we hear of reports spanning 60 years questioning the integrity of the concrete material causing school closures. were opportunities to solve the problem missed? good evening. it's a frightening prospect. according to the government, more than 50 schools in england have buildings that are risk of sudden collapse, and others may be forced to close. at least 156 schools are affected so far, but the full list isn't being made public. all this just days before the start of term. the problem is this — reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, otherwise known as raac. it's lightweight, has a bubbly consistency, and was used widely in buildings between the 19505 and �*905. it's usually found in roofs and walls and it's cheaper, but weaker than traditional concrete. 0ur education editor, branwenjeffreys, has our top story. these gates will be closed next week. "it is shocking and disappointing" — that's what this small essex primary has written to parents. next week, children will start the school year online. hayley�*s had to get last—minute childcare for her son. the build—up to go tojuniors has been quite stressful for him, and then to turn round and say, "oh, rhys, you're not starting school next week" has been a bit heartbreaking. just in essex, 50 school buildings are affected, raac concrete now considered a threat to children's safety. parents asking today why the warning is so last—minute. it just seems a bit frustrating because itjust seemed to be, like, last second that they decided to go, oh, no, the building's not safe, it's not sound or anything, and we have to give it another week or so. it will be difficult _ because she's only six, yeah? so to have her another, like, four days, five days- just sitting in there, it will be hard. - at the other end of the country, in cumbria, this secondary school will delay opening by one day, while it works around the affected areas. the raac concrete is limited to four small corridor areas in school and all of those classrooms serviced by those corridors do have access through other rooms. so we are able to operate all of our classrooms from the start of term. the dangers of raac in public buildings have been known for years. injuly 2018, a school roof collapsed without warning. may 2019, an expert committee issued an alert on raac. in 2020, a promise to remove all raac from the nhs. 2021, school building safety was rated "critical" by the department for education. and in march 2022, schools were asked to check for raac. less than half had responded by this summer. some schools have been dealing with this for months but until yesterday, urgent action was only taken if the concrete was in a critical condition. what we learnt over the summer was that there are a number of cases in schools but also in non—school buildings and in england and outside england where raac that we previously thought was safe or low—risk actually has failed. so we took swift action to change the guidance yesterday. the new techniques have produced i better schools more quickly and more cheaply than ever before... in the 19605, cheap building materials delivered new schools. but now, some are dealing with a crumbling legacy. spending on school buildings in england has fallen sharply and is below government estimates of what is needed for repairs. in scotland, similar challenges over raac, 35 schools confirmed today. here too, temporary classrooms are in place. wales and northern ireland are carrying out urgent surveys. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. this type of concrete hasn'tjust been used to build schools. so where else could be affected? tom symonds has been finding out. the work keeps coming in for this structural engineering firm in welwyn garden city. demands for inspections on schools and even private houses because of worries about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. so, warren, i have to say, this reminds me a bit of a well—known chocolate bar. it certainly does. i wouldn't like to name it but as you can see, it is full of air bubbles. it has no major aggregate as you can see normal concrete does. yeah, this is pretty solid. whereas this is a lot weaker and can easily be shown by doing that. wow. raac concrete, light and versatile, was perfect for the roofs and floors of post—war buildings. but by the late �*905, experts noticed it was showing signs of wearing out but concluded, generally, the deterioration of raac planks may not jeopardise structural safety. it needed keeping an eye on. could this stuff be safe if it was properly managed? yes. the investigation into this is a staged approach. it is very simple. is it there? yes. if it is there, we can look to see the condition of it. if we know what the condition is and if it is in good condition and it has stood up for 30 years,ask the question, why should it fall down? but if you don't do that inspection or didn't start doing that inspection when this first came to light in 2018, this is what happens. is that what you are saying? we are playing catch—up. the current disruption to schools is a direct result of playing catch—up. this is the sort of thing the inspections may discover, in which case, shutting down is inevitable. and the government is still scrambling to work out what other buildings are affected. no one ever kept a register because no one keeps a national register of any material. and so we don't know where it all is and it's difficult to find because it looks on the outside like normal concrete. so there is a big challenge to identify where it all is, as a country. 2a hospitals have similar problems, like this one in cambridgeshire, now shored up against collapses. but the nhs commissioned research in 2020 and has already taken action. government sources say six buildings belonging to the court service are still affected, including harrow crown court in north—west london, now shut. inevitably, there will be more closures. the more they look for crumbling concrete, the more they'll find. tom symonds, bbc news, welling garden city. let's hear from branwyn again who's with me. a lot of questions out there. are we ever going to hit the full list of the buildings they have identified so far and who will pay for replacing these buildings? the government — replacing these buildings? tue: government has replacing these buildings? tte: government has said it will not give a full list of the schools until all of the parents have been told directly by the individual schools and any measures that are needed immediately put in place. but of course the number of schools that are identified is going to keep growing because and more surveys are being done, checks are still being carried out so there is growing political pressure for greater transparency with labour and the lib dems calling for england's education secretary, gillian keegan, to face mps next week and make a statement and answer questions, including publishing that list. as for the cost, immediate costs like temporary classrooms, temporary toilets or props for ceilings, the government has said it will pay for that in england but to replace these schools or replace the buildings is going to be a much bigger bill and for that schools are going to simply have too joined the queue asking for funding for rebuilding. tqm. joined the queue asking for funding for rebuilding.— for rebuilding. 0k, thank you, branwen jeffreys, _ for rebuilding. 0k, thank you, branwen jeffreys, our - for rebuilding. 0k, thank you, i branwen jeffreys, our education branwen jeffreys, our education editor. and if you head to the bbc website, you can find all your questions answered on the story. in the last few minutes it's been confirmed that the controverisal egyptian businessman mohamed al—fayed has died. he was 94. the news was confirmed by the football club he used to own, fulham fc. as the former owner of harrods, he courted the british establishment, befriended the royalfamily and longed for uk citizenship. his son dodi, died alongside princess diana in a car crash in paris, in 1997. daniela relph looks back at his life. mohamed al—fayed, once the proud owner of harrods, the world's most famous department store, who yearned to be part of the british establishment. born in egypt, he married the sister of billionaire arms dealer adnan khashoggi, and built a business empire. he bought the ritz hotel in paris, and defeated the lonrho group in the battle to buy harrods. lonrho's chief executive, tiny rowland, demanded an inquiry, which found mohamed al—fayed had exaggerated his wealth and background. successive governments refused him british citizenship. you think this is fair from the home secretary, to behave in a way to someone like me, who has given employment to thousands of people, having four british kids. itjust shows what type of people infiltrate in the political life and give us such grief. revenge was swift. two conservative ministers, neil hamilton and tim smith, left the government, accused of taking cash to ask questions in the commons. another, jonathan aitken, resigned after mohamed al—fayed revealed that he'd stayed free of charge at the ritz in paris at the same time as saudi arms dealers. he went on to buy fulham football club and courted the royal family. when his son, dodi, began a relationship with diana, princess of wales, it seemed mohamed al—fayed had finally won a place at the highest levels of british society. but when dodi and diana were killed in paris, he insisted they'd been murdered by mi6. the claims were investigated by the police, and a coroner, and found to be without substance. outside the court, he clung to conspiracy theories. the evidence doesn't back you up, does it, mr al—fayed? what evidence? i'm not talking to you, because you are bloody idiot, you are part of the establishment, and journalists belong... you work for mi6, you idiot. combative and increasingly embittered, mohamed al—fayed spent so many of his later years determined to destroy an establishment he'd once been so keen to join. mohamed al—fayed, who's died aged 94. in america, four members of the far—right group the proud boys, who are staunch supporters of donald trump, have been given long prison terms for their role in the storming of the capitol building in washington, in 2021. a leader of the group, ethan nordean, has been given an 18—year sentence. sarah smith reports from washington. there's probably about 300 proud boys. they're marching... thousands of people marched on the capitol onjanuary 6th, 2021. the violence that followed has already led to hundreds of convictions, with the longest sentences going to the people who coordinated and organised the riot. the neo—facist proud boys saw themselves as donald trump's foot soldiers, prepared to use force to stopjoe biden being certified as president. ethan nordean, in the baseball cap, and joseph biggs in the checkjacket, took charge of the proud boys on that day, using a radio to coordinate and move their men. they've both been convicted of seditious conspiracy. nordean has received one of the longest sentences related to the january the 6th riots, 18 years in prison. crowd chant: we want trump! we want trump! _ donald trump had invited his supporters to come to washington and to march towards congress, using language many believed encourage the violence that followed. we fight. we fight like hell, and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country any more. joseph biggs sobbed in court and begged for leniency before he was sentenced to 17 years in jail. his lawyer blames the former president. where is donald trump in all of this? he basically told people, 7a million of his followers, the election is stolen, go to the capitol, fight like hell or you won't have a country any more. some people listen to him. dominic pezzola can be clearly seen smashing a window in congress, which then ignited the invasion of the building. he's been sentenced to ten years in prison. in a debate withjoe biden — before the 2020 election — donald trump refused to condemn racist violence and name—checked the proud boys. the proud boys, stand back and stand by. the proud boys�* leader, enrique tarrio, will be sentenced next week. donald trump himself is now facing two criminal prosecutions related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. if he is convicted, he also could be facing a lengthyjail sentence. sarah smith, bbc news, washington. here, a tiktok influencer and her mother have been jailed for life for the murder of two men who died after their car was rammed off the road following a high—speed chase. mahek bukhari and her mother, ansreen bukhari, killed saqib hussain and hashim ijazzudin in february last year. it happened after mr hussain had threatened to expose an affair with ansreen bukhari. navtej johal has that story. mother and daughter, best friends... who are you? who are we? ..and murderers. mahek bukhari wanted to be known as a tiktok influencer. but along with her mother, ansreen bukhari, she is now notorious. the pair were convicted last month of killing 21—year—old saqib hussain and hashim ijazuddin. ansreen bukhari had been in a three—year—long affair with saqib hussain. when it broke down, he threatened to expose the relationship to the 46—year—old's husband and son by sending them sexually explicit videos of bukhari. that was when she and her daughter hatched a plot, with the help of others, to seize saqib hussain�*s phone containing the material, in a meeting at this tesco car park in leicester in february last year. but the meeting turned into a fatal car chase, when saqib and his friend hashim ijazuddin were killed when their car was rammed off the road. at leicester crown court, the defendants — found guilty of murder — were handed life sentences. mahek bukhari was given a minimum term of 31 years and eight months. her mother was ordered to serve at least 26 years and nine months. rekan karwa, on the left, was jailed for 26 years and ten months, and raees jamal, who is also serving a rape sentence, was sentenced to 36 years. sanaf gulamustafa, natasha akhtar and ameerjamal were found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 1a years and nine months, 11 years and eight months, and 1a years and eight months, respectively. all of the defendants had the time they spent on remand deducted from their sentences. the fact that they are locked behind bars is clearly a relief. however, there is no realjustice because my beloved baby brother will never come back. while she waited for a verdict last month, mahek bukhari appeared relaxed, playing board games at court and even waving and laughing at reporters outside, hours before she was found guilty. but she spent much of her time this morning in the dock in tears, as her victims�* families described her and the other killers as "vile humans" and asked them, "was it worth it?". navteonhal, bbc news, leicester. india's supreme court is considering challenges to how indian—administered kashmir is run. the region has seen decades of unrest, and four years ago india's government took direct political control. since then, india's security forces have been accused of a campaign of arrests and intimidation against journalists covering the conflict. india and pakistan both claim the kashmir region and each control part of it. the area under india's control has seen a separatist insurgency that's claimed thousands of lives. now india is accused of cracking down on those reporting on it. the bbc has spoken to dozens ofjournalists with stories of serious abuse. 0ur south asia correspondent, yogita limaye, reports from srinagar. 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. and journalists say those reporting on the realities of the situation are now being silenced. asif sultan, a kashmiri reporter, pictured here at one of his court hearings. he's been injailforfive years, charged under terror laws. his father, muhammad, says asif was targeted for this article he wrote about an anti—india militant. translation: everyone knows he's innocent. - 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 was just six months old. ariba 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 are filed to keep them in custody. most recently, irfan meraj, 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 of journalists. 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. translation: 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 the ground in kashmir, press freedom has all but been eroded. yogita limaye, bbc news, srinagar. the highest storm alert is in force in hong kong as super typhoon saola, with wind speeds of over 115 miles an hour, passes over the south china sea. millions of people are in its path. this satellite imagery shows the hurricane bearing down on south—eastern china, and close behind it is tropical storm haikui, over there on the right, which is expected to strengthen into a typhoon by sunday. 800,000 people have been evacuated in china's guangdong province amid heavy flooding. thousands of train drivers have been on strike again today, leaving large parts of england without services. members of the aslef union have been involved in a long running dispute over pay. tomorrow, in a separate strike, rail workers will walk out from 1a different train companies, cutting services in half. journeys into scotland and wales will be affected. meanwhile, the future of station ticket offices is under scrutiny. hundreds could close in england, with a public consultation ending at midnight. our transport correspondent katy austin has the latest. a ticket office in surrey open for business today, but for how much longer? under pressure from the government to cut costs, train companies say ticket—buying habits have changed and they want to use staff differently. a public consultation has received at least half a million responses. i buy them on an app, but i understand that there's a lot of people locally who don't have access to that app. personally, it wouldn't make a difference to how i travel, but i understand there are a lot of people who do rely on that, who might not have a smartphone. sometimes i go to the ticket machine land i won't be sure of what actuallyl the best combination is, because i want to take l a slightly awkward route, or something like that, l and the person at the ticket office will obviously help me. _ disability groups have raised concerns that not having ticket offices could make travel harder. i think it will make it absolutely impossible. it makes one more isolated. well, i always have trouble with machines because i personally have a tremor. we appreciate that there are very real concerns, and this whole process is designed to address those issues individually, at individual stations, ratherthanjust being a national referendum about ticket offices. passenger watchdogs will now assess rail users' feedback. the department for transport insists no final decisions have been made. also today, there's another major strike on the railway — this time, by train drivers in the aslef union. many parts of the country have no services at all today. this is one of the stations that's completely closed. | so anything that we don't sell, j it's unfortunately thrown away. five minutes down the road, the organisers of this beer festival say the timing is devastating. a lot of our people come from quite a distance. i so far, we've sold about 50% - of the tickets that we would expect to at this stage, and we're not that l optimistic that it's going to boost. | aslef has warned more walk—outs could lie ahead. i believe inevitably, there will be more action, but this action is driven as a reaction to how we've been treated by our employers, a reaction to how we're being treated by this government. we have no choice. the government and the industry continue to call for aslef members to get a vote on the latest offer — 4% pay rises two years in a row in exchange for changes to working arrangements. there's more disruption tomorrow with another rmt strike. the rmt and the train companies are in touch again, but no sign so far of a significant breakthrough. katy austin, bbc news. the football transfer window closes for english clubs in about half an hour, bringing to an end another record—breaking round of deals. premier league clubs have spent more than £2 billion in all this summer. moises caicedo and declan rice commanded the highest price, being sold to chelsea and arsenal for more than £100 million each. but today's big story was a transfer that didn't happen, with liverpool rejecting a bid of £150 million for their star, mohamed salah, from the saudi arabia pro league. here's nesta mcgregor. manchester city are champions of england again! their hands on the trophy for the third year running, big—spending manchester city doing the business on the pitch thanks to the good business done in the boardroom. in trying to keep up, rivals including chelsea have also had to splash the cash. a new manager and a squad of new players. the £115 million deal on moises caicedo a british transfer record. and it's notjust chelsea. in fact, thanks to spending across the premier league this year has seen a record amount spent by clubs. but while clubs are spending to make an immediate impact, they must do so under rules designed to protect their own futures. simply put, a club cannot spend more than it makes and if those financial rules are broken, something manchester city have been accused of but deny, there could be serious implications. it has certainly been an extraordinary window, something that i don't think any of us as analysts really expected to see. really, the sustainability is down to what revenue the clubs can generate and they are probably gambling a little bit on making sure that they continue competing at the top level and we might have to see a bit of a retrace next year. selling players is of course one way to balance the books. harry kane swapped the premier league for germany in joining bayern munich. then there has been the impact of the emerging pro league in saudi arabia. the country aiming to change the footballing landscape, already tempting huge names from top european clubs. liverpool's mo salah the latest target. we are a little bit surprised by the activity from saudi arabia but it happened a lot and a lot of players went there and it improves the league there definitely. it feels rather like a threat or a concern. the contracts cause problems definitely. the premier league may well be looking over its shoulder but there is still significant distance between its spending power, the rest of europe or the middle east. with the transfer window about to close, now comes the pressure of transferring the hard work done in the boardroom to producing results on the pitch. nesta mcgregor, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. stav�*s here. that "it is perhaps unfortunate the term concrete was used." so says a report from 1961.