06/03/2016 BBC News at Ten

One of the big six energy suppliers, Npower, is to cut a fifth

2,500 jobs are to go, with the north of England likely

Thank you for your rather and thank you for just being you. -- your

love. Farewell to a First Lady -

Nancy Reagan has died Boris Johnson says British

sovereignty is not possible within the EU and calls a Leave vote

a golden opportunity. Five years on from the first

anti-government protests in Syria, we chart the war and

the hope for peace. And reunited in a blaze of glory -

Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish triumph

at the World Cycling Championships. The energy giant Npower has

announced plans to cut 2,500 jobs - It's one of Britain's biggest gas

and electricity suppliers, with nearly five million customers,

but has been hit by losses at its parent company and fines

over its customer service. Most of the jobs lost are expected

to be in the north of England. Our business correspondent

Joe Lynam reports. We are standing up for customers at

Npower. It has been a torrid year, and now the our is shedding 2500

staff. We spoke to a telesales employee in County Durham.

The trade union representing some Npower employees blames lack of

investment. Most of our members spend their days working very hard

serving customers, but without the right systems, the right investment

in place, that is a very difficult job to do. They are trying very hard

and they have been kicked in the teeth with the news today. Npower

has a lock on its plate. It posted losses of ?48 million for the first

nine months of last year and lost 200,000 customers to rivals in that

time. It was fined a record ?26 million by the energy regulator

Ofgem for not treating customers fairly. It has struggled to keep up

with nimble, smaller competitors. It shows a further significant change

in the way the energy market works in the UK. Over the last year or

two, we have seen a huge increase in independent suppliers in the market,

and market share of customers has moved from 5% a year or two ago to

15-20%, so this could be an indication of how the big six have

to react to the smaller competitors. A major shake-up of the entire

energy sector is set to be announced which should make things far more

transparent for consumers and enable them to switch much easier. All

energy companies have been suffering Golden League as oil prices have

plunged by 75% over the last year and a half. Shares in their German

parent company RWE have halved. They will tell us whether losses in jobs

will be and the extent of the problems in the company.

The former American First Lady Nancy Reagan has died in California

She was at the side of Ronald Reagan throughout his two terms

in the White House and devoted to him over the course

Our correspondent James Cook looks back on her life.

She's been my First Lady since long before the White House.

It was a marriage made for the silver screen.

What are you going to do after the war?

The romance had begun in Hollywood, where the pair met as minor actors,

even appearing together in this film.

But by the time her husband became President,

Nancy Reagan was ready for her starring role.

She was accused of interfering in staff matters and was ridiculed

for consulting an astrologer after her husband was shot.

She urged the American youth to say no to drugs. It's time we in America

stand up and replace those dreams. At times it felt like she was

writing the script for her husband, like this prompt when he lost his

way at a press conference. Doing everything we can. Doing everything

we can. When it turned out that his memory loss was due to Alzheimer's,

the nation began to understand and sympathise. Each day brings another

reminder of this very long goodbye. And so, after the heartbreak of her

husband's death, she argued in favour of using embryos for stem is

research, putting her at odds with many in the Republican party.

President Obama change the law, she insisted countless people would

benefit. The former first lady will be buried next to her husband at the

Ronald Reagan presidential library in California. Nancy, said her

stepson, is once again with the man she loved.

At least 47 people have been killed in a suicide attack at a crowded

checkpoint in the Iraqi city of Hilla.

So-called Islamic State has claimed responsibility

Iraqi police officers and civilians were among the dead -

The Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson has said

he decided to campaign to leave the EU because the Prime Minister's

reforms did not return sovereignty from Brussels to the UK.

He said he had considered supporting a reform deal that included this,

but that government lawyers said it was unworkable.

Our political correspondent Alex Forsyth reports.

Two weeks ago, he grabbed headlines by saying he wanted out of the EU.

One of the few politicians with reach beyond Westminster,

Boris Johnson's endorsement was a boost to the Leave campaign.

Today, in his first full broadcast interview since,

he shed more light on why he is opposing colleagues,

We were told we were going to get wholesale changes.

Anybody looking at the agreement we have before us now will be

in no doubt that this is not fundamental reform.

David Cameron spent months negotiating changes to the EU

Among other things, he won the right for countries to club together

and block EU ideas, and the UK is not committed

But for Boris Johnson, this doesn't address his concern

He claims a deal which would have curbed the power of European

Finally, we had some language that seemed to have some bite,

We went back to the Government lawyers, and the Government

They are due to deliver plans to boost sovereignty soon.

They say Leave campaigners like Boris Johnson are just trying

to dodge tough questions on what Out would look like and its impact

on things like the single market, designed to ease

Tell me, are we going to be in it or not in it?

And if we're not going to be in it, are we going to negotiate a similar

We're going to have our own British arrangements, which will give us

access to the rest of the European Union.

Would we be able to trade freely with that territory?

But some big EU players warn the UK cannot have it all if it

TRANSLATION: Of course there are countries within Europe

that are part of the single market, but they still have to pay

into the budget of the community and accept the free

So actually they have all the disadvantages of the common

market and they are not involved in the decision-making process.

So far, this campaign has been dominated by claim

Boris Johnson's role is closely watched because he's a big

personality, but also due to his rivalry with the Prime

The consequences of this referendum will be felt by the country,

but also by the Conservative Party and the Government.

Alex Forsyth joins me in the studio now.

Some news in the last half hour that John Longworth,

the director general of the British Chambers

That's right, they have taken a nude. Is on the referendum because

their members are split. However last week John Longworth publicly

expressed his view that the UK prospects were better served outside

the EU, and as a consequence he was suspended. There were accusations

that pressure had been put on the BCC by those campaigning to stay in

the EU, including Downing Street, which has flatly denied it. In the

last half an hour, we have had confirmation that John Longworth has

resigned. A statement from the British Chambers of commerce's

president said that no politician or interest group had any influence on

the decision to suspend John Longworth. There will be an interim

director in the short-term. Thank you.

Five years ago this month, protests against the regime

of Bashar al-Assad began in the southern Syrian

The regime soon responded with violence, triggering

an escalation into the civil war that has now cost the lives

More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes.

All this week, the five year milestone will be marked by BBC

News, beginning tonight with our Chief International

Correspondent Lyse Doucet in Damascus.

We are in Damascus in a country where an informal truce, a cessation

of hostilities, came into force nine days ago. Ever since then, almost

every day, violations have been reported by every side. It doesn't

include extremist groups like the so-called Islamic State. But however

partial and imperfect this truce is, these last nine days have been the

quietest that most Syrians have seen in years. In Damascus now, the day

dawns with something new. Calm. Gone, the rumble of warplanes

heading to suburbs. Gone, the thud of mortars landing here. Spring

arrives just in time for this rare moment of quiet. Syrians savour it,

as fragile as it is. The parks filled with picnics and play.

TRANSLATION: I'm so relieved. I'm also relieved when Syrians in other

cities are not being shelled. We have two hands. If both are fine, we

all feel better. Just ten miles away, in a rebel stronghold, the

respite is even greater. The bombing has largely stopped and they seize

this moment. Go, Bashar, go, they sing, telling the president to

leave. Videos posted on social media show how they turned out last Friday

in their thousands in opposition areas, just like they did five years

ago when the uprising began. This truce is making a difference and

Syrians feel it. But the only reason it is happening at all is because

world powers, most of all Russia and the United States, decided to put

significant pressure on their Syrian allies on the ground. But even with

this new pressure, it's still not enough. But aid is finally entering

some areas under siege. This convoy took days of negotiations. And

last-minute hitches delayed it until nightfall. Aid hasn't reached people

in this rebel held town for two years. Half a million Syrians live

in besieged areas, many still are not getting any help at all. It's

not just a war. It's a collective failure on the part of the

international community to detect, to contain, let alone to resolve

conflicts like this. I hope Syria, with all the viciousness of the

suffering, I hope it will be the suffering, I hope it will be the

wake-up call that this world needs. This truce is very fragile and

partial. There is still fighting in some areas, but if this doesn't

work, Syria's brutal war will get even worse.

The next test comes this week when the warring sides are expected to

show up in Geneva for indirect talks mediated by the United Nations. And

their allies will again put pressure on them to show up, but in the end

the decision to talk will have to be taken by Syrians alone. The reality

now is that the opposition doesn't want to talk to President Assad's

officials, and they don't want to talk to them.

All this week we'll be looking at the effect five years of conflict

have had - and the ongoing impact on Syria and the international

Thousands are Syrians continue to attempt the dangerous journey

At least 25 people died after a boat carrying migrants capsized

while crossing from Turkey to Greece.

The latest deaths come as EU leaders prepare for a major summit tomorrow,

focusing on how to deal with the crisis.

From the Greek island of Lesbos Danny Savage sent

Midway between Turkey and the Greek islands,

the coastguard is picking people up from small boats.

Later, it arrives in port. All hands are on deck.

338 migrants, from many different nations.

We didn't eat no food, two days, two nights.

Where are you going to? I don't know.

Every country here is good. The fate of these people is once

again going to be discussed One suggestion is to only let

Syrians proceed from here. That could mean that

in the near future these people will basically be sorted,

Syrians will be allowed some sort of refuge, but everybody else

will be sent back across the water to Turkey on a journey they've just

risked their lives on. The migrants at this hilltop camp

nearby are non-Syrian. Desperate people, making

desperate threats. If they try to make you go back

to Turkey, what do you think I will not go back, I will jump

in the sea or I will hang I will suicide.

I will not go back. If they force me to go back

in Turkey or Pakistan, I'm not going back because it is

a matter of my life. Off the coast of Turkey today,

a migrant boat sank. There were a few survivors,

but the death toll in the sea has This sea is extremely dangerous,

it's been perilous, not just this year where over 400

people have lost their lives, but last year alone,

in the Mediterranean, Back on Lesbos this afternoon,

we found another raft arriving. Doctors and other aid workers

were on the scene to help. For now, they are ashore and safe

in Europe, but for how long? The overtures from Brussels

are about somehow sending many of them back to Turkey

and closing down these routes. Let's get more on that meeting

in Brussels tomorrow. Our Europe editor

Katya Adler is there. Katya, they've tried

before and failed. What hope that this time the EU can

come up with something to tackle this? This is an important summit,

the EU knows that its reputation is in tatters over the migrant crisis.

Germany is keen for a result, Angela Merkel's political future hangs in

the balance. Been useful of refugees landing in Greece, European

countries slamming their borders shut that have been proudly open for

decades, tomorrow is when the EU hopes to start getting the situation

under control. How? The key is Turkey, where most people are

risking their lives to enter Europe through the Greek islands. The

Turkish Prime Minister is at the summit. It is hoped his government

will start cracking down on the people smugglers and accept back

from the EU those judged to be in regular migrants, not refugees. But

of course Turkey won't do this for nothing and trust between the two

sides is not strong. Something else the EU wants to stop immediately,

refugees in Europe deciding for themselves which country they go to.

They want to declare the migrant route north from Greece shut, and to

breathe life into an unpopular plan that the UK is not part of where EU

countries accept a quote of migrants from Greece and some refugees

directly from Turkey. It is a tall order and the alarm is being sounded

that the EU may be sending people back to Turkey who should have their

asylum claims heard here under international humanitarian law.

Thank you. With all the sport, here's

Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes Great Britain will play Serbia

in the quarter finals The defending champions knocked out

Japan in Birmingham this weekend. But as our correspondent Andy Swiss

reports, star player Andy Murray had to dig

deep to beat Kei Nishikori. If the entrance felt

more boxing than tennis, This was about as bruising

as it was brilliant. Two top ten heavyweights,

slugging it out. While Andy Murray edged the first

set, come the second, He levelled it up and the decider

proved dazzling, both men pushed to the brink but finally it was

Nishikori that cracked. After nearly five spellbinding hours it was over.

Victory for Britain, while for their new dad, the chance for a little

family time. Kim's first Mother's Day... Yeah, nice to hopefully get

to see her this evening. I will try and get back to Bath time! Put her

to sleep. Not, the baby! Another memorable day, exhausting but

ultimately exhilarating. Match of the Day follows the news,

unless you're in Scotland when it's after Sportscene, so if you don't

want to know the results, West Brom beat a ten-man

Manchester United at home in the league for the first

time in 32 years. Elsewhere, Liverpool won

2-1 at Crystal Palace. And Celtic beat Morton 3-0

in the Scottish Cup to set up a tie with Old Firm rivals

Rangers in the semi-finals. Either Hibs or Inverness face

Dundee United in the other semi. Great Britain's cyclists have topped

the medal table at the Track

World Championships in London. Golden girl Laura Trott

claimed her second title of the week in the omnium,

comfortably winning the multi-race event at the same velodrome

where she became Olympic And there was also a very special

victory for Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish who triumphed

in the final event, the madison. A first look at the papers is coming

up on the BBC News channel. On BBC One, it is time for the news

wherever you are.