04/04/2017 BBC News at Six

At least 58 people are dead, and many more injured,

after a suspected chemical bombing raid in Syria.

It happened in the rebel-held province of Idlib, with the UN

Clinics struggled to cope with the injured.

Witnesses claim many of the victims were choking, fainting,

What we understood, it was a chemical attack

The Syrian and Russian governments deny any involvement in what's

Russian investigators say the explosion on the St Petersburg

Metro was the result of a suicide bombing.

A man who sexually assaulted a woman with learning disabilities,

keeping her a prisoner for eight years, has been jailed

New tax and benefits changes will affect millions,

And the sieve that can make sea water, drinkable,

and it's all down to the wonder material, graphene.

Coming up in Sportsday later in the hour on BBC

News, we'll look ahead tonight's Premier League fixtures

including Manchester United's match against Everton, as Jose Mourinho's

team try to stay in touch Good evening, and welcome

to the BBC News at Six. At least 58 people have died,

with many more injured, in a suspected chemical weapons

attack in Syria. Eyewitnesses say victims

were left choking, fainting and frothing at the mouth,

and many of the dead are children. The UN claims the attack came

from the air, and the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says

if chemical weapons were used, then President Assad

is guilty of a war crime. Syria and Russia deny

any involvement. The attack happened

in the north-west of the country, UN war crimes investigators say

they've opened an inquiry. Our diplomatic correspondent

James Robbins reports. There are distressing

images from the start. He is alive but he is struggling to

breathe. Around him, other children are already on oxygen. All of them

victims of gas. Other pictures, too graphic to broadcast, show Fire

crews in the streets of Khan Sheikhoun, spraying adults and

children where they fell, many of them clearly among the dead.

TRANSLATION: I lost my son, my children, my neighbours, my

daughter. They are all gone. I only have God left. TRANSLATION: All are

wounded, some are dead, there are many suffocation cases. We couldn't

enter Khan Sheikhoun city because the systematic shelling. Then as a

searing activist was filming in one hospital treating victims, this

happened. And apparent air strike. -- a Syrian activist. This whole

rebel held area in north-west Syria, a last opposition stronghold, has

been under heavy bombardment by pro-government forces. There is a

history of chemical attacks in Syria's six year-long civil war.

President Assad's government had known stocks and was widely accused

of this attack in August 20 13. That appeared to cross a red line which

had been drawn by President Obama but Britain and the US pulled back

from military action. Instead, the Assad regime, under pressure, agreed

to surrender its known stocks by the middle of 2014. But later, a UN

commission found evidence of chemical weapons being used in

attacks in Idlib, both in 2014 and 2015. Government supporters are

blaming today's poisoning on the rebels, accusing them of storing gas

in a factory which exploded close to the town. But the UN's Syria envoy,

while cautious, did not appear to back that account. What we have

understood, it was a chemical attack and it came from the air. We have

been and we will be stimulating or those who have the capacity of

finding out technically what happened. Efforts are already being

made to gather forensic evidence in the hospitals where today's victims

are being treated but it seems clear war crime has been committed. The

use of chemical weapons is banned under international law, a law which

appears to have been violated once again in Syria today. James Robbins,

BBC News. Our Middle East editor

Jeremy Bowen is here. The White House says this attack is

reprehensible and it cannot be ignored but realistically, what can

anyone do if it is proved that the Syrians and Russians are behind

this? Is 2013 is anything to go by, not a great deal. As you heard,

their stocks were taken out, or be declared stocks that the Syrians had

were taken out and destroyed. Did they have some left over? We don't

know, we don't know who did this. There's another issue, back in 2013,

President Obama had sketched out a red line and said, "You used these

weapons, though over the red line and you will get attacked", but he

decided against doing it and after that, President Assad and his

regime, I was there at the time and you could see them growing in

confidence. They could not believe they have got through this crisis.

2013, the US administration threatened military action but did

not do it. We don't know where President Tromp's red lines are, if

they exist. Will he take military action against the regime it is

proved that the regime did this? I wonder, frankly. So I think that if

you say President Assad was behind all of this and his people were

behind all of this, I think it is a sign at the moment of the utmost

confidence that they can get away with a lot. Thank you for joining

us. Jeremy Bowen. Russian investigators say

yesterday's explosion on the St Petersburg metro,

was possibly caused 14 people died in the attack,

and 50 were injured. Steve Rosenberg reports

from St Petersburg. This is what chaos

looks like underground. This mobile phone footage was shot

seconds after the bomb. There is a mad scramble to get

out of the train alive. "Smash it, break it

down", says a voice. Some passengers were

helped to safety. At that moment, somebody

cries, "Mum, mum!" "I was just sitting

there", she says. And here is the station today,

wreckage cleared, service back. It is astonishing how quickly

a scene of chaos and carnage can be As you can see, the Metro is up

and running again today. But look over here, and you see

a reminder of yesterday's drama. People are normally

rushing by in the Metro. More Metro stations were shut today

because of bomb threats. Still, Aksana, who witnessed

yesterday's chaos, "They want to divide us,

the terrorists do", she says. "But all this does to

Russians is unite us". One hero from this tragedy

is the driver of the bombed train, for keeping calm and not stopping

in the tunnel. "I was just doing my job",

Alexander Kaverin says. Russian investigators now say that

yesterday's attack on the train was carried out by a 22-year-old man

from Central Asia who had been They are searching for

clues to explain why. That is a question the people

of St Petersburg are asking. This has been a day of mourning

here, a day for paying respects to the victims,

to the passengers of a Metro Steve Rosenberg, BBC

News, St Petersburg. Well, the main suspect has been

named as Akbarzhon Jalilov, a 22-year-old man who was born in

Kurdistan in Central Asia but had been living in St Petersburg and

although Russian investigators have not used the term suicide bomber,

they have made it clear they believe it was his bomb which blew up the

train and that he was killed in the blast.

Steve, many thanks. Steve Rosenberg reporting.

A married couple in County Armagh have been jailed for the sexual

abuse of a woman they held captive for eight years.

The victim had severe learning difficulties,

and when she was discovered by police, weighed just six stone.

Keith Baker was sentenced to 15 years, while his wife Caroline

Chris Buckler's report does contain some harrowing testimony.

For almost a decade, this estate in Craigavon housed

Inside their home and hidden from view, Keith and Caroline Baker

kept a woman with severe learning disabilities a virtual prisoner.

During those eight years, Keith Baker and his wife repeatedly

raped and indecently assaulted her, and she wasn't his only victim.

He was raping me for 13 years and I couldn't

tell anybody about it, and it was hurting.

Mandy Highfield lived with the couple and she's

the mother of some of Keith Baker's children.

She says she didn't know that the Bakers were sexually

abusing the vulnerable woman held captive in their house,

but she eventually contacted the police because of the squalid

She was 45 and that, but she was like a 12-year-old.

There was no light bulb in the light, no carpet on the floor,

They were sick people, just really sick people.

When the police found the woman, inside an unlit bedroom

in the house, she weighed just six stone and the court was told

Neighbours said Keith Baker seemed controlling of his wife but they had

no idea what was happening behind the doors. I just thought she was in

a situation of domestic violence with an abusive husband who was

controlling. But it was very, very quiet.

The woman had been reported missing by her husband

in England in March 2004, when the Bakers took her

to Northern Ireland, supposedly on holiday.

But it wasn't until December 2012 that she was discovered in this

house, along with videos of the Bakers abusing her.

The whole case is extremely upsetting, it's horrific and it's

depraved and the suffering of this woman, over a period

of around eight years, can only be imagined.

The dark truth of what happened in this house may now have been

exposed, but authorities on both sides of the Irish Sea face serious

questions about how she ended up in the hands of a couple

who abused her under the pretence of offering her a home.

Theresa May is in Saudi Arabia for talks on trade and security,

saying it's in the national interest to maintain good relations,

despite the Kingdom's controversial human rights record.

A Saudi-led coalition has been accused of abuses

in Yemen's two-year civil war, but Mrs May says engagement

is the best way to raise what she called "hard issues".

Our deputy political editor John Pienaar is travelling

A warm welcome for Theresa May, and this time no-one

Her day started with a visit to this UK-supported secondary school

in Oman, where these children, Jordanians and Syrian refugees,

learn and dream, some told her, of becoming doctors.

The smiling face of British policy in the region.

Next stop, Saudi Arabia and down to business, boosting trade,

Earlier, she'd brushed aside those who say it's wrong to support

and sell weapons to a country so criticised for its

Well, the important thing for the United Kingdom, when we meet

people and we want to raise issues about human rights is if we have

the relationship with them, then we are able to do that.

So rather than just standing on the sidelines and sniping,

War across the border against rebels in Yemen

British weapons sales to Saudi Arabia were worth over

?3 billion in the first year of the fighting up to last March.

Planes, arms and target training - Britain's contribution

There's famine, mounting civilian casualties.

Britain joins the aid effort while supporting its Saudi ally.

What is the May doctrine of foreign policy?

Well, the May doctrine of foreign policy is that everything we do

It is in our British national interest to have good

relations around the world, so we can trade around

the world, that brings jobs and prosperity to the UK.

It's also in our national interest to ensure that we are working

with others around the world to maintain our safety

and security and, yes, it is in our national interest

to ensure that the values that underpin us as Britons are values

that we promote around the world, and that's what we do.

So today she was a house guest at a Saudi palace,

meeting the Crown Prince, the kind of relationship

she's keen to cultivate for post-Brexit Britain.

The Prime Minister needs to strengthen political and trading

links beyond Europe if Britain is to remain a strong,

No-one knows how well Britain will come out of its EU divorce.

A committee of MPs said today that ministers had no idea and needed

to work out the cost of Brexit if negotiations end up with no deal.

I'm confident that we can get a good deal with the European Union.

I'm confident, not just because that would be good for us,

but it'll be good for them, as they have acknowledged.

Maybe, but that deal's for the future and her mission

She dropped by the Saudi stock exchange too.

She's been busy, but ahead of Brexit,

At least 58 people have been killed and many more injured in a suspected

Researchers in Manchester have found a new way of turning sea water into

drinking water. Coming up in Sportsday on BBC News

in the next 15 minutes: The latest on the ice hockey row

that could see a very second rate tournament

at the Winter Olympics next year. Millions of people will be affected

by new changes coming into force this week,

on taxes and benefits. The measures include child benefit

being limited to two children, a freeze on some working tax credits

and a rise in the living wage. Our home editor, Mark Easton,

has been to Blackburn to assess Blackburn is going to be more

affected by this week's welfare tax and wage changes than almost

anywhere else in the country. More than half the town's children live

inle low income, working households receiving tax credits, help being

progressively cut in real terms. Child benefits frozen for the next

three years and parents who have a third or or subsequent child won't

receive any additional State support. How does that go down with

this mum, pregnant with her third baby? In this day and age you should

be able to get the help regardless and be free to expand your family

and always have that support. Third child is a luxury. A luxury, you

think? Is Well, I just mean, I wouldn't have a third child because

I know I couldn't afford to have a third child. As things stand, the

tax and welfare changes will see a low earning couple with two

children, living here in Blackburn, losing around ?450 a year by 2020.

For some families it will be seven times that. Overall, the welfare

reforms will take ?50 million a year out of the fragile local economy.

But the Government argues public spending misbe reduced and the

changes will encourage people to become less reliant on the State.

It's wrong people have to go out to work. We go out to work, you have to

come home and look after your kids and people get paid to sit at home

and do nothing. That is wrong. Families are struggling. They are

struggling with food as it is now. The cost of living is going up, the

benefits are staying more or less where they are. They are cutting

them more. I think it's wrong. One in eight of Blackburn's workers earn

the minimum wage. Many in the health and social care sector. Michelle

will gain in this week's increase in the national living wage but loses

for the freeze on her working tax credits. I'm in favour of the

reform. We go out to work to earn money provide for our children and

our families. Ideally, that is where we want to go so we are earning

income without relying on the Government. Your tax credits will be

frozen. You are feeling a bit of it? I don't mind it. My wage is going

up. Michelle's boss warns that wage levels set in Whitehall may not make

sense for an economy like Blackburn? A lot of companies are working with

fine profit margins. There is a trend to go towards ?9 by 2020 if

people aren't able to charge more and people aren't able to pay more

that will be difficult for companies. Businesses could go

under? They could. The economy here is precarious. How Blackburn

responds to this week's reforms will have a profound impact on the lives

of many. Mark Easton, BBC News, Blackburn.

A breast surgeon, accused of carrying out unnecessary

operations, has told a jury that none of his patients

are "liars", even though he rejects their allegations.

Ian Paterson is on trial for allegedly causing grievous

bodily harm to several women, over a 14-year period.

Sima Kotecha is at Nottingham Crown Court.

Sima, take us through what happened today? Well, 59-year-old Ian

Paterson was being cross examined by the prosecution for the second time

today. He told the court, "I care about my patients. " When asked if

he disputed what an alleged victim accused him off he said, "aim I'm

not call any of these patients liars I'm just think they remember what

they remember now, ten years after the fact" he is accused of carrying

out several operations unnecessarily on ten patients. We heard from some

of the alleged victims over the last few weeks, including from one man

who said he had a double mastectomy when the surgeon told him he was on

the way to developing cancer. Ian Paterson denies 20 counts of

wrong-doing. Thank you. Eight people, including

a 15-year-old boy, have appeared in court in relation to an attack

on a teenage asylum Reker Ahmed, a Kurdish-Iranian boy,

was chased and subjected to a "brutal attack" in Croydon

on Friday night. A total of 13, all aged between 15

and 24, have been charged The computer scientist who invented

the worldwide web has marked the receipt of a prestigious award

by condemning official attempts Sir Tim Berners Lee said

it was human right to communicate without governments

snooping on individuals. He also described any plan

to undermine or break encryption Ken Livingstone's future

in the Labour Party will be decided The former Mayor of London will find

out whether he's to be expelled after claiming that Hitler supported

Zionism in the 1930's. He's been attending a Labour Party

disciplinary hearing and our political correspondent,

Alex Forsyth, is there for us now. Alex, fill us in on the background

to all of this? Well, Ken Livingstone is a big figure in the

Labour Party. He has been a member for many years, a former London

Mayor, a colourful character, but also no stranger to controversy.

This latest one steams from comments he made last year. He was giving an

interview to a BBC Radio station. He was defended a Labour colleague from

claims of anti-Semitism when Ken Livingstone said at one time Hitler

had supported Zionism. It was that comment which provocked an angry

backlash. Some Labour MPs accuse Ken Livingstone himself of being

anti-Semitic. Others say said what he said was highly offensive. He has

stood by his comments. He said they were a matter-of-fact and were

misreported and taken out of context. He was suspended from the

Labour Party and a dis-Palestinary panel, meeting behind me, will

decide his fate. Whether or not he should be expelled from from the

party for bringing it into disrepute. We are expecting the

result any minnow. Ken Livingstone said if he's kicked out of Labour,

he will challenge that decision. Alex, many thanks. Alex Forsyth

there. The world's most expensive diamond

has been sold at auction, The 59.6 carat stone,

called the Pink Star, took just five minutes to sell

after a bidding war between three It was bought by a local jewellery

company and broke the record sale price set last year for diamond,

of ?35 million. Scientists in Manchester have made

a remarkable discovery, creating a sieve that can make

sea water drinkable. The discovery involves graphene

and raises the tantalising prospect of helping millions of people around

the world who don't have easy Well, our science correspondent,

Pallab Ghosh, is at the National Pallab. Clive, Manchester is one of

the world's leading centres for graphene research. It was here that

the material was first isolated in 2004. It was here that researchers

won the know bile prize for developing the technology in 2010.

Now, they've made yet another big step forward in tackling a problem

that's left 663 million people without clean drinking water.

It's three times the strength of steel and incredibly flexible,

and that's not all - graphene has been described

Here in Manchester, graphene oxide has been used to create a filter

The aim is to convert sea water into a form that's drinkable.

The potential of this technology is giving clean water to millions

of people around the world and we're sure that this technology will be

available in a couple of years' time to sell to people around the world.

Like any sieve, this graphene paper has tiny holes in that

lets the water through, but not the salt.

In the past though, it's not worked properly.

That's because the graphene weakens and the holes get bigger.

So the researchers here have coated it with a chemical that stop

So the water here is completely salt-free.

According to the UN, drinking water will be scarce

It's hard to believe that countries don't have water at the moment.

If you don't have it, it compromises everything that you do -

your health and the ability to educate your children.

A lot of things rest on this basic human right,

so this is why we focus a lot on this.

Current desalination plants, such as this one

It costs ?270 million to build and they use a lot of energy,

The graphene based filter could be a much cheaper and greener solution,

but the big question is whether it works just as well in real

Pallab Ghosh, BBC News, at the National Graphene

Time for a look at the weather, here's Jay Wynne.

Spring hasn't disappeared quite yet? No. It's looking good over the next

few days. We have a weak weather front to the south-east through the

day today. We have a big area of high pressure. That will settle down

over the next few days. Question marks about cloud amounts. Some

places had a lovely day today. This is the view from one of our weather

watchers in Cumbria. There's not been a great deal of rain, but there

has been some. A good slice of sunshine from the south-west of

England, through Wales and into northern England with showers in

northern Scotland. It will be windy here, 70mph with frequent showers.

Elsewhere it will be a dry story with increasing amounts of cloud

drifting down from the north. It will help to keep temperatures up,

but in the south-west, where winds are light and skies are clear, it

will turn chilly, particularly in rural spots. Across northern

Scotland it will be windy with showers moving through on the

breeze. The eastern side of Scotland will get away with a dry start. A

shower or two in Northern Ireland, but northern England will have a lot

of dry weather. Further south we head into the sunshine, there will

be a chill in the air, but winds will be light. As you go through the

day the cloud will drift southwards, clouding over in East Anglia and

into the south-east. The south-west should hang on to sunshine into the

afternoon and the eastern side of Scotland doing as well as well. A

few showers to the far north and west. 10 degrees in Aberdeen, 14 in

London. Through the evening the dry weather will continue. Thursday and

Friday look like similar days. Chilly first thing. A fair bit of

cloud around, spells of sunshine as well and temperatures should be in

the range of 10-11 to 14 degrees. Clive, back to you. Not too bad.

Many thanks for that. Our top story this evening:

At least 58 people have been killed, and many more injured,

in a suspected chemical attack in Syria.

So it's goodbye from me, and now on BBC One, let's