13/02/2018 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at 10pm -

The former

football coach Barry Bennell,

is convicted of more than 30 counts

of child abuse.

Bennell had denied dozens

of offences involving 11 boys,

one of whom claimed to have been

abused on more than ten

separate occasions.

During the trial, witnesses

described how Bennell had exercised

a power hold over them,

as ambitious young players.

The jury asked for more time

to consider seven others counts,

we'll have the latest

from Liverpool Crown Court.

Also tonight -

Jacob Zuma is formally told

by his own party, to stand down,

as president of South Africa,

following allegations of corruption.

Lung cancer patients, including many

who have never smoked,

say it's time to devote far more

resources to research.

It felt like I was being punished

for a crime I hadn't committed.

I've never smoked.

In fact, I used to be

the butt of jokes at school

because I wouldn't.

Sky and BT Sport pay over

£4.5 billion for football

rights, but is it as much

as the Premier League

had been expecting?

COMMENTATOR:

Christie is out of it

again!

And, at the Winter Olympics,

the moment when Britain's

Elise Christie crashed,

on the last lap, of the women's

speed skating final.

And coming up on

Sportsday on BBC News:

Could Spurs recover from a terrible

start in the Champions League

knockout stages against Italian

giants Juventus in Turin?

Good evening.

The former football coach,

Barry Bennell, has been found

guilty of multiple sex offences

against young boys in the 1980s.

Bennell had denied 48 charges,

including indecent assault

and serious sexual assaults,

but the jury convicted him

on dozens of counts,

and asked for more time

to consider seven others.

During the trial, prosecutors

described him as a predatory

paedophile who molested young boys

on an 'industrial scale'.

Our correspondent Danny Savage

is at Liverpool Crown Court tonight.

The jury in this case listened to

evidence for five weeks in total.

They went out to consider their

verdicts last Thursday and came back

this afternoon with the majority of

their verdicts. Barry Bennell, the

football coach who abused his

position to molesting young boys,

listened on via a video link and

shook his head and muttered as those

guilty verdicts were returned with

some of his victims in court

watching on.

He was the charismatic coach

who convinced the parents

of promising young footballers that

staying at his house

was all part of the game.

We really work the kids,

they're learning all the time,

and we do a lot of talking

to them as well...

But in the words of the prosecution,

Barry Bennell was a child molester

on an industrial scale.

Now a shadow of his former self,

the 64-year-old was today convicted

of sexually assaulting boys aged

between eight and 15.

He was found guilty

of assaulting ten of the 11 boys

this trial centred on.

He was the gatekeeper

to a dream in football,

He was the gatekeeper

to a dream world in football,

but his victims had to silently

suffer horrific abuse.

He assaulted some of

the boys at his homes,

one of which was in this

Derbyshire village.

He had arcade games and exotic pets,

and always had a reason

for the youngsters to stay over.

His victims were associated

with Crewe and Manchester City,

where he was involved

in the junior setups.

He was said to have been treated

like God at Manchester

City's Maine Road ground.

In court, it was said Bennell

had groomed the parents

of the complainants so he could

carry on the abuse.

He offered no evidence

in his defence, and his barrister

accused some of the men,

who were boys at the time,

of inventing stories about him

and jumping on the bandwagon.

Bennell has previously

received jail sentences

in the United States,

and here in the UK,

after being convicted

of similar offences.

This afternoon, as throughout his

trial, this serial child molester

appeared via video link.

He shook his head as the guilty

verdicts were returned.

Some of his victims

had come to watch.

Hearing finally that the man

who abused them when they were

little boys has been convicted.

So, what happened today is that he

was found guilty of 36 of the

charges and the jury is still

considering seven others. So the

judge has told them to go away and

continue their deliberations

tomorrow, although he will accept a

majority verdict on those seven

outstanding cases. This trial is not

finished yet, the jury must still go

through some deliberations on those

of the charges and that will be

starting from tomorrow morning.

Danny Savage, many thanks, our

correspondent at Liverpool Crown

Court.

In South Africa, the ruling

African National Congress has asked

President Jacob Zuma to resign.

The ANC says he's agreed to stand

down, but only after a transition

period of three to six months,

which the party says

is unacceptable.

Mr Zuma has come under

increasing pressure to resign,

following a series

of corruption scandals.

Our Africa editor Fergal Keane sent

this report from Johannesburg.

Not quite the Night of The Long

Knives but still the party moving

definitively to be rid

of a defiant President.

Late last night the convoy

of the ANC leader Cyril

Ramaphosa coming to tell his

executive that after

a short meeting Jacob

Zuma was refusing to

resign voluntarily.

With the media kept at bay the party

debated what to do next.

It's half-past midnight and they're

still talking in there.

More than ten hours

after they started.

Now, there's a sense

that the whole future of the ANC,

and indeed of this country,

hinges on what happens now.

This afternoon in Johannesburg

after a meeting that eventually ran

for 13 hours,

the ANC revealed that its

patience was exhausted.

In its wisdom the NEC

decided as follows -

One, to recall Jacob Zuma.

Recalled, in other words

they were calling on

Jacob Zuma to resign.

And if he doesn't it's

likely they'll force

him out through a motion of no

confidence in parliament.

But it's potentially risky.

The President still has many

supporters in the party.

Do you worry that this

is going to split the ANC,

divide the movement irreparably?

I don't know whether

the ANC will split.

But we are leaders,

we belong to branches and

we are appealing to our structures

to understand that the National

Executive Committee

has taken decisions.

So, as the ANC officials believe

they have now thrown down a

gauntlet to President Jacob Zuma.

They've given him time,

lots of time, they say,

to respond to their demand

that he step down.

It's now up to him.

Nobody could accuse

the ANC of rushing to

remove Jacob Zuma.

The leadership did

nothing while corruption

scandals multiplied

during nine years of his rule.

An Indian immigrant

family, the Guptas, was

allowed to purchase vital national

enterprises, employing the

President's son in what became

known as state capture.

Now the opposition believes

President Zuma no longer

cares about dividing

his party or country.

Now he's just defiant.

You know, these are

the last kicks of a

dying horse.

But it becomes dangerous.

He doesn't care.

He's not even scared of impeachment.

So, he is prepared

to lose everything.

Jacob Zuma has lived and ruled

in the shadow of greatness.

However it comes about,

he will leave office a

humiliated figure.

Well, tonight the finance minister,

a man who was formerly a close ally

of Jacob Zuma has come out and said

he expects the President to do the

right thing and step down and it's

significant that in the last 24

hours no cabinet ministers have come

out in support of Jacob Zuma. It

matters greatly that the ANC doesn't

descend into factional fighting over

this because that would leave the

new President, Cyril Ramaphosa, the

new leader of the organisation,

trying to rescue this country's

shattered economy and root out the

deep corruption, while at the same

time trying to contain struggles in

his own ranks.

Fergal, thank you once again, Africa

editor Fergal Keane with the latest

on the presidential story in South

Africa.

Boris Johnson, in a major speech

tomorrow, is expected to reach out

to those who still have deep

misgivings about Brexit,

and to underline what he says

are the potential benefits

of leaving the European Union.

The Foreign Secretary will say that

he's detected a deepening

of the anger in relation to Brexit.

Our political correspondent

Ben Wright is at Westminster.

Is this some kind of admission that

the Government still has a lot of

work to do to unite people?

Yes,

it's a call for national unity a

long time after the referendum in a

very conciliatory tone of the sort I

don't think we have heard very much

from Cabinet ministers. Boris

Johnson will use his Valentine's Day

speech to try and woo despairing

Remain voters who feel Brexit is a

disaster and he's written a piece in

tomorrow's Sun along those lines.

He's one of the leading figures of

Bo-lieve campaign, or he was, and he

says he understands the grief and

alienation of our Brexit many people

feel and he detects a hardening of

the anger. He says it's not good

enough to say to the 48% who voted

Remain get over it for survey says

concerns and excite is need to be

listened to. He says it would be a

disastrous mistake to try and stop

Brexit and cause Britain's departure

from the EU the great project of

age. The tone of this is really

interesting. I think for people who

are sceptical about Brexit, maybe

people watching on from the EU, it's

not the tone, it's the conduct of Mr

Johnson's speech and other

ministers' speeches in the next few

weeks that they will judge this

speech by, what would would have us

about how divided Cabinet plans to

get the Brexit deal that No 10

wants.

Ben Wright, thank you, the

latest from Westminster.

The Government has unveiled

an online tool, powered

by artificial intelligence,

that it says can accurately detect

jihadist content and stop

it from being viewed.

The Home Secretary, Amber Rudd,

says she wouldn't rule out bringing

in a law that would force technology

companies to use it.

But with extremist propaganda

from so-called Islamic State

appearing on more than 400 platforms

last year, there are concerns that

such groups will simply

adapt their methods

to reach new audiences.

Our media editor, Amol

Rajan, has the story.

Militaristic, cinematic and often

shot with high-level production

values, these propaganda videos

for the so-called Islamic State

espouse terror and hatred.

They're also easy to find

on the internet right now.

So what we have here are two videos,

one of which is extremist content,

the other which is perfectly

legitimate news coverage.

Now an artificial intelligence firm

in London has used Home Office money

to target such extremist content.

The creators claim the technology,

which is obviously secret,

can spot 94% of IS content online

with an accuracy of 99.995%.

The technology distinguishes

between news and extremism

and flags up examples,

such as the one on the right,

with a high probability

of being extremist content,

to be vetted by a human.

What we are looking to do is to try

and remove this content

from the public web.

If it requires somebody to have ten

passwords and an incredibly

complicated Tor browser before

they can get access to content,

we see that as a win.

It means that it can't just be

shared between friends on, like,

their mobile phones.

While attention is focused

on big firms like Twitter,

Google and Facebook,

crucially, this technology

will benefit smaller platforms,

who will have free use of it.

Islamic State supporters used over

400 unique platforms last year,

145 of them for the first time.

Like other forms of modern media,

terrorist propaganda

has now shifted online.

What's so striking about this

new tool is both that it's funded

by government rather than technology

firms, and that it's powered

by artificial intelligence.

In other words, it's an admission

that machines rather than manpower

will be most effective at finding

and removing extremist

material online.

One former jihadist, who now works

in counter-radicalisation,

argues that terrorists will always

adapt their methods to find

new audiences and the platforms need

to be willing to take action.

The big players in this area

are taking a lot of action,

but what we've found is that it's

the smaller companies who aren't

necessarily prepared to play

ball with government,

sometimes because they're

suspicious of government,

sometimes because they simply don't

regard it as being part

of their business model.

It's not yet clear how widely

the technology will be taken up,

but the Government says its instinct

is to collaborate with industry.

We're not going to rule out

taking legislative action

if we need to do it,

but I remain convinced that the best

way to take real action,

to have the best outcomes,

is to have an industry-led form,

like the one we've got.

Your algorithms are doing that

grooming and that radicalisation.

It's a war of attrition,

but the chair of the Home Affairs

Select Committee says the onus

is still on the biggest

digital companies.

I think it's imperative on the tech

giants, on all of these companies,

to do more to operate swiftly

to remove illegal material.

If they don't, there has to be some

form of penalty on them

for not doing this because,

in the end, this is

about illegal material.

It's important to be

realistic about the costs

and consequences of the open web.

While technology and government

pressure can reduce harm,

the fight against digital extremism

is a war without end.

Amol Rajan, BBC News.

Lung cancer claims more lives

in the UK than any other form

of cancer, and its victims include

many who have never smoked.

Despite the fact that it's the UK's

biggest cancer killer,

it still receives relatively

little research funding.

Around 35,000 people

die from lung cancer

in the UK every year,

and around 44,000 new

cases are diagnosed.

But just £708 is spent in the UK per

person who dies from lung cancer.

A fifth of that spent on breast

cancer and a tenth of the amount

on leukaemia research.

Our legal affairs correspondent,

Clive Coleman whose sister Sarah

recently died of lung cancer,

has been finding out more

about the non-smokers

who are affected, why it attracts

less research funding

than other cancers.

When you're first diagnosed

with cancer, it's really scary

and I was very scared.

I was diagnosed with non-small cell

lung cancer in August 2015.

This is my younger sister, Sarah,

she died of lung cancer in December,

two years after being diagnosed.

In the months before her death,

she made this film

about her condition.

Before she got the illness,

I knew relatively little about it.

I suppose I shared the common view

that it was a smoker's disease.

I had no idea how many healthy,

non-smokers got it or that in the UK

it kills more than breast,

prostate and pancreatic

cancer put together.

Keep into the sides, that's it.

Safely.

Like my sister, Joanne Marshall has

never smoked, but has stage 4 lung

cancer because of a non-inherited

fault in her genes.

She's being treated

with targeted drug therapies.

They provide a very

effective stay of execution.

So for me, for example,

I've been on a targeted

therapy for about a year,

which meant that I could live,

essentially, a normal life.

I was very active,

I could breathe properly.

But they don't last forever,

that's the problem, cancer tends

to be one step ahead.

The children help

just by being here.

I mean, they're really doing

everything they can.

My husband...

His life has completely changed

and it's not what I wanted for him.

But, you know...

If we get through this,

we'll be so strong.

Scientists don't know why seemingly

more and more healthy non-smokers

are getting lung cancer,

but visiting Joanna and her family,

I had learned that the disease kills

98 people each day in the UK.

14% of those who get it have

never smoked and yet,

in terms of research funding,

it receives a small fraction

of the money spent on breast

or testicular cancer or leukaemia.

It's a massive problem

because these people

who are diagnosed with lung cancer,

who've never smoked,

are really quite angry that it's

assumed that they have smoked

and that they have self-inflicted

this cancer upon them,

when clearly they haven't.

Because of the way that the disease

behaves and that these people

are not expected to be diagnosed

with cancer, they're not high risk,

they're usually diagnosed at a later

stage and therefore treatment can

often not be curative,

which is a complete

and utter disaster for them.

Lung cancer remains the ugly,

poor relation of the cancer family,

it doesn't discriminate

between smokers and non-smokers

and there'll be many more cases,

like my sister's, before

a long-term treatment's found.

Clive Coleman, BBC News.

A parliamentary committee has taken

the unusual step of using its powers

to force the financial regulator

to hand over a report

into the mistreatment

of business customers by RBS.

The Financial Conduct Authority had

said it could take weeks or months

to publish the report,

which found that mistreatment

of business customers by the RBS

Global Restructuring Group,

was widespread and systematic,

as our economics correspondent,

Andy Verity, explains.

Glenn eggels the golf venue in 2007

RBS NatWest promised to lend the

property developer enough money to

buy two plots of land here and

develop them into luxury homes. But

then in 2008 the bank moved Derek

into what became the RBS Global

Restructuring Group, within months

the bank broke its promise. His

business was wrecked and the home he

was lived in on this street was

lost. He fought back, acting as his

own lawyer and won in the Supreme

Court, but it took well over a year

for the bank to compensate him.

It

was unfair. Actions against me and

the actions against lots of other

people. That really leads me back to

where is the accountability?

In 2013

the Financial Conduct Authority

commissioned a report which found

inappropriate treatment was

widespread and systematic. It

published a summary of the findings

but MPs have been pressing the

reluctant regulator to publish it in

full.

I'm going to write to you,

probably in the next couple of days,

with a clear request to publish and

a time scale within which to

publish. Otherwise it will be the

case that the Financial Conduct

Authority finds events overtake him.

A copy of the full report was

published on the internet. What it

contains are phrases that neither

the bank nor the regulator wanted

the public to see including phrases

like, "rope, sometimes you need to

let customers hang themselves."

Another one, "GRG management was

aware or should have been aware. We

view these issues as part of an

intentional or coordinated strategy.

It was this strategy that was the

underlying cause of the poor

treatment." The businessmen who

first accused the bank of

mistreating customers say those

behind the scandal aren't being held

accountable.

The whole FCA process

has taken far too long. Over four

years is ridiculous. But what's

probably worse than that is the way

they seem to have worked hand in

glove with RBS and negotiated

behind-the-scenes with RBS about

what would be in the report. To the

point where the regulators are

saying, I'm not sure we want to

publish this yet because RBS might

sue us. Who is regulating who.

Neither the bank nor the regulator

will give an interview but neither

is objecting to publication. They

are being forced to hand over a

unredacted copy by Friday. Andy

Verity, BBC News.

A brief look at some

of the day's other news stories.

Israeli police say there is enough

evidence to indict the Prime

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

for bribery, fraud and breach

of trust in two separate cases.

They relate to claims he received

luxury gifts in exchange

for political favours and asked

the publisher of a newspaper

for favourable coverage in return

for reigning in a rival publication.

Mr Netanyahu says the allegations

are "baseless" and he intends

to continue as leader.

Inflation remained

unchanged last month at 3%.

The cost of food and some

imported materials fell,

but prices for clothing and some

leisure activities rose.

Last week the Bank of England warned

that interest rates may go up

quicker than expected

to help curb inflation.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have

made their first official

joint visit to Scotland.

The trip began with a walkabout

at Edinburgh Castle,

where the couple had a close

encounter with the mascot

of the Royal Regiment of Scotland -

a Shetland pony - before visiting

a cafe in the city

which helps the homeless.

A judge has upheld the UK arrest

warrant for the founder

of the Wikileaks website,

Julian Assange.

It was issued when he breached bail

conditions in 2012 and sought refuge

at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London,

where he's been ever since.

He was facing sexual assault

allegations in Sweden,

which have since been dropped.

The country of Guyana,

in South America, is one

of the smallest in the world,

with a population of under 800,000,

and yet it has the highest

suicide rate among women,

some five times higher

than the UK, according

to the World Health Oganisation.

Our reporter, Tiffany Sweeney,

reports now from the capital

Georgetown on the scale

of the problem and the latest

initiatives to tackle it.

From the lush greenery

of its countryside,

to its vibrant capital Georgetown,

it's a place of beauty and colour.

But below the surface,

there's a darker under current.

Underlying all of this

is a cultural acceptance that

suicide is part of Guyana.

It's not just one thing that makes

someone think that, you know what,

I'm going to end my life.

Every day my parents would have

money and many of those things

are contributed to it.

And it was seeing her parents find

it difficult to feed her family that

led to Lisa's depression and trying

to take her own life,

at the age of 14.

Yeah, I felt as though, you know,

they were struggling a lot

and I wanted to do more

and to help them.

I felt like if I was out

of the equation, then things

would be much better.

Good morning.

Good morning.

But Lisa is here today because one

teacher encouraged her to talk.

She won Miss Guyana and used her

platform to set up Pora,

-- Pots, prevention

of teenage suicide.

# I would take back

everything back #.

Lisa shares her story

of how she became a singer

and a model, it's her way

of inspiring young people.

After the discussion,

five school children wanted to talk.

About things that happen.

I'm always in school.

I never, never like to let people

know my feelings, I always smile.

They all shared similar stories,

of family members dying, absent

parents and bullying at school.

Some were so overwhelming,

it was clear they needed support.

Support that this school gives

through its teachers,

but here they're still waiting

for a counsellor, something

the government has pledged.

If you're so young and vulnerable

at that age and no-one's telling

you that you can be something

or you can make something

of your life, I believe in you,

then you feel worthless,

and that's essentially

what these kids are feeling.

So what's the best theme?

Mine one is, say it...

Beverley Cyrus is the head

teacher at this school,

she believes tackling issues at home

are just as important as education.

Some of them are living,

like, in different homes

at different periods of time.

So most of them are not

in a stable home.

So you find various behaviours

are coming out because what mum

would encourage, grandmum wouldn't.

She, like Lisa, believes

by nurturing the children to focus

positively on the skills they do

have, it will help to improve

their mental health.

The government is opening several

specialist centres this year

to address the fact the suicide rate

among women is the highest

in the world and for men

the second highest.

Suriname is two hours

from the capital and is

the region most affected.

The hospital here says one

of their main issues is the negative

way in which suicide

is commonly discussed.

You hear it sitting in a car.

It's discussed, it's laughed at.

It's like an every day conversation.

She called for other governmental

bodies to play their part.

As I've said, we can't stand

alone, we're a house,

so we need all the pillars

to ensure our people stand.

The authorities are trying to find

a way out, but it will take

a cultural shift to change

the conversation surrounding mental

health to one that will change

the tide in a positive direction.

Tiffany Sweeney, BBC News, Guyana.

The English Premier League has

tonight revealed how much UK

broadcasters will pay for the right

to show football over a three-year

period, starting next year.

Our sports correspondent,

Richard Conway, is here and has

been casting an eye over

what we know so far.

Tell us about the figures. What

deals have been struck?

Sky are the

big winners tonight. Theyed have

secured 128 games under this new

deal. They will pay £1.2 billion per

season for those games. That will

extend over a three year period. The

company will pay 16% less per match

though. A reduction on their current

contract. BT, they have secured one

of the seven packages available them

will show 32 games across Saturday

lunch times at a cost of £295

million per season. £9 million per

match twochlt more packages of games

remain. For bank holiday and midweek

games. They remain to be sold am

they are multiple bidders interested

in them, we are told. There is

speculation the tech giants, Netflix

and Amazon and Facebook they could

come for those packages remain we

have to wait and see on that. In

all, the BT and Sky have paid £4.5

billion over three years. It's a

huge sum, not as much as last time.

It will mean that the clubs in the

Premier League will still be able to

fund the big transfers, big wages

and the big money to agents. More to

come from overseas deals. Fans, they

will want that dialogue over fair

ticket policies to continue. They

will want to know what is happening

with grass-roots money as well. The

big money remains in English

football, but the broadcasters

appear, for now at least, to have

reached a limit on what they are

prepared to pay.

Richard thank the

again for latest on that. Richard

Conway there for us.

In the Champions League,

Tottenham Hotspur made a remarkable

comeback in Italy against Juventus

after going two goals down.

After Harry Kane scored,

Christian Eriksen equalised

from a free kick to give Spurs two

away goals to take back

to Wembley for the second leg.

In the other tie, Manchester City

cruised to a 4-0 win in Basel,

all but securing them a place

in the quarter-finals

of the competition.

Hopes of a first medal for Britain

at the Winter Olympics,

in South Korea, were dashed today

when the speed skater,

Elise Christie, crashed on the last

lap of the Women's 500 Metres Final

and finished last.

Our correspondent, Andy Swiss,

reports from Pyeongchang.

Elise Christie!

Racing for redemption,

Elise Christie hoping to turn

heartbreak into Olympic glory.

COMMENTATOR:

Away they

go, the final is on.

They get away first time.

Four years ago in Sochi, Christie

endured a personal nightmare.

Crashes, disqualifications,

she nearly quit the sport.

Surely it couldn't happen again?

COMMENTATOR:

She has work to do

to get back into contention.

But stuck in fourth place,

she spied a gap, went

for it and what followed

was horribly familiar.

COMMENTATOR:

Christie tries

to make it on the inside.

She's third.

Christie crashes out.

Christie is out of it once again!

Fontana going with Choi Min-jeong.

It's a photo finish on the line!

Once again, Christie's hopes

were sent sliding into the barriers,

it was Sochi all over again,

and as Italy's Arianna Fontana

took gold, Christie

was left in utter despair.

Well, can you believe it,

another Olympics, another

tumble for Elise Christie.

She still has two more events

to come, but her Games have

started in disappointment.

Replays suggested Christie's hand

had been hit by a rival's

skate and afterwards,

she was inconsolable.

As the tears flowed,

she tried to make sense

of her seemingly endless misfortune.

I know it's short track

and I know I'm supposed

to be prepared for this,

but it still hurts, you know.

Obviously, it's still almost a week

until my best distance,

so that's the positive...

I don't know, right now

I just can't see living

with this feeling, you know.

I just...

But, I mean, it's out of my control,

I got knocked over and that's that.

COMMENTATOR:

Christie...

Oh, they've gone down!

Those memories of Sochi

four years ago, though,

may now prove hard to erase.

She crashed in the same final there,

but her team are urging

her to stay positive.

I think you could all see she tried

to put everything out

there to try and get gold.

She wasn't going for anything else.

You know, that's the

nature of the sport.

You know, crashes do

happen, unfortunately.

The question now, though,

is whether Britain's biggest medal

hope can pick herself up again

on a desperate day of deja vu.

Andy Swiss, BBC News, Pyeongchang.