13/04/2017 BBC News at One

President Trump says relations between the US and Russia may

His comments follow Russia's continued support for

President Assad after the chemical weapons attack - it led to the US

So I felt we had to do something about it.

I have absolutely no doubt we did the right thing.

With tensions rising over Syria, we'll be asking what the US

The Education Secretary defends her plans for new selective

grammar schools in England, saying they'll be truly open to all.

The terror attack on the Borussia Dortmund football team bus -

there's criticism of UEFA for forcing players back

I know we earn a lot of money and we have a privileged life.

The Beslan siege in 2004 that ended with over 300 dead -

a court rules that Russia failed to protect the hostages.

And the landlords offering accommodation - in exchange for sex.

Coming up in the sport later in the hour on BBC News...

He's looking good for another Premier League

And Chelsea's N'Golo Kante is also favourite for the PFA Player of

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

President Trump has said relations between the US and Russia

may be at all-time low, after Moscow refused

to withdraw support for Syria's President Assad

after last week's chemical weapons attack.

The US blamed the Syrian government for the attack, and fired 59 cruise

missiles at a government airbase in response.

Russia has now vetoed a United Nations resolution

demanding that Syria cooperate with investigators.

What appear to be barrel bombs being dropped

Other unverified pictures are said to show rebel

The Syrian Civil War is no less vicious and indiscriminate

US and Russia are on opposing sides in this Civil war.

Their positions on this directly determine the state

President Trump says they might already be at an all-time low

following the US missile attack on a Syrian airbase which Russia

called an act of aggression but the US said was in response

to a Syrian chemical attack on innocent civilians.

Babies dying, fathers holding children in their arms that

There can't be a worse sight and it shouldn't be allowed.

That's a butcher, so I felt we had to do something about it.

I have absolutely no doubt we did the right thing.

Last night, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council ruling

which would have compelled Syria to cooperate with an investigation

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said this shows Russia

is on the wrong side of the argument but he sought solace elsewhere.

I think the most important thing is that it was once again

only the Russians who were the significant

Even the Chinese, who are normally their ally, abstained.

I think the pressure on them is now very considerable

At a news conference where President Trump very publicly

changed his position on Nato, praising it, he gave his

analysis on the state of US Russian relations.

Vladimir Putin had earlier said they had deteriorated and it

seems the two presidents agree on something.

It would be wonderful, as we were discussing

just a little while ago, if Nato and our country

Right now, we're not getting along with Russia at all.

We may be at an all-time low in terms of our

This has built for a long period of time.

At the centre of this global crisis, condemned by the US,

supported by Russia, is Syria's President Assad.

He is expected to release a TV interview later,

reacting to the chemical attack which he says was not

the fault of his air strikes but was due to rebels

Whoever's to blame, the attack has been the catalyst which has brought

US Russia relations appear to have nosedived rapidly. Where does the US

go from here? It's an amazing transformation, isn't it, when you

think of the warm words we had from both sides during the election

campaign. Both sides are now saying it has not been like this since the

Cold War, at an all-time low. I think what we are looking at here is

a profound disagreement, obviously, over Syria itself. We are looking at

other factors which are playing into this as well. For example, Donald

Trump's U-turn on Nato. It was once obsolete, now he says it is not

obsolete. That will upset the Russians. For example, countries

like Montenegro, Donald Trump recently signed an order which

allows Montenegro to join Nato, right on Russia's doorstep. This is

all playing into the distrust on both sides. But as Rex Tillerson

said in Moscow yesterday, the world's two foremost nuclear powers

cannot afford to have this level of distrust, so there will be pressure

for some sort of summit later this year perhaps between President Trump

and Vladimir Putin to try to sort this out. Meanwhile, they disagree

over Syria and we expect to hear very soon, very shortly from Bashar

al-Assad, the Syrian president, his first interview since those strikes,

since his country was hit by the US for the first time in the six and a

half year war. Gary O'Donoghue, thank you.

The Education Secretary, Justine Greening, has

ahead with new grammar schools in England saying she wants

to create schools that are "truly open to all".

In a speech this morning, she said she wanted grammar schools

to serve more children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Labour argues that poorer pupils won't be helped by new grammars.

Our Education Correspondent, Gillian Hargreaves, reports.

It's big business coaching children to pass the test for grammar school.

There are only 163 such schools in England at the moment,

but the Government plans to open more.

Some parents, like these at a tuition centre in Kent,

find such an education immensely appealing.

My daughter has been in a grammar school for the past five

years and I have found that she is really progressing.

The girls of the grammar school, they are really behaving themselves,

They do extracurricular activities, which can kind

of polish their personality, and they are much more focused.

It's about having more options for what schools my son can go

There's a variety of schools open to him, but there's no guarantee,

so it was just about us giving him more choices, more options.

Critics say grammars only benefit wealthier families,

which is why the Government says they must do more to appeal

to what they describe as ordinary working families.

This morning, they defined such families as those with a household

36% of grammar school places are taken up by these families.

But grammars are dominated by the most well-off families.

More than half, 53% of places, are taken up by them.

I want these new schools to work for everyone.

This will be a new model of grammars, truly open to all.

And it will reflect the choices of local parents and communities.

Labour changed the law in 1998 to prevent any new grammar

schools being built, saying they only helped

Unfortunately, grammar schools are not open to everyone

and they are selective in their nature, and all

the evidence suggests that people from working-class backgrounds don't

You have to pay for private tuition to get into them.

And they are a closed shop for most children,

and actually a comprehensive system is the best way forward.

A new generation of grammar schools would be controversial,

but the Education Secretary says she wants them open to all children,

She is, in effect, rebranding grammar schools in the hope

Plans for new grammar schools are still being drawn up,

but are expected to be published before the summer.

The families of two more babies who died under

the care of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust

want their deaths to be part of the investigation announced

It follows the avoidable deaths of seven babies

in just over 18 months, five of whom died after failures

to monitor their heart rate properly during labour.

The trust says its mortality levels are in line with

Our social affairs correspondent, Michael Buchanan, reports.

This is the NHS Trust whose mistakes keep causing

Yesterday, BBC News revealed that seven babies died unnecessarily

at the Shrewsbury and Telford Trust in little over 18 months.

The scale of the problems has prompted the Health Secretary

to order a review of maternity services.

Jeremy Hunt wants to ensure no more families suffer like this one.

Tamsin Morris lost her daughter, Ivy, last May,

We all think that something like this won't ever happen,

And I can only take it day-by-day, sometimes.

Other families are still pushing for justice.

Hayley Matthews' son, Jack, died within hours

She says the Trust never properly investigated the death.

Following her investigations, however, the local coroner is now

It's not going to bring my boy back, but hopefully it'll save other

babies and parents going through what we've gone

The Trust say they have investigated all maternity deaths,

and say they will contact Hayley about her case.

They also say they are learning lessons from incidents,

German prosecutors investigating three explosions which hit

the Borussia Dortmund football team bus on Tuesday night say the suspect

being questioned was a member of the Islamic State group in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the manager of the club has criticised Uefa for disregarding

the feelings of his shaken players by staging their Champions League

game against Monaco less than 24 hours after the attack.

Three explosions, devices packed with metal pins. 18 left in shock.

But less than 24 hours after a targeted attack, Borussia Dortmund

walked out to play their postponed Uefa Champions League quarterfinal

against Monaco. Despite their usual passionate support, they lost the

game, with players expressing afterwards how the emotion of the

incident made it difficult to focus on what was ultimately just a game

of football. Until I was on the pitch, in the second half, I didn't

think about football, to be honest. Because last night I didn't realise

what happened and when I was at home, my wife and son were waiting

in front of the door, and there I felt how lucky we were. I know we

earn a lot of money, we have a privileged life, but we are human

beings and there is so much more than football in this world.

Dortmund's fans made their feelings known about the hasty rearrangement

while the team's head coach accused Labour of ignoring them when

deciding the new kick-off date. Nobody asked us for our opinion. We

were informed of the Uefa decision by text message. The fact it was

decided in Switzerland after what happened to us affected us greatly.

But speaking to the BBC before the game kicked off, a senior Uefa

official insisted all parties had been consulted. All decisions were

made in full agreement with the two clubs. I guess this was done in full

conscience and knowledge of the situation and also knowing that a

different option would be quite difficult. Uefa has since reiterated

it was in contact with the clubs and it received no indication of

reluctance to play. Meanwhile, one of Dortmund's former coaches spoke

of his admiration for his former club. Everyone would have understood

if they had said, we wait to play it, we will find a salute your next

week, whatever. I saw the game and I was really proud of Borussia

Dortmund, how they handled it. Borussia Dortmund are keen to look

to the future and to the return game against Monaco but with shock

subsiding, there is now a mix of regret and some simmering anger.

Young, vulnerable people are being targeted by adverts online

which offer accommodation in exchange for sex,

The deals, which are legal, are on classified ad sites.

Charities have called them exploitative.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

He took me into his living room and got me drinks,

and then after that it was straight upstairs and go for it.

Vulnerable and desperate for a roof over her head.

Gemma answered a sex-for-rent online advert.

He would do what he wanted to do, forcefully.

And I just sort of, yeah, went along with it.

And, after the third time, I started feeling physically unwell.

These are some of the offers we found openly placed

Free accommodation, but with strings attached.

I was thinking once a week, something like that.

I'm happy as long as there's sex involved.

I spoke with several men posting adverts.

All were clear how the arrangement would work.

These are real conversations, voiced by actors.

Well, you know, you agree sort of a couple of times a week,

There's a girl staying here now who's done the same.

Two or three times a week, basically.

Some say those agreeing to those deals could be getting into a very

But, disturbingly, this is all perfectly legal.

I think these adverts go as close to the edge of the law

as they possibly can without breaking the law.

They would argue that they have chosen voluntarily to

The trouble is, when you have a vulnerable person that

then becomes exploited, the concept of choice

I contacted Craigslist for comment, but they didn't get back to me.

I'm really grateful to the BBC for uncovering some of this,

There is an onus on the owners of these platforms to root this out

and to deal with it, and I'm being very explicit because,

if they don't stand up to this, and accept

their responsibility, I will be pushing for

More adverts are appearing every day.

I was under quite a bit of pressure to keep him happy.

Because they could basically just come over to you and say,

I want sex now, and you really don't have much of a choice

because you know it's their home and you want to just

With an increasing number of young homeless people,

it's feared these adverts will only continue to exploit

Viewers in Kent and Sussex can see more on that story on

BBC South East Today after this programme here on BBC One.

President Trump says relations between the US and Russia may be at

an all-time low. Still to come, the continuing appeal of the

roller-coaster. 200 years after it first took to the tracks for the

first time. Coming up in sport

at 1:30pm on BBC News: We'll have the latest

from the World Track Cycling There are more British medal

chances on the second 13 years ago, more than 1,000

people were taken hostage by Chechen rebels at a school

in Beslan in Russia. 331 people were killed

after Russian forces eventually Half of those who died

were children. Today, the European Court

of Human Rights has ruled that the Russian government should

have done more to prevent the bloodshed, and it awarded

compensation of around You may find some of these images

upsetting. When rebels stormed school number

one in Beslan and forced more than 1100 children, parents and teachers

into the gym, more than 330 people died. 186 of them were children. The

attackers wanted Russian troops to leave the nearby republic of

Chechnya. The terror inside and around the school lasted for 52

hours. There were bombs taped to the walls and hanging from the ceiling.

Children were forced to stand by the windows as human shields. Some, like

this little girl, managed to escape. For them, and for those forced to

wait three days, terrified, listening to gunshots, this ruling

is the result they had hoped for. TRANSLATION: The court said that

Russia failed to take reasonable steps to protect the lives of the

hostages, that critical intelligence wasn't acted on adequately to

prevent the attack and that, once the siege had begun, Russian

officials failed to minimise the loss of life. Russian security

forces had surrounded the school when they stormed the building. They

used tanks and flame-throwers, when hundreds of children were still

inside. Some survivors say they will continue their fight or justice.

Zarina Dzampaeva was eight at the time and she lost her mother in the

attack. Still guilty people are not punished, and we can't say that

guilty people are punished already, so, as for me, there should be taken

extra measures to investigate it because still nobody is responsible.

The Kremlin have said the ruling is absolutely unacceptable. But the

court awarded $3 million in compensation and underlined that

there should now be a new, objective investigation. A survivors group,

Mothers Of Beslan, say they will push for that. They say they owe it

to their children to make sure the people responsible for their deaths

are held to account. Let's talk to Sarah

Rainsford in Moscow. Sarah, tell us more about the

reaction there to this ruling. Well, there has been a strong reaction

here in Moscow to the ruling in Strasbourg. I asked the President's

spokesman what he made of the ruling and he told me it was utterly

unacceptable, particularly against a country which had suffered a large

number of terrorist attacks. We also heard from the justice ministry, who

say they will appeal the ruling. They say that the conclusions of the

court don't match the evidence presented by the Russian government.

But, in all of this, I think the people who brought the case were the

victims of the siege, and they have a strong argument. They feel that

their years of fighting to get somebody held responsible for what

happened have been vindicated, and I was down in Beslan this week talking

to some of them as they were waiting for the verdict, and this is what

they were hoping for, a strong statement from the court that Russia

not only failed to take enough steps to prevent the attack happening but

particularly, the court found, it used disproportionate force when

that siege came to an end on the third day. Russia argues it was the

terrorists inside the school who set off the whole chain of explosives

and the events leading to the loss of so many lives, but there hasn't

been an independent enquiry into that, and that is exactly what the

Mothers Of Beslan want and they say that is what they will push for for

the sake of the children who died there.

The number of people trespassing on railways across the UK

More than 8,000 incidents were recorded last year -

Our correspondent John Maguire has been speaking to Paralympian

Simon Munn, who lost his leg crossing a train track

when he was 22, and is anxious to warn others of the risk.

The passing train serves as a timely reminder of the dangers of Simon

Munn's fateful decision that night 27 years ago.

And I literally waited for the train to come along and take my leg

It seemed like it was a fortnight, but it was

Having lost his leg, Simon, always a keen

sportsman, took up wheelchair basketball.

And it's been a major part of his life ever since.

He has represented Great Britain in seven

Paralympics, travelled the world, and won a whole host of medals.

But still he wishes he'd gone nowhere

My life since then has been, you know, really good.

But right now, yeah, absolutely, I'd have my leg back, 100%.

Simon realises that night he was both lucky and unlucky.

Unfortunate to get hit by the train in the first place, but incredibly

Last year, there were 8000 trespass incidents.

That's an increase over the year before, and

So, at Bellevue Bees in East Manchester, in common

with sports clubs and 100 schools across Britain, there are schemes

The train takes how many football pitches to stop, can you remember?

20 football pitches, OK, that's a mile and a quarter.

It's never, ever turned off, OK, we all remember that.

And that by going on it, it's also illegal, up to a ?1000 fine.

The numbers almost double in the Easter and summer holidays.

So, Nick, despite your best endeavours,

I think there's more we can do, not only as Network Rail but as a

Projects like this, if we all get involved and educate each

other on railway safety, and make sure we have

that conversation with our friends and family, people can stop

Warnings are consistent, frequent, and, for some, deeply personal.

Just stay away from the tracks, because

Joe Maguire, BBC News, Milton Keynes.

The latest NHS figures, for February, show a small

improvement in performance in A units and waiting times in England,

But, over the three months of winter, the figures show a big

increase in the number of A patients waiting at least four

hours, against the same period a year ago.

Our health correspondent, Jane Dreaper, reports.

Unprecedented pressure in the NHS means nurses have

never worked harder, and for so little,

The Royal College of Nursing says due to pay freezes,

and then a pay cap, nurses have seen the money they take home cut in real

It says that's why it has decided to ask staff

whether they would be prepared to strike.

270,000 NHS nurses will be able to vote in the online survey

So, most nurses are unhappy with their income.

So they're working harder than ever, but there's been years now

Some of our nurses are telling us they absolutely love being a nurse,

it's a fantastic job, but they just don't think they can

Last year, junior doctors in England staged six one-day

strikes in a bitter dispute over their new contract.

Those were the first all-out stoppages in the history of the NHS.

If nurses are balloted, they might consider stopping

A health think tank says it's another sign of pressure

We are seeing this in growing vacancies, in people switching

to part-time work and working for agencies, and it's becoming

increasingly difficult to recruit from overseas because of Brexit.

The result of all of this I think is that we should be as concerned

about the workforce problems the NHS faces as we are about

There's never been an all-out nurses strike, but new figures have today

confirmed how difficult the winter was.

Almost 200,000 A patients in England who needed a hospital bed

had to wait at least four hours - a record number.

The Department of Health says front line services

are being protected, with more nurses on

The Queen has given money to pensioners in Leicester

to mark Maundy Thursday, a tradition dating back

She was with the Duke of Edinburgh as she distributed money

to 91 men and 91 women - representing each of her 91 years.

Hundreds of well-wishers lined the streets outside

Leicester Cathedral to welcome them for the service.

200 years ago in Paris, a wooden cart with wheels was fixed

to a track and sent down a steep slope.

Since then, they have made countless stomachs churn

The roller-coaster story began in Paris in 1817.

The French put like a wooden cart onto a track that they built

Roller-coasters generally, and this is a great feature

of roller-coasters, haven't changed all that much, really.

In the 1920s and 30s, roller-coasters

But in America, it became clear their appeal could go

Many theme parks closed during the Great Depression.

After the war, roller-coasters recaptured people's imaginations,

If we're thinking about subjecting the body to different

physical sensations, the extremes, if you like,

the 3Gs or 4Gs that you get on roller-coasters, there is nowhere

else in life that you can do that other than riding

An accident at Alton Towers in 2015 which left four seriously injured

was a reminder that riding a roller-coaster is not risk-free,

although generally the safety record is very good.

In many theme parks, virtual reality is the latest big thing.

This is Derren Brown's Ghost Train at Thorpe Park.

Thanks to a special headset, what you see is not what you get.

Brendan Walker advises attractions on what gets punters' blood pumping.

It's one of the drawbacks that they are so experimental

you don't know what people are going to respond to.

When this attraction opened last year, there were complaints it

It had to be redesigned and relaunched.

Generation upon generation are constantly seeking novelty.

And what was novel for, you know, my parents or their grandparents,

now is like a walk in the park from me, so we need new things.

At Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the European Coaster Club are doing

what they love best, convinced thrill-seeking

is most effective when it's a physical feeling.

200 years of twisting, turning, spinning and spiralling.

The appeal of the roller-coaster shows no sign of falling away.

Things have been telling a bit cooler in the last few days, but

we've still got some glorious spring sunshine. We've had some great

pictures sent in. This is Garforth in Leeds, with some patchy

bellwether cloud around. A similar picture across much of the country.

Down towards the Cornish coast, a bit more cloud pushing in. The best

of the sunshine towards the east. Things are still looking dry, if

fairly overcast for holiday-makers in Cornwall. For the rest of today,

for many of us, things are looking dry. Some sunshine in southern and

eastern parts. Further north-west, slightly cloudy conditions through

the afternoon, but it should remain largely dry for the bulk of

south-west England and Wales. Perhaps just the odd light shower in

the Midlands, but looking dry towards the south-east. Temperatures

in England and Wales, about 9-13. A bit fresher further north,

especially if you are exposed to that westerly wind. Some cloud in

Northern Ireland and Scotland. We will continue to see showers towards

the north-west, filtering east. Through this evening and overnight,

we will see the cloud increasing, bringing with it further patchy

rain. For Northern Ireland, southern Scotland and Wales, that is. To the

south, largely dry. A bit milder than it has been in recent nights.

For the Easter weekend, things are staying on the cool side, but there

will be some sunshine. A bit of rain around, but not all of us will see

it. Quite a bit of dry weather, especially towards the south. Good

Friday, some patchy rain affecting parts of Wales, northern England,

Northern Ireland. That will pop up in the afternoon, especially in

parts of Wales and northern England. Mostly drive further south. We could

see 16 degrees also in the sunnier spells towards London. Moving

through the weekend, as we see those cold fronts slipping south, during

the day on Saturday, not a bad picture. Most of us are dry again

and there will be some sunshine for southern and eastern parts in

particular. One or two showers towards the north-west and

temperatures around 9-15. Not a bad day. Easter Day on Sunday, bit of

rain. Some uncertainty on the detail, but probably through

Northern Ireland and northern England. Either side of that, some

drier and brighter weather on the cards. Temperatures around 14. A bit

of a mix in the next few days, but many of us should see some dry

weather and a bit of sunshine. A reminder of our main

story this lunchtime. President Trump says relations

between the US and Russia may be at an all-time low.

That's all from the BBC News at One, so it's goodbye from me.

On BBC One, we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.