23/06/2014 BBC News at One

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Baghdad for talks.

He's meeting with Iraq's political leaders, and says the violence is

Sunni militants continue their offensive in the north and west

of the country, capturing border crossings to Syria and Jordan.

Here, the families of the British men who appeared in a jihadist video

say they warned the police months ago that they'd disappeared.

I approached the local MP and I believe the MP wrote, so there was

all kinds of effort and communication being made to bring

him back. We will get the latest from Baghdad with our world affairs

editor. Three al-Jazeera journalists are

sentenced in Egypt for spreading false news and

supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. George Osborne says a third

high-speed rail link between Manchester and Leeds would create

an economic "northern powerhouse". Andy Murray prepares to defend

his Wimbledon title. And, from next month,

songs streamed online will be included in the official chart

countdown for the first time. The number of London housing tenants

facing homelessness after being thrown out by private

landlords triples in five years. Why disadvantaged pupils

in the capital are outperforming Good afternoon

and welcome to the BBC News at One. The US Secretary of State,

John Kerry, has arrived for talks He's expected to call for

the setting up of a more inclusive government, before America commits

to further military intervention. Meanwhile Sunni insurgents are

continuing to win territory in north-western Iraq, including border

crossings into Syria and Jordan Our world affairs correspondent

Richard Galpin reports. Iraqi troops engaging Sunni

militants along the front lines to the north of Baghdad. Here, the

army, with help from Shi'ite militias, has succeeded in stopping

the militants pushing closer to the capital. In this video, released

today by the army, weapons captured from ISIS fighters and other local

insurgents are put on display. But in this Western province, the

militants have made significant gains, seizing control of a series

of towns on the main highway. The situation is getting ever more

desperate, and the United States Secretary of State John Kerry flew

into Baghdad this morning to meet the country's top political leaders.

Top of the list, the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. Mr Kerry wants to

see a new government here, with politicians from not just the

majority Shi'ite population, but the minority Sunni community to help

unite the country against extremists. That might mean Mr

Maliki stepping down. For some Iraqi officials fear, military assistance

is the top priority right now. We would like the United States to

stand beside us by equipping the Iraqi army with weapons,

helicopters, drones, and especially gunfighters. I don't know why

America has held back on supporting the Army when the CIA has

intelligence of the ISIS militants. The US should provide the support

Iraq needs to fight terrorism. The jihadist sparse that elite

consolidating control of a large parts of Iraq and some areas of

Syria -- the jihadist is our slowly controlling. They are handing out

copies of the Koran and have gone a long way to achieving that goal of

carving out a caliphate, or Islamic state, struggling the two countries.

-- straddling the two countries. Let's speak to our

World Affairs Editor, John Simpson. John, is Mr Kerry's visit going to

make any real difference to the situation on the ground, do you

think? Well, it has got to, to some extent. What this crisis calls out

for is American intervention, in one way or another. All of the possible

positions -- politicians here who support the government in any way

feel this. It is apparently going to be the only way in which ISIS, in

particular, and the Sunni rebels generally, will be stopped. It won't

be possible in political terms for the Americans to do that unless

there is some kind of movement on Mr Maliki's part. Whether he will step

down doesn't seem to be at all likely, unless Shi'ite politicians,

and it has to be only those parties, but sufficient pressure on him to do

so. But in general terms, it will be necessary for him to have a more

inclusive government. It's not difficult to do, because after the

recent elections where he did rather well, there needs to be a new

government. That is what the whole negotiation system and political

system is directed towards at the moment. So there will be a broader

government, and that will enable the Americans to say, yes, Mr Maliki has

listened to us, and that should open the way to some kind of American

action. But, you know, some of these plans don't always go off as you

would hope. John Simpson, thank you. A friend of one of three British men

who appeared last week in a jihadist recruitment video has

told the BBC that the families of all three warned police last

November that they'd disappeared. All of the men are from Cardiff,

and our correspondent Jordan Davies Nasser and his brother Aseel Muthana

parade of this mosque in Cardiff before moving onto others. It is

understood that their hardened overtimes and senior figures

reported possible radicalisation sometime ago. They now say they are

at what has emerged. Young Muslim men living in the UK and encouraged

to fight abroad. Today, details are emerging about how three young men

from Cardiff may have been radicalised in the city before

travelling to Syria to fight. Today, a friend of Reyaad Khan's parents,

say the family highlighted his disappearance as soon as possible.

We approach the local MP and I believe he wrote to Theresa, so

there was all kind of effort being made to bring him back. There is

some kind of failure from somewhere, but certainly not from the family.

20-year-old Nasser Muthana, an aspiring medical student from

Cardiff, seen here in this extremist propaganda video, and his friend

Reyaad Khan, also from the city, and also seen in the video, are believed

to have travelled to the country together. NASA's 17-year-old brother

Aseel Muthana is also thought to be in Syria. Senior figures in the

Muslim community in Cardiff acceptor that all three might have been

influenced by figures in the city. -- -- accept that all. You can't get

to pick up a gun by picking up a YouTube video. There has to be some

indoctrination, a process, people will have do have spoken to them.

It's thought more than 500 Britons will have travelled to Syria to

fight and some might have already returned home. It is understood

tracking British jihadist groups is the top priority for the security

service, MI5. I think the intelligence service and the police

have to think of which of the 300 they have do prioritise, because

it's impossible to track them all, but some will lead tracking, and the

ones who most need tracking are the ones perhaps who are already

extremist or showing extremist views before they went to Syria. The

revelations about these three men have shocked the Muslim community in

Cardiff, but some say it's highlighted an issue that has been

there for some time. Senior figures in Cardiff say this is not just an

issue for this city, it's an issue across the UK, but they do say that

there is a recognition that more could be done to stop young Western

Muslim men travelling abroad to fight. Jordan, thank you very much

indeed. Our Security Correspondent Frank

Gardner is in Central London, We heard about the families alerting

the police, but what can the authorities do once people have left

the country? This is an issue that the head of counterterrorism in the

Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, has been talking about in this

holding beside me in Whitehall. I don't think they've really got a

good handle on this, to be perfectly honest. They don't know the exact

numbers. Academics at Kings College have probably done better research

into this than the government have. They are in constant contact with

some people who have gone out to Syria, whereas the numbers coming

back soon to be pretty fluid. Some say 400, some say 500. They estimate

roughly half of those have come back. But there simply aren't enough

watchers in MI5 and police counterterrorist units to monitor

those people 24 hours a day, and they don't need to. I make will say

-- and they will say they have done their experience in Syria and I will

move on and get a normal life, but others will come back very

radicalised, brutalised, very violent from what they have seen and

done, and those are the people that they will have been prioritise in

tracking and keeping an eye on. Frank, thank you.

A court in Egypt has sentenced three journalists from the Al-Jazeera

network to seven years each in prison.

Peter Greste, a former BBC journalist, and

his two colleagues were arrested in December, and charged with spreading

false news, and collaborating with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Downing Street says the verdicts have left the Prime

Our correspondent Bethany Bell reports.

Waiting for the verdict in a cage. On the left is the Australian

correspondence, Peter Greste, used to work the BBC. With ease colic

Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed. They are now facing seven years in

prison on charges they spread false news and helped the band Muslim

Brotherhood. Baja Mohammed was sentenced to a further three years

on a Semper -- Baher Mohamed. -- on a separate charge. As the judge read

out the verdicts, there was uproar in the court. Relatives and many of

the journalists covering the case had been hoping for an acquittal.

The three men deny all the charges against them. They say accusations

they helped the Muslim Brotherhood are absurd. Peter Greste's brother,

Mike, says he cannot understand the ruling. I don't know how the judge

came to that decision. I would be very interested to hear his reasons

for giving that verdict. It doesn't make any sense. The mother of

Mohamed Fahmy says her son has done nothing wrong. If they have found

any evidence, how many years would they give him? For nothing, they

give him seven years. Al Jazeera say the sentences defy logic and any

semblance of justice. There has been international condemnation of this

case, which raises big concerns about the freedom of journalists in

Egypt. But the way that this case has been presented in the Egyptian

media is very different. Al Jazeera is perceived as supporting the

Muslim Brotherhood, which has been designated a terrorist

organisation. As such, it is seen as an enemy of the state. The

journalists say they will appeal against the verdicts, but now they

are behind bars at this high security prison. Bethany Bell, BBC

News. An economic powerhouse

in the north of England to rival London, with a new high-speed rail

connection from east to west and better roads - that's the vision

of the Chancellor George Osborne. In a speech today, he said a review

of the second phase of the HS2 project should consider an upgraded

link between Manchester and Leeds. Our correspondent Ed

Thomas has more. London, it is now a global capital,

demanding talent, investment and opportunity. But at what cost for

the rest of the UK? Today, in Manchester, the Chancellor came up

with a plan, to rebalance the economy. His idea, capital of the to

rival the South. The powerhouse of London dominates more and more, and

that's not healthy for our economy, it's not good for our country. We

need the Northern powerhouse as well. Not one city, but a collection

of northern cities sufficiently close to each other that combined

can take on the world. His hope is that northern cities will be

connected by rail to fuel that powerhouse. It's more than a century

since locomotives like these but Manchester at the centre of the

industrial revolution. Today, the Chancellor told people here who

think big again, with a new high-speed rail link connecting

Liverpool all the way to whole -- HUll. This is what high-speed three

could look like, we know that HS2 could link London to Birmingham, and

there was a joining of Manchester to Leeds, joining the passengers like

never before. I think it could done, but the cost would be enormous. I

travel all over the country and I need to get round in a quick and

efficient way, so it's a great idea. I think we need more of an

integrated travel network, really, rather than just concentrating on

those links between the major cities that we have at the moment. But all

this will need time and money. To update and already fading

trans-Pennine route. I think it will happen. I think there is more to it

than just electioneering or some sort of fancy announcement to

kick-start some sort of manifesto launch before the next election.

There is some tangible stuff in there, stuff that's been around for

sometime well, and certainly things that the businesses in greater

Manchester are interested in seeing happening as well. There was no

detail today, no costings and no real plan. Instead, the Chancellor

said it was the first steps to realising the vision of the North

able to compete with London. A 22-year old man has gone

on trial accused of murdering his former girlfriend and then

burying her body in a graveyard. Ben Blakeley admits the manslaughter

of 17-year-old Jayden Parkinson, The jury at Oxford Crown Court was

told that on the day Jayden died, she had gone to tell Blakeley that

she was pregnant. Jayden Parkinson was described as a

quiet girl who would not say boo to a goose, but today her mother Erica,

that was wearing But today, her mother, Erica,

wearing the purple that was Jayden's favourite colour,

came to court to hear she had been beaten and abused by her boyfriend

in the months before she died. Ben Blakeley, here

at an earlier hearing, was said to be a violent, controlling individual

who threatened to post naked photos of 17-year-old Jayden on Facebook

after she broke up with him. It was on December 2nd last

year that Jayden Parkinson The following day,

she arranged to meet Ben Blakeley to They did have that meeting,

somewhere south of Didcot. It was

during that that he killed her. Ben Blakely says it

was manslaughter. This is one of the last sightings

of Jayden as she boarded By the end of the day,

she would be dead. Her body was moved and found two

weeks later, buried in an existing The prosecution say it affected

the amount They also say only Ben Blakeley

knows exactly what happened. A 17-year-old man from Didcot, who

cannot be named, denies preventing The trial of man is due to last up

to three weeks, with Jayden's family expected to be

there for much of the evidence. The US Secretary of State John Kerry

arrives in Baghdad for talks as Sunni insurgents expand

their control of towns And I'm live at Wimbledon, where

Andy Murray is on court as he begins the defence of his title.

Later on BBC London: The Vulcan bomber.

A special exhibition opens at the RAF Museum, where for the

first time you can take the pilot's seat of Britain's Cold War bomber.

It's the first day of Wimbledon and Andy Murray's defence of his men's

Right now he's taking on David Goffin, who's Belgian,

Demand for tickets has been high with thousands queuing for a chance

Our Correspondent Katherine Downes is at SW19 for us.

Welcome to Wimbledon, where Andy Murray's first round matches already

underway. The reigning champion is given the honour of opening the

tournament. A huge cheer went up from the crowd as he walked out onto

Centre Court. Many of them have been camping is on Saturday morning to

get the chance to be here, to support Andy Murray in the defence

of his Wimbledon title. The campsite, the flowers, the fans.

Everything looks the same, but something feels different. It's

exciting, because you know a British player can win it. I think people

will be supporting him more this year because he's done it before. 12

months ago, Andy Murray ended Britain's 77 year wait for a

home-grown men's Wimbledon champion. Today, he's back to defend that

title. I expected to be nervous. I expect to feel the pressure as I'm

going towards the court. I'll enjoy it for a fume omens, and then, like

most nerves, you start to settle into the match. His first opponent

is Belgian's David Goffin. According to one man who has been in Andy

Murray's position before, it's a great opening match for a title

defence. I think it's a perfect opponent. It's not an easy match,

but it is a match that he is going to win. But with good tennis. So,

Murray is the favour today. But can he go all the way again? His quest

starts now. And it's got off to the best

possible start, he's already a break up against David Goffin. Joining me

is Virginia Wade. You won this back in 1977. You know exactly what he's

going through at the moment. How different will it be compared to

years before when he's not been successful? Although a lot of water

has gone under the bridge, a year ago, when he won with that rapturous

applause, it was heart-warming to hear that again. It is a fantastic

tradition. It is a wonderful reward, to open up on a brand-new court, a

perfectly pristine grass court. What a thrill. He is doing well, I think

he's got exactly the right sort of opponent to make him look good. I

don't think he's in any danger of not winning this match. He's played

very well. He's looking good for the tournament. Does the title stick in

your mind when you are defending it, or do you start from scratch,

treated like any other tournament? It's eight good question. If you

really are determined, confident and want to do it, you move on and say,

all right, one match at a time, seven matches to get through. If you

are feeling pressured yourself, it might weigh on you. It leaves the

other players with less pressure on them, so perhaps they are more

comfortable trying to get through to the end of the tournament without

everybody dumping expectation on them. You set the expectation is on

Andy Murray. Thousands watching. You can watch his game against David

Gough and on BBC Two. It switches to BBC One after the news. He is one

break-up. Figures obtained by the BBC

from the family courts in England reveal thousands

of mothers are caught up in a destructive cycle of pregnancies and

care proceedings, with successive In two cases,

judges took 15 children from their Salford, Greater Manchester.

This is no ordinary antenatal class. These pregnant women all risk having

their new baby taken into care. Almost all have already lost older

the children because they or their That's why you

are all here, aren't you? A midwife

and a specialist social worker are helping them learn how to be better

mothers, starting with avoiding drink and drugs, and their

consequences for the unborn child. They're born early, increased

instance of stillbirth as well. So, not even born early,

you get a stillbirth. Definitely abnormal

brain development. One woman, who had four children

taken into care at once, I'm scared to bond with the baby,

for fear I'm doing it for nothing. You know it's happened,

they've said if you do these But then it turned out I couldn't,

because the damage was already done. If I know where I went wrong,

I can stop that from ever happening with this one.

So that's what I'm going to do. Judges in

the family court say some women come They take a child away

for abuse or neglect, a year or two later, the same mother is back,

pregnant or with a new baby. Some judges in the family courts say

they've taken 14, even 15 children away from the same

mother, one after the other. But, until now, we haven't known how

many women in England are caught up in this destructive cycle

and how many of their children Researchers funded by the

Nuffield Foundation looked at all family courts records in

England over a seven-year period. had come from just over 7,000

mothers. They were young,

50% aged 24 or below Our recommendations are that

the family court think differently about these young parents

and get better at trying to identify very high risk young parents who

at risk of appearing, and appearing More mothers are keeping

their children. Other initiatives, like the

Specialist Family Drug And Alcohol But there's no national scheme to

help the many thousands of women across England who have

baby after baby taken into care. The Ghana Football Association has

called in the police after claims that one of its

officials agreed for the national Although Ghana is currently

playing in the World Cup, FIFA says there are no indications the

tournament has been compromised. Richard Conway is in Rio de Janeiro

for us. Tell us a bit more about these

allegations. These claims have been made by the Daily Telegraph and

Channel 4's Dispatches programme. They sent a Ghana official and a

licensed FIFA official, who both claimed they could rig friendly

games involving Ghana. The programme also claimed that the FA President

in Ghana grew to a contract, where, in return for ?100,000 per match, a

bogus company, established by the investigators, and host these games.

But also, crucially, there was a clause in the contract that would

allow the company to employ match officials. That is against FIFA

rules, because of the potential for corrupt match officials to be

installed. Ghana denied a claim strongly, they say they did not read

the contract and they had reported the matter to the police and FIFA.

FIFA say they are taking the claims seriously, evaluating the situation.

They say there is no threat or compromise, they believe, to games

here in Brazil at this World Cup. From next month, songs streamed

online will be included The company which is responsible for

putting together music sales data says the number of people streaming

music has increased so much, The official Chart, your Christmas

number one is... For more than half a century, the charts have been the

way people have known exactly what the weak's most popular music is.

But audiences involving music without actually buying it has been

increasing, with billions of tracks being streamed in the last few

months, compared to only millions being bought. The official Chart

will soon take into account how much has been streamed. It is likely to

make a difference. Most strange track ever in the UK ever is on page

by Bastille, a song which never even got to number one. As a band, it's

massively gratifying and humbling to know that so many people have chosen

to click on our track, listen to it and check out the songs on our

album. It's nice to see that big effect in the chart, and how the

charts are progressing. The conservation to the charts will be

weighted, with 100 streams being the equivalent of one download. The

tracks must be listened to for at least 30 seconds. To stop people

trying to manipulate the chart with nonstop streaming, plays that are

counted will be capped at ten per day. I think we could maybe trouble

the singles chart at some point in the future. Certainly, it is nice to

know that a big way that our fans listen to music is being counted in

the charts. In the last couple of years it hasn't been used. It's good

to know. The new rules begin in July, heralding what could be a real

change in what songs and bands are seen as the country's most popular.

Time for a look at the weather. Here's Louise Lear.

I think most of us are pretty happy customers with the weather so far.

Lovely sunny I think most of us are pretty happy

customers with the weather so far. Lovely sunny spells coming through.

It does look as though we are going to see a cute subtle changes in our

forecast. The satellite picture is showing a fair amount of cloud

around, particularly into the far North. Some lovely sunshine coming

through. In the last couple of hours, we are picking up some fair

weather cloud as the heat or the day continues. That could trigger some

sharp showers. Not the glorious heat that we had a week or so ago.

Nevertheless, dry and sunny with some sharp showers likely into the

north-east. But the bulk of England and Wales, the further west you go,

largely fine and reasonably settled. Temperature is about 22 degrees. You

could say temperatures as high as 24 or 25 degrees. But there is the risk

of thundery downpours. The weather is behaving itself for Andy Murray,

a beautiful start for his opening match. It looks like the cloud could

thicken and we could run the risk of a few isolated showers interrupting

play into the early evening. You can watch it live on BBC or listen to it

on radio. These are the shower threats, mostly open to East Anglia

and eastern England. One or two drifting close to Wimbledon. We

can't rule out the risk of a shower later today. Those showers will ease

away by the end of the night. Quite a quiet nights to come, a few

sharpish hours into the north-east of Scotland. A fresher, more

comfortable night for sleeping in comparison to last night. In towns

and cities, a little bit cooler in rural spots. The showers in the

north-east, a weather front, a very weak off-air. It will continue to

push further south. A band of cloud and a few showers. More importantly,

to the north, we introduce a slightly fresher feel to the day.

Temperatures here 13 or 19 degrees. Nothing particularly subtle as we

move through Wednesday and into Thursday. Low-pressure knocking on

the door. This will bring a change in the forecast, really. We start

off quite dry, things eventually turning a little bit fresher and

there is going to be rain around for the end. Great news for gardeners

and farmers. The US Secretary of State,

John Kerry, is holding talks in Baghdad with

Iraq's political leaders, as Sunni militants continue their