08/04/2014 BBC News at Six

In the Oscar Pistorius murder trial - the athlete we live is the moment

he shot his girlfriend. He said he had heard a noise in the toilet in

the middle of the night and thought it was an intruder. Reeva

Steenkamp's mother listened in court, head bowed. Before I knew

it, I had fired for macro shots at the door. My ears were ringing, I

couldn't hear anything. So I kept on shouting for Reeva to phone the

police. Oscar Pistorius became so distressed as he explained what

happened next that the court was adjourned until tomorrow. Also on

the programme, history is made as Ireland's president is welcomed by

the Queen for the first official state visit to Britain.

Another boost for the UK - the fund addicts it will grow faster than any

other Western economy. 20 years after Rwanda's genocide,

how much progress and that what cost?

And daily into the unknown for Mo Farah, preparing for his debut

marathon in London on Sunday. On BBC London, a family of Mark

Duggan wins the right to challenge an inquest verdict that he was

lawfully killed by police. And a refund for thousands of

drivers who were issued illegal parking tickets.

Could evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six. The South African

athlete Oscar Pistorius broke down in court as he described the moment

he realised he had shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The

29-year-old said he picked up his gun because he believed there was an

intruder in his house. Mr Pistorius, who denies murder, said he broke

through the toilet door after firing for macro shots, and only then

realised what he had done. There have been tears and drama

already in this trial, but nothing like today. Oscar Pistorius arrives,

poised to tell the court how and why he shot Reva Steenkamp. Her family

are hearing numbers, knowing this is a crucial day. On the witness stand,

but not shown on television, Pistorius describes hearing his

bathroom window being opened in the middle of the night. That was the

moment that everything changed. I thought there was a burglar. The

first thing that ran through my mind was that I needed to calm myself, I

needed to protect Reeva and I and I needed to get my gun. I was overcome

with fear and I started screaming and shouting for the burglar or the

intruders to get out of my house. Reeva Steenkamp's mother June, in

the centre, about her head as Pistorius describes moving

desperately, without his prosthetic legs, from his bedroom, shown here,

to the bathroom, down this narrow corridor. I had my pistol raised to

my eye to the corner of the entrance of the bathroom. And then I heard a

noise from inside the toilet. I perceived it to be somebody coming

out of the toilet. Before I knew it, I had fired four shots at the door.

It was Reeva Steenkamp in the toilet. Pistorius said he rushed

back to the bedroom to check on her, realised she was missing and

frantically broke through the toilet door to find her. A court orderly

brings a bucket over as the athlete breaks down and wretches, his family

and tears. And I sat over Reeva and I cried. I don't know how long I was

there for. She wasn't breathing. At which point the court is abruptly

adjourned for the day. Oscar Pistorius did come across today as a

BP traumatised man. That may have known bearing on his innocence or

guilt -- aid the peak traumatised man -- but it will have profound

effect on the trial, how he is cross-examined in the days ahead and

how the assesses both his sincerity and his room Morse.

History was made today when the Queen welcome the president of the

Irish Republic, Michael D Higgins, to Windsor Castle for the first

formal visit to Britain of an Irish head of state. This afternoon,

President Higgins addressed both houses of parliament, and tonight he

is the guest of honour at a banquet given by the Queen. This report

contains flash photography. The formality of the state occasion

quickly gave way to the genuine warmth of friendship. The Irish

anthem, played in Windsor, harks back to the days of revolution

against the Crown. But here, none of history's darker shadows. Which, for

decades had made an event like this unthinkable. Today's welcome is all

about the spectacle of Abe Rand -- a grand state occasion, but behind the

symbolism is a story of real significance, of a change

relationship between two nations. This journey to Windsor Castle has

taken much patient work to achieve. Resident Higgins inspected a guard

of honour, a reminder of military links between the two countries

stretching back to the days of Empire. Here, he presented the Irish

Guards with a code for their mascot, an Irish wolfhound. But at what Mr

Abbey, the president's visit reached its most poignant moments -- at

Westminster Abbey. He paid tribute at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

And then the gesture of remembrance for the victim of a more recent

conflict, the plaque to the Queen's cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten,

murdered by the IRA. From Abbey to palace of Westminster. Under the

eyes of an old conqueror of Ireland, the president spoke of a

warm Anglo-Irish friendship. The journey of our shared British Irish

relationship to that freedom has progressed from the darting eyes of

estrangement to the trusting eyes of partnership, and in recent years to

the welcoming eyes of friendship. Tonight, he will attend a state

banquet hosted by the Queen at which the former IRA commander Martin

McGuinness will be a guest, a moment when his story pivots towards the

future. -- history pivots towards the future.

The UK's economy is expected to grow faster than any other Western

economy this year. That is the prediction from the International

Monetary Fund. At the start of this year, the IMF said the UK economy

should grow by 2.4% this year, but it has now increased that prediction

to 2.9%. Our chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym has more

details. To test the health of the British

economy, this medical equipment company provides its own verdict,

and it chimes with the glowing report from the International

Monetary Fund that the pace is picking up, sales are growing and

much of the action is in foreign markets. We have seen a huge

improvement in our export business, which now accounts for 70% of our

business. It is down to us to show the rest of the world that we can

manufacture excellent medical equipment that people want to buy at

a reasonable price, and we make it as efficiently as possible. Once

again, the IMF has upgraded its UK growth forecast for 2014. Last

September, it predicted growth of 1.9%. By January, that had been

revised up to 2.4% for this year. Today, the forecast has been pushed

up against a 2.9. So, companies like this are increasing sales in

overseas markets, but many commentators say a lot more needs to

be done to boost exports and business investment across the

economy, so the recovery is more balanced and less dependent on

consumer spending. The Chancellor George Osborne accepts that, which

is why he has been banging the drum for British companies on a trip to

Brazil. He unveiled a package of measures to help UK exporters like

this supplier to the oil and gas industry, and he welcomed the latest

report from the IMF. It is good news that Britain is forecast to grow

faster than any other UK economy, -- any other Western economy. It is

evidence that our economic plan is working, but we need to do more to

Metro Britain is exporting more and investing more. Labour leader

Miliband argues that the recovery is not evenly spread across the UK. On

a visit to Birmingham, he called for a shift of resources away from

London to boost growth outside the south-east. In a speech, he said

there was now a major political divide on the economy. On the one

side, a Conservative Party that is about to declare the cost of living

crisis at an end. On the other side, the British people, who

believe we are a long way from solving that cost of living crisis.

And by their side, a Labour Party. The IMF does say the UK must watch

out for financial risks such as surging house prices, but its latest

close-up view is a lot brighter than a year ago, when it claimed the

chancellor was playing with fire. The IMF now admits its view then was

much too pessimistic. Hugh Pym, BBC News.

A postmortem examination into the death of Peaches Geldof will be

carried out tomorrow. The 25-year-old mother of two was found

dead at her home in Wrotham in Kent yesterday lunchtime. Police say her

death was not suspicious, they called it and explained and sudden.

Her elder sister paid tribute to her today, posting a picture of them as

children, saying, my beautiful baby sister, gone but never forgotten.

Some news just in. The Culture Secretary Maria Miller has admitted

she let her constituents down over her expenses. The Culture Secretary

broke her silence to say she was devastated by what has happened. She

is facing calls to resign for wrongly claiming thousands of pounds

in mortgage payments on her home in London. Vicky Young is at was Mr for

us. Explain the significance of her comments? Mrs Miller was cleared of

many of the main charges against her, but she was roundly criticised

for her attitude to that original investigation into her expenses. She

was forced to apologise last week to the House of Commons for her

attitude, and that was where many of her problems have stemmed from. That

apology lasted just over 30 seconds and most people watching it felt it

was pretty insincere and certainly very terse. She has now written a

column in her local newspaper, the Basingstoke Gazette, tonight. She

says, I am devastated that this has happened, and she admitted that she

has let her constituents down. Today, several Tory MPs have said it

is damaging for the party. There has also been a concerted effort by her

friends to rally round. Crucially, she still has the backing of the

prime minister. Every child will have a hot, healthy

and free lunch for their first three years at school. That is what the

government promise last year, but many schools in England are

struggling to meet that demand and the reason is a lack of facilities

according to a BBC investigation. At least 2700 schools need to upgrade

their kitchens. Some need more work than others, but that is around one

third of all those assessed. And more than 1700 and no kitchens at

all, as our political correspondent Alex Forsyth reports.

Lunchtime at this school in Dorset. A chance to refuel with some

favourites. Crisps. Strawberries and other things. You like Apple 's?

They are very healthy. From September, this pack lunches should

be revised with hot meals. That is what schools in England will be

expected to offer all infants for free, but that will not happen here.

The dining hall and kitchen are too small to cook and serve hot food,

and there is a funding issue as well. Schools like us need people to

serve the food. We are talking about children as young as four walking

around with trays of food. They need supervision, and that costs money.

This is what pupils will get instead, prepacked sandwiches. Still

free, but not the hot food promised by the government. In fact, many

schools say they don't currently have the facilities to provide that.

The Department for Education has allocated ?150 million of funding

for schools to improve their dining halls and their kitchens, but the

money has been allocated according to how many pupils are in each area,

not on what schools need. So some regions have more than they require.

In others, the funding falls short. Teachers welcomed the investment in

improving children's diets. But there is concern from some that the

policy has been rushed through. Come September, some schools will rely on

external caterers . Others will lengthen lunch hours to sit pupils

in small halls in turn. Despite the challenges, ministers insist that

the scheme will work. We took a long time to get the figures right and

make sure the implementation was right. I am confident that we will

deliver the policy on time and on budget in September 2014. I think it

will be seen as very positive both for pupils and parents. That is the

view of parents at this London primary school, which already offers

meals to all pupils. It is good, because a lot of children don't get

hot meals of an evening, or even a breakfast. All children should be

fed for free, rather than poverty. While there is support for the

principle of free meals for pupils, critics say there has been little

thought for the practical requirements of rolling it out

across England. Most schools will deliver, but for some, it is proving

a struggle. Our top story this evening: Oscar

Pistorius rakes down in court as he recounts the moment he shot his

girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Still to come, called into question

- are the police over using their powers to gather data from mobiles

and e-mails? Later on BBC London, forced from

their homes by this sink in Hemel Hempstead. Now there is criticism of

how the families are being treated. And the battle at the bridge - Jose

Mourinho onto my's must win Champions League lash. -- Champions

League clash. It's 20 years since the again side in Rwanda that killed

800,000 people. Since then, international aid has been pouring

in to help Rwandans get back on their feet. In fact, Rwanda is one

of the biggest recipients of UK aid. It will get almost ?100 million. The

money has helped. Primary school attendance is now at 97%, for

example, just one aspect of life in Rwanda that's improved. But as the

economy surges forward, there are concerns about the political price

of progress as George Alagiah reports. There is genuine admiration

for President Paul Kagame here. For many, he is the reason Rwanda did

not descend into post-genocide chaos. He rules the country with the

iron discipline he honed as a military commander. In effect, he's

offering his people a grand bargain. He gets a free hand in politics. In

return, they get economic and social progress. One obvious sign of that

progress is in education, which is now free. With the help of British

aid, virtually all children go to primary school and secondary

enrolment has doubled in five years. It was so different when I first

came here after the genocide. Then, the children were coping with the

trauma of having witnessed the mass murder. Now they learn about it in

their history books. For a small country with few natural resources,

nurturing the abilities of these children is the key to prosperity.

The government says no child will be left out. It has to be inclusive

growth. It has to be inclusive development. Nobody should be left

out. We go, country by country, and say, what kind of lessons can we

learn from this? How can it be applied in Rwanda? ?? FORCEDWHITE It

is no accident that Rwanda has turned to South Korea, the most

connected country on the planet, for help with its broadband network.

Rwanda's ambition is to leapfrog the rest of the region and become a

high-speed technological hub. 3,000 kilometres of fibre- optic cable

have been laid down so far. It is all part of an economic strategy

that is already delivering 8% growth in reducing the inequality gap.

Rwanda's remarkable progress was simply unthinkable 20 years ago. But

critics say that achievement has come at a price. Political

opposition, they claim, has been shut down - whether it is at home,

or abroad. Those allegations took me thousands of miles away to Tennessee

in America. Leah Karegeya is a widow, living here with her two

sons. Their father, Patrick, a former Rwandan intelligence chief

turned critic, was murdered in South Africa last New Year's Eve. This is

your husband and that is? Kagame. President Kagame, there? Leah told

me how friendly she, her husband and the future Rwandan President had

been when all three grew up in exile, a relationship that continued

in Rwanda. We were very close. I know that is Clinton and I know that

is Paul Kagame, the President. But they fell out and Leah's husband

fled into exile in South Africa. Leah blames the Rwandan authorities

for his murder there. That is a view backed by the South African

government, which has said it has evidence of direct links between

Rwandan officials and the killing. I would say it was the Rwandan

government that killed my husband. That is not to say Kagame, but it

was the Rwandan government that did that. They paid the guy, he lured my

husband, and finally they assassinated him. What do you miss

most about your husband? His support for his children, his love for his

children. Talking to him, I used to talk to him every day. So I have

nobody to talk to now. Shortly after the murder, President Kagame said

those who betrayed Rwanda would face the consequences. It's a matter of

time. It was uncompromising response. The Rwandan government

would not comment on the case, despite our request. But it has

previously denied any involvement. Britain has been supportive of the

Rwandan President. But, on this issue, there are concerns. We

certainly condemn the murder and attempted murder of dissident

figures from Rwanda that has taken place. But we will await the outcome

of the investigations, of course, as will the rest of the world. But

here, people are more interested in security and growth. So, Mr Kagame's

bargain is holding. But the aspirations of a rapidly growing

population will make his job harder. The future is likely to be every bit

as challenging as the past. The British businessman, Shrien Dewani,

has been formally charged with arranging the murder of his wife

while on their honeymoon in Cape Town. Mr Dewani was finally

extradited to South Africa last night after a long legal battle. He

denies the charges. Our correspondent, Jon Kay, was in

court. Three years after he came here on honeymoon, Shrien Dewani

came here to Cape Town in very different circumstances. This time

he was taken not to a 5-star hotel, but to the city's High Court, where

he was charged with murdering his wife. The authorities claim that in

November 2010 the British businessman paid to have his new

bride Anni shot dead in a prearranged carjacking. Such is the

level of interest in this case there was chaos in the packed courtroom.

Unlike the Pistorius trial in Johannesburg, no cameras were

allowed to film Shrien Dewani in court. Camera, outside! He's being

treated for severe post-traumatic stress disorder and depression,

although today he did look healthier than he had in previous appearances

in London. Shrien Dewani has just been taken down to the cells at the

end of this hearing. He looked smart, he was wearing a dark suit, a

black tie. He was concentrating hard, listening intently to the

judge ahead of him, occasionally twitching his head and looking over

to the prosecutor on the other side of the courtroom. This was a day

that many in South Africa thought may never come. They've been

frustrated by delays in the extradition process. But now the

authorities have their man. We are happy, in the sense that we will get

an opportunity to present evidence before court, evidence that of

course we believe will see us through the trial and secure us a

conviction. The Dewani family have flown out here from Bristol. In a

statement, they said the businessman was committed to proving his

innocence. He'll now be held at this high security psychiatric hospital,

where doctors will assess whether he's well enough to stand trial. Jon

Kay, BBC News, Cape Town. The police may be over using their power to

gather phone data, such as who owns the phone and what number it has

called, according to a new report. The new Commissioner for

Interception, Sir Antony May, say there is needs to be an

investigation. Our security correspondent, Gordon Corera is with

me now. His job is to make sure that spies, police and others play by the

rules when it comes to intercepting and gathering other forms of data

about communications, phone calls and emails, for instance. When it

comes to communication data, Sir Antony May produce as figure about

how many requests, just over half a million requests. That might be who

owns a phone or what other numbers it is in contact with. Not

necessarily the content, but data about it. That figures looks to him

at face value as too high. Who does the collecting? We see here the vast

majority are police requests, some also by the intelligence agencies,

police say this is a vital tool in their investigations, but the

Commissioner asks whether police are too quick to turn to this tool, not

necessarily balancing it with the need for privacy. The we also get

data about which forces use it and how much they use it. So, we can see

here that, for instance, you have West Mercia making 10,000 data

requests, Thames Valley only 5,000, even though it's a bigger force,

covering a larger population. We also get the results of his

investigation into GCHQ, the questions about whether it was

carrying out mass surveillance of British citizens. He says there is

no evidence of large kale mass intrusion into people's privacy here

in the UK. Gordon, thank you very much. Now the spotlight will be

firmly on Britain's double Olympic Champion Mo Farah this Sunday when

he races into his debut marathon in London. It's a leap into the unknown

for the master of the 5 thou nd 10,000 meter events and will no

doubt prove to be the biggest test in his career. He is taking on one

of the best elite fields of runners every assembled ed, as our sports

editor, David Bond, reports. Mo Farah for Great Britain! It's gold!

He's already conquered London once. Now he's aiming to do it all over

again. This time, by winning the marathon at his first attempt. With

26.2 miles to run on Sunday, no wonder Mo Farah was taking it easy

today. But the double Olympic champion knows he's facing one of

the biggest challenges in sport. Yes, it's different. To help him

prepare, he's been training for weeks at altitude in Kenya, all part

of a carefully choreographed plan to help him cope with the physical and

mental challenges he will face. But there have been worries. This is

Farah after last month's New York half marathon. His collapse there

has raised questions about his ability to go the distance. Some of

it just comes down to how well your body copes. You can train as much as

you like, some people are just suited for the marathon and some

find it harder to make that jump. Until you race your first one,

people really don't know 100% whether you're going to be as good a

success as you have been over 10,000 metres or even a half marathon. Mo

Farah is already firmly established as one of the greatest athletes in

British history. By running the marathon here on Sunday, he is

attempting to take his career to new heights. But it's not without risks

to his golden reputation. It's my first time. It's a matter of

respecting the distance and respecting the guys, but at the same

time believing yourself and putting yourself in a good place and save as

much energy as I can. Whatever happens in the marathon, Farah's

achievements have guaranteed him the respect of the British public. Win

on Sunday and there will be little left for this remarkable athlete to

conquer. David Bond, BBC News. Time now for a look at the weather with

Nina Ridge. By Sunday in London not as much sunshine as we had today, it

could be cloudy. The bright skies across much of the country picked up

by Clive Mitchell in South Yorkshire near Doncaster this afternoon. It

should be fine and dry this evening across parts of the UK. We have more

cloud brewing out in the Atlantic. That is an approaching weather front

moving here. It will produce more cloud across Scotland, Northern

Ireland and northern England throughout the night. Pressure will

be relatively high in the south. Here, there will be clearer skies,

if anything, turning chillier across southern areas. We might see mist

and fog forming, always cloudier further north. We have patchy rain

moving in across Northern Ireland and northern England. The rain

heavier to parts of western Scotland, as a result temperatures

holding up at eight or nine degrees. A contrast as we start tomorrow

morning. Any mist should clear to give brighter skies to southern

areas before the cloud increases for the afternoon. More over cast in the

north. That rain persistent across the north and western isles and the

west highlands throughout the day. It will come and go further south

through the central lowlands. Temperatures in Glasgow reaching

highs of 11 degrees, cloudy with odd spots of rain for Northern Ireland

and north-west England. Further south there will be more cloud

compared to today. The there may be showers to Wales and south-west

England. A dryer day, not as chilly with temperatures for many reaching

the mid teens. As we look to Thursday's forecast, it will astay

mostly dry to the south, if a little bit cloudy. A weak weather front

introducing cloud to northern England. Behind that brighter skies

with a few showers. Colder air will move in. Temperatures 10-11 degrees

much we could manage 16 degrees in London. If you want more details,

you can head to our website. Now on BBC One we join the BBC's