22/01/2016 BBC News at Six

More tragedy in Europe's migrant crisis, as 44 people drown off

the Turkish coast, including at least 20 children.

Another desperate rush to help survivors from a freezing sea,

With thousands continuing to try to get to Europe,

the German Chancellor Angela Merkel urges a joint approach by EU

TRANSLATION: Deep inside, I am convinced that the problem

of illegal migration can only be solved if we work together

in fighting the root causes of the refugee crisis.

With European leaders now talking about the EU's very future

being in danger, we'll be asking whether member states can put

The mother of five who's had her sentence in prison more

than doubled for killing a convicted paedophile.

Good morning, America, blizzard emergency.

The east coast of America braces itself for what could be

the heaviest snow in a hundred years.

Using your loaf - the call to boost bread with folic acid

Most of these images are not comic at all.

The actor Jerry Lewis and the movie about the Holocaust he's suppressed

And coming up on Reporting Scotland at 6.30.

How Scotland could be the first part of the UK to add folic acid

to all flour, and help reduce the number of children born

And climate change experts raise concerns about spending cuts

At least 44 migrants - including 20 children -

have become the latest to lose their lives in the freezing

seas off the Turkish coast, drowning in three separate

This latest tragedy came as the French Prime Minister said

were putting the very future of the EU in "grave danger."

Last year, more than 1 million migrants arrived by sea

Now, in these early weeks of 2016, over 36,500 people, undeterred

by worsening weather, have made that journey,

Today, Germany urged Europe to work together to tackle the crisis.

Our correspondent Jenny Hill reports from Berlin.

These people were trying to reach Greece.

In the last 24 hours, more than 40 have died trying

This baby was rushed to intensive care.

Europe's leaders barely agree on how to help.

Today, the German Chancellor met the Turkish

TRANSLATION: Deep inside, I am convinced that the problem

of illegal migration can only be solved

if we work together in fighting the root causes

Europe's leaders have yet to fully implement a controversial quota

system to relocate 120,000 refugees and

They are setting up so-called hotspots,

special reception centres in Italy and Greece from which migrants can

be sent on to other countries or turned away.

And they've offered Turkey more than ?2 billion in return

TRANSLATION: I want to tell people in Germany and the EU that this

is not a German crisis, or a European

crisis, it is not a Turkish crisis either.

We can't just pass the crisis onto each other.

We have to solve it together, in Syria and in Iraq.

Germany was the promised land of Europe

but look at it now, these people told us they have waited

here for days and they need money, housing

And they couldn't manage when all of these people arrived.

Across Europe, attitudes are hardening.

Germany, after the Cologne sex attacks, is divided.

What I think is that Germany has got it

What needs to happen is we have to help

the refugees by all means, but not by opening the gates

You cannot plan when war is in a country.

I think we are doing the right thing.

But Europe's doors are closing on these people.

There will be fences, border checks and limits.

Politically, the refugee crisis has exposed fault

national interest over European responsibility.

There is now a fear at the highest level, the German president,

the French Prime Minister, that the crisis is not

simply testing Europe, but that it could destroy it altogether.

Well, Damian Grammaticas is in Brussels for us this evening.

Do you sense any greater urgency to find a collective solution to this?

I think there is which is why we have been hearing comments all week

from European leaders, saying that they are a matter of weeks, they

think away from getting a grip on the situation on the numbers of

rivals. They see in a few weeks' time, as the weather gets better,

those numbers, the Dutch Prime Minister said, could well quadruple

and that is something he said Europe may not be able to cope with.

There's frustration because the planned so far have not delivered.

Turkey has not curb the arrivals. Greece has not been able to weed out

the people who should be sent back home. And Eastern European

countries, I think many other parts of Europe feel have not stepped in

to share the load. There's a real frustration and a real fear that

increasingly, countries will go it alone and that will lead to

fragmentation. Thank you for joining us.

A woman from east London, who was sentenced to three

and a half years in prison for killing a convicted paedophile,

has had her sentence more than doubled.

Sarah Sands, a mother of five, stabbed her neighbour

Michael Pleasted, who was 77, in November 2014.

Three Appeal Court judges ruled the original sentence given

Sarah Sands took a knife to a neighbouring man's flat

Last September, the judge had described her case as exceptional.

She lived with her five children on this east London estate.

In November 2014, she was caught on CCTV, on her way to 77-year-old

He was on bail, charged with sexually abusing young boys,

and it emerged later he was a convicted paedophile.

She stabbed him eight times, severing an artery.

CCTV shows her leaving his flat 20 minutes later

She was found guilty of manslaughter by reason of loss of control

with her sentence set at three-and-a-half years.

Today at the Court of Appeal, the Attorney General successfully

argued that the original sentence was unduly lenient,

highlighting that Sarah Sands took the knife with her when she went

to Michael Pleasted's flat, that she made attempts to cover

up what she had done and that she hadn't called

the emergency services after she'd stabbed him.

Three Appeal Court judges today more than doubled her sentenced to seven

The offender took with her to the scene

a knife which was used in the infliction of fatal injuries.

The jury were sure that at the time she intended to cause

at least serious grievous bodily harm.

Appearing in court via video link from prison, Sands appeared shocked

It will be devastating for her because she has had her time

She will have been warned it was possible but plainly hoped

That is what the Court of Appeal is there for,

to make these kinds of decisions in these difficult cases.

She was expected to be released this summer but can now expect

to stay in jail for at least the next two years.

Sarah Campbell, BBC News, the Court of Appeal.

Tens of millions of people on the US east coast have been warned

to prepare for a huge blizzard that's expected to leave near-record

In Washington, DC, more than two feet of snow is forecast to fall

A state of emergency is already in place there,

as it is in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia,

Our North America Editor Jon Sopel is in the capital and joins me now.

This is a city that is going into shutdown, not metaphorically and

literally. All federal buildings have just been closed and offices

are being shut early. The rush hour has started about four hours before

normal and people are being told to stay off the streets from 3pm this

afternoon, in about two hours' time. As we speak, the first snowflakes

have just started falling. The north-eastern seaboard

of the United States is bracing itself for a once in

a hundred years event. And the District of Columbia

will be hit hardest. is shutting down and apocalyptic

warnings are being given. It has life and death implications

and all of the residents of the District of Columbia

should treat it that way. If you do not need to

be out, we are asking folks is, by three o'clock today,

you need to be where you are going People are taking heed,

if the lines in shops this supermarket in Washington

had been stripped bare. Empty shelves.

Nothing left. Hardware shops too have been

doing a roaring trade. And we are getting provisions

and we are going to It was crazy, cleared

there is no bread and no milk. It is like snowmaggeddon

from a couple of years ago where everyone

is stocking up. A little snow did fall on Wednesday,

and it caused total No one was exempt, not even

the passenger from this flight. The president returned

from Detroit only to find his armoured limo

and the rest of the motorcade That was after an inch

of snow. Two feet is forecast to fall

over the next 36 hours. How did a British mother

come to take her son, Today, Birmingham Crown Court heard

how Tareena Shakil went to Syria to live under Sharia law,

but then had to make a dramatic escape, after she changed her mind

about living under the rule of the group calling

itself Islamic state. Sian Lloyd has been listening

to proceedings and joins us now. Today, Tareena Shakil told the court

how she came to flee from Raqqa in Syria ecology was disillusioned with

life in a single women's store, where she said she was closely

watched and her mobile phone was taken from her. She described how

she planned her escape, which involved bribing a taxi driver to

take a close to the Turkish border. She said as she neared a checkpoint,

she ran from the car, carrying her toddler son with her, crossing the

final kilometre into Turkey over barbed wire, before adding herself

into a patrol there. The 26-year-old is accused of encouraging acts of

terrorism on social media and also of being a member of a banned

organisation, namely so-called Islamic State. The jury has been

shown pictures of her, taken while she was inside Syria, wearing a

balaclava bearing the IS logo, and also photos of her posing with guns.

There have also been pictures shown to the court of her young son

wearing similar clothing. Tareena Shakil denies all the charges. The

case continues. David Cameron was in

the Czech Republic today, pressing his case for EU

reform ahead of a possible He said he'd welcome alternative

proposals to his controversial plans Among measures proposed

by the Czech Prime Minister was allowing countries

to close their borders temporarily as an "emergency brake",

if a country's welfare system Our Political Correspondent Alex

Forsyth reports from Prague. In the snow-covered capital

of the Czech Republic, there has been some frostiness

towards the idea of changing some David Cameron wants to ban EU

workers from claiming benefits in the UK for four years,

to try to reduce migration. In Prague today, his counterpart,

supportive of most reforms, said he would not back anything

that would discriminate TRANSLATION: We discussed other

possible alternatives to make it possible for the UK to respond

to the mass influx of migrants. One of those involves giving member

states the possibility of an emergency brake,

if there is an enormous pressure Today, there was little idea of how

an emergency brake on migration David Cameron said

he was open to ideas. He needs agreement from the whole EU

to the changes that he wants to make which includes cutting regulation

and more power for parliaments. Talk now is of compromise

and solutions ahead of the EU Obviously now we need to make

decisions as we get closer But I believe that if there

is goodwill and hard work, we will be able to achieve

the outcome necessary. The Czech Republic,

like most countries, wants to do a deal to keep the UK

in the EU and quickly. Because while the EU grapples

with the migration crisis, leaders don't want anything else

like the possibility of the UK leaving to further

destabilise the union. In Prague, some people agree

and others understand the UK's concerns about EU membership

but question the timing. I think you should get

out as soon as you can. I think everything is going

to change because of the immigrants and the whole of Europe

is moving, you know. For now, David Cameron is focused

on securing a deal he can sell So far, there is the political

will from all sides but not As more migrants drown

trying to reach Europe - Angela Merkel calls for an EU-wide

response, saying national solutions And still to come the Englishwoman

keeping wicket in a men's team Coming up in Sportsday, Liam Brodie

believes that tennis authorities are fighting a losing battle.

The Scottish government is considering adding folic acid

to flour to help prevent brain and spinal disorders in babies.

Many countries - including the US - have been fortifying flour

But Westminster has been weighing up the evidence for over fifteen years.

77 countries around the world already add folic acid to flour.

Research has suggested up to 2000 birth defects since 1998

could have been avoided here if the UK had followed suit.

Our Scotland Correspondent Lorna Gordon reports.

How was school today? Very good today. Ella is 12 and in her final

year of primary school and recovering from extensive back

surgery after being born with spina bifida. Her mother did take folic

acid supplements but not until several weeks into the pregnancy. We

find it out 30 minutes after she was born. It is not easy. We have had 12

years of a pen down things, she will ask us when she will walk and you

go, never. Dozens of countries already at folic acid to flower

because it reduces incidence of rain and spinal disorders if women take

it before and during pregnancy. The Scottish Government is considering

it, saying that it is disappointed that the UK wide policy has not been

introduced. But it's complicated, this bakery in Glasgow ships some

products down to England and inevitably bakeries and flour Mills

sell their products up here. So some people question whether this could

mean a UK wide altering flower by the back door. It is not just in

Scotland but impacting bakers across UK. Would this be for all products

which are made in Scotland, sold in Scotland? It is a major issue for

the industry. What do parents elsewhere think about the proposals?

These mothers in Bristol were divided. If Scotland could take the

lead and initiate it and then we could follow on from there I think

it is a good idea. Does everybody really need to have it in their

food? I don't think we needed in our really need to have it in their

food as well. Melanie says that she wouldn't change her daughter for the

world but reflects on how different things might have been. This is our

life now and we would not be without Ella, that we could have had a

different outcome if the folic acid had already been in the flour. The

debate over adding folic acid to flower has been long-running but

supporters insist that the simple move could give more children the

best possible start in life. The amount the Government borrowed

last month fell sharply to ?7.5 billion, compared

to over 11 and a half But the Chancellor is still thought

to be likely to miss his target Here to explain more

is our Economics Correspondent Andy Sounds like good news

for George Osborne so why Well, it is like all households,

really, if your income is not as high as your spending then you have

to borrow money to plug the difference and like every government

since 2002 the government has more money going out and going in and it

has to borrow a certain amount. The amount it has to borrow, well, if

you look at the forecast for November, the Office for Budget

Responsibility said he would not have to borrow more than ?68.9

billion for April to April, but when you look at what we have borrowed in

the financial year so far, just nine months, 74.2 billion. We have

already busted the overdraft limit. The Chancellor will get tax receipts

this month when self-employed people pay their taxes and we will know

about that next month so he can expect improvement, but the Office

for Budget Responsibility is now forecasting that if we don't cut the

deficit faster than now we will end up borrowing perhaps ?78 billion, so

it is not so much slashing the deficit is giving it a gentle shake.

-- is giving it. She may not be a household name yet,

but in the world of cricket, Sarah Taylor is re-writing

the history books. She's about to play her 100th

One-Day International in the England women's team's forthcoming

tour of South Africa. But over the winter,

she became the first woman ever to play Australian club

cricket - alongside men. Since she was 17, this has been

life for Sarah Taylor. Batting and keeping

wicket for England. Just enjoy it.

crossed another frontier. Under the captaincy of an Australian

international, she became the first woman ever to play men's grade one

cricket in Australia, The club was Adelaide's

Northern District's Jets. The idea of playing for a team

like the Jets was to test my limits and see how far I could

go as a cricketer. Even the guys said in the changing

rooms, you know, she is good enough They wanted the best

11 on the field. They were more than happy to have me

and they did not care that You should have heard some

of the language I had to listen to! They honestly did not

care I was there. Most of England's players

practise in Loughborough. Some are still in Australia

where they have been playing England are playing some matches

next month in South Africa, partly in preparation for a world

tournament in India. Suddenly, it is a world of global

opportunity for women's cricket. Meanwhile, England's new coach can

see the potential for more female cricketers to break

through barriers in the male game. If they start to become equals

and start to hold their own ability-wise, and maybe pass

holding their own and start to do well and dominate,

there is no boundary. Sarah Taylor told me she hopes

to play grade cricket Her schedule only allowed

two games this winter. This summer, there will be

a new women's league in England. The immediate challenge is to make

that work in its own right. More than 40 years ago the American

slapstick actor Jerry Lewis made But it was so controversial that

Lewis himself banned the movie For decades, film buffs have

wondered exactly what was in it. Now, still images from the film

have come to light - Not you!

Not me! But in 1972, he made a film

about the Holocaust, Now for the first time since then,

these stills from it have surfaced. Called The Day The Clown Cried,

it sees Lewis playing a clown It was so controversial,

Lewis changed his mind and has never Most of these images are not

comic at all in my eyes. Which is why the photos are now

being eagerly studied by scholars There were very many ventures,

both in terms of literature and film So I don't think there's anything

wrong necessarily with doing that. But of course, we are in a very

difficult area here. You have to be sensitive

to what you have made. It sounds as though Jerry Lewis,

in his sensitivity, felt it was best that what he had made

was best not let out. For years, the Internet has

speculated about the unseen film. It's very iconic,

isn't it, the outfits? The BBC asked the Jewish comedian

David Schneider to look There's a whole difficult

area of whether he has Once a thing is made,

whether he has the right to not But I think when you look at these

pictures, and you realise just how badly it could go, how

offensive it could be, then he has probably

done the right thing. The BBC did ask Jerry Lewis

for an interview to talk So all we have to go on are these

newly released stills, As one film critic put it,

this is one of the most talked about movies in history but no one

has actually seen it. Three years ago, Jerry Lewis did

give an insight into his decision I was grateful that I had the power

to contain it all and never let The Day The Clown Cried is not

the only film to inject humour But unless it is released,

we will never know if it was Duncan Kennedy, BBC

News, Southampton. Well, fairly quiet weekend of

weather in the UK but the same can't be said on the other side of the

Atlantic where dramatic weather is affecting the eastern seaboard of

the USA. Developing low pressure is pressing further northwards over the

next 48 hours, bumping into the cold air that has been in place, 45-60

centimetres of snow falling for cities including Washington, DC and

New York. Heavy snowfall and freezing rain will cause severe

disruption. Closer to home it has been a tranquil end to the day for

some areas. This was the scene in Dundee earlier, gorgeous and set.

Many parts of the country continue with clear skies as we go through

the course of the evening. Across Northern Ireland and Scotland there

will be one or two showers but elsewhere things are looking largely

dry. Temperatures will fall to around 3-7 in towns and cities but

in the countryside we will see a touch of frost and mist and fog

patches particularly in southern England and South Wales. A largely

dry day on Saturday with decent spells of sunshine and increasing

clouds with rain moving into western areas later. Temperatures around

9-10d. Pleasant enough. A grey day on Sunday. Some outbreaks in the

hills in western areas and a few breaks in the cloud and where we do

see the cloud breaking it will be exceptionally mild, possibly even as

high as 15 degrees. 20 going on, and you can check the website for the

latest on the storm in the USA but it will be mild this weekend here.

Thank you, Sarah. That's all from the BBC News at Six

- so it's goodbye from me