Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20170413

Its thursday, the 13th april. Im annita mcveigh. Welcome to bbc Newsroom Live. The Education Secretary, Justine Greening, has said that she wants a new model of Grammar Schools in england which are open for everyone. She says she particularly wants to ensure that there are much stronger educational outcomes for ordinary Working Families, and notjust the privileged few. But new analysis from the government shows a majority of Selective School places go to more affluent families. Lets here little of whatJustine Greening has been saying in the past few minutes. The final part of the plan for britain is a Fairer Society. A society based on merit. Delivering a Fairer Society should start with education and our schools, making sure that our children and young people can do their very best, and reach their potential wherever they are growing up. That is the means by which we build a better country, its how we deliver the plan for britain. In short, we are the means, our countrys people, each and everyone of us. Some of the most vivid memory i have in my life or about opportunities. There is one of me and a Red Telephone Box in devon. Its still there, it looks pretty normal, but it matters to me, that phone box, because it is the Telephone Box that i rang from to get my a level results. And i remember screaming with delight when i heard that id finally got the results that i needed to to be able to go to university. I was the first person in my family to go to university. I remember we went across the road to the pub fare and had a drink to celebrate. As we sat there as a family, nobody knew what this next stage of my life was going to be like. But we knew that it was going to be important, because i knew that it would open up the world to me and it would transform my chancesin to me and it would transform my chances in the future. And i believe that we can build that Education System here in britain, but in the end it falls around opportunity. And opportunity is about how we translate those hopes and aspirations into something real. Something concrete. So, for me, opportunity is the most precious commodity in this world. And our Strong Economy is vital, because it is the Opportunity Engine of our country. But we now truly need to make it a country where everyone has an equal shot of taking advantage of those opportunities being created. This is a government that wants more opportunity for more people and more equality of opportunity. And that means unlocking our child rens potential. Justine greening. Our political correspondent, chris mason, is At Westminster for us now. Chris, i wasnt keeping a track of how many times justine chris, i wasnt keeping a track of how many timesJustine Greening has said the phrase ordinary Working Families so far this morning, but its been a lot. Is there anything in this speech that tells us more about how she is going to deliver on this, this promise or this aspiration of more grammar School Places for children from those families . I think it is offering an insight about the phone boxes of devon what we got this morning from the Education Secretary as the beginning of what they recognise is going to be a pretty long argument about making the case for Grammar Schools. The blunt your question is no. What we have got from Justine Greening is a desire to make the case for Grammar Schools. She says they are oversubscribed and lots of pa rents a re they are oversubscribed and lots of parents are very keen on them. And there should be the opportunity for there should be the opportunity for the numbers to expand. Just i60 odd Grammar Schools in england left, the shrivelling of numbers from the 19605 shrivelling of numbers from the 1960s and 70s. But she knows that there is plenty of opposition to the idea from plenty of people in education, from the labour party, and, yes, some conservative mps too. She has some arm twisting to do. A statistic she has alighted on this morning, the Department For Education has published a sadistic suggesting that those a statistic suggesting that those a statistic suggesting that those from families just about managing, although defining that number is difficult, a similar proportion of pupils from that background are at Grammar Schools and comprehensive schools. Critics point to the fact that Grammar Schools have a far smaller proportion of people from amongst the poorest families, those on Free School Meals, recipients of the pupil premium. And also suggests that disproportionately a lot of children from affluent families go to Grammar Schools, hence this whole argument from Justine Greening that she is setting up this morning. Crucially, she hasnt said how she would ensure that current and new Grammar Caterfor A would ensure that current and new grammar cater for a broader social mix. Would there be a quota . She wouldnt be drawn on that. And how can she changed the Admissions Code of existing Grammar Schools to ensure a broader mix . Those details we havent got yet. She cannot shake off this criticism that there is a concentration of Grammar Schools, as critics see it, at the expense of the rest of the education sector. That is a criticism that is put to her frequently. It has that is a criticism that is put to herfrequently. It has been made this morning by angela rayner, the labour shadow Education Secretary, making the point that Grammar Schools are a very small portion of the overall number of secondary schools in england. Justine greening will not be drawn on the amount you would like to see in the end, but they still remain a very small proportion. And yet there is a huge debate going on in education in england at the moment, at primary and secondary level, round funding. There is a debate going on about changing the funding formula, how money is allocated to individual scores and regions. More than that, there is a real concern, and this is reflected by mps At Westminster across the political divide, that the amount of money available per dupil, the amount of money available per pupil, per pupil spending, is falling. And that is accepted. It is formed between now and 2020. That is why you hear the stories of Head Teachers writing to parents asking for them to dip their hands into their pockets to help pay the basics in school, not added extras like school trips and that kind of thing. Critics of the government waltz a thon this is an obsession on if you like an ideological point will say that this is an obsession. Many peoples children are never likely to get the opportunity to go toa grammar likely to get the opportunity to go to a Grammar School. Theresa may, as a former grammar pupil herself, has a lwa ys a former grammar pupil herself, has always been an advocate of expanding the number of Grammar Schools in england. It would appear that the process thatJustine Greening is starting today and is going on for the next month is something that she is pretty committed to ensuring actually happens. Thanks, chris mason At Westminster. With me is ed dorell, the deputy head of Times Education supplement. Good to have you with us. The goverments on the analysis shows, doesnt it, but more selective places go to children from more affluent family. How do you think it is going to deliver on this idea that this new wave of Grammar Schools should be for very Working Families . There is a few ways that they might set about this. First of all, they talk in quite broad range terms about trying to make the ii plus, the entrance exam, tutor proof, with a lot of experts out there who say that is not possible, that any test can be taught. But they are looking hard at making the test, which, you know, nobody can teach two. Secondly, they could encourage or indeed force Grammar Schools to reduce the entrance threshold for kids in a certain demographic. The obvious ones would be the ones that will fight for Free School Meals. Equally, this new category, the just about managing all the ordinary Working Families, that might be another category in its self. A tutor proof test, a lot of argument about whether that exists. If that can be devised, it might be an easier way forward than imposing some sort of greater . Possibly, although it is interesting that a large proportion, over a third of existing Grammar Schools, have in the last year fell by direction of the wind and they are already changing the entrance criteria in favour of kids from Free School Meal backgrounds. It is interesting, and isas becht, not to disagree with you, i suspect that would be easier, because there is no evidence that you can create a tutor proof test. Anyone who knows anything about it says it is a nonsense idea. In terms of the debate about whether it Grammar Schools improve Social Mobility, where do you stand and what . The evidence suggests heavily that if you use a Free School Meal metric it is not good for Social Mobility. There is very little evidence to support the idea that existing Grammar Schools. Why not . Mainly, to go back to the test, if you are from a middle class or wealthy background in an area like kent, where the majority of Grammar Schools are, you will fight Tooth And Nailto schools are, you will fight Tooth And Nail to get your kid into that local Grammar School, including Spending Thousands of pounds on tutoring or indeed sending them to a local prep schools to bite the whole debate over Social Mobility is not just about what school you attend, but yourfamily just about what school you attend, but your family background. Absolutely. What is interesting about todays speech is an attempt byJustine Greening, and clearly her bossesin byJustine Greening, and clearly her bosses in downing street, to change the terms of the debate. Social mobility is no longer aboutjust kids from the poorest backgrounds, and a Free School Meals kids, they are broadening out the demographic they are talking about wanting to be socially mobile. So this is the bottom third, the kids from families who earn less than 25 grand, thats the ordinary Working Families. They are saying, if we can change the Social Mobility for the demographic, then they are changing the terms of then they are changing the terms of the debate and suddenly everything is open. Thanks, ed. The European Court of human rights has ruled that the Russian Government should have done more to prevent the siege of a school in beslan in 200a. More than 330 people died when Security Forces stormed a school where Chechen Separatists had taken more than 1,000 people hostage. The court also awarded around £2. 5 million to relatives in compensation. The kremlin says it cannot agree with the ruling, calling it utterly unacceptable. In a moment, we will speak to our correspondent in moscow. First, lets remind ourselves of those terrible events of September The 1st 200a. A warning, there are disturbing images in this report. It was the first day of term in School Number one in beslan. In russia, there are no classes when people come back from the summer. It is supposed to be a day of celebration and catching up with friends. Rebels stormed the school and forced more than 1100 children, parents and teachers into a small gym. They wanted Russian Troops to leave the nearby republic of chechnya. Translation we were standing next to the school gates. I saw three people running in with machine guns. At first i thought it was a joke. Then they began shooting into the air, and a runaway. I run away. This siege went on the 52 hours. It was cramped and sweltering report in the gym with no food or drink. Bombs we re the gym with no food or drink. Bombs were taken to the wall and hanging from the ceiling. 0lder pupils were forced to attach explosives to the basketball hoops, and children were forced to stand near the windows assuming shields. As human shields. A few children, like this little girl, managed to escape. As negotiations went on, other relatives were left waiting outside, desperate for news, terrified every time they heard gunfire. Hundreds of russian Security Forces surrounded the school. And on the third day, they stormed the building, explosives and gunfire rang out. There was no sign of medical teams or ambulances. The attackers shot some of the children in the back as they run for freedom. But others we re they run for freedom. But others were carried out. Weeks, half naked and bleeding. Some relatives fought to get through the Security Cordon to get through the Security Cordon to find out what was happening to their loved ones. 331 people died. 186 of them were children. Russia was in mourning. There were days of mass funerals. But many families and victims blame authorities. Partly for not doing enough to prevent the attacks, but also for the botched rescue operation. It has come out that Security Forces fired thanks and Flame Throwers at the school. 0nly and Flame Throwers at the school. Only one of the attackers was found alive. A Chechen Carpenter is serving a life sentence. Authorities we re serving a life sentence. Authorities were cleared of any wrongdoing. For 13 years now, families and hostages have thought that decision. They could be awarded compensation, but most say it is more about establishing responsibility. We are just seeing from our colleagues at bbc monitoring, looking at responses coming out of russian news agencies, that russia is to appeal against that russia is to appeal against that European Court of human rights ruling on the beslan sdgs. Siege. 0ur correspondent 0lga ivshina is in moscow for us now. That is probably not a hugely surprising reaction from the Russian Government to what we have heard from the European Court of human rights, 0lga . From the European Court of human rights, olga . Yes, it seems that moscow was expecting this ruling to happen, and the response from the russian Minister Of Justice happen, and the response from the russian Minister Ofjustice came quite quickly. To sum up, they disagree with the decision of the European Court of human rights. They say that they would appeal the ruling. They say that the ordinance presented by the European Court of human rights were unacceptable, inappropriate, and they do not correspond to the evidence provided by the russian side. They undermine that comey you know, the russian side has sent their evidence, their response and facts mentioned by the European Court of human rights, they are called insufficient by the russian Minister Ofjustice. Are called insufficient by the russian Minister Of Justice. And they underline the european judges cant imagine what the situation was like in beslan. This basically tells us like in beslan. This basically tells us that russia is not going to agree with the ruling. This was underlined today by the kremlin spokesman. All 90, today by the kremlin spokesman. All go, for the survivors all go. For the survivors and those who died, is there going to be any further redress from the Russian Government . Based on this, it would seem not. Well, you know, ispoke based on this, it would seem not. Well, you know, i spoke to them a couple of times and they always underlined that for them its not about money. Its about comey you know, calling for responsibility. I would like to remind that over the past 13 years, no russian officials we re past 13 years, no russian officials were held responsible for the tragedy. And for the relatives of the victims, this ruling by the European Court of human rights, this was their last chance to bring this question back to the light and to call for some responsibility, for some response from the russian officials. Thank you for that. The headlines. The Education Secretary says she will create a new wave of Grammar Schools in england which are open to ordinary to ordinary Working Families, and not the privileged few. The European Court of human rights rules that russia should have done more to prevent the siege of a school in beslan in 200a. The Russian Government has said it will appeal against the ruling. The families of two more babies who died under the care of the shrewsbury and Telford Hospital trust are calling for their deaths to be included in a government investigation. Sports. Leicester city will have to turn a 1 0 deficit in their Champions League quarterfinal. And one griezmann scored the only goal for atleti Co One Griezmann scored the only goal for Atletico Madrid last night. A penalty that had been incorrectly awarded. The Borussia Dortmund manager has criticised uefa for making them play their postponed quarterfinal against monaco less than 2a hours after the bomb attack on their team bus that ended a player. They lost the first leg 3 2. 0n the short list for this years Pfa Player Of The Year Award has been published. Chelseas ngolo ka nte been published. Chelseas ngolo kante is the favourite. The draw has been made for the first round of the World Snooker championship. Mark selby will face fergal 0brien. I will be back with a full update in the next 15 minutes. The families of two more babies who died under the care of shrewsbury and Telford Hospital trust are calling for their deaths to be included in the investigation ordered by the Health Secretary. The review of the trust was announced Byjeremy Hunt yesterday following the avoidable deaths of seven babies. Five died following failures to monitor their heart rate properly during labour. The trust says its Mortality Levels are in line with the national average. 0ur social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, has this report. This is the nhs trust whose mistakes keep causing the deaths of healthy infants. Yesterday, bbc news revealed that seven babies died unnecessarily at the shrewsbury and telford trust, in a little over 18 months. The scale of the problems has prompted the Health Secretary to order a review of maternity services. Jeremy hunt wants to ensure no more families suffer like this one. Tamsin morris lost her daughter ivy last may, aged just four months, following mistakes at her birth. We all think that Something Like this wont ever happen, it wont happen to me. And it has. And i can only take it day by day, sometimes. If im lucky, week by week. How old would he be there, roughly . Probably five hours old. Other families are still pushing forjustice. Hayley matthews sonjack died within hours of his birth, in 2015. She says the trust never properly investigated the death. Following their investigations, however, the local coroner is now considering holding an inquest. I was expecting a healthy baby. Two years, ive been fighting. Its not going to bring my boy back, but hopefully itll save other babies and parents going through what weve gone through, and other people. The trust say they have investigated all maternity deaths, and say they will contact hayley about her case. They also say they are Learning Lessons from incidents, and are improving services. Michael buchanan, bbc news. President trump has said relations with russia may be at an all time low, after his Secretary Of State failed to persuade russia to stop backing President Assad of syria. Mr trump also said he believes nato is no longer obsolete reversing a stance that had alarmed allies. From washington, laura bicker reports. Vladimir putin said this us attack was an act of aggression. But donald trump said it was in response to a suspected war crime. The us believes the syrian president was responsible for using chemical weapons against civilians. At a Press Conference alongside the nato secretary general, mr trump condemned Bashar Al Assad. Thats a butcher, thats a butcher. So i felt we had to do something about it. I have absolutely no doubt we did the right thing, and it was very, very successfully done, as you well know. Earlier, russia vetoed a Un Security Council resolution that would have compelled the syrian president to co operate with an investigation into the attack, a response President Trump described as disappointing. It would be wonderful, as we were discussing just a little while ago, if nato and our country could get along with russia. Right now, were not getting along with russia at all. We may be at an all time low in terms of relationship with russia. This has built through a long period of time. But were going to see what happens. The us has said relations with russia must improve, but how . The two countries are on opposing sides in a civil war. A lot may depend on how far russia will go to defend the syrian president , and how far the us wants to push to get rid of him. Laura bicker, bbc news, washington. And at 12pm today well have the first interview syrian president Bashar Al Assad has given since a chemical weapons attack a week ago in which more than 80 people died. Stay with us for that. German prosecutors investigating three explosions which hit the Borussia Dortmund Football Team bus on tuesday night say the suspect being questioned was a member of the Islamic State group in iraq. Detectives say the man was in touch with members of the militant group while he was in germany, but theres no proof he was involved in the attack. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee is in dortmund for us now. Gapping, the authorities are looking for a warrant to detain this individual at the moment, isnt that right . Yes, butjust to clarify, a few things are going on. This man is a 26 year old suspect that the federal prosecutor has partially named as abdul a, he is 26 and from iraq. He has been questioned so far in connection with the attack but the Authorities Say there is no evidence linking him to it. But he is suspected of a history of being with so called Islamic State in iraq, that he was acting as a commander with ten people under his control, responsible for abduction, murder, before leaving to turkey in 2015. We think, according to the information we have got, he may have crossed along the Migration Trial in 2016 to germany, where he has been here. He is expected before a court later today. We expect him to be arrested. His links and alleged links to Islamic State, but so far, no evidence linking him to the scene. Three letters were found with scribbled handwriting in german claimant, according to the authorities, that there is a Connection Tojihadi authorities, that there is a connection to jihadi extremists, authorities, that there is a Connection Tojihadi extremists, who say that this is a Second Attack after the berlin borre attack at the christmas markets, and they want the withdrawal of the german aircraft in syria as part of the Coalition Strikes and the american air base in germany. That is all to be verified, we dont know if there is any credence to that. Meanwhile, the game took place behind me at the stadium last night. The match, which ended 3 2 to monaco, some of the dortmund players and the manager said they were unhappy that uefa decided to play it. This is one of those players, the turkish midfielder theresa, Talking Last Night after the game. Until i was on the pitch in the second half, i didnt think about football, to be honest. Because last night i didnt realise what happened. When i was at home and my wife and my side and we re home and my wife and my side and were waiting in front of the door. Then i felt how lucky we were. So all my wife and by son. I know foot ball all my wife and by son. I know football is very important, we love football, we suffer with football, we love foot ball, football, we suffer with football, we love football, i know we own a lot of money and have a privileged life. But we human beings. And there is so much more than football in this world, and last night we felt it. A big debate continuing over whether that game should have gone ahead last night. Meanwhile, tonight, in brussels, man utd play anderlecht, and there is going to be a huge amount of security around that game, isnt there . There will be. The belgian authorities have said that there will be extra screening on both the team bosses tonight. The usual routes that anderlecht, which in brussels may have taken, will be a different route, the same thing for man utd. A very high Police Presence. Two things caused security alarms. German state media as widely reported that within this latter it talks about the so called jihadis are claiming they are behind it are looking to target other sports personalities, other well known figures in germany and elsewhere, crusader states, other european countries. If there is any credibility to it, it sets alarm bells. We had the brussels attacks, and the terrorist behind it was found about one mile from the stadium. It is putting the Security Services on high alert, there will bea services on high alert, there will be a big Police Presence tonight. Thank you. The largest Nursing Union is consulting with its members across the uk on whether they should take industrial action in protest at the governments decision to maintain a 1 cap on their pay. The Royal College of nursing claims low wages are contributing to Tens Of Thousands of unfilled posts, and unsafe Staffing Levels in the nhs. But the government says the Health Service offers competitive pay. Our Health Correspondent, Sophie Hutchinson, reports. Unprecedented pressure in the nhs means nurses have never worked harder, and for so little, according to their union. The Royal College of nursing says due to pay freezes, and then a pay cap, nurses have seen the money they take home cut in real terms by 14 since 2010. It says thats why it has decided to ask staff whether they would be prepared to strike. 270,000 nhs nurses will be able to vote in the Online Survey over the next few weeks. Everybodys unhappy. So, most nurses are unhappy with their income. So theyre working harder than ever, but theres been years now of absolutely no pay increase. Some of our nurses are telling us they absolutely love being a nurse, its a fantasticjob, but they just dont think they can afford to do it anymore. The Royal College of nursing says low pay is driving people away from the profession, and that Tens Of Thousands of posts remain vacant. But the Department Of Health said an extra 12,000 nurses have worked on wards since 2010, and that Front Line Nhs services are being protected. Sophie hutchinson, bbc news. With me is janet davies, the chief executive of the Royal College of nursing. Thank you for coming along, janet. Why consult your members about whether they might want to strike or not . Why not simply go to a vote on whether or not to strike was ill and we wa nt whether or not to strike was ill and we want to here what our members have got to say. We know there is a lot of anger, nurses who feel overwhelmed by the pressures they are under, feeling very undervalued, particularly by this cap that has been on their pay for so long. What we wa nt been on their pay for so long. What we want to feel is how they think about that, we know a lot of people are telling us they want to take action, but a lot of nurses, a lot of members, we want to see what the feeling is and what it is they want to do. Yes, we have talked about strike action, but there are other things we are suggesting we might do. Am i right in saying that nurses have never gone on strike . The Royal Couege Have never gone on strike . The Royal College of nursing has never been on strike. To make a decision to even vote on that question would be a big line to cross. It would be a very big line. The First Priority of the nurses always is Patient Safety, thatis nurses always is Patient Safety, that is what motivates them and make them by a nurse. Any action that our members might take, the definite thing is we would not compromise Patient Safety and patient well being, that is the big one. What other types of action. There are number of things. Strike is on that list, but nurses give every day lots of their own time. They never go off work on time, they are often finishing paperwork, some paperwork they feel is unnecessary. They work extra hours of unpaid, they can do overtime. They do other functions, certain meetings, that perhaps arent going to affect patient care but actually still contribute to the nhs. We are going to be asking, what do they feel they would want to withdraw . Is there any industrial action they would want to do short of action. What are the other options . Worktorule, maybe, or other ideas of things we can do. The rcn is saying that low wages are contributing, as we mentioned in the introduction to the report, Tens Of Thousands of unfilled posts and u Nsafe Thousands of unfilled posts and unsafe Staffing Levels in the nhs. Do you have evidence that there is a directly between those . Absolutely, and our members are telling us that. They are struggling to pay the bills. We hearfrom nurses who are doing extra hours, and they are doing extra hours, and they are doing extra hours, and they are doing extra work outside of their nursing job to actually pay their bills. They are saying this is unsustainable in the long term. Their morale is low, they are getting fed up of the nhs is not of nursing. And they are looking to leave. Many are leaving, we have got lost lots of unfilled vacancies. We are trying to attract new people into this fantastic profession, but we must look after the experienced staff we have already got and keep them in our profession and in the nhs. Agency nurses, where posts are not being filled, are they being employed at higher rates of pay them regular nhs staff . Yes, they are. 0ne regular nhs staff . Yes, they are. One thing that has happened is that some of the low pay is driving our members into working for agencies, partly because of the flexibility of us partly because of the flexibility of us which the nhs doesnt always do. But also to supplement their nhs pay in order to pay the bills. When will you have the result of this consultation . We have got our big conference coming up in may, will have the results at the beginning of may. We will watch with interest, thank you, janet. Bedtime is just after 11 30am. Bedtime isjust after 11 30am. Lets ta ke Bedtime Isjust after 11 30am. Lets take a look at the weather with ben. Thank you and good morning. The easter weekend is looming and one thing i cannot promise is it will be anything like as warm as it was last weekend. Still some decent weather to be had. Lovely start to the day today, particularly southern and eastern areas, the picture from one of our Weather Watchers in surrey but from the satellite, you can see things are clouding over from the west. Some of the cloud will be thick enough to squeeze out the odd spot of very patchy, light rain and drizzle here and there. 0verwhelmingly a dry day and for east and southern areas, we should hold onto some brightness and sunny spells would could lift temperatures to 15 degrees. This evening and tonight, quite a lot of cloud around and as it thickens from the west, some outbreaks of Rain Splashing quite sporadically across central areas. To the north, northern scotland, quite a chilly night and elsewhere mild. Good friday, some outbreaks of rain for Northern Ireland, southern scotland, Northern England, into the midlands and wales but to the south of that, possibly up but to the south of that, possibly up to 17 degrees in the sunshine, cool and breezy with showers further north and it will stay rather cool through the rest of the weekend with some sunny through the rest of the weekend with some sunny spells and a little rain at times. This is bbc Newsroom Live with annita mcveigh. The headlines. The Education Secretary says she wants new selective Grammar Schools to serve more children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Labour argues new grammars wont help poorer pupils. Grammar schools do work for other groups in our society, notjust the wealthy and so, the new schools that wealthy and so, the new schools that we will create will support young people from every background. Not the privileged few. The care of the shrewsbury and Telford Hospital trust call for their deaths to be included in a government investigation. President trump says us relations with russia may be at an all time low, as moscow vetoes the latest resolution on syria at the Un Security Council. The European Court of human rights rules that russia should have done more to prevent the Beslan School siege in 200a. More than 300 people were killed in a massacre. Chechen rebels took more than 1000 hostages in the siege. It is time for a sport update. 0lly foster has the latest. They did it in the last round so Leicester City will be optimistic of overturning a one goal Champions League deficit again. They lost 1 0 in madrid against atletico in the first leg of their quarterfinal. It was a first half penalty that should never have been awarded. It was definitely a foul on Antoine Griezmann but Marc Albrighton pointed straight away to the referee that it was outside the box. His protests fell on deaf ears, though, the decision had already been taken and griezmann took the kick himself. That was the only goal on the night. But the tie is far from over. We know its still going to be a difficult return match. We have a very good home record at the king power. You know, our fans enjoy these Champions League nights. We have to make sure that, of course, we need to create more chances. The club are going to speak to Leicestershire Police and stewards who were monitoring their fans in the city centre about the clashes with spanish police. At least eight fans were arrested, with some due to appear in a madrid court today, but many of the supporters felt that the police had been heavy handed. It was very heavy handed from the police because it was an all or nothing approach. They painted eve ryo ne nothing approach. They painted everyone with the same brush to say eve ryo ne everyone with the same brush to say everyone was guilty of violence. Thats the way they reacted to eve ryo ne thats the way they reacted to everyone when in actual fact, it was probably only a minority which were in an isolated area of the square but instead, they chose to act upon everyone. The shortlist is out for the Pfa Player Of The Year Awards. One of Leicester Citys Unsung Heroes when they won the title last year is the favourite. Ngolo kante has sincejoined cheslea, and he has driven their title push. Also on the list is fellow blue eden hazard, zlatan ibrahimovic, harry kane, Romelu Lukaku and alexis sanchez. Go to the bbc sport website for the Young Players list and also the shortlists for the womens awards. West ham winger Michail Antonio has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a Hamstring Injury. He was injured in their 1 0 win over swansea At London Stadium last weekend. Antonios scored nine goals this season, and was called up for england for the first time in august. He might miss out on the next squad for the World Cup Qualifier against Scotla Nd For The World Cup Qualifier against scotland in june. The draw has been made for the first round of the World Snooker championship in sheffield which Sta Rts Championship In Sheffield which starts tomorrow. Mark selby, the defending job and will face fergal 0brien defending job and will face Fergal Obrien and five time champion ronnie 0sullivan has gary wilson. Coverage from the crucible across the bbc. Its the second day of the track cycling World Championships in hong kong coverage is on bbc two at midday. Britains Elinor Barker was pipped to gold yesterday in the womens scratch race. Barker won Team Pursuit Olympic Gold last summer. The men are in the bronze medal race in the team pursuit. Thats all the sport for now. Much more on the bbc news channel in the next hour. Lets return to our main story this morning. The Education Secretary Justine Greening has defended plans to push ahead with new Grammar Schools in england, saying she wants to create schools that are truly open to all. She has been speaking in the past half an hour. I believe selection in new, 21st ce ntu ry i believe selection in new, 21st century state Grammar Schools will add to the options available to young people, to truly help make the most of their talents. I dont accept the arguments from those who Critique Grammars and selection, while simultaneously ignoring the views of parents. 0n the one hand, they call for no new Grammar Schools but on the other hand, theyve got nothing to say about the grammars we do have. And they certainly arent listening to the choices of parents, when we know how oversubscribed grammars are. Well, we are listening. And many parents from ordinary backgrounds believe in the chance to send their children to a Grammar School. And it is the kind of school they think suits their child. So they get a great start. And you dont make this country better by taking away opportunities for children that deserve them. You do the opposite. You level up. You extend opportunities to those who havent got them and thats why this government believes it must be pa rents government believes it must be parents and communities who have the final say on whether to have a Grammar School in their area. Joining me now from our Central London studio is david laws, a former Schools Minister and now chairman of the education policy institute. Good morning. We havejust heard that clip from Justine Greening, saying the creation of more Grammar Schools will extend opportunities. She says you level up. What do you make of the argument . she says you level up. What do you make of the argument . I think its not a very strong one. Weve looked at my institute at the Tee Arguments forgrammar at my institute at the Tee Arguments for Grammar Schools, using all of the governments own data from schools across the country. And we find two things really which i think area find two things really which i think are a problem for the government. Firstly, where we have got Grammar Schools, what they appear to do is not raise overall standards but redistribute the opportunities between the children who get into Grammar Schools, who do slightly better, and those who dont, you actually do worse. They are not a good mechanism for raising overall educational standards. They simply shift the good and bad aspects around. The second problem, which the government has yet to fix, is that it the government has yet to fix, is thatitis the government has yet to fix, is that it is trying to present Grammar Schools as an answer to britains Social Mobility problem, the problem that so few poor children do well in education and life. And yet, we know that virtually no children from poor families get into Grammar Schools because they fall behind so early in their education lifetime experience, even before they get into primary school. So unless we intervene early, were not going to fix this. Simply selecting children at age 11 is overwhelmingly not likely to help the poorest children. But explain for the viewers, are you saying, why are you saying that apparently it is the fault of Grammar Schools that children who dont go to them have fewer opportunities, worse life chances . Yeah, im simply looking at the data that we have found, studying the results for those parts of the country that do and dont have Grammar Schools. What we found is very interesting. We found that pupils who managed to get into Grammar Schools do a little bit better than might be expected in, for example, their gcses. They get about a third of a grade higher in each of their subjects which is not a lot but it is measurable. The problem is, when we look at those areas particularly that have lots of grammar School Places, those children who dont get in actually do worse than they would otherwise be doing compared with other parts of the country. Whys that . That appears to be, and one can only speculate because we have the data and then we have to understand why its happening but i suspect it is that two things are happening, first, the Grammar Schools are taking away more of the most able teachers, who teach in those schools, leaving other schools with poorer quality teaching, and the other problem is that obviously, once you remove some of the most aspirational parents and children from schools, you have a lower level of aspiration, challenge and attainment. That may risk those schools not performing as well. This, frankly, is not a surprise. It is what the evidence from almost all countries around the world shows. It is what the Organisation For Economic Co Operation And Development announced in a very influential pisa study last year. This has been for many years, that Grammar Schools dont raise attainment, they redistribute it. Has been known for many years. Isnt there an argument then, based on what youre saying, to try to replicate and model what Grammar Schools are doing in other schools . Yeah, youre absolutely right. Some of the best Grammar Schools are doing the things we want all our schools to do. Have strong leadership, strong teaching qualities, they have got good discipline, they are teaching the co re discipline, they are teaching the core academic curriculum that many young people need to keep their opportunities open. And we actually know that if you are a Grammar School pupil, a very able people, and you get into one of the best nonselective, non Grammar Schools in the country, your exam results are just as good. We have a lot of those schools, five times as many, really high performing nonSelective Schools, as Grammar Schools. The bigger logical challenge for the government ought to be, how do we get more of those high quality nonSelective Schools serving in particular some of our poorest communities, rather than how do we give a few extra children a small additional opportunity in Grammar Schools, while penalising the other pupils who dont get in, who are overwhelmingly likely to be our poorest children as jamaat and this policy, contrary to whatJustine Greening said today, is much more likely to widen inequalities in our society than narrow them. Just finally on the practicalities of what the government is talking about and looks determined to press ahead with an expanding Grammar School provision, how do you see this working . Justine greening repeatedly said this is to extend opportunity for ordinary Working Families, but what are they going to do, create some kind of quota system . Are they going to create what people call these sort of test that you cannot tutor, which many people would argue is not possible to do . How practically can they make this work. Weve looked at this challenge and they are right to say that this is a test you cannot tutor for, or does not lead to more children from rich backgrounds getting in. It is very difficult. It has not be done to date. You could of course have quotas of poorer pupils getting into Grammar Schools but that would be difficult for two reasons. Firstly it would be very unpopular for those people who miss out, having scored higher in the tests but end up losing their place to Somebody Else who has got a lower mark so it would be very politically controversial but also because poor children do so badly at the moment early on in their career, to have many poor children attending Grammar Schools, you would have to admit youngsters with way lower results than the rest of the people in the Grammar Schools and theres a real risk, therefore, that in the Grammar Schools, you would have poor children marginalised because they would have much lower attainment and abilities, taught alongside more able pupils from rich backgrounds. There is not an easy answer to this and that is why the government is coming up with some of these aspirations but it is yet to find any real, concrete policies that it can put forward. It remains to be seen whether they can manage to do that. Thank you for joining us. Its just three days until turkey votes on whether to boost president erdogans powers. The constitutional change would scrap the post of Prime Minister and allow the president to choose ministers, the most senior judges and issue decrees. Security is one of the main concerns among voters after two years of Terror Attacks, including the end of the ceasefire with the kurdish separatist, pkk. 0ur turkey correspondent mark lowen reports. 0ur turkey correspondent mark lowen is in istanbul. This is a huge decision, how are things shaping up for the vote and how does it look like it will go . M would be nothing short of the biggest political change in turkeys modern history if it is accepted in a referendum on sunday, Changing Turkey from a parliamentary do a president ial republic, lastly enhancing the powers of president 0degaard and people suggest it is very tight. De schrotter polls suggest it is very tight, neck and neck, within the margin of error on either side. That is despite the fa ct either side. That is despite the fact that the yes side has dominated the campaign in terms billboards and airways. Lets show you the square in the middle of istanbul, the word yes peering down. That is the kind of post is your thing across the country. You can see across tax in square, another huge poster on a building. And in the heart of istanbul, you will not find a single no poster. They are tucked away on small side streets, on stickers and the like so that is the kind of balance we have seen in terms of the campaigning from bs and the no side and that even, despite all of that, polls suggesting this could be a very tight race. Depending on how the decision goes, what will it mean for how turkey is viewed by the rest of the world, given its crucial position . It is hugely important in the country and it is a pivotal country facing a decisive moment. Really, president at a gun is a divisive president. He is loved and revered by one half of his country and reviled by the other side. President owed one is divisive. Some western governments find it difficult to deal with. In recent weeks, he lashed out at the dutch and german governments, calling the nazis and fascists. President erdogan has moved turkey away from its ipod eu membership, more to a different geopolitical alliance with russia and the gulf states. It is the kind of story and political moment that will be watched much further afield than simply in turkey which is why it is quite so important, this referendum on whether or not he will be able to have vastly enhanced powers and potentially be able to stay in office until 2029. If you add any of your viewers in interested in reading more, you can go to the website or any of the viewers are interested. My long piece on erdogans turkey, tackling some of the themes of the country at the moment and a snapshot of some of the important moments that turkey is facing. That longer reach is on the bbc website. Back to you. Thank you for joining bbc website. Back to you. Thank you forjoining us. Mark lowen in istanbul. In a moment, a summary of the Business News this hour but first, the headlines on bbc Newsroom Live the Education Secretary says she will create a new wave of Grammar Schools in england, which are open to ordinary Working Families and not the privileged few. The European Court of human rights rules that russia should have done more to prevent the Beslan School siege in 200a. The Russian Government says it will appeal against the ruling. The families of two more babies who died under the care of the shrewsbury and Telford Hospital trust are calling for their deaths to be included in a government investigation. In the Business News. Uk firms want to recruit more workers, but cannot find or afford the right staff, according to a survey published by the British Chambers Of Commerce. The percentage seeking to hire is up 9 in the last three months, but despite this, around three quarters of Manufacturing Firms and more than half of Services Firms are struggling to fill the gaps. Postal unions are threatening to ballot for industrial action after royal mail said it would close its defined benefit Pension Scheme in 2018. The Postal Service said that the pension plan was currently in surplus, but it was not sustainable. Royal mail contributes about £400 million a year, but it said this would have to increase to more than £1 billion by 2018. Put the catalogue to one side and pick up a tablet. Argos is opening its 50th Digital Store today. Its part of plans to transform the retailer after sainsburys bought the Home Retail Group in 2016. But with increasing competition from online retailers that dont have high street shops, the boss tells us there needs to be a big overhaul of Business Rates. Uk firms want to recruit more workers but cannot find or afford the right staff. The British Chambers Of Commerce spoke to 7,300 businesses in the manufacturing and services sectors, and found the percentage seeking to hire had grown by up to 9 in the last quarter. Separately, the federation of Small Businesses says confidence among uks small firms has risen to its highest level in over a year. Joining us now live from Tunbridge Wells is Louise Stewart of the federation of Small Businesses. Good morning. This confidence among small firms, it sounds positive. What is it based on . We are really pleased to see that confidence in Small Businesses is at its highest level for over a year and it did dip after the Eu Referendum so this shows that it has returned to its highest level, and it also shows that Small Businesses are very flexible and adaptable. They are rolling up their sleeves now they know brexit is happening and they have to deal with that and that is what they are doing. We saw a separate survey from the bcc saying that firms generally are keen to recruit but they cannot find or afford the right staff. Is that a similar picture for Small Companies . Yeah, Small Businesses also have concerns over staff and one of the key req u est concerns over staff and one of the key request from the government, with Brexit Negotiations is to ensure we have access to workers and to guarantee the rights of eu workers who are already here and employed because one in five Small Businesses that employ people, so if they are not self employed, if they are employers, employing workers from the eu, and it would be a great concern to them if they cannot do that. You mentioned brexit and i wonder if the current confidence you are seeing among small firms has anything to do with the pound being weaker, making exports of it cheaper and more competitive on the International Market . Yes, despite the fact we have seen the cost of business going up to its highest level since 2013 with things like higherfuel charges level since 2013 with things like higher fuel charges and the National Living wage, higher Business Rates, we are seeing this confidence and we wonder why that is but there are more businesses exporting and i think there is no doubt that is linked to the weak pound, so it is damaging for some but others making hay while the sunshine and exporting overseas and we want to see the government, with their brexit talks, looking at a Free Trade Agreement because Small Businesses tell us that tariffs would be off putting to them if they are trading abroad. Ok, thanks for that. Its famous for its hefty catalogue but argos will make another 60 of its stores into digital ones, where you can browse and order on a tablet. Its also opening its 50th in store concession in sainsburys supermakets, with plans for another 200. The boss says argos will keep its presence on the high street. But with increasing competition from online retailers like amazon, he wants to see Business Rates radically reformed. Between sainsburys and argos, we pay over £500 million in Business Rates. You know, we really would ask government to look at fundamentally reforming the business rate system. Its an anachronistic tax, clearly focused on property and prejudices those retailers that have huge property portfolios. In this increasingly digital world, it is becoming less and less relevant. I think we would welcome some of the small changes that have been made to the system and the processes in the last 12 months or so but fundamentally we are asking for major reform. A quieter day of trading so far of european markets with investors preparing for the long weekend at the Easter Bank Holiday is tomorrow and monday. The ftse is still trading in negative territory, despite a rise in royal mail shares after it revealed plans to close its Pension Scheme. The dollar is recovering a bit today, it had weakened against other currencies overnight after President Trump said he thought it had become too strong and he favoured low interest rates. Thats all the Business News. Police officers were given the runaround in london yesterday by a pretty unusual suspect. A pig caused chaos when it is gaped and trotted through Lunchtime Traffic on the streets of redbridge. A jogger had to dodge the animal. I love that move he seemed to take a liking to the fluorescent clothing. A Police Spokesman said the pig was eventually recaptured and returned to its owner. The headlines are coming up on the bbc news channel. In a moment we say goodbye to viewers on bbc2. First we leave you with a look at the weather. Hello again, ben. Thank you and good morning. What i cant say about this weekend is that it will be as warm as the last one but with easter looming, the weather is not looking too bad. Still a lot of fine weather and sunshine at times. We started off bright and sunny in many places this morning, this picture from one of our Weather Watchers in wiltshire, the mist going away quickly but to the north west, more clout is working its way in and some getting into the midlands and derbyshire. As you can see, from the satellite, the crowd is gradually toppling in from the west. The best of the brightness still across eastern and southern areas. It will stay that way for the rest of the day. The cloud towards the north west will be thick enough at times to produce the odd spot of Patchy Light Rain and drizzle. If you are out and about at apm, south west england, channel islands, should keep some spells sunshine and across the south east where we see sunny spells, temperatures may be up to 15 degrees, some areas cloud floating through as well and generally across east anglia, the midlands, and parts of north wales, things will cloud over the afternoon, a fair amount of cloud for Northern England, the odd spot of rain in the pennines, Northern Ireland and western scotland, loud and patchy rain but from aberdeen to edinburgh, not about afternoon, should hold onto some spells of sunshine. This evening and tonight, increasing amounts of cloud spreading from the western outbreaks of rain, sporadic for the central slice of the country, Northern Ireland, southern scotland, Northern England, into wales and the midlands. Into the weekend, cool for the most part with some spells of sunshine but a bit of rain and tomorrow, as i have mentioned, that rate will be across the central areas. It will only drift very slowly southwards and eastwards although the rain may tend to intensify bit by the afternoon. To the north of this area of rain, across scotland, things brightening up across scotland, things brightening up and we will see sunshine and a few showers. It will be cool with the best of the brightness In The South East which could lift temperatures to 16 or 17. But cool air in the north is going to spread its Weight Southwards as we go into saturday. Behind that, we get into this north easterly wind and some fairly chilly air across the country. Spells of sunshine and showers as well, which may be wintry over high ground in northern scotland, 9 degrees in aberdeen, 15 in london so a fairly cool feel to the day. It is sunday, some dry weather. Likely to be an area of rain, probably somewhere across the middle of the british isles, a bit of uncertainty about exactly where but generally, that fairly cool feel. A bit of rain in the forecast but generally not too bad for the easter weekend. That is all from me for now. This is bbc news. These are the top stories developing at 12pm in an exclusive interview, syrias President Assad talks about last weeks suspected Chemical Attack in the country, which killed 89 people. The Education Secretary says she will create a new wave of Grammar Schools in england which are open to ordinary Working Families, and not the privileged few. The European Court of human rights rules that russia should have done more to prevent the siege of a school in beslan in 200a. The families of two more babies who died under the care of the shrewsbury and Telford Hospital trust are calling for their deaths to be included in a government investigation. Also german prosecutors say the suspect being questioned about the attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus led an Islamic State command unit in iraq, but find no evidence that he was involved in tuesdays attack. The game against monaco took place last night. Borussia dortmund Football Team say they were unhappy to play last night following tuesdays attack on their team bus. I know we learn a lot of money, we have a privileged life. But we are human beings. The number of people trespassing on britains railways is that a ten year high. Most of the offenders are young people. Its no porky pie. Police officers were given the ru na round porky pie. Police officers were given the runaround as a pig escaped and caused chaos in Lunchtime Traffic on the streets of london. Good afternoon. Its thursday, the 13th april. Im annita mcveigh. Welcome to bbc Newsroom Live. In a few moments, well hear from the syrias President Assad, whos been talking to journalists in whats believed to be his first interview since a suspected Chemical Attack last week. Western allies have blamed President Assads regime for the attack, in which more than 80 people were killed. President donald trump says us relations with russia may be at an all time low after moscow refused to drop its support for assad. Mr trump also said he believes nato is no longer obsolete reversing a stance that had alarmed allies, as laura bicker reports. President trump is paying a political price for launching these missiles against the syrian government. Relations with russia are atan government. Relations with russia are at an all time low. Vladimir putin said this us attack was an act of aggression. But donald trump said it was in response to a suspected war crime. The us believes the syrian president was responsible for using chemical weapons against civilians. At a Press Conference alongside the nato secretary general, mr trump condemned Bashar Al Assad. Thats a butcher, thats a butcher. So i felt we had to do something about it. I have absolutely no doubt we did the right thing, and it was very, very successfully done, as you well know. Earlier, russia vetoed a Un Security Council resolution that would have compelled the syrian president to co operate with an investigation into the attack, a response President Trump described as disappointing. It would be wonderful, as we were discussing just a little while ago, if nato and our country could get along with russia. Right now, were not getting along with russia at all. We may be at an all time low in terms of relationship with russia. This has built for a long period of time. But were going to see what happens. In moscow, the us Secretary Of State and his counterpart shook hands. The relationship not warm. There is no agreement on who was behind last weeks Chemical Attack. The fact that we have conclusive that the recent chemical weapons attack carried out in syria was planned and it was directed and executed by Syrian Regime forces. Translation we saw no evidence of this. Pictures and eyewitnesses at the base where the planes took off, it is clear, there were no signs of any chemical present there are. The us has said relations with russia must improve, but how . The two countries are on opposing sides in a civil war. A lot may depend on how far russia will go to defend the syrian president , and how far the us wants to push to get rid of him. Laura bicker, bbc news, washington. We are waiting on that interview with President Assad to come in to us. With President Assad to come in to us. Lets discuss developments. With me is our diplomatic correspondent, jonathan marcus. With me is middle east specialist professor Rosemary Hollis from city university. Lets begin with that question posed by laura at the end of her report. How far is america prepared to go to get rid of the assad regime, rosemary, if i can begin with you, we are hearing some contradictory and unexpected things from the United States on this, arent we . No question. If the strike that President Trump ordered in response to the Chemical Attack was limited to the Chemical Attack was limited to that, leaving the message, you use chemical weapons again and you will regret it, we could all move on from this and discuss the future of syria and of President Assad. But for the us to indicate that they also want russia now at this stage to give up its backing for President Assad is to confuse the whole picture. This is not something on which the us can carry through. If the russians dont want to do it, the russians dont want to do it, the americans are not on the ground, they cant organise it, and they dont have a candidate to replace him. The idea of elections right now is ridiculous. I honestly think that there is a model here in that the british from secretary has contributed to the model, not improved at. Jonathan, the russians are improved at. Jonathan, the russians a re clear improved at. Jonathan, the russians are clear that part of their strategy to get rid of is includes working with President Assad to achieve that aim. Thats rather puts the ball back in americas court, what does it want more, to get rid of is or assad . They want more to get rid of is, statements have been consistent to that extent. How much russia wants to get with a is is ha rd russia wants to get with a is is hard to say. Most of the russian and syrian effort up until now has been striking at the opposition, whether it be the more moderate opposition, as it has been called, which is backed by the west, or other groups linked to alqaeda who are more extreme. I think there is a fundamental lack of clarity about the us position. Mrtrump fundamental lack of clarity about the us position. Mr trump in a sense made that Crystal Clear himself quite recently when, in an interview, he noted that all of his key Foreign Policy spokespeople, nikki haley, the un ambassador, Rex Tillerson, the Secretary Of State, general macmaster, the National Security adviser, what all saying slightly different things. He said, they are all doing a greatjob, but lets clarify things, we are not going into syria. Fine, that is a statement, but what does it actually mean in terms of the existing us policy . Are they going to keep things as they are, step up assistance to the groups on the ground that they support . What about this whole problematic area of backing kurdish groups and the difficulties with the turks . We are still waiting to see some clarity in all of the key Foreign Policy areas, notjust all of the key Foreign Policy areas, not just syria and the middle all of the key Foreign Policy areas, Notjust Syria and The Middle East but also north korea, which is the next crisis looming on the horizon. Given the lack of clarity on syria, rosemary, do you say as Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson did that the assad familys days are numbers, with some people saying, does this mean america is looking for Regime Change in syria . The position has moved from all of the western players under the 0bama administration in america saying, assad must go and he must go sooner rather than later, and he is part of the problem and the fighting wont stop until he has gone. It has evolved to the position that, since we are not in a position to get rid of him, we have to accept that the russians will meet him in the interim, and then will come the time for persuading them that he mustnt be part of the future of syria. So, patient is called for here. The fact that assad felt sufficiently emboldened by all of this that he was still firmly in charge and going to be for the foreseeable future, and therefore thought it ok to use chemical weapons was a mistake on his part. Now, the russians could be equally furious with him for having made that mistake. They need not be responsible for him having miscalculated and use chemical weapons. But the way that the diplomacy has been conducted from washington, and somewhat from london, it is impossible for the russians to clarify that position evenin russians to clarify that position even in private. They are being kind of forced into a corner where they have to claim that its a lie that assad used chemical weapons. Just explain for us a little bit more about what you mean when you say that Boris Johnson about what you mean when you say that borisjohnson contributed to the muddle, to the confusion . couple of days ago he was talking about targeted sanctions against russia and syria, but the rest of the g7 russia and syria, but the rest of the g 7 nations didnt agree to that. So why do you think he has contributed to the muddle . Some would say that targeted sanctions is exactly what should have happened. In two counts, one is there is no evidence that targeted sanctions on russia so far have changed its behaviour. They are classic sanctions that drive people to dig in their heels. Its not a sophisticated means by which you change minds. And it tends to cut off communication, thats the other problem. And this is the time when communication, especially by Rex Tillerson, who is actually quite well placed to have a repoil behind the scenes with putin and arrive at an arrangement, a rapoport behind the scenes. To talk about sanctions when there was no possibility of getting them in place and when they were not going to be productive of what apparently is the british desire for the future of syria was to muddle the picture. Ok, Rosemary Anne donovan, thank you. Do stay with us because we are still waiting for this interview to comment with President Assad rosemary and jonathan. We will move onto some of stories and come back to it when this interview comes through to us. It is the first interview with President Assad says that attack in Idlib Province last week, an exclusive interview he has done with afp television. Lets move on to our other main story today. The Education Secretary, Justine Greening, has said that she wants a new model of Grammar Schools in england which are open for everyone. She says she particularly wants to ensure that there are much stronger educational outcomes for ordinary Working Families, and notjust the privileged few. But new analysis from the government shows a majority of Selective School places go to more affluent families. Justine greening says she wants to create schools that are truly open to all. I believe selection in new, 21st century state Grammar Schools will add to the options available to young people, to truly help make the most of their talents. I dont accept the arguments from those who Critique Grammars and selection, while simultaneously ignoring the views of parents. 0n the one hand, they call for no new Grammar Schools but on the other hand, theyve got nothing to say about the grammars we do have. And they certainly arent listening to the choices of parents, when we know how oversubscribed grammars are. Well, we are listening. And many parents from ordinary backgrounds believe in the chance to send their children to a Grammar School. And it is the kind of school they think suits their child, so they get a great start. And you dont make this country better by taking away opportunities for children that deserve them. You do the opposite. You level up. You extend opportunities to those who havent got them and thats why this government believes it must be parents and communities who have the final say on whether to have a Grammar School in theirarea. Justine greening. 0ur political correspondent, chris mason, is At Westminster for us now. Chris, in that speech, a lot of effort to make an aspirational appeal to ordinary Working Families. But there was any detail from Justine Greening on how this plan might work . How the children from most families might end up getting a place at a Grammar School . The short and direct answer to your question is no, there wasnt. What did we not learned this morning . We didnt learned this morning . We didnt learn how many more Grammar Schools by Education Secretary would like to see. There is around 160 that are left in england, a huge shrivelling on the numbers that existed in the 19605. On the numbers that existed in the 1960s. And we didnt learn how she would try and ensure that a greater proportion of children from poorer backgrounds who was able to attend Grammar Schools in the future, either the existing Grammar Schools orany either the existing Grammar Schools or any new ones that were set up. She pointed to the fact that at the moment, when you look at those existing Grammar Schools, a similar proportion of the pupils at those schools from this category that she talked about, those who are just about managing, than other secondary schools and comprehensive schools. She said that was encouraging. But while she said she wanted to see a greater number of children from ordinary backgrounds getting into Grammar Schools, crucially, we didnt getan Grammar Schools, crucially, we didnt get an answer as to how that would happen. Thanks, chris mason At Westminster. The headlines. In an exclusive interview, syrias President Assad talks about last weeks suspected Chemical Attack in the country, which killed 89 people. The Education Secretary says she will create a new wave of Grammar Schools in england which are open to ordinary Working Families, and not the privileged few. The European Court of human rights rules that russia should have done more to prevent the Beslan School siege in 200a. The Russian Government says it will appeal against the ruling. Now its time for sport, here is 0lly foster. The six man short list is out for the Pfa Player Of The Year Awards. One of Leicester Citys Unsung Heroes when they won the title last year is the favourite. Ngolo kante has sincejoined cheslea, and he has driven their title push. Also on the list is fellow blue eden hazard, zlatan ibrahimovic, harry kane, Romelu Lukaku and alexis sanchez. The Young Players list and also the contenders for the womens awards are on the bbc sport website. West hams Michail Antonio is out for the rest of the season with a Hamstring Injury that he picked up in their 1 0 win over swansea last weekend. Antonios scored nine goals this season and has also been called up by england. He might miss out on the next squad for the World Cup Qualifier against scotland in june. The draw has been made for the first round of the World Snooker championship that starts this saturday in sheffield. The defending champion mark selby will face fergal 0brien. And the five time champion ronnie 0sullivan will play gary wilson. Selby starts first thing on saturday morning. Coverage from the crucible is across the bbc. Its the second day of the track cycling World Championships in hong kong coverage on bbc two right now. Lets ta ke lets take you live there right now. Australia are taking on canada. Is our qualifying races in the womens tea m our qualifying races in the womens team pursuit. It was the last time i looked, anyway Great British women have just won that qualification race. You have to wait a few races to see if they make it in the next round. Coverage of the cycling continues on bbc two. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more in the next hour. Thanks, 0llie. The European Court of human rights has ruled that the Russian Government should have done more to prevent the siege of a school in beslan in 200a. More than 330 people died when Security Forces stormed a school where Chechen Separatists had taken more than 1,000 people hostage. The court also awarded around £2. 5 million to relatives in compensation. The kremlin says it cannot agree with the ruling, calling it utterly unacceptable. In a moment, we will speak to our correspondent in moscow. First, lets remind ourselves of those terrible events of september 1st, 200a. A warning, there are disturbing images in this report. It was the first day of term in School Number one in beslan. In russia, there are no classes when pupils come back from the summer. It is supposed to be a day of celebration and catching up with friends. Rebels stormed the school and forced more than 1100 children, parents and teachers into a small gym. They wanted Russian Troops to leave the nearby republic of chechnya. Translation we were standing next to the school gates. I saw three people running in with machine guns. At first i thought it was a joke. Then they began shooting into the air, and i ran away. This siege went on the 52 hours. It was cramped and sweltering hot in the gym with no food or drink. Bombs were taped to the wall and hanging from the ceiling. 0lder pupils were forced to attach explosives to the basketball hoops, and children were forced to stand near the windows as human shields. A few children, like this little girl, managed to escape. As negotiations went on, other relatives were left waiting outside, desperate for news, terrified every time they heard gunfire. Hundreds of russian Security Forces surrounded the school. And on the third day, they stormed the building, explosives and gunfire rang out. There was no sign of medical teams or ambulances. The attackers shot some of the children in the back as they ran for freedom. But others were carried out. Weak, half naked and bleeding. Some relatives fought to get through the Security Cordon to find out what was happening to their loved ones. 331 people died. 186 of them were children. Russia was in mourning. There were days of mass funerals. But many families and victims blame authorities. Partly for not doing enough to prevent the attacks, but also for the botched rescue operation. It has come out that Security Forces fired tanks and Flame Throwers at the school. Only one of the attackers was found alive. A Chechen Carpenter is serving a life sentence. Authorities were cleared of any wrongdoing. For 13 years now, families and hostages have fought that decision. They could be awarded compensation, but most say it is more about establishing responsibility. 0ur correspondent 0lga ivshina is in moscow for us now. Was it expected that the response from the Russian Government would be of this nature, saying it is going to appeal against that ruling by the European Court of human rights . Well, the decision by the European Court of human rights was not a surprise for moscow. The response by a kremlin spokesman was quite harsh. And also the russian Minister Of Justice said it would appeal the ruling. They were using quite strong language. They said that evidence supplied by the russian side was not studied in full detail, that europeanjudges werent studied in full detail, that european judges werent really aware of the situation during the siege, and couldnt understand the situation. And also they said that the conclusions made by the European Court of human rights were not properly backed up. Well, this means that they will appeal, and it means that they will appeal, and it means that russian officials again reject their responsibility for this attack, for this tragedy which happened back in 200a. Attack, for this tragedy which happened back in 2004. You said earlier that what has been important for the beslan families is not the financial compensation, but that somebody does accept responsibility. How much will this hurt, how much will this be a blow to them that the Russian Government is responding in this way . Oh, ithink Russian Government is responding in this way . Oh, i think this would hurt a lot. I spoke to a guy who survived the siege. He said, for as the most important thing is that russia learns lessons of those tragedies so that future tragedies could be avoided. But we see that Terror Attacks happen again and again. And basically russian officials and Security Forces refuse to a cce pt officials and Security Forces refuse to accept the failures they have done during the siege. 0ne to accept the failures they have done during the siege. One of the most important being the excessive use of force. And of course this would hurt a lot. Thank you for that. The families of two more babies who died under the care of shrewsbury and Telford Hospital trust are calling for their deaths to be included in the investigation ordered by the Health Secretary. The review of the trust was announced Byjeremy Hunt yesterday following the avoidable deaths of seven babies. Five died following failures to monitor their heart rate properly during labour. The trust says its Mortality Levels are in line with the national average. 0ur social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, has this report. This is the nhs trust whose mistakes keep causing the deaths of healthy infants. Yesterday, bbc news revealed that seven babies died unnecessarily at the shrewsbury and telford trust, in a little over 18 months. The scale of the problems has prompted the Health Secretary to order a review of maternity services. Jeremy hunt wants to ensure no more families suffer like this one. Tamsin morris lost her daughter ivy last may, aged just four months, following mistakes at her birth. We all think that Something Like this wont ever happen, it wont happen to me. And it has. And i can only take it day by day, sometimes. If im lucky, week by week. How old would he be there, roughly . Probably five hours old. Other families are still pushing forjustice. Hayley matthews sonjack died within hours of his birth, in 2015. She says the trust never properly investigated the death. Following their investigations, however, the local coroner is now considering holding an inquest. I was expecting a healthy baby. Two years, ive been fighting. Its not going to bring my boy back, but hopefully itll save other babies and parents going through what weve gone through, and other people. The trust say they have investigated all maternity deaths, and say they will contact hayley about her case. They also say they are Learning Lessons from incidents, and are improving services. Michael buchanan, bbc news. German prosecutors investigating three explosions which hit the Borussia Dortmund Football Team bus on tuesday night say the suspect being questioned was a member of the so called Islamic State group in iraq. Detectives say the man was in touch with members of the militant group while he was in germany, but theres no proof he was involved in the attack. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee is in dortmund for us now. Just to clarify, a few things are going on. This man is a 26 year old suspect that the federal prosecutor has partially named as abdul a, he is 26 and from iraq. He has been questioned so far in connection with the attack but the Authorities Say there is no evidence linking him to it. But he is suspected of a history of being with so called Islamic State in iraq, that he was acting as a commander with ten people under his control, responsible for abduction, murder, before leaving to turkey in 2015. We think, according to the information we have got, he may have crossed along the Migration Trial in 2016 to germany, where he has been here. He is expected before a court later today. We expect him to be arrested. His links and alleged links to Islamic State, but so far, no evidence linking him to the scene. 0n the wider issue, another thing. Three letters were found with scribbled handwriting in german claiming, according to the authorities, that there is a Connection Tojihadi extremists, who say that this is a Second Attack after the berlin lorry attack at the christmas markets, and they want the withdrawal of the german aircraft in syria as part of the Coalition Strikes, and also the american air base in germany. That is all to be verified, we dont know if there is any credence to that. But they are the two issues they are looking at. Meanwhile, the game took place behind me at the stadium last night. The match, which ended 3 2 to monaco, some of the dortmund players and the manager said they were unhappy that uefa decided to play it. This is one of those players, the turkish midfielder, Talking Last Night after the game. Until i was on the pitch in the second half, i didnt think about football, to be honest. Because last night i didnt realise what happened. When i was at home and my wife and my son were waiting in front of the door. Then i felt how lucky we were. I know football is very important, we love football, we suffer with football, we love football, i know we own a lot of money and have a privileged life. But we are human beings. And there is so much more than football in this world, and last night we felt it. A big debate continuing over whether that game should have gone ahead last night. Meanwhile, tonight, in brussels, man utd play anderlecht, and there is going to be a huge amount of security around that game, isnt there . There will be. The belgian authorities have said that there will be extra screening on both the team busses tonight. The usual routes that anderlecht, which in brussels may have taken, will be a different route, the same thing for man utd. A very high Police Presence. Two things caused security alarms. German state media widely reported that within this latter it talks about the so called jihadis claiming they are behind it are looking to target other sports personalities, other well known figures in germany and elsewhere, in quote crusader states, other european countries. If there is any credibility to it, it sets alarm bells. We had the brussels attacks, and the terrorist behind it was found about one mile from the stadium. It is putting the Security Services on high alert, there will be a big Police Presence tonight. That was gavin lee. Lets catch up with the Weather Forecast with sarah keith lucas. There is a good deal of dry weather out there for most parts of the country, not quite everywhere. A few showers. The cloud you can see on the Satellite Image is a fair weather cloud. It is pushing in from the north and the west. In the east you have more sunshine. The showers are mainly across parts of the north and west of scotland, filtering towards the east. 0ne and west of scotland, filtering towards the east. One or two for parts of Northern England, Northern Ireland down towards the midlands. Temperatures 10 14 , feeling fairly fresh, especially in the north. This evening and overnight we will see cloud thickening from the west, bringing patchy rain across Northern Ireland, southern scotland, Northern England and wales. Further south, mild, dry and bright weather. Further north, the midlands, Northern England and wales, patchy outbreaks of rain. To the north of that, scotland and Northern Ireland, it is sunshine and showers. Things staying rather cool through the easter weekend, a mix of sunshine and a little bit of rain. This is bbc Newsroom Live with annita mcveigh. The headlines. The Education Secretary says she wants new selective Grammar Schools to serve more children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Labour argues new grammars wont help poorer pupils. Grammar schools do work for other groups in our society, not just the wealthy and so, the new schools that we will create will support young people from every background. Not the privileged few. The European Court of human rights rules that russia should have done more to prevent the 2004 Beslan School massacre, in which more than 300 people died. The families of two more babies who died under the care of the shrewsbury and Telford Hospital trust call for their deaths to be included in a government investigation. German prosecutors say the suspect being questioned about the attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus led an Islamic State command unit in iraq but find no evidence that he was involved in tuesdays attack. Just a quick reminder we are still waiting on the interview with the syrian president Bashar Al Assad, the first he has done since the attack, the suspected Chemical Attack, the suspected Chemical Attack in Idlib Province last week. He has done an exclusive interview with afp tv and we were expecting it about half an hour ago but it still has not arrived so we are keeping an eye on that and we will bring it to you as soon as eye on that and we will bring it to you as soon as possible. Lets return to our other main story this morning. The Education Secretary Justine Greening has defended plans to push ahead with new Grammar Schools in england, saying she wants to create schools that are truly open to all. She has been speaking in the past half an hour. We should never accept an education that is so tilted an Education System that is so tilted against the disadvantaged. So we remain absolutely committed to supporting these children and young people, not least with transformational long term policies like the pupil premium and Opportunity Areas to increase and drive Social Mobility. But we believe its notjust disadvantaged children and young people that our Education System can deliver much more for. Because this government will not lose sight of other children from ordinary Working Families. This government believes weve not done enough to support them, partly because they dont qualify under our existing measures of disadvantage. The danger is that theyve dropped off the radar. But we are determined to also have them at the heart of our thinking and at the heart of our plan for britain. Chris mcgovern is the chair of the campaign for real education and a former government advisor to the former Education Secretary, michael gove. Hejoins us from our studio in Tunbridge Wells. Good afternoon. What do you have to say about what the Education Secretary was talking about this morning . Three cheers for her because currently, in britain, we have educational apartheid and it depends on peoples ability to pay. The rich can buy a place in Private School or they can buy a house near toa school or they can buy a house near to a good comrades. The rest, im afraid, get what is left over so every marxist across the country as well as every conservative, should support the government. Actually, if anything, she understates the case, we need hundreds more Grammar Schools be educated in line with attitude. Academic children need an academic education. Children who are not academic need a Vocational Education or a more Technical Education or a more Technical Education and we need Technical Schools alongside Grammar Schools but great, thank goodness we have our Prime Minister and Secretary Of State who are at last put in some form of real socialjustice ahead of this ideology of comprehensive schools which has placed us nowhere in the Educational League tables and is failing so many children. What do you say to those who would argue that the creation of more Grammar Schools creates another kind of educational apartheid, as you put it . Of course, it doesnt, it is doing. At the moment, demand exceeds supply but if we have hundreds more Grammar Schools, particularly in poorer areas, we can begin to educate children of credibility to the maxim of their potential. A survey came out a few weeks ago which showed that able children do much better in Grammar Schools, in fact, children do much better in Grammar Schools, infact, 96 children do much better in Grammar Schools, in fact, 96 of children in Grammar Schools, highly able children fulfil their potential and only 49 of children in comrades of school who are judged to be very able are fulfilling their potential. The rest of the world has a system of academic and Vocational Education. We need to decide in this country if we want an Economic Future or not because the economy depends on maximising the potential of our children. The only argument is over whether the division should be at 1113 and theres nothing wrong, by the way, with Technical Education. We have to get away from the idea that somehow Charles Dickens is ahead of isambard kingdom brunel. Technical education is incredibly important and should be anything better financed than Grammar Schools. Isnt it the case that rather than creating more Grammar Schools, what needs to happen is raising the attainment of teachers themselves, so that the same standard of teaching are in the education sector, whether it is a Grammar School or a comprehensive, whatever kind of school . Youre right, of course we need to raise the attainment of teachers but looking at the uk as a whole, where do we get the best exam results . Northern ireland. What system do they have . Grammar schools and secondary schools. There is an example but the best Education System in the world is in singapore and they have very strict selection at 11. They dont therefore say that somehow if you go down a vocational pathway, you are somehow failing. Youre not failing on a vocational pathway. It is peculiarly british that with the academic is somehow superior to vocational. Get away from that idea, we want brilliant Technical Schools alongside Grammar Schools and bank goodness we have a Prime Minister who has decided to grasp the nettle and end this educational apartheid where access to school is based on your income. Let me ask you finally, how do you think this would work in practice . Do you need some kind of quota, for example, to allow children from less affluent backgrounds to get into Grammar Schools and if you allow them in on perhaps a lower threshold mark than other children who have taken a test, then arent those children and their families going to feel disgruntled . We want social justice, not social engineering. We wa nt justice, not social engineering. We want horses for courses, not sheep and goats, in switzerland they have and goats, in switzerland they have a Grammar School and technical system at the age of 11 and a lot depends on the Head Teachers report and one from the school and if a child goes to a Grammar School and is not not academic, they can be moved to a Technical School and children from Technical Schools can go the other way. We should not depend so much of the 11 plus, there should be other factors and i agree, the debate is over when we have the movement to Grammar Schools or Technical Schools and how we should do it. But look, it is a great move and we should celebrate the fact that a lot of children across the country now had the chance because the comprehensive School System has failed far too many children, as David Cameron told the Party Conference recently, we have the worst Social Mobility rate in the entire world. It is a disaster and we need to get back to some social justice so i marxist everywhere to back the tories. Thank you for joining us. The European Court of human rights has ruled that the Russian Government should have done more to prevent the siege of a school in beslan in 2004. More than 330 people died when Security Forces stormed a school where Chechen Separatists had taken more than 1000 people hostage. Earlier on, my colleague spoke to a survivor who believes more needs to be done before justice is fully served. Still, guilty people are not punished and we dont have, we cant say that you are typical and you are punished already. So for me, extra measures should be taken to investigate it because still, nobody is responsible for that. And this is very. It makes us feel nervous about the situation. I think that the court is quite right, quite right about russia. It should be ruled so that russia would take some measures. Tell us what you remember about that day. Well, i was i being too young to remember something from that, but still, i remembersome moments when. I remember when we we re moments when. I remember when we were there, there was a total lack of water, so we wanted to drink, so much, and of water, so we wanted to drink, so much, and i rememberthat of water, so we wanted to drink, so much, and i remember that when somebody save me from that, i was Drinking Water so, so much that others tried to stop me because it was unhealthy to do that and so on. I remember somebody was killed by terrorists there, and that was a great. It impressed me so much. I think at that time, i understood that i was in a bad situation. But i was too young. So maybe, i didnt even understand, firstly, that i am ina bad even understand, firstly, that i am in a bad situation. There is no one family in beslan who hasnt had been impacted by the terrorism act will stop we, as a community, as a beslan community, became more close to each other, because we had come. Come under serious problem. That is why we became very close to each other. Of course, it is a huge impact on to our school. A survivor of the Beslan School siege. Its just three days until turkey votes on whether to boost president erdogans powers. The constitutional change would scrap the post of Prime Minister and allow the president to choose ministers, the most senior judges and issue decrees. Security is one of the main concerns among voters after two years of Terror Attacks, including the end of the ceasefire with the kurdish separatist, pkk. 0ur correspondent mark lowen is in istanbul. He told me sundays referendum could potentially lead to the most significant political change since the turkish republic was declared in 1923. It would be nothing short of the biggest political change in turkeys modern history, if it is accepted in a referendum on sunday, Changing Turkey from a parliamentary to a president ial republic, varsity enhancing the powers of president erdogan and polls suggest it is very tight. Both sides are neck and neck and the polls are within the margin of error on either side, despite the fa ct of error on either side, despite the fact the yes, erdogan site has dominated the campaign in terms of posters, billboards and airwaves. Let me show you where we are on Taksim Square in the heart of istanbul and you can see the big face of president erdogan, with the word evet, yes, peering down, which isa sign word evet, yes, peering down, which is a sign of the kind of posters you are seeing is a sign of the kind of posters you are seeing across is a sign of the kind of posters you are seeing across the country. You can see across Taksim Square, another huge erdogan poster on a building and amazingly, in the heart of istanbul, you will not find a single no poster. They are tucked away down side streets and on small stickers and the like. That is a sign really off the kind of balance we have seen in terms of the campaigning from the sides. Despite all of that, polls are suggesting this could be a very tight race. Depending on how this decision goes, what will it mean for how turkey is viewed by the rest of the world, given its crucial position . It is hugely important in this country and it isa hugely important in this country and it is a pivotal country facing a decisive moment. Really, president erdogan is a very divisive president. He is loved, revered by one half of this country and reviled by the other side of the country and quite frankly, some western governments find it very difficult to deal with. In recent weeks, you will remember, he lashed out at the dutch and german governments, calling them nazis and fascists. He has moved turkey away from its hope of eu membership, more towards a different geopolitical alliance with russia and the gulf states. It is a kind of story, the kind of political moment that will be watched much further afield than simply in turkey. That is why it is quite so important, this referendum on whether or not he will be able to have vastly enhanced powers, and to stay in office potentially until 2029. If you or any of your collea g u es 2029. If you or any of your colleagues or viewers are interested in reading more, you can go to the bbc website and there, you will find my long piece on erdogans turkey, tackling some of the themes of the country at the moment and a kind of snapshot of some of the important moments that turkey is facing. It is on the bbc news website, a longer read on erdogans turkey. The largest Nursing Union is consulting with its members across the uk on whether they should take industrial action in protest at the governments decision to maintain a one percent cap on their pay. The Royal College of nursing claims low wages are contributing to Tens Of Thousands of unfilled posts and unsafe Staffing Levels in the nhs. But the government says the Health Service offers competitive pay. 0ur Health Correspondent Sophie Hutchinson reports. Unprecedented pressure in the nhs means nurses have never worked harder, and for so little, according to their union. The Royal College of nursing says due to pay freezes, and then a pay cap, nurses have seen the money they take home cut in real terms by 14 since 2010. It says thats why it has decided to ask staff whether they would be prepared to strike. 270,000 nhs nurses will be able to vote in the Online Survey over the next few weeks. Everybodys unhappy. So, most nurses are unhappy with their income. So theyre working harder than ever, but theres been years now of absolutely no pay increase. Some of our nurses are telling us they absolutely love being a nurse, its a fantasticjob, but they just dont think they can afford to do it any more. The Royal College of nursing says low pay is driving people away from the profession, and that Tens Of Thousands of posts remain vacant. But the Department Of Health said an extra 12,000 nurses have worked on wards since 2010, and that Front Line Nhs services are being protected. Sophie hutchinson, bbc news. Workers on Virgin Trains east coast are to stage a 48 hour strike from april 28. Its in a row over the role of guards and jobs. The rmt union said consultation over widespread on Board Changes has been going on for more than a year, adding that the company had implemented the changes from march with no agreement with the union. And were just hearing from the rmt union that workers on Arriva Rail North are to stage a 24 hour strike on april 28 in ina row about new driver only trains. So that is another rail strike announced by the rmt. A bbc investigation has found that construction faults, similar to those which led to the closure of 17 schools in edinburgh on safety grounds, have been found at 71 other schools across scotland. Although most have been repaired, work has yet to be completed on six of the buildings. Fiona walker reports. It was only when nine tonnes of wall came crashing into the playground at box gang s primary lastjanuary that they realised the school hadnt been built properly. The official report into the incident said it was lucky no one was killed. It turned out that all 17 schools built under that private finance contract were found to be potentially dangerous. Now the bbc has discovered that 71 more schools in scotland have had similar defects across 15 local authorities, taking the total to 88 40 schools. It is actually frightening to think there are so many schools that potentially have the same problem associated with them. Lets not forget that at 0xgangs, someone could have been killed and we would have been thinking about something completely different then. The faults that were found were not down to one or two rogue builders, so the Construction Industry is looking at how to change. The whole industry has to look at the system, and how we can manage that system better than it is indicated at the moment. 82 of the schools have already been fixed but as the repairs continue on the remaining six, the way that public buildings are bought and built in scotla nd buildings are bought and built in scotland is now the subject of review, something that could affect the whole of the uk. Fiona walker, bbc news, glasgow. The headlines on bbc Newsroom Live. The Education Secretary says she will create a new wave of Grammar Schools in england, which are open to ordinary Working Families and not the privileged few. The European Court of human rights rules that russia should have done more to prevent the Beslan School siege in 2004. The Russian Government says it will appeal against the ruling. The families of two more babies who died under the care of the shrewsbury and Telford Hospital trust are calling for their deaths to be included in a government investigation. Despite publicity campaigns, improved fencing and the fact that its illegal, the number of people trespassing on britains railways is at a 10 year high. 8,000 cases were reported last year alone, and most of those venturing onto or near the lines are young people. Incidents double during school holidays. John maguire reports on Network Rails latest safety campaign. It has changed a hell of a lot. It would have been just a field, walking up to a fence. Like i say, walking up, i knew what would be here. I knew what my decision would be. And that would be to come here and jump the fence and take a shortcut home. The passing train serves as a timely reminder of the dangers of simons fateful decision that night 27 years ago, a decision he regrets to this day. My foot went underneath the rail. I could not get my foot out. Literally waiting for a train to come and take my legs off, as it were, really. It seemed like it was a fortnight, but it was only a few minutes. Having lost his leg, simon, always a keen sportsman, took up wheelchair basketball. Its been a major part of his life ever since. He represented britain in seven paralympics, travelled the world, and won a whole host of medals. But still, he wishes he had never gone near the rail line. My life since then has been pretty good. But it came from a tragedy, really, yeah. But right now, yeah, absolutely, id have my leg back 100 . So he is anxious to warn others. Simon realises that night he was both lucky and unlucky. Unfortunate to get hit by the train, but fortunate to escape with his life. Last year, there were 8000 trespass incidents. That is an increase over the year before, and the highest numberfor a decade. So at belle vue bees in east manchester, in common with sports clubs and 100 schools across britain, there are schemes to remind youngsters of the danger. How many football pitches does a train take to stop . 20. A mile and a quarter. Electric, 25,000 volts, never turned off. We all remember that. By going on, it is illegal. Its up to £1,000 as a fine. Numbers double in the easter holidays and other holidays. Despite your best efforts, these figures are still going up. There is more we can do as a community. Projects like this, if we all get involved and each have that conversation with our friends and family, we can stop this. Warnings are consistent, frequent, and for some, deeply personal. Dont mess around with trains. Yeah. Just stay away from the tracks. Because there is only one winner. Only one winner. John maguire, bbc news, milton keynes. The interview we have been telling you about that we are expecting with President Assad of syria, the first one that he has done since the attack in idlib last week, we were expecting it earlier but it has not arrived yet but we hope to get the interview and of course, we will bring you details of that on the news channel as soon as we get it but it has not arrived as quickly as we we re but it has not arrived as quickly as we were expecting, in case you were hanging on to watch that interview so hanging on to watch that interview so do stay with us for that. We should get it a little later this afternoon. Heavy rain and strong winds are hitting new zealands north island, as the tail end of cyclone cook makes landfall. A state of emergency is in place across much of the bay of plenty region, where the storm is coming ashore. Meterologists say it is the worst storm to hit the country in nearly 50 years. Its approach coincides with high tide, raising concerns of a wave surge. Television new zealands will hine reports. Former Civil Defence controller Chuck Edwards knows the ropes. Weve been tying things down. The very first thing to do was what i started last night, to go right round the property and make sure theres nothing loose that could fly. Today is spent preparing, then watching and waiting. Probably id be enjoying a nice cup of tea and looking out the window at the waves coming in. I believe theyre going to be four or five metres. And we can watch them from here safely. They are spectacular. Persistent rain lingered over the peninsula all day. A small hint of what is expected to come. Watchers have kept their eyes on the waves. This morning when i came down, it was coming right up over the barrier. Its getting pretty large. Surfers also on the lookout for a big swell. Isnt it a bit windy to be out surfing . Oh, hell, no. No, no way, its beautiful out here. Yeah, its going to get better as well. But authorities are urging people not to be complacent. Its about to hit, we can feel it coming. And all the indicators are that it will be at least 100 kph wins. Intensive rain, and probably between now and nine oclock, maybe 100 millilitres, maybe more. Going through to midnight. Ruralfire brigades from across the region have been mobilised to help with the voluntary evacuation. Residents of low lying areas told to get to higher ground. I have a high degree of confidence that we have got to as many people as we possibly could to leave the peninsula or go to safe ground or to go to family and friends. And there is evidence of their success. Power kosei had a noticeable decrease in power use since the evacuation message went out. The ferry cancelled afternoon sailings. No reason not to come down here for easter. The weather is going to be fine. Hopes high the weather will pass quickly, allowing something to be salvaged of the easter break. A missing link in the evolution of dinosaurs has been discovered at the National History museum in london. It came about after scientists there found a lost fossil which had been forgotten for decades. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh has more. This is how we imagine dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the very last of them. The first evolved 230 million years ago from crocodile like creatures which walked on four legs. This is a skull of the mighty tyrannosaurus rex, one of the most fearsome creatures to walk the planet. The very first dinosaurs were much smaller about the size of a chicken. One of the biggest questions is how these creatures first emerged. What we are looking at now is the skeleton of one individual animal. The answer lies in the fossil of this animal, called teleocrater. Analysis of its bones suggests it had many dinosaur traits, such as a small head and a long, slender neck and long legs. But also some crocodile like features, such as the structure of its ankles. This is what it looked like. Although it is not a direct ancestor, it gives the best indication yet of how the first dinosaurs evolved. In many ways, this animal is a missing link between dinosaurs and crocodiles, and shows how some of the features that were previously just appeared in dinosaurs actually first evolved. So, for example, dinosaurs start off as two legged animals, whereas most of their ancestors seem to be four legged. This animal helps show how some of that transition between a four legged, crocodile like animal and a two legged dinosaur actually happened. The discovery, published in thejournal nature, fills a critical gap in the fossil record and shows that some dinosaur features evolved much earlier than previously thought. Palla b pallab ghosh, bbc news. Police officers were given the run around in london yesterday by a very unusual suspect. A pig caused chaos when it escaped and trotted through Lunchtime Traffic on the streets of redbridge. A jogger had to dodge the animal, who seemed to take a liking to his fluorescent clothing. A Police Spokesman said the pig was eventually recaptured and returned to its owner. Not sure what it was doing in the middle of a london street but we will try to find out. In a moment, the news at one. First, the weather. Good afternoon, a bit of a mix of weather types, sunshine, patchy cloud and one or two showers on the cards but for the majority of places, looking drive. This was the scene in surrey, taken by our Weather Watchers earlier. Another picture from further north in West Yorkshire and you can see a bit more cloud finch filtering into northern and western parts of the uk, bringing one or two showers. The scene in West Yorkshire, captured by another one of our Weather Watchers. Cloud towards the north and west continuing to progress further south and east as we had through the afternoon. Some scattered showers across North Western part of the uk, and further south, it is more likely to stay dry. At about 4pm, spells of sunshine across the likes of dorset, for instance, towards the london region. A bit cloudy with one or two showers in the midlands, 10 degrees or so showers in the midlands, 10 degrees orso in birmingham. Afairly showers in the midlands, 10 degrees or so in birmingham. A fairly cool and fresh fields of the weather but many places looking drive. A bit of patchy rain at times across the north west of Northern Ireland, and showers in scotland continuing to push through central and into eastern part as we had through the afternoon. A north west, south east split with the driest weather towards the south and east. As we had through the overnight period into good friday morning tomorrow, you will start to see a bit more patchy rain working into northern and western parts of the country. Further south should stay predominantly dry. How is easter weekend shaping up . A bit on the cool side with lots of sunny and dry weather but also some rain around. Some uncertainty about exact detail. It looks like an good friday, the rain will affect parts of Northern Ireland, wales, the midlands and Northern England at times, particularly later in the day. To the north, some sunshine and scattered showers across scotland. Towards the south and south east, you should stay predominantly drive through good friday, with temperatures up to around 16 degrees. Heading through into saturday, cold fronts work their way out towards the south east and we have got a ridge of High Pressure trying to build. Not a bad day on saturday, quite a good deal of dry weather, some sunshine on offer, still a north westerly breeze, so temperatures between 9 15, but quite a lot of usable weather. 0n easter sunday, we are set to see a bit of rainfor sunday, we are set to see a bit of rain for Northern Ireland and wales, perhaps central and Northern England. To the south, dryer, and. President trump says relations between the us and russia may be at an all time low. His comments follow russias continued support for President Assad after the chemical weapons attack it led to the us bombing a syrian airfield. Thats a butcher, thats a butcher. So i felt we had to do something about it. I have absolutely no doubt we did the right thing. With tensions rising over syria, well be asking what the us is likely to do next. Also this lunchtime. The Education Secretary defends her plans for new selective Grammar Schools in england, saying theyll be truly open to all. The terror attack on the Borussia Dortmund Football Team bus theres criticism of uefa for forcing players back on the pitch too soon. I know we earn a lot of money and we have a privileged life. But we are human beings