:00:00. > :00:00.The Chancellor Philip Hammond defends raising taxes
:00:00. > :00:09.Mr Hammond said the government was facing new spending challenges
:00:10. > :00:18.What I did yesterday was address the basic continuing unfairness
:00:19. > :00:21.in the current system, the benefits available
:00:22. > :00:28.to the self-employed have significantly improved.
:00:29. > :00:35.This is not the time to do it when consumer spending is just dipping
:00:36. > :00:36.and at the front line are the effects of the sole traders, the
:00:37. > :00:39.self-employed. We'll be asking just how
:00:40. > :00:41.much political pressure Jeremy Hunt says the NHS has
:00:42. > :00:46.to improve its performance now that social care is being given
:00:47. > :00:48.an extra ?2 billion. John Lewis cuts its staff bonuses
:00:49. > :00:52.in the face of what it calls A university lecturer has been
:00:53. > :00:59.arrested in Australia on child sex abuse charges after he impersonated
:01:00. > :01:13.the pop star Justin Bieber online. Made this memorial can read the
:01:14. > :01:16.lives in service of all who took part in the operations in Iraq and
:01:17. > :01:17.Afghanistan. And the Queen unveils a memorial
:01:18. > :01:20.dedicated to those who served in conflicts in Iraq,
:01:21. > :01:22.Afghanistan, and in the Gulf War. And the Queen unveils a memorial
:01:23. > :01:25.dedicated to those who served And coming up in the
:01:26. > :01:27.sport on BBC News. England and Scotland
:01:28. > :01:29.name their teams for Saturday's Calcutta Cup match
:01:30. > :01:31.in the Six Nations, with Billy Vunipola on the bench
:01:32. > :01:53.for Eddie Jone's side at Twickenham. Good afternoon and welcome
:01:54. > :01:56.to the BBC News at One. The Chancellor Philip Hammond has
:01:57. > :01:59.defended his plan to raise National Insurance Contributions
:02:00. > :02:01.for the self-employed, saying the government
:02:02. > :02:04.faces "new challenges." Mr Hammond is facing criticism
:02:05. > :02:07.of the Budget announcement for apparently going against a 2015
:02:08. > :02:12.manifesto pledge on tax rises. The change, due to come in next
:02:13. > :02:15.year, will mean 1.6 million self-employed people paying
:02:16. > :02:20.on average ?240 more every year. Labour has accused the government
:02:21. > :02:23.of breaking its promise. Here's our political
:02:24. > :02:35.correspondent Eleanor Garnier. Learning to solve technical problems
:02:36. > :02:38.at a college in Dudley in the West Midlands this morning, and after
:02:39. > :02:43.yesterday's budget, the Chancellor is the one looking for answers after
:02:44. > :02:47.criticism over his plans to hike up national insurance. I think the
:02:48. > :02:52.decision we have made is a fair decision. To ask self-employed
:02:53. > :02:57.people to pay just a little more contribution for the services they
:02:58. > :03:00.receive. This is not in any way an attack on business, hugely
:03:01. > :03:03.supportive of business, I want people to have choices about the way
:03:04. > :03:09.they work, but I want them to make those choices on the basis of what's
:03:10. > :03:13.right, not on the basis of what tax advantages they bring. But this is
:03:14. > :03:17.the row he woke up to. Accusations the Tories had broken a manifesto
:03:18. > :03:23.promise made by Mr Cameron back in 2015. If you elect me as your Prime
:03:24. > :03:26.Minister there will be no increase in VAT, no increase in National
:03:27. > :03:32.insurance, no increase in income tax. And there is criticism from
:03:33. > :03:38.some Conservative MPs. My leave iPod through people's doors who voted for
:03:39. > :03:41.me said we will not put up VAT, income tax and national insurance
:03:42. > :03:45.contributions and it didn't say only class one or anything else, it
:03:46. > :03:48.didn't say that. That's what people believed in an I don't think we
:03:49. > :03:52.should break that promise. The government says the policy will make
:03:53. > :03:58.the system fairer. The new changes plus others already planned mean 2.6
:03:59. > :04:08.million people will gain around ?115 a year. At 1.6 million will have to
:04:09. > :04:12.pay more, on average ?240 a year. Labour is hoping Tory rebels will
:04:13. > :04:14.help them oppose the plans. And represent the constituency with a
:04:15. > :04:19.large number of self-employed and I'd tell you, at the moment, they
:04:20. > :04:22.are on the edge because the dip in consumer spending, what's happening
:04:23. > :04:27.in the economy at the moment. This is not a time to be penalising them.
:04:28. > :04:31.We want a fair system so let the planet so those self-employed are
:04:32. > :04:35.treated fairly, but also lets end this exploitation. But others are
:04:36. > :04:40.clear the change will make things fairer. The world of work is
:04:41. > :04:43.changing, 45% of the increase in employment in the last few years has
:04:44. > :04:46.been done by self-employment and he's realised more people are
:04:47. > :04:53.self-employed, the less taxi is getting in because the self-employed
:04:54. > :04:56.pay significantly less and he's right to adjust that. The Treasury
:04:57. > :05:00.say Philip Hammond is privately bullish about the changes. But they
:05:01. > :05:06.do admit privately the initial explanation of the measures may have
:05:07. > :05:10.fallen short. The government insists its plans are fair. But Philip
:05:11. > :05:12.Hammond said no Chancellor can rule out future tax changes. Adding that
:05:13. > :05:15.the golden rule. The independent economics
:05:16. > :05:17.think tank, the Institute of Fiscal Studies, has been looking
:05:18. > :05:21.through the Chancellor's Budget and has been giving its initial
:05:22. > :05:24.analysis of it to our economics correspondent Andy Verity
:05:25. > :05:36.who's in central London. What do they say? As well as
:05:37. > :05:40.analysing the National Insurance changes we've talked about, they've
:05:41. > :05:45.also looked about earnings, and that's a very concerning picture
:05:46. > :05:47.because they have identified official recognition that we are not
:05:48. > :05:53.now going to get back all the economic growth that we lost after
:05:54. > :05:58.the financial crash. Here is what Paul Johnson said to me. What really
:05:59. > :06:00.struck me was that we have got confirmation that we are in the
:06:01. > :06:06.middle of the worst decade for earnings growth in more than 100
:06:07. > :06:09.years and yet the Office for Budget Responsibility things the economy is
:06:10. > :06:12.above trend, in other words doing better than it can continue to do
:06:13. > :06:16.into the future, so all of that growth we have lost over the last
:06:17. > :06:25.few years, we're not going to get back again. We are still getting
:06:26. > :06:29.used to this idea. The Autumn Statement in 2016. But actually,
:06:30. > :06:33.normally after recession you do expect a recovery, you expect to get
:06:34. > :06:37.back that productive capacity. The fact we are now not going to get it
:06:38. > :06:41.back and with it the pay rises which would have gone with it, means this
:06:42. > :06:47.is a decade without precedent in modern times. The worst pay rises in
:06:48. > :06:48.a decade for more than a century. OK, Andy, thank you.
:06:49. > :06:54.Our Assistant Political Editor Norman Smith is in Westminster.
:06:55. > :07:01.Norman, the ISS with a gloomy assessment of pay rises and this row
:07:02. > :07:05.going on with National Insurance contributions. How much pressure
:07:06. > :07:10.does this mean Philip Hammond is now under? He is under huge humongous
:07:11. > :07:13.pressure to climb down because for many Conservative MPs there is tax
:07:14. > :07:17.rise goes against everything they believe it is to be a conservative,
:07:18. > :07:22.involving in the first place putting up taxes on people's basic income,
:07:23. > :07:26.something which is anathema to many Tories, but more than that, they
:07:27. > :07:31.view it as an attack on their people, people who go out on their
:07:32. > :07:37.own, take a risk, start a business, grow a company, and, yes, they do
:07:38. > :07:41.accept it is a breach of their party 's election manifesto. And the
:07:42. > :07:44.difficulty for Philip Hammond is there is going to have to be a vote
:07:45. > :07:48.on this, they will have to be legislation to bring about these tax
:07:49. > :07:52.rises. This morning the Treasury were not running up the white flag
:07:53. > :07:57.and say Mr Hammond is bullish and are confident they can make a better
:07:58. > :08:00.job of selling the policies for the basing your argument is about
:08:01. > :08:05.fairness will gain traction. My sense is at the end of the day, Mr
:08:06. > :08:13.Hammond may yet be saved by Brexit and the reason for that is real Tory
:08:14. > :08:16.MPs, do they want to inflict more hardship and difficulty on the
:08:17. > :08:20.government when they are already having to navigate the fraud to
:08:21. > :08:24.reign of Brexit? So we may not get a climb-down. It could be a review
:08:25. > :08:29.and, significantly, Downing Street this morning repeatedly not ruling
:08:30. > :08:31.out a review of the tax rises. Norman, many thanks.
:08:32. > :08:34.The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said it is essential that A
:08:35. > :08:36.departments in England hit their target for waiting times
:08:37. > :08:39.now that extra money has been put into social care,
:08:40. > :08:43.If we are leaving people too long in A departments,
:08:44. > :08:46.if we're not getting the flow right through hospitals, it
:08:47. > :08:48.is bad for patient safety, and that's why it's absolutely
:08:49. > :08:55.essential that we do get back to the 95% target.
:08:56. > :08:59.This one is critical for patient safety, and that's why,
:09:00. > :09:01.yesterday, you saw the Chancellor announcing a ?2 billion short-term
:09:02. > :09:12.Well, 95% of patients should be dealt with in four hours,
:09:13. > :09:15.but the latest figures for January show a new record low,
:09:16. > :09:18.with only 85% of people being seen in that time.
:09:19. > :09:24.Our health correspondent Nick Triggle is here.
:09:25. > :09:31.The Health Secretary wants to get back to this 95% target, how?
:09:32. > :09:35.Clearly it's a big ask, but he is hoping the investment announced in
:09:36. > :09:38.the budget for social care will have a knock-on impact for hospitals for
:09:39. > :09:41.the best winter one of the big problems we have seen is the large
:09:42. > :09:45.numbers of patients who finished their treatment but have been unable
:09:46. > :09:49.to be discharged from hospital because care is not available in the
:09:50. > :09:54.community. If councils are in charge of social care and are able to
:09:55. > :09:58.provide more help in the home tasks whitewashing and dressing, more care
:09:59. > :10:01.home faces, those delays in theory should reduce and the NHS has issued
:10:02. > :10:05.guidance this morning saying that they hope the investment will free
:10:06. > :10:10.up between 2000-3000 bed to reduce the delays by a half and expectation
:10:11. > :10:15.now is the NHS will hit target by March next year but hospital bosses
:10:16. > :10:19.I have spoken to have said that if unrealistic. OK, Nick, thank you.
:10:20. > :10:22.John Lewis has cut its staff bonus to 6% this year,
:10:23. > :10:28.John Lewis has cut its staff bonus to 6% this year,
:10:29. > :10:31.Despite rising profits, the partnership, which also owns
:10:32. > :10:33.Waitrose, is warning of an "increasingly
:10:34. > :10:36.It comes after John Lewis announced it was cutting
:10:37. > :10:39.Our Business Correspondent Emma Simpson reports.
:10:40. > :10:43.These were the good old days, a stonking
:10:44. > :10:49.John Lewis is owned by its staff, and they cherish
:10:50. > :10:53.This year, a different story, just 6%, the lowest
:10:54. > :10:59.for 63 years, despite reporting healthy pre-tax profits.
:11:00. > :11:03.The reason we've done that is because it gives
:11:04. > :11:06.us more firepower to accelerate our plans for the future.
:11:07. > :11:07.It basically means we can maintain our investment
:11:08. > :11:11.this year and absorb the cost of change, even if the market gets
:11:12. > :11:12.tougher in the year ahead, and that's very
:11:13. > :11:23.The reason we've done that is because it gives
:11:24. > :11:25.A revolution in shopping habits is under way.
:11:26. > :11:27.Nearly half of all John Lewis's sales are now online, but
:11:28. > :11:30.they still have to pay the costs of all the stores.
:11:31. > :11:32.How to make money and give the customers what they
:11:33. > :11:36.want - it's something all retailers are trying to figure out.
:11:37. > :11:38.Now matter how good a retailer you are, you are
:11:39. > :11:41.not immune to the challenges that all retailers face now.
:11:42. > :11:44.Costs are rising in the supply chain because
:11:45. > :11:48.You also have higher costs for staff because wages
:11:49. > :11:51.are rising, and then, of course, there's business rates on top of
:11:52. > :11:56.And then you have to invest heavily in the business to keep
:11:57. > :11:59.But as the spring season gets under way, what
:12:00. > :12:01.the chairman of this business is worried
:12:02. > :12:03.about is the impact of the
:12:04. > :12:08.falling pound, and how that could affect prices and profits.
:12:09. > :12:10.The main uncertainty in the market this year
:12:11. > :12:15.I said in January that it was the dog
:12:16. > :12:17.that hadn't barked, and I think what we can
:12:18. > :12:19.now see is, or hear, is the
:12:20. > :12:22.sort of low rumble of a bit of a growl.
:12:23. > :12:26.And will consumers start to rein back as a result?
:12:27. > :12:28.John Lewis is preparing itself for a tough year
:12:29. > :12:35.The founder of a charity which supports people
:12:36. > :12:38.who as children were forcibly sent abroad without their parents has
:12:39. > :12:40.been giving evidence at the independent inquiry
:12:41. > :12:47.Margaret Humphreys said the deportation of thousands
:12:48. > :12:49.of children was the most catastrophic child abuse legacy
:12:50. > :12:55.Here's our Home Affairs Correspondent, Tom Symonds.
:12:56. > :12:57.Margaret Humphreys has worked most of her life
:12:58. > :13:06.Her offices are covered with the pictures of those she's helped.
:13:07. > :13:10.Today, 30 years after founding the Child Migrants Trust,
:13:11. > :13:13.she finally got to give evidence to a British public inquiry,
:13:14. > :13:20.Without doubt this is the most catastrophic child-abuse legacy
:13:21. > :13:26.Kidnapping, sexual abuse in the UK before they were sent -
:13:27. > :13:33.Between 1945 and 1974 Britain accelerated the migration of poor
:13:34. > :13:37.children, in particular to Australia.
:13:38. > :13:40.The idea - to reduce the impact on British
:13:41. > :13:43.social services, and bring what was called "good white stock"
:13:44. > :13:48.This man in a suit, he came to see me, and he
:13:49. > :13:50.says, "Your mother's dead, you know, so how'd
:13:51. > :13:55.The story of Margaret Humphreys' fight for the migrants was made
:13:56. > :14:00.She was particularly horrified about the way it stripped them of their
:14:01. > :14:05.It is a chilling fact of the scandal that many were told they
:14:06. > :14:15.That was in my view I think the greatest betrayal of all,
:14:16. > :14:18.because it took so much hope from them.
:14:19. > :14:21.The inquiry has heard seven days of evidence,
:14:22. > :14:24.from migrants in their later years, remembering their lives.
:14:25. > :14:27.Deprived of good education, love and support.
:14:28. > :14:44.Once in Australia I walked with no shoes, and dare I
:14:45. > :14:47.say it, I no underwear and believe me - you need to do that
:14:48. > :14:49.walk to know how it feels to be nobody.
:14:50. > :14:52.When your feet hurt and they bleed, and nobody, but nobody,
:14:53. > :14:54.The British Government has apologised
:14:55. > :14:58.for what happened, but this inquiry is looking at the legacy it has
:14:59. > :15:00.left, and former child migrants have told me they want more compensation
:15:01. > :15:04.to ease the impact it is still having so late in their lives.
:15:05. > :15:14.Tom Symonds, BBC News, at the child-abuse inquiry.
:15:15. > :15:25.The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, defends raising National Insurance
:15:26. > :15:26.on the self-employed, saying there are new spending challenges that
:15:27. > :15:29.have to be faced. And coming up: Was this the greatest
:15:30. > :15:35.comeback in sporting history? We'll have all the reaction to that
:15:36. > :15:38.amazing Barcelona fightback Coming up in sport at
:15:39. > :15:42.1.30: Arsene Wenger says the opinion of Arsenal fans
:15:43. > :15:45.will influence his decision over whether to remain in charge next
:15:46. > :15:48.season, but he says he hasn't made up his mind yet, or told
:15:49. > :16:00.the players his plan. The Queen has unveiled a memorial
:16:01. > :16:03.honouring the British military personnel and civilians who served
:16:04. > :16:08.in Afghanistan and Iraq since 1990. The deployments to three wars over
:16:09. > :16:11.a 24-year period were the longest and most intense since World War
:16:12. > :16:17.Two. In total, 682 British service men
:16:18. > :16:20.and women lost their lives. Members of the public donated
:16:21. > :16:44.more than ?1 million Yes, Rita, many of the invited
:16:45. > :16:49.guests, about 2000 of them, queueing up to have their pictures taken by
:16:50. > :16:53.the new memorial. Twin pillars of stone linked by a bronze medallion,
:16:54. > :16:58.which captures the beauty and service of all those who took part
:16:59. > :17:01.in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan over that very long
:17:02. > :17:03.period. This is a day that many people have waited for a very long
:17:04. > :17:13.time. There have been many accounts of
:17:14. > :17:17.individual sacrifice during the longest continuous period of combat
:17:18. > :17:21.operations since the Second World War, but today's ceremonies had at
:17:22. > :17:26.their heart stories that weren't told, stories of the duty and
:17:27. > :17:32.service shown by thousands, in and out of uniform. Mark Stone likened
:17:33. > :17:37.his wife Donna had travelled from Cornwall. Mark rebuilt his life
:17:38. > :17:42.after losing a leg to a roadside bomb. He was here to remember all of
:17:43. > :17:46.those who serve. It symbolises the hard work that the British forces
:17:47. > :17:50.have done in the Gulf region, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Everyone has
:17:51. > :17:53.their own unique take on the war and what happened, but it is nice to
:17:54. > :17:58.share with people that been through similar situations to myself. We
:17:59. > :18:05.meet in the presence of God to commemorate and give thanks for all
:18:06. > :18:08.those civilians and members of the military who have served on
:18:09. > :18:19.operations in the Gulf region, Iraq and Afghanistan.
:18:20. > :18:27.The operations being commemorated today divided public opinion as to
:18:28. > :18:30.their merit. No one ever doubted the dedication of every man and every
:18:31. > :18:41.woman who travelled to that troubled region. Tony O'Donnell lost her
:18:42. > :18:47.husband Gary in Afghanistan. It is definitely not just about widows. I
:18:48. > :18:51.am happy to be here and I have seen some of the other widows, so there
:18:52. > :18:55.are a few of us here. It is a pity we couldn't all come, but this is
:18:56. > :18:59.about everybody, not just those who died. This unveiling might not have
:19:00. > :19:03.been possible without the generosity of the public. The Queen was the
:19:04. > :19:07.first to inspect a structure which captures the complexity of the
:19:08. > :19:15.events spanning a quarter of a century. The memorial itself is
:19:16. > :19:20.left, and in a way, there is an unfinished site, which is a nod to
:19:21. > :19:26.the fact that we live in an ongoing situation in both of those
:19:27. > :19:31.countries. One day, this Sergeant and his wife will pass on their Iraq
:19:32. > :19:37.experiences to their son, Alfie, not on his best behaviour this morning.
:19:38. > :19:40.Now, he and generations to come will have a permanent reminder of a
:19:41. > :19:45.chapter in our history that remains unfinished business.
:19:46. > :19:53.I wanted to show you some of the detail on the reverse side of the
:19:54. > :19:58.medallion, this idea then with charities, Government agencies. You
:19:59. > :20:02.can see a water pump in the top right. Young girls at school, and
:20:03. > :20:07.supplies being delivered. From people we are speaking to, the signs
:20:08. > :20:07.are that they are well pleased with all this work.
:20:08. > :20:09.Robert, many thanks. Theresa May is in Brussels this
:20:10. > :20:12.lunchtime to attend what's expected to be her final EU summit before
:20:13. > :20:14.triggering the UK's departure But on the agenda is whether to
:20:15. > :20:19.extend the term of Donald Tusk as President of the European
:20:20. > :20:20.Council. Our political correspondent
:20:21. > :20:22.Ben Wright is there. Are they talking about Brexit
:20:23. > :20:35.at all, and if not, why not? Rita, EU leaders are arriving here
:20:36. > :20:39.for their summit now, and even though Brexit is one of the biggest
:20:40. > :20:44.challenges facing the EU, the issue is not on the formal agenda at all,
:20:45. > :20:48.and it is not expected to be talked about in the margins of these
:20:49. > :20:52.meetings. It will not be chewed on over dinner tonight. The reason is
:20:53. > :20:55.that the EU is emphatic that there can be no negotiations of any sort
:20:56. > :21:01.until the UK has formally asked to leave the EU, triggered Article 50
:21:02. > :21:06.of the Lisbon Treaty. Until that happens, until that notification is
:21:07. > :21:09.given, there can be no talks, so it is quite a bizarre situation, that
:21:10. > :21:12.it is the big issue here, but it will not be talked about. Theresa
:21:13. > :21:19.May has insisted for many months that she will trigger that,
:21:20. > :21:24.beginning Brexit, by the end of March, a couple of weeks. Despite
:21:25. > :21:27.the need for Parliamentary approval, number ten insist that timetable
:21:28. > :21:31.remains in place. In the meantime, the EU continues to discuss other
:21:32. > :21:35.things, including the future of the union, and that is a discussion that
:21:36. > :21:38.Theresa May will not be at tomorrow. She is leaving tonight. The other
:21:39. > :21:43.thing you mention, the re-elections of Donald Tusk, the president of the
:21:44. > :21:48.European Council, a big job, his election was thought to be a
:21:49. > :21:51.formality, but Poland seems to be agitating for a vote, saying that
:21:52. > :21:55.Donald Tusk, they think, is meddling in politics. They don't think he
:21:56. > :22:01.should be in the job. We will see this afternoon if they succeed in
:22:02. > :22:04.causing a rumpus over this and getting a vote. My hunch is, he will
:22:05. > :22:05.be re-elected for another two and a half year term.
:22:06. > :22:08.Ben, many thanks. A man who allegedly posed online
:22:09. > :22:11.as Justin Bieber to solicit explicit images from children has been
:22:12. > :22:14.charged with more than 900 sex Gordon Chalmers - a 42-year-old
:22:15. > :22:17.university law lecturer - faces charges dating back
:22:18. > :22:19.a decade, including rape. 20 of the 157 victims are thought
:22:20. > :22:22.to have been British. Our correspondent
:22:23. > :22:29.Anisa Kadri reports. An idol to millions, Justin Bieber,
:22:30. > :22:32.the pop star with an adoring young But now, a 42-year-old
:22:33. > :22:39.law professor in Brisbane is accused of sexually
:22:40. > :22:41.abusing children by pretending to be Gordon Douglas Chalmers
:22:42. > :22:47.allegedly used social media to win the trust of Bieber fans,
:22:48. > :22:52.including up to 20 in the UK, and got them to send him
:22:53. > :22:55.explicit images. He was already facing charges
:22:56. > :23:00.of grooming children, but after police went through his
:23:01. > :23:03.computer, more than 900 new charges They include three of rape,
:23:04. > :23:07.five of indecent treatment of children, and hundreds of making
:23:08. > :23:10.child exploitation material. Justin Bieber is
:23:11. > :23:16.touring Australia, and some of his teenage fans,
:23:17. > :23:20.like Priscilla Hadad, say they can understand why young people may be
:23:21. > :23:23.tempted to speak with a fake Sometimes, maybe their
:23:24. > :23:26.excitement might get them I'm going to go with it and I'm
:23:27. > :23:35.going to keep talking. Queensland police say
:23:36. > :23:37.the arrest was made after tip-offs from the US
:23:38. > :23:39.and German authorities, and they are warning parents
:23:40. > :23:41.to protect their children It's my rules, it's my house
:23:42. > :23:46.and there's a lot out there. And for me, I really,
:23:47. > :23:49.really want to be on top A United Nations report is to call
:23:50. > :24:02.for an independent investigation into the potential health impact
:24:03. > :24:04.of the UK's largest Residents living near
:24:05. > :24:09.the Ffos-y-Fran site in South Wales have led a long campaign against air
:24:10. > :24:12.and noise pollution. The mine's operator, Miller Argent,
:24:13. > :24:16.says the company has a 'proud record Our Wales environment correspondent
:24:17. > :24:20.Stefan Messenger reports. It's taken over his living
:24:21. > :24:22.room, and he says, it's Campaigning against the giant
:24:23. > :24:25.coalmine on his doorstep. So, this is the back
:24:26. > :24:27.of your car, basically, Yes, you think, well,
:24:28. > :24:31.you know, that's going in my mouth, like, that's
:24:32. > :24:32.going up my nose. Outside, there's more coal
:24:33. > :24:39.dust on his windowsills. Terry Evans claims it's
:24:40. > :24:41.being blown from just beyond this ridge, 37 metres
:24:42. > :24:43.from his front door. From the air, you can see why -
:24:44. > :24:49.cut into the side of the valley, east of the town
:24:50. > :24:51.of Merthyr Tydfil, this is the UK's largest opencast mine,
:24:52. > :24:54.Ffos-y-Fran, the size of some 400 Since 2007, a private
:24:55. > :25:04.company's been digging here, turning old industrial land back
:25:05. > :25:06.to open moorland as they go. That's why it was allowed
:25:07. > :25:11.to happen so close to The community were told that
:25:12. > :25:15.modern mining methods would protect them from pollution,
:25:16. > :25:18.but ten years on, some here say All of us were well aware
:25:19. > :25:25.of people's concerns and real problems of washing
:25:26. > :25:27.being dirty, of kids being disturbed because they couldn't
:25:28. > :25:30.get to sleep at night. Since then, the mine has got
:25:31. > :25:33.a bit deeper, the noise pollution has got less, but nobody
:25:34. > :25:36.believes that the air pollution has For more than a decade,
:25:37. > :25:40.there have been protests and petitions, attempted
:25:41. > :25:42.legal action, complaints to the local council,
:25:43. > :25:43.the Now, BBC News has
:25:44. > :25:50.learned that the United Nations is set to make
:25:51. > :25:57.a surprising intervention. A report by its Special
:25:58. > :25:59.Rapporteur on the human rights of communities at risk
:26:00. > :26:02.of pollution will call for an independent investigation into
:26:03. > :26:04.claims this mine could be harming He had met local
:26:05. > :26:08.campaigners as part of an I came across a number
:26:09. > :26:13.of pressing issues, but this was definitely
:26:14. > :26:14.at I heard allegations
:26:15. > :26:19.of very high rates of childhood asthma, cancer clusters
:26:20. > :26:22.among the community. I didn't hear any
:26:23. > :26:24.evidence of a strong intervention by the
:26:25. > :26:27.Government to investigate. Merthyr Tydfil Council
:26:28. > :26:29.said its findings were based on unsubstantiated claims
:26:30. > :26:31.by the community. The mine's operator, Miller Argent,
:26:32. > :26:33.said he'd been taken in by fake news,
:26:34. > :26:35.accusing him of being biased and a disgrace
:26:36. > :26:39.to his The Welsh Government said
:26:40. > :26:44.it was supporting local authorities The UK Government
:26:45. > :26:48.will respond after Mr Tuncak's official report has been
:26:49. > :27:06.published in September. The British artist Sir Howard
:27:07. > :27:09.Hodgkin has died, aged 84. He was widely regarded as a central figure
:27:10. > :27:13.in contemporary art for over half a century and served as a trustee of
:27:14. > :27:18.the Tate and National Gallery during his long career. Our arts editor
:27:19. > :27:23.joins us. Sum up his importance for us. I think he was a vital component
:27:24. > :27:27.in modern and contemporary art in the second part of the 20th century,
:27:28. > :27:34.not just from a British point of view but from a global one. He
:27:35. > :27:40.bought together the inventions of Matisse and Degas with the
:27:41. > :27:44.innovations of the abstract expressionist in America. He brought
:27:45. > :27:47.colour, form and expression into these beautiful paintings, normally
:27:48. > :27:52.on a wood panel, highly colourful. He always said that for him, a
:27:53. > :27:56.painting was a way of remembering something. He never made any
:27:57. > :28:01.sketches and painted directly onto the panel. He took ages in doing it,
:28:02. > :28:06.but when he eventually produced a result, they were always very
:28:07. > :28:11.moving. You could sense the emotion he was trying to present to you,
:28:12. > :28:14.whether that was anger or sadness, but always this sense of deep
:28:15. > :28:20.empathy, and those paintings, for me, are some of the most beautiful
:28:21. > :28:22.paintings created in Britain in the second half of the 20th century.
:28:23. > :28:25.Many thanks. Now, was this the greatest comeback
:28:26. > :28:28.in football history? Barcelona produced a stunning
:28:29. > :28:30.victory in the Champions League to knock out Paris St Germain
:28:31. > :28:32.to reach the quarter finals. They secured a 6-1 win on the night
:28:33. > :28:35.to overturn a 4-0 deficit, Our sports correspondent
:28:36. > :28:46.Olly Foster reports. There's extraordinary about
:28:47. > :28:50.Barcelona reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League, but last
:28:51. > :28:53.night's celebrations were the biggest giveaway that something
:28:54. > :29:01.extraordinary had happened at the Nou. When substitute Roberto scooped
:29:02. > :29:04.the ball past the Paris St Germain keeper, their sixth on the night
:29:05. > :29:09.with seconds to spare, there was delirium. A comeback to rival any
:29:10. > :29:18.other in the history of European football. It was a joyous riot on
:29:19. > :29:27.the Ramblas. The supporters never saw this coming. They needed at
:29:28. > :29:31.least four goals last night. There was a debatable Messi penalty early
:29:32. > :29:39.in the secondary half -- the second half. This strike silence them.
:29:40. > :29:44.Barcelona needed at least three. The odds lengthened, the clock was
:29:45. > :29:53.ticking. Neymar curled a beauty, but there were only two minutes left.
:29:54. > :30:02.Neymar was no less from the spot. -- had no nerves from the spot. That is
:30:03. > :30:09.the coach Tom Luis Enrique, who had joked before the game that they
:30:10. > :30:16.could score six. TRANSLATION: It was a difficult night to describe with
:30:17. > :30:25.words. It had a spectacular ending in the Nou Camp. The ability of
:30:26. > :30:31.sport to amaze has been proved many times. It was true of Ian Botham's
:30:32. > :30:40.ashes in the 80s, Rory McIlroy winning five years ago. Barcelona
:30:41. > :30:43.won no trophy last night, just a match and a place in the record
:30:44. > :30:56.books, but don't tell them that's not worth shouting about.
:30:57. > :31:11.Here is a nice picture from Cambridgeshire. A very different
:31:12. > :31:15.story off the tip of Cornwall, look at that. Land 's end looks like the
:31:16. > :31:19.end of the world - grey skies, very gloomy. It is really just the
:31:20. > :31:24.south-west where we have the cloud. The rest of us are enjoying this
:31:25. > :31:27.beautiful spring weather. It is quite warm as well, temperatures
:31:28. > :31:35.already getting up to 17 Celsius in London. For most of us, typically
:31:36. > :31:39.around 10-15dC. It is sunny, but there is a bit of a breeze, so it
:31:40. > :31:44.feels a bit on the cool side, a bit fresh in one or two mac places. 11
:31:45. > :31:49.Celsius in Sheffield. There is that warm spot, as it often is, in
:31:50. > :31:59.London, 15 Celsius, then we swing down to the tip of Cornwall, to
:32:00. > :32:04.where the pirates are. This cloud stretches from the Channel Islands
:32:05. > :32:09.into Cornwall, stall for the day, then later on in the evening, the
:32:10. > :32:17.clouds roll in the Atlantic and bring some damp weather, relatively
:32:18. > :32:24.mild to, -- relatively mild, to western parts. Eastern areas will be
:32:25. > :32:26.free of club at Chile. Tomorrow, mist and drizzle rolling in, nothing
:32:27. > :32:32.like what we have got today. Thicker cloud tomorrow. In one or two
:32:33. > :32:34.locations, the client will break, so you will get a little bit of
:32:35. > :32:43.brightness. The temperatures are lower. At the weekend, the weather
:32:44. > :32:47.fronts line-up in the Atlantic. There is a whole trail of them, and
:32:48. > :32:51.that will introduce some fresh air. Things will cool off a little bit
:32:52. > :32:54.will stop at least across some of these northern and western areas.
:32:55. > :33:03.Saturday, some spots of rain across the North, temperatures in the low
:33:04. > :33:06.teens, 12-13dC. Sunday, it looks like some of that rainbow push
:33:07. > :33:11.across more southern areas as well, so a bit of a mixture this weekend.
:33:12. > :33:15.In the south this weekend, particularly Saturday, if the clouds
:33:16. > :33:20.do break, you could see 17 Celsius. In summary, some sunny spells, rain
:33:21. > :33:27.at times, and turning a little bit cooler. Not bad.
:33:28. > :33:31.That's all from the BBC News at One, so it's goodbye from me.