04/02/2016 BBC News at Six

Nearly ?7 billion pledged at a London conference

Years of conflict have left millions homeless -

Britain offers more than a billion pounds in extra aid.

Today has been and is a day of hope, a day about saving lives,

a day about building futures, the day

about giving people the chance of a future.

A lost generation - calls for cash to put every refugee

I'm in Lebanon, one of the places where the refugee crisis is most

acute. Roughly a quarter of the population here are Syrian refugees.

Will these latest pledges be turned into hard cash?

Also tonight: A UN panel of legal experts says the Wikileaks founder,

Julian Assange, is being unfairly detained.

Is Age UK pushing the elderly into expensive energy deals?

The industry watchdog will investigate.

A friendly face for Top Gear - Matt LeBlanc joins the line up

And on Reporting Scotland at 6.30: Further delays to allowing

heavy lorries back on the Forth Road Bridge.

And, a man is cleared of causing the deaths of three people,

including his wife and seven-year-old daughter,

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

On a day when yet another government offensive in Syria has turned

tens of thousands more into refugees David Cameron has warned

of a "critical shortfall" in aid for its people.

He was speaking at an international fund-raising conference in London.

So far nearly ?7 billion has been pledged by donor countries.

Britain alone has offered an extra ?1.2 billion

That money will fund jobs and education -

part of the government's strategy to help refugees

But past pledges of cash have not always been honoured

as our diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall reports.

This is the scale of the problem, camps in Jordan stretching

Across the region, Syrian refugees may soon number over 4.5 million,

with 13.5 million more displaced inside the country.

there was a feeling this pledging conference must do more to help.

Syria's neighbours say they are near breaking point.

Soon Lebanon will no longer be able to contain

an eruption that could involve further migration to distant shores,

de-stabilisation and devolved security threats.

Looking into the eyes of my people, and seeing

Looking into the eyes of my people, and seeing the hardship and distress

they carry, I must tell you we have reached our limit.

Last year, the world only gave the United Nations

half the aid they needed, so in the end food rations

one reason so many decided to move on to Europe.

Which means today in London, there is new self interest,

give aid to ease conditions in the region,

and maybe stem the flow coming towards Europe.

There have been previous donor conferences, is a the same thing is

happening this time round and all your impressive pledges will ring

rather hollow? It will make a difference in terms of saving lives,

in terms of providing medicine, shelter and food, and these are

important because we are fulfilling our moral was sponsored that the as

countries to those people who are caught up in this terrible conflict.

Of course, announcing big aid packages in London

is one thing, actually delivering the aid where it is needed

But anyway, everyone agrees, any amount of funding

for humanitarian assistance or long-term development

is all very well, but what is really needed is a way to end the war.

On the ground, the bombardments from Russian air strikes backing

Syrian government troops have just got heavier.

This is around the city of Deraa in the last two days.

Fierce fighting has put under threat the fledgling peace talks

in Geneva, when they had hardly begun.

That is even before the outside world works out how to unite

against the so-called IS jihadists in the east.

World leaders this morning said it was time to act, not talk.

But whatever is achieved here in London, it seems

unlikely it will bring this conflict any nearer to a close.

Well, as we've heard, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon desperately need

long-term support to cope with the huge influx from Syria.

Over four million refugees are now living in the region.

One million of them are in neighbouring Lebanon,

Our correspondent Clive Myrie is in one of them.

Plenty of words here, what are the facts on the ground? Yes, George, a

lot of money has been pledged, but where is it needed most? There is no

question the vast majority of refugees here would like to work to

provide for their families, and some of the donor money will go towards

opening the Labour market here and creating jobs. But many refugees are

children and funding is sorely needed for their education.

They have had a rough ride in life, these children, victims of a war

they are too young to understand. In this refugee camp in Lebanon's Bekaa

valley, they are being given back their childhoods, a few hours at a

time. Meet Muhammad who was 13, and his brother Mr far a year older.

They attend school five days a week, like the 270 other youngsters at the

camp -- Mustafa. But when school is out, they and some of the other kids

receive a lesson in life. They work in the brick factory that borders

their home. The pay, around 40p a day. It is dusty and smelly.

their home. The pay, around 40p a but necessary work for this family.

because our little brother is sick. He has cancer. Then they

because our little brother is sick. in Syria. Around sunset

because our little brother is sick. firing, he said, then

because our little brother is sick. As they toiled and

because our little brother is sick. for Syria, raised more money to pay

for the education of refugee children and create well

for the education of refugee opportunities for their parents.

Over lunch, Mustafa and Mohammed admits life is hard. Lunch over, it

is back to work. Those two young men are mature

beyond their years, like so many other child refugees, they have had

to grow up fast. The boys told me they want to return home to Syria.

But what are the prospects of that in the near future? Frankly, they

are incredibly slim. The nascent peace talks have been suspended.

Islamic State holds large swathes of land. Pledges of funds from the

London conference will help make lives of those in exile a lot

better, it is hoped, but when will they return home? Not for some

considerable time. George, back to you. Thank you.

A UN panel of legal experts has decided that the Wikileaks founder,

Julian Assange, is being unfairly detained.

More than three years ago Mr Assange sought political asylum

in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid detention.

Today Downing Street said the UN panel's ruling

Our correspondent Caroline Hawley is outside the embassy

It is true it is not legally binding. It is also true that if

Julian Assange was to walk out of the embassy, he would be arrested.

But this is a UN body which is used to criticising countries with some

of the worst human rights records in the world, so it does put Britain

and Sweden in a difficult position. It is a controversial decision, but

at the very least, it is a PR coup for Julian Assange.

This was Julian Assange back in 2012, the summer he sought refuge

Now a UN panel has heard him, and to the dismay of

Britain and Sweden, to the deight of his supporters,

and to some surprise, it has upheld his complaint.

I really hope that as a consequence of this ruling, that Julian can

leave the embassy and go to Ecuador, where he can benefit

I fear the British government might ride roughshod

over this, but I think it would be really

unfortunate, and send a terrible message internationally,

about our recognition of international

Julian Assange first made headlines in 2010,

when Wikileaks began to publish hundreds

of thousands of American state secrets.

In August that year, allegations were made of sexual

Two years later, Ecuador granted political asylum to Mr Assange,

on the grounds that he risked being extradited on to the US.

Last year, police announced that officers would no longer

be stationed outside the Ecuadorian Embassy.

They had cost the British taxpayer more than ?12 million.

This morning, Julian Assange said he would accept arrest

by the British police, if the UN panel ruled against him.

Of course, we now know it has ruled in his favour.

One of the things I would be interested to hear from the UN

is why they regard this as a detention, when essentially,

The UK has a European Arrest Warrant for very

serious charges from Sweden, a well-respected jurisdiction,

and that will still have to be enforced come what may.

Today, a high-profile visitor for Mr Assange,

in the form of the fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.

The UN panel's decision is a big victory for Julian Assange,

and an embarrassment for Sweden and the UK.

But unless Julian Assange really is ready to be arrested,

for the moment at least, the Ecuadorian Embassy will remain home.

The Bank of England has cut its prediction for economic

growth and warned that wages are likely to increase

The bank's governor, Mark Carney, blamed "unforgiving" conditions

It was also announced the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee

voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold at its latest meeting.

It's now thought they may not rise this year.

Detectives in Birmingham are hunting two men after a company boss

was shot dead during an attempted robbery in Birmingham last night.

Akhtar Javeed, who ran a soft drinks company,

was fatally wounded during the raid by two masked men at a warehouse.

Police described the attack as targeted and a murder

The charity Age UK has been accused of promoting unfavourable

gas and electricity deals in return for cash.

The Sun newspaper has alleged that energy deals offered by Age UK

with the supplier E.On may have been much more expensive

Age UK strongly reject the allegations while E.On says

The claim is to be examined by the energy and charities

regulators as Simon Gompertz reports.

It is called Age UK, but on the side, this charity offers broadband,

computers, insurance and one of its biggest earners, gas and

electricity. Beth Porter from East Sussex is one of thousands who

signed up for the energy deal, then felt she was paying too much. I

trusted that Age UK's promotion of something that was in my best

interest would be in my best interest. Then I found out it was

not. I also trusted them to give me peace of mind, as well as savings of

money and promised that this was the best deal for me. And then I found

out it wasn't. Age UK's two-year fixed-rate contract supplied by the

energy giant E.On had the average user paying ?1049 last year. Some

calculated that was ?245 more for some customers than yon's cheapest

rate. Age UK received ?6 million from E.On or ?41 for each customer

signed up. With donations and government money harder to come by,

Age UK has had to look for cash elsewhere. It says its gas and

electricity officer has been good value and helped maintain the

charity, while E.On says the latest offer was the cheapest of its kind

on the market when it was launched, and customers who find a cheaper

deal can switch without penalty. No one from Age UK would be interviewed

about today's allegations, but there was some support in the charity

world for its business partnerships. I think it is perfectly right we

have the appropriate relationships with commercial companies to raise

money to support our beneficiaries. It is how do we support in this case

frail elderly people and the work Age UK do? I do not criticise them

from having that relationship. I think it is a good thing and I think

many charities who do that are right to do so. Beth thinks if Age UK

wants to sell energy, they should do the legwork to find the best

Our top story this evening: commission.

Nearly ?7 billion has been pledged at a London conference

And still to come: The British pig farmers who say falling pork prices

And coming up on Reporting Scotland at 6.30: We talk to Scotland's

wheelchair tennis champion Gordon Reid who's back home

And Aberdeen put on the pressure as they get within three points

Suicide is one of the biggest causes of death in the UK and yet it's one

New figures out today reveal the scale of the problem.

They show that in 2014, 6,122 people killed themselves.

And the majority of those - 75% - were men.

In fact it's the biggest cause of death for men under 50

Our Social Affairs Correspondent Michael Buchanan reports on how one

Trust in Liverpool is trying to tackle the problem.

I am disappointed and I feel let down.

And there are times when I feel quite furious.

When things go wrong and I am trying to sort things out with my children,

I am angry that he didn't realise on that day it was the wrong

Rebecca Gibson's husband Andy killed himself 15 months ago,

a debilitating shock to her and her two sons.

There were circumstances I believe that led to his death but I still,

I still can't believe that he would go ahead and do

Some people feel that suicide is a selfish thing to do.

I do think it is a selfish, or a self-centred thing to do.

I think it is very hard for those, selfish for those who are left

Andy Gibson was 54 when he died, today's figures show three quarters

of suicides are by men, most are in middle age.

On average 13 men kill themselves each day.

Here at the Mersey Care Mental Health Trust they are determined

They have adopted a zero suicide policy, copying an

The aim, to stop all suicides of patients by 2020.

Their new approach includes working with American researchers to produce

an app which will tell medics when someone is feeling suicidal.

Patients who agree to it will have all their communications monitored

E-mails, social media, even phone calls.

The data will be analysed in real-time with doctors alerted

We think we can anticipate people who may be likely to harm themselves

with greater accuracy than we currently do and therefore

be able to do something about it and save their lives.

The app will be trialled in about a year, an innovative

effort to stop the crippling consequences of suicide.

The mess that they leave behind, he will never see his grandchildren,

he will never see what his children achieve, he will never

Everything I thought I had to look forward to as my children grew up,

Rachel Gibson ending that report by Michael Buchanan.

And if you've been affected by these issues and would like details

of organisations which offer advice and support,

then you can go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline or call

the BBC Action Line to hear recorded information on 0800 066 066.

Lines are open 24 hours and calls are free from landlines and mobiles.

David Cameron has been continuing negotiations about changes

to Britain's membership of the European Union today.

The Prime Minister has been discussing the draft deal

with his EU counterparts and officials.

A source close to the negotiations has told the BBC that nobody is

happy with the proposal. Our Deputy Political Editor James

Landale is in Downing Street. Are we getting a sense of how these

talks are going? The Prime Minister has had a busy day, he has seen the

Prime Minister's of Belgium, Sweden and Greece. He is off to Poland

tomorrow, and will see the Danes. He has been meeting with the president

of the European Parliament and today we have got a sense of a bit of

concern, resistance to the draft reform deal published earlier in the

week. Evidence it is still very much a draft deal. The Bulgarian Foreign

Minister said more negotiation had to be done over the idea to try and

restrict benefits of EU migrants. The European Parliament per resident

who I have just spoken to said there are concerns about these plans to

try and cram the style of the Eurozone and protect the countries

outside of the euro. Also a source in Brussels today said that Donald

Tusk, the politician in charge of all these negotiations, when he has

made his initial assessment talking to the other countries, the other

countries said nobody is happy. Does this mean the deal is about to

collapse? No, but it shows it is not a done deal and it is not automatic

that there will be an agreement at a big summit in Brussels in two weeks'

time. Thank you very much. A brief look at some of the day's

other other news stories Coastguards have cordoned off

a beach in Norfolk where a sperm The animal is alive but isn't

expected to survive. It's two miles from where another

sperm whale was washed up The full re-opening

of the Forth Road Bridge has been HGVs have been banned

from the bridge, just North of Edinburgh, since it

was closed in December Engineers say further

work is still necessary. The legendary Belfast blues-man

Van Morrison became a Sir today, when he collected his Knighthood

for services to the music industry from Prince Charles

at Buckingham palace. He has been a fixture in the music

scene for over 50 years. Welsh Assembly ministers would be

made to take a 10% pay cut if the Conservatives win

May's Assembly elections. Welsh Tory leader, Andrew RT Davies,

says if he becomes First Minister, it would be a condition of getting

a job in his cabinet. The British pig farming industry

is facing a crisis - due to a glut of cheap pork

from the continent and a fall That's according to farmers who say

that it's led to a sharp drop in price for their produce

and a real struggle to make Our Correspondent Sian Lloyd

is at a pig farm in Stonehouse This farm specialises in rare breeds

like Gloucester old spot to claim a premium from customers. But that

prices farmers have been paid across the country have dropped to an

eight-year low. These piglets were born just a few

weeks ago to some of the 3000 sows owned by Midland Pig Producers,

one of the biggest suppliers But ten years ago the company had

double the number and was sending almost two and a half thousand pigs

to market every week. Now the company is closing

two of its ten farms. 18 jobs will go and the size

of the business will be cut Every pig we sell per week

at the moment is losing us money, Currently we are losing ?50,000

a month and that is unsustainable. Which is a great shame

because there should be So why are pig farms

like this one struggling? There is currently a glut of pigs

on the European market due to a Russian ban on importing

pork and pork products. Production costs in Europe

are cheaper, partly due to stricter welfare laws here, and customer

demand for pork is dropping. There are only a handful of pig

producers on this scale left So what, if anything,

can be done to halt the decline? Zoe Davies runs the organisation

which speaks for the We would like consumers to think

about what they are buying We are also asking the retailers

to continue to support us, those that are 100% on fresh

British pork. But also those that are not,

we would like to see a 5% increase We will definitely see more

producers go out of business, There have been health warnings

about eating too much processed meat I would always try and buy

British pork if I can. Because I firmly believe

in supporting the farming industry A lot of people, especially

if you have got families and young children, you need

to put price first. By scaling back its business this

pig producer is hoping But prices are expected to drop

further, leading to fears He's best known for his role as Joey

in the American sitcom - Friends - but today

it was announced that Matt LeBlanc is to join Chris Evans

as a presenter on Top Gear. He's already a familiar face

on the motoring show - He says he's a "car nut and massive

fan" of the programme - which is set to return

later this year. Please welcome, Matt LeBlanc! Keys

already had a taste of Top Gear, he was a star in a reasonably priced

car. Matt LeBlanc, Joey from Friends is the secret weapon of the Top Gear

relaunch. It itself was relaunched with huge success 14 years ago, with

characters such as the team dressing driver, the state. This was the most

widely watched factual programme in the world. With Jeremy, James and

Richard out, will those territories resubscribe? It's worth a lot of

money to the BBC. Chris Evans is not merely known globally but Matt

LeBlanc is. He's already had a taste of presentation with this

compilation programme which you can see is available now. Top Gear is a

way of making money from cars for the corporation. I was on the next

plane to England. And original Lamborghini, I had no idea. And in

1963 Porsche. But beautiful cars don't always make brilliant TV, Top

Gear was, a few years ago, under threat of cancellation. What saved

it was Jeremy Clarkson and the realisation that it was all about

the presenters, the chemistry and the comedy. Matt LeBlanc is an actor

and we all project fantasies onto him and he will have to show his

real self to the viewers to make this work because what the previous

trio did was make us feel as if we knew them very well. He was, he said

today, honoured. Of course Top Gear has had many presenters. I have

three mirrors, one on the left... But these days it's no longer just a

car programme, it's a global brand. Bit of a wet blanket of cloud

heading our way, so for the next 12 hours or so not much happening on

the weather front, just a cloud, mild air coming of the Atlantic,

dribs and drabs of rain and an increasing breeze. Beyond that over

the weekend into next week it will turn quite rough. This is what it

looks like first thing on the morning on Friday for the early

birds, mild and damp in the south and the North. Heavy rain for

Ireland and West and Scotland. Strengthening winds as well, gale

force across western and southern coasts. Chile air reaching Scotland

and Northern Ireland in the second half of the afternoon. Could have

quite a bit of rain. Into the weekend turning very windy and there

will be some wet weather around, it will come and go, this low pressure

will bring nasty weather for South West and southern areas, in fact to

read the country it would be a great day on Saturday. You'll force winds

around that caused, and inland, if you're planning a trip out it looks

pretty rough. Further north of wind not so strong but still showers on

and off. Sunday a little better but not completely because we are going

to have gale force winds across the South. The South will get its fair

share of blustery weather because in the last few weeks it's always been

the North West but this time it's the South. Scenes like this not just

through the weekend but into next week as the low pressure will be

barrelling across the UK. That's all from the BBC News at Six

- so it's goodbye from me -