what are they doing to try and make sure that classes start as planned next week, rowan? it sure that classes start as planned next week, rowan?— sure that classes start as planned next week, rowan? it really depends on where you — next week, rowan? it really depends on where you are _ next week, rowan? it really depends on where you are in _ next week, rowan? it really depends on where you are in the _ next week, rowan? it really depends on where you are in the country - next week, rowan? it really depends on where you are in the country and i on where you are in the country and what sort of situation your school is facing. if it is an issue with raac. some of them are bringing in temporary classrooms to put on site. others, where they have had to seal off parts of the school or bits of it, are using other parts of the school. some are using other buildings outside of the school, other community resources to hold lessons in and some, if they are part of a chain of schools, are going to bus pupils between schools so it can have lessons in other schools nearby. but obviously all of thatis schools nearby. but obviously all of that is firstly disruptive and also costly. then you have some pupils where they won't even be going into school, they will be having lessons online, something that we haven't seen since the covid pandemic. and. seen since the covid pandemic. and, rowan, questions _ seen since the covid pandemic. and, rowan, questions are _ seen since the covid pandemic. and, rowan, questions are obviously being asked about why this has happened so late. why a full list of schools hasn't been released just yet and if they have them all, are there school is likely to be affected by this that had not yet been told? yes, so the short answer to that is yes, it's possible. schools were asked to carry out surveys to see whether they have problems with raac, concrete, and the government say not all schools have yet responded with those surveys. so it is possible that other schools may come up with an issue. in terms of the schools themselves, you are right, a list hasn't been published publicly so what we have had is information coming out from parents who have come forward and said they have been contacted by their school or in some places the local council, as happened here in bradford, have said there are schools in the area that are affected. but the government has come under pressure from opposition parties and from trade unions to say, to publish that list, so parents will know whether there schools are affected or not. the government have said if you have not been contact by did your school, don't worry, it probally means you are not affected by it but they could be other schools that are found. the problem is wider than just schools, there are other public buildings that are affected. we have had a few hospitals have been identified this morning as having potential issues with raac concrete. at least one court has had to close so the problem is wider than education. so the problem is wider than education-— so the problem is wider than education. �* , ., , ., education. briefly, what is it about raac that makes _ education. briefly, what is it about raac that makes it _ education. briefly, what is it about raac that makes it dangerous? i raac that makes it dangerous? basically, it is running to the end of its natural life, if you like. it has a life span of 30 years, or a use span of 30 years and this concrete was used up until about the mid 90s. so you have a situation where it is reaching the end of its usable life span, really. it is less structurally resilient than normal reinforced concrete because it has much greater air concentration within the structure of it and that's what makes it a greater risk of crumbling. the issue has been known for a while but it has come to a head in the last week or so because the government said that they have been given new advice over they have been given new advice over the safety of raac in schools and thatis the safety of raac in schools and that is why they have published this advice just before schools are due to go back to say, actually, we thought these buildings where safeties but we have decided as a precautionary measure we don't want you to use and because we don't think they are as safe as we previously thought.- think they are as safe as we previously thought. thank you, rowan. rowan _ previously thought. thank you, rowan. rowan bridge - previously thought. thank you, rowan. rowan bridge in - previously thought. thank you, l rowan. rowan bridge in bingley. previously thought. thank you, - rowan. rowan bridge in bingley. if you look at the bbc website, there is a live page with all the latest information and details, particularly as more buildings are being identified. you can follow along with that on the bbc news website. a court has sentenced two members of the far—right proud boys militia to long prison terms for storming the us capitol building in january 2021. joseph biggs, a former leader of the proud boys, was given 17 years — one of the longest sentences among the hundreds convicted for the capitol attack. prosecutors say biggs was a key figure in the organised attempts to forcibly overturn presidentjoe biden�*s 2020 election victory. another leader, zachary rehl, recieved 15 years. let's hear now from norman pattis, the attorney who represented the proud boys leaderjoseph biggs. after the sentencing he drew the link between his client — and donald trump — let's listen to what he said... i think there is a broader country, a crisis of legitimacy going on in this country right now. if you look at the current presidential race — where's donald trump in all of this? he stood on the ellipse, basically told people — 7a million of his followers — the election�*s stolen, go to the capitol, fight like hell or you won't have a country any more. some people listened to him. were they supposed to know that he was full of hot air and was he full of hot air? i look forward to his trials, i look forward to seeing him testify some day. you know, if your president tells you your country's been stolen, the country that people fought and died for, people are trying to take your vote from you, how are you supposed to react to that? and these people reacted violently and to their detriment. let's put all of that into context now — here's our north america correspondent peter bowes. these are some of the longest sentences imposed on anyone tried and convicted for their involvement in the january 6th attacks. and in the case ofjoe biggs, he was seen as one of the leaders. one of the leaders in the crowd who encouraged people to move into the capitol building, at the very moment that the then vice president, mike pence, was certifying the result of the 2020 election. and we now know that, of course, donald trump had spoken to that crowd earlier in the day. he had discouraged, strongly discouraged, mike pence from certifying the election and encouraged the crowd to move to the capitol building. we know that there have been scores and scores of trials. there are more people to be sentenced and some cases are still on—going. but in the case ofjoe biggs and zachary rehl, they have now been sentenced. both men appeared in court before their sentencing and expressed remorse in the strongest terms. joe biggs, described as one of the instigators of what happened, said that he had been seduced by the crowd, that he said he just moved forward. he said, "my curiosity got the better of me. "i'm not a terrorist. "i don't have hate in my heart." zachary rehl said he regretted involving himself with any of it. he said he let politics consume his life and he lost track of who and what mattered. now, their sentences of 15 and 17 years are significantly less than thejudge could have imposed. in fact, prosecutors were asking for 30 plus years, and the judge explained that he wasn't belittling the level of violence on that day, but that, in effect, he was getting the situation in proportion. that this hadn't been a mass casualty event and that the law existed to punish the worst of the worst, perhaps for longer sentences. so that was his reasoning for imposing the sentences that he did. we also heard from the lawyer representing both of these two men, norman pattis, who questioned why his clients were being punished for this crime of sedition when they had been following the lead of donald trump and, in effect, suggesting that donald trump should also be charged in the same way. but he said he hadn't been by the special prosecutor. in fact, he said it was the very same crime that mr trump had arguably encouraged others to commit. that was peter bowes. earlier we heard from the chair of republican overseas here in the uk, greg swenson — he explained how former president trump could use this situation in his favour. i think it's a good idea thejudge used properly at discretion. i i think it's a good idea the judge used properly at discretion. i think the prosecutions _ used properly at discretion. i think the prosecutions of _ used properly at discretion. i think the prosecutions of these - used properly at discretion. i think the prosecutions of these cases i used properly at discretion. i think i the prosecutions of these cases have been very aggressive but of course if they were anybody that was storming the capital surely deserved to be prosecuted. so i don't think it really taints the republican party. you know, this is a fringe — both groups, the proud boys and and the oath keepers were really fringe groups and surely don't reflect the party in general. does it taint donald trump? because we heard from joseph biggs', attorney there, norman pattis. he said, "how are they supposed to know that mr trump was full of hot air", in his words. he was linking him directly to what happened here. yeah, it's an interesting question. and it remains to be seen whether this really implicates president trump or whether people will think that he's associated with both of these fringe groups. so, you know, that sort of remains to be seen. i think the president so far has has, if anything, used these indictments and, of course, the mug shot last week to his advantage. so, you know, he's got major bumps in the polling from the indictments as well as bumps in fundraising. so i don't know if this will finally be one of the issues that actually affects him negatively. but so far, he's, you know, in many respects taken advantage of the prosecutions. does that concern you? because it shouldn't be that way, should it? no, no, definitely. and i think, i mean, in many respects, it seems like the left and much of the legacy media in the us wants trump to be the candidate. and that's probably, i think, one of the reasons that they've continued with the indictments, is because they really do want him to be the candidate. they assume that president trump is the one candidate that president biden can beat. so, you know, so far, he's taken advantage of it. i think the most obvious was the mug shot. he raised $7 million the next day. you know, i surely hope that the voters will look at the other candidates and notjust remain obsessed with president trump. you know, we should go through a healthy primary and campaigning season. large parts of england are without rail services today, as thousands of train drivers take part in the latest strike in their long—running pay dispute. members of the aslef union have rejected proposals for their pay to increase by 4%, two years in a row, in return for changes to ways of working. drivers will also ban overtime on saturday, coinciding with a strike by the rail, maritime and transport union in its dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. live now to euston station in london where we can speak to mick whelan, the secretary—general of the aslef union. thank you forjoining us. i know by now these are well rehearsed questions and you have well rehearsed answers that remind people who are experiencing disruption today why you are striking once again. well, quite simply, like many people in the country, as key workers, we went to work during the pandemic. we got other key workers to work. the private companies made £500 million and we did not see the pay increase. in year three, like every other worker when the cost of living started to increase and inflation went up, we went and asked for a pay rise. we are now four years without a pay rise and for some of my members as we get to february next year, it will be half a decade without a pay rise. on two occasions we received deceit by the rail delivery group. the first occasion, i have to believe the minister's move when they put out a deal we hadn't seen or negotiated. then they asked us to go back into talks and we set parameters for those talks. all the other things we wanted to talk about we put into various companies because they all attract different values in different terms and conditions are different companies but we sit down with them because we want it to succeed. then they put a deal together with all our red lines in it and set it up to fail. so that is where we are today, still campaigning for a pay rise four years on. still campaigning for a pay rise four years om— still campaigning for a pay rise four years on. still campaigning for a pay rise four earson. �* ., four years on. and you obviously are at euston station _ four years on. and you obviously are at euston station today, _ four years on. and you obviously are at euston station today, far- four years on. and you obviously are at euston station today, far more . at euston station today, far more quiet than it would usually be but you know that commuters, that rail passengers are losing patience and their support is important to you. so what would you say to them when they ask why you've chosen the end of the school holidays for your latest strike? there is no ideal day to pick a strike. you are going to hit a concert or event. i spent my whole life trying to grow this industry, encouraging people onto railways, trying to get fares down. looking for us to be the centre of a green revolution which i believe is necessary for kyoto paris. i don't want to be here today apologising to the passengers once mother what is a political dispute by westminster. we don't have a problem in scotland or wales. we don't have a problem for open access and we have done 14 pay deals in the last 12 months elsewhere. but it is ideological for westminster. the rail minister himself when he gave evidence to the select committee admitted the strikes had cuffed over £1 billion and we could have so let mackay says the dispute several times ever. this is ideological, nothing to do with realisation.— realisation. and what about your members. _ realisation. and what about your members. are — realisation. and what about your members, are any _ realisation. and what about your members, are any suggesting i realisation. and what about your. members, are any suggesting you realisation. and what about your - members, are any suggesting you make further concessions? ha. members, are any suggesting you make further concessions?— further concessions? no. these deals have been rejected. _ further concessions? no. these deals have been rejected. all _ further concessions? no. these deals have been rejected. all our _ further concessions? no. these deals have been rejected. all our members| have been rejected. all our members know what is in those years and they have supported us by giving us mandates again in the ballots we are false to do every six months, 92—96% in favour of strike action. i'm carrying out the wishes of the people behind me who are standing in the rain and losing money. i do what they want me to do. the the rain and losing money. i do what they want me to do.— they want me to do. the fact is it can't continue _ they want me to do. the fact is it can't continue indefinitely. - they want me to do. the fact is it can't continue indefinitely. howl can't continue indefinitely. how many more strikes are you prepared to pull? irate many more strikes are you prepared to ull? ~ ., , .,, many more strikes are you prepared to ull? ~ ., , ., many more strikes are you prepared to ull? ., ., to pull? we will do this as long as our members _ to pull? we will do this as long as our members tell— to pull? we will do this as long as our members tell us _ to pull? we will do this as long as our members tell us that's - to pull? we will do this as long as our members tell us that's what l to pull? we will do this as long as i our members tell us that's what they want us to do. bear in mind, how many years do the workers in these privatised companies, who don't work the government, companies earning hundreds of millions of pounds out of the taxpayer and paying dividends to their shareholders but not paying the british worker to work for them question that there is something wrong in the model somewhere. it is almost five years without a pay rise. do they expect us to go ten? mick whelan, thank you forjoining us. the secretary general of aslef. around the world and round the uk, is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making the news. one of the uk's biggest mortgage lenders say house prices have seen their biggest annual fall since 2009. the figures from nationwide show prices dropped by 5.3% lower than the year before. it said higher borrowing costs for buyers had led to a slowdown in activity in the housing market. concerns are being raised that blood cancer patients are facing round trips of 200 miles or more to access some of their care in argyll. the charity blood cancer uk said vulnerable patients are making long journeys after the loss of some local services in oban. nhs greater glasgow and clyde say virtual consultations are available, but in—person appointments are at a centre in glasgow. a welsh rally has been recognised for its environmental sustainability by formula one's governing body. race organisers said it's the first event to fully offset the emissions of all competing vehicles. it is the only uk rally to receive fia's environmental accreditation, two years in a row. you're live with bbc news. south africa's president cyril ramaphosa has called for urgent action to tackle the problems of housing in inner—city areas — after 7a people died in a fire injohannesburg. the cause of the blaze has not yet been established. it's been claimed that many of the residents were migrants, who were renting rooms from criminal gangs who had taken over the former industrial building. our africa correspondent catherine byaruhanga has more. this is turning out to be one of their worst residential fires in south african history and that is why the president had to go there literally on the same day to commiserate with the families of the victims who died in this fire. he has called for an investigation into what happened and that is because this building was owned by the city authorities, so there are questions as to how it was allowed to be so how do meat run down and turned into this informal settlement. as you mentioned, these were people who are desperate for any kind of shelter, so you had migrants and refugees from different parts of africa who had come to south africa hoping for a betterfuture. but he had come to south africa hoping for a better future. but he also had come to south africa hoping for a betterfuture. but he also had south africans themselves, people who had fallen on hard times or couldn't afford proper housing. and affordable accommodation is a huge issue in south africa. it is estimated there are around 15,000 people who are homeless in johannesburg itself and president ramaphosa was saying this really was a wake—up call to try and resolve this issue. we have also been hearing from people who are trapped in the midst of this fire. some of the survivors talk about having to jump the survivors talk about having to jump from balconies, windows of the building to get to safety. there are parents who are struggling to get out. one mother managed to save one of her children but the other unfortunately passed away. the death toll at the moment stands at around 74, that toll at the moment stands at around 7a, that is toll at the moment stands at around 74, that is 74 people and 12 of them are children. this really has been a tragedy for south africa and other families on the continent. that was catherine byaruhanga. _ india's supreme court is currently hearing an important case about the legality of the revocation of indian—administered kashmir�*s special status in 2019. since the change, which gave the indian national government political control of kashmir, journalists say the administration is carrying out a systematic and sinister campaign of arrests and intimidation aimed at silencing the press in the region. the indian government says there is absolute press freedom in kashmir. our south asia correspondent yogita limaye reports. this is the kashmir india's government wants the world to see. beautiful, serene. full of tourists. away from sight is the more grim picture. a painful, long running conflict. more recently, a clampdown on democratic rights. journalists who can bring out people's voices and ground realities say they're now being silenced by the government. asif sultan, a kashmiri reporter, pictured here at one of his court hearings. he's been injailforfive years, charged under terror laws. his father, mohammad, says asif was targeted for this article he wrote about an anti—india militant. translation: everyone knows he's innocent. i he's a professional reporter and was jailed for his writing about the militancy. they wanted to make an example out of him so otherjournalists don't dare to cover topics the government doesn't approve of. at the time of his arrest, asif�*s daughter wasjust six—months—old. areeba might have been reunited with her father when he was given bail last year. but on the day of his release, new charges were brought. asif was kept in jail. it's part of a troubling pattern. journalist sajjad gul, jailed for criminal conspiracy. well—known magazine editor farhad shah arrested on terrorism charges. whenever they are granted bail, new cases of file to keep them in custody. most recently, irfan mehraj, who's worked with international outlets, jailed for alleged links to terrorfunding. this complex, which now houses an office of the kashmir police, until last year, this is where kashmir�*s press club used to be — the main body in the region which used to stand up for the rights ofjournalists. last year, it was shut down by the government, and in its absence, journalists say they have nowhere to turn to if they feel threatened. and it isn'tjustjailing. we've heard of other forms of intimidation. dozens ofjournalists in this region are on no fly lists, prevented from leaving the country. dozens ofjournalists have not had their passports renewed. we've spoken to 20 journalists on the ground, each of whom have told us that they've been called by the police and questioned about stories that they've done or social media posts that they've put out. this reporter told us about one such experience. he doesn't want to be identified, fearing reprisal. i started getting calls from the police over a story i had written. they kept asking why i had done it. then i was questioned in person. they told me they know everything about me and my family, which felt very scary. i kept thinking, would i be arrested or harmed physically? and what impact has that had on yourjournalism? instead of thinking about whether i have enough facts in a report, i worry more about whether it will land me in trouble. we are all self—censoring. there is an attempt to silence the press in kashmir once and for all. mostjournalists told us they fear reprisal by the state. but in a conflict between indian forces and underground militant outfits, some say there are other dangers too. i spoke to a journalist who received threats from an insurgent group. working as a journalist in kashmir is like walking on a razor�*s edge. there are threats from all sides. i'm constantly afraid of a bullet coming at me and that no—one will ever find out who fired that. the impact onjournalism is evident when you look at the papers on any given day. the front pages are pretty much full of statements from either the national government or the regional administration. there are lots of soft stories, but there's barely any journalism in here holding the government to account. we asked the police and the regional administration to respond to the allegations made byjournalists who spoke to us. they haven't replied. in press statements, the administrative head of the region has insisted that there's absolute press freedom in kashmir. what we found belies the claims. on ground in kashmir, press freedom has all but been eroded. yogita limaye, bbc news, srinagar. president biden is to visit florida on saturday — to visit communities damaged by hurricane idalia. the storm system has now passed into the atlantic, after making its way across florida, georgia and south carolina — causing severe flooding. three people are reported to have died in traffic incidents related to the hurricane, but the damage appears to have been less severe than some had feared. and finally this hour — a story about a big cheese... it's record—breaking. the huge delicacy was made in a mexican village in the southern state of chiapas — and it weighed in at 558 kilogrammes. it required eighty chefs and around 6,000 litres of milk to make it... stay with us on bbc news. hello there. the 1st of september and meteorologically speaking, the first day of autumn. now, this morning, it may have felt a bit autumnal for some of us. we had some mist and fog out there first thing this morning, but that's pretty much now cleared away. and we're looking at some fine weather for the rest of today. low pressure yesterday brought us some outbreaks of rain, but higher pressure builds in as we go through the weekend and indeed into the start of next week as well. what does that mean? well, it means for most of us, it's going to be dry. there will be some lengthy spells of sunshine and it's going to turn warmer as well. but for the rest of today, still some cloud across northern ireland, southern scotland, the far north northeast of england. a few spots of rain here, showers developing elsewhere across england and wales in between some sunshine. largely dry across scotland this afternoon and maximum temperatures, 17, 18 degrees here, up to about 20 to 23 celsius in the south east of england. now, through this evening tonight, any of those showers will tend to fade away. and then really most of us looking at some clear skies, but beneath those clear skies, there'll be some patches of mist and fog forming. quite a mild night for england and wales, 12 to 14, a bit chillier across scotland, especially in the countryside. temperatures down into fairly low single figures. so saturday morning, yes, we might wake up to some mist and fog, but that will generally clear away. and for most it's a dry day with that sunshine, a few showers across south wales and through southern areas of england, those will be very isolated though. for most it'll stay dry and it's a touch warmer. so saturday afternoon, 21 to 24 degrees on sunday, almost a repeat performance, one or two patches, mist and fog. there will be further cloud moving its way into the far north and northwest of scotland. some outbreaks of rain here, most though dry, sunny and warm and temperatures widely in the low to mid twenties. a bit chillier, though, where you've got the cloud and outbreaks of rain. now, this is the jet stream. we've been talking about this a lot in the weather recently. it's been positioned across the uk, giving us rain. as we go through in the next few days, it's arching to the north of the uk and that allows warmer air to spread in from the south. so into next week, look at this, plenty of fine and sunny weather around. temperatures potentially in the mid to high twenties, maybe 30 celsius the middle of next week, before a bit more unsettled by friday. bye bye. this is bbc news. the headlines... public calls for the government to "come clean" on the number of school buildings built with concrete prone to collapse. two far—right proud boys militia have been sentenced to long prison terms for storming the us capitol building injanuary 2021. and south africa's present stresses that inner—city problems are a wake—up call after the deadly fire injohannesburg. let's get more now on our top story this hour as let's get more now on our top story this hour as in england, the government is facing calls to "come clean" about the scale of the problems facing school buildings, after some were forced to close because they were made with concrete prone to collapse. schools minister, nick gibb told bbc breakfast the government was acting on expert advice in 2018 which has now been changed making urgent action, critical. theyissued they issued a warning in 2018 over a school in kent. that triggered a warning about raac. more guidance was put out in 2021—22 about raac and the expert advice was that if it is not in a critical condition and then it's ok to continue to use rooms that