Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240713

The billionaire businessman elon musk is cleared of defaming a british cave explorer after calling him pedo guy on social media. And coming up at 5. 30, hype building for the long awaited re match, with anthonyjoshua facing andy ruiz tonight. Find out about that and more, with our sports bulletin. The internet message forum, reddit, says it believes a leak of sensitive uk us trade documents is linked to a Russian Campaign to influence voters. The dossier, which runs to several hundred pages, was highlighted byJeremy Corbyn in labours claim that the nhs would be on the table during us trade talks, something denied by the conservatives. Labour says the release of the documents was in the public interest, and neither the uk nor us governments have denied their authenticity. Reddit have issued a statement explaining their actions. It says we were recently made aware of a post on reddit that included leaked documents from the uk. We investigated this account and the accounts connected to it, and today we believe this was part of a campaign that has been reported as originating from russia. As a result of this investigation, we are banning one subreddit and 61 accounts under our policies against vote manipulation and misuse of the platform. Our Political Correspondent Jonathan Blake gave me more details about the claim. Jeremy corbyn said today that they obtained it and they believe it to be correct and pointed out that the government here and the us have not questioned its authenticity. Looking at a bit more detail about what reddit have said and what that tells us, not a huge amount really beyond the fact that they believe this posting of this document on their site, which lets remember, was there several weeks before Jeremy Corbyn brought it to everyones attention in the election campaign. They say it was put there as part of a campaign that has been reported as originating from russia. So, they are not pinning it on individuals, they know or believe to be working or operating in russia. But, they are comparing it as showing a pattern of coordination with another campaign of information directed towards facebook, which was identified a few weeks ago. So, relatively vague in terms of details of what reddit has said, but it does put out the whole issue of whether there was a russian influence here in terms of how these documents came to light. What about the effect on the campaign . It is interesting. I do not think it would change the debate very much, really. It helps labour in that their central claim that these documents show that the governments tried to allow greater access to the nhs as part of the uk, us trade deal. It is something that we are interested in talking about and they will do that today. The government denies that the nhs is, up for sale and will allow the us need greater access post brexit as part of the trade deal but also labour slightly awkward to suggest that some of these documents came to light as a result of russian influence in with them not saying exactly where they got them from, it does lead them to some questions to answer. And for the conservatives. It is awkward for them to, because people are raising the case of the intelligent Security Committee brought forward by the parliamentary committee, which is still going through its security clearing process and has not been released by the government, so labour is attacking the conservatives on that basis today, saying that suggests theyve got something to hide. Apart from us still talking about with the main fixtures of this election campaign, i do not expect today to shift the dial particularly. In a moment viewers on bbc one willjoin us for a round up of the news with tina but before that. Theres fresh warning that Climate Change and nutrient pollution are dimnishing oxygen levels in our oceans. Thats the conclusion of the biggest study of its kind, undertaken by the group the International Union for the conservation of nauture. While nutrient run off has been known for decades, researchers say that Climate Change is making the lack of oxygen worse and is having an impact on certain species of fish. Minna epps is the director of the iucns Global Marine and polar programe earlier spoke to me from the Climate Summit in madrid. What we are seeing is since the mid 20th century, what we are seeing is a 2 decline on the global average. Within that average, youre actually marked by a lot of regional differences. And 2 may not seem like a lot, but if you think about it in the terms of the Climate Change debate, you will know that even one degree has a huge impact. So much the extent that obviously in the coastal areas, it has been, but we are also seeing it actually in the open sea. Looking at the reporting of your work that around 700 sites are not work that around 700 sites are now being identified as having low oxygen levels are from only 45 in oxygen levels up from only 45 in the 1960s. All right, basically over several decades, but that is a significant rise, isnt it . Yes, i mean the low oxygen zones have increased by four and a half square kilometre and that is the size of the eu. What are the impacts then on different species . Presumably, some species need less oxygen for obvious reasons. They are smaller. And presumably, some are very dependent on the amount of oxygen that is in the water. That is very true. For example, the species which have a high metabolic rate, so let us say the tunas or swordfish, some of these species, they are actually dependent on oxygen rich waters. So they will be most vulnerable to this change. But de oxygenation also results in other changes that will affect them. It may alter the energy in the biochemical cycles affecting these systems that bring nutrients and oxygen rich waters up to the surface. So we are seeing for example, the blue marlin which does dives about half a mile down to collect its feed, that is what theyre doing on the coast of california. We are seeing outside of costa rica and guatemala, they are staying by the surface because they actually want to stay where there is more oxygen rich waters, meaning they become more vulnerable. Not only is the habitat shrinking, but ultimately, they will lose biomass. And in terms of the impact, is there any measure that could reduce this . We are talking about mitigating effects from global warming, but when we talk about the oceans and the amount of oxygen, how do you re oxygenate the ocean . That is a very good question. It is said that it impacts biodiversity, biomass, habitats and energy and biochemical cycles. It is notjust fisheries, it is also other Marine Mammals that will be affected indirectly through the food web. What can be done about this . There is a solution and the solution is that we drastically cut the co2 emissions. We need to invest more in nature by protecting and restoring nature. But again, another thing we could do is reduce those climate stressors or the non climate stressors. For example, overfishing, that puts on additional pressure, reducing pollutant to the oceans would drastically improve the situation. Given where you are, the message that you are delivering notjust to the public, but the delegates there who accept and negotiate how we get from the targets to actually implementing. I truly believe that the decision is being made here in that it will determine the future of our oceans, whether there will be thriving oceans and biodiversity, or where they will be depleted and irreversibly damaged. I think actually these are negotiable systems that will have a difference so we have to have much more ambitious targets and collectively so all of the contributions which it is responsible for that collectively must be much more ambitious. Good evening. Questions are being raised about russian interference in the election, after possible links emerged between russia and leaked documents detailing trade discussions between the United States and the uk. The papers were used by labour to claim the conservatives will include the nhs in any deal with the americans after brexit which theyve denied. The documents appeared on the Online Discussion Forum reddit, which said they were linked toa campaign originating from russia. This report from our Political Correspondent ben wright contains flash photography. Elections are about defence as well as attack. This morning, Boris Johnson was in stockport, saying the tories would provide more Grassroots Football funding in england, but today there are also questions about what role russia might be playing this election. These censored, blacked out reports. This leaked government document detailing initial trade discussions between the uk and us was highlighted by labour. The american message Board Company reddit has said it was posted online by an account linked to a campaign originating in russia. I do think we need to get to the bottom of that. As far as i am aware, we havent yet established the truth about that, but what i certainly think is that document, whatever it was intended to prove, did not prove whatJeremy Corbyn and the labour party hoped that it would prove. Jeremy corbyn was out campaigning in wales this morning. Labour says publishing the trade document was in the public interest, and argues the government should release a parliamentary report into russian involvement in the brexit referendum and the last election. The Prime Minister has answers to give, which he refuses to do, about russian donations to the tory party, or the report that he is sitting on about russian interference in british politics. Of course, there should be no interference in our british political system by donald trump or the russians. Experts admit they still dont know exactly how the documents got into the public domain. One of the possibilities is that this was the leak of uk government documents by some kind of foreign actor now thats not the only hypothesis, but its one of them, but that is a very worrying hypothesis because it looks like official documents have come up online and we dont yet know how that happened. This campaign is now in its closing stages, a final chance for the parties to pick holes in their opponents arguments and drive their core messages home. While team johnson feels it has the advantage, this unpredictable election is farfrom over. Ben wright, bbc news in stockport. 0ur security correspondent Gordon Corera is here. Is this being looked as possible russian interferenc . Certainly that possibility is being taken very seriously, but it is very murky, so it looks like an account that may have been linked to russia was pushing, promoting this document in late october, before the election was called, but not much attention was called, but not much attention was paid to it until a different version, which was obtained legitimately by the labour party and was used on november the 19th and then this uncensored version was used a few days later. Now, that might look like some kind of interference but there are a lot of things unclear including where it originally came from. There are a range of possibilities from the most serious, that for instance russia somehow hacked the uk government, still the document and then pushed it and promoted it, to the lesser pricing, which is that perhaps someone pricing, which is that perhaps someone domestically politically lea ked someone domestically politically leaked the document and then someone in russia seized on it as a way to cause mischief. National Security Officials are investigating this to try and get to the answer but they are remaining very tight lipped because of course this is were sensitive coming just days before the election. Gordon, thank you very much. Lets take a look at some of todays other election news. Labour has pledged to make englands entire bus fleet electric by 2030. The project would be funded by £4 billion over ten years from the partys green transformation fund. Liberal democrat leaderjo swinson has been campaigning in the partys target seat of st albans. The lib dems announced plans to scrap Business Rates to help small firms. Snp leader Nicola Sturgeon has been campaigning on ice with a message to voters that there are five days to stop brexit. She predicted that results in scotland would be pivotal to denying the conservatives a commons majority. Iran and the United States have carried out a Rare Exchange of prisoners. Tehran has freed an american phd student, xiyue wang, who was convicted of spying. He was swapped for an iranian scientist, massoud soleimani. 0ur washington correspondent Chris Buckler has more. Both iran and the us have made the most of this brief thaw in their relationship. The Iranian Foreign minister even pictured himself with massoud soleimani. The professor, on the right, was arrested a year ago in chicago for allegedly violating trade sanctions. And as he made his way back to tehran, the us posted a photograph of xiyue wang, starting his own journey home. The Princeton University academic was charged with spying in iran more than three years ago, and since then his family have made several public appeals for him to be allowed to return to his wife and son. He was barely three when my husband left home for his research. And hes now six. He misses him for half of his life already. The us secretary of state mike pompeo tweeted that he would not rest until every american detained was back home. The Prisoner Exchange does mark a rare moment of an easing of tensions between the countries. At one stage this year, washington and tehran appeared on the verge of serious conflict following attacks on tankers in the gulf of hormuz and the shooting down of an american drone. Now they have shown they can negotiate, but on more substantive issues that doesnt mean the two sides are ready to talk. Boxing and britains anthonyjoshua faces andy ruinunior tonight, in a rematch of their heavyweight world title fight thatjoshua lost at Madison Square garden injune. Tonights clash on the dunes, as its being called, is taking place in saudi arabia, and our sports editor, dan roan, is there now. Dan. There is a real sense that this is make or break tonight for anthony joshua. A fight that he simply dared not lose. Remarkably, it has actual been raining here in the last few hours on the edge of the desert, but behind the is the new 15,000 seater arena that has been built from scratch in less than two months especially for this bout on the outskirts of riyadh. We are near the original birthplace of the saudi state. The british fighter very much involved in a piece of boxing history himself here this evening. Of course, the build up to this pout has been dominated by controversy over the choice of location, but now the action comedy focus will very much shifted towards the action and what should be a defining night for the british boxer. He knows that if he loses, his career, his credibility will be in jeopardy against his 20 stone mexican opponent, andy ruiz, who seized his belt in that shock victory back in june. But if you can win and gain revenge, then his place among a compelling heavyweight division will be restored. Dan in saudi arabia for us. Be restored. Dan in saudi arabia for us. Thank you. Back to the election and there are around a Million People with learning disabilities eligible to vote, but around a quarter are not registered. Campaigners say part of the problem is a system thats hard to access. The bbcs Disability Affairs correspondent nikki fox has more. Good evening, sheffield its the highlight of the week. A chance to have a drink, a laugh, and put a cross in a box to maybe win some money. Four and three, 43. But when it comes to marking the ballot paper on polling day, what are the issues that matter for people with learning disabilities . Tony has volunteered here for around four years. Shes a winner tonight, but shes not been so lucky getting a job, and is worried about money. What kind of issues affect you that make you vote a certain way . Benefit wise, like, its really messed my life around. If you were in a room with a load of politicians, what would you say . Change the benefits back to the way they were. The nhs, social care, and hate crime are other issues that came up here. But many find it difficult to make their voices heard in an election. How did you find it when you last voted . A bit nerve racking. Haley has registered to vote, but she gets help from her support worker, beth. Hard for me to process all the questions. Do you actively explain policies to amy . Yeah, we would do. Im not going to put my point of view across to her, because then obviously that would make her vote for what i want her to vote for. Shes perfectly capable of it. Yeah. Do you think politics in general is accessible enough for people with learning disabilities . No. Like, when you watch it on the news, half of the stuff they say, im like, well, i dont understand any of them numbers and percentages and all what theyre saying. Everyone should be entitled to have a say. I want someone that will stand up for me and actually mean it in their heart, notjust saying it because it will get them votes. Most of the major parties have released easy read versions of their manifestos, but not at the same time. Charities say this delay means people with learning disabilities arent given enough time to consider who to vote for. Nikki fox, bbc news, sheffield. Were back with the late news at ten past ten. Hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. A woman whod alleged shed been raped in northern india has died in hospital after being set on fire. She was attacked earlier this week as she was on her way to court. Five men, including her alleged rapist, have been arrested. Pratiksha ghildial reports. The 23 year old woman who died after being set on fire in the Northern State of Uttar Pradesh was on her way to court to testify against her alleged rapists. She was reportedly dragged from near a train station by a group of men to a nearby field and set alight. Five men are under arrest over the attack. The woman had filed a rape complaint against two of them in march this year. The main accused was arrested, but later released on bail. The family is now demanding the Death Penalty for the accused. Translation my sister is no more. The names of these five culprits must also be erased. This comes close on the heels of another brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman in the Southern City of hyderabad. The 27 year old was making her way home after work when she was attacked, raped and set on fire. But a few days later, the accused were shot dead by the police while under detention and after being taken back to the crime scene. It was overwhelmingly welcomed by many indians, however, Human Rights Organisations have asked for investigation into these killings. These cases have once again renewed a debate over Sexual Violence in india, seven years after the gang rape and murder of a student in delhi that had led to massive outrage and resulted in the country tightening its rape laws. But for many, little seems to have changed. Nearly 300 people have been killed and two Million People are having to cope with unusually heavy rainfall and flooding in eastern africa. Cyclone storm pawan has made landfall on the somali coast. In kenya its reported that at least 100 people are dead and more than 30 thousand have been displaced. Were also now hearing that at least 12 people have been confirmed dead in western uganda earlier, i spoke to Ahmed Ibrahim from save the children in somalia. I asked him how bad its been. To start with, this is not the first time that we had begun the disaster thats been continuing for the last two months, both in somalia and many parts in kenya and also in south sudan. If you started with somalia, it has been a repetitive but says that has infected the population living in Southern Area after heavy rains hit in many parts of somalia and the highland part of ethiopia, which has caused the flooding of the the river of somalia and juba. The recent flooding that has taken place in somalia and kenya has been triggered by this storm point, a storm that has hit in many parts in the world, but specifically in the indian ocean. In somalia, we did not have the connections of many villages that has been affected by the by the floods, by the floods and this storm. We are hearing that many of the villages have experienced seen in extreme weather storms that are causing destruction of houses. There are many people are missing. They are many of our team is why we are deployed to the polices lake aid and other parts of mobile muthu and parts of puntland, state of somalia. But we keep hope that they are safe and that many people are in these areas are safe. It is also reported that many roads that are likely to displace are already destructive and are not accessible any more. In kenya, we are receiving the information that over 130 people are already dead. Thousands of people are displaced from their homes. And the most important thing that we expect the rain to continue and situation is very intense and unpredictable. Hopefully, we will get more information in the coming days. But we are doing this to save the children. And the government of somalia in care are deploying their teams in their respective areas to find out more and try to rescue who we can able to rescue. In terms of the operation that will follow the storm, presumably, as you say, these are many isolated villages in somalia for which you have no contact. You wont know until you actually physically go in or other aid workers, International Organizations or the military go in to begin the clean up operation. But with both the government and some humanitarian agencies have been receiving the warnings, oddly enough. So some of the organization is deploying their teams, the health teams in their respective areas. However, u nfortu nately, we never knew that it will go to this level of deterioration. So the governments are making immediate responses, deploying some of their armed forces to rescue the people as well as the humanitarian people are also sending their people. But the situation is very intense as we did not have the connection some of the places and were not sure how the situation it is at this time, but probably seen as the one hit started in somalia in the middle of december 6th. We expected that we might get some information in the coming hours if situation gets stable more. A huge bush fire thats burning out of control near sydney may take weeks to put out. The mega blaze, north of sydney stretches for over 35 miles and is bigger than the city itself. Almost a hundred fires continue to burn in the drought hit state of new south wales. Phil mercer reports. The authorities are warning that some of the bushfires in eastern australia are too big to put out and will only be extinguished by heavy rain. There are 100 blazes in drought hit new south wales, half are burning out of control. They can be unpredictable and fast moving. Residents and animals have been forced to flee as walls of flame many metres high bore down on their communities. At any time it might come over the side so we are just going to leave. More than 2,000 firefighters, many of them volunteers, are on the ground in new south wales. Their task, with the crisis now into its fifth week, is exhausting and unrelenting. It is dangerous, too. A water bombing helicopter has crashed landed but the pilot escaped with only minor injuries. Sydney is again shrouded in a toxic, smoky haze blown in from nearby bushfires. Health warnings have been issued and many weekend sporting activities have been cancelled. There are Hazardous Conditions in queensland, too. Parts of the state are blanketed in smoke and about 45 blazes still rage. Bushfires are common in australia but scientists believe this year they have started earlier and have been more intense due to global warming. Time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. Hello there. For those of you that have had dry weather and bright skies today, we have got a change in the forecast overnight. A band of heavy rain will push eastwards across the whole of the united kingdom, accompanied by squally, gusty winds. What follows, blustery showers across the north and west of the country. It is the strength of the winds that stops it getting too cold. Overnight lows of around 6 10 degrees celsius. Tomorrow, it is a windy day, a day of sunny spells and scattered showers. The showers will tend to merge together to give some longer spells of rain in Northern Ireland and scotland, particularly through the course of the afternoon, with strengthening winds and the air across these areas will be getting colder as well. Further south, relatively mild but no one is immune from seeing the odd shower. Some very strong winds developing later in the day. The strongest winds from storm atiyah will be affecting the western coast of ireland, gusts of 80mph here. And then through sunday night, wales and western england could see gusts perhaps in excess of 70mph. This hello this is bbc news with shaun ley. News with sha the headlines. The online forum reddit says it believes leaked government documents, detailing uk us trade talks, and posted on its site are linked to russia. Oceans are running out of oxygen warn scientists as global temperature rises put many species of fish at risk of extinction. Fears that a mega bushfire near sydney thats burning out of control could take weeks to put out. In a rare move a chinese american researcher convicted of spying in iran has been freed in an apparent Prisoner Exchange with the us. The build up is on tonight for a the all important boxing the build up is on tonight for a the all importa nt boxing match, the build up is on tonight for a the all important boxing match, at least anthonyjoshuas career. Sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres jane. Iam i am well. Very much looking forward to tonights fight. Antony joshua has weighed in three stone lighter than his mexican opponant andy ruiz junior. Its not long to go untiljoshua will attempt to re claim the three heavyweight belts he lost to ruiz earlier this year. The fight gets under way in saudi arabia in just a few hours time. Our reporter ade adedoyne is there for us. Joshua weighting in considerably lighter than last time. How do you think that will affect him . Cani can ijust can i just say first, can i just say first, it can i just say can ijust say first, it rains an average can i just say can ijust say first, it rains an average of can i just say can ijust say first, it rains an average of 17 can i just say can ijust say first, it rains an average of 17 days can i just say can ijust say first, it rains an average of 17 days a can i just say can ijust say first, it rains an average of 17 days a year can i just say can ijust say first, it rains an average of 17 days a year in can i just say can ijust say first, it rains an average of 17 days a year in this pa rt average of 17 days a year in this part of the world and would you believe that on the night it is hosting the biggest sporting event it ever has, it is raining. There is a canopy over the ring. Anthony joshua came in lighter than he did for his last fight and he said he is concentrating more on his boxing skills and his weight training and that shows the type of strategy he plans to employ. His speed and movement. Regarding andy ruiz, he came and 21 kilograms heavier than anthonyjoshua, but we do not know if that has a definite ploy or if he has neglected his training. He says he does not want to become a one hit wonder. If it goes towards a sixth, seventh and eighth round, will he be able to carry that 20 stone frame around. Theres a lot at stake here. What happens tojoshuas boxing career if he doesnt win . This is a defining night for anthony joshua. A defeat would damage his brand. It would be a setback for sure. It would not end his career, but it would be a long way back to get himself into position to challenge for the heavyweight title. Pa rt challenge for the heavyweight title. Part of this, i think, is mental because he is in great physical shape, looks very, very focused and you just wonder what the mental scars were from that defeat. He got put down four times in that fight by andy ruiz. Has he fully recovered from that quiz like he wants to win, win emphatically, and revive his career. And keep on the option of those big fights possibly against tyson fury. He would join those elite athletes, if you win this, like muhammad ali, evander holyfield, and those legends. This is an important night for Anthony Joshuas career. You can listen to Live Commentary of the fight on bbc radio five live and there will be text commentary on the bbc sport website and app. Another three points for League Leaders liverpool after beating bournemouth three nil. It means theyre now 11 points clear at the top. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain opened the scoring after a long range pass from jordan henderson. Naby keita made it two before half time and then set up mo salah for their third. It extends liverpools club record unbeaten run to 33 league games. Bournemouth have now lost five in a row. It was professionally, it was controlled, scoring one of the goals was not, it didnt want to do it overly exciting again, so really had to the game. Felt more and more insecure, and lost two players with an injury, doesnt help, it was for sure, not a good day for bournemouth. We had to bring it over the line and the boys, the most they are saying in dressing rooms clean sheet, finally. Its been a great start to management life for Duncan Ferguson as everton beat chelsea 3 1 in his first match in charge. Goals from Dominic Calvert lewin and richarleson gave the caretaker manager reason to jump forjoy even involving the ball boys in his celebrations adam wild was watching. At first glance, this did not appear a club in crisis. These were fans ready to welcome a hero. At the moment they needed when most. Cheering. The toughness lies any task ahead. His tenure may only be ten his tenure may only be temporary,. Never shy of making an impact here, it was swift. Heading them in front against chelsea within five minutes. The sketch i actually break it was Dominic Calvert learn who because the man to lose control, even for a moment. Even for those too young to remember his legend, swept up in excitement. Chelsea were still here. But any nerves were soon replaced by sheerjubilation, evertons modern day number nine,. Modern day number nine,. You just go that much more because youre for everybody. It was very tense, it was indescribable. Im not looking forward to far ahead. Im here for a looking forward to far ahead. Im here fora ten looking forward to far ahead. Im here for a ten for as long as they will need to do this. This command undoubtedly, a day that belong to everton and Duncan Ferguson. He has called this his dream job. This out every bit the fairy tale. Five goals have put tottenham up to fifth in the table after a convincing victory over burnley. Captain harry kane got the first afterjust seven minutes with a stunning strike outside the box. Lucas moura with the second, but then a fantastic individual effort from heung min son, who ran amost the full length of the pitch to score their third. Kane got his second and then Moussa Sissoko scored their fifth. I think everything today was a really perfect and we are fine and 110w really perfect and we are fine and now we go to munich and, of course, the result is not important because the result is not important because the points, we do not need them, but the points, we do not need them, but the game is important because it is our prestige and the development of some players. And for some others. So lets go for a difficult week, munich and away is a really hard week. It was goalless in the only other three oclock kick off today between watford and crystal palace. The big game of the day, the manchester derby, has just got underway at the etihad. It is currently 0 0. It is currently 00. We will keep you updated on that through the rest of the evening. The big game in scotland takes place tomorrow with rangers and celtic meeting in the League Cup Final at hampden four games though today in the scottish premiership. St mirren were one nil winners at hamilton accies. Hibernian beat aberdeen 3 nil, while livingston beat kilmarnock by the same scoreline. Hearts lost one nil to motherwell. Both leinster and northampton were unbeaten in the champions cup, until today when leinster thrashed northampton 43 16. The first try for leinster came just two minutes in from james lowe, and it set the tone for the rest of the game. Last seasons runners up led at the break and dominated throughout the second half. Their last try came from ed byrne om the 80th minute, giving them their seventh try of the match, and helping them to a score of 43 16. Leinster now have a five point lead over northampton at the top of pool one. And after coming from nine points behind against harlequins, all ulster needed was a penalty to go ahead. And with two minutes to go, they got one. John cooney put them back in the lead much to the delight of the crowd. It finished a close 25 24 win for ulster. Seven time champion Ronnie Osullivan has pulled out of januarys masters snooker in london. Its understood his withdrawal is for personal reasons. Meanwhile, ding jun hui has beaten fellow chinese player yan bing tao by six frames to two to reach the final of the uk snooker championship in york. Ding hasnt won a major title since 2011 but raced into the lead against yan, building a 3 frames to nil lead. Yan managed to fight back to trail 4 2, but that was as close as he got and ding wrapped up a 6 2 victory. Hell play the winner of tonights other semi final between Stephen Maguire and mark allen. Cricket, and england have named their squad for the four test series against south africa which starts on boxing day. There are a few changes to the side, following their series defeat in new zealand. James anderson returns after missing most of the ashes with a calf problem. Jonny bairstow has also been recalled, hed been dropped after a poor series against australia. Lewis hamilton has said his happiness away from the track helped him to win his sixth formula one world title. Hamilton was presented with his trophy at the Louvre Museum in paris and he said the ability to focus on his passions outside of racing had been pivotal. I think more so the other side and just being happier, happierany collaboration with the team in terms of our team work, the things is that, the door is that, the doors that, the door is that, the doors that opened in terms of the new fashion, that has been well received and my fans have been amazing and supported me with it. And being able to do those things and it not be talked about too much in the sense of negative that is a distraction. Thats all the sport for now. You can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. It is still nil nil in the manchester derby. Forgive me for sneezing at you like that. Thank you. Excuse me, im having a bit of a sneezing fit. There are calls for an independent review into the shocking failures that allowed a serial rapist to be released from jail by accident, allowing him to carry out a series of attacks on women and children. Joseph mccann was released earlier this year after an error by the Probation Service. His 11 victims over a two week period included a pensioner and an 11 year old boy. John mcmanus has more. Joseph mccann captured on cctv in a petrol station. The assistant behind the counter has no idea that the customer opposite him is a sadistic criminal. Outside in mccanns car, sits a woman too terrified to attempt to escape. He has already assaulted her after kidnapping her, after she left this club. A few days later, he abducts another woman near this tube station in london, then, not long after, a third woman. Terrible in itself, but instead of being free to terrorise them, mccann should have been behind bars. In 2008, he was jailed for an aggravated burglary at the home of an 85 year old man. In 2017, he was freed on licence. The same year, he was arrested for new offences and should have been recalled to prison, but was not. A year later, he was sentenced for his new crimes and should have gone before the parole board before he was considered safe to be freed. Instead, at the start of this year, he was mistakenly let out and free to go on to attack 11 women and children. Yesterday, he was convicted of 37 offences, including kidnap and rape. Now, richard burgon, labours shadowjustice secretary, has called for an investigation, saying the public must have full confidence in the justice system. He wants an independent review into what labour calls shocking failures and deep government cuts. The Probation Service has apologised, with one officer being demoted and another sacked. But that is little comfort to mccanns victims. John mcmanus, bbc news. Earlier, i spoke to katie lomas, whos the National Chair of napo, the trade union and professional association representing thousands of members working in probation and family courts. She told me that the decision by the Coalition Government to part privatise the Probation Service put enormous pressures on people working in it, and contributed to the tragedy. I think its so important in these cases to understand the context that has been happening for the last five years in probation. In 2014, the Probation Service was split into two parts, one part being privatized, one part remaining in the public sector. And this brought massive problems and stresses for the system. We had not enough staff, staff leaving at a very high rate, higher than expected because they couldnt cope with working in this new system. And obviously, what happens then is that the work is spread out amongst a smaller number of people and they then become ill or disillusioned and leave. And that process went on and on and on. And in this case, i understand that there were a very, very high number of staff vacancies in the area at the time that mr mccann should have been recalled prison. And when you have people who are very overworked, very overloaded and working under such pressure, then there are consequences to that. And in this case, absolutely horrific consequences for the victims. And you would accept, presumably small comfort for them to hear the director of the Probation Service saying how sorry they are. Your union saying you accept that, i think youve already said that that this was a serious failure. And in a sense, its all very well to say its staffing shortage, but any sense does that not reflect even worse in those people involved in these cases . Because other colleagues and other officers were facing exactly the same sort of problems and they didnt make this mistake . I think there were very, very specific issues happening in the areas in the southeast, particularly where it has traditionally always been difficult to recruit and retain staff. So their staffing issues were far, far worse than in other parts of the country. So i think thats important. And when you are relying constantly on Agency Workers and having to move cases around to try and cope with the demand for the workload, then that does make it quite different to the rest of the country. And i dont think anybody is going to say that the quality of work was ok in this case. Clearly not. And clearly, lessons have to be learned. But one of the lessons that have to be learned is that youve got to invest in these services. Youve got to put the stuff in place. Youve got to listen to the experts when they say, as our union said before the split in the service that it would be dangerous and it would lead to difficulties like this. Which raises the question whether you think this kind of circumstance could be repeated, because weve heard promises. I think ithink any i think any statement that came from the Probation Service that new mandatory training has been updated. But if you seeing a fundamental problem is the strain on the system, inadequate staff at the number of cases, i think i read quotes from the chief inspectors report in september that they were more than 100 people short in the office, 60 of their staff, which shows you how big a team it emitters anywhere in watford, where this office was based 16 of watford, where this office was based 16 of their staff. That would suggest this can happen again, perhaps will happen again. And i think the fact that it hasnt been happening on a regular basis since 2014 is solely due to the dedication and commitment of staff, and every single day we are hearing from our members who are saying that they are at breaking point. They have been putting in well over and above the amount of hours and the amount of work that is asked of them in order to try and cope with the pressure. And when you have people who are already overworked and then they are going above and beyond and doing twice as much as they are being paid to do, then you can see that the system is at breaking point. And the point we would like to make is that the government is about to re tender the contracts for the privatized part of the Probation Service and continue this reckless experiment. And we are calling on them not to do that. We have seen the absolutely horrific consequences of what was done to probation. And we must now put everything that we have into putting the system back together, because its not only just about the lack of staff. Its also about the experience amongst the staff group. Because if you have a team where many, many people are fairly new into their role or half are working under an Agency Contract short term, then youre not going to get the quality and youre not going to get what the public expects, which is to be protected and kept safe. Katie lomas, the chair of the union napo. We have been talking about the prisoner swap that has taken place, a p pa re ntly prisoner swap that has taken place, apparently in switzerland, and the returning of a man from the american system who was detained by the iranians. This is the tweet that donald trump has put out, referring to the returned detainee from iran, who is a chinese american. Taken during the obama administration, despite 150 billion gift, whatever that means, returned during the trump administration. Its kind of distinctive, authentic trump style, isnt it cosmic there is the man that we are referring to, the man who disappeared from and was detained by the iranians. He has beenin detained by the iranians. He has been in custody now for three years and, as his family say, there are absolutely delighted to have him back. He was detained, as i say, in 2016. It has been there 3. 5 years and was accused of spying, but was actually conducting Dissertation Research in iran. He has denied all the charges and was sentenced to ten yea rs the charges and was sentenced to ten years in prison. His wife said that the family was complete again and their son and she had waited three long years for this day. They give to everyone has made this happen. Thank you to everyone who has made this happen. Yellow vest protestors and trades unions are holding mass marches across france. Demonstrators are angry at government plans to reform pensions, forcing many people to work longer. National strikes have gone into their third day, crippling the National Rail network and forcing many Tourist Attractions to close. A 15 Year Old Girl has been charged after opera singer Katherine Jenkins was mugged in south west london while intervening in a street robbery. Missjenkins was on her way to a rehearsal on wednesday afternoon when she witnessed an elderly woman being attacked. Scotland yard said the teenager was charged with robbery and assault on police after an incident on kings road in chelsea. Ajury in the United States has cleared the Billionaire Elon Musk of defaming a british man involved in the rescue of a group of thai boys from a flooded cave last year. Vernon unsworth took legal action after mr musk called him a pedo guy on twitter. From los angeles, dave lee reports. Elon musk entered court on friday for the fourth and now final day of this trial. What has surely been the most intense, not to mention expensive, examination ever of a single tweet. How many of you . That tweet, sent in july 2018, came in the midst of the miraculous rescue of 12 thai boys and their football coach from a flooded cave. Vernon unsworth, a british man who lived nearby, was instrumental in advising that effort. Elon musk also travelled to the region with a specially designed mini submarine. In a tv interview, mr unsworth called it a pr stunt, prompting mr musk to snap back, using the phrase pedo guy. He later deleted the tweet, but mr unsworth sued him for defamation, arguing he had been wrongly accused of paedophilia. Elon musk was described in court as a billionaire bully, a man who dropped a nuclear bomb into the life of vernon unsworth. But the jury saw it differently. They said the tweet was an insult, but not an accusation a view which could set a precedent when it comes to libel cases involving social media. This verdict sends a signal, and one signal only, that you can make any accusation you want to, as vile as it may be, as damaging at it may be, as untrue as it may be, and somebody can get away with it. The only thing im going to say is the jury got this right, and we dont have any further comment at this time. Ultimately, mr unsworths lawyers were unable to prove that his life had been sufficiently negatively impacted. I accept the jury verdict, take it on the chin, and move on. Dave lee, bbc news, in los angeles. Theyre calling it europes first eco mosque a purpose built centre in the the uk that will cater for thousands of muslim worshipers. Shabnam mahmood from the bbc asian newtork reports from cambridge. Ten years of planning at a cost of over £20 million the new Cambridge Central mosque has officially opened its doors. For the citys 6,000 muslim worshippers, it provides a modern place to worship, designed by the team who created the london eye. Whats beautiful about the Cambridge Mosque is it is a really delicate blend between the traditionalism of our faith, but also modernity. Its a very aesthetic mosque and it reflects a lot of the beauty that we associate with our religion. Its an eco friendly mosque, so its environmentally friendly. And secondly, the decor is very sort of up to date. Its a very artistic mosque and its just very inviting and the wood. Every single aspect of this mosque has been really thought through in a very deep, mystical, certain spiritual way, right from the garden to the atrium, to the prayer area. This mosque is said to be the first eco friendly mosque in the whole of europe. It boasts a zero carbon footprint, by generating its own electricity and harvesting the rainwater. The project to build the mosque was funded by more than 10,000 donations, both local and international. Among them, cash from charities in turkey. Hundreds of people were at the inauguration, including the founder and patron of the mosque, yusuf islam, formerly known as singer cat stevens. He welcomed president Recep Tayyip Erdogan of turkey, who was in the uk for natos 70th anniversary. The president didnt say much as he arrived. Mr president , how does it feel to be here . With the crime that he is committing. But the leaders presence wasnt warmly received by everyone. Dozens gathered in the city centre to show their anger at president erdogans military action against kurds in syria. The decision was defended by trustees from the mosque. We wanted this space to remain for the community, at most. The thing that was very different when we presented to the turkish authorities and president erdogan, he said, this is what the british people want, cambridge muslims want. We will support it. The gardens and cafe are spaces for the whole community, and notjust muslims. It is hoped the mosque will bring people together. Shabnam mahmood, bbc news, cambridge. Now its the weather with chris fawkes. Hello there. We have had quite a mixture of weather to start off the weekend. For many of us in england and wales, it has been dry with quite a bit of cloud but also some spells of sunshine, like these in shropshire earlier in the day, but in scotland, it has been quite a different look to the weather with outbreaks of rain working in for many of you through the afternoon and rather low cloud as well. Our attention at the moment is focusing on what is going on in the north atlantic. This swirl of cloud is notjust one area of low pressure, it is in fact two, one here and one here, and these two areas of low pressure combine to make storm atiyah, and it is this squeeze on the isobars on the southern portion of the low that brings the strong winds to the Southern Coast of ireland and during sunday night time across wales and Western Areas of england, too. Before we get there, overnight tonight it will be quite a windy night as a band of heavy rain pushes east across all areas. As the rain clears, it will be followed by blustery showers, but it is the strength of the winds that stops it getting too cold. Temperatures overnight for most between 6 and 10 celsius. For sundays forecast, rain clearing away from the south east quickly, then it is a day that is going to be much windier than it was today, a day of sunshine and blustery showers, but those showers will tend to merge together to give longer spells of rain in Northern Ireland and scotland, as colder air tends to work in here. It will be a windy day nationwide, but the strongest winds are to the south of our centre of low pressure. Forecast to reach 80mph around the coastline of west ireland and then this squeeze on the isobars works into wales and western england where we could get gusts of 70mph or perhaps Even Stronger than that. Winds that strong are perfectly capable of bringing down tree branches so there is a risk of some disruption from these strong winds from sunday into monday for some of us. Heading into mondays weather charts, that storm system works off into europe and what we have in its place is these northerly winds coming straight down from polar regions. It is going to be a cold day. Monday sees plenty of sunshine but that said, there will be frequent showers across northern scotland and frequent showers coming down the north sea to affect the eastern coast of england as well. Inland, yes, there might be some sunshine, but factor in those strong and cold winds and it will feel quite bitter on monday. This is bbc news. Im shaun ley. The headlines at six. The online forum reddit says it believes leaked government documents, detailing uk us trade talks, and posted on its site are linked to russia. The really big question is how did the leaks get there in the first place . How did they end up online, being amplified by what reddit certainly says is part of a known foreign influence operation . Oceans are running out of oxygen warn scientists as global temperature rises put many species of fish at risk of extinction. 12 people are swept to their deaths by floods in uganda, as east africa is devastated by heavy rainfall and landslides. Fears that a mega bushfire near sydney thats burning out of control could take weeks to put out. In a rare move a chinese american researcher convicted of spying in iran has been freed in an apparent prisoner