comparemela.com

See how high the water will arise. Caroline wozniacki wins the Australian Open womens singles title, beating Romanias Simona Halep to become the world number one. And the dateline london panel talk davos, brexit and the middle east. Thats all in half an hour here on bbc news. Good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. The director of public prosecutions, alison saunders, has said all current rape and serious Sexual Assault cases in england and wales are to be reviewed as a matter of urgency following the collapse of several recent trials because evidence was not disclosed to defence lawyers. Today the attorney general told the bbc there was no evidence of widespread malpractice or dishonesty in the prosecution system. Our Legal Affairs correspondent, clive coleman, reports. Disclosure of evidence in some recent highly publicised rape cases has gone badly wrong. But how widespread is the problem . In december liam allan was acquitted of six counts of rape and six of Sexual Assault when it emerged evidence on a computer disk which police had examined showed messages from the alleged victim pestering him for casual sex. And the number of prosecutions in england and wales that collapsed because of a failure by police or prosecutors to disclose evidence has increased by 70 in the last two years. Now the director of public prosecutions, alison saunders, has ordered an urgent review of all rape and serious Sexual Assault cases, and conceded its likely a number will be dropped. One of the major problems is the amount of evidence on digital devices, such as mobile phones and social media. Its very apparent that in some cases mistakes have been made that simply shouldnt have been. It is important that when you look at that kind of case that the prosecutors and investigators look at social media traffic, look at Text Messages that have passed between the two individuals, because they can put whats happened in a very significant, different light. A National Disclosure Improvement Plan has been published. It includes a review of disclosure training, developing a group of specialists in every police force, and all multimedia evidence to be provided to the defence digitally. Yesterday, here, a people trafficking case not a rape or Sexual Assault trial collapsed because prosecutors failed to disclose Critical Evidence to the defence. Thejudge has demanded an urgent explanation in a case made even more shocking by the fact that one of the young female defendants was held in prison for 13 months, during which time she gave birth. This problem is systemic and endemic throughout the criminaljustice system. Its been known about for many years and its a result of chronic underfunding of police, the Prosecution Service and particularly defence lawyers who have suffered years of cuts to legal aid. If Public Confidence in our fair trial system is to be maintained, fixing disclosure is now the criminal justice systems biggest challenge. Clive coleman, bbc news. Earlier i spoke to Mick Gradwell a former detective superintendent with Lancashire Police i asked him about the duty of disclosure responsibility which the police has towards a legal defence team. It comes from the criminal procedures and investigations act of 1996. The police must list all unused material, and that the cps, so a decision can be made, what should be evidence, and what should be supplied to the defence in any case. The prosecution effectively makes a decision on what should be passed to the defence, rather than the police . It is that. The police tend to list things on different schedules. Theyll make an initial assessment. It is up to the reviewing cps lawyer to make a final decision and often there can be discussions between the prosecution and the defence. But in effect it should be a Team Approach between the police and prosecutors. Is there ever disagreement between the police and prosecutors about what evidence should be put forward to the defence team . Yes, sometimes it is covert material. And there is other information that doesnt want to be disclosed. There have been occasions where prosecutors as a result of that have stopped cases going ahead. A barrister who defended a client against whom rape charges were eventually dropped told the bbc earlier that maybe there was a culture of trying to build up a case rather than investigate it objectively from the off by the police. Do you accept that comment . It varies on the skills of the officers undertaking the role of disclosing officer. Some people may not understand the full duty of their role. Thats why the lawyer needs to review the evidence so they can assess a piece of evidence to see whether it would assist the defence case. If we look at the recent cases which have garnered lots of publicity because they have collapsed and in each case there has been a failure to share digital evidence, do you think there is a need for greater training, for greater manpower, to actually trawl through this sort of evidence . People certainly need to be trained. They certainly need to work, the police need to work in partnership with the prosecutors. But they need to be given the time to trawl through all of this social media, Digital Media material, that is key in every case. That takes time. I think that is because of the under resourcing and funding that may not necessarily be happening, certainly in some of these very important cases. At least 95 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in a bombing in the afghan capital, kabul. The device was hidden in an Emergency Vehicle and exploded at a police checkpoint. The taliban said they carried out the attack. Chi chi izundu reports. An ambulance packed with explosives driven into crowds on their way to work. The force of the blast shook windows of buildings at least a mile away. Some low rise structures collapsed and plumes of smoke could be seen from around the city. Translation i was sitting in my shop when a powerful explosion rocked the area. All the windows of my shop shattered. The attacker drove the vehicle past one police checkpoint, claiming to have a patient inside. When guards at a second checkpoint became suspicious, he detonated the bomb. The area is home to foreign embassies and the citys police headquarters. The road had been closed to public transport. The taliban have claimed responsibility, this their second deadly attack in kabul in the space of a week. 20 people were killed after a bombing on the Intercontinental Hotel last week. The afghan military, backed by us air power, has intensified its campaign to drive out the taliban from its rural strongholds. But as todays strike proves they are still able to mount deadly attacks against civilian targets in the heart of the countrys major cities. Chi chi izundu, bbc news. Well its now dark in kabul but the after effects of the attack are still being felt in the afghan capital. Our reporter zia shareyar has sent this update from close to where the attack happened. This is the deadliest attack in kabul this year. The attacker has apparently got through this way and then it has got through the checkpoint you can see there not farfrom here. From that checkpoint, there is a second checkpoint, not far from here, and the attacker has apparently exploded an ambulance that they were using, probably saying they were getting into a hospital there. It was full of explosives. It exploded there. It is one of kabuls major hospitals, probably full of patients, and people visiting patients. The area is very crowded. Lots of people were gathered at the time the attack happened. Full of shops and restaurants. Its not easy to get through this checkpoint. This is a checkpoint where most of the cars are searched, ids are checked, the question will be how they got through this checkpoint. The taliban have taken responsibility of this attack, saying they have targeted the admin part of the ministry of interior, which is, again, not farfrom this place. Three teenage boys have been killed after they were hit by a car in west london. It happened last night in hayes. A man aged 28, who was in the car, has been arrested. Our correspondent, anisa kadri, sent this update from the scene in west london. Within the last few minutes there has been a brief statement from metropolitan police. They say police are investigating an altercation believed to be linked to this incident after the road traffic collision, enquiries are ongoing, and that is the extent of that statement from the metropolitan police. Our correspondent, anisa kadri, sent this update from the scene in west london. Throughout the day more and more people have been coming here to leave flowers and pay respects. It is thought the three teenagers who lost their lives were all aged around 16 and we were told they were on their way to a party. Many of the people who have been leaving flowers, you can see behind me, have been family, friends, and many of them look visibly upset. Police do not know if what happened was an accident, but they are not treating it as terrorism. A car mounted the pavement. It is believed at that point it hit the three teenagers. We know that a person inside the car, which was a black audi, was arrested, he is a 28 year old man, he was taken to hospital, and now police are appealing for witnesses. The release of the black cab rapist john worboys from prison has been put on temporary hold, following a legal challenge by two of his victims. The sixty year old was jailed fora minimum of eight years in 2009, for the rape and Sexual Assault of women across london. Lawyers representing the women were granted a stay on his release, after making an urgent application to the high court. The Prime Minister of ireland has told the bbc he will campaign for the countrys near total ban on abortion to be liberalised. Leo varadkar had previously said the laws were too restrictive. A referendum will take place this summer on whether to repeal a constitutional amendment that effectively bans terminations. Paris is on alert as the level of the river seine has continued to creep higher, with forecasters warning the river could stay high throughout next week. The river could stay high throughout next week. Leaks have started to appear in some basements, while many residents on the citys outskirts have been forced to travel by boat through waterlogged streets. Our correspondent Kevin Connolly reports. First, some live images from paris. The river is creeping up those steps. People have been coming to these steps just to see how far the water is rising. Our correspondent was saying earlier that, really, the full picture will be known late tonight as to whether it will actually rise high enough to flood the streets. This is the live image coming to us from paris of the fast flowing and very full river seine, as you can see. Our correspondent Kevin Connolly reports. On patrol on the rising waters of the river seine. A Police Launch on the front line of the flood defences of paris. Water levels are expected to peak this weekend. Tourist boats are tied up. They cant pass under the bridges on the swollen waters, leaving tourists to make the best of things. Its scary, because you dont know when its going to stop. Im not really worried. I think we have reached the maximum for the moment. I mean, its natural, for the moment you have strange things going on on the planet. For me, thats natural and i dont think it will go to a higher level. Parisians have been bracing for this High Water Mark for weeks. Its only rained this heavily over the new year period in france three times in the last 100 years. They measure the river level here by this statue of a soldier that commemorates the crimean war. In the worst flooding in history, it reached up to his beard. Its been raining relentlessly in france for weeks, but its eased off today. And it does now seem that theres a chance that the river seine will reach its peak without quite flooding into the streets of paris around it. We should know by the end of the day. Kevin connolly, bbc news, paris. The Prime Minister has welcomed a landmark ruling by trade authorities in the us, overturning a decision to impose huge tariffs on planes which are partly built in the uk. The Aerospace Firm bombardier won a surprise victory in its dispute with the American Company boeing about selling its passenger jets to u s airlines. The wings for the planes are manufactured in belfast, as our ireland correspondent chris page reports. Workers, politicians and Business Leaders had feared one of bombardiers biggest projects would be grounded. The firm in belfast has 4,000 employees and a quarter of them work on the c series jet. But the programme was under threat after boeing claimed it was unfairly subsidised because of financial help from the canadian and british governments. The authorities in washington initially proposed to impose tariffs ofjust under 300 on imports of the c series. But last night, the Us International trade commission decided not to go ahead with the tariffs. The four commissioners all voted in bombardiers favour. Workers and their representatives were surprised but very pleased. The workforce has stood squarely behind this, put their shoulder to the wheel. Weve seen politicians nationally give up the ghost saying this is something that cant be overturned, but weve demonstrated tonight the power of trade unionism globally, we worked with our colleagues in canada and the us and this is a victory for workers tonight. The Prime Minister spoke about the dispute to donald trump at the World Economics summit in davos this week. Theresa may tweeted she welcomed the decision as good news for british industry. People here had been prepared for more bad news from across the atlantic but are delighted with this unexpected result. After months of worry, bombardiers victory in this trade dispute has brought a great sense of relief. Chris page, bbc news, belfast. The headlines on bbc news the attorney general has acknowledged that very serious mista kes over the disclosure of evidence by prosecutors have led to the collapse of recent trials in england and wales. At least 95 people have been killed and 150 injured in a bombing in the afghan capital, kabul. The taliban said they carried out the attack. Three teenage boys have been killed when they were hit by a car in west london. A man has been arrested. And he has won herfirst grand slam title, she beat simona halep in a thrilling three sets at the Australian Open. Caroline wozniacki has won. Leicester are through to the fifth round of the fa cup, beating peterborough 5 1 away. League 1 wigan are currently leading west ham. You can go to the website of the latest on all of todays ties. Rory mcilroy is one off the lead heading into the final round of the dubai desert classic. I will be back with a full update at about quarter to six. See you then. New Research Suggests that plastic found in many second hand toys could pose a risk to childrens health, as it doesnt meet current safety standards. Scientists tested 200 used plastic toys they found in nurseries, Charity Shops and homes for nine hazardous elements. Twenty toys had traces of all nine elements, with some concentrations high enough to fail european standards. Earlier my colleague nick owen spoke to dr andrew turner, who was behind that research. He started by asking him what kind of toys we should be concerned about. We are talking about toys which were manufactured before the original european toy safety directive, which was 1994. We are looking at chemicals which have toxicities over a sustained period of time. The risk is ingestion or exposure to these very small quantities over a period of time. It wouldnt have any immediate, lets say, physical signs, but its the impacts that could be effective later in life. Years ago people talked about lead in toys and pencils and all sorts of things. Weve come a long way since then. Is there any evidence that Peoples Health has been affected by any of this . There are studies that have shown, for example, lead has an impact. That was mainly through lead in petrol. With respect, no amount of lead is actually safe, thats the general consensus, we should minimise all sorts of possible exposure. People have asked me about the dangers of some of these toys, they are not dangerous necessarily handling them, it is really when you are chewing them, so in particular for younger children. What would your advice be to parents . Old bits of kit, is it best to just throw them out . It depends on what it is used for and the age of the child. The ones to look out for are older ones which are brightly coloured red and yellow. They tend to contain a well known carcinogen. Older figures like dinosaurs and animals which appear to have a thin layer of paint or plastic on, they are quite hazardous. Something also to look out for is black plastics. They tend to be recycled from electronic waste, which contains all sorts of quite nasty chemicals. I would look out for those. Its really the mouthing and chewing which is hazardous, not necessarily the handling of these things. So how worried should parents be . Earlier we heard from cath harrop, who founded mum to mum market a network of second hand markets selling childrens toys. We had a hunt through our toy box. We found lots of old toys i had when i was a child that do not meet safety standards. With these kinds of things, ive not given them to the children when they were really little. Because if i have held onto them for 30 years, i dont want them to handle them and get them broken. The guest earlier who said dont let children put things in their mouths is really important. We are finding out things that are toxic everyday. We probably will find out even more things in the future. As a parent you need to be sensible. The main danger isnt the things you would buy and sell at a nearly new sale, because they tend to be relatively new. But when you go round grandmothers house, and a box comes down from their loft of old toys, that is where the danger lies. Milos zeman has won the latest tightly fought election in the czech republic. The entire us gymnastics board is to resign because of its handling of the sex abuse scandal involving the former team doctor, larry nassar. The countrys Olympic Committee had threatened to strip the organisation of its powers if the directors failed to stand down. Nassar has been given a prison sentence of up to 175 years for abusing more than 150 female gymnasts. Peter bowes reports. As larry nassar begins to what amounts to a life sentence, the fallout from the abuse scandal has been swift and decisive. The entire board of usa gymnastics has gone and there have been other resignations too. Mark hollis was the Athletic Director at Michigan State university when nassar worked there. He and another official have decided to quit. Its been an absolute honour to guide the Athletic Department for the last decade. That being said, today im announcing my retirement. Im not running away from anything, im running towards something. Comfort, compassion and understanding for the survivors in our community. Togetherness, time and love for my family. Theres been reports that Michigan State university and usa gymnastics knew of the abuse claims but failed to take action. Theyve both denied there was a cover up. With several investigations into abuse in us sport now under way, the recriminations are onlyjust beginning. Peter bowes, bbc news. A couple and a five year old child have been rescued after getting into freezing conditions in snowdonia last night. The family is understood to have become disorientated in the dark in the area known as the devils kitchen. The ngen valley rescue team used a special Smartphone App to locate the family to a spot south west of the summit of the mountain y garn. Caroline wozniacki has won the Australian Open womens singles title, beating Romanias Simona Halep to become the world number one. James burford reports on a thrilling final in punishing melbourne temperatures. The eyes of the world trained on its two best players. That neither had won a grand slam before a wrong about to be set right. From the start the 15,000 spectators packed inside the rod laver arena were treated to hitting of the highest order. It took a tie break to decide the first set. Sometimes outwitting your opponent wins points, sometimes just brute force. And while the quality of the tennis was enough to make your head spin, halep called for the doctor, suffering from dizziness. Finding more energy she started finding the lines and before long her own set point. Simona halep, known for herfighting spirit, levelling the match. Butjust when she thought she had the advantage her opponents the advantage her opponents own battling attitude came to the fore, wozniacki setting up championship point. With the first grand slam title and the world number one ranking at stake it came down to this. The new world number one becomes the first player from denmark to win one of the big four singles titles in the open era. The Winter Olympics are just 3 weeks away, we have a story about a man overcoming a life changing injury to return to the sport he loves. Ed stephens was a british junior ski champion, but at 19 a car accident left him with a traumatic brain injury and many complications. However, this week, 5 years on, hes done what many thought impossible, and returned to the slopes, in andorra, to learn to sit ski. Mike bushell went with him. Getting ready for one of the greatest sporting comebacks. In his room in his Gloucestershire College where he stays, reminds us when ed stephens was british ski champion before at 19 he was left with a brain injury and complex disabilities. I used to do a lot of skiing, would you like to see me ski . With his Electronic Device he was keen to show me how he got to the top, and for five years hes been on a mission to get back there. Hes come a long way from lifting his head to be able to greet his mum in the morning again. Morning, mum. Fantastic you cant talk and laugh at the same time, you know that, dont you . Physiotherapy staff at National Star college have helped him realise his main dream, strengthening his head and right shoulder muscles that will help him carve his own way down the mountain once more. Its been a massive part of his life. To think that hes going to have a go at doing it again is just amazing, yeah. It means more than you can imagine. This week the moment came in andorra. It was a gamble because neither ed nor anyone else knew exactly how hed react to being back on the slopes. This is it and its a moment his family never thought theyd see, and its notjust a historic moment for ed as we go off down the mountain but also for the whole sport because in a way, this opens up the mountains for all. Although he was being guided at first, his sit ski has been adapted so ed can soon control his own direction and speed with his head rather than relying on someone pushing him on a wheelchair. By the end of this week, he was nearly ready to fly down the slope alone. How was it . Pretty amazing. For him to do this isjust phenomenal and to be taking control. Most of the students at National Star need assistance with everything they do, so to be able to go out in a sit ski and truly experience the freedom skiing gives them, not to be wrapped in cotton wool, its something hard to replicate anywhere else. Ed still has the ability to ski and enjoy it. Ed wasnt alone, in all, 20 students from National Star were back on the slopes and third years georgie and kyle showed how much freedom they can have. It really does open up the entire mountain. We really aim for giving everyone the maximum independence possible. Josh, zoe, dom and abby all followed and the students wanted to give me a taste of how much skill is needed to control your descent with your upper body. I thought we were off, i thought we were over but on the slopes i was always going to be in the shadow of the former british champion. Another reason you love skiing, ed, is the apres ski. And you said, tell me theres some karaoke is there . How about i buy you a beer ed opted for a cider, and the apres ski is a crucial part of this whole experience as these amazing athletes toast their success and independence. Some more fun than the snow now. Heavy snowfall in the china made oin qin, a giant panda, living in a wildlife park, very happy. The four year old unashamedly displayed her gymnastic skills with a series of forward rolls and downhill slides. And shes probably out there still playing as i speak getting tangled up in the bamboo, as well, perhaps eating and sliding at the same time. Looking like she is having the most amazing fun. Dateline london is coming up after the weather prospects with ben. The favoured few got to see brightness today. For many more the skies have been quite dismal. Overcast weather, outbreaks of rain, as we saw here in newquay, cornwall. That wet weather will continue to slide away to the south east this evening. Temporarily a zone of clear skies. Very windy tonight over scotland, gusts up to 70 mph. More cloud will come back in from the south, outbreaks of rain, and exceptionally mild air. Sunday gets off to a mild start. This slow moving weather front with outbreaks of rain for central scotland. To the north of it, bright skies and showers, to the south lots of cloud and mild air. If the cloud breaks up and you see any sunshine, things could get up to 15 degrees. That will not last. Rain pushes south on monday, leaving cooler weather behind it for the middle of the week

© 2024 Vimarsana

comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.