05/01/2018 BBC News at One

There's mounting criticism

of the decision to release serial

six attacker John Worboys.

-- sex attacker.

The former black cab driver has

spent nine years in prison

for attacking 12 women.

The head of the Parole Board

apologises that some of his victims

weren't told he is to be released.

When we released the information

about the decision, my understanding

today is that we believed

all the victims had been told

about that decision,

but we are checking today exactly

what did happen, because clearly

something went wrong.

Police said in 2010 they believed

Worboys had assualted

more than 100 women.

We'll discuss what might happen now.

Also this lunchtime.

The number of new cars

sold fell last year

for the first time in six years.

Diesel car sales were sharply down.

A serious case review

into the murder of two-year-old

Jeremiah Regis-Ngaujah

wants improvements to

safeguarding children -

though says his death couldn't

have been predicted.

As customers in the US queued

at midnight to get hold

of the explosive new book that

President Trump tried to stop,

the author speaks out.

They all say he's like a child, he

has a need for immediate

gratification. It's all about him.

The Latte Levy - could a 25p tax

on disposable coffee

cups improve recycling?

And coming up in the sport on BBC

News, frustration for England's

bowlers in the final Ashes Test.

Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja

score freely in Sydney

to put Australia on top.

Good afternoon and welcome

to the BBC News at One.

The chair of the Parole Board has

apologised unreservedly to victims

of the serial sex attacker

John Worboys, after some of them

were not told he's to be

released from prison.

The black cab driver

was jailed in 2009,

for offences against 12 women -

but detectives later

said they believed he'd

attacked more than 100 women

between 2002 and 2008.

A group of MPs has written

to the Justice Secretary,

calling for an investigation

into whether the views of Worboys'

victims were heard in the decision

to release him on parole.

Our home affairs correspondent

Daniel Sandford reports.

He toured the streets of London in

his black taxi for six years. Police

think he may have raped or sexually

assaulted at least 105 women after

drugging them. He was given an

indeterminate sentence, which means

he can't be released until he's no

longer a risk to the public, but

John Warboys is about to be freed

after less than ten years. So the

key question for the three members

of the Parole Board was, is John

Warboys still a danger to women? In

ruling that he should be released

they must have decided that he isn't

a danger, but they haven't made

public their reasons for freeing a

man suspected of being one of the

most prolific sex offenders of

recent years. The Parole Board is

not legally allowed to give reasons

for its decision, but the chair of

the board did give this explanation.

What's important to understand is

that the Parole Board's duty is not

took in a sense have another go at

the trial, but to assess what his

risks will be going forward and

that's what they did.

At his trial,

John Warboys was only convicted of

attacking 12 women and only one of

those convictions was for rape, so

the judge set a minimum sentence of

eight years which means the Police

and Crime Panel seclusion service

are now being asked why they didn't

bring further cases. The Parole

Board has also had to apologise

because several of John Warboys'

victims had not been told of the

decision to release him before it

became public yesterday.

This is

perhaps a reflection of the way in

which women who are victims of rape

are treated generally and until the

criminal just is agencies get this

right we've got a crisis in this

country around it.

The Warboys case

has highlighted flaws in the

criminal justice system from the

start. Initially the police failed

to investigate it properly. Then

only 12 cases were brought to trial,

even though there were ultimately

suspicions of over 100. And now a

man who a judge said shouldn't be

released until he's no longer a

threat is about to walk free from

prison after ten years. Daniel

Sandford,

Sandford, olman is here.

BBC News. Clive Colman is here. The

Parole Board has made its decision.

What are the legal options?

The only

mechanism for challenging is by way

of judicial review. Technically any

decision by any public body or

authority can be challenged by way

of judicial review, if it's being

argued it was unlawful. Here it will

be argued that no reasonable

tribunal could have come to this

decision, but the problem here is a

practical one. We don't know the

reasoning here, so it's a difficult

challenge, but there may be a way of

doing that. We are also looking at

the result of the story at reform of

the Parole Board itself, its

decisions are made in secret if you

like in private, the chair of the

board, Nick Hardwick, favours, in

fact is he wants a public

consultation on whether this should

be opened up, whether justice should

not only be done but seem to be

done. It's opened to the public for

instance in Canada. There are cost

of locations, there are implications

for victims perhaps having to relive

their experience -- there are cost

implications. And also whether the

victims knew this would be public

and allow the case to be assessed

for risk. The critical thing is

kabaddi further charges, I think

that's very difficult. It's not

entirely impossible. There are

issues about the passage of time,

about the effect of the publicity in

the original trial that might have

on victims, but the CPS remain under

a duty to consider any evidence that

the police provide to them to look

at charging, and if there's a

realistic prospect of conviction

then they must charges.

Clive

Colman, many thanks, our legal

affairs correspondent.

Sales of new cars fell last year,

for the first time in six years.

The industry body, the Society

of Motor Manufacturers and Traders,

says the number of cars registered

was down by 5.7% compared

with 2016, while diesel sales

fell by almost a fifth

because of concerns about pollution.

Our business correspondent

Theo Leggett has the details.

For the past few years car sales in

Britain have been booming. In 2015

and 2016, the industry set new

records, but now, it may be going

into reverse gear. Overall new car

registrations were down 5.7% last

year, according to the Society of

Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

That's the first decline in six

years. No one is panicking just yet.

By historical standards 2017 was

still a pretty good year. More than

2.5 million new cars were

registered, the third highest level

in a decade, but over the past few

months the decline has accelerated.

In December, registrations were down

more than 14% compared to last year.

And sales of diesel cars across the

year were down more than 17%.

Overall if you look at the economic

performance of the UK, growth is

slowing. All the indicators around

economic confidence are weakening

especially when it comes to people's

enthusiasm about making big-ticket

purchase, like a car.

Declining

demand for diesel cars is a big

problem for the industry.

Campaigners blame them for high

levels of urban pollution the SS --

the Society of motor Manufacturers

says consumers are confused and

unwilling to buy them. Experts

agree, even though new models are

much cleaner, diesel has an image

problem.

Diesels can only recover if

the facts can be made clear. If the

facts around the lower pollutant

levels, the economic benefits of

running one, can be made plain and

clear, that really will need someone

in senior government to stand up

above the parapet and say something

positive about diesel, and make the

facts clear around it.

People within

the industry say confusion over

diesel may be causing environmental

harm by encouraging drivers to hang

onto older, dirtier cars, rather

than swapping them for cleaner, new

models. Meanwhile the fall in sales

is expected to continue throughout

2018. Theo Leggett, BBC News.

The book everyone is talking about

is out. The author of this book,

Fire and Fury, an incendiary account

of Donald Trump 's life in the White

House has spoken for the first time

since its publication. Michael Wolff

says the president behaves like a

child. President Trump tried to get

this book's publication halted and

has dismissed it as full of lies.

Don Johnson has the details.

You've heard the headlines, now you

can read the substance of Fire and

Fury. Rushed out at midnight in the

US after threats from the

President's lawyers. You are bobbing

what I'm most looking forward to is

seeing what's actually, what we all

know is going on just below the

surface.

Were imagining who in the

White House has actually said this.

No one gets tired of the intrigue.

I'm expecting the White House to be

as absolutely dysfunctional as the

links would make it seem.

This

chitchat, the President's burgers in

bed, the vanity, the apparently

strained relationship with the First

Lady, but there is also serious

criticism of Donald Trump 's

intelligence. His chief strategist

Steve Bannon suggested using the

constitution to force him out

because he didn't believe Donald

Trump was fit for office.

I would

say the one description that

everyone gave, everyone has in

common, they all say he is like a

child. And what they mean by that is

he has a need for immediate

gratification. It's all about him.

The White House says the book is

full of mistakes.

It's disgraceful

and laughable. If he was unfit he

probably wouldn't be sitting there,

wouldn't have defeated the most

qualified group of candidates the

Republican party has ever seen.

And

the president couldn't resist a few

words on Twitter. I authorised zero

access to the White House. Only full

of lies, misrepresentations, and

sources that don't exist. This is an

account of a deeply divided

administration, with staff who don't

think the bosses up to the job and a

family dynasty that is closing

ranks. It may not make any

difference to Trump's loyal

supporters, but it's damaging to the

president. Ice cold in Washington

but it's the White House where

things are really frosty. Dan

Johnson, BBC News.

A serious case review has

recommended improvements be made

to safeguarding children

in Wolverhampton,

following the murder

of a two-year-old boy in 2016.

But it found that the brutal killing

of Jeremiah Regis-Ngaujah

by his stepfather, who used extreme

physical punishment on the child,

could not have been predicted.

Sima Kotecha reports.

Two-year-old Jeremiah Regis.

To those who knew him,

happy, smiling, contented.

But at home, he was being beaten

by this man, Chevaze McGregor.

In November 2016, an inflicted

regime of brutality

eventually killed the child.

In this CCTV footage,

the 27-year-old is seen

losing his temper.

Jeremiah's mother was

Sindyann Regis, a woman who had been

hit by previous partners.

Today's serious case review said

that more questions should have been

asked about who she

was involved with.

It says the response

to prevent repeat

victimisation was less effective.

Women who have been subjected

to domestic abuse are vulnerable

to two kinds of repeat victimisation

- by the same person

or by future partners.

However, it says nobody could have

foreseen the murder.

This review, a very thorough review,

makes it very clear that the level

of violence that was inflicted

on this child by this man was not

preventable, predictable,

was not predictable by his past

behaviour by his history.

That is all very well,

that this is the fifth death

of a child at the hands of an adult

in the past eight years.

Surely there is something

significantly wrong here.

That absolutely is not the case.

You have to look at each case

on a case-by-case basis.

It was inside this block

of flats where Jeremiah

was regularly beaten by McGregor.

In the end, it was one heavy blow

that ended his life.

He died from multiple organ failure

after his abdominal injuries

caused septic shock.

Chevaze inflicted more than 100

injuries on the child,

including a skull fracture

and a bite mark to his chest.

As this police body map shows,

he was hurt all over

after being repeatedly struck

by a belt and rod.

Detectives described

McGregor as controlling,

manipulative, violent.

Like all serious case reviews,

the aim is to learn lessons

and prevent deaths like this one.

A defenceless child taken

from his family in a painful

and unfathomable way.

And we can speak to Sima

in Wolverhampton now.

As you suggested there, the problem

is that his death, sadly, was not

the only one in a certain period.

That's right. This is the fifth

death of a child at the hands of an

adult in Wolverhampton over the last

eight years and as you heard the

chasse, that it was not predictable.

However, there will be questions

asked why it happened again and this

afternoon we've heard from the

NSPCC. In a statement it says that

it's vital that professionals leave

no stone unturned when dealing with

families with complex needs, to

ensure all decisions made in the

best interests of the Child and the

family as a whole, it goes on to

say, we must all be alert to the

warning signs of abuse and be to

speak out if a child is at risk, as

it could save a life.

Sima Kotecha,

thank you.

Our top story this lunchtime.

The head of the Parole Board

apologises after some victims

of serial sex attacker John Worboys

were not told of his release.

And still to come...

Why drinkers of this fizz

are getting in a tizz.

Coming up in sport, Serena Williams

pulls out of the Australian Open,

four months after giving birth to

her daughter. She says she can

compete but it's just not good

enough.

A massive winter storm

is causing serious disruption

in the eastern United States.

17 people are believed to have

died as blizzards swept

across much of the region.

Thousands of flights have

been cancelled and there

are widespread power cuts.

In Boston, firefighters

had to rescue motorists

from flooded streets,

nearly 12 inches of snow

have fallen in the area.

Weather forecasters are referring

to the freak conditions

as a "bomb cyclone".

Chi Chi Izundu has the latest.

It's been several days of unusually

cold weather hitting parts

of the United States.

From Florida, the first

snowfall for 30 years.

Can you believe that this

is Tallahassee, Florida?

Where wildlife not used

to the temperature are

having to be rescued.

While over in Maine,

flooding is also problematic.

While we were out here

flooding just moments ago,

the ground underneath us collapsed.

Thousands of flights

have been cancelled,

schools have been shut and parks

closed in parts of New York State.

Blocked roads, black ice and power

cuts mean a state of emergency has

been declared, with up to 17 deaths

are being attributed to the weather.

What is quite clear is this

is a serious, serious storm.

Between the very low temperature,

the strong winds, the driving snow,

everyone should take this one very

seriously and take precautions.

So what is a bomb cyclone?

It's when a storm creates a sharp,

rapid drop in atmospheric pressure

meaning winds of up to 70 mph,

feeling like -40, several inches

of snow and dangerously

freezing temperatures.

State officials clearing

what they can say they have

emergency shelters, food,

blankets and generators on stand-by

to help those in need.

The weather is expected to continue

over the weekend and for some,

it brings the opportunity to sledge,

build a snowman, even play

a game of ice hockey.

While for others, it's

a chance to experiment.

Chi Chi Izundu, BBC News.

Laura Trevelyan is in New York.

Laura, I feel cold just looking at

you.

Well, I can tell you it's a lot

colder than it looks. Just look at

this fountain behind me here in the

park. It is frozen solid. It's

currently -12 Celsius and the mayor

of New York has warned that tonight,

the temperatures could drop to -20

nine. That would be the same

temperature that it is on Mars,

that's how cold it is. These are

historic lows for New York City, so

in the wake of that extraordinary

blizzard that we saw yesterday, all

of this cold air from the Arctic has

been sucked in and for the next

three days, we're going to have

these subzero temperatures, so what

officials are worried about in New

York is actually not so much the

blizzard but the after effects, the

black ice, the sleepiness, this

phenomenal cold and how it will

affect the vulnerable, the homeless,

the old. The city is coming back to

life, airports have reopened,

snowploughs and 700 salting machines

are working hard. So the city has

gone into overdrive. Further up in

New England, there was historic

flooding in Boston and the mayor of

Boston has asked, is this to do

without changing climate? Remember,

we had all those hurricane I was

covering those in the summer, and

now this extreme deepfreeze.

Well,

goodness, Laura, thank you very

much. Laura Trevelyan out there in

the cold in New York City. Our own

weather forecast coming up at

1:30pm.

North Korea has accepted

an offer by the South

to hold talks next week.

The meeting will be the first

between the two countries

for more than two years,

and will reportedly focus on finding

a way for North Korean athletes

to attend the Winter Olympics,

which take place in

South Korea next month.

The talks will take place

on Tuesday, in the demilitarised

zone that divides the peninsula.

Sophie Long reports from Seoul.

The first talks between the North

and South Korean governments

for more than two years

will take place here,

the village of Panmunjom,

which straddles the border

between the two countries

in the demilitarised zone.

The South's offer of high-level

talks was accepted via fax.

TRANSLATION:

Regarding the agenda,

both will discuss the Pyeongchang

Winter Olympics and ways to improve

ties between South and North Korea.

It came just hours

after the United States

and South Korea agreed to suspend

joint military drills.

They say exercises like

this one are defensive

but the North Korean leader sees

them as rehearsals for invasion.

Both South Korean and US Marines

are taking part in this exercise

in the mountains of Pyeongchang.

They are training together to deal

with winter war conditions

and temperatures of below minus 20.

But these drills will stop

for the duration of the Winter

Olympics and Paralympics.

The South Korean president

Moon Jae-in has said the Games

could be a ground-breaking chance

to de-escalate tensions

on the Korean peninsula.

Xin Gu-sop hasn't seen his

sister for 70 years.

He and 61,000 others whose families

remain divided by the border hope

these talks could be

a prelude to change.

TRANSLATION:

I am old now

and I don't know how many

more years I will live.

It is my only wish that

I meet my sister once and for all.

This is the wish not only for me

but for all divided families.

But others are sceptical

about Kim Jong-un's motives.

The commander of US forces

in South Korea said

they are keeping their expectations

at an appropriate level.

My mission remains the same,

to quietly and under control operate

a military force in greater

and greater readiness in the event

that it's the negative outcome,

not the positive one.

But scepticism didn't stop

President Trump claiming

credit for the potential

thawing of relations.

Does anybody really believe that

talks and dialogue would be

going on between North

and South Korea right now,

he tweeted, if I wasn't firm, strong

and willing to commit our total

might against the North?

Sophie Long, BBC News, Seoul.

We're now all used to paying

for plastic shopping bags -

could we now be made to pay extra

for disposable coffee cups?

A committee of MPs says not even

1% of the 2.5 billion

cups we use every year are recycled;

part of the problem is that paper

cups contain a plastic lining

which requires specialist recycling.

So the MPs are calling

for a 25p charge -

on top of the coffee price -

to pay for better facilities.

John Maguire reports

from one of the UK's only

disposable-cup recycling plants.

Coady, copy Mac everywhere. But what

happens to the cups once we finish

our drink? It's a massive business.

Brits drink 8 million takeaway cups

every day and while many boast the

logo, the reality is that -- the

recycling logo, the reality is that

less than 1% is recycled. MPs say it

is time for action.

We have to make

a revolutionary shift, a revolution

in the coffee industry. People want

fair trade for coffee growers and we

also need to make sure that the cups

are... The money would be used to

improve recycling. They want clearer

labelling and they want all cups to

be recyclable or a total ban by

2023. Within this bail is half a

tonne of coffee cups which have

obviously been used, compacted and

brought here to the factory. The

problem in this process is the two

types of materials used - plastic on

the inside to make it waterproof and

then cardboard on the outside to

give the cupboards rigidity. But if

you do separate them, then you can

produce this. 100% recycled paper.

We have the capacity to recycle

about half 1 billion cups. The

reality is we are only doing a

fraction of that because of these

apply to us. It's not about

recycling the cups themselves, but

having the cups themselves to

recycle.

I've got a megaphone and

I'm not afraid to use it.

Waste

campaigners say the system needs a

radical overhaul.

If we were to get

any significant number of cups to

plants like that, we would need

dedicated bins only for coffee cups

and we would need them everywhere.

That's not a practical solution. The

real solution is for the coffee cup

giants to come up with a proper

recyclable cup.

The MPs though

argued the success of the plastic

shopping bag fee which Sauron 83%

reduction in its first year means

that with cooperation from

government, the industry and

consumers, there is a solution. The

answer, they believe, is in our

hands. John Maguire, BBC News,

Cumbria.

Apple has confirmed that

all iPhones, iPads and Mac computers

are affected by two major flaws

in computer chips.

It emerged this week that tech

companies have been working on a fix

for the Meltdown and Spectre bugs,

which could allow

hackers to steal data.

Apple said there was no evidence

that the vulnerability

had been exploited.

It says it will issue a patch

for its Safari web browser

in the next few days.

There's been frustration

for England's bowlers on the second

day of the final Ashes Test,

with Usman Khawaja's

unbeaten 91 seizing

the initiative for Australia.

The home side have already sealed

the Ashes and lead the series 3-0 -

but they're looking to extend

England's winless run

Down Under to ten Tests.

Patrick Gearey reports from Sydney.

Whether by the sea or at the SCG,

the fundamentals are the same.

Score your runs, take your chances,

whatever your surface,

whatever your size.

Up to now, Australia have

always done that better.

Take Dawid Malan's wicket,

as Steve Smith did, somehow.

Fittingly fantastic

from the Aussie superman but the

catching went from breathtaking

to cringe-making.

Josh Hazlewood's reprieve

of Moeen Ali would even

have looked bad on the beach.

England's tail-end responded with

spirit and even a few sixes before

finally running out of steam

and wickets on 346.

So not the score England wanted

but not the one they

will have dreaded either.

They are just about still

in this Test match.

Now they must stop Australia

batting them out of it.

How's this for a start?

Cameron Bancroft bowled

by Stuart Broad for a duck.

But David Warner was

born so close to this

ground, he seems to still treat it

as an extension of his back garden.

He passed 50 when out

of nowhere, James

Anderson sent him indoors.

England continued to bowl with some

skill but no luck and Usman Khawaja

had found his touch.

He got his half century and ended up

just short of a full one.

Plus, Smith was there.

Of course he was.

Now beyond 6000 test

runs and counting.

England bowlers old and new must

believe he's stoppable.

He's playing very well,

he's obviously seeing it well.

But like I said, he's only human,

so we'll keep plugging away tomorrow

and I feel like if we can get him

out, then we can take two or three

and hopefully get

a first-innings lead.

So the problem is one England

have faced all tour -

how do you get rid of Steve Smith?

Answers to the SCG ASAP.

Patrick Gearey, BBC News, Sydney.

More than 20,000 fans of Irn Bru

have signed a petition

against a planned change

to its famous recipe.

The manufacturer of Scotland's

best-selling soft drink are changing

the formula to cut its sugar content

by nearly half, before

a government levy on sugary

drinks comes into effect.

Lorna Gordon has the details.

It's been called Scotland's other

national drink, a fizzy beverage

with its distinctive orange colour

has a loyal following but the amount

of sugar in Irn Bru is about to be

halved and not everyone is happy.

I

got up one morning after a night

out, went for the usual Irn Bru and

I was going through Facebook and I

heard the sad news. Just don't do

it. Don't do it! You are not leaving

out any option to get the original

stuff. It's part of our culture.

It's a Scottish national treasure.

Up you come. Ryan is storing bottles

in his attic. He is also behind a

petition calling for the soft drink

to remain unchanged. More than

20,000 people have now signed. The

makers of Irn Bru say the vast

majority of its drinkers want to

consume less sugar and they say that

most people won't taste the

difference but there are rumours

that Irn Bru enthusiasts are

stockpiling the drink ahead of the

changes and some of the shelves in

this in have already being cleared.

Irn Bru, is it a popular drink here?

Number one seller in my shop. The

last couple of days there has been a

rush on it. I didn't realise until

the baby yesterday what the reason

behind it was. And we are short on

supplies after Christmas anyway.

What do his customers then?

I like

it as it is.

I went by it changed. I

think it is a great idea. That

amount of sugar is bad for your

teeth.

Arles probably stop drinking

it.

This punter led push back has

raised Irn Bru's profile again.

Whether customers stay loyal will

remain clear when the new version

goes on sale later this month. Lorna

Gordon, BBC News, Glasgow.

Time for a look at the weather.

I hope it's not going to be as

I hope it's not going to be as cold

as in New no, thankfully not. That

is a tremendous temperature, isn't

it? It is going to turn colder,

drier, with quite a frost on

Saturday night. Increasing amount of

sunshine of the weekend goes on.

This picture was taken today on the

Somerset levels in between the

showers across this part of the UK.

Further north and higher up, we have

seen snow falling in the Peak

District and then the Staffordshire

Hills for a while. That weather is

moving away, heading towards

Lincolnshire and the wash and should

be mostly rain. A bit of sunshine

now with a brighter day for Northern

Ireland. Colder across the board.

Damp weather in Scotland, a mixture

of rain, sleet and some hill snow.

It will sink its way southwards

overnight, mostly ending up in

northern England. Colder air

beginning to arrive across Scotland

later in the night. A chilly night.

Temperatures went to be far of

freezing. Fog patches, which will

lift in the morning. This is how we

start the weekend, sunshine between

the showers in parts of the South

West and Wales. Then we have that

wintry zone, really. A bit of snow

over the hills heading into Wales

and northern England. Rain

elsewhere, mind you. Much brighter

further north, Northern Ireland with

a lovely day and plenty of sunshine

in Scotland. But there will be icy

patches for eastern Scotland and the

England. More sheltered areas,

western Scotland, north-east England

and enjoying much more sunshine, but

cloud failing to clear away across

the Midlands and dreary across

south-west England as well. It will

feel colder in the wind. Lower

temperatures in the north but at

least we have some sunshine. As we

head into the evening and overnight,

it stays quite rare indeed. This

cloud slowly pushes its way into the

English Channel and further north we

will have clear as skies for longer,

where we see very low temperatures.

Not as cold further south. The

coldest weather is underneath those

clear skies and in the centre of

that high pressure. It is that high

pressure that is dragging with it

colder air but increasing amounts of

sunshine. Still some wind across

southern parts, cloud at times,

otherwise a dry day, sunny spots but

it will be cold. Starting cold next

week, with increasing amounts of

cloud.

That's all from the BBC News at One

so it's goodbye from me

and on BBC One we now join the BBC's

news teams where you are.