated more than 70 books. Tidy was awarded an MBE in 2000 for services to journalism and helped to set up the British Cartoonists' Association.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64932762

Inflation: Alcopops out and frozen berries in for cost of living measure - BBC News

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Healthier shopping habits are reflected in the basket of goods used to calculate rising prices.

Business

The shopping habits of clean-living consumers are reflected in changes to the basket of goods and services used to calculate the rising cost of living. Alcopops have been removed and frozen berries, used to make fruit smoothies, are included, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. Electric bikes have also been put into the virtual basket and digital compact cameras taken out. Thousands of prices are collected to calculate the rising cost of living. The so-called inflation basket contains more than 700 goods and services. The cost of these items in many different outlets are gathered by the ONS to give the monthly inflation figures. In itself, the rate of inflation is an important measure used during decisions about uprating benefits and pensions, and quoted during pay negotiations. The rate recently hit a 40-year high but is expected to slow as the year goes on. As well as reflecting consumer trends and technology, the weighting of different sectors of retail and services is important for an accurate calculation. The ONS said the removal of alcopops was, in part, the result of restaurants, cafes and pubs being over-represented. Some items are changed owing to how representative they are of consumer spending, and overall levels of expenditure. That is the reason cited by the ONS for tampons being replaced with sanitary towels in the basket. Mike Hardie, from the ONS, said: "The impact of mobile phone technology continues to resonate with the removal of CDs and digital cameras from our basket, reflecting how most of us listen to music and take pictures straight from our phones these days. "With many people looking to reduce their impact on the environment, we have also introduced e-bikes, whose popularity has risen significantly in recent years." The ONS reviews the basket once a year, and the changes it makes are only a small percentage of the items sampled. This time, 26 items have been added, 16 removed and 717 left unchanged. The ONS said it would massively expand the number of rail fares it checks to calculate average price rises. In future it will use an industry database with 30 million price points rather than an index calculated by a regulator. Electricity, gas and other fuels take up nearly 4.9% of the ONS's new inflation basket, the highest share for over a decade. Last year, the ONS believed that households spent 3.6% of their consumption on fuels, but as prices have soared, that share has increased. This will have an effect on the speed the inflation rate comes down: as fuel takes a bigger share of the basket, changes in fuel prices become more important. Myron Jobson, personal finance analyst at Interactive Investor, said: "The ONS basket of goods become ever more diverse, with the inclusion of products that some of us wouldn't even dream of buying. "It is not an exact science, and its variety should remind us that the experiences of the rising cost of living is unique to each individual.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64938661

UK must wake up to China threat, says ex-MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger - BBC News

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Western nations are "under full press of Chinese espionage", Sir Alex Younger tells the BBC.

UK Politics

The UK must "wake up" to the threat posed by China's challenges to global security, the ex-head of MI6 has said. Sir Alex Younger, who led the UK's Intelligence Service between 2014 and 2020, said Western nations are "under full press of Chinese espionage". US military have shot down four objects - including a suspected Chinese spy balloon - in the past week. Sir Alex told the BBC the UK must place limits on tolerating countries "who behave in an unacceptable way", On 4 February, the US military shot down a Chinese spy balloon after it travelled over sensitive military sites across North America. China has claimed the object was a weather balloon gone astray. Since then, the three other "unidentified objects" have been downed across North America. Sir Alex Younger was head of MI6 between 2014 and 2020 Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Alex said "this balloon scenario demonstrates there is no trust" between China and western nations. "This is a gross and really visibly transgression of the sovereignty of many nations." The UK must recognise "we're in a competition" with China, Sir Alex said. He said: "We need to wake up to this. "We need to double down on the strengths that we possess to face this systemic competition that's going on." The Ministry of Defence is conducting a security review following the incursions into North American airspace. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: "The UK and her allies will review what these airspace intrusions mean for our security. "This development is another sign of how the global threat picture is changing for the worse." Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the government will do "whatever it takes" to keep the UK safe from spy balloons. On Monday the prime minister said a "quick reaction alert force" of RAF Typhoon jets was on stand-by 24/7 to police UK airspace. In November, Mr Sunak declared the so-called "golden era" of UK relations with China over after seven years of closer economic ties promoted by David Cameron's administration. The UK's mobile providers are banned from buying new 5G equipment from Huawei, over fears the technology can be accessed by the Chinese state. Companies must also remove all the firm's 5G kit from their networks by 2027. Huawei has denied being controlled by the Chinese government or posing a security threat. A cross-party group of MPs, including former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, are calling for Chinese governor Erkin Tuniyaz to be arrested during a potential visit to the UK this week. Mr Tuniyaz is head of the Xinjiang province, where the UN has said crimes against humanity may be taking place against Uyghurs. Sir Iain was sanctioned by the Chinese government in 2021 along with dozens of MPs over their criticism of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64635179

Insulate Britain protester jailed for stopping traffic on M4 - BBC News

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Stephen Pritchard and his co-defendants glued themselves to the tarmac, causing huge disruption.

London

Stephen Pritchard has said he will not stop taking part in disruptive action, as a matter of "conscience" An Insulate Britain protester has been jailed for five weeks for obstructing the motorway, causing huge disruption. About 10,000 drivers were affected by the actions of Stephen Pritchard, from Bath, and three others on the M4 near Heathrow, west London, in October 2021. The defendants glued themselves to the tarmac near Junction 3 stopping traffic flow in both directions for two hours. At Inner London Crown Court, 63-year-old Pritchard was convicted by a jury of causing a nuisance to the public. His co-defendants, former probation officer Ruth Cook, 71, gardener Roman Paluch-Machnik, 29, and carpenter Oliver Rock, 42, were each given six-week sentences, suspended for 18 months. The three were also ordered to do 100 hours of community service. Judge Silas Reid told Pritchard, a former parish councillor, he was being jailed because he previously told the court he would not stop taking part in disruptive action, as a matter of "conscience". The other defendants previously said they had been deterred from future disruptive protest action. Drivers were left stuck in long queues as a result of the protest Judge Reid told Pritchard: "It is not appropriate for me to suspend the inevitable sentence... you will serve up to half of your sentence in prison." Speaking to all four defendants, he said: "None of you have shown any remorse for your actions and in fact wear them with pride." However he added the "appropriate sentence" would normally be "in the region of 12 months imprisonment", but this was reduced by the protesters' aim of bringing attention to the climate crisis. He previously banned the defendants from mentioning this motive in front of the jurors but allowed them to mention it during sentencing because "motivation is relevant to sentence" but not to whether they committed the crime of public nuisance. Judge Reid acknowledged that "protest has an important history in this country" but "the right to protest does not give you the right to disrupt the lives of thousands of people". Insulate Britain said this was the first time climate activists in the UK had been found guilty of the common law offence. Speaking to the PA news agency afterwards, Cook, Rock and Paluch-Machnik said it had been difficult for them to promise not to take part in future disruption. Cook, a grandmother from Frome, Somerset, said it had been "one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make" but she questioned "what it would achieve for me to be in prison". The trio suggested they would modify their protest tactics in response to accumulating court action against other Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil members. Last month, Pritchard received a short jail sentence for defying a court order that prevented him and four others from protesting on the M25. High Court injunctions were put in place after Insulate Britain's road blockades last year. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64940392

Ros Atkins on… Gary Lineker and the BBC’s impartiality crisis - BBC News

The BBC’s analysis editor examines the BBC's impartiality guidance, after the corporation struck a deal with Gary Lineker over his controversial tweets.

The BBC’s analysis editor Ros Atkins examines what the BBC has called ‘grey areas’ in its impartiality guidance, after the corporation struck a deal with Gary Lineker over his controversial tweets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64946486

Junior doctors strike: A&E departments very busy, says NHS chief - BBC News

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A senior manager says people are using hospitals as they would normally, putting pressure on casualty units.

Health

'A thank you from the government isn’t enough' She has helped saved hundreds of lives, attended more than 100 cardiac arrest calls, and works around 70 hours a week. Dr Amanda Baird earns £23 an hour and started working towards becoming a doctor at the age of 14. Now 27, she has completed five years at medical school and nearly five years as a doctor on the front line. She’s worked through Covid. She’s worked in Intensive care, and is now working towards becoming a consultant in Accident and Emergency. This is why she joined around 100 others outside Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary today, leaving behind her patients and senior doctors – consultants - to do the work of their striking juniors. The hardest part of Dr Baird’s job is when she and her colleagues can’t save the life of critically ill patients, especially when they are children. Working all through Covid too was tough. But she says the best part is when you bring a life back and the patient says “thank you” – it can “save our soul”. The government says the doctors' pay demand is unaffordable but could more recognition for the work they do help? “No” says Dr Baird, “a thank you from government isn’t enough.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/health-64934752

Best Oscars acceptance speeches... in 61 seconds - BBC News

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I've never seen the NHS this bad - junior doctor - BBC News

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Birmingham doctor Shivam Sharma says he is worried for the future of the healthcare system.

Birmingham & Black Country

Dr Shivam Sharma said many junior doctors had struggled to pay rent and make ends meet A junior doctor said NHS workers who had taken strike action for a pay rise had struggled with "enormous" workplace pressures and financial difficulties. Dr Shivam Sharma, from Birmingham, said he was worried for the future of the healthcare system after seeing an increase in patient waiting times. It comes as thousands of junior doctors across England took to picket lines for three days of industrial action. More than 36,000 NHS workers are striking from Monday until Thursday. Members of British Medical Association (BMA) in England has asked for a pay rise of 35% however the government said the union's demands were "completely unaffordable". The BMA called it "pay restoration" and claimed staff had seen pay cuts of 26% since 2008. About 100 people, junior doctors, union members and students, stood outside the doors of Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth hospital on Monday Dr Sharma, who is in his fourth year working as a doctor after graduating from the University of Birmingham, is a member of BMA Junior Doctor committee. Currently working on a geriatric ward, he said he had seen many patients tended to in the corridors of the hospital. "I think it's really becoming more and more tough, I've never seen it this bad," he said, adding the doctors work on average about 48 hours a week but sometimes as many as 72. He was worried for the future of the healthcare system, he said, adding the average waiting time for patients to be seen was now 12 hours. More pay and better working conditions would allow doctors to retain a work-life balance and would allow them to deliver the care they wanted to deliver, he said, adding taking industrial action was a "last resort" for doctors. The term junior doctor covers a huge variety of roles, from those just graduating from university, to others with years of front-line experience. The BMA's campaign focuses on the £14 per hour starting salary, although that quickly rises for anyone entering the profession. There are five core pay points in the junior doctor contract. By the end of training they will be earning around £28 an hour in basic salary - although this can take 10 years to get to. Junior doctors, including those fresh out of university, also receive an additional 30% more in extra payments, on average, for things like working unsociable hours. Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he valued the hard work of junior doctors and that he wanted unions to "come to the negotiating table" to enter formal talks. One doctor said the last few years have been full of burnout Outside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham Naomi Collier, a junior doctor with four years' experience, said she was moving to Australia on Wednesday. Doctors like her are choosing to work elsewhere for better pay, and ultimately, a better work-life balance, she said. "I've always wanted to visit Australia, but because we have a structured training programme in the NHS, I'm at a point where it's the only natural break I can really see, before going on to train for eight years to become a consultant. "I think I would be speaking for quite a few people if I say the last few years have been full of burnout." An NHS spokesperson said patients should not be put off from seeking emergency care during strike action. Patients have also been told to continue to attend appointments unless advised otherwise. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-64938278

Windsor Framework: Questions over deal await DUP leader on US trip - BBC News

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Stormont politicians are making their way to the US for a week of St Patrick's Day celebrations.

Northern Ireland

Stormont parties are travelling to the US this week for St Patrick's Day festivities When travelling to the United States for a short stay, you have two choices. Do what former Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis used to do and keep your body clock on Belfast time. Manage through early morning gym sessions, and early to bed in the evening. Jet lag, he said, was never a problem. Or do what the rest of us do: reset our body clock to Washington time and battle through the jet lag. But be it in Belfast or Washington this week for the St Patrick's Day festivities, we are all working to DUP time whether we like it or not. Waiting for the party to deliver its verdict on the Windsor Framework, and then waiting on what that judgements means, for a return of Stormont. Are we likely to see a reset in power sharing in time for the Good Friday Agreement 25th anniversary next month? That is the question which will loom large over the many political gatherings in Washington this week. The man with the answer will be here, but don't expect him to give much away. DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson announced the party had set up an eight-member panel to gauge opinion on the new deal Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has set a consultation process in motion led by former party leader Peter Robinson to canvass opinion on the Windsor Framework. That will allow him to dodge the big question during his US trip. Time and space are being afforded to the party to make the right call. However, according to some DUP sources, we may end up with two calls: the party rejecting the Windsor Framework because it falls short of some of its well-flagged seven tests; but the party agreeing to return to Stormont at some point after listening to the many views it plans to canvass. That would involve breaking the link between the revised protocol arrangements and the party's return to the institutions. Some in the party might argue they were never formally linked at the outset as the seven tests were set seven months before the DUP collapsed the executive. That scenario of rejecting the deal but resetting Stormont was supported in the weekend Lucid Talk poll. It showed support among unionist voters for the DUP to say no to the new framework, but growing support for the party to return to Stormont. Though they won't admit it, polls have played a part in DUP decision making in the past. There is another big question which will also loom large in Washington this week and it is a question which will likely be answered come Friday. Is President Biden going to visit Northern Ireland next month to join in the Good Friday Agreement anniversary celebrations? The answer is likely to be yes, with 19 April being suggested as a possible date. US officials have already been spotted in Northern Ireland preparing for the trip. The formal invitation from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is also a big indicator. If he does come, President Biden is likely to travel north during a wider visit to the Republic of Ireland and his ancestral roots in Mayo. Expect confirmation later this week when he meets Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar in the White House. A possible date for US President Joe Biden's visit is 19 April It was rumoured President Biden was hoping to address assembly members at a sitting session in Stormont - but only if it had been fully restored. That seems unlikely as Sir Jeffrey has made it clear he is not working to that timeline. That could leave us with the spectacle once more of marking a Good Friday Agreement milestone with the institutions it created in lockdown. It didn't dampen the celebrations for the 20th anniversary and is unlikely to do so again, especially if the DUP jury is still out. It's going to be a hectic run-in, beginning this week in Washington, and all our body clocks may need to be reset when it's over. Declan Harvey and Tara Mills explore the text of the Good Friday Agreement - the deal which heralded the end of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. They look at what the Agreement actually said and hear from some of the people who helped get the deal across the line. Click here to listen to the full box set on BBC Sounds.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-64937089

Swansea: Man dies after gas explosion in Morriston - BBC News

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Police say the body of a man was recovered from the site of a reported gas explosion.

Wales

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A man has died after a gas explosion at a house in Swansea. Three others were taken to hospital after the blast in the Morriston area of the city, which shook houses miles away. A major incident was declared and emergency services were called to the junction of Field Close and Clydach Road at about 11:20 GMT. One property was completely flattened with Wales & West Utilities describing the structural damage as "severe". South Wales Police said the body of the previously missing man was found during a search of Clydach Road. The force said his family has been informed and an investigation was under way. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: The aftermath of a gas explosion in Swansea was captured by a bystander Morriston Hospital said two adults and a child were brought to A&E after neighbours said they saw a boy being pulled from the rubble. A spokeswoman said: "The child and one of the adults were treated and discharged. "The second adult was admitted with trauma injuries, and is in a stable condition." The National Grid's website said 212 properties were without electricity but that was restored by 18:40 on Monday. Swansea council leader Rob Stewart said about 100 people had been displaced. Debris was strewn across the street The British Red Cross has sent a team of three to help and the council has set up a rest centre at Morriston Memorial Hall. Support is being provided there for about 50 people until they are able to go home. Others have gathered in the Red Lion pub. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: BBC reporter near the scene of where a reported gas explosion destroyed a house People living on the street said they heard a loud bang which sounded like a car crash, with roofs and doors being blown off houses. Donn and Donna Fernandez said they and other neighbours rescued a teenage occupant of the house before they were taken to hospital. Mr Fernandez said: "I came out of my house and saw the young teenager who lives next door in the wreckage of the house near the roof. "Me and our neighbours got him out, he's only about 13." Neighbour Pamela Evans said the blast felt like a bomb. "It's like a warzone, it's unbelievable down there," she said. "Windows have been smashed, doors have been blown out." Pamela Evans said the blast felt like a bomb Alan Huxtable, who lives about 150 yards away on Field Close, said he was stunned by what he saw. He said: "The pressure of the blast - you could feel that. The house was shaking. "I just looked out of the window and I couldn't believe it. It took two or three seconds to realise what happened. "I said to my wife, 'the end terrace house is gone, it's disappeared'." There were tiles in his back garden, he said. Fellow resident Marjorie Lewis said: "The roof was all on the floor and there was a boy in the rubble." The boy was pulled from the wreckage and she called police: "They were here in two or three minutes. It sounded horrendous - it shook all the houses." Ms Lewis said about four or five houses had been damaged in the blast. Wales & West Utilities said the cause of the blast was not yet known She said: "I thought it was inside the house. I just took my youngest son and ran. "I went out the house and and saw the damage. It's terrible." Mirain Owen was at school when she heard about what had happened Mirain Owen, who lives about five minutes away from Clydach Road, was in school when she started getting messages on Snapchat about the blast. She said her family had been unable to return home to collect anything. The 17-year-old said: "The roads are closed and we aren't able to get in there by car." Hayley Brown, of Field Close, said: "To see that house, the way that it was, was absolutely heartbreaking. Kakuli Khatun was making tea for her husband when her window smashed Swansea councillor Ceri Evans said he lives less than a mile away and was working from home at the time of the explosion. "The whole house shook. All the windows shook, it was really noticeable. You could hear it and I ran out in the street," he said. Swansea University researcher Ioan Humphreys lives eight miles away in Rhos, Pontardawe, and said: "The house next door to me is having lots of building work done, so initially I thought it was a massive skip being delivered and dropped on their drive - it felt that close." South Wales Police asked people to avoid the area and said Clydach Road was still closed on Monday evening. "A cordon remains in place and people are asked to avoid the area," the force said. "It is necessary to keep the cordon in place due to the ongoing risk to the public and the amount of debris which is blocking access roads." Wales & West Utilities said: "We do not yet know the cause of the explosion and our engineers will continue to support the emergency services as they carry out their work." Welsh Ambulance Service and Mid and West Wales Fire Service also attended. The fire service said crews were still working at the site on Monday evening. Morriston Town AFC football club said it was "devastated" to hear the news and said locals should not hesitate to contact the club and come in to keep warm.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64941189

Oscars 2023: Relive the ceremony, as it happened - BBC News

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All the results and gossip from the ceremony, where Everything Everywhere All At Once dominated.

Entertainment & Arts

As someone covering the Oscars for the first time it was a surreal experience to see so many people you recognise all in one place, out having a good time. Obviously the big story of the night was Everything Everywhere All at Once and Michelle Yeoh winning best actress in a leading role. We were able to speak to her briefly and she said she hoped this was just the beginning for actors like her. We also spoke to the guys from An Irish Goodbye and everyone was in pretty good spirits there, and we spoke to the sound designers from Top Gun who were thrilled to have won. Everyone's been saying over and over again how this year has seen a return to the movies -with many people crediting Top Gun with getting people back into movie theatres. It's been a great night, seeing everyone out celebrating their work and having fun together.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/entertainment-arts-64918345

PC who struck footballer Dalian Atkinson acted 'bravely' - BBC News

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Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith is accused of gross misconduct over blows to the ex-footballer before his death.

Shropshire

A PC who repeatedly struck ex-footballer Dalian Atkinson with a baton on the night he was killed by her colleague "showed bravery under extreme pressure", a disciplinary panel heard. It emerged in a separate criminal trial that Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith had used the weapon on Mr Atkinson in Telford in August 2016. But having been acquitted of related charges, she faces a disciplinary hearing via West Mercia Police. Her legal team told the inquiry she did "as she was trained to do", while the case against her maintained the force she used was unreasonable. PC Bettley-Smith could face immediate dismissal from the police if the panel rules against her in the hearing, brought at the recommendation of the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Speaking at the opening of the disciplinary process, Patrick Gibbs KC, who is representing her, said: "She does not accept she misconducted herself grossly - or at all. "She denies her conduct breached standards of professional behaviour, on a fair view of this sad but terrifying incident. "Quite the contrary is true; she showed bravery under extreme pressure and was in no way responsible for the tragic outcome." He added Bettley-Smith "did her probationary best in unusually challenging circumstances to contain, control and detain Dalian Atkinson - a normally peaceful man, who, because he was in the grip of florid psychosis, presented that night as a serious, immediate danger to his father, the public, responding officers and himself". Mr Atkinson started his career at Ipswich Town, before moving to Sheffield Wednesday, Real Sociedad, Aston Villa and Fenerbahçe in the 1990s. He died after being tasered by PC Bettley-Smith's partner and colleague, Benjamin Monk, who was jailed for manslaughter in 2021. Dalian Atkinson died after being tasered by PC Bettley-Smith's partner, Benjamin Monk Criminal proceedings brought against the pair heard how Mr Atkinson had been acting out of character outside his father's house due to ongoing health issues when police attended. Mr Atkinson died in hospital about an hour after Monk tasered him and kicked him in the head with enough force to leave imprints of his bootlaces. PC Bettley-Smith, the court case heard, struck Mr Atkinson three times with her baton while he was lying on the ground after the final taser discharge. She was acquitted of causing him actual bodily harm at retrial in September 2022. At the disciplinary hearing on Monday, Dijen Basu KC, bringing the case against PC Bettley-Smith, said her actions "did not in any way contribute to the death of Mr Atkinson". But he argued there was "gross misconduct being so serious it amounts to a breach of standards of professional behaviour so serious, that dismissal will be justified". He added: "We say the force she used was unreasonable." Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-64943305

Oscar nominations 2023: The full list - BBC News

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Find out which films, actors and directors are vying for a golden statuette.

Entertainment & Arts

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Oscars 2023: The best picture contenders in 40 seconds The race is on for this year's Oscars, honouring the film industry's finest from the past 12 months. Here is the full list of the nominees of the 95th Academy Awards, which will be handed out at the ceremony in Los Angeles on 12 March. Angela Bassett is nominated as best supporting actress for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The Banshees of Inisherin is up for nine awards Avatar: The Way of Water has been a huge box office success

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64386176

Gary Lineker: BBC talks with presenter 'moving in right direction', sources say - BBC News

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It is hoped there will be a resolution soon but not all issues are "fully resolved", BBC News understands.

UK

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: The weekend of BBC football show chaos... in 90 seconds Talks between the BBC and Gary Lineker are said to be "moving in the right direction" after a second day of scheduling disruption. BBC News understands there are hopes of a resolution soon but not all issues are "fully resolved" at this stage. Weekend football coverage was disrupted due to walkouts triggered by the Match of the Day host's suspension. Director General Tim Davie has apologised to licence fee payers for the changes. Presenters, pundits and commentators pulled out of BBC football coverage in support of Lineker, who was taken off air for criticising government asylum plans. TV and radio coverage was hit throughout Sunday, with the stand off between the host and the BBC continuing. It followed an unprecedented day of turmoil for the BBC's sports operation on Saturday, with some of the most recognisable faces and voices associated with the broadcaster walking out. BBC Two's Sunday afternoon coverage of the Women's Super League went ahead without studio analysis and had to rely on world feed commentary, while Radio 5 Live was forced to plug gaps in the schedule with pre-recorded programmes for a second straight day. Match of the Day 2 followed the main programme's much-reduced format - airing for just 15 minutes - and was without the usual commentators and host Mark Chapman. The show started the same as Saturday's Match of the Day, where a continuity presenter apologised for the lack of commentary, which was followed by the opening credits that featured the words: "Premier League Highlights" without the usual theme tune and credits. Match of the Day was also cut to a 20-minute highlight reel with no punditry, commentary or opening theme, though viewing figures were up by almost half a million at 2.58m. Radio coverage of Premier League fixtures went ahead but commentator Alistair Bruce-Ball told listeners it had been a "difficult decision" to make. Speaking ahead of the Fulham v Arsenal match, he said: "It's been a very difficult decision to make personally - I can assure you it's not been taken lightly - but I'm a BBC staff member, I'm a radio commentator for this station and, just like yesterday, we are here to provide our football service to you, our audience." Paul Armstrong, a former Match of the Day editor, said there was a "lack of consistency…and clear guidelines" for how impartiality applies to sports staff. He said he "wasn't in the least bit surprised" by the collective response from presenters, pundits and commentators, adding: "I don't know why BBC management didn't realise that these guys are a team… and that if you attack the captain, the others are going to withdraw their labour." Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the issue between the BBC and Lineker should be resolved by the BBC itself. Speaking to reporters on a plane journey to talks with the US president in San Diego, he did not directly answer a question about whether he had confidence in Mr Davie - and when asked if he would meet Lineker to talk about the issue, he replied that "it's not about any one person". The BBC has not commented further on behind-the-scenes efforts to resolve the situation. The presenter's suspension over his criticism of the government's asylum policy has triggered a wider debate about BBC impartiality, the government's asylum policy and the position of the broadcaster's chairman Richard Sharp. Mark Thompson - who served as BBC director general between 2004 and 2012 - said enforcing impartiality rules for non-news staff was complex, noting that "the BBC has walked into the 21st Century". Appearing on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg armed with the BBC's latest impartiality rules, he urged everyone to calm down and said in his view that the star's tweet had probably crossed the line, saying there is a "grey area" around sports presenters. But he said he hoped the presenter would be back on air soon, and that he hoped and believed BBC Director General Tim Davie would survive the row. He went on to call the situation an "unhappy accident" and urged the BBC to "ignore the papers", saying he knew Mr Lineker well enough to "believe in his good faith". On the same show, Peter Salmon, who was previously the corporation's head of sport, said the BBC's impartiality guidelines were "opaque" and urged bosses to "get this sorted out". Chancellor Jeremy Hunt - who earlier said he "profoundly" disagreed with Lineker's tweet - told the programme that he thought "making sure the BBC maintains its reputation for independence and impartiality is the outcome that matters most". But he declined to say whether he thought Lineker should remain as Match of the Day presenter. Mr Davie told BBC News on Saturday he was in "listening mode" about how to reform impartiality rules for staff outside of the news operation after a "difficult day". He left the door open for Lineker to return, describing him as the "best sports broadcaster in the world" and said he wanted to see him back on-air. Mr Sunak reiterated on Saturday that resolving the row was a matter for the BBC, but Downing Street and several senior ministers have been sharply critical of the 62-year-old presenter in recent days. Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer have both attacked the presenter this week for his comparison between the government's language and Nazi Germany. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Looks like Lineker broke rules on a technicality - ex-BBC boss Labour's Shadow Chancellor Rachael Reeves said the BBC had "clearly come under immense pressure from the Conservative Party to take Gary Lineker off air". She contrasted Lineker's suspension with the BBC chairman being able to continue in his job while the circumstances of his appointment are investigated, adding: "I don't remember those same Tory MPs crying about impartiality when those revelations about Richard Sharp came out." An ongoing KC-led review into Richard Sharp's appointment as BBC chairman is investigating whether he failed to properly disclose details of his involvement in the facilitation of an £800,000 loan guarantee for the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He has denied any involvement in the arrangement of a loan for Mr Johnson. The BBC is also conducting its own internal review over any potential conflicts of interest Mr Sharp may have in his current role as BBC chairman. Mr Sharp has resisted calls to quit. He is believed to be waiting for an inquiry into his relationship with Boris Johnson to conclude and has previously denied wrongdoing. Meanwhile, uncertainty continues to swirl as to whether Lineker will return to the BBC. Questioned by reporters on Sunday morning outside his home, Lineker replied only "I can't say anything at the moment" when asked if he would return to the BBC or if he had been approached by rival broadcasters. But his son, George, told the Sunday Mirror that he thought his father would return to presenting Match of the Day. He later tweeted: "Dad is a good man, a good human, and I'm proud of him for standing by his word. That's why he was pulled off the show - because he wouldn't apologise. But he will always speak up for people who don't have a voice." The row erupted after Lineker called the so-called Stop The Boats Bill an "immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64930957

Gary Lineker to return to Match of the Day as BBC announces review of social media rules - BBC News

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The Match of the Day host tweeted to say the past few difficult days don't compare to "having to flee your home from persecution or war."

Entertainment & Arts

You might think that finding out exactly which BBC “guidelines” and “guidance” on impartiality are relevant to the Gary Lineker controversy would be straightforward. I can confirm that, after several of us spent the weekend poring through the details, that's not necessarily the case. The BBC has its Editorial Guidelines. There is also additional guidance on “individual use of social media” and impartiality is mentioned in the Royal Charter. And some individuals have particular arrangements in their contracts too (which, needless to say, we can't read). This paragraph, from the social media guidance brought in by Tim Davie in 2020, feels most relevant: Quote Message: There are also others who are not journalists or involved in factual programming who nevertheless have an additional responsibility to the BBC because of their profile on the BBC. We expect these individuals to avoid taking sides on party political issues or political controversies and to take care when addressing public policy matters.” from BBC Editorial Guidelines There are also others who are not journalists or involved in factual programming who nevertheless have an additional responsibility to the BBC because of their profile on the BBC. We expect these individuals to avoid taking sides on party political issues or political controversies and to take care when addressing public policy matters.” However, it is far from clear if Gary Lineker ever accepted that this applied to him. He told me on The Media Show in 2021 that Davie had “never called me up and said you can’t tweet about that.” He went on: “I don’t think he could do that anyway. I’m my own person." Combine that with what Davie himself said under questioning from MPs in September 2022 about Lineker’s use of social media: “It’s a work in progress in terms of where he draws the line". For all the new guidance of 2020, what Gary Lineker could or couldn't do on Twitter looked far from settled two years later. And so, it all came to a head last week. Today, in his statement, Tim Davie recognised there were “grey areas” in the 2020 guidance that could cause confusion. This is the same guidance that, on Friday, the BBC said Gary Lineker had breached. Trawling through the BBC website this week, I found a definition of impartiality shortly followed by a caveat that “putting impartiality in practice is more difficult”. That's always been true. What's remarkable is that the BBC's own decision-making and its own guidance appears to have contributed to making it even more difficult in the last few days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/entertainment-arts-64938252

Oscars winners at the 95th Academy Awards - full list - BBC News

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Everything Everywhere All at Once scoops the best picture Oscar - as Michelle Yeoh wins best actress.

Entertainment & Arts

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Hollywood royalty gathered to find out who had won a coveted Oscars statuette on Sunday. Here is the list of winners and all the nominees announced at the 95th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64935479

Silicon Valley Bank: Rising interest rates will uncover more ticking bombs - BBC News

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Rapid rate rises were always likely to lead to unintended consequences in the financial system.

Business

"We have the coolest clients of any bank, anywhere…" That was the claim made by Silicon Valley Bank UK last autumn as it celebrated becoming a fully UK-run subsidiary with a promotional video featuring cycle-in branches, ping-pong tables and dogs in the office. At around the same time during the UK mini-Budget shock, there was a private fear whispered from regulators. Away from the political blame game, the unpublished Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts and reasonable regulatory questions about an obscure corner of the pension fund market, there was a really big picture concern for the global financial system. After a decade and a half of near zero interest rates, the rapid rise in rates was going to lead to at best unforeseen, unintended consequences in hitherto stable corners of the system. At worst, the pensions "Liability Driven Investment" crisis was just the first of a series of ticking timebombs in debt markets that had become rather accustomed to borrowing almost for free. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has proved to be one of those ticking timebombs. Rising interest rates on government-backed borrowing contributed directly to the problems in the bank's balance sheet. Its key asset - concentrating entirely on the high tech sector - contributed to the herd-like flight of its US deposits last week. There is no systemic risk to UK financial stability from the direct fall of Silicon Valley Bank's UK arm, authorities say. That is because it is very small. Authorities won't say how many customers it had, but it only reached £100m in deposits covered by the protection scheme last August. So we are talking thousands of customers rather than tens of thousands, and it is believed to have had several billion in deposits. The UK arm is too small to impact UK financial stability directly. As a result of its establishment as a full UK subsidiary there should also be plenty of assets there to help mitigate the outflow of deposits. But it is considered economically important to many potentially high growth companies. Its customers' business model means they typically have low profits and revenues, and draw down funds from the bank. Who are those customers? There are two types in the UK - start-up tech companies, and their funders in venture capital and private equity. The government thinks there is a serious risk to the tech sector. Others, such as former top Treasury boss Nick Macpherson fear that offering help beyond the normal £85,000 deposit protection limit could create serious "moral hazard", in other words reward risky behaviour. Could the start-up business customers be treated differently to the big investors? The government is in talks to get other banks to take on the ailing UK arm of SVB or to offer some sort of guarantees to allow clients to pay wages and suppliers. All this comes as the chancellor is planning to make the UK's tech future a centrepiece of his Budget on Wednesday. Ordinary UK depositors at other banks should be reassured. This is a very specialist bank, only serving customers in a specific sector. However, what is happening in the US is another matter. US regulators do not want to bail out sophisticated tech investors who take financial risks with the promise of fabulous returns. But they will be keen to provide enough reassurance to avoid a run on deposits spreading to smaller banks. If that happened it could cast a shadow over other stock markets and the world economy too. So this does matter for UK economic policy and US financial stability. It could also be a canary in the coalmine for other unknown risks as the financial system is upended by the recent end of nearly free money.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64934344

Oscars (not red) carpet: The best fashion looks - in pictures - BBC News

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The famous Hollywood red carpet may have changed colour, but the glamour was the same as ever.

Entertainment & Arts

The famous carpet changed colour in Hollywood for this year's Oscars - it was described as champagne, instead of being the traditional red. But the glamour on show was the same as ever. Cate Blanchett had the eighth Oscar nomination of her career. Her elegant blue velvet outfit featured a ribbon made by refugees as part of an initiative from the United Nations refugee agency. Everything Everywhere All At Once star Michelle Yeoh, who arrived in a white fringe Dior gown accented with diamonds, beat Blanchett to the award for best actress. Michelle Williams was also nominated for best actress - the fifth Oscar nod of her career - for playing Steven Spielberg's mother in The Fabelmans. She opted for an embellished white Chanel dress with a sheer overlay dotted with crystals. Lady Gaga, who performed her song Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, arrived in a black Versace dress with a sheer corset bodice - which extended rather low. Rihanna also sang at the ceremony, performing Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her Alaia outfit had leather straps and train, and more sheer mesh showing off her baby bump. British actress Florence Pugh went for a ruffled statement gown accompanied by black shorts and platform shoes, plus a striking silver necklace and two-tone hair design. Irish star Paul Mescal pulled off a 1970s vibe with his white Gucci tuxedo and flared trousers. He was nominated for best actor for Aftersun. Jamie Lee Curtis won the first Oscar of her career, and sparkled in a crystal and sequin-embellished Dolce and Gabbana floor-length gown - which could be described as champagne-coloured. After the runway's colour change, she joked: "Their carpet is going to match my drapes." She also posted a photo of herself with 16 people who helped make the dress - which she said was just part of the Italian team behind it. Stephanie Hsu is Curtis' co-star in Everything Everywhere All At Once, and was also nominated for best supporting actress. She went for a coral classic Valentino ballgown. Angela Bassett, who was nominated for best supporting actress for playing Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, was wrapped in a royal shade of purple. Ana de Armas, who was also up for best actress, for playing Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, went for a sparkling, simple bodice, flowing into frilled layers. Dwayne Johnson said his daughters helped pick his outfit - a shiny pale pink tuxedo jacket by Dolce & Gabbana - while Emily Blunt had a minimalist all-white look with detached sleeves, by Valentino. Brendan Fraser, accompanied by girlfriend Jeanne Moore, was named best actor for his comeback role in The Whale. Cara Delevingne brought some red back to the carpet in a dramatic Elie Saab gown. Halle Berry, in white satin Tamara Ralph with rose gold decoration, presented an award, 21 years after she won best actress. Avengers and WandaVision star Elizabeth Olsen's black Givenchy halter neck design added a hint of gothic glamour to the classic black dress. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was at the ceremony as executive producer of Stranger at the Gate, which was nominated for best documentary short. Zoe Saldana was among those representing Avatar: The Way of Water, which was nominated for four awards including best picture. Her Avatar co-star Sigourney Weaver complemented the Oscars statuettes in her stylish and shining V-neck gold-and-white patterned dress. M3gan actress Allison Williams' Giambattista Valli outfit included a sheer dress with floral-jewelled design and feathered hem, with a voluminous candy pink gown extension. Top Gun: Maverick star Jennifer Connelly, who was also among the ceremony's presenters, wore a Louis Vuitton design that added a sparkling neck structure to simple, straight black. Eva Longoria wore an eye-catching and intricately-jewelled Zuhair Murad design with ribbon detail from her neck. The decision to change the red carpet after 62 years was made by a creative consultant, who explained that a "champagne" coloured carpet would help with "the change from daytime arrivals to an elegant evening setting". In a reference to Will Smith's slap last year, host Jimmy Kimmel quipped beforehand: "I think the decision to go with a champagne carpet rather than a red carpet shows how confident we are that no blood will be shed."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64935067

Norfolk deer herd crossing road holds up coastguard patrol - BBC News

A coastguard patrol team pulls over to let a few deer cross the road - and they keep on coming.

A coastguard patrol team that pulled over to let a few deer cross was taken by surprise when the animals just kept coming in what turned out to be a very large herd. Nearly a hundred deer took more than 30 seconds to cross the road on the outskirts of Sea Palling on the North Norfolk coast. The crossing was filmed by HM Coastguard Bacton and has had more than 2.8 million views on its Facebook page.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-64939626

Rishi Sunak announces £5bn extra defence spending during US trip - BBC News

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The spending boost is outlined in a new UK foreign policy strategy that warns of China's threat.

UK Politics

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to increase defence spending by nearly £5bn over the next two years to counter threats from hostile states. The funding was outlined in a new UK foreign and security strategy that cast China as a challenge to world order. It comes as talks continue between the prime minister and his US and Australian counterparts in California. The trio are set to agree details of a UK-US pact to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. The agreement, known as the Aukus pact, was signed in 2021 as part of a joint effort to counter Chinese military power in the Indo-Pacific region. The UK government says £3bn from the extra spending would be earmarked to support the pact, along with boosting industrial infrastructure and servicing UK submarines. The remaining £1.9bn will be used to replace weapons sent to Ukraine and improve the UK's munitions infrastructure. Of the new money, £1.98bn will be spent this year and £2.97bn next year, with defence spending then reviewed again after 2025. Moving forward, the government has an "aspiration" to invest 2.5% of national income over time, but has not specified a timeframe. Mr Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss had committed to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 - but the prime minister has stepped back from that pledge. A new version of the so-called Integrated Review was published on Monday, replacing the first version of the policy document unveiled under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021. The update was ordered by Ms Truss in September last year to take account of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In a foreword to the document, Mr Sunak said the previous review could not have foreseen "the pace of the geopolitical change and the extent of its impact on the UK". The review's main conclusion, Mr Sunak wrote, "is that unless democracies like our own do more to build our resilience and out-cooperate and out-compete those that are driving instability, the global security situation will deteriorate further". While the review identified Russia as "the most pressing national security and foreign policy priority in the short-to-medium term", it also described China as posing an "epoch-defining and systemic challenge" to the international order. Making the announcements in Parliament, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said "threats have grown and systematic competition has intensified" since the last integrated review in 2021. He said the UK "cannot be blind to the increasingly aggressive military and economic behaviour of the Chinese Communist Party". "We will increase our national security protections and ensure alignment with both our core allies and a wider set of international partners," he said. Rishi Sunak speaking to the press during his flight to San Diego on Sunday The review's emphasis on China has been welcomed by Mr Sunak's MPs, but some would prefer him to take an even tougher position. And there are concerns from others that the promises being made for defence spending don't go far enough. While Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has publicly welcomed the extra £5bn announced by the prime minister, he had been hoping for considerably more. The Conservative chairman of the Defence Committee, Tobias Ellwood, said Mr Wallace wanted double that "just to stay level" after years of military spending cuts. Mr Ellwood said Russia and China "will be breathing a sigh of relief that we haven't invested further". He argued the next two years will be "very dangerous indeed" and that the UK needed more "hard power". Labour rubbished Mr Sunak's promise, and said defence spending had not hit 2.5% of GDP since it had left power. John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, said the Conservatives were "failing to secure Britain's national defence for the future". He said the integrated review "will not address concerns over critical capabilities which weaken our national defence and undermine the UK's Nato obligations". Labour, he said, would publish a defence and security review in its first year of government "to make sure capabilities match the threats we face". The unveiling of the update has been choreographed to coincide with Mr Sunak's visit to California, where he is discussing the Aukus pact with US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Reports have suggested Australia could opt to build a modified version of the British Astute-class submarine, while taking delivery of up to five US Virginia-class submarines during the production stage. Mr Sunak also invite Mr Biden to Northern Ireland next month to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64932951

Oscars 2023: An Irish Goodbye wins best short film Oscar - BBC News

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An Irish Goodbye wins the Academy Award for best short film on actor James Martin's 31st brithday.

Northern Ireland

Actor James Martin (centre) was joined by Tom Berkeley, Ross White and Seamus O'Hara to accept the award Actor James Martin was serenaded by the audience at the Academy Awards on his 31st birthday as the film he starred in picked up an Oscar. Northern Ireland film An Irish Goodbye won best live action short film at Sunday night's ceremony. Martin, who has Down's syndrome, said he planned to bring the award home to his drama group in Belfast. The film's directors Tom Berkeley and Ross White described the win as the best night of their lives. They took to Twitter to thank their supporters in Northern Ireland after a whirlwind 24 hours. This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original tweet on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by An Irish Goodbye This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. End of twitter post by An Irish Goodbye Martin is the first person with Down's syndrome to win an Academy Award. "It doesn't matter if you have Down's syndrome, as long as you're doing what you do," he told the BBC after collecting his Oscar. "I do what I can to be funny." His fellow winners used their acceptance speech to sing him Happy Birthday, with help from the star-studded crowd at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Martin said he planned to take his Oscar statuette to his drama club in Belvoir in Belfast. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'Holding this Oscar is just fantastic' A Irish Goodbye was shot on location in Londonderry, Templepatrick and Saintfield. Directed and written by White and Berkeley, it tells the story of two estranged brothers who come together after their mother's death. The black comedy, set on a rural farm, stars Martin as Lorcan, alongside fellow Northern Ireland actor Seamus O'Hara, who plays his older brother Turlough. White, who is from Belfast, described winning the Oscar as completely overwhelming. This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original tweet on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post 2 by NowThis This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. "We're just so proud to be representing Northern Ireland," he told BBC News. "To be on that stage in front of all of our cinematic heroes - it was a special moment." Actor Paddy Jenkins, who plays Fr O'Shea in the film, told BBC Radio Foyle's Mark Patterson Show that "you don't get many Mondays like this". "Last night I have to say, was pretty special, it really was," he said. The actor - well known to a Northern Ireland audience through his role in BBC comedy Give My Head Peace - wasn't in Los Angeles due to prior work commitments. "I was there (at the Oscars) in spirit. I got to the Baftas, but this is another level." Celebrations are being held on both sides of the Atlantic as actor Paddy Jenkins raises a glass for An Irish Goodbye Other nominations in Sunday's ceremony in the best live action short film category, were Ivalu, Le Pupille, Night Ride and the Red Suitcase. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, which has a Belfast link, was successful in the best animated feature category. The body of the puppet which featured in the animation was constructed by a 3D printing firm in east Belfast. The big winner of the night was Everything Everywhere All At Once, which won seven awards. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Ivan Martin says there were tears of joy when he watched his son collect an Oscar There was a record number of nominations for Irish talent, with 14 prizes up for grabs. Martin McDonagh's tragicomedy, The Banshees of Inisherin was nominated in nine categories but did not take home any statuettes. Colin Farrell lost out in the best actor category, while his co-stars Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan were unsuccessful in the best supporting actor category. Irish actor Paul Mescal also missed out, as did An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl). Kerry Condon was also nominated for best supporting actress for her role, but that award went to Jamie Lee Curtis. Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, The Banshees of Inisherin tells the story of two friends who fall out after one decides to abruptly end their relationship. An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) was the first Irish language film to be nominated for best international feature film, a category formerly named best foreign language film. Colm Bairéad's An Cailín Ciúin has already received critical acclaim and surpassed box office records Directed and written by Colm Bairéad, the film is adapted from Claire Keegan's 2010 book Foster. Paul Mescal, who rose to fame with the BBC drama Normal People, was also in the running for a best actor prize for his role in Aftersun. Brendan Fraser was victorious in that category for his role in The Whale. Irish President Michael D Higgins said it was a remarkable year for the Irish film industry. He said the success was "a testament to the hard work of so many people over recent decades". An Irish Goodbye is available to watch on BBC iPlayer .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-64903140

San Diego: Eight dead after boats, possibly used for people smuggling, capsize - BBC News

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San Diego's lifeguard chief calls it one of the worst maritime smuggling tragedies in California.

US & Canada

A panga boat sits along the Black's Beach, San Diego, following an apparent migrant smuggling operation At least eight people have died after two boats capsized off the California coast, emergency services have said. A search began after the boats got in trouble off Black's Beach, San Diego. A 911 caller told emergency services she had been on a boat with eight people that made it to shore, but another vessel, carrying eight to 10 people, had capsized. San Diego Lifeguard chief James Gartland called it one of the state's worst maritime smuggling tragedies. Officials said they did not know the nationalities of the victims but they were all adults. One San Diego police officer told local media the 911 caller had said she was Mexican. Carlos González Gtez, the Mexican consul general in San Diego, wrote on Twitter that his office "laments the maritime tragedy" and is "working to identify people of Mexican origin and assist their families". Emergency responders from several agencies found two overturned boats with bodies spread over an area of 400 yards (366m). The search operation was suspended on Sunday evening. It was unclear what caused the incident but Mr Gartland described the area as "hazardous" due to sand bars and in-shore rip currents. Rescuers did not find any survivors, but some may have left the beach before the emergency services arrived, he suggested. James Spitler, a sector commander for the San Diego Coast Guard, said one small boat which was carrying about 15 passengers "overturned in the surf," while the other carrying about eight people managed to reach the shore. He described the incident as a tragedy and said: "This is not necessarily people trying to find a better life. This is part of a transnational criminal organisation effort to smuggle people into the United States. "These people are often labour trafficked and sex trafficked when they arrive." San Diego is close to the border between the US and Mexico and the US government has constructed a fence into the sea to the south of the city to deter migrants. Eric Lavergne, a US Border Patrol official in San Diego, told Reuters this was one of a few hundred migrant smuggling events recorded in the area over the past five months - which is similar to the rate in recent years. It comes as the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is due to be in San Diego for the Aukus summit between the US, UK and Australia. He has recently announced a policy aimed at stopping people from coming to the UK on small boats across the English Channel. In 2021, four people died and two dozen were injured when a boat got into trouble off the coast of San Diego. Captain James Spitler, from the U.S. Coast Guard, speaks to members of the media after two fishing boats capsized off the coast of San Diego

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64932817

Aramco: Saudi state-owned oil giant sees record profit of $161bn - BBC News

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After a year when petrol prices soared, the Saudi firm announces a best-ever set of figures.

Middle East

Amin Nasser is the president and CEO of Aramco, the world's second-most valuable company behind Apple Saudi oil giant Aramco has announced a record profit of $161.1bn (£134bn) for 2022, helped by soaring energy prices and bigger volumes. It represents a 46.5% rise for the state-owned company, compared with last year. It is the latest energy firm to report record profits, after energy prices spiked following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Aramco also declared a dividend of $19.5bn for the October to December quarter of 2022, to be paid in the first quarter of this year. Most of that will go to the Saudi government, which owns nearly 95% of the shares in the company. Brent crude oil, the benchmark oil price, now trades at around $82 a barrel - though prices exceeded $120 a barrel last March, after Russia's invasion, and June. "Aramco rode the wave of high energy prices in 2022," said Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. "It would have been difficult for Aramco not to perform strongly in 2022." In a statement on Sunday, Aramco said the company results were "underpinned by stronger crude oil prices, higher volumes sold and improved margins for refined products". Aramco's president and CEO Amin Nasser said: "Given that we anticipate oil and gas will remain essential for the foreseeable future, the risks of underinvestment in our industry are real - including contributing to higher energy prices." To address those challenges, he said, the company would not only focus on expanding oil, gas and chemicals production - but also invest in new lower-carbon technologies. Aramco - the world's second-most valuable company only behind America's Apple - is a major emitter of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Responding to Aramco's announcement, Amnesty International's secretary general Agnès Callamard said: "It is shocking for a company to make a profit of more than $161bn in a single year through the sale of fossil fuel - the single largest driver of the climate crisis." She added: "It is all the more shocking because this surplus was amassed during a global cost-of-living crisis and aided by the increase in energy prices resulting from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine." Saudi Arabia is the largest producer in the oil cartel Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). The Gulf kingdom has been condemned for a range of human rights abuses: its involvement in the conflict in neighbouring Yemen, the murder in 2018 of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, for jailing dissidents, and for the widespread use of capital punishment. In a separate development on Sunday, Iran said its oil exports had reached their highest level since the re-imposition of US sanctions in 2018. Oil Minister Javad Owji said exports increased by 83 million barrels in 2022 compared with the previous 12 months. In Iran, a new year starts in March. Analysts say the rise is due to greater shipments to Iranian allies China and Venezuela. Tehran's export revenues took a significant hit after then-US President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal five years ago. The US sanctions, coupled with economic mismanagement and corruption, have meant that the Iranian economy has not had any substantive growth in the past decade. And by some measures, it is still 4-8% smaller than it was back in 2010.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-64931074

Dick Fosbury: The athlete who developed the 'Fosbury Flop' dies aged 76 - BBC Sport

Dick Fosbury - the man who revolutionised the high jump in athletics - has died at the age of 76.

Last updated on .From the section Athletics Dick Fosbury - the man who revolutionised the high jump in athletics - has died at the age of 76. The American leapt backwards over the bar to win gold at the 1968 Mexico Olympics in a technique which became known as the 'Fosbury Flop' and is used by high jumpers today. At the Games Fosbury set a then record of 2.24 metres using his method. Writing on Instagram, Fosbury's agent Ray Schulte said his client had died on Sunday. "It is with a very heavy heart I have to release the news that long-time friend and client Dick Fosbury passed away peacefully in his sleep early Sunday morning after a short bout with a recurrence of lymphoma," wrote Schulte. "Dick will be greatly missed by friends and fans from around the world. A true legend, and friend of all." Fosbury began experimenting with the 'flop' at school and, encouraged by his coaches, he had all-but perfected it by the time he was in higher education. In the Olympic high jump final of 1968, the 6ft 5in athlete cleared 2.24m on his third attempt to win the gold. "He changed an entire event forever with a technique that looked crazy at the time but the result made it the standard," said American four-time Olympic champion and BBC pundit Michael Johnson. Fosbury is survived by his wife Robin Tomasi, son Erich and stepdaughters Stephanie Thomas-Phipps and Kristin Thompson. "Our sport lost a true legend and innovator with the passing of Dick Fosbury," said the USA Track and Field (USATF). "He invented the 'Fosbury Flop', was a gold medallist at the 1968 Games, and remained an advocate for athletes his entire life. Fosbury's legacy will live on for generations to come." USATF chief executive Max Siegel said he was "deeply saddened" by Fosbury's passing and called him a "true legend and pioneer in the world of track and field". He added: "We will always be grateful for his contributions to the sport and his impact on generations of athletes who followed in his footsteps. "Dick will be deeply missed but his legacy will live on as an inspiration to all." • None High jump legend Fosbury on the pressures of Olympic fame • None Find out how the new owner is transforming the company • None Are eco laundry products better for the environment? Greg Foot investigates how such claims come out in the wash...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/64945985

Childcare: I'll cut costs to boost workforce, says Chancellor Jeremy Hunt - BBC News

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The chancellor says the government can make a "big difference", ahead of Wednesday's Budget.

UK Politics

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: We can make a big difference to childcare costs, says Jeremy Hunt The chancellor has vowed to help reduce the cost of childcare at Wednesday's Budget as part of a wider drive to help people into work. Jeremy Hunt told the BBC that costs were stopping some parents taking a job, and the government could make a "big difference" to reduce them. He said further support would be part of a package of measures to break down "barriers" to entering the workforce. But he said public finances meant the room for tax cuts was limited. Ministers have a lot of heavy lifting to do to make a big impression at the Budget, against the backdrop of an economy that is still wobbly. Conservative backbench MPs are calling for tax cuts they are not going to get, whilst Labour is slamming the government's long-term record. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says her party's plan to secure more investment in green industries could arrest a "low growth spiral" in the UK. Under Budget plans that have already been announced, the government is expected to pay childcare support to parents on universal credit up front instead in arrears, as now. The current UK-wide £646-a-month per child cap on support for universal credit claimants is also expected to be increased by several hundred pounds. An exact figure has not yet been given. It is expected to be part of a package of measures designed to reverse a rise in economic inactivity since Covid, including changes to fitness-to-work tests for those with medical conditions. The Budget is also expected to extend the current level of support for energy bills, limiting costs for a typical family to £2,500 a year, for a further three months until June. Other measures reportedly under consideration, but not yet confirmed, include continuing the 5p cut to fuel duty, changes to tax-free pensions allowances, and bringing forward a rise in the pension age. Mr Hunt has also resisted Tory calls for the planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25% to be cancelled or deferred. Downplaying the prospects of a major tax-cutting Budget, Mr Hunt said it was important to be "responsible with [the] public finances". Adding that any cuts would have to be "within the bounds of what is responsible," he said "Conservatives cut taxes when they can". He also signalled that he was unlikely to announce further childcare support for families that don't qualify for Universal Credit, describing this as "expensive". Although ministers "would like to help everyone," he added that "you can't always do everything at once". Cutting childcare costs has emerged as a key political battleground, with prices in the UK among the highest in the world. Critics say the current level of government support means it is simply not worth large numbers of parents, even those on middle incomes, taking on new or extra work. Early Years Alliance, an education charity, has welcomed the changes for families on benefits, but urged a "wider package of measures" to bring down costs for parents. Labour has promised to completely overhaul the system in England if it takes office, saying the current model of free childcare hours is "broken". This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: UK risks losing out in green global race, says Rachel Reeves Ms Reeves, the shadow chancellor, hit out at the Conservatives' record in government, which she said had left the UK in a "low growth, low productivity, low investment spiral". She said Labour would take inspiration from US President Joe Biden's package of green subsidies to attract investment to new industries. The party has said that if it wins power at the next election, its promised £8bn "national wealth fund" would be tasked with boosting investment into struggling regions. Ms Reeves said the government had failed to "seize the opportunities" of investment in green jobs, allowing other countries to "steal march on us here in Britain". "I feels like we are in the changing room, while other countries are in the global race," she added. How have you been affected by any issues raised here? You can share your experience by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64931202

Scottish Cup coverage goes ahead after Lineker row - BBC News

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The quarter-final was broadcast as planned on TV, radio and online after the boycott by pundits.

Scotland

Falkirk will play for a place in the semi final Full BBC Scotland coverage of Falkirk's Scottish Cup quarter-final against Ayr United went ahead following weekend sport disruption. Programming was limited amid the row over presenter Gary Lineker, who was taken off air after tweeting about UK government migration policy. Following talks with the BBC, the Match of the Day host will resume his role. BBC Scotland coverage of Monday's Scottish Cup tie was broadcast on TV, radio and online. Falkirk beat Ayr United to take a place in the semi-final where they will play Inverness CT. In the other semi-final there will be an Old Firm clash as Rangers take on Celtic. The quarter final coverage on the BBC Scotland channel was hosted by Steven Thompson with Leanne Crichton and Richard Foster. It was followed by the live draw for the semi-final, presented by Jane Lewis. Over the weekend, many BBC sports programmes were hit by an impromptu boycott by presenters in support of Lineker. Gary Lineker will resume his role as Match of the Day presenter following talks with the BBC Sportscene was broadcast on TV with an amended format, while some Sportsound coverage on Radio Scotland was replaced with pre-recorded material. BBC Scotland provided live Sportsound commentary of Rangers' quarter-final victory over Raith Rovers and Scotland's Six Nations clash against Ireland. Other BBC sports programmes aired as normal, with Gabby Logan presenting TV coverage of the rugby alongside studio analysts. Announcing Lineker would return, BBC director general Tim Davie said an independent review would be carried out on social media guidelines. Lineker said he backed the review and was looking forward to getting back on air. He said the last few days had been "surreal" and thanked people for their "incredible support". In a statement, Mr Davie said: "Everyone recognises this has been a difficult period for staff, contributors, presenters and, most importantly, our audiences. I apologise for this." We'll now never know what disruption would have been caused to BBC Scotland's live coverage of the Scottish Cup quarter-final at Falkirk, but given key Scottish presenters and pundits decided to stay off-air at the weekend, one could take a guess. The speed and spread of what happened was incredible. Gary Lineker tweeted about the government's immigration policy and a few days later, BBC Scotland couldn't provide its full coverage of Scotland versus Ireland in the Six Nations, from Murrayfield. This was clearly a crisis the BBC didn't see coming, despite many warning signs. The big question is how the corporation now future-proofs itself against similar happening again, while simultaneously safeguarding its commitment to impartiality. That question won't be answered until after the independent inquiry. Some say that is simply kicking the can down the road. In this aspect, the BBC had little choice. Doing what it could do get pundits and programmes back on air was the priority. Next comes the tricky part.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64940956

Gary Lineker revolt becomes a test of BBC's values - BBC News

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The broadcaster is facing a test of its fundamental values and mission following a day of tumult.

UK

When the BBC's director general, Tim Davie, took over in 2020, he declared his founding principle to be "impartiality". Three years later, a row over that principle and how it applies across the corporation has created a crisis that has quite clearly caught managers by surprise. Familiar, fixed points in the weekly TV schedule unexpectedly falling off air in quick succession is proof of a crisis that has become something much bigger than a row about some tweets. The Gary Lineker issue is more than an argument about the opinions of a highly paid sports presenter - it is a test of the BBC's fundamental values and the current director general's core mission. The passions provoked by Lineker's political tweets and the decision to keep him off air until he and the BBC resolve this issue has poured petrol on a fire that was already well alight - the debate about the BBC's role in British politics and perceptions of bias both to the left and the right. But first, let's look at the immediate issue. It's worth noting that complaints about Lineker's politically charged tweets are not new. In 2016 and 2018 the BBC defended comments made by the Match of the Day presenter about child migrants and Brexit by saying he was a freelance presenter, it was a private Twitter account and the stringent rules for journalists did not apply equally to sports presenters. The guidelines at the time said the risk to compromising the BBC's impartiality "is lower where an individual is expressing views publicly on an unrelated area, for example, a sports or science presenter expressing views on politics or the arts". Since then rules have been tightened. New guidelines on social media demanded an "extra responsibility" for presenters with a "high profile". Some described the new rule as the "Lineker clause". This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: BBC boss Tim Davie asked if he bowed to government pressure The question is whether that rule is being fairly applied. Twitter is awash with examples of what some people think are presenters who have gone too far over recent years. Names frequently raised include Alan Sugar, Chris Packham and Andrew Neil. In response, Mr Davie said on Saturday evening that he was in "listening mode" and suggested there might be an escape route by re-examining those guidelines. There is good reason for him to want to bring this to a conclusion. Impartiality is hugely important but so too is providing a service that people pay for through their licence fee. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: How the Match of the Day row played out on Saturday... in 60 seconds Match of the Day went ahead on BBC One on Saturday night - but was reduced to a 20-minute edition that did not have a presenter, pundits or any commentary - while other football coverage was dropped. Every cancelled programme is a source of further complaint from licence payers who may not care what Lineker says on Twitter but care deeply about their favourite programmes staying on air on a Saturday night. There is also the wider context of a government that has in recent years been critical of the BBC and its perceived liberal bias. Greg Dyke, a former director general, who left the BBC over a clash with the Labour Government in 2004, says the decision to pull Gary Lineker from Match of the Day looks like a corporation bowing to political pressure from a Tory government. All of which leads to another issue that asks questions of the BBC's impartiality, the BBC's chairman, Richard Sharp, a former donor to the Conservative party who is the subject of an ongoing inquiry looking in to his appointment and what he did or did not disclose about his part in the arrangement of an £800,000 loan guarantee to the former prime minister, Boris Johnson. He has denied any involvement in arranging the loan. Lineker has become a lightning rod for a much bigger debate and the BBC would like to resolve the issue as quickly as possible to stop a very public row turning into a monumental crisis. However, with the corporation saying it wants Lineker, with his 8.7 million Twitter followers, to stop the political tweets while he shows no sign of agreeing to be silenced, it's hard to see quite how this will resolve itself. For the BBC this is about impartiality but to many others it is about free speech. Indeed, there is a statue outside the BBC's headquarters in London of the author of 1984, George Orwell, a former BBC talks producer. Inscribed on the wall behind the Orwell statue are these words: "If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." Eighty years after Orwell left the BBC, the corporation finds itself in a deepening crisis. That thought from Orwell and the questions it raises for the BBC are at the very heart of the Lineker debate.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64929269

Theresa May says asylum plan won't solve illegal migration issue - BBC News

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The former PM says modern slavery victims will be "collateral damage" under new government proposals.

UK Politics

Theresa May was among those to raise concerns about the bill in the Commons Government plans to tackle small boat crossings will not solve the issue of illegal migration, former Prime Minister Theresa May has warned. Under the proposals, modern slavery victims would be "collateral damage" and denied support, she told MPs. Several other Tories also called for changes to the Illegal Migration Bill. However it passed its first Commons hurdle, with the home secretary saying it was "a humane attempt" to break the incentive for people-smuggling gangs. Suella Braverman said the number of people crossing the Channel had "overwhelmed our asylum system" and "our capacity to help people is not unlimited". The new legislation, announced last week, aims to stop migrants making the dangerous journey to the UK in small boats - which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made one of his five key priorities. Under the plans, anyone found to have entered the country illegally would be removed from the UK within 28 days, and also be blocked from returning or claiming British citizenship in future. They would either be returned to their home country, or another "safe third country" like Rwanda. The bill passed its second reading in the Commons by 312 votes to 250, with the majority of Tory MPs voting for the plans. No Conservatives voted against, although Mrs May and former ministers Chris Skidmore and Caroline Nokes, who have been publicly critical of the bill, were among those who did not register a vote, according to the Parliament website. Critics say the proposals break international law and they are likely to face opposition in the House of Lords, as well as legal challenges in the courts. During a debate on the bill in the Commons, Mrs May told MPs that "whenever you close a route, the migrants and the people smugglers find another way, and anybody who thinks that this bill will deal with the issue of illegal migration once and for all is wrong". She raised several concerns about the proposed legislation, including that anyone fleeing persecution who came to the UK via an illegal route would face a "blanket dismissal". "By definition, someone fleeing for their life will more often than not be unable to access a legal route," she said. Mrs May also highlighted the potential impact of the bill on victims of modern slavery, saying "as it currently stands we are shutting the door on victims while being trafficked into slavery here in the UK". "If they come here illegally they will not be supported to escape their slavery," she added. The former home secretary said No 10 had offered to discuss her concerns about the bill and she hoped "we can find some resolution". Hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square to protest against the bill as it was debated in the Commons Another senior Conservative MP, Sir Robert Buckland, said he had "great concern" about a clause of the bill which could allow children to be detained. The former justice secretary also warned that the "tone" used by some members of his party was "not appropriate" and "we have to do better". While he said he would vote for the bill, Tory MP Simon Hoare said he wanted to see changes in relation to women who are trafficked and children. Other Tories, including Mr Skidmore, said they could not support the bill. The former minister wrote on Twitter: "I am not prepared to break international law or the human rights conventions that the UK has had a proud history of playing a leading role in establishing." And Ms Nokes, the Conservative chairwoman of the Commons women and equalities committee, said she had "absolute horror" at the prospect of the bill. "I am deeply troubled at the prospect of a policy which seeks to criminalise children, pregnant women, families and remove them to Rwanda," the former immigration minister told Times Radio. However, other Conservative MPs were supportive of the government's approach. Former minister Sir John Hayes said people wanted "tough action" on illegal immigration. "Of course Britain should provide a safe haven for people in need, in genuine need," he said. "But it is a deceit to pretend the asylum system is not being gamed and the British people taken for a ride." Marco Longhi, who represents Dudley North, said the bill would act as a deterrent for people undertaking "very perilous journeys". Labour voted against the bill, describing it as "a con that makes the chaos worse". Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said "it won't stop the criminal gangs or dangerous crossings" but "it will rip up our long-standing commitment to international law", as well as "lock up children" and "remove support and safe refuges from women who have been trafficked". The SNP also opposed the bill, saying there was no proof it would work and it would "create an underclass of people stuck in immigration limbo indefinitely". Defending the plans, Ms Braverman said unaccompanied children would only be removed from the UK under limited circumstances, such as for the purposes of family reunion. "Otherwise, they will be provided with the necessary support in the UK until they reach 18," she told MPs. Responding to concerns about families and pregnant women, she said "we must not create incentives for the smugglers to focus on people with particular characteristics by signposting exemptions for removal". Closing the debate, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said the government was "committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and supporting victims". "It's for that reason that we want to prevent abuse [of the system]," he added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64943444

Eleanor Williams sentencing: Men tried to take own lives over rape lies - BBC News

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Eleanor Williams lied to police and posted on Facebook she had been trafficked by an Asian gang.

Cumbria

Eleanor Williams was found guilty of eight counts of perverting the course of justice Three men tried to take their own lives after being falsely accused of rape and trafficking, a court has heard. Eleanor Williams accused the men of attacking her and posted on Facebook in May 2020 that she was the victim of an Asian grooming gang. The 22-year-old of Barrow-in-Furness was found guilty of perverting the course of justice in January. During a sentencing hearing at Preston Crown Court, Mohammed Ramzan, said the lies had made his life "hell on earth". Mr Ramzan said two weeks after he was arrested following Williams' claims, he attempted to take his own life. He said: "I still bear the scars to this day." Mr Ramzan said his property had been damaged and his businesses had been "ruined" after he and his family were targeted "in the most horrendous way". "I have had countless death threats made over social media from people all over the world because of what they thought I was involved in," he said. One of the men she falsely accused, Jordan Trengove, spent 73 days in custody In a statement read to the court, Jordan Trengove said the word "rapist" had been spray painted across his house. He said he spent 73 days in prison, sharing a cell with a convicted sex offender, after he was charged as a result of Williams' claims. He said: "Things had calmed down a bit until the Facebook post in 2020. "This made things even worse for me. There were big protests and marches in Barrow. "The lowest point was when I tried to end my life in August 2020." Oliver Gardner said his chance encounter with Williams in Preston led to him being sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Mr Gardner, who was accused of rape, said it was a "real shock" when he was contacted by Cumbria Police and told of her claims. He said: "It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time." In his statement, he said he tried to end his life before being sectioned. Cameron Bibby, who was the first man accused of rape by Williams in 2017, said he had to remove himself from most social media because of abuse and was scared to pick his son up from nursery because of the way people looked at him. Williams' trial heard that police believed she inflicted the injuries on herself with a hammer He said after Williams posted her account on Facebook, his neighbours displayed "Justice for Ellie" stickers in their windows, which "intimidated" him. The court was shown videos of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson attending protests at Hollywood Retail Park in Barrow in May 2020. In a statement, Supt Matthew Pearman said there was "unprecedented outcry on social media within the town of Barrow" after Williams posted about her injuries. He said: "Barrow had not seen such public displays of mass anger for over 30 years." Louise Blackwell KC, defending Williams, said she "continues in her allegations against the various people in pretty much the same circumstances". Williams is due to be sentenced on Tuesday. Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-64943465

King gives Commonwealth speech of 'tolerance and respect' - BBC News

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King Charles receives a traditional Maori greeting, in a Commonwealth service emphasising diversity.

UK

King Charles received a traditional Maori greeting on his arrival at Westminster Abbey The Commonwealth can be a force for good, promoting values of "tolerance, respect and solidarity", the King has told a service at Westminster Abbey. King Charles was speaking at the annual Commonwealth Day service in London, the first since the beginning of his reign. The King also recalled how much the Commonwealth had meant to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. When he arrived at the service, he received a traditional New Zealand Maori greeting of touching noses. The Royal Family gathered for the annual Commonwealth Day service King Charles highlighted the 56 Commonwealth countries had a combined population of 2.6 billion, about a third of the world's total. Its collective efforts could advance its defining values, he said, "peace and justice; tolerance, respect and solidarity; care for our environment and for the most vulnerable among us". The King addressed about 2,000 guests from the UK and Commonwealth, including Camilla, the Queen Consort, the Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, politicians, faith leaders and athletes who had competed in the Commonwealth Games. The service put a strong emphasis on diversity, with a version of a Bob Marley song, readings from Muslim, Sikh and Jewish representatives, as well as Christian denominations, and performers from Rwanda literally dancing in the aisles. But the King's new era as Commonwealth head is likely to see challenges, including over issues such as colonialism, the legacy of slavery and human rights within member countries. Outside the Westminster Abbey service, Peter Tatchell held a protest criticising the lack of rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in many Commonwealth countries, while anti-monarchy campaigners also demonstrated as the Royal Family arrived. In a speech to Commonwealth leaders in Rwanda last year, King Charles spoke of the importance of acknowledging the past and his "personal sorrow" at the suffering caused by the slave trade. It was up to individual states to decide whether to remain monarchies or became republics, he added. There will be questions about whether the Commonwealth will remain a diplomatic priority for the UK. The King's symbolic first state visits will be to build relationships with France and Germany, with the European destinations decided by the government. But his message at the Commonwealth Day service argued for the strength of bringing together different cultures within the Commonwealth, saying: "By listening to each other, we will find so many of the solutions that we seek."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64940533

Aukus pact delivers France some hard truths - BBC News

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The BBC's Hugh Schofield assesses the harsh realities for France after Australia's US-UK deal.

Europe

When they have picked themselves up from their humiliation, the French will need to gather their sangfroid and confront some cruel verities. Number one: there is no sentiment in geostrategy. The French must see there is no point in wailing about having been shoddily treated. They were. But who ever heard of a nation short-changing its defence priorities out of not wanting to give offence? The fact is that the Australians calculated they had underestimated the Chinese threat and so needed to boost their level of deterrence. They acted with steely disregard for French concerns but, when it comes to the crunch, that is what nations do. It is almost the definition of a nation: a group of people who have come together to defend their own interests. Their own, not others'. Of course, sometimes nations decide their interests are best served by joining alliances. That's what the US did in suppressing its isolationist instincts in the last century. But the second painful truth exposed by the Aukus affair is that the US no longer has any great interest in the outdated behemoth that is Nato. Nor does it harbour any particular loyalty to those who have stood by its side. Gaullists in France - and President Emmanuel Macron is one of them - dream of their country as a fully independent power, exercising its force for good thanks to a global presence and nuclear-backed military strength. In practice, and not without considerable reserve, France has bound itself to the US-led alliance because that seemed both moral and expedient. But now the questions echo around Paris: Why did we bother? What was in it for us? "This blow came completely out of the blue," says Renaud Girard, senior foreign affairs analyst at Le Figaro newspaper. "Macron made so much effort to help the Anglo-Saxons. With the Americans in Afghanistan; with the British on military co-operation; with the Australians in the Indo-Pacific. Look, he kept saying, we're following you - we are genuine allies. "And he made the effort not just with Biden - but with Trump too! All that, and then this. No reward at all. Treated like dogs." The French will now be re-evaluating their role in Nato. Their military participation in the organisation was suspended by De Gaulle in 1966 and only restored by Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009. There is no talk, yet, of a second withdrawal. But remember, Emmanuel Macron is the man who described Nato two years ago as "brain-dead". He will not have changed his mind. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Australia’s ‘risky bet’ to side with US over China But the third harsh truth is that there is no obvious other way for France to fulfil its global ambitions. The lesson of the last week is that France by itself is too small to make much of a dent in strategic affairs. Every four years the Chinese build as many ships as there are in the entire French fleet. When it came to the crunch, the Australians preferred to be close to a superpower, not a minipower. The conventional way out of the conundrum has been for the French to say their military future lies in Europe. The EU - with its vast population and technological resources - would be the springboard for France's global mission. But 30 years has given nothing beyond a few joint brigades, a bit of procurement planning and minor contingents from Estonia and the Czech Republic in Mali. For Renaud Girard, the idea of the EU as a military force is a "complete joke". Accept realities. Try to form ad hoc alliances (like Macron was indeed trying to do in the Indo-Pacific). Keep pushing the Germans to get over their 20th Century complexes and act like the power they really are. And keep open a doorway to the British. It may not be the easiest of suggestions at the moment. Relations between Paris and London are at their worst level for many years. The French find it hard to conceal their contempt for Boris Johnson, and many in London appear to feel the same way back. In the short term, it is quite possible that France will seek to punish the UK for its role in the Aukus affair, says Girard, possibly by scaling back the secret nuclear co-operation that forms part of the 2010 Lancaster Accords. There could be fall-out in other areas too, like the control of cross-Channel migrants. But the UK's is Europe's only other serious army. The two countries have similar histories and world experiences. Their soldiers respect each other. In the long term, Franco-British defence co-operation is too logical to ignore. That may be the last of Macron's painful truths.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58614229

Rishi Sunak: China represents challenge to world order - BBC News

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The PM says the UK will increase defence spending because "the world has become more volatile".

UK Politics

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. China "represents a challenge to the world order", the PM says. China "represents a challenge to the world order" which the UK must take seriously, Rishi Sunak has said. The prime minister told the BBC he was increasing funding for the armed forces because "the world has become more volatile" and "threats to our security have increased". Defence spending will rise by nearly £5bn over the next two years. But No 10 has given no timeframe for a longer term ambition to boost spending to 2.5% of national income. Mr Sunak was speaking in California, where he held talks with his US and Australian counterparts to agree details of a UK-US pact to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. The agreement, known as the Aukus pact, was signed in 2021 as part of a joint effort to counter Chinese military power in the Indo-Pacific region. Mr Sunak said in a press conference to mark the pact that the Aukus partnership would deliver "one of the most advanced" submarines "the world has ever known", creating thousands of jobs in British shipyards. The new SSN-Aukus submarines will also be used by the UK, and will be in operation for the Royal Navy by the late 2030s under the plan. The boats will replace the UK's seven Astute-class subs. The UK's submarines will mainly be built by BAE Systems at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and Rolls-Royce, with the US sharing sensitive technology for the project. Australia's boats will be built in South Australia, using some components manufactured in the UK, and will be in service in the early 2040s. Mr Sunak said: "The Aukus partnership, and the submarines we are building in British shipyards, are a tangible demonstration of our commitment to global security. "This partnership was founded on the bedrock of our shared values and resolute focus on upholding stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond." Earlier, in an interview with the BBC's Chris Mason, Mr Sunak said: "China is a country with fundamentally different values to ours and it represents a challenge to the world order. "And that's why it's right that we are alert to that and take steps to protect ourselves… stand up for our values and protect our interests." He said the government took the "challenge" posed by China seriously, adding that the UK had taken action including blocking Chinese investment in sensitive sectors like semiconductors. Pressed on whether the ambition to increase defence spending to 2.5% of national income was meaningless without a timeframe, the prime minister said the government should be judged "on our actions". As chancellor, Mr Sunak said he had overseen the largest uplift in defence spending since the end of the Cold War and the government had increased spending every year since then. "We're one of the largest spenders on defence anywhere in the world, the largest in Europe, and that will continue to remain the case," he added. However, Labour pointed out that defence spending had not hit 2.5% of GDP since it left government in 2010. The UK currently aims to spend 2% of GDP on defence each year, latest figures show. Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy described the ambition as "another hollow promise", with "no plan and no timetable". Some Tory MPs have also expressed concern about the level of investment in the armed forces. Tobias Ellwood, who is chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, said the UK was on a "peacetime budget" as the world was "sliding towards a new Cold War". While Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has publicly welcomed the extra £5bn announced by the prime minister, he had been hoping for considerably more. There had been reports - denied by Mr Wallace - that he had threatened to resign if he did not get a commitment to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030. Mr Wallace told the Commons he was "not interested" in resigning, although he added that he was worried about the increased threats facing the UK and long-term investment was needed. Hulking floating airports, aircraft carriers, dominate the shoreline on the Pacific Coast of the United States, where there is a gathering of what's known as the Aukus pact: Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, keeping a collectively nervous eye on an increasingly muscular China. Privately, the government is stark in its assessments. Western democracies are comparatively and collectively weaker economically as China grows; Beijing can use every instrument of the state as a tool of foreign policy in a way that's impossible in an open democracy. All the data make us more concerned, not less, as one senior figure put it. The review of foreign and defence policy, which has just been published, says the UK is committed to "swift and robust action" to counter any threat to UK national interests from China. Mr Sunak was also asked whether Chinese-owned social media app TikTok should be banned on all government phones. It comes after the Sunday Times reported experts at GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre had identified risks to sensitive information from the app and could issue advice to ministers and civil servants. The prime minister refused to comment directly but said "we take the security of devices seriously and we look also at what our allies are doing". The US government and the European Commission have already taken steps to ban TikTok on the phones of staff members. The government has set out its plans for foreign and defence policy in an new version of the so-called Integrated Review. The update was ordered by then-Prime Minister Liz Truss in September last year to take account of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The review identified Russia as "the most pressing national security and foreign policy priority in the short-to-medium term". But it also describes China under Communist Party rule as an "epoch-defining and systemic challenge... across almost every aspect of national life and government policy". It says the government will engage "constructively" with Beijing on shared priorities but where the Chinese government's actions threaten the UK's interests "we will take swift and robust action to protect them". Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who is among the Tory MPs calling for the government to take a tougher line on China, said he was "confused" about what the government's position was. "Does that now mean that China is a threat or an epoch-defining challenge or a challenging government epoch or none of that?" he asked in the Commons. Mr Lammy said the updated review was "overdue" but welcome. "The initiative to improve understanding of China in government is vital, particularly given the Foreign Office has only been training 14 people a year to speak fluent Mandarin," he added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64943445

Aukus deal: US, UK and Australia agree on nuclear submarine project - BBC News

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The US, UK and Australia say new nuclear-powered submarines will help ensure stability in the Pacific.

Australia

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The US, UK and Australia have unveiled details of their plan to create a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, aimed at countering China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Under the Aukus pact Australia is to get its first nuclear-powered subs - at least three - from the US. The allies will also work to create a new fleet using cutting-edge tech, including UK-made Rolls-Royce reactors. Its foreign ministry on Tuesday accused the three nations of "walking further and further down the path of error and danger". China's UN mission had earlier also accused the Western allies of setting back nuclear non-proliferation efforts. But US President Joe Biden said the deal was aimed at bolstering peace in the region and stressed the submarines would be "nuclear-powered, not nuclear-armed". Speaking alongside the UK and Australian prime ministers - Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese - in San Diego, California, Mr Biden said the deal would not jeopardise Australia's commitment to being a nuclear-free country. For Australia, it is a major upgrade to the US ally's military capabilities. The country becomes just the second after the UK to receive Washington's elite nuclear propulsion technology. The submarines will be able to operate further and faster than the country's existing diesel-engine fleet and Australia will also be able to carry out long-range strikes against enemies for the first time. Under the deal, Australian navy sailors will be sent to US and UK submarine bases from this year to learn how to use the nuclear-powered submarines. From 2027, the US and UK will also base a small number of nuclear submarines in Perth, Western Australia, before Canberra will buy three US-model Virginia-class submarines in the early 2030s - with options to purchase two more. After that, the plan is to design and build an entirely new nuclear-powered submarine for the UK and Australian navies - a model that is being called SSN-AUKUS. This attack craft will be built in Britain and Australia to a British design, but use technology from all three countries. The US, Australia and UK will jointly build a new class of submarines President Biden said all three countries were committed to ensuring the Indo-Pacific region would remain free and open. "Forging this new partnership, we're showing again how democracies can deliver our own security and prosperity... not just for us but for the entire world," he said. He also pledged of $4.6bn (£3.7bn) to expanding the US' submarine construction capacity and improving maintenance of its current nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines. Australia's PM said the plan - which will cost Canberra up to A$368bn (£201bn) over 30 years - marked the "biggest single investment in Australia's defence capability in all of its history". Anthony Albanese said building the submarines in Australian shipyards would also create thousands of local jobs. The UK PM also said thousands of jobs would be created in Derby and Barrow-in-Furness, where some of the construction would take place. Mr Sunak said that in the 18 months since the Aukus alliance was unveiled, the challenges to global stability had only grown. "Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, China's growing assertiveness, the destabilising behaviour of Iran and North Korea - all threaten to create a world codefined by danger, disorder and division," Mr Sunak said. As part of his visit to the US, Mr Sunak has also pledged to increase defence spending by nearly £5bn ($6bn) over the next two years to counter threats from hostile states. The Aukus security alliance - announced in September 2021 - has repeatedly drawn criticism from China. Beijing's foreign ministry last week reiterated its position that the pact risked creating an arms race. But the three Western countries say the security deal is aimed at shoring up stability in the Indo-Pacific. While all three leaders have stressed how the deal will strengthen their co-operation, it hasn't been without its political fallout. In 2021, Australia scrapped a multi-million dollar diesel-powered submarine agreement with France in favour of the trilateral agreement - causing a political rift with Paris. Australia also faces a delicate diplomatic situation with China - its largest trading partner. Analysts say the question will be whether it can continue to strengthen its military ties with US, while fostering commercial ties with Beijing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-64945819

Swansea: Morriston gas explosion destroys homes - BBC News

Pictures from the scene appear to show a number of terraced houses damaged.

A number of terraced houses have been badly damaged after a gas explosion. Emergency services are responding to the incident on the junction of Field Close and Clydach Road in Morriston. South Wales Police has asked people to avoid the area.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64939658

Ben Wallace: We need to invest in defence properly - BBC News

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The defence secretary says the Ukraine war has exposed "vulnerabilities" as he seeks more money.

UK Politics

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said the country has to start "investing in defence properly" as he defended the UK military's readiness for war. He said the army had been "hollowed out" over 30 years and the Ukraine war had "exposed our vulnerabilities". Mr Wallace said he wanted a bigger budget, amid reports he is asking for a £10bn rise. UK and European officials have raised concerns over the state of the British armed forces. Malcolm Chalmers, a British defence expert who advises MPs on national security, told the BBC the UK military "would run out of ammunition in days if we faced a war, such as the ones the Ukrainians are facing right now". When asked his reaction to those concerns, Mr Wallace said the UK government was going to spend £34bn on modernising the army. The defence secretary said the UK military was "not any less ready than others", but added: "We just need to make sure we get back to spending on our defence properly." Mr Wallace spoke to the BBC from Brussels, where he is meeting Nato defence ministers for a summit at which Ukraine will top the agenda. Calls for increased spending on defence have been growing ahead of an expected spring offensive by Russia in Ukraine, and warnings about the threat from China after a suspected spy balloon was shot down over the US. When asked if he was requesting £10bn more in the upcoming budget, Mr Wallace said the Ministry of Defence - like all other departments - had been affected by rising costs. But he said he would "make the case to the Treasury that I will need some money to insulate myself". Despite inflation and military budget cuts in the past, the UK has been one of the biggest supplier of arms to Ukraine in its war against President Vladimir Putin's invading forces. The UK is set to become the first nation to start training Ukrainian pilots on Nato-standard aircraft, but the government has indicated that lending jets to Kyiv is a long-term prospect. At the end of this year, the UK will be taking over the leadership of Nato's Response Force (NRF) from Germany. Mr Wallace rubbished reports about Nato chiefs asking Germany to stay in charge of the organisation's rapid-reaction force. The defence secretary said: "I mean, to be honest, the simple reality is Nato leadership did not approach anybody. We are taking over the NRF as scheduled and it's interesting that story is based on a source on a German website I've never heard of." Downing Street has confirmed that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will travel to Munich this weekend, joining fellow world leaders for a conference on international security. Last year's conference, held just before Russia invaded Ukraine, was dominated by concerns over the prospect of conflict in the region.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64648159

SNP leadership: Voting opens as race enters final fortnight - BBC News

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Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan are bidding to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as first minister.

Scotland politics

Humza Yousaf, Ash Regan and Kate Forbes have been taking part in SNP leadership hustings across the country Voting in the SNP leadership election will open later as the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon enters its final fortnight. Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and ex-minister Ash Regan are in the running to become Scotland's next first minister. Party members will be able to vote online from noon using the Single Transferable Vote system. The result will be announced after the ballot closes on Monday 27 March. Party members will be asked to rank the three candidates in order of preference, and if no single candidate secures more than 50% of votes on first preferences, the person in third place will be eliminated. Ms Sturgeon, who announced her resignation last month, has indicated she would not be publicly backing any of the three candidates. On Saturday Deputy First Minister John Swinney and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn both endorsed Mr Yousaf. However, polling expert Sir John Curtice, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University said there was a "marked contrast" between the preferences of the public and SNP leadership. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. ‘A very interesting debate’ - Meet the SNP members choosing Scotland’s next leader He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland: "Nearly all polling has been of the public and SNP voters, rather than SNP members. "If this election was being decided by the general public in Scotland, it seems pretty clear Kate Forbes would win. "For clues as to what SNP members might think, we have been looking at the views of those who have voted for the SNP recently, or would vote for the SNP now. "All of that polling points to SNP supporters being pretty much evenly divided between Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes." The SNP membership once stood at more than 125,000, but that figure is believed to have declined. The Mail on Sunday reported that the polling firm running the leadership ballot had received the names of 78,000 individuals from party headquarters. On Sunday, Mr Yousaf told the BBC he would consider a snap Holyrood election and "any means necessary" so long as it was legal in order to secure independence. Asked whether he would serve in a Kate Forbes cabinet if she was victorious, he said he would need assurances on policy. Humza Yousaf has attracted the support of several high profile figures in the party, including John Swinney and Stephen Flynn Last week Ms Forbes criticised his record in government during the STV leadership debate. She also said there was room for Mr Yousaf on her ministerial team before quipping "maybe not in health". The health secretary, who is campaigning in Stirling on Monday, is expected to pledge to stand up to any attempt to "trample over our democracy". He is expected to say: "Inclusivity, equality and respect for everyone were key pillars on which the Yes movement was built in the lead up to 2014. "As a party, we cannot afford to have a leader who pulls us off that progressive path that will deliver us the independence for Scotland that we crave. "It is so important that any SNP leader and first minister stands up to Westminster attacks and attempts to undermine Scotland's Parliament and its democratic will." Kate Forbes met supporters before taking part in a SNP leadership debate at Strathclyde University on Saturday On Sunday Ms Forbes launched a "mini manifesto" for the leadership election which set out her stance on issues ranging from the economy, the NHS and tackling poverty. Making a pitch to SNP members, she said: "We need a first minister who will lead us to independence, and it's coming sooner than people think. "I believe I've got what it takes to be the next first minister of Scotland, the first minister who will lead Scotland to independence." Ms Forbes came under fire early in the campaign after she revealed she would not have voted for same-sex marriage if she had been an MSP at the time, although she has also promised to uphold the rights of every Scot. "We need a first minister who the people of Scotland can trust - a first minister who commands confidence," she said. "No-one can accuse me of not delivering, of bending under pressure or being unprincipled." Ash Regan said on Sunday that many SNP voters are still undecided Elsewhere, ex-community safety minister Ash Regan insisted she was in the SNP leadership contest to win it - despite being regarded as an outsider. Ms Regan, who quit the Scottish government last year so she could vote against gender recognition reforms, accepted she was "probably the least well-known" of the candidates. But she told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme on Sky News: "At the moment we understand that a large amount of the membership are still undecided, it is a very short contest. "But I have had many people get in touch with me recently to say that they think I am the only hope for the SNP." Ms Regan said the country was at a crossroads but she would use any future Scottish or Westminster election as a means of establishing a majority for independence. She added: "I believe I am the candidate setting out a credible, democratic means for Scotland to express its will at the ballot box and to give Scotland that choice over their own future." Among those who have confirmed their support for Mr Yousaf are the Scottish Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson and SNP Westminster deputy leader Mhairi Black. Ms Forbes' backers include veteran SNP MSPs Fergus Ewing, Annabelle Ewing and Christine Grahame as well as her campaign manager, Falkirk East MSP Michelle Thomson. One of the party's best known MPs, Joanna Cherry KC, has given her support to Ms Regan. The three leadership candidates will take part in an hour-long Debate Night programme from Edinburgh at 20:00 on Tuesday 14 March on BBC One Scotland. SNP members have been tasked with selecting a new leader - and thus a new first minister for the country at large. And the three candidates to replace Nicola Sturgeon seem to have a rather different idea of who those party members actually are. Humza Yousaf is betting that they are big fans of Ms Sturgeon and her legacy, and are chiefly interested in a continued focus on social justice issues. Kate Forbes believes they are hungry for change from the current regime, are prepared to accept a more socially conservative leader and want more done for the economy. And Ash Regan is basing her campaign on the thing that unites them all - independence. She is counting on their votes being guided by the impatience for action which was sometimes brought to bear on Nicola Sturgeon. The fact the membership appears to have dropped from six figures to something closer to 78,000 - still a huge number amid Scotland's population - underlines that nobody outside of SNP HQ is actually clear on what the core makeup of the party is any more. Is the membership broadly young or old? Is it progressive or more traditional? Did hardcore independence supporters leave with Alex Salmond - or did others walk out amid the row over gender reform? The outcome of the current contest may go some way towards answering those questions - but the three candidates seem to have drawn different conclusions already.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-64933540

Phyllida Barlow: Renowned British sculptor dies aged 78 - BBC News

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The Newcastle-born artist had a long career teaching art before her breakthrough.

England

Phyllida Barlow, pictured in her studio in 2018, had a long career teaching art before gaining international recognition with her sculptures The Newcastle-born artist, known for her large installations, had a long career teaching art before she got her major breakthrough. Barlow often developed her colossal sculptural projects using everyday DIY materials such as plywood, cardboard, plaster, cement, fabric and paint. The artist's gallery, Hauser & Wirth, described her as a "guiding light and inspiration to so many". She is survived by her husband Fabian Peake and their five children, the gallery said. Born in 1944, her family moved to Richmond in London after the Second World War, with the bomb damage and the rebuilding of the capital said to be life-long sources of inspiration for her art. Her body of work, which also includes drawing, installation and writing, has been presented in solo exhibitions around the world. Barlow enrolled at the Chelsea School of Art in London in 1960 and initially studied painting before switching to sculpture. She later transferred to the Slade School of Art, where she experimented with materials such as plaster, resin, fibreglass and wood. Barlow later taught at several art colleges before returning to Slade in 1988, where she spent 20 years as a professor. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Phyllida Barlow will represent the UK at the Venice Biennale. Hauser & Wirth said a London solo show led to her being invited to exhibit at the Serpentine Gallery in 2010, bringing her work to a wide international audience. At the age of 65, Barlow entered a period of global recognition, the gallery said, with her work the subject of numerous high profile solo exhibitions across Europe and the US. Barlow, who was accepted as a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 2011, was awarded a CBE for her services to the arts in 2015 and a damehood in 2021. In 2017 she was selected to represent Britain at the Venice International Art Biennale, recognised as the most important contemporary art festival in the world. This huge 2020 'untitled undercover ii' piece was made from steel, timber, plywood, fabric, paint, foam, polystyrene, plaster and cement Frances Morris, Director Tate Modern, said: "Barlow's practice implicitly acknowledges that in a world saturated with objects, the role of sculpture and the job of the sculptor might be less about making things than generating a particular type of experience of the work, and of the world in which it temporarily resides." Former BBC arts editor Will Gompertz previously described her work as "using the destroyed and the discarded, the fragile and the overlooked, to make works that are often displayed in the marbled halls of the art establishment". Iwan Wirth, president of Hauser & Wirth, said Barlow was a "cherished friend as well as a visionary artist". "Her generosity of spirit extended through her art, her writings, and her many years of teaching and mentorship," he said. "A truly thoughtful and companionable human being, Phyllida was a guiding light and inspiration to so many." The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-64946354

Oscars 2023: Tackling family grief with gallows humour in An Irish Goodbye - BBC News

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The short film contender sees two brothers reunite as they try to come to terms with their mum's death.

Entertainment & Arts

It's safe to say that actor James Martin is looking forward to his upcoming trip to Hollywood. The star of An Irish Goodbye, the short film that has already won a Bafta and is now gunning for an Oscar, has an extra reason to celebrate. Sunday's ceremony falls on his birthday. "The leopard-skin jacket is coming out!" he says. "I would love to meet Tom Cruise. His movie Top Gun was fantastic. I would love to meet Robert De Niro as we have something in common. My name is actually Robert James so it would be nice to meet someone who has the same name. We're both actors and we can both be grumpy on set, so maybe it's a family thing!" Martin, who has also starred in BBC One film Ups and Downs and ITV's Marcella, plays Lorcan in Ross White and Tom Berkeley's film about two estranged brothers thrown together again after their mother's untimely death. Younger brother Lorcan lives and works on the family farm in Northern Ireland but with their mother (Michelle Fairley) gone, older brother Turlough (Seamus O'Hara) returns from London to announce that Lorcan - who has Down's syndrome - will have to move in with their aunt. Lorcan is distinctly unimpressed with the idea. "Everyone wants to be independent, I'm very independent of my folks," Martin says. "It's very important [to show what people with learning disabilities can do]. It's not often you get your own part on a show if you have Down's syndrome. But never judge a book by its cover. "Lorcan's very independent but the love and the hate and the emotion towards his brother is fantastic. It's good to have that special bond. If it wasn't for that special bond… he'd just look at him (Turlough) as a carer." (Left to right) Tom Berkeley, Seamus O'Hara, James Martin and Ross White celebrated their Bafta win last month White says the idea about a homecoming first began to germinate after he and Berkeley made a big life decision a few years ago. "Tom and I met about 10 years ago when we trained as actors, we were living in London and writing plays as well acting. "As our careers went on, we were writing more and more and acting less. In 2019, we made this big decision to leave London, to go back to our respective home towns, Belfast for myself and Gloucester for Tom, and just write full-time and move from writing for theatre into writing for screen. "At that time we were thinking a lot about the idea of having left home, and then returning back home and it feeling a little bit like, 'Are you from that place again?'" But they needed a narrative, which came by chance when Berkeley attended a football match. "I just happened to see a couple of brothers who were sat a few rows ahead of me watching the game, and the younger brother, much like in our story, had Down's syndrome," he tells me. "There was an interesting juxtaposition between what was a very typically ferocious, brotherly kind of relationship, quite combative, as they were watching the game. They were hurling abuse at each other! And then... there was this other added layer of responsibility that was there between them as well, which I found quite compelling. There was just something really poignant about the relationship." Berkeley explains that it got them thinking about how people deal with grief in different ways. "It was the idea of two people who see the world very differently and processed emotions very differently. The older brother - stoic, a bit repressed, slightly cynical. And then the younger brother, who wears his heart on his sleeve and has this superhuman capacity for empathy. "We thought it would be really interesting to see those two opposites go through the process of grief together." While part of the storyline is linked to Lorcan having a learning disability and needing support after the death of his mum, White and Berkeley were keen not to make that the sole focus. "We spoke about the idea of the character having Down's syndrome... once, and then we just didn't really speak about it that much, because there were so many other factors of that character that were more interesting," says White. "It wasn't at the forefront for us... and meeting James as an actor, you see the the multi-faceted sides of his personality, and actually the Down's syndrome is way down the list of interesting things about James. He's a natural comedian. He's charismatic. "With representation, it's not enough just to slap somebody in the thing and say we've done our job. The role has to be meaningful." Berkeley adds: "Lorcan has the agency of his own story, he's not orbiting around the other characters. He drives the plot." The black comedy has generally been given a warm reception, with Amano Miura from Dublin's EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum, writing: "The dynamic, hilarious, and heart-warming relationship between brothers confronts the audience with existential questions about what really matters to us and where we really call home." Rukayat Moibi from MySohoTimes wrote: "An Irish Goodbye is an ambitious picture that, in a satisfying and heart-warming sense, almost feels as if it could be outside of the short film genre." A rollercoaster of emotion, the film sends you lurching from tears of sadness one minute to tears of laughter the next. White explains: "There's the kind of space between the tragedy and the comedy that feels like the truth in the middle. "Coming from Belfast obviously there's this kind of gallows humour we've got with coping with adversity, and that felt like a very specifically Northern Irish thing in that way. "It's also quite a male thing as well," adds Berkeley. Their previous short film Roy starred David Bradley as an elderly widower suffering from loneliness. "Both films are about men struggling or badly coping with with grief. And I suppose that's something maybe we recognise in our own experience and from the chaps in our lives as well." An Irish Goodbye is available on Mubi. • None 'It's not every day that you pick up a Bafta'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64784388

US shares rebound after Silicon Valley Bank turmoil - BBC News

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Markets climbed off the back of new inflation data, easing concerns about the impact of interest rate rises.

Business

We're going to close this live page shortly but before then, here's a look at what's happened in the world of US banking today: US stock markets... opened higher at the start of trading on Tuesday, after consumer prices in the US grew in line with expectations Inflation figures... released today showed consumer prices in the US rose 6% over the 12 months to February - the slowest annual increase since September 2021 Shares in US banks... have recovered some of the steep losses they suffered following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) - the second biggest bank failure in US history The International Monetary Fund... says the US bank's collapse does not appear to be causing a global shock - at least for now An investigation... is reportedly under way into what went wrong at SVB. Officials at the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are looking at moves by executives to sell shares in the weeks ahead of the failure, as well as potential fraud, US media reports say Meanwhile at Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp... 10,000 jobs have been axed as part of a second round of major job cuts in six months

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-64940883

Cost of living crisis sees some people considering suicide - BBC News

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Charities warn people living with chronic disabilities or diseases are contemplating suicide.

Wales

Multiple charities supporting vulnerable people in Wales say they have seen an increase in people reporting suicidal thoughts due to money worries More people are contemplating suicide as they "cannot cope" as a result of rising costs, charities have said. Charities supporting those with chronic diseases or disabilities have called for an overhaul of the benefits system. One woman who has multiple sclerosis (MS) said her costs had almost trebled. The UK government said it was committed to protecting the most vulnerable and is increasing benefits in line with inflation. A chronic illness is a long-term health condition that may not have a cure, such as MS, arthritis or diabetes. Sioned Williams, who has MS, said she struggled to pay the bills and could not do anything when she was cold due to her symptoms. Ms Williams, from Anglesey, has a 15-year-old son who has additional learning needs. She said she sacrificed her own health by not switching on the heating in order to pay for petrol to take him to activities and appointments. "My costs have almost trebled with just the price of gas and electric, and I wear more clothes and blankets to keep warm, as well as carrying a hot water bottle around, anything not to put the heating on," she said. "There are costs when it comes to living with disabilities, to get things like scooters, the different aids we need to walk, they all cost a lot of money." Ms Williams said meeting up with other people who have MS helped her cope Ms Williams said she had to change her habits overnight and could not go out as often, which was having an impact on her mental health. "They say stress is one of the worst things for MS, the stress to do with living costs is making me worse," she explained. "I just don't know how we're going to cope if things are going as fast as they are." Cat Shorney-Jones, from MS Society Wales, said many who come to them were "at the end of their tether", with the stress often affecting their condition and exacerbating their symptoms. Cat Shorney-Jones says people living with illnesses like MS may not be able to work and have to rely on benefits "People are incredibly desperate, they're having to choose between heating the house or eating, or putting fuel in cars to go to appointments," said Ms Shorney-Jones. "There are people who are considering taking their own life because they just can't cope anymore, and there has to be a change, so people aren't suffering in this same way." Ms Williams added that a highlight for her was meeting up with other people with MS once a month in a local café in Caernarfon, which she said was "so important". Beryl Jones, from Llanfairpwll, who goes to the same café meet-up, said she has had to change the way she eats and spends money. "I've decided not to put the heating on in certain rooms if I'm not there, I just put more clothes on," said the 80-year-old. "That's what we did in wartime - I never thought I'd have to go through this again." Rather than putting the heating on, Beryl Jones, 80, puts on more clothes in order to cut down on costs Disability Wales said it had also seen an increase in mental health issues resulting from the cost of living crisis. A spokesperson said: "Rising fuel and the cost of transport are leaving disabled people lonely and isolated as they can't get to family and friends. "Multiple people have told us they have considered suicide." Many people with illnesses such as MS, or a disability, can claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to help cover their extra costs. It is claimed by around three million people who have disabilities and mental health conditions in the UK and is set to rise by 10.1% from April 2023. PIP claimants are also expected to be among those entitled to a £150 disability cost of living payment this year. People living with chronic disabilties or diseases say the cost of living is having a negative impact But Ms Shorney-Jones wanted to see an "overhaul of the benefit system" to make it easier for claimants if they are suffering with chronic conditions. "We'd like to see, if somebody has their diagnosis, they have the benefits automatically, that they don't have to go through this laborious, traumatic system to try and prove that they need that money." The UK government said it recognised those with long-term health conditions faced extra costs and was committed to protecting the most vulnerable. A spokesman added: "That is why we're increasing benefits in line with inflation at 10.1% from April, and providing a further £1,350 of direct payments to the most vulnerable households in 2023-34. "Our Energy Price Guarantee is also saving the typical household another £900 this winter, and we're extending additional funding to the Welsh government to help people in Wales with essential costs, by another £50m in the next financial year." If you've been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this article, please go to BBC Action Line where you can find support

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64918787

Israeli teachers' racist WhatsApp chat caught by pupils - BBC News

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The education minister apologises after Ethiopian Israeli girls film teachers mocking them on a trip.

Middle East

Ethiopian Jews in Israel have long integrated but many still suffer discrimination Israel's education minister has apologised to Ethiopian Israeli schoolgirls whose teachers mocked them in a WhatsApp group on a school trip. The girls spotted the teachers messaging each other in a chat group they created called Black School Trip. One of the girls filmed the chat over a teacher's shoulder, then shared it on social media, calling the teachers "a disgrace". The teachers involved were suspended and the incident is being investigated. There are about 150,000 citizens of Ethiopian origin in Israel, the first of whom arrived in sizeable numbers in a series of top secret Mossad-led operations in the 1980s. The Ethiopian Jews' integration in Israel has been challenging, with the community suffering disproportionately high levels of unemployment and poverty as well as discrimination, although their situation has shown signs of improvement in recent years. Last Monday, teachers and pupils from a religious high school in Netivot, southern Israel, set off on a three-day trip. Girls sitting behind one of the teachers saw her messaging in the group chat, which contained disparaging comments towards the Ethiopian Israeli pupils. One of the pupils took a video of the chat in action without the teacher realising. A pupil then shared a message to the perpetrators on social media, attaching pictures of the offensive messages. "Good morning to all the 'educators' of this school," she wrote. "It saddens me as a member of the [Ethiopian] community to see the level you sank to today. Instead of being our teachers and setting an example and making us feel like we're in our safest place, you did the exact opposite. "Opening a group called 'Black School Trip' without even realising that there were students behind you and mocking your students? I see the photos, and I just don't believe that they come from our teachers. "You are a disgrace, I'm ashamed that you're our teachers and that you're teaching the future generation." The teachers involved were suspended and have apologised. The school's headmaster issued a statement, speaking of his "shock and devastation to miserable and extremely offensive comments from teachers about Ethiopian students who study in the school". "The school management looks at these comments severely. There is no place for racist comments, and we won't allow them in our school." "The incident will be dealt with severely with all the tools at our disposal," he said. "I'm sorry for the distress that was caused for the students. There will be zero tolerance for these sorts of incidents on my watch." This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Former Ethiopian Israeli minister: 'We have a common struggle against racism'

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'World's oldest' Humboldt penguin dies at Yorkshire zoo - BBC News

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Staff are "devastated" following the death of Rosie, who lived in Yorkshire for more than 30 years.

Humberside

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Rosie had lived at Sewerby Hall in East Yorkshire since 1990 when she was brought from a bird park in Surrey Zoo staff are mourning the loss of what was believed to be the world's oldest Humboldt penguin after her death at 32. Rosie had lived at Sewerby Hall in East Yorkshire since 1990, when she was brought from a bird park in Surrey. Native to South America, Humboldts can live up to 20 years in the wild and are classed as "vulnerable to extinction". Staff at the Bridlington zoo said Rosie, who was just a few weeks short of her 33rd birthday, died in her sleep on Friday. Head zookeeper John Pickering said: "We are all devastated by the loss of Rosie. "I myself have been with her since she was four months old, and we have spent 32 years of our lives together in one way or another through all of life's trials and tribulations." Rosie also had "a very special place in their hearts" of the other staff and visitors to the zoo, he added. The team at the zoo will be holding a special tribute, and are inviting the public to share their memories and photos of Rosie In recent years, Rosie had become a star of media and social media across the world, with her 30th birthday celebrations being featured on news channels in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. Rosie, described by staff as "the grand old lady", was also featured in Hello! magazine and on TV shows across the UK. To honour Rosie's memory, the team at the zoo will be holding a special tribute, and are inviting the public to share their memories and photos of Rosie on social media using the hashtag #RememberingRosie. Part of the reason Rosie was thought to have lived for so long was because of her comfortable life at the zoo, staff said Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

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Gary Lineker to return to Match of the Day as BBC's Tim Davie denies climbdown - BBC News

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Director general Tim Davie says the BBC will carry out an independent review into its social media rules.

UK

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Gary Lineker will return to present Match of the Day after he was taken off air amid an impartiality row following his criticism of the government's new asylum policy. BBC director general Tim Davie said an independent review of BBC social media guidelines would be carried out - and denied the BBC had backed down. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said "it was right" the matter had been resolved. But on Monday the BBC continued to face criticism from a range of sides. Lineker said he supported the review and looked forward to getting back on air, describing the last few days as "surreal" and thanking people for their "incredible support". But Tory backbench MP Philip Davies told the Mail Online the BBC's decision was a "pathetic capitulation" to Lineker and the "start of the end for the licence fee", while ex-cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg also warned the "licence fee has passed its sell-by date". Labour's shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell, meanwhile, said the return of Lineker was welcome, but "much bigger questions remain about the impartiality and independence of the BBC from government pressures". Former BBC director-general Greg Dyke compared the row to "like a 5-0" win for Lineker and said he thought there was a public perception the government had bullied the broadcaster into removing the TV star, which was "very bad news" for the BBC. Ex-BBC News executive Sir Craig Oliver, who went on to be a Downing Street communications chief under then-Prime Minister David Cameron, described the situation as "a total mess" and said it was the "wrong choice" to have asked Lineker to step back in the first place. "The reality is the BBC today has announced it will have a review of its social media guidelines," he told the BBC. "In fact, it needs a review of how it handles crisis like these." Sir Michael Lyons, a former BBC chairman under Labour, told BBC Newsnight: "It simply isn't possible for the BBC to be a champion of dissent in Russia and Hong Kong, and at the same time not leave space for dissent in this country." He added there was "a big question about consistency in the way rules are applied" saying some BBC stars have been allowed to say things about the Labour Party, referring to a tweet by Lord Alan Sugar advising people not to vote for Jeremy Corbyn. Former controller of BBC editorial policy Richard Ayre said rewriting guidelines was not straightforward and was "going to be a nightmare". "Whatever emerges will be unsatisfactory to a significant number of people. It's inevitable." Earlier, Davie insisted the decision to pull Lineker off air was about buying some time until the two sides could come to an agreement over his political tweets - and said that was exactly what had happened. He said he took "proportionate action", adding: "We believe we did the right thing. I think I did the right thing." When challenged by BBC media correspondent David Sillito on whether it was a climbdown by the BBC, he said: "I don't think so. "I've always said, we needed to take proportionate action. For some people, by the way, we've taken too severe action... others think we're being too lenient." In a separate statement on Monday, Davie apologised, saying: "Everyone recognises this has been a difficult period for staff, contributors, presenters and, most importantly, our audiences. I apologise for this." This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: The weekend of BBC football show chaos... in 90 seconds The row began last week when, in a tweet, Lineker said the government's new Illegal Migration Bill was an "immeasurably cruel policy" and said the language used around it was "not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s". His words were criticised by Conservative ministers, including the home secretary. Lineker was told on Friday to step back from presenting Match of the Day until an agreement was reached. It triggered an unprecedented wave of walkouts from fellow pundits and commentators in solidarity with Lineker, which disrupted weekend football coverage across the BBC. Sports presenter Mark Chapman - who did not present BBC Radio 5 Live's Saturday Coverage or Match of the Day 2 on Sunday on TV - returned to football radio show The Monday Night Club and apologised for the lack of service over the weekend. He said it had been "miserable and difficult" for the staff involved and it was "disgusting and unfair" that the staff who did work on the weekend received abuse. He added: "It is ironic in a row over impartiality we have all been seen to be taking sides, and I feel there are lessons to be learned by all involved." BBC Scotland also had full coverage of Monday evening's Scottish cup tie between Falkirk and Ayr United after its programming was also limited over the weekend. After his return to BBC TV was announced, Lineker tweeted: "However difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn't compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away. "It's heartwarming to have seen the empathy towards their plight from so many of you. We remain a country of predominantly tolerant, welcoming and generous people." The government's Illegal Migration Bill passed its first hurdle in the Commons by 312 votes to 250 on Monday night, with the majority of Tory MPs voting for the plans. Lineker has hosted Match of the Day since 1999 and is the BBC's highest paid star, having earned about £1.35m in 2020-21. He is employed by the BBC on a freelance basis. BBC employees are expected to remain impartial on political matters and must follow strict social media guidelines, but there is significant debate about how they should apply to staff outside of news. Lineker said he backed the independent social media review which Davie said will have a "particular focus" on how the guidelines apply to freelancers outside news and current affairs. "Shortly, the BBC will announce who will conduct that review," Davie said. "Between now and when the review reports Gary will abide by the editorial guidelines, that's where we are." Lineker is expected to return to host Match of the Day's live coverage of the FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester City and Burnley on Saturday evening. He is then set to front Sunday's live coverage of Grimsby Town at Brighton & Hove Albion on BBC One. The row over Lineker's tweets also renewed questions over BBC chairman Richard Sharp. A review into Mr Sharp's appointment as BBC chairman is investigating whether he failed to properly disclose details of his involvement in the facilitation of an £800,000 loan guarantee for the then-prime minister Boris Johnson. He has denied any involvement in the arrangement of a loan for Mr Johnson. Asked about Mr Sharp, Mr Sunak told the BBC: "He was appointed before I was prime minister through an independent process. And that process is also now being reviewed independently. It's right that we let that review complete." Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey tweeted: "The BBC has made the right decision on Gary Lineker - now it's time for Rishi Sunak to do the right thing and sack Richard Sharp. The BBC needs a proper independent chair not a Johnson acolyte." This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64936917

Aukus: Sunak meets Biden and Albanese to finalise defence pact details - BBC News

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The PM and his US and Australian counterparts agree supplies of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.

UK Politics

There are compelling reasons why the UK should want to forge a deeper strategic partnership with its two biggest Pacific Ocean allies, the US and Australia. In an increasingly bipolar world where China and Russia are drawing closer together on one side, pro-Western democracies like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines are drawing closer to the US on the other. The Aukus pact between Australia, the UK and US is designed to confront China’s expansion in the western Pacific. But, beyond helping Australia build its new fleet of nuclear submarines, does Britain have the capacity to project military power 10,000km (6,000 miles) away on the other side of the planet, when its armed forces are already stretched and much of its arsenal has been committed to Ukraine? “If China invades Taiwan”, I asked then-Foreign Secretary Liz Truss last June, “will Britain go to her defence?” She declined to answer. A senior British army officer was a little more forthcoming. “Look”, he said, “we’re struggling to keep up with one war on our doorstep (Ukraine). We certainly couldn’t cope with a war in the Pacific as well."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-64945036

Bakhmut: Fighting in the street but Russia not in control - deputy mayor - BBC News

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The city has seen months of intense fighting - despite its strategic value being questioned.

Europe

Bakhmut has lost 95% of its pre-war population since the start of the Russian invasion Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting in the streets of Bakhmut - but Russia does not control the eastern city, its deputy mayor has said. Oleksandr Marchenko also told the BBC the remaining 4,000 civilians are living in shelters without access to gas, electricity or water. Mr Marchenko said "not a single building" had remained untouched and that the city is "almost destroyed". Bakhmut has seen months of fighting, as Russia tries to take charge. "There is fighting near the city and there are also street fights," Mr Marchenko said. Taking the city would be a rare battlefield success in recent months for Russia. But despite that, the city's strategic value has been questioned. Some experts say any Russian victory could be pyrrhic - that is, not worth the cost. Thousands of Russian troops have died trying to take Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of around 75,000. Ukrainian commanders estimate that Russia has lost seven times as many soldiers as they have. On Saturday, UK military intelligence said Russian advances in the northern suburbs had left the Ukraine-held sections vulnerable to Russian attacks on three sides. Mr Marchenko accused the Russians of having "no goal" to save the city and that it wanted to commit "genocide of the Ukrainian people". "Currently there is no communication in the city so the city is cut out, the bridges are destroyed and the tactics the Russians are using is the tactic of parched land," Mr Marchenko told the Today programme. The fall of Bakhmut has long been predicted, but for more than six months it hasn't happened. So any reports of potential Ukrainian withdrawal should be treated with caution. It is hard to know what is going on without independent sources. Both sides have a greater incentive to confuse their enemy than provide accurate information. But it may be that Ukrainian commanders are beginning to calculate that the cost of defending Bakhmut - in terms of blood and treasure - is now too great, despite the grievous losses being inflicted on Russian troops. And if so, then they might want what Western analysts call "a controlled fighting withdrawal" to protect the remaining Ukrainian forces so they can be redeployed. But any withdrawal may be hard fought and could take some time. Earlier this week, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the situation in the area was becoming "more and more difficult" - although the Ukrainian military said it had repelled numerous attacks since Friday. "I believe we shouldn't give any inch of our land to the enemy," Mr Marchenko said. "We should protect our land, we should protect our people and we should protect the businesses that are on this land." The city was "almost destroyed", with bridges ruined and communication cut off, Mr Marchenko added. "They want to destroy Bakhmut, they want to destroy the city like they did with Mariupol and Popasna," he said, referring to two cities in the east of Ukraine now under Russian control. The Russian military laid siege to the south-eastern port city of Mariupol at the outset of the invasion and took control after three months of artillery bombardment that killed thousands. A maternity and children's hospital in Mariupol was hit by a Russian air strike in March 2022 Russia claimed the Donbas town of Soledar, about 10km (6.2 miles) from Bakhmut, in January following a long battle with the Ukrainian forces. Soledar, too, was reportedly reduced to a wasteland of flattened buildings and rubble by the time the Ukrainian army retreated. On Friday, President Zelensky stressed that artillery and shells were needed to "stop Russia". US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the country's latest package included high-precision Himars artillery rockets and howitzers "which Ukraine is using so effectively". • None Bakhmut attacks still being repelled, says Ukraine

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64846666

Two Sessions: China looks at reforms to deepen Xi Jinping control - BBC News

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Lawmakers are set to pass far-reaching measures restructuring the government and the financial sector.

China

Mr Xi will be elected president of China and head of the armed forces Xi Jinping is set to deepen his control of China's government and economy, as lawmakers meet in Beijing to pass far-reaching reforms. The National People's Congress (NPC), a rubber-stamp parliament, will confirm Mr Xi's third term as president, and the appointments of his top team. They will also name a new premier, the second-in-command after Mr Xi, as the incumbent Li Keqiang departs. The Two Sessions, as the meetings are known, are an annual affair. But this year's sessions are particularly significant as delegates are expected to reshape several key Communist Party and state institutions. They will also tighten control over bodies overseeing the finance sector and scientific and technology work, while "strengthening party-building work" in private businesses, according to state media. The moves will likely further blur the lines between the Chinese Communist Party and the government, and consolidate the party's control of the private sector. This comes amid an ongoing corruption crackdown which has seen a string of high-profile businessmen disappear in recent years. The latest person to go missing was one of China's top dealmakers in the tech sector. This week's NPC meeting will also formalise Mr Xi's leadership of the country, as he will be elected president of China and head of the armed forces. He secured his position in the echelons of Chinese power in October last year, when the Communist Party re-elected him as their leader for a third term. It was a break from decades-long tradition, as no other party leader besides Communist China's first leader, Mao Zedong, will have served for this long. In the 2018 NPC meeting, lawmakers had approved the removal of term limits on the presidency, effectively allowing Mr Xi to remain leader for life. Mr Xi's appointment comes as he faces domestic pressure to turn around an economy battered by his zero-Covid strategy and crackdowns in various business sectors. At the start of the meeting, it was announced that China will pursue a reduced economic growth target of about 5% this year, while defence spending is to rise by more than 7%. Abroad, Mr Xi is navigating worsening ties with the US over the Ukraine war and the recent spy balloon saga, even as he warms his embrace of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The NPC will also unveil the new Premier, China's equivalent of a prime minister who traditionally oversees the economy and administrative aspects of governance. Li Qiang, one of Mr Xi's most trusted colleagues, is expected to assume the role. As the Shanghai party secretary, he oversaw a prolonged and painful Covid lockdown that angered locals and made international headlines. Outgoing premier Li Keqiang, who was ousted in the leadership reshuffle at October's party congress, will deliver his last work report speech. The political appointments for the rest of the Politburo Standing Committee, the equivalent of Mr Xi's cabinet, will also be announced. Many will be watching to see who fills several key positions, such as the commerce minister, head of the national development and reform commission, propaganda chief, and head of state security. Observers say the team was picked more for their loyalty to Mr Xi and the party, rather than for their expertise.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-64819857

Rafael Viñoly: Uruguayan architect of London's 'Walkie Talkie' dies aged 78 - BBC News

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The Uruguayan also worked on Tokyo's International Forum and Manchester City's training ground.

Latin America & Caribbean

Rafael Viñoly died in New York City on Thursday Rafael Viñoly, the world-renowned Uruguayan architect who designed buildings including London's so-called Walkie Talkie, has died aged 78. Viñoly's death was announced by his son, Román, who described him as a "visionary" who leaves "a rich legacy of distinctive and timeless designs". He established Rafael Viñoly Architects in 1983 and his work features in more than 600 structures around the world. He died in hospital, reportedly from an aneurysm, in New York City on Thursday. Román Viñoly said his father's designs "manifested in some of the world's most recognisable" structures and that he would be missed "by all those whose lives he touched through his work". Born in Montevideo in 1944, Viñoly moved to Buenos Aires at the age of five with his mother, a maths teacher, and theatre director father. He studied architecture at the University of Buenos Aires and while he was still a student, was a founding member in the successful firm Estudio de Arquitectura. The military junta in Argentina prompted him and his family to emigrate to the United States. He secured a teaching position at Harvard University before establishing his eponymous practice in New York. The skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch Street is known as the Walkie Talkie due to its apparent likeness to the communication device His designs spanned office and residential buildings, hotels, concert halls, stadiums and airports across the world. The "Walkie Talkie" skyscraper attracted controversy in 2013 when sunlight reflected off its mirrored concave side and melted various parts on a luxury car parked nearby. Viñoly also faced complaints from residents in 432 Park Avenue, a residential building he designed in New York, who reported banging and creaking noises coming from the 85-floor tower. The Tokyo International Forum, the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia and the Cleveland Museum of Art are among the other landmark projects completed by his firm. And Manchester City Football Club - whose training ground Viñoly designed - paid tribute to their "cherished friend". Jay Bargmann, the vice president of Rafael Viñoly Architects said: "I'm incredibly proud of the integrity of the work our team has produced over many decades and on very complex projects, and I am honoured and humbled by our team's unwavering commitment during this profound time of loss." Viñoly is survived by his wife, Diana, an interior designer, his son, Román, and stepsons Nicolás and Lucas. Perhaps his firm's most renowned work is the Tokyo International Forum, the long building seen here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-64848302

Bahrain Grand Prix: Max Verstappen leads Red Bull one-two as Fernando Alonso finishes superb third - BBC Sport

Red Bull's Max Verstappen starts the new Formula 1 season as he ended the last, with a dominant victory in the Middle East.

Last updated on .From the section Formula 1 Red Bull's Max Verstappen started the new season as he ended the last, with a dominant victory in the Middle East. The two-time champion led the Bahrain Grand Prix almost from start to finish, initially lapping at a pace beyond his rivals and then controlling the race. The drive, Verstappen's 36th victory, underlined his status as favourite for a third consecutive world title. Sergio Perez made it a Red Bull one-two ahead of an inspired drive by Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in third. "It was very, very good first stint where I made my gap," said Verstappen. "From there, it was all about looking after tyres. You never know what's going to happen later on the race. We just wanted to make sure we have the right tyres and in good condition as well. "We have a good race package. We can definitely fight with this car and also big thank you to the team, over the winter, to get us a quick race car again." Perez had won a fight with Charles Leclerc over second place before the Ferrari driver retired from third with 16 laps to go when he lost drive. But the big excitement in the race was created by Alonso, who dropped from fifth on the grid to seventh behind the two Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on the opening lap, but fought back to take the final podium place. Alonso passed Russell before the first pit stops, then caught and passed Hamilton after their second stops, before closing on Sainz. The moves on Hamilton and Sainz were of the highest quality. Alonso and Hamilton battled for a couple of laps, with the Spaniard passing the Briton into Turn Four before a snap from the rear allowed the Mercedes back past. Then Alonso came back at Hamilton and overtook down the inside of Turn 10, an extremely rare place for a move. • None Red Bull dominate but Alonso the star in Bahrain • None Meet the teams and drivers for 2023 With Sainz, the two touched as Alonso tried to pass out of Turn Four. Sainz was then wise to the same move at Turn 10, but Alonso got better drive down the following straight and passed into the fast Turn 11. "To finish on the podium first race of the year is just amazing," said Alonso. "What Aston Martin did over the winter, to have the second best car on race one, is just unreal. "We had not the best start and had to pass on track - it made it more exciting but we enjoyed it." Alonso's pass left Sainz holding off Hamilton for fourth. The seven-time champion initially looked as if he might also pass the Ferrari, but he was unable to close in, as both suffered with tyres and had to settle for fifth. The second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll took sixth place, despite hitting Alonso at Turn Four on the first lap, costing the Spaniard a place to Russell, who finished seventh. Stroll was driving with fractures in both wrists and a broken toe after a cycling accident two weeks before the race. In terms of a spectacle, the race needed the fight between Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes, because Verstappen was in a league of his own out front. The world champion converted his pole position into a lead at the first corner, as Leclerc used the superior grip of the new tyres he had saved for the race to pass Perez for second. But Leclerc had no answer to the man who he briefly challenged for the title last year. Verstappen was more than a second clear after the first lap, four seconds clear after five and seven seconds in front after 10. It was clear the Dutchman would face no threat unless he ran into trouble and the Red Bull ran faultlessly, apart from some complaints from its driver about slow gearshifts. Behind him, Perez's challenge was to re-pass Leclerc. He did so by using a second set of soft tyres for his second stint, while Ferrari chose hard tyres for Leclerc. The Mexican soon closed in and passed into Turn One on lap 26, and eased away. Leclerc looked set fair for a podium, in the region of 10 seconds clear of Sainz, until his car lost power on lap 41 and he pulled off on the straight down to the final corner. Despondent, and aware Ferrari are not in a position to challenge Red Bull, he said: "We are very far behind Red Bull. The first stint was as expected after the choice we made with tyres. We were second but we couldn't bring the car to the end and that is what is most important." Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas took eighth place, ahead of Pierre Gasly, who put in a strong drive from the back of the grid after as difficult qualifying. Alex Albon took the final point for Williams in 10th. The second Alpine of Esteban Ocon had a nightmare day, hit with three time penalties. The first was for overshooting his grid slot, the second for failing to correctly serve that penalty at his pit stop, and a third for speeding in the pit lane. Ocon eventually retired. Lando Norris finished last for McLaren, hampered by a problem that required his car to be refilled with compressed air at regular intervals. His team-mate Oscar Piastri retired with an electronics problem early on his debut. • None What has Duncan Ferguson learnt from his angry moments?:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/64856125

Gladiator fights were staged in Roman Britain, evidence suggests - BBC News

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Research into a vase in Colchester reportedly provides the "only evidence" of such fights staged in Britain.

Essex

The Colchester Vase depicts a pair of gladiators named Memnon and Valentinus Gladiator fights were once staged in Roman-occupied Britain, new research suggests. Tests have proven that the Colchester Vase - an ancient artefact which depicts a fight between combatants - was locally made and decorated. With no written information, this was the "only evidence" of such duels in Britain, the head of Colchester and Ipswich Museums told The Observer. The findings have led to "startling new conclusions", Frank Hargrave added. The vase in question, which is nearly two millennia old, was used as a cremation vessel and discovered in a Roman grave in Colchester in the mid-1800s. The 23cm-high (9in) vessel, made around AD 160-200, is described as "one of the most important, and perhaps famous, pots from Roman Britain" by Colchester Museums. It depicts scenes which may have been witnessed in a Roman arena - namely animal hunts and a duel between a pair of gladiators. Mr Hargrave told The Observer that the vase was of "such high quality that there's been a bit of snobbery, an assumption that it couldn't possibly have come from Britain." But, he said, the fresh research had "put that to bed." As well as confirming that the artefact was made from local clay, the analysis crucially showed the names of gladiators Memnon and Valentinus were written into the clay while the pot was being made. It was previously believed that the inscriptions had been added after the vase had been fired - suggesting less of a link between the decoration and local events. Analysis of the human remains inside the pot suggested the deceased person was aged over 40, and may have come from overseas. Glynn Davis, a senior curator of Colchester and Ipswich Museums, told The Observer that the vase may have belonged to a sponsor of the gladiatorial fight depicted. The item is due to go on display at Colchester Castle from 15 July, along with other significant Roman finds. Colchester is one of England's most historic cities, having become the capital of Roman Britain soon after the conquest of AD 43, and known as Camulodunum. Previous discoveries have indicated the presence of Roman-era gladiators in Britain, even if the evidence of arena combat here has been more thin. Skeletons from an ancient "gladiator cemetery" went on display in York in 2011, although archaeologists said they could not be certain the men were fighters.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-64855991

Ocean treaty: Historic agreement reached after decade of talks - BBC News

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Countries have reached a landmark agreement to help put 30% of the world's oceans into protection.

Science & Environment

Nations have reached a historic agreement to protect the world's oceans following 10 years of negotiations. The High Seas Treaty aims to help place 30% of the seas into protected areas by 2030, to safeguard and recuperate marine nature. The agreement was reached on Saturday evening, after 38 hours of talks, at UN headquarters in New York. The negotiations had been held up for years over disagreements on funding and fishing rights. The last international agreement on ocean protection was signed 40 years ago in 1982 - the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. That agreement established an area called the high seas - international waters where all countries have a right to fish, ship and do research - but only 1.2% of these waters are protected. Marine life living outside these protected areas has been at risk from climate change, overfishing and shipping traffic. In the latest assessment of global marine species, nearly 10% were found to be at risk of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The High Seas Treaty establishes marine protected areas in these high seas which will help achieve the global goal of protecting 30% of the world's oceans - made at the UN biodiversity conference last year. These areas will put limits on how much fishing can take place, the routes of shipping lanes and exploration activities like deep sea mining - when minerals are taken from a sea bed 200m or more below the surface. Environmental groups have been concerned that mining processes could disturb animal breeding grounds, create noise pollution and be toxic for marine life. The International Seabed Authority that oversees licensing told the BBC that "any future activity in the deep seabed will be subject to strict environmental regulations and oversight to ensure that they are carried out sustainably and responsibly". Rena Lee, UN Ambassador for Oceans, brought down the gavel after two weeks of negotiations that at times threatened to unravel. Minna Epps, director of the IUCN Ocean team, said the main issue was over the sharing of marine genetic resources. Marine genetic resources are biological material from plants and animals in the ocean that can have benefits for society, such as pharmaceuticals, industrial processes and food. Richer nations currently have the resources and funding to explore the deep ocean but poorer nations wanted to ensure any benefits they find are shared equally. Sea sponges have yielded key ingredients for HIV and cancer treatments Dr Robert Blasiak, ocean researcher at Stockholm University, said the challenge was that no one knows how much ocean resources are worth and therefore how they could be split. He said: "If you imagine a big, high-definition, widescreen TV, and if only like three or four of the pixels on that giant screen are working, that's our knowledge of the deep ocean. So we've recorded about 230,000 species in the ocean, but it's estimated that there are over two million." Laura Meller, an oceans campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic, commended countries for "putting aside differences and delivering a treaty that will let us protect the oceans, build our resilience to climate change and safeguard the lives and livelihoods of billions of people". "This is a historic day for conservation and a sign that in a divided world, protecting nature and people can triumph over geopolitics," she added. Marine protected areas could help endangered species like the whale shark - the largest living fish - recover Countries will need to meet again to formally adopt the agreement and then have plenty of work to do before the treaty can be implemented. Liz Karan, director of Pews Trust ocean governance team, told the BBC: "It will take some time to take effect. Countries have to ratify it [legally adopt it] for it to enter force. Then there are a lot of institutional bodies like the Science and Technical Committee that have to get set up."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64815782

Scottish bakery Morton's Rolls 'ceases trading' - BBC News

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Companies House said it could strike off the bakery after it missed a deadline to file accounts.

Scotland business

Scottish bakery Morton's Rolls is understood to have ceased trading after missing a deadline to file accounts. In a letter to staff on Friday, the firm wrote that employees would be "laid off with immediate effect". The Glasgow-based bakery, which employs about 250 people, said that "no final decision" had been taken on redundancies but all jobs were at risk. Companies House states on its website that there is an "active proposal to strike off" the firm. Morton's Rolls accounts for the year to 31 March 2022 were required to be filed by 31 December and are now overdue. Last month, compulsory strike-off action was suspended on 9 February, two days after it was announced by Companies House. But in the letter to staff on Friday, the firm wrote: "The company is ceasing to trade with immediate effect. "The directors have taken steps to ensure that the business can continue in some form. "But it is likely that this will be with a reduced workforce across the business." Bill Kidd, SNP MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, told BBC Scotland he was "taken aback" by the letter and had arranged a meeting with the company's management. He said: "There has been issues in the past but we've got good relations with Morton's Rolls, they are terrific company and are a very important employer in Drumchapel. "Morton's Rolls is a famous name and we want to ensure that is maintained and even developed into the future "Everything that can be done to save this business will be done." Morton's Rolls was originally founded by Bob Morton and Jim Clarke in 1965 at their bakery near Drumchapel, in the west of Glasgow. Over the years, Morton's expanded its product range to include cakes and savouries. The company's flagship product is its traditional crispy roll. For the year to the end of March 2021, the company reported a loss of £262,00 on turnover of more than £11.8m. Morton's Rolls has been approached for comment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-64834929

Harry and Meghan weigh up coronation invitation - BBC News

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Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not say if they plan to attend after receiving an email from the Palace.

UK

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will be invited to King Charles III's coronation, a statement from the couple suggests. They say they have been emailed about the coronation, on 6 May, but will not confirm whether they plan to attend. It is understood that some prospective guests are being asked to save the date ahead of official invitations that will be sent later. Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on invitations. There has been speculation about whether the US-based couple would be invited, and whether they would attend the coronation of King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort. A statement from Prince Harry and Meghan said they had been contacted about the coronation. "I can confirm the Duke has recently received email correspondence from His Majesty's office regarding the coronation," a spokesperson for the couple said. "An immediate decision on whether the Duke and Duchess will attend will not be disclosed by us at this time." Westminster Abbey, where the coronation will take place, has capacity for about 2,200 guests. Many public figures, politicians and international dignitaries are expected to attend, as well as the King's family and friends. Formal printed invitations are expected to be sent closer to the time, but it is believed that some groups of guests are being approached in advance, advising them to save the date. The focus on whether Prince Harry and Meghan will come to the coronation follows revelations in his memoir about tensions with his family. This included an account of an altercation with his brother Prince William, who as Prince of Wales is likely to have a role in the coronation ceremony. In a previous interview about his memoir, Prince Harry had declined to say whether he would attend his father's coronation, saying: "The door is always open. The ball is in their court." If Prince Harry does return for the coronation, it is not known what part he might play, as he is no longer a "working royal". During the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, Prince Harry and Meghan were not part of the appearances on the Buckingham Palace balcony. These traditional appearances for the crowds will also be part of the coronation celebrations. In an online interview on Saturday, Prince Harry said he had always "felt slightly different" to other members of his family - and that his late mother, Diana, had felt the same. It also emerged last week that Prince Harry and Meghan had been asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage, the couple's UK base in Windsor.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64854803

Sonic boom heard as RAF jets escort aircraft to Stansted Airport - BBC News

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The flight from Iceland to Kenya was diverted to Stansted Airport after communications went down, police said.

Leicester

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Loud bang heard in areas across the UK RAF jets scrambled to escort an aircraft which lost communications caused a sonic boom, police have said. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Typhoon jets from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire were authorised to fly supersonic to assist a civilian plane. Essex Police said the aircraft - flying from Iceland to Kenya - was diverted to Stansted Airport, landing at 12:50 GMT. It comes after people heard a "loud bang" in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. Two people - a pilot and co-pilot - were on board, Essex Police said. The force said officers carried out enquiries and were satisfied there was a loss of contact due to "equipment malfunction and nothing of any concern". The plane and those on board have now been released to continue their journey. A sonic boom is caused when planes fly faster than the speed of sound. Essex Police said two jets were scrambled to escort an aircraft that lost communications Lee Shellard, from Syston, Leicester, said he was watching TV when he heard the bang. "It shook ornaments and bits around the house," he told the BBC. "But it wasn't like an earthquake, more like a big lorry had gone past. So we nipped outside to see what had happened and other people were looking out of their windows as well "That's when I went back and checked the CCTV footage." Departures from Gatwick airport were reportedly suspended for 15 minutes earlier. BBC journalist Phil Mercer tweeted he had been sitting on a plane at the airport after passengers were told "all airspace over London is closed as an aircraft has stopped communicating with air traffic control". BBC East Midlands reporter Will Jefford in Daventry, said he thought his boiler had exploded. "The whole house shook and we jumped out of the sofa to check if everything was okay," he said. "You could feel the noise through the floorboards. It almost hit you in the chest - I managed to drop half my cup of tea. "We initially thought the boiler had blown up, but I could hear a jet overhead so realised it was probably a sonic boom." A sonic boom is caused when planes fly faster than the speed of sound, which at ground level is around 761mph. When travelling at this speed, also known as Mach 1, the aircraft displaces the air and creates pressure waves that become compressed and are then released in a shock wave. As long as the aircraft is flying at Mach 1 it will generate continuous sound waves, known as a boom carpet and an aircraft flying at 20,000 feet would create a sonic boom cone 20 miles wide. Louise Gourlay in Bicester, Oxfordshire, said her military training kicked in and hit the floor when she heard the bang. "I'm ex-military, so I immediately 'jumped on my belt buckle' that's a move where I jumped straight down stomach to the floor," she said. "I didn't know if it was an explosion or something, the house shook violently." Anne Marie Oostveen near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, told the BBC her "whole house shook". "I was watching TV with my cat Jones and I heard a loud boom sound. "There is some building work going on nearby so at first I just thought there was a skip being delivered to the yard next door. "But the videos online make it sound like an explosion, to me it sounded like a low boom. "My cat just looked up and then went back to sleep." Rebecca Cockroft added: "Going to assume I didn't imagine the sonic boom over #Northampton a few moments ago judging by the car alarms going off and birds scattering?" A spokesman for Leicestershire Police, said: "We have received numerous calls in relation to a large explosion sound heard from various parts of the city and county. "We like to reassure you that there is no concern however thank you for your immediate response to us." Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-64847214

Ambulance strikes: Unite union suspends action in England - BBC News

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The Unite union suspends strikes in England to enter pay talks, following the Unison and GMB unions.

Business

Ambulance strikes due to take place in England on Monday and Wednesday have been called off. The Unite union suspended the industrial action to enter pay talks with the government, it said. It followed the Unison and GMB unions earlier suspending walkouts after what they called a "huge shift" in the government's position. Unite is the smallest of the three ambulance unions, representing about 3,000 workers. Tens of thousands of staff had been expected to walk out across large parts of England. Unite members at ambulance trusts in the West Midlands, North West, South East and East Midlands had planned to strike on Monday. Staff in Yorkshire had planned to join them on Wednesday. Unite head of operations Gail Cartmail said: "Following further assurances from the government over the weekend Unite has in good faith agreed to pause the strike action." These assurances related to "a confirmation that any deal will include new money, rather than placing further pressure on NHS budgets", the union said, as well as an "indication that discussions about 'efficiencies' and 'productivity savings' will not result in attacks on the conditions of NHS staff". If the government did not meet those assurances, "strike action will resume", Ms Cartmail said. The union is expected to hold talks with the government this week. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We're pleased that unions representing the majority of ambulance workers, nurses, physiotherapists, porters, cleaners and other non-medical staff have agreed to pause strikes and enter a process of intensive talks. "We want to find a fair and reasonable settlement that recognises the vital role of NHS workers, the wider economic pressures facing the UK and the prime minister's priority to halve inflation." On Friday the GMB union said the government had given it assurances of extra cash "above existing budgets". When Unison and the GMB called off their planned action, it was understood that talks with the government would discuss a one-off cost-of-living payment for the current financial year, which ends in April, as well as a new pay deal for 2023-24. Industrial action by Unite and GMB had already been paused in Wales for further talks with the Welsh government. Last month, thousands of nurses in England suspended a series of strikes after Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he would meet the Royal College of Nursing for "intensive talks" over pay. However, tens of thousands of junior doctors are still scheduled to strike in England on 13, 14 and 15 March.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-64857174

Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine - BBC News

Police reveal details of an undercover operation that began off the coast of South America.

Police in Australia have revealed details of an undercover operation that stopped nearly $700m worth of cocaine (around 1bn AUD, £570m) linked to a Mexican drug cartel from reaching the country. It is reported to be the biggest drug bust in Australia's history. Operation Beech began in November when narcotics officers seized 2.4 tonnes of the drug off the coast of South America.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-64847242

Camilla features in Antiques Roadshow episode at Eden Project - BBC News

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The Queen Consort filmed the episode of the BBC One show at the Eden Project in Cornwall in September.

Cornwall

Books expert Justin Croft admires Camilla's copy of Elegy in A Country Churchyard by poet Thomas Gray Camilla, the Queen Consort, will feature in an episode of the Antiques Roadshow which was filmed in Cornwall. The Queen Consort filmed at the Eden Project near St Austell last summer. Camilla brought two of her own personal items for the BBC One show's experts to appraise. Peter Stewart, the chief purpose officer at the Eden Project, said it was a "total privilege" to welcome Camilla. Viewers will see The Queen Consort present a rare snuffbox from the Royal Collection made from Cornish silver, and a copy of Elegy in A Country Churchyard by poet Thomas Gray. Duncan Campbell, an expert and silver specialist on the show, said the snuffbox was the first all-English silver he had seen in his career. Camilla said she was interested in the poetry book's binding, which was done in 1899 by the Guild of Women Binders. Presenter Fiona Bruce said Camilla had been "terrific fun" during the filming Fiona Bruce, who has presented Antiques Roadshow since 2008, said the Queen Consort was "just terrific fun". "She put everyone at ease and was keen to take part in the programme and chat to everyone." Later in the episode, the Queen Consort and Bruce attempt to guess the true purpose of three unusual items offered up by jewellery specialist Geoffrey Munn. The presenter also discussed with Camilla her close connection to the Eden Project and her support for The Big Lunch, a charity based at the Cornish site encouraging people to come together with their local community to share a meal. After the broadcast on BBC One on Sunday, the episode will also be available on BBC iPlayer. Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-64853915

Ukraine war: Russian reservists fighting with shovels - UK defence ministry - BBC News

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Troops could be engaging in hand-to-hand combat in Ukraine, Britain's defence ministry says.

Europe

The MPL-50 is particularly mythologised in Russia, the UK defence ministry said (stock photo) Russian reservists could be using "shovels" for "hand-to-hand" combat in Ukraine due to a shortage of ammunition, the UK's Ministry of Defence says. In late February, reservists described being ordered to assault a Ukrainian position "armed with only 'firearms and shovels'", the ministry said in its latest intelligence update. It mentioned a shovel known as MPL-50. The tool was designed in 1869 and had changed little, the ministry said. It has been part of the Russian reservist army kit for decades. "The lethality of the standard-issue MPL-50 entrenching tool is particularly mythologised in Russia," the ministry said. The continued use of the shovel "as a weapon highlights the brutal and low-tech fighting which has come to characterise much of the war", it said. One of the reservists described being "neither physically nor psychologically" prepared for the action, the update added. "Recent evidence suggests an increase in close combat in Ukraine," it said. "This is probably a result of the Russian command continuing to insist on offensive action largely consisting of dismounted infantry, with less support from artillery fire because Russia is short of munitions." The BBC has been unable to independently verify these reports. The ministry did not give information on where such battles were taking place. Analysts say that although there is indeed an ammunition shortage, the situation is more complex than the intelligence update suggests, with Russian forces still using twice as much ammunition as the Ukrainian side. Meanwhile Russian forces appear to have secured a sufficient positional advantage in the besieged city of Bakhmut, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said. Bakhmut has seen months of fighting, as Russia tries to take control of the small city, where around 4,000 civilians remain. Taking the city would be a rare battlefield success in recent months for Russia, but the city's strategic value has been questioned. The ISW said Russia's positional advantage could allow a "turning movement" in the city. The purpose of a turning movement is to force the enemy to abandon prepared defensive positions, and is different from the aim of an encirclement, which is to trap and destroy enemy forces, the ISW says. "The Russians may have intended to encircle Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, but the Ukrainian command has signalled that it will likely withdraw rather than risk an encirclement," the ISW said. However, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday that it had no intention of withdrawing from Bakhmut. A statement by the Armed Forces General Staff acknowledged that Russian forces were still trying to surround the city, but said more than 100 attacks had been repelled in the eastern Donbas region in the past 24 hours. Thousands of Russian troops have died trying to take Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of around 75,000.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64855760

Laura Kuenssberg: Rishi Sunak struggles to escape Tories' horror show past - BBC News

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Old problems have resurfaced, and none of them were in the prime minister's carefully designed script.

UK Politics

"There are still shockwaves from seismic events," says a former cabinet minister - "that's what we're living through now." Boris Johnson might not have stitched prawns into the hems of his expensive curtains in No 10, but as we've seen over the past couple of days, the leftovers from his time in office can still cause a nasty stink. We've been reminded of the early scramble over Covid, illustrated by former Health Secretary Matt Hancock's trove of WhatsApp chats - distressing for those who lost relatives, no doubt, and deeply embarrassing for those who pressed send. There has also been more evidence of how No 10 struggled to get its story straight as the public reeled from revelations that there was booze and get-togethers in Downing Street during lockdown. And there have been fresh conversations in the Conservative Party about the manner of Mr Johnson's exit. Labour's decision to hire the Whitehall sleaze-buster, Sue Gray, is catnip for his old allies who want to claim that he was stitched up. Reminders of the pandemic, Partygate, and more howls of protest about how the former PM was treated. None of that was in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's carefully designed script. First off, the spectacle - for that truly is what it is - of the former health secretary's WhatsApp messages being carefully dropped day by day in the Telegraph newspaper. His colleagues are less than impressed. "It's an eyeroll," says one Tory MP. "How much of a moron was he?" asks another. "Spectacularly bad judgement," remarks one of his former cabinet colleagues. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Isabel Oakeshott reveals why she leaked the messages Much of the media has done what it does best - talk feverishly to itself about the rights and wrongs of the way the story emerged after Isabel Oakeshott, the journalist who co-wrote Mr Hancock's book, passed thousands of his messages to a newspaper without his permission. The chats have illustrated, in sometimes toe-curling levels of detail, the way in which government figures communicate - described as "teenage with LOLS" by one Tory MP. They include sweary messages about Dominic Cummings, who was Mr Johnson's chief adviser, and reveal a love-hate relationship between Mr Hancock and his then-Cabinet colleague Michael Gove. And it's given colour and context to the arguments that were raging at the top of government in 2020, during the first few scrambled months of the pandemic. There is intriguing and seemingly perplexing detail in Saturday's information dump, where Mr Hancock seems to suggest the government was covering up rises in Covid cases as a result of then-Chancellor Mr Sunak's "Eat Out To Help Out" scheme. It was reported in October 2020 - after the scheme was up and running - that it could have contributed to the second wave. As Health Secretary, Matt Hancock gave regular Downing St media briefings during the pandemic The opposition is already asking pointedly what the government knew at the time. Given that the scheme had Mr Sunak's signature on it, those questions could prove awkward for the current administration - even though broadly, so far, the Telegraph's set of stories has not sparked a huge reckoning over whether lockdown was the right thing to do. But the effects of the pandemic are still being felt in so many profound ways - these stories, the lasting effect on the economy, and the Covid inquiry that is likely to run for many, many months and is only just getting off the ground. The latest findings from officialdom on Partygate have "revived the embers" too, according to a former cabinet minister. A committee of MPs has pinpointed several occasions when they believe Mr Johnson might not have told the truth in Parliament. In Westminster, that's the sin of all sins - one that's punishable with an MP potentially having to fight for their seat again. Let's spell this out. If this committee concludes the former prime minister knew he was not being straight, he might be suspended as an MP - and then possibly face a by-election. The midway report from the Privileges Committee also contains gobbets of exasperation from Mr Johnson's staff as they struggled to contain the Partygate story that was crashing down all around them. Mr Johnson used the publication of yesterday's report to claim it vindicated what he has said all along, that he never held Parliament in contempt, and that he never knowingly misled anyone. To be crystal clear - that is not, not yet, what the committee of MPs says. This report does not provide that or any conclusions, as committee members have not yet finished their work. They will question Mr Johnson himself in a couple of weeks. Even some Conservatives reckon the committee is likely to take a very dim view of what the PM did. "If he thinks he'll get a clean bill of health, he can think again," one says. Reviving memories of Partygate, and the public upset and outrage that came alongside it, is hardly helpful for the Conservatives. Mr Sunak was never painted as one of the dastardly villains of the saga - but having also received a fine for attending Mr Johnson's birthday in the Cabinet room, it's easy for the opposition to paint him as part of the mess too. One Tory MP says that "the danger is that Partygate and privileges and everything - it just all damages us". And there's been an unexpected and fraught added dimension to all this too. The government, and Whitehall, were shocked when news broke that civil service enforcer, Sue Gray, was leaving government to work for the Labour Party. There was genuine shock, even among some of her former colleagues, that she would take that step. That's because it is vital that civil servants are, and are seen to be, totally fair and neutral. Labour reckon it's a coup to have a "grown up person preparing for a grown up government", according to one source. There is no doubt Ms Gray is a hugely experienced operator. Over the years, I've spoken to many people who have worked with her and I've heard almost universal praise. Nor is it unheard of for officials to leave, then go on to work for politicians. Both Tony Blair and David Cameron's chiefs of staff were both employed in Whitehall before moving into politics. But the manner of Ms Gray's departure, and her reputation for holding all SW1's secrets, has caused uproar. Not just because, as one Conservative MP says simply, "it seems unfair" to many of their colleagues - but also because you might know Ms Gray's name, because she is the person who investigated Partygate. Conservative MPs have expressed anger that Sue Gray has been offered a job as Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff The fact that she carried out the Whitehall investigation into what happened in No 10, and now is leaving for opposition, gave immediate ammunition to Mr Johnson's supporters to cry foul, to claim that he was the victim of some kind of stitch up after all. It is worth noting that Ms Gray's report did not, in fact, throw the book at the former PM personally. Mr Johnson's eventual resignation came some months later. But - as another Tory MP, no fan of Mr Johnson, suggests - Ms Gray's decision fuels a sense of conspiracy heard among some constituents. "It makes Boris a victim, and fuels some of the stuff about Westminster stitch ups we see online." There is a risk here for Labour, that they are presented as part of some kind of establishment plot. And by preparing for government like this, are they, as one former minister snipes, "measuring the bloody curtains"? Whether it's the spat over the hiring of Ms Gray or the furore over his views on the new Northern Ireland deal, "the shadow of Boris Johnson looms", says the MP. It "defies logic", they claim, that a "disgraced former PM" still occupies so much of his party's bandwidth. But the hangover from a once in a generation politician does not fade fast, even though there have been not just one, but two people who have moved into No 10 since he left. We've seen again this week - there are parts of the Conservative Party still preoccupied with his legacy, who still relish an argument about what went on. The events of the past few years have been so intense, shaken things so fundamentally, that a clean break is extremely hard to achieve. Mr Sunak wants to mark progress on Brexit, crack on with trying to solve the problem of small boats that cross the Channel (expect a tricky debate on that this week with the likely publication of more draft laws), pull off a smooth meeting with the French president, and look ahead to the Budget in 10 days' time. The Brexit deal, which still hasn't been approved by the DUP, does show that his head-down, no-drama approach can bear fruit. One Tory MP says that while "we won't get electoral credit, it does show he's competent, you can't see the foundations of a house, but you have to build them". But the past few days have shown that the forces that have been at work in recent years still have the power to disrupt. One Whitehall insider jokes, "who had 'strong and stable' in the sweepstake under Rishi?" - with the massive events of the recent past, that doesn't look like a safe bet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64835929

Chris Rock jokes about Will Smith's Oscars slap in Netflix show - 'Did it hurt? It still hurts!' - BBC News

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"Anybody that say words hurt has never been punched in the face," the comedian said about Will Smith's slap.

Entertainment & Arts

Comedian Chris Rock is tired of talking about Will Smith's infamous Oscars slap, but he wants to make one thing clear: It hurt. Rock, 58, spoke at length about the 2022 Academy Awards incident during a live Netflix comedy special. "You know what people say, they say, 'words hurt,'" Rock said. "Anybody that say words hurt has never been punched in the face." Will Smith has since said "bottled" rage led to his actions. The confrontation became a cultural lightning rod for conversations around America's appetite for casual violence, as Mr Smith was allowed to remain at the ceremony and later accepted his first-ever Oscar for Best Actor. Rock was praised for maintaining his composure following the incident. In the streaming service's first live comedy show, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, the performer tackled a wide range of issues, including woke culture, Meghan Markle and politics. "I'm going to try to do the show without offending anyone," Rock said, in a nod to the Smith altercation. "Because you never know who might get triggered." Later he added, America "is so screwed up right now if the Russians came here right now, half the country would go 'let's hear them out'." But he saved the best for last and used the final moments of the show to address the incident with Will Smith. "People are like, 'Did it hurt?' It still hurts! I got Summertime ringing in my ears," Rock said, referring to Smith's 1991 single. "I took that hit like (Manny) Pacquiao," Rock boasted to cheers from the crowd. In a nod to the show's title, Rock said he believes Smith practises "selective outrage" and that the slap had more to do with Smith and his wife, Jada's, relationship struggles, than his Oscars joke. The couple have been candid about the ups and downs of their relationship and even publicly addressed their struggles on Jada's Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk. "We've all been cheated on, everybody in here been cheated on, none of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television," Rock joked. "She hurt him way more than he hurt me." Social media lit up with reactions to Rock finally addressing the incident, with many noting how artists like Rock often laugh through their pain. Others felt the comedian's jokes about rooting for the slave owners in Will Smith's latest film, Emancipation, were a step too far. In a mic drop moment, Rock ended the special by addressing why he chose not to fight back. "I got parents! Because I was raised!" Rock said. "And you know what my parents taught me? Don't fight in front of white people."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64852406

Sergei Lavrov: Russian foreign minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims - BBC News

Sergei Lavrov is laughed at in Delhi after saying the Ukraine war was "launched against us".

Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was laughed at in Delhi after saying the Ukraine war was "launched against us". Lavrov claimed Russia was trying to stop the Ukraine war, which began after its own full-scale invasion in February 2022. He was speaking to a conference audience in Delhi on Friday, after a G20 foreign ministers' meeting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64848508

Manchester Arena attack: Saffie Roussos' father plans to sue MI5 - BBC News

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Saffie Roussos' father says the agency has "most of the blame" for not preventing the attack.

Manchester

Saffie Roussos was described as a "human magnet full of love" The father of the youngest victim in the Manchester Arena attack has said he intends to sue MI5. The head of the security agency said it was "profoundly sorry" that it did not prevent the suicide bombing which killed 22 people in 2017. The apology followed a public inquiry which found MI5 missed opportunities to stop the attacker Salman Abedi. Andrew Roussos, whose daughter Saffie was killed, told Times Radio that "MI5 have, for me, most of the blame". He said families of some of the other victims had indicated they might join him in legal action. Twenty-two people were killed and hundreds were injured when Abedi detonated his device after an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017. Lisa Roussos, seen with her husband Andrew, underwent months of treatment after being injured in the attack Speaking about the plan to sue MI5, Mr Roussos told Times Radio: "It's the only way to learn, everybody learns by hitting them hard in the pocket, I am sorry to say. "At 2017 we were at the highest alert and everybody was warned of an attack in this country and MI5 who their sole job - they are well-funded and well-equipped - had 22 pieces of information about Salman Abedi. "So if they would have learnt lessons they wouldn't have allowed Abedi to walk into that arena. "So yes MI5 have, for me, most of the blame." On Thursday, inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders said intelligence could have led to Manchester-born Abedi being followed to the car where he stored explosives, which were then moved to a flat to assemble the bomb. He said that, if MI5 had acted on the intelligence received, the 22-year-old could also have been stopped at Manchester Airport on his return from Libya four days before the attack. In a rare public statement, MI5 director-general Ken McCallum said: "I am profoundly sorry that MI5 did not prevent the attack." He added "had we managed to seize the slim chance we had, those impacted might not have experienced such appalling loss and trauma". This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Mr Roussos said Abedi "should not have made it to that arena that night, there were too many missed opportunities". He described his eight-year-old daughter as a "human magnet full of love", adding that he "can't accept apologies for losing Saffie, I want Saffie back in my life and I can't have that. "If you want to make an apology something meaningful, apologise from day one - that would mean a lot more than waiting for an inquiry to see if you are - in any way, shape or form - to blame for this attack." His solicitors at Broudie Jackson Canter are looking at a possible High Court claim based on the Human Rights Act, which protects the right to life. Following Thursday's publication of the third and final report from the inquiry, MI5 said it had made more than 100 improvements since the attack. It followed two reports, published in 2021 and 2022, which were highly critical of the private companies and public authorities involved with the arena and the emergency response. Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-64854146

Bangladesh fire: Thousands shelterless after blaze at Rohingya camp - BBC News

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The crowded refugee camp in Bangladesh was home to thousands who had fled violence in neighbouring Myanmar.

Asia

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Video shows fire engulfing part of the camp, destroying shelters made from bamboo and tarpaulin Thousands of people have been left without shelter after a massive fire broke out in a crowded Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh. The blaze, which broke out on Sunday, engulfed some 2,000 shelters at a camp known as Cox's Bazar. Hundreds of people have now returned to the area to see what they can salvage from the ruins. It is estimated around 12,000 people, most of whom escaped violence in neighbouring Myanmar, are now homeless. The cause of the fire is not yet known and no casualties have been reported. The blaze started at about 14:45 local time (08: 45 GMT) and quickly tore through the bamboo-and-tarpaulin shelters, an official said. "Some 2,000 shelters have been burnt, leaving about 12,000 forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals shelterless," Mijanur Rahman, Bangladesh's refugee commissioner, told AFP news agency. The blaze was brought under control within three hours but at least 35 mosques and 21 learning centres for the refugees were also destroyed, he added. Photos are now emerging that show the extent of the devastation. Many of those who lived there can be seen picking through the charred area, where only metal struts and singed corrugated roofing remains. Hrusikesh Harichandan, from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told the BBC there had been "massive damage" to the camp. He said basic services such as water centres and testing facilities had also been affected. "My shelter was gutted. [My shop] was also burnt," Mamun Johar, a 30-year-old Rohingya man, told AFP. "The fire took everything from me, everything." Thick black clouds were seen rising above Camp 11, one of many in the border district where more than a million Rohingya refugees live. The camps, overcrowded and squalid, are vulnerable to fires. Between January 2021 and December 2022, there were 222 fire incidents in the Rohingya camps including 60 cases of arson, according to a Bangladesh defence ministry report released last month. In March 2021, at least 15 people were killed and some 50,000 were displaced after a huge fire tore through a camp in the settlement. The refugee camp, said to be the world's largest, houses people who fled from Myanmar following a military crackdown against the Rohingya ethnic minority. The Rohingya are Muslims in largely Buddhist Myanmar, where they have faced persecution for generations. The latest exodus of Rohingya escaping to Bangladesh began in August 2017, after Myanmar's military brutally retaliated when a Rohingya insurgent group launched attacks on several police posts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-64854843

Train tickets go up in England and Wales by 5.9% - BBC News

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The rise is below the rate of inflation but campaigners want reforms due to unreliable services.

Business

Regulated rail fares in England and Wales are rising by up to 5.9% as campaigners call for reforms due to unreliable services. The increase is above last year's 4.8% hike but far below the rate of inflation. The government said that it did not want to add to pressures on households. However, some groups said that after months of poor services and strikes, passengers are not getting value for money. About 45% of fares are regulated - they are directly influenced by the government. These include most season tickets, travelcards, and some off-peak returns. Train operators said fares needed to be set at an appropriate level for the rail industry and its customers. However, campaign group Transport Focus said "too many passengers are not getting a value-for-money service" and called for a fundamental reform of fares. Another campaign group, Railfuture, said higher fares were likely to push more people to work from home and called for rail fares to be frozen, or even dropped, as fuel duty has been. The Scottish government is yet to make a decision on general fare increases and a proposed suspension of peak fares, while in Northern Ireland, public transport fares will rise by 7% from Monday. According to the Office of Rail and Road, the official rail regulator for Britain, train reliability is getting worse. It said 4.5% of all planned trains were cancelled between October and December 2022 - the highest since records began in 2014. Strikes and severe weather hit performance, it said. In England, the annual hike in rail fares is normally pegged to how quickly prices are rising, as measured by the Retail Prices Index the previous July, which stood at 12.3%. The government said the 5.9% rise was a "fair balance" between passengers and taxpayers who help pay for trains. The Welsh government has also capped the increase at the same level. Deputy transport minister Lee Waters said he understood the rise was "significant", but added it had been kept "as low as possible". The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said the government's decision to hold fares below inflation was "understandable". It said fares should "appropriate" for the industry and passengers. Rail fares are "extortionate" for a poor service, according to commuter Mimi Kihumulendi But passenger Mimi Kihumulendi described prices as "extortionate" compared with Europe. To commute from Reading to London for a year is nearly £6,000, she said. "Based on the service, they're not always on time, most of the time they're cancelled, delayed, you have to find other means to go there, and [fares] keep going up every year," she said. She said train firms need to explain how fare rises are improving the service. "It doesn't make sense," she said. "Most of the time you can't even get a seat on the train, so you're standing up, or missing that train to wait for the next one. "How is it working so well around Europe where the fares are quite low and the service is quite good? What's so different here in the UK?"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64824072

Toblerone: Swiss rules mean chocolate bar to drop Matterhorn from packaging - BBC News

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Production of some of the chocolate is moving outside Switzerland so the Alpine peak can no longer be used.

Business

Rules about "Swissness" dictate some products cannot use national symbols if not exclusively made in the country Toblerone is to remove the Matterhorn mountain peak from its packaging when some of the chocolate's production is moved from Switzerland to Slovakia. The pyramid-shaped bar, which mirrors the Alpine peak, will undergo a labelling revamp and include its founder's signature, its maker said. US firm Mondelez said the image of the 4,478m (14,692 ft) mountain will be replaced by a more generic summit. Strict rules have applied about "Swissness" since 2017. They state that national symbols are not allowed to be used to promote milk-based products that are not made exclusively in Switzerland. For other raw foodstuffs the threshold is at least 80%. The Matterhorn's jagged silhouette was first used on the chocolate's packaging in 1970 In a statement to the BBC, Mondelez said it was moving some production outside of the country to "respond to increased demand worldwide and to grow our Toblerone brand for the future". It said its new packaging would include a "distinctive new Toblerone typeface and logo that draw further inspiration from the Toblerone archives and the inclusion of our founder, Tobler's, signature". Toblerone, the mountain-shaped chocolate made from Swiss milk with honey and almond nougat, first went on sale in 1908 in Bern, the capital city of Switzerland. But it was not until 1970 that the Matterhorn's jagged silhouette debuted on its packaging, with the Bernese bear and eagle featuring before then, according to the Toblerone website. Mondelez said Bern was an "important part of our history and will continue to be so for the future". In 2016 Toblerone courted controversy by changing the design of the chocolate bar to space out the distinctive triangular chunks in a bid to keep down costs. After much criticism the company reverted to the original shape two years later. Feta cheese is designated as a protected product in the EU In both the UK and EU, food and drink products can be granted speciality status based on where they are made, the method of composition or their ingredients. There's also evidence that being awarded this status can mean better prices for producers. Here are some examples: Only cheeses originating Greece that are soaked in brine and strained without pressure can be called Feta, the European Court of Justice has ruled. This is despite opposition from Germany and Denmark who produce a similar cheese. The Danes are still exporting their version under the name Feta to markets outside the EU. Jamón Ibérico is also protected in the EU. The ham must come from Iberian blackfoot pigs that spend the last months of their lives eating acorns on the "dehesa", a Spanish or Portuguese pasture with old oak trees. It must also be hung and dry cured for at least 36 months. But some US firms are now importing blackfoots to make their own ham which will be marketed as jamón ibérico armericano or Ibericus meat. They are allowed to because they are not beholden to EU law. The US also makes it's own champagne as it never ratified the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, under which the drink became a protected brand. India's government forbids tea not made in Darjeeling from being labelled as such, and all producers must enter into a license agreement with the Tea Board of India. The tea can't be blended with teas of other origin and must be exported with certificates showing this. India's Tea Board went to the World Trade Organisation over what they called the unauthorised use and registration of 'Darjeeling' by Japanese companies in Japan. Despite opposition from some Belgian and Swiss firms, the EU officially recognised Cambodia's Kampong Speu palm sugar as a protected product. It's made from the sap of the palm sugar tree and is characterised by a rich aroma. The protected status of the fruit cake is currently under consideration. Proponents say it must always be decorated with whole almonds and has to be prepared, decorated and baked at locations within Dundee postcodes. But the application has led to objections from bakers outside Dundee including an Edinburgh baker who supplies the 300-year old London department store Fortnum and Mason.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64854720

King's Coronation: Pubs to stay open longer in England and Wales - BBC News

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People in England and Wales will get served for an extra two hours to mark King Charles III's coronation.

UK

The Coronation will also mark Camilla's role as Queen Consort Pubs, clubs and bars will stay open into the early hours over the weekend of King Charles III's coronation. Venues across England and Wales will serve customers for an extra two hours between Friday 5 May and Sunday 7 May. Home Secretary Suella Braverman will extend licensing hours from the normal 23:00 BST to 01:00 to allow people to "enjoy an extra pint or two". She said it was "a momentous occasion deserving of special celebration". Section 172 of the Licensing Act 2003 allows Ms Braverman, the home secretary, to lay the order before Parliament on Monday to give permission for premises to stay open longer to mark occasions of exceptional significance. Emma McClarkin, chief executive officer of the British Beer and Pub Association, said the move - which was also done for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee last year - was "a timely boost for the pub industry". "In the midst of an acutely challenging period, I am sure our pubs will look to mark this joyous occasion by hosting special events and parties as part of national celebrations. "The announcement of extended opening hours will help us all to mark this important event." Ms Braverman said: "His Majesty The King's coronation will be a momentous occasion deserving of special celebration. "That is why I am extending the licensing hours over this historic coronation weekend. "Up and down the country, people can enjoy an extra pint or two in the evening while families and friends can come together to wish His Majesty The King a long and happy reign." As plans for the coronation ramp up, people are also encouraged to share how they will celebrate on a digital map set up by the government. The public will be able to share events they are hosting over the weekend so others in the local community can find out what is happening and get involved. This could include lunches, street parties and volunteering. King Charles III's coronation itself will take place on Saturday 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey in London. During the ceremony, the King will be crowned alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64846894

Greek train crash: PM Mitsotakis seeks forgiveness from families - BBC News

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His plea comes as protesters angry over the deadly disaster clash with police in the capital Athens.

Europe

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has asked for forgiveness from the families of the 57 victims of this week's train crash. In a Facebook message, Mr Mitsotakis said that "in the Greece of 2023... two trains heading in different directions cannot run on the same line and no-one notice". Clashes with police were reported on Sunday as thousands joined a demonstration in the capital Athens. They said seven officers were hurt and five arrests were made, the AFP news agency reports. Some demonstrators set fire to rubbish bins and threw petrol bombs. Police responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades, clearing the central Syntagma Square of the protesters within a few minutes. The protesters also reportedly released hundreds of black balloons into the sky in memory of the dead, with some holding signs reading "Down with killer governments". On the night of 28 February, a passenger train and a freight train that were travelling in opposite directions ended up on the same track. The first four carriages of the passenger train were derailed, and the first two caught fire and were almost completely destroyed. The train crash has been widely attributed to human error. A 59-year-old station master in Larissa, who was charged with manslaughter by negligence, appeared in court on Sunday and has been taken into custody. His lawyer Stefanos Pantzartzidis said the station master had admitted to having a share of responsibility in the accident. He faces between 10 years and life in jail if convicted. But many in Greece see the crash as an accident that had been waiting to happen, and the railway workers' union blamed successive governments' "disrespect" towards Greek railways for leading to this "tragic result". A government minister told the BBC that the lack of funding was the direct result of the strict terms of international bailouts imposed after the 2010 debt crisis. The scene of the crash near Larissa Union members were joined by residents of Athens and Thessaloniki in taking to the streets throughout the past week, shocked by the scale of the disaster. The protests were also attended by many students - several of the passengers on board one of the trains were students in their 20s returning to Thessaloniki after a long weekend celebrating Greek Orthodox Lent. "The rail network looked problematic, with worn down, badly paid staff," Nikos Savva, a medical student from Cyprus, told AFP news agency. Train drivers in Greece have said there have been long-running problems with the electronic systems that are supposed to warn them of danger ahead. The transport minister, Kostas Karamanlis, also resigned as a "sign of respect" for the people who had died. Mr Karamanlis he was taking responsibility for the government's failure to modernise the country's railways in the three-and-a-half years it had been in power. Immediately after the accident, the Greek government declared three days of national mourning and said the cost of the victims' funerals would be paid for from the public purse. BBC Europe correspondent Nick Beake says the crash seems to be becoming a defining political issue for Greece as it prepares to face a general election in the spring. Media reports have given 9 April as a possible date, but analysts say that date may now be pushed back.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64853213

Wayne Couzens: Did indecent exposure warn of murder? - BBC News

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The murderer will be sentenced for exposing himself - could those crimes have identified a future killer?

UK

CCTV footage played in court showed Couzens, using his position as a police officer, to stop Sarah Everard Wayne Couzens, the ex-police officer who used his position to trick his way to raping and murdering Sarah Everard in March 2021, is returning to court this week to be sentenced for indecent exposure. Couzens will never leave prison. That means the real questions now are whether these earlier offences should have identified him as a violent threat to women - and what his case tells us about so-called flashers going on to commit far more serious sexual offences. Before Couzens killed Ms Everard, detectives have identified six incidents of indecent exposure linked to him - he has pleaded guilty to three, while the others will lie on his file. The first of those was in June 2015, when Kent Police received a report of a man in a car in Dover exposing himself. A witness gave officers the car registration plate, which was registered to Couzens, then at the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. Yet officers took no further action. Then, in November 2020, four months before the murder, a woman was cycling along a country lane in Deal, Kent, when a totally naked man stepped out of a wooded bank and looked straight at her. She cycled away, but spotted a number plate of a parked car. That car belonged to Couzens, by now a Met Police officer. A later analysis of mobile phone data placed his phone in the area at the right time. This is one of the three incidents Couzens has admitted. The two other admissions are part of four virtually identical allegations of escalating concern in the weeks before the murder. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Couzens repeatedly visited a drive-thru restaurant and exposed himself to staff while sitting in his car, on one occasion while he was paying for food. The last incident was less than a week before Ms Everard disappeared. So are these incidents relevant to Ms Everard's murder? Jennifer Grant is a criminologist who studies sex offenders, having worked with them previously as a probation officer. The Portsmouth University academic says "it's a really complicated question to answer", but there is evidence that some men graduate from indecent exposure to serious sexual assaults and rape. "There's long been a suggestion that indecent exposure is connected to anti-social behaviour more generally rather than a sexual motivation. And not everyone who exposes themselves is doing it to get sexual pleasure." There is a group of offenders who are potentially violent because the way they expose themselves involves anger, and an apparent desire to frighten and control women they approach, she says. The most reliable evidence comes from a 2014 United States study analysing data going back 30 years. It concluded that between 5% and 10% of men who commit "exhibitionist" crimes escalate to sexual assaults. Without getting into the distressing details of what Couzens did, each of his exposure incidents places him in the category of a man seeking sexual control over his target. "Couzens is clearly a worst-case," says Mrs Grant. "But there is a clear pattern of him gaining confidence and an increasing frequency of incidents. I saw this with some offenders who [over time] would be getting closer to victim." So despite Kent Police having actionable evidence in 2015 - a car registration plate - why was the suspect not pursued? Part of the answer to that lies in the disciplinary proceedings now taking place. But the fact is that indecent exposure has historically, and culturally, been regarded by many as a "nuisance" offence rather than a sexual crime. That's because its origins lie in the Vagrancy Act of 1824 - a law aimed at cleaning squalid Georgian streets of "rogues and vagabonds". That law was in place until 2003 - when Parliament finally recognised indecent exposure as a sexual offence. The maximum penalty went from three months in jail to two years. Police in England and Wales recorded more than 13,000 incidents of indecent exposure and voyeurism in the year to September 2022. But the trend of annual charging and conviction rates is very low. The most recent data shows that just 457 men were convicted and sentenced for exposure in 2021. Just 120 of them were jailed - and most were locked up for less than six months. "If we don't charge and convict, then we cannot manage the sex offender," says Mrs Grant. "If we convict, then they're on the sex offenders register. There is an offender manager assigned to them in prison and a probation officer providing oversight on the outside. "Even if they receive a minor sentence, the experience can have a huge deterrent effect." Which brings us back to the question of what any of this would have meant for Wayne Couzens. A Kent police sergeant is facing a misconduct hearing over the handling of the 2015 indecent exposure allegation - while a former Metropolitan Police officer faces a gross misconduct hearing over how the February 2021 reports were dealt with. A Home Office inquiry is also looking at whether there was a wider failure. My straw poll of leading criminal barristers found that they all think Couzens would have been jailed or received a suspended sentence had he been convicted over the 2015 allegation - although the sentence would probably have been short. But more importantly, his police career would have been over. He would never have made it into uniform in the Met Police. Even if he had only been identified in 2020 or early 2021, the suspicion that he was offending would have enough to have him suspended. The awful truth is we can't say that Couzens would not have gone on to rape and murder a woman because the crime he was committing would not have led to a sentence longer enough to control him forever. But had he been caught and sacked, it would have meant that it would have been far harder for him to trick Sarah Everard into his car - ending her life in awful circumstances and causing untold damage to society's confidence in the police. Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Tell us by emailing: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64827593

Prince Harry: I always felt different to rest of family - BBC News

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In a conversation about grief, the Duke of Sussex says he and his mother Diana felt a disconnect from other royals.

UK

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Prince Harry says how he feels since publishing his book Prince Harry has said he "always felt slightly different" to his family, and that his late mother felt the same. In an online conversation about grief, the Duke of Sussex said he feared losing memories of his mother Diana when he started therapy. He also said he made sure to "smother" his children with affection to avoid passing on any "traumas" or "negative experiences" from his own upbringing. His discussion was with Dr Gabor Maté, an author on trauma and addiction. Their fireside conversation in California followed up themes of "living with loss" from his bombshell memoir, Spare. Reflecting on the public response to the work, the Duke of Sussex insisted that he was not a "victim" or seeking sympathy. He revealed that his own reaction to the controversial book's publication was to feel "incredibly free". Prince Harry spoke about the racism experienced by his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex "I felt a huge weight off my shoulders," he told Dr Maté, describing the book as an "act of service" to help others break the taboo about speaking about mental health problems. Saturday's discussion focused on the prince's emotions, therapy and thoughts on mental health. But it did not go into recent royal revelations, such as request for Harry and his wife Meghan to vacate Frogmore Cottage - or whether or not he would attend his father's coronation. There were also no mentions of how the Royal Family, including his brother, had felt about his tell-all memoir. Prince Harry described growing up "feeling slightly different to the rest of my family" - and had a sense of living in a disconnected "bubble", which therapy had helped him burst. In front of an international online audience, he was asked about experiencing an emotionally distant childhood, with a lack of hugs and demonstrations of affection. He said that with his own children, he was "making sure that I smother them with love and affection". "As a father I feel a huge responsibility to ensure that I don't pass on any traumas or... negative experiences that I've had as a kid," he said. He spoke repeatedly about the importance of therapy, even though it could drive a wedge between him and other relations. But he said that he wrongly feared that it would erode his feelings about his mother, Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 when Harry was aged 12. "One of the things I was most scared about was losing the feeling that I had of my mum... whatever I had managed to hold onto of my mother," said Prince Harry. But he hadn't lost those feelings and had come to realise "that actually she just wanted me to be happy", he told Dr Maté. Prince Harry's memoir has been an international best seller The prince spoke about being "eternally grateful" for his wife Meghan in changing his perspective, calling her an "exceptional human being". But he said meeting Meghan had given him a "crash course" in the experience of racism, which he described as "pretty shocking". Prince Harry also defended the use of psychedelic medicine, saying it had helped him "deal with the traumas and pains of the past" and was like the "cleaning of the windscreen". He said taking cocaine "didn't do anything for me" but that "marijuana is different, that actually really did help me". And he spoke about Afghanistan, where he served for two tours of duty, saying not all British soldiers agreed with the war. "One of the reasons why so many people in the United Kingdom were not supportive of our troops was because they assumed that everybody who was serving was for the war. But no, once you sign up, you do what you're told to do. "So there was a lot of us who didn't necessarily agree or disagree but you were doing what you were trained to. You were doing what you were sent to do." To watch the online interview, the audience had to buy a copy of Prince Harry's best-selling memoir, which had made headlines with its unprecedented account of tensions between the royals and personal revelations. It included claims of a physical altercation with his brother Prince William, and recorded his experiences of taking drugs and losing his virginity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64850024

Conversion therapy ban will be hard to police, says victim - BBC News

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John Sam Jones was subjected to electric shock aversion therapy in the 1970s to stop him being gay.

Wales

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. John Sam Jones says electric shock aversion therapy closed down his sexual response rather than changing it A man subjected to electric shock aversion therapy in the 1970s to stop him being gay has welcomed plans to ban conversion therapy. But John Sam Jones, 67, who grew up in a Christian home in Barmouth, Gwynedd, cautioned that it would be "a nightmare" to police. The UK government has announced plans to outlaw all forms of conversion therapy in England and Wales. Several religious groups have defended the practice. The UK government said it would publish more details of how the ban will protect those at risk in due course. Mr Jones said attitudes to homosexuality were still incredibly negative during his youth in the 1960s, despite it being decriminalised in 1967. He said: "Homosexuals were imprisoned, it was said they were a danger to children. By the time I was 18, I had absorbed all that negativity and I thought I was mad, bad and sad." This story contains details some readers may find distressing. John Sam Jones said at 18 he was "terrified of being what I was", and did not want to be gay Mr Jones started having suicidal thoughts and sought help from a psychiatrist who claimed he could "cure" his sexuality using electric shock aversion therapy. "I agreed to it because I was terrified of being what I was. I didn't want to be gay," he said. The therapy meant hooking him up to electrodes and showing him gay porn - if he got an erection, he was electrocuted. He said he was meant to have been fitted with a device on his penis to measure his reaction, but the hospital he was at in Denbigh did not have one so he was naked from the waist down. Mr Jones said this treatment at the former North Wales Hospital, which has since closed, left him with no sex drive. After the treatment, Mr Jones said he was "rewarded" by doctors with straight porn. "There was not much dignity there, but I was encouraged to think this was a bona fide treatment and I should participate in it as well as I could," he said. "The idea was that I would link the negative shock with the homosexual pornography and the freedom from shock with heterosexual pornography." Mr Jones' recent prostate cancer diagnosis has made him think about how he has never been given an apology for what he suffered He said he was given electric shock aversion therapy for one hour a day for several weeks, and was only released from hospital after he "tried to play along". But after leaving he tried to kill himself because the treatment had failed, before being taken back to hospital. There he said he was tranquilised and drugged rather than being given the shock therapy. "For years, if I had any sense of sexual arousal I would have flashbacks of the therapy I received," he said. For a decade, until he was 28, Mr Jones suffered symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and he said he was unable to have a healthy sexual relationship. But going to California for university in 1984 helped him. He said: "I put all of my energy into academic study and whilst there I had the opportunity to have therapy that was gay-positive, which allowed me to unlearn a lot of the negativity I had learned or absorbed as a child, and I was able to regain a sense of myself. "The damage the aversion therapy did to me for around seven years completely destroyed my ability to have any kind of fulfilling relationship. "Had it not been for the therapy in America, I don't know where I would have ended up." Mr Jones, pictured with his husband Jupp Korsten, says he was able to regain a sense of himself through counselling in California Now living in Germany with his husband Jupp Korsten, who's been his partner for 37 years, Mr Jones said it was important to ban the "dreadful" practice. But he said he had doubts about being able to stop therapies aimed at "praying the gay away" as they are carried out "in private back rooms, often linked with religion and faith". "How do you police quiet conversations which try and influence change in family homes and religious establishments? It would be a nightmare," he said. Having recently being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Mr Jones said he had reflected on how he was never given an apology for what he was put through. "An apology would be powerful for those that have lived with the psychological consequences of conversion therapy," he added. Neither the NHS in England nor the NHS in Wales responded to a request to comment or offer an apology. Mental health groups have warned all types of conversion therapy are "unethical and potentially harmful". This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "My sexuality is not a sickness": A gay man and a lesbian's experiences of "gay conversion therapy" in Jordan Alia Ramna, 22, a transgender woman from Cardiff, has also been put through conversion therapy. She said: "I knew I was different and it was a gradual realisation, but it got to a breaking point when I was 16 and I couldn't conform anymore. "I realised if I didn't come out I would die because I couldn't see myself as a man anymore. "I saw no other option, it was either death or transition." Alia Ramna went through conversion therapy in an effort to try and suppress her gender identity Ms Ramna said when her family found out, they made her recite religious verses to "pray the gay away". "For conversion therapy to still be happening in 2023 is awful - it is still happening in homes and behind closed doors," she said. Ms Ramna said there needed to be safe spaces for trans and non-binary people and discreet ways for people to seek help. Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, said the ban would "end up criminalising consensual conversations with those who genuinely want help and support". Christian Concern is preparing legal action against any proposed legislation in this area. The Evangelical Alliance, which said it represented 3,500 churches, argued a ban could jeopardise religious freedoms. The Muslim Council of Wales said it had deep reservations, adding the ban could undermine religious freedoms. A spokesman added: "To protect minorities from harmful and abusive treatment is a worthy goal, however legislation is a blunt tool and often produces unintended consequences." The planned ban will outlaw attempts to change someone's sexuality or gender identity However, the Church of England said the practice had "no place in the modern world". The UK government said it would be publishing a draft bill to ban conversion practices. A spokesperson added: "The police are experienced at dealing with crimes in private settings, and we will publish more details of how the ban will protect those at risk in due course." If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, the BBC Action Line has links to organisations which can offer support and advice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64761202

Mother of Frankie Thomas wants answers from tech firms over daughter's death - BBC News

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Judy Thomas tells the BBC she struggled to get information from tech firms after her teenage daughter died.

UK

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Judy Thomas: "We were absolutely in the wilderness...we just wanted someone to come alongside" A mother said she was left "in the wilderness" trying to find out information from tech companies after her daughter took her own life. The family repeatedly tried to get information and were left "absolutely at a loss," she told the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. She and other bereaved families are campaigning for a change in the law. They want an amendment to the Online Safety Bill, which is going through Parliament, that would allow families and coroners to enlist the support of the regulator Ofcom in helping them legally obtain information from tech companies about the material their children were accessing before they died. Frankie, who had autism, was found dead at her home in Witley in Surrey in September 2018. An inquest heard she had taken her own life after spending months viewing graphic content about suicide and self-harm on school laptops and iPads. Ms Thomas told the programme the family had "no idea why Frankie had taken her own life". "We wrote online to Instagram. This went on for about a year with no answers." In an emotional interview she recalled: "We wanted to speak to somebody and just say, would you help us? We were devastated... we just wanted to know." Ms Thomas added: "We would have really appreciated the platforms coming to the inquest as they were requested to." Baroness Kidron, the online safety campaigner, is working with the bereaved families in calling for the amendment. The group - which also includes the father of Molly Russell, who died after viewing suicide content online - has written to the prime minister, justice secretary, and secretary of state for science and technology calling for the law to be changed. Baroness Kidron said there needed to be "a proper formal route for parents and for coroners to get the kind of information we need to see." She told the programme the inquest into Frankie's death "opened and closed" without all the information the family needed from the tech firms. "My inbox is full of bereaved families who want access to data. "The coroner service has not managed to get that information, families have not managed to get that information. "It is inhuman, and the sort of distress that is happening all of these years later is unacceptable." She said the amendment had support across the Lords and the Commons. The letter sent to the government - and seen by the BBC - says: "We have each lost a child in circumstances relating to the digital world, and we have each struggled to gain information we needed to understand more about their deaths. Sadly, each year, there are hundreds of families who find themselves in similarly distressing circumstances. "The process of attempting to access data has been inhumane. In some cases, it has taken years, and we have been left in automated loops, speaking to online bots, as though we were contacting lost property." Lawyers for Molly Russell's father Ian have also written to the government saying there is still, even five years later, information Meta has not provided to them relating to her death. They say: "Meta for example, never disclosed records of what content was promoted to Molly on Instagram; they disclosed some of the harmful content Molly saved or liked only weeks before the final inquest; and the initial disclosure was provided in a manner wholly inaccessible to Molly's family." The families will be in Parliament this week pressing their case. Ms Thomas said in some respects she did "despair" over the situation but added it would be brilliant if the government now took the opportunity to act. Meta, who owns Instagram - one of the sites accessed by Frankie - apologised to her family for the experience they had when they first contacted them. A spokesperson for Meta said: "What the Thomas family have been through is devastating and our deepest sympathies are with them and anyone affected by suicide. "This is a challenging and complex issue, and we must comply with our privacy and data protection obligations. We've been in touch with the family and want to be as helpful as we can during this time." The inquest in Frankie's death heard she went on a platform called Wattpad where users can write and share stories, with the last piece she read mirroring the method she used to take her own life that afternoon. Wattpad said it sent a statement to the coroner. "We were deeply saddened to learn of the heartbreaking case of Frankie Thomas. Our sympathies continue to be with Frankie's family and loved ones," it said. "Wattpad participated in the coroner's inquest, sending a robust witness statement to the Surrey Coroner's Office on July 7th 2021 as part of the proceeding. Wattpad's focus has been, and continues to be, to create a safe, inclusive, and respectful space for readers and writers online."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64854204

Ukraine latest: Numerous Bakhmut attacks still being repelled, says Kyiv - BBC News

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Moscow's lengthy assault in eastern Donetsk continues to be met with force, Ukraine's military says.

Europe

Ukraine's military has not commented on US media reports that Kyiv may be now running dangerously low on its artillery stockpile Numerous attacks have been repelled in the area of eastern Donetsk over the last 24 hours, Ukraine's military says. Russian forces claim they are about to take the eastern city of Bakhmut - the focus of intense fighting for many months. The head of Russia's Wagner private army claims it is "practically encircled" with limited routes out. The deputy mayor of the city told the BBC there was street fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces. But Oleksandr Marchenko said Russia was not yet in control, despite constant shelling. "They have no goal to save the city... their only goal is killing people and the genocide of the Ukrainian people," Mr Marchenko told the Today programme. The UK Ministry of Defence said Bakhmut is under "increasingly severe" pressure. According to the UK intelligence, Russian forces and Wagner troops have made further advances into northern suburbs, making the Ukraine-held section of the city vulnerable to Russian attacks on three sides. The commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, visited Bakhmut on Friday for meetings with local commanders on how to bolster front-line forces. Meanwhile on Saturday, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu made a rare visit to Russian-held Ukrainian territory in southern Donetsk. Russian troops have been trying to take Bakhmut for over six months. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned this week that the situation on the eastern front line was becoming "more and more difficult". A key concern for Ukraine is its ever-decreasing ammunition stocks as the high-intensity war with Russia shows no sign of slowing. The US has announced a further $400m (£333m) in military aid to boost Kyiv's depleted ammunition stocks. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the country's latest package included high-precision Himars artillery rockets and howitzers "which Ukraine is using so effectively". President Zelensky earlier stressed that artillery and shells were needed to "stop Russia". The US is also sending tactical bridges ahead of Ukraine's expected offensive. The delivery of such equipment - allowing armoured vehicles to cross rivers and ditches - comes as Ukrainian military officials and experts have suggested the offensive could begin in the coming weeks. In a statement on Friday, Mr Blinken said: "This military assistance package includes more ammunition for US-provided Himars and howitzers, which Ukraine is using so effectively to defend itself". He added that Washington would also be sending "ammunition for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Armoured Vehicle Launched Bridges, demolitions munitions and equipment, and other maintenance, training and support". Himars proved to be extremely effective during Ukraine's lightning counter-offensive late last year that saw almost the whole of the Kharkiv region brought back under Kyiv's control. Those advances - and the liberation of the southern city of Kherson - were the most significant front-line changes since Russia withdrew from areas around Kyiv in April. In his statement, America's top diplomat stressed that "the United States also continues to rally the world to support Ukraine" in defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The new US military aid package was announced amid reports in US media that Ukraine may now be running dangerously low on artillery stocks after more than a year since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Both Ukraine and Russia are believed to be firing tens of thousands of artillery shells every day in what is seen as a high-intensity war of attrition in recent months. Ukraine's military have not publicly commented on the reported shortage of ammunition. However, President Zelensky on Thursday said that "artillery is number one that we need". He added that Kyiv also needed "a large quantity of shells" and war planes to "expel" Russian troops from Ukraine's territory. Military assistance to Ukraine was expected to dominate the agenda as US President Joe Biden met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on Friday. Mr Biden thanked the German leader for his country's "profound" support of Ukraine. A number of Ukraine's Western allies have pledged to deliver tanks and artillery - but Kyiv says this must be done much faster to deter further Russian aggression.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64837699

Tryweryn: The stories behind drowned village Capel Celyn - BBC News

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The complexities of the story of Tryweryn, which was destroyed to create a reservoir for Liverpool.

Wales

Mr Jones Parry, the postmaster, outside his post office at Capel Celyn on 10 December 1956 which was submerged when the valley was flooded Betsan Powys grew up with the story of how the Welsh-speaking village of Capel Celyn was drowned to provide drinking water for Liverpool. From her decades-long career as a journalist she thought she knew the story. But making a podcast about the drowning and the protests that followed gave her an opportunity to look beyond the passion and the myth. The drowning of Capel Celyn is an emotive topic in Wales - the passion some feel almost 60 years on should come as no surprise and has been well documented. When speaking to people whose homes were bulldozed and flooded and hearing the stories of those directly involved in the decades of political protest that followed, what struck me most were the nuances and complexities that came to light. It's by listening carefully to these that you get to see beyond the story I thought I knew. In my podcast Drowned - The Flooding of a Village, I wanted to explore not just what happened but why it happened from many perspectives, and was keen that the story was told by those who had lived it. My aim was to find facts not myths. A couple at their home in Capel Celyn on 27 February 1957 In 1965 - the same year as I was born - the nine-year battle to save Capel Celyn was finally lost and the village was flooded. Growing up, it was talked about at my school in Cardiff, but I would also have heard the story at home. My mother grew up on a farm near the famous graffitied Cofiwch Dryweryn (Remember Tryweryn) wall near Llanrhystud, Ceredigion, and whenever we went to visit my grandparents, we would pass it. The graffiti appeared in the 60s and the wall has become a bit of a Welsh landmark, iconic in itself, inspiring similar graffiti works across Wales. Author Meic Stephens painted the Cofiwch Dryweryn mural on the wall of a ruined cottage in the early 1960s Hoodies and other merchandise bearing the words are also worn by some in Wales as a symbol of national pride and defiance. Growing up, the conversations around Tryweryn were emotionally charged - and the context of the story was clear, that a Welsh-speaking community had been destroyed at a time when the language was under threat, all protest swept aside by the authorities in Westminster and in Liverpool who would benefit from a new supply of water. But it was more than that. It was proof of Wales' political impotence, always out-voted and out-muscled by its more powerful neighbour. In the summer of 1955, the people of Capel Celyn learnt their homes had been earmarked as the site of a new reservoir to provide water for Liverpool. This would mean destroying houses in the village near Bala, Gwynedd, and rehousing the villagers elsewhere. For almost a decade after the announcement, the villagers fought to save their homes, with protests and marches through the streets of Liverpool. Schoolchildren from Capel Celyn protesting against the drowning on 18 December 1956 The village could not be saved and in 1965 Capel Celyn was flooded, with 75 people having to leave their homes. Its 12 farms, school, chapel and post office disappeared under water. Betsan visited the Liverpool Record Office as she researched the history Visiting the Liverpool Record Office, it struck me that this is Liverpool's story too of course. But it is a very different story. Before Tryweryn, Liverpool was already getting its water from Wales - but the city's council argued there wasn't enough of it. The demand for water in Liverpool had been growing, and as local politicians strove to clear poor housing and improve conditions, they saw a need for a bigger, better water supply. Building the Tryweryn reservoir by drowning Capel Celyn was seen as serving a vital and greater good. Thousands of families in Liverpool would benefit while the handful of people who lived in Capel Celyn would be rehoused. I spoke to the songwriter and broadcaster Sir Richard Stilgoe, whose father, John Stilgoe, was Liverpool's chief water engineer. He designed the Tryweryn reservoir, and Sir Richard remembers spending many Saturdays as a teenager visiting the site. While there, he described seeing a mutual respect growing between his father and the people of the valley. It's the fact that Liverpool is in England and Capel Celyn in Wales that turned an honourable attempt to serve "a greater good" into "perceived bullying," he believes. Welsh nationalist demonstrators were confronted by police on 21 October 1965 at the opening of Tryweryn reservoir I also spoke to the son of the village school's head teacher Martha Roberts. Gwyn Roberts recalled his mother talking about travelling with other villagers on the bus to protest in Liverpool. She was, he says, extremely proud of her professional status as a teacher and wasn't sure how she felt about being seen on the streets with a placard in her hands. Yet, she wanted to support her pupils and their families and so joined the protest. Elwyn Edwards was a schoolboy who lived nearby and truanted so that he could join the protest. He shared his parents' fury at the plans to flood Capel Celyn and wanted to do something to support the village. Back in class the next day, his headmaster was equally furious that he'd missed a day's school. The tiny village of Capel Celyn wasn't, in his view, worth it. And an honest telling of the story reminds us that not everyone in the area saw injustice. Some saw jobs and opportunity. Martha and Elwyn's stories are just two that go to the heart of the little complexities that are sometimes drowned out by big headlines. Author and historian Dr Wyn Thomas has delved deep into the history of Tryweryn and has meticulously unravelled the story behind it. He sees beyond the emotion and yet, as I learned, is deeply touched by it. His father was a police officer at a time when a Welsh paramilitary group was responsible for blowing up pipelines carrying water to England. He had to go out late at night with his flashlight to check the water pipes in case explosives had been attached. Wyn saw his mum worry about his dad being placed in danger. To this day, his interest in documenting an event that many see as a turning point in Welsh history is influenced by that experience. It's the effect history has on ordinary people that matters to him. I also met Emyr Llywelyn, one of three men who bombed the site of the planned reservoir in a bid to save the village. He too is aware that as time goes by, it's all too easy for myth to take over from fact. "We mustn't mythologise, we must tell the story as it was," he told me. As a child Aeron Prysor Jones was moved out of Capel Celyn for it to be flooded. He lived in a caravan through the freezing cold winter that followed while work was carried out on the farmhouse where he and his family live to this day. It sits above the Tryweryn waterline with a view out over the water. Gwern and the roof tile he found at Tryweryn during the drought His young grandson Gwern visited the reservoir during the drought last year and found a roof tile from one of the demolished buildings. He took it home to show his grandfather, proud of this reminder of his family's story. Aeron firmly believes that Wales wouldn't have its own national government or a Senedd now in Cardiff Bay, had Capel Celyn not been drowned. "It was the spark," he says. "The village name should be there in huge letters for all to see." The challenge for Gwern and his generation is not just to know their own history, but to make their own decisions about what comes next for Wales. Drowned - The Flooding of a Village is available on BBC Sounds

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64799911

Paris St-Germain 4-2 Nantes: Kylian Mbappe scores club record goal as Ligue 1 leaders win - BBC Sport

Kylian Mbappe scores a club record 201st goal for Paris St-Germain in an entertaining win over Nantes in Ligue 1.

Last updated on .From the section European Football Kylian Mbappe scored a club record 201st goal for Paris St-Germain in an entertaining 4-2 win over Nantes. He had to wait until the 92nd minute but was clinical as he turned to finish left-footed and go clear of Edinson Cavani at the top of the PSG goal list. The France forward, who turned 24 in December, has established himself as a footballing superstar. "I play to make history," said Mbappe, who joined in 2017 initially on loan from Monaco before a 180m euros move. "I have always said I wanted to make history in France, in the capital of my country, in my city, and I am doing that. It's magnificent, but there is still a lot to be done." Mbappe finished the game as captain and told Canal Plus: "For me, as a native Parisian, this is special. If someone had said to me I would score the goal to beat the record while wearing the captain's armband, I would not have believed it." The Frenchman has played at two World Cup finals, winning the trophy in 2018 and earning the Golden Boot as top scorer in 2022. Mbappe, who also won the 2021 Nations League with his country, scored a hat-trick in December's World Cup final against Argentina, which France lost on penalties after a 3-3 draw. Since joining PSG from Monaco in 2017 for a world-record fee for a teenager, Mbappe has won four Ligue 1 titles and topped the division's scoring charts for each of the past four seasons. This season, the forward has now scored 30 goals and made eight assists - taking his total to 85 for the club in 247 games. PSG went 2-0 up at the Parc des Princes with Lionel Messi opening the scoring before Jaouen Hadjam's own goal. However, Nantes came back to level before half-time thanks to goals from Ludovic Blas and Ignatius Ganago, with PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma caught out at his near post for the first and making a fumble that led to the second. Mbappe crossed for Danilo Pereira to head the home side back in front on the hour mark before his crowning moment came late in the game. • None Attempt saved. Mostafa Mohamed (Nantes) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Fabien Centonze. • None Goal! Paris Saint Germain 4, Nantes 2. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint Germain) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Timothée Pembélé. • None Attempt blocked. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint Germain) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. • None Attempt blocked. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Carlos Soler. • None Attempt saved. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Vitinha. • None Attempt saved. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner. • None Attempt missed. Ignatius Ganago (Nantes) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Fabien Centonze with a cross. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64851286

Food shortages due to 'supermarket culture', says Leon co-founder - BBC News

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Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of Leon, says UK vegetable shortages are a result of "market failure".

Business

The government's food tsar has blamed Britain's "weird supermarket culture" for shortages of certain vegetables. Henry Dimbleby said "fixed-price contracts" between supermarkets and suppliers meant that when food is scarce, some producers sell less to the UK and more elsewhere in Europe. But the body that represents supermarkets denied that business was hampered by such contracts. Several supermarkets have limited sales of fresh produce in recent weeks. Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are among those vegetables in scarce supply, largely because of extreme weather affecting harvests in Spain and North Africa. Shortages are said to have been compounded by high energy prices impacting UK growers, as well as issues with supply chains. They also come as households are being hit by rising prices, with food inflation at a 45-year high. As an example of "market failure", Mr Dimbleby, who advises the government on food strategy in England, said UK lettuce prices in supermarkets were kept stable, regardless of whether there was a shortage or over supply. He said this meant farmers could not sell all their produce when they had too much - or be incentivised to grow more. "If there's bad weather across Europe, because there's a scarcity, supermarkets put their prices up - but not in the UK. And therefore at the margin, the suppliers will supply to France, Germany, Ukraine," he told the Guardian newspaper. But Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents UK supermarkets, said retailers were "pragmatists and recognise they need to pay more when costs are high and product is short". "They're working with growers every day," he added. Mr Opie said regulation for supermarkets in many European countries meant retailers there were "able to, and actually required" to pass on extra costs to customers. "Whereas UK retailers are doing everything they can to insulate consumers from rapidly rising prices meaning cutting their margins and negotiating on behalf of customers to keep prices as low as possible," he added. He said importing tomatoes and lettuces from abroad during the winter allowed supermarkets to offer customers "best value for money". Mr Dimbleby, however, said he found the current situation "frustrating" because "everyone is suddenly worried about a gap of vegetables in February, when there are much bigger structural issues". "There's just this weird supermarket culture," he said. "A weird competitive dynamic that's emerged in the UK, and nowhere else in the world has it, and I don't know why that is." He added it was a "very difficult one for the government to solve". Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers' Union (NFU), told the BBC that some producers were on contracts that could be renegotiated to factor in higher production costs - but not all of them. Minette Batters, president of the NFU, said the government's approach to home-grown food was "naïve" "The fact that these contracts in many cases are not fit for purpose and if you're not getting a fair return for what it is costing you, you're going to contract your business," she said. "It's why we are seeing many of the glasshouses across the country mothballed. They should be producing high quality food, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, to deal with this shortage." The NFU president said the war in Ukraine had changed the outlook for food security, but added she had been told previously by ministers and officials that "food grown on our land is really not important at all, we are a wealthy nation and we can afford to import it". "I think that is now looking naïve in the extreme," she said. "We've got huge capability here to be producing more of our fruit and vegetables." The government said that while there were some issues with fresh vegetable supplies, the UK "has a highly resilient food chain and is well equipped to deal with disruption". "We meet regularly with representatives from the entire food system - from farm to fork - to discuss how we can respond to emerging situations impacting the supply chain quickly and effectively," a spokesperson said. Mr Dimbleby criticised the government last year and said ministers had only taken on half of his recommendations from a landmark review of Britain's food system. He told the Guardian that food shortages would not be resolved until ministers looked at what he outlined in his food strategy. Last year, the UK faced a shortage of eggs, with supermarkets limiting how many customers could buy. The BRC said at the time that a variety of factors including avian flu and the cost of production had hit supplies - but some farmers blamed retailers for not paying a fair price.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64853683

Sue Gray to tell government watchdog when job talks with Labour began - BBC News

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The ex-civil servant looks set to join Sir Keir Starmer's office in a move that has angered some Tories

UK Politics

Sue Gray quit her senior government role on Thursday, after reports she was intending to take a job with Labour first emerged Ex-senior civil servant Sue Gray will tell the government appointments watchdog when she first had talks about becoming Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff, following Tory anger over the proposed move, the BBC has been told. Ms Gray will approach the watchdog about her new role on Monday. Labour's Jonathan Ashworth told the BBC the job offer proved his party was serious about being in government. But some Tories have argued the move undermines civil service impartiality. Ms Gray quit her position at the levelling up department on Thursday, after reports first emerged that she could take the job with Labour. Questions will persist for Labour - not because there are any doubts about Ms Gray's ability, but because the civil service is meant to be completely neutral. Naturally, the rules stipulate that means not talking to the opposition without permission from secretaries of state. Speaking to the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, was repeatedly asked when Ms Gray was offered the job. He declined to answer directly, but said Sir Keir had been looking for a new chief of staff for "several weeks" and Ms Gray was "always going to be on the list." A Labour source said "'on the list' didn't mean 'in talks'." An adviser to Sir Keir added, "although they [Ms Gray and Sir Keir] had crossed paths professionally, they're not friends or part of the same social circles. "However when Keir started thinking of possible candidates, Sue was on that list because he thought her experience and integrity would be great assets for the team as we prepare to hit the ground running in government." Until the 'hows' and 'whens' of the contacts are clarified, Labour's opponents will continue to poke at the issue. Last year, Ms Gray produced a highly-critical report into lockdown gatherings held in Downing Street while Boris Johnson was prime minister. Earlier this week, Mr Johnson said people may now look at her report "in a different light". Labour have said Ms Gray was not approached about the job until after her Partygate report was published. Mr Johnson is currently facing a different inquiry, run by a cross-party group of MPs, into whether he misled Parliament, when he said Covid rules had not been broken in Downing Street. In an initial report published on Friday, the MPs said the evidence they had seen "strongly suggests" Covid rule breaches would have been "obvious" to Mr Johnson. However, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris - and a close ally of the former prime minister - said Mr Johnson was "generally an honest man". He told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg he did not believe that Mr Johnson had "knowingly misled Parliament". Asked if this was the government's line, he replied: "I don't think there's a government official position. There's a parliamentary process going on. And I think we would wait to see what came out of that parliamentary process." This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: ''Generally he (Boris Johnson) is an honest man'' - NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris Speaking on Sky News earlier, Mr Heaton-Harris praised Ms Gray as someone of "integrity" but urged the Labour leader to publish all his messages with the former civil servant. "I think Keir can clear this up in seconds by saying this is what we talked about at that time, there's nothing to see here." Senior civil servants, as well as ministers, are expected to check with the government watchdog - the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) - about any employment they wish to take within two years of leaving government. The body can provide advice, for example recommending a waiting period before taking on a new role - however it has no power to block new appointments. Labour have already said they would abide by any recommendation Acoba makes. On Saturday, Conservative peer Lord Francis Maude, who worked with Ms Gray when he was a minister, wrote to the Times to defend the proposed appointment. "I never had the slightest reason to question either her integrity or her political impartiality," he said. "She is not the first civil servant to move into a political role, and will not be the last. We should be as relaxed about this as we should be about people who have had previous political involvement coming into the civil service." Ms Gray joined the civil service in the 1970s and has held a number of senior positions, including head of the government's propriety and ethics team. Polly Mackenzie - who worked as a special adviser in the Cabinet Office - previously told the BBC in 2017: "Sue has been there for so long, she knows everything that anybody has ever done wrong." Writing in his memoirs, former Liberal Democrat minister David Laws recalls being told that the country "is actually entirely run by a lady called Sue Gray... unless she agrees, things just don't happen".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64853573

Laura Kuenssberg: Chris Heaton-Harris says Boris Johnson honest over Partygate probe - BBC News

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Laura Kuenssberg quizzes Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris over Hancock's WhatsApp messages and Partygate.

UK Politics

And it wasn’t clear this morning that our politicians are very comfortable poring over the recent past. The cabinet minister, Chris Heaton-Harris wanted to suggest that the messages from Matt Hancock published by The Telegraph in the last few days are little more than glimpses of what was on Hancock’s mind at any one time during the pandemic. The tricky thing is that the newspaper, the opposition, and some of the public may reach different conclusions, looking at a group of senior politicians and officials talking glibly and politically brutally about what was going on. Fraser Nelson, one of the few people to have seen the whole cache of messages told us that there were days more of material to come. Much as the Conservatives might wish it, it's not going away. But the bigger practical problem for ministers in the next few days may be explaining practically how their new plans for laws to cut the number of small boats crossing the channel will actually make a difference. There clearly is real public concern and demand for action, but as allies of the former Home Secretary, Priti Patel point out, very similar laws are there on the statute books. It’s making them work that is perhaps the real challenge. From a political point of view though for Number 10, the legislation that is likely to be published in the next few days will, they hope, illustrate that Sunak is doing something, whether that "something" makes a difference is a test that he’s set himself. Questions will persist for Labour too about the hiring of Sue Gray, the well respected Whitehall enforcer. Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow work and pension secretary, told us he didn’t know when conversations between Gray and Keir Starmer had begun. This all matters, not because there are any doubts about her ability, but because the civil service is meant to be completely neutral. Naturally, the rules stipulate that means not talking to the opposition without permission from Secretaries of State. Until the "hows" and "whens" of their contacts are clarified, the party’s opponents will continue to poke.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-64840356

WATCH: Huge fire burns after Indonesia depot explosion - BBC News

Hundreds living nearby are evacuated after the fire and explosion at a fuel depot in Jakarta.

At least 15 people have died in a huge fire at a state-run fuel depot in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Sixty people were injured in the blaze on Friday night, with many people severely burned. People living nearby were evacuated. Indonesian officials are calling for an audit of "all fuel facilities and infrastructures".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-64847062

Liverpool v Manchester United: Jurgen Klopp & Erik ten Hag call for end to 'tragedy chanting' - BBC Sport

Liverpool and Manchester United managers Jurgen Klopp and Erik ten Hag call for an end to '"tragedy chanting" in a joint statement.

Last updated on .From the section Premier League

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64846694

Everything Everywhere sweeps Independent Spirit Awards - BBC News

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The absurdist sci-fi won nearly every major award at an event honouring independent film and television.

Entertainment & Arts

Daniel Kwan collected the award and told the audience it was time to "dream really big" Everything Everywhere All at Once swept the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, taking home wins in nearly every major category and solidifying its Oscar frontrunner status. The kinetic, multiverse-spanning, family opus won numerous awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Editing. Comedian Hasan Minhaj hosted the star-studded event live from Santa Monica Beach, California. The annual award show honours the best in independent film and television. This year, for the first time in the award's 37-year history, the best actor categories were all gender neutral. Minhaj began the night with an at times barbed roast of the nominees and the film industry. At one point, he embarrassed actress Cate Blanchett so much she crawled under the table. This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original tweet on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Sam Meltzer This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Actor Ke Huy Quan took home the first award of the night for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Everything Everywhere. Quan, who has spent much of his career working behind the scenes, used his speech to praise the often-unsung crewmembers, from the boom operators to stunt coordinators, who make films possible. Later, Michelle Yeoh won for Best Lead Performance in the film and Stephanie Hsu took off her shoes to run onstage and accept the award for Best Breakthrough Performance. It was also a big night for first-time nominees. Ayo Edebiri won Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series for her role in The Bear. Actor Sheryl Lee Ralph, who was also nominated in the same category, later reflected on her how she spent much of her early career begging Hollywood to diversify. "I stand here tonight having lost best supporting actress in television to Ayo," Ms Ralph said. "I have to honestly say that's what change looks like." Filmmaker Reid Davenport urged Hollywood to allow disabled artists to tell their stories. By far one of the most compelling moments of the night was when filmmaker Reid Davenport won the "Truer than Fiction" Award. Davenport's film, I Didn't See You There, charts his everyday life as someone who navigates the world in a wheelchair due to his disability. "There are so many disabled artists trying to get into this industry who are not given a chance," Mr Davenport said. "I ask you humbly to let them in. It's time." Davenport said. Best feature - Everything Everywhere All at Once Best lead performance - Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once Best Supporting performance - Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once Best Director - Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once Best Screenplay - Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once Best Documentary feature - All the Beauty and the Bloodshed Best First Screenplay - John Patton Ford, Emily the Criminal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64852206