Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Ten 20170724

Batteries that store power from green energy sources. The Household Products that have shrunk in size but still cost the same amount. We have a Special Report from greenland, on the impact of changes to the ice. British scientists have come here to greenland to try to work out how rapidly the ice is going to melt and what that means for sea levels around the world. And could englands Cricket World Cup win herald a new golden age for womens sport . And coming up in sportsday on bbc news, adam peaty retained his 100 meter breaststroke title at the World Championships in budapest. Good evening. The parents of the terminally ill baby Charlie Gard Have ended their legal battle to take him to the us for experimental treatment. Charlies father chris gard gave an emotional statement outside the high court, saying they were going to spend their last precious moments with their son, who would not now make his first birthday in just under two weeks time. Earlier, their lawyer told the court that Time Had Run Out for the baby, as an american doctor who examined charlie had said he could no longer offer the therapy, after seeing the results of a new mri scan last week. Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital say the treatment could never have worked. Heres our medical correspondent fergus walsh. Crowd chant shame on gosh war emotion outside the high court. While inside charlie gards parents we re while inside charlie gards parents were accepting their fight is over. And theyre desperately ill son should be allowed to die. They emerged from a highly emotional hearing to pay tribute to charlie. 0urson Hearing to pay tribute to charlie. Our son is hearing to pay tribute to charlie. 0urson is an hearing to pay tribute to charlie. Our son is an absolute warrior and we could not be proud of him, and we will miss him terribly. His body, Heart And Soul may soon be gone, but his spirit will live on for eternity and hell make a difference to peoples lives for years to come, well make sure of that. Were now going to spend our last precious moments with our son, charlie. Who, u nfortu nately, moments with our son, charlie. Who, unfortunately, wont make his first birthday in just under two unfortunately, wont make his first birthday in just under two weeks time. Charlie has been in intensive ca re time. Charlie has been in Intensive Care in Great Ormond Street Hospital since october. He has a rare inherited condition. Mitochondrial depletion syndrome. He cannot move, feed or breathe unaided. The Central Question was whether this powder, nucleoside therapy, added to food, could boost his muscle function. Its could boost his muscle function. Its never been tried on animals or humans with his condition. His Pa Rents Humans with his condition. His parents raised £i. 3 humans with his condition. His parents raised £1. 3 million for the treatment in the united states. That money will now go to a foundation in charlies name. But every neurologist examined him said the treatment was futile because by january he had suffered catastrophic and irreversible brain damage. The high court had to intervene, and in april backed the doctors, saying charlies suffering should end. His life support be withdrawn. Every legal appeal by the parents failed. But they had powerful supporters, including the pope and donald trump, the latter tweeting an offer of help. This has been an extraordinary case, a battle over the fate of a baby boy fought out notjust here in court, but internationally. The judge said it was one of the pitfalls of social media that the watching world felt it right to have opinions without knowing the facts of the caves. He said the courts paramount consideration had been charlies best interest at all times. The case came back to court when this american neurologist, doug free macro, claimed there was new evidence his therapy could help. Hirano. He and a doctorfrom the vatican flew over to examine charlie for the first time. New Mri Body Scans were ordered. 0n for the first time. New Mri Body Scans were ordered. On friday night charlies parents accepted these showed his Muscle Wasting was so severe he was beyond help. There was bitterness he did not get the chance of treatment sooner. A whole lot of time has been wasted. We are now in july and our poor boy has been left to just july and our poor boy has been left tojust lie in hospitalfor months. Had charlie been given treatment sooner, he would have had the potential to be a normal, healthy little boy. In court, connie yates said they would be haunted by the what ifs for the rest of their lives. But now they had to let charlie go. Its an incredibly brave decision by charlies parents. They have bought through for themselves what the new evidence shows. And theyve reached a conclusion, probably, thejudge theyve reached a conclusion, probably, the judge would theyve reached a conclusion, probably, thejudge would have reached the same. Its very brave for them to do it without hearing what he had to say. Great ormond street hospital said this had been a bruising court case, adding, the agony, desolation and bravery of the pa rents agony, desolation and bravery of the parents decision humbled all who worked there. They are now supporting the family in their final time together. And fergus is here now. Listening to charlies parents, its clear they feel there might have been hope if thered been an earlier intervention. Thats right, the parents and the hospital are never going to agree on what was best for charlie. It was deeply moving in court when charlies mum, connie, read out this anguished statement that hed been denied the chance of being a normal boy. Some of the press and the lawyers were in tears. The hospital will point out he had, he has, a severe progressive mitochondrial disorder. Its a cruel condition that wastes the muscles and is generally fatal in infancy. Weve heard from the parents the doctors and staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital who devote their lives to caring for sick children, they have necessarily remained anonymous and many of them have received death threats. This frustration, i think, that some of those who offered to help charlie and said he could be helped by the Experimental Therapy had never even examined him until this week. That had raised false hopes and expectations. Now the focus moves to charlies final hours, perhaps days. He will receive palliative care. Hes already on morphine, on pain relief. It will be increased before the ventilator that helps in brief is switched off. Charlie will then obviously pass away. That helps him breathe. The war of words about what was best for this little boy will continue. Fergus, thank you. President trumps son in law, jared kushner, has denied any collusion with russia in last years american election. Hes the first member of the president s inner circle to have been questioned by a Congressional Committee on the matter. Speaking after giving evidence, he said he had been completely transparent. 0ur North America editor jon sopel is in washington. Donald trump has been absolutely consistent on this. The whole Russia Investigation is fake and phoney. He went on twitter today to say, a year long investigation and zero evidence. To use the american phrase, its a nothing burger. But then every couple of months, new revelations about meetings people didnt know about, suggesting there may be some substance to that burger after all. Jared kushner, the husband of ivanka, the son in law of the president , and the closest confidante of donald trump to find himself in the cross hairs of the sprawling Russia Investigation. A man whos normally found studiously avoiding the limelight today found himself uncomfortably the centre of attention. After giving evidence to the Senate Intelligence committee behind closed doors, he returned to the white house to insist hed done nothing wrong. I did not collude with russia, nor do i know of anyone else in the campaign who did so. I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on russian funds for my businesses. And i have been fully transparent in providing all requested information. So what were the contacts . In april 20 16th so what were the contacts . In april 2016th krishna meet Russian Ambassador sergey kislyak, a p pa re ntly ambassador sergey kislyak, apparently no more than a handshake and passing small talk. Krishna denies two for phone calls took place after this. On june denies two for phone calls took place after this. 0njune Nine 20 16th Krishna joins donald trump junior and 16th krishna joins donald trump juniorand Campaign 16th Krishna joins donald trump junior and Campaign Manager to hear from a russian attorney who has alleged links to the Intel Services in moscow. The Subject Matter getting dirt on hillary clinton. After the election he meets the Russian Ambassador again on december the ist and two weeks later he meets a russian banker, sergei gorkov, said to have direct links to vladimir putin. But one thing he was insistent. These meetings made zero difference to the outcome of the election. Donald trump at a better message and ran a smarter campaign. And that is why he won. Suggesting otherwise ridicules those who voted for him. But today as donald trump was framed by over 100 white house interns, he was doing some ridiculing of his own, as reporters sought to ask disobliging questions. Is it true Jeff Sessions resigned . First by saying nothing. And then by letting rip. Shes breaking the code. He sounded similarly difficult to keep his opinions to himself over russia. Jon sopel, bbc news, washington. Consumers in the uk could save up to £40 billion by 2050 through major changes to the way electricity is made, used and stored, according to ministers. The business and Energy Secretary greg clark announced plans to invest a quarter of a billion pounds in Battery Technology saying he wanted the uk to lead the world in its development. Richard westcott has this report. From obvious things like our phones to londons new whispering black cab. Here on secret tests in norway. To this experimental aircraft, Battery Power is taking off around the world. The problem is, they still run out too quickly, so today the governments promised to invest millions improving the technology. For the next generation of Battery Technology, there is nowhere better in the world than britain, not only to have the ideas, but to turn them into Manufacturing Plants to create good jobs. Right now, britain is a front runner with battery research. Like here at Warwick University where theyre trying to solve the two biggest issues, making batteries weigh less and last longer. This room is four times drier than the centre of the sahara desert, because its where they physically put the batteries together and any moisture can ruin the process. Taking sheets like this, containing the lithium ions, and theyre sandwiching them together in this machine. Here, theyve welcomed this latest investment, but warned that competition from china, japan, korea and america is fierce. We are producing the cells were producing, even our competitors are saying, its 80, 90 better than what theyve got. But weve got to keep it up, you know, because theyll catch up and theyll beat us if we dont watch it. As governments around the world scramble to cut pollution, demand for batteries is soaring. In china, they used £5 billion worth of lithium ion batteries three years ago. That would double by 2019. Its the same story across western europe. Again production will nearly double from 1. 2 billion to £2. 3 billion. Batteries could also make wind and solar power more productive. One idea being floated is to use old electric car batteries to store energy from wind turbines. I think well see, and people are already working on this, in the uk, combining batteries with the production of renewable power. And if you can do that successfully at scale, you can remove the challenge that the wind doesnt blow all the time and the sun doesnt always shine. And you can have a continuous flow of energy into the great. The future looks electric, but now the pressures on to make batteries that can keep up. Richard westcott, bbc news, coventry. A brief look at some of the days other other news stories. Police searching for the missing toddler ben needham have found signs of blood on part of a sandal, and on soil inside a toy car. Ben was 21 months old when he disappeared on the greek island of kos in july 1991. South Yorkshire Police said forensic work was being carried out to try to extract dna from the blood. Missiles have been thrown at police in north london following a vigil that had taken place for rashan charles. The 20 year old died after being arrested by police in a shop in the early hours of saturday morning. Police say mr charles was seen to swallow something after his arrest. His death is being investigated by the Police Watchdog the ipcc. The transport secretary Chris Grayling has been criticised for backing londons crossrail 2 project days after Scrapping Electrification schemes in wales and in northern england. The mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, said people would not accept that spending billions more on london is the countrys highest priority for transport investment. The met office says theres an increased risk of unprecedented Winter Downpours such as those that caused extensive flooding in 2014. Using a supercomputer to map future weather patterns, its revealed theres now a one in three chance of monthly rainfall records being broken in england and wales in winter. More than 30 people have been killed and more than a0 injured in a Suicide Bomb Attack in the Afghan Capital kabul. The taliban say they carried out the bombing during the morning rush hour. The taliban has maintained control of parts of the country, after being driven from power following a us led invasion 16 years ago. 0ur correspondentjustin rowlatt is in kabul, and reports on the continuing fight there against the group. The suicide attacker struck at 7am, exploding his bomb right beside a bus carrying government workers. This shopkeeper describes how one man staggered into his doorway before collapsing and dying. This woman lost her son. Attacks on kabul are common, but the bombs are getting bigger. The trauma ward is quiet, but there is anger in the city understandably so. This is the second huge blast in kabul in as many months. The government promised to increase security, but this attack shows just how vulnerable the city still is. The taliban has been growing in strength since the nato Combat Mission In Afghanistan ended two and a half years ago. The insurgents now control a tenth of the country. They contest another third, and Islamic State and alqaeda are active too. President trump has promised a new strategy to break the stalemate. He just hasnt announced it yet. Perhaps because its so unpalatable. His military advisers want a significant increase in troops, taking the total of foreign soldiers close to 20,000. But at the peak of the war there were 130,000 foreign troops here, and they couldnt beat the taliban. So, why send more . This american led Training Exercise is a key part of the argument the us military is making to justify more troops. Strengthening afghan forces, so they can fight on their own. Air support makes all the difference in the world. Its something you have that they dont have. So, training the Afghan Military to have an air force when the insurgents dont have an air force provides an enormous advantage for them. The hope is, eventually, the Afghan Military will be able to force the taliban to the negotiating table. That would, at best, be a hollow victory and, if its successful at all, could take many, many years. The other option, of course, is to pull out. But then the taliban would flourish. Justin rowlatt, bbc news, kabul. Greenland is one of the most remote parts of our planet but changes there could affect us here in the uk. Scientists are worried the countrys ice sheet is melting faster than expected. That could see ocean levels rise and low lying areas around the world affected by floods. 0ur Science Editor David Shukman has been to greenland to look at whats happening. A Vivid Blue Snakes across the Greenland Ice sheets. A beautiful sight, but when the ice here melts the oceans rise around the world. 0n the horizon, the ice sheet looms ahead of us. Weve joined a team of british scientists. Theyre trying to understand how the ice is changing. People are very worried about the possibility that the ice sheet might be melting faster and faster in the future. We touch down in one of the remotest corners of the planet. The first task is to set up camp a home in an utterly barren wilderness. Once its level, ill leave it to you to take the measurements. The scientists then get to work. They want hard facts about the ice. Painstaking research, to measure how quickly it might vanish. From the air, all you can really see is what looks like a vast expanse of endless white, but that isnt the whole story. Because whats hard to grasp as i stand here is that this isjust the surface of a vast mass of ice thats unbelievably thick. So, lets imagine cutting it away right in front of me. The ice sheet stretches for as much as two miles, three kilometres, from the surface here, right down to the rock below. In fact its so thick you could take the worlds tallest building, the burj khalifa in dubai, and fit four of them, end to end, inside. But as we walk around, theres a real surprise, white ice is turning dark and the darker a surface, the more it absorbs the suns rays. And, like wearing a black t shirt on a hot day, the more it warms up. Youve got this dark ice here. Yeah, so weve got a dark surface. Martin tranter, the chief scientist here, says one reason for the dark ice is algae, tiny plants. Algae have always been here but, with higher temperatures and more meltwater, they can flourish. The algae are microscopically small, but they may be having a big impact. What we want to know is how far the algae can spread over the Greenland Ice sheet as the climate warms. And it might well be that they will cause more melting, and an acceleration of sea level rise. To investigate that, drones are used to scan the dark areas of the ice sheet, so the scientists can work out how rising temperatures could encourage the algae and lead to even more melting. In the evening light, the shimmer of gentle streams, thousands of them. Until recently, the amount of ice melting in summer was balanced by snowfall in winter. But in the last 20 years the flows of water have multiplied, each one eventually adding to the level of the oceans. No ones saying that this whole thing is going to melt in the next decade, or even in the next hundred, or even the next thousand years, but it doesnt all have to melt for more people to be in danger. Only a small amount, a very small portion of this ice sheet has to melt to raise the sea levels, and then threaten millions of people in coastal communities around the world. Whats striking is that this massive block of ice may be vulnerable if more algae darken the surface and lead to faster melting. Down at the edge of the ice sheet, the streams become a torrent. We already know that meltwater is raising the level of the sea bit by bit, but the researchers here want to find out whether that rise will accelerate. And for people in low lying areas of florida, bangladesh, parts of britain, getting an accurate forecast really matters. David shukman, bbc news, in greenland. More than 2,500 products have reduced in size over the last five years but were still paying the same price for them. New findings show that chocolate bars, toilet rolls, and coffee are just some of the items to have been affected by the phenomenon, dubbed shrinkflation. Some companies are blaming the rising costs of ingredients and materials for the trend. 0ur correspondent sophie long has been finding out more. Andrex is soft, strong and unbeatably long. But now its getting shorter. So spend your pennies wisely. Love these. And maltesers. 187 calories of naughtiness, actually. Will have even fewer calories, because you wont find as many of them in the bag. Back in the olden days, when i was spending my pocket money on pick n mix, 50p certainly went a lot further. Thank you. Nowadays, though, some companies are choosing not to raise their prices, but make things smaller. Which means they go more quickly. Id like some more cola bottles, please. While many of us could probably do with cutting back on our confectionery consumption, some products suffering so called shrinkflation could be considered essentials. Take andrex toilet roll for example. Thats 19 sheets shorter. A packet of mcvities Dark Chocolate Digestives is now 32 grams lighter. And a carton of Tropicana 0range and rasberry is now 850 millilitres. You used to get a whole litre. Some consumers are not impressed. Its not fair, its not right. You know, on low income families and people who have children to feed, its not really fair, is it . If the packagings made to look the same size, so it looks the same size but it actually isnt, then. Theyd still lose out in the long run because you wouldnt buy it again. Because were not stupid. What can we do about it . Nothing, really. I just think we have to put up with it. And its something analysts say were going to have to get used to. Its a hidden inflation, shrinkflation. Because consumers are, i suppose, less likely to notice a smaller package than they are to notice, of course, higher prices in the shops. And that makes it easier, its the lesser of two evils for producers who are looking to manage the higher costs of imported prices due to the pounds fall. Manufacturers say their products are just as good and theyre just trying to keep them affordable. Sophie long, bbc news. Great britains swimmers have won two gold medals at the World Championships in hungary. The world record is 57. 13. 57. 47 just outside that. Olympic gold medallist adam peaty successfully defended his 100 metre Breaststroke World Title setting a new championship record. But he just missed breaking his own world record. Englands Cricket World Cup triumph could be a springboard for the womens game worldwide. Thats according to englands captain, heather knight, whose Side Beat India by nine runs in front of a sell out 26,000 crowd at lords yesterday. Some are asking if this could be a watershed moment for womens sport generally. Heres our sports editor, dan roan. World cup winners it was the perfect platform for womens sport. Englands cricketers, crowned champions on home soil. Anya shrubsole had been the teams hero, her record breaking spell of six wickets for 46 runs securing a thrilling victory over india. Before the match, her father ian posted photos of his daughter visiting lords in 2001. And this morning, in the exact same spot and after a night of celebrations, she told me what it was like to have returned a world cup winner. Ijust remember being here as a nine year old watching, and wishing one day i could be back here playing. Never in my wildest dream did i think it would be in a world cup final. Its come true, those dreams . It absolutely has come true. It shows you can have a dream, and sometimes they do come true. England have won the tournament at lords before in 1993. But back then, they werent allowed to go into the pavilion unaccompanied. Today, in the hallowed long room, the woman in charge told me progress must continue. We cant miss this opportunity. I think we have to celebrate properly, and enjoy this moment, and the players have to enjoy it, but certainly, we all have to start thinking very strategically about what opportunities this gives us. This is about a lot more than what this team achieved here at lords yesterday. Both in terms of the attendance here in the ground, and the estimated 100 Million Television audience following the action around the world, it broke all records. The sense that this was the defining moment of a Ground Breaking summer of british womens sport. Johanna kontas already become the first british woman in a wimbledon semifinal for 39 years. Englands footballers, meanwhile, are doing well at the euros, last night beating spain. But away from performances, theres still a gender gap. In terms of prize money, 83 of sports now reward women and men equally, and 5 of sports Media Coverage is dedicated to women, and even less when it comes to sports sponsorship. I think theres still a long way to go in terms of women in the boardroom, women running sport, as well as being participants. Women in coaching, women in refereeing and umpiring, all of us know there is still a long way to go. But weve made huge progress. It emerged today that, despite preparing to defend their world cup title next month, most of englands Rugby Players will not have their contracts renewed by the rfu. On a day when englands cricketing World Champions were busy trying to leave a legacy with this Coaching Session at lords, it was a reminder ofjust how tough life can still be for some sportswomen. But for the next generation, never before has there been so much inspiration to draw upon. Dan roan, bbc news. Newsnights about to begin over on bbc2 in a few moments. Heres emily maitlis. Tonight, a rare public appearance from a man whose name dominates washington, but whose face we rarely see. Well be hearing from jared kushner, who says hes done nothing wrong. Join us now on newsnight, bbc two. Here on bbc one its time for the news where you are. Hello, im mark edwards and welcome to sportsday. Here is what is