31/01/2014 BBC News at Ten

student Meredith Kercher in Italy. Appearing on television at home in

the US, Knox says she will never return to Italy voluntarily. I am

going to fight this until the very end, and it is not right and it is

not fair. Following the reinstatement of

guilty verdicts, Meredith Kercher's family say Knox should be

extradited. I think we are still on the journey to the truth, and it may

be the fact that we don't ever really know what happened that

night. This evening Knox's former boyfriend

Raffaele Sollecito denies trying to flee Italy and again protests his

innocence. Wind and rain returns tonight, as

many parts of Britain deal with more bad weather and flood warnings.

Abuse in private schools - many are facing a rise in legal claims which

could cost them millions of pounds. We have a special report.

Ed Miliband's plans to scrap the voting system that saw him elected

as Labour leader. And after Ashes humiliation, England

parts company with Andy Flower. Coming up in Sportsday, as we enter

the final hour of transfer deadline day, two of the Premier League's top

three have strengthened. Good evening.

The family of the murdered British student Meredith Kercher say they

may never know what happened to her when she died in Italy in 2007. They

were speaking after Italian judges reinstated the guilty verdict

against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. Meredith Kercher's sister

says her family is still on what she called "a journey for the truth"

about what really went on in Perugia. Today, Amanda Knox said she

will fight any attempt to extradite her from the United States "until

the very end". Raffaele Sollecito, Knox's boyfriend at the time of the

murder, was today banned from leaving Italy after being arrested

by police close to the border. Our correspondent Luisa Baldini has the

story. Her report contains some flashing images.

How do you feel about the guilty verdict? Refusing to show her face,

let alone answer questions, Amanda Knox left her mother's house

allowing the convictions, but by this morning she was at TV studios

in New York, where she gave an emotional but defiant interview. I

will never go willingly back to the place where I... I am going to fight

this until the very end, and it's not right, and it's not fair. And

I'm going to do everything I can. Granted, I need a lot of help. I

can't do this on my own. But it is in Italy that she stands accused of

murdering her flatmate, Meredith Kercher. It was shortly before the

death that Amanda and Raffaele Sollecito started dating. Although

he has been at some court hearings, he was not there for the verdicts,

and the latest pictures show him leaving a police station in northern

Italy near the border with Austria today. Police say they detained him

and confiscated his passport. It is reported he may have been trying to

flee. As soon as I got the news that there was a guilty verdict, they

took my passport and all my documents. I came immediately back.

I will fight until the end, also because we proved and we showed in

many ways that I had nothing to do with this murder. Meredith's family

welcomed the guilty verdict but accepted it as another stage in a

long process. We are still on the journey to the truth. And it may be

the fact that we don't ever really know what happened that night, which

is obviously something that we will have to come to terms with. The

verdicts reinstate the original convictions, based on the first

trial in 2009. So what was the main evidence against Amanda Knox and

Raffaele Sollecito? The prosecution said the DNA of both Amanda and

Meredith was on the knife believed to be the murder weapon, and

Raffaele Sollecito's DNA was on the Iraqi of Meredith Kercher. Although

that evidence was contested. Their behaviour was question. When Amanda

and Raffaele Sollecito were seen kissing hours after the body was

found, it was deemed suspicious. And Amanda changed her story, first

saying she was in the house but a local barkeeper murdered Meredith.

Then she said she was with Raffaele Sollecito. The prosecution always

claimed that Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito and a third man, Rudy

Guede, still in prison for the crime, were involved in a sex game

which went wrong. After an appeal and acquittal in 2011, Amanda

returns to Seattle. Although she will want to fight extradition,

there is a treaty between Italy and America. It is not a retrial. She

will not be able to put in evidence. She would have to argue that the

extradition request was inappropriate. And I think that is a

significant challenge for her. In 90 days, the judge will publish a

report giving his reasons for the convictions and then Amanda Knox and

Raffaele Sollecito will almost certainly appeal. Finding definitive

justice for Meredith Kercher is still some way off. The shrine Our

North America correspondent Nick Bryant is at the State Department in

Washington. Nick, what chance that the US legal

system will act to deport Amanda Knox?

Many Americans regard the Italian justice system as unfair, medieval

and chaotic. Left to the American court of public opinion, Amanda Knox

would never return to Italy. But this will end up in a real court, if

the extradition process goes forwards, and there, her lawyers

will try to block it. If they fail, the case will return here to the US

State Department. Legal considerations will be in play, but

also political and diplomatic factors. She has powerful backers on

Capitol Hill, public opinion is very much behind her, but would America

want to anger Italy, a very close ally? And even if the State

Department says that she has to go home, there is one final legal

appeal, one final legal card her lawyers could play, so this is a

process that could brag on for many years in America, and I spoke to one

legal expert earlier who said it is a real 50-50.

The Met Office is warning of yet more flooding this weekend, as a

band of heavy rain sweeps across the UK. Nine severe flood warnings are

in place, with fears that coastal flood defences and sea walls could

be breached. In Aberystwyth, hundreds of people have been moved

out of their seafront homes. Tonight, David Cameron said it was

"unacceptable" that people on the Somerset Levels had had to live

amongst the flooding for four weeks. From the village of Burrowbridge on

the Somerset Levels, here's Jon Kay. Another anxious night on the

Somerset Levels. For these already flooded villages, every millimetre

of new rain is a worry, and it is concerning the politicians, too.

They have been criticised this week for being slow to help stranded

communities. And in tomorrow's Western daily press, the Prime

Minister writes that it is not accept the ball for people to have

to live like this. He says he is not ruling out any option to get the

problem sorted. The flooded farm on the front page was glad to hear

that, but to night he has more pressing concerns. We could see up

to 30 millimetres. Just what we don't need. His land is already 90%

underwater, and he fears the weekend rain will make things even worse.

Stomach churning. You just think, last time we had 30 millimetres of

rain on the hills, it rose up 8.5 inches. You can see how close it is

to the buildings, to the house. Right on cue, the next deluge

arrived. Over the last couple of days, the level of the water has

been slowly dropping but this afternoon we have got more heavy

rain, the wind is going in the hard, and look. -- the wind is blowing

hard. Large areas of the UK are set to get another pasting this weekend

but the authorities insist they are ready. Coastal communities like

Aberystwyth are on high alert for wind, rain and some very high tides.

Dozens of Britain's private schools are facing a sharp rise in legal

claims for sexual abuse allegations dating back decades. Now one legal

firm has told the BBC schools should pay victims American-style financial

damages running into hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of

pounds. Such pay-outs could threaten the future of some independent

schools. Our Home Editor, Mark Easton, has this special report.

They're two leaders from very different political

Britain's public schools, for many young boys institutions that have

been the making of them, but for some the breaking of them. We now

know that hundreds of children suffered lifelong damage from sexual

abuse by staff at some of the country's most prestigious private

schools. Now, a British-American law firm is seeking US style

compensation pay-outs from UK courts, demanding damages in some

cases of over ?1 million. The message, I think, to people who do

bad things is to go to Great Britain because you can do whatever you want

with our children, and if you are caught and have to pay for it, you

will pay a very small price. In America if you do this and get

caught, it's going to hurt. If people don't pay real money to stop

the problem, the problem is not going to end. As a teenager at St

Bede's College, Catholic boarding school in Manchester in the late

1950s and early 1960s, Rick Merrin was repeatedly and severely abused

by the headmaster, Monsignor Thomas Duggan, and two other priests. Some

may find his recollection of what happened on one particular night

sterling. I woke up and I was face down. And he was sodomising me.

Which... Well, I don't need to explain what that did to me. From

top of the class to a life of disappointment, in work and

relationships. A psychiatric report on Rick concludes that his abusers

stole the golden future he should have had. He is among hundreds of

public schoolboys who have gone to lawyers seeking damages for abuse

often committed decades ago. In 2011, another Saint Bede 's teacher,

Father William Green, admitted 27 sexual assaults on boys in the

1970s. With the possibility of personally facing damages claims,

seven governors at St Bede's resigned. It has not been seen in

child abuse cases before but legal experts say courts could order

substantial compensation. There might be a considerable financial

settlement at the end of this. What motivates you to do it? Is it the

money? Nothing can make up for what happened to me at school and the

impact it has had on my life. If it comes to some form of financial

settlement, it would be some small way of making up for it. Only last

November, inspectors rated Saint reads child protection policy is

unsatisfactory, and the college, now eight coeducational Catholic Day

School, has promised to review safeguarding policies, insisting St

Bede's is a safe and secure environment. Public revulsion at the

perpetrators and sympathy towards the victims has led many people to

find the confidence to tell their stories. Now, with lawyers

considering punitive damages for historical abuse, the very survival

of some of the country's oldest and most established institutions could

be under threat. I can tell you that in the 1970s and 1980s

particularly, the words child protection work never really used.

The culture has completely changed. I think it is very unfair on the

teachers and parents of children in those schools, and the children

themselves, if a school was to be forced to close as a result of

something which happened decades ago. The prospect of American-style

court pay-outs toppling ancient educational institutions will

outrage some. Others will protest that only by demanding significant

compensation can society properly value the life of a child. They are

two leaders from different political backgrounds, but when David Cameron

hosted the French president for a summit today, the emphasis was meant

to be on cooperation. There was some agreement with announcements about

defence, energy and space programmes. The divisions were

quickly exposed around the future of Europe. David Cameron wants reform

with a renegotiated EU treaty by 2017. Francoise Hollande is less

keen, describing the subject is not a priority. And this afternoon, a

bill to legally underpinned David Cameron's pledge to give voters an

in or out referendum was killed off in the House of Lords. This report

contains flash photography. The French president arrived alone at a

windy airbase near Oxford. A business like a venue for a

businesslike summit very much without spouses. Their job today was

to repair a relationship worn thin by diplomatic spats and differences

over policy that the Prime Minister acknowledged. Of course we are not

going to agree about everything, he is a French socialist and I am a

British Conservative and it would be odd if we agreed about everything.

So they agreed where they could, above all on defence, with plans on

exercises, combat drones and anti-ship missiles. And more

vehicles to support operations in Afghanistan. But over lunch at a pub

nearby, they discussed their fundamental disagreements over

Europe. Mr Cameron wants Britain's relationship with the EU to change.

We want to see those changes, one want to see a renegotiation -- we

want. That will involve elements of treaty change, and then there will

be a referendum in Britain before the end of 2017 that isn't in or out

referendum. Back in London are built design to enshrine the referendum in

law was being killed off by Labour and Liberal Democrat peers, but

here, even the promise of a referendum was worrying the French

president who fears that treaty change could force him to hold a

referendum as well. If there are going to be amendments to the text

we don't feel that for the time being they are urgent. We think

about revising the treaty is not a priority. We can't just expect to

follow the example of one country in Europe. David Cameron's problem is

that if he's going to achieve reform in Europe he needs allies, for now,

France is not one. Defence deals might help, but questions like this

probably won't. Do you think your private life has made France an

international joke? Are you still having an affair with Julie Gayet,

and do you think -- wish she was here? I'm afraid that I declined to

answer. A sharp question asked and a few deals signed, and a long

conversation between two men with very different views about the

future of Europe. The United Nations envoy leading the

Syrian peace talks in Geneva say they have made a modest beginning

towards ending the conflict. Lakhdar Brahimi, speaking as the talks

concluded, admitted progress had been slow. The Syrian Foreign

Minister accused the opposition of a lack of seriousness in advance of

the second round of talks which are due to begin next month. The Syrian

opposition blamed the government for the failure to reach agreement

during more than a week of negotiations. Almost one third of

NHS trusts in England are forecasting that they will end the

financial year in the red. Recently published board papers say the

picture is worse among hospitals with nearly half predicting

financial difficulties. Budget pressures might be partly due to

hospitals hiring more nurses, but the Department of Health says the

NHS is seeing more patients and carrying out more operations than

ever. And also that most trusts are in a healthy financial position.

Trade unions will no longer control one third of the votes in the Labour

leadership elections under proposed changes which the party's leader, Ed

Miliband, will announce tomorrow. The BBC has obtained details of the

reforms which will give ordinary Labour Party supporters as well as

party members more say about who leads them. This exclusive report

from Ian Watson contains flash photography.

He beat his brother to the Lader -- Labour leadership with the help of

union votes, but now Ed Miliband is proposing the biggest changes to his

party's relations with the trade unions in a generation. The current

buys system for electing the party leader gives a third of the vote

each to the union, then rank-and-file party members, then

MPs and MEPs. Now Ed Miliband plans a simpler system. Union members will

get a single vote, but for the first time they must explicitly agree to

opt in as Labour supporters in order to participate. Current party

members will also get one vote each, but in future they need to simply

register their support for the party rather than join and will be

therefore able to take part. MPs and MEPs will see a decrease in

influence as they get one vote each, but MPs will have the sole

power to nominate who can run for the leadership. These are the kind

of reforms I've been arguing for ever since I was the leader of a

trade union. I think this is absolutely the right way to go. We

now have the ability for union members to make a conscious decision

whether to pay the political levy, then make another conscious decision

whether they want to be an associate purport up -- support of the Labour

Party, and also we have a genuine one member system devote a leader.

The changes were prompted by allegations of undue influence in

Falkirk by the unions, and Ed Miliband will surely set out the

full scale of the reforms. For years, Labour has been accused of

being too close to the big union leaders. Critics wondered just how

much of their influence really is being curtailed. While the

leadership rules are changing, some long-standing traditions are

untouched. The unions will still control 50% of the votes at the

Labour conference and there will be no cap on donations. And some of the

reforms could take five years to come into force. Critics on the left

are questioning why Ed Miliband is even bothering to do this at all.

It's not particularly desirable and there is nobody in my constituency

coming to me in a time of economic crisis saying that they need a

reorganisation of the Labour Party. Ed Miliband says he is completing

the unfinished business of previous leaders by giving ordinary people a

voice in politics, but some of his critics believe he has not done

enough to muscle the unions. -- muzzle. Sienna Miller has told the

Old Bailey at the voice -- voice -- phone hacking trolled that she left

a voice message saying she loved Daniel Craig. She did say the pair

had a brief encounter. A former News of the World reporter claimed he

illegally accessed the message and played it to the then editor of the

paper, Andy Coulson, but the barrister for Andy Coulson, who

denies phone hacking, said information about the pair came from

another source. The director of the England cricket team, Andy Flower,

is to leave his role following the 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia. He

held the job nearly five years and led England to three successive

Ashes series victories. That was before the tour this winter.

Just four runs needed. Another day, another thrashing the England down

under. This has been one of the worst Ashes tour is on record, and

today the head coach, Andy Flower, paid the inevitable price. Appointed

in 2009, Andy Flower was initially credited with transforming English

cricket, but as a result -- as results dipped, he was accused of

fostering an arrogant, joyless culture. In a statement he said:

they almost look to me that they got so scared of Andy Flower. I guess

that is a concern. He has done an amazing job for a few years but I

felt the players just looked a little bit robotic. So how will the

Andy Flower Iturra be remembered? He was the coach who delivered

England's burst global one-day trophy in 2010 -- the Andy Flower

era. He led the team to three back-to-back Ashes wins, but this

winter's 5-0 defeat left him vulnerable. Despite the disaster

down under, Andy Flower said he wanted to carry on as head coach.

But following a meeting here at Lord's yesterday, it became clear

his position was untenable. Now a new man must attempt to rebuild

England's battered team. Whoever that in -- whoever that is faces

difficult questions. Doubts remain over Alistair Cook's beach as

captain. And what next for the difficult but brilliant Kevin

Pietersen? The decline of Andy Flower's England has been almost as

rapid as the rise. More big changes may be needed before English cricket

truly recovers. Final preparations are being made

for the premiere of the 10th symphony by one of Britain's's most

eminent composers, the master of the Queen 's music, Sir Peter Maxwell

Davies. The piece orchestra, baritone soloist and choristers was

written while he was receiving treatment for leukaemia. Our arts

editor has been speaking to Sir Peter.

The London Symphony Orchestra rehearsing Sir Peter Maxwell

Davies's 10th symphony, a new work by the 79-year-old composer written

with some urgency while he was in hospital being treated for cancer,

having been told by doctors he only had weeks to live. I very nearly

went over. Very nearly went over the edge. It was hours away. And the

doctors worked very hard and pulled me through that. And every morning

when I was at that little table at seven in the morning, I was writing

that symphony. The composition is based on the life and work of the

17th century Italian artist, but it was not Renaissance Rome that came

to the composer's mind, but hospital. It was funny, in rehearsal

just now, they were doing this music which I had written. The actual

sound, the physical sound, brought back the smell of anti-septic at the

hospital. What continues to drive you? What do you still want to

express? These days there is so much strife, so much war and so much

destruction. To do something which is civilised in intent, and I hope a

result, at the top end of what is possible in the civilisation, what a

privilege? What a privilege. Last year Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was

told he probably would not live to see 2014, but having done so, he is

making the most of it what with this new symphony, more compositions in

development and overseeing plans for his 80th birthday celebrations in

September.