21/11/2017 BBC News at Six

Wild celebrations on the streets

of Zimbabwe after Robert Mugabe

finally resigns as president.

In the capital, Harare,

thousands poured onto the streets

within minutes of hearing the news.

I, Robert Mugabe...

Robert Mugabe -

in power since 1980 -

was facing impeachment proceedings

after last week's military takeover.

Today, it is victory, victory in our

hearts, victory for our children.

We will have a report live from the

street where people are continuing

to celebrate tonight.

A forensic science scandal: More

than 10,000 criminal cases,

including violent crime,

may have been affected

by alleged data manipulation.

A drugs company's accused

of overcharging the NHS

for a thyroid drug.

It cost more than £30 million

more than a decade ago.

And how the friends of one

of the teenagers killed

in the Manchester Arena bomb attack

are planning to remember her six

months after she died.

And coming up on BBC News:

As the women head home,

we look ahead to the start

of the men's Ashes.

The first Test starts in Brisbane

at midnight on Thursday.

Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six.

After 37 years in power, Robert

Mugabe's reign is finally over.

This afternoon, the 93-year-old took

Zimbabwe by surprise

when he suddenly resigned

as the country's president,

just as impeachment proceedings

against him were getting under way.

Within minutes, thousands

of people poured onto

the streets of the capital,

Harare, to celebrate.

Mr Mugabe's resignation letter

was read out in parliament.

In it, he said that the decision

to go was voluntary,

and that he had made it to allow

a smooth transfer of power.

Our Zimbabwe correspondent

Shingai Nyoka is in Harare,

where there are still wild

celebrations on the streets.

Yes, it is a historic day on the

streets, in cities and towns across

Zimbabwe. I had seen tears today, I

have seen joy, and frankly,

disbelief that after 37 years in

power, President Mugabe has decided

to relinquish his grip on power.

Now, we are in the middle of it

here, next to parliament. Earlier, I

was on the streets when the news of

his resignation broke. The country

had been waiting for this moment for

over 30 years. The announcement was

hard to hear.

Notice of

resignation...

But this is what the

speaker said. I, Robert Gabriel

Mugabe, hereby formally tendered my

resignation of President of Zimbabwe

with immediate effect. My colleague,

the BBC Africa editor Fergal Keane,

was in the chamber when the

announcement was made.

We are here

right at the money that they've

heard that Robert Mugabe has

resigned from the presidency, and

you can hear it - cheering from MPs

and members of the public who have

come here to witness what is

happening. They didn't expect it and

thought this could have been an

inundated process of impeachment,

but it hasn't happened. He's gone,

it's over.

Scenes of wild

celebration INAUDIBLE

After 37 years and a promising

start, it's an embarrassing end for

one of Africa's last INAUDIBLE

.

This is a good day for Zimbabwe, a

new era for our nation. 37 years

with one president, it doesn't make

any sense.

I don't have anything to

say, but I'm happy with this. Mugabe

was... I don't have any words to say

now.

There was an air of expectation

earlier. Parliament had resolved

that if he wouldn't resign, he would

be impeached.

This is a people's

project, we are a people's party. We

believe in people's resolutions.

What if it fails?

It will never

fail. The people have never failed.

Waiting in the wings is Emmerson

Mnangagwa, a long-time assistant and

vice president whom Robert Mugabe

sacked just last week. The weight of

expectation is now on him to fix

this broken country. For now,

Zimbabweans are savouring the moment

they thought would never come. Mr

Mugabe is no longer the president of

Zimbabwe.

Robert Mugabe is the only

leader Zimbabwe has known

since independence in 1980.

His part in achieving that won him

the status of a hero

in the anti-colonial struggle.

But during almost four decades

in power, he began to brutally

repress any dissenters,

and then presided over economic

collapse, the seizure of land

without compensation,

and hyperinflation.

By the end, he was

reviled as a tyrant.

Here is our Africa correspondent,

Andrew Harding. He could have left

power a Hiro, instead he made the

classic mistake and overstayed his

welcome, many would say by decade.

There was a deceptive calm in

Salisbury...

Robert Mugabe had

grown-up in a world of white

privilege and British colonial rule.

As a young man, he joined the

liberation struggle, spending ten

years in prison and then joining his

gorillas in the bush. When finally

independence came in 1980, Mugabe

took control. The early signs of

trouble, his political rivals Silas,

thousands massacred in violence

across the country. But Mugabe --

Zimbabwe prospered, and its

population seemed well-educated. In

the 1990s, economic shocks and

growing political opposition

prompted Mugabe to lash out. His

supporters seized white- owned

farms. Violently. The ripples

shuddered through the country and

the economy. To stay in power,

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party began rigging

elections and terrorising opponents.

Sanctions followed and then

hyperinflation, the currency

collapsing spectacularly. Then came

the race. An ageing Mugabe

remarried, but the public never

warmed to her. She spent lavishly,

but it was when she began to show

political ambition that things

changed dramatically. Zimbabweans

were in no mood for a dynasty, nor

was the military, with political

tensions rising, it was the prospect

of President grace that helped force

the generals' hand last week when

they seized power in a coup d'etat.

Today, we went in search of more

clues.

Outside Harare, one

of her huge mansions.

I'm Andrew.

I'm Dennis.

We weren't allowed in, but nearby,

we got a taste of why she is

so despised here.

This woman said the police

had destroyed her home

and dozens more because Grace wanted

to seize the land for herself.

They came here and

started demolishing my

house.

All over.

They pulled down my house.

They said, you must

go away because this

place is being taken

by

the first lady.

By the first lady, Grace Mugabe?

Yes.

Here, the law meant nothing

to the first family.

They were emperors.

Mugabe was so long in power, he

behaved as if Zimbabwe belong to

him, his family. Today, at long

last, a man who could have left

office and African icon was forced

out, his humiliation complete.

Andrew Harding, BBC News, Harare.

Our Africa editor,

Fergal Keane, is in Harare.

You were there when his

letter of resignation

was suddenly read out -

describe that moment of history.

It was extraordinary. I was in fact

in the middle of doing a piece to

camera with a very hushed voice, and

all of a sudden, cheering erupted

behind me. They had seen two Ashes

coming, and a letter, and as if by

instinct, they sensed the moment had

come. Therein mind, seven days ago,

I probably would have been arrested

for reporting openly in this

country, and I was banned from

coming here. In the wake of this

resignation letter, I went onto the

floor Parliament, and I had ruling

party MPs queueing up to tell me

what an incredible moment of joy it

was for them, talking about bringing

real democracy to Zimbabwe. You can

hear behind me tonight a whole city

erupting in joy. Across the country,

it is going to be the same.

We can

hear it, and I think we can see it

as well. We have live pictures of

the scenes of joy going on in the

streets of Harare, but the big

question now, what is next Zimbabwe?

What happens now?

We are hearing in

the last few minutes from ZANU-PF,

the ruling party, that Emmerson

Mnangagwa, the man behind the plot

to oust Robert Mugabe, will be sworn

in as president either tomorrow or

Thursday, so there's not going to be

delayed. Nobody's going to wait

around and potentially open up a

vicious power struggle. He's going

to come back. We think he is in

South Africa. He will be welcomed by

cheering crowds and he will be sworn

to create stability, because this

country has known so much

unhappiness over the last three

decades, the imperative now is to

open up relations with the West, to

get investment and aid loans

flooding in here, to make Zimbabwe

were part of the community of

nations once more.

Fergal Keane,

thank you.

More than 10,000 criminal cases may

have been affected by alleged data

manipulation at a forensics

laboratory in Manchester.

It's a lab that's used by police

forces across the UK.

Around 50 prosecutions,

for driving offences,

have been already been stopped

because of concerns about drug test

results, and there are fears

there could be many more.

Our home affairs correspondent,

Daniel Sandford, is

outside the Home Office.

A glossy promotional video

for Randox Testing Services, used by

dozens of police forces

to track the back check

--dozens of police forces to check

suspects for drug use.

But it's now clear that for more

than three years, those tests have

been unreliable.

My advice from the forensic

science regulator was that

up to 10,000 cases spanning back to

late 2013 could no longer be fully

relied upon in the criminal

justice system.

10,000 cases.

Defence lawyer Nick Freeman

was one of the first to

spot the problem when

one of his clients,

who had admitted taking

a

little bit of cannabis, tested

positive for drugs he knew he hadn't

taken.

When we got the report from Randox,

it suggested a much larger

amount than had been anticipated,

but it also suggested he consume

amount than had been anticipated,

--but it also suggested he consumed

cocaine and another substance,

and he hadn't consumed any of those

substances, as far

as he was concerned.

The actual number of miscarriages

of justice is unclear

The Crown Prosecution Service has

dropped 50 prosecutions for

drug driving that haven't

come to court yet,

and two cases of death

by

careless driving involving drugs

have been referred back here to the

Court of Appeal.

Two employees from

Randox's Manchester

laboratory are suspected of not

retesting samples that had failed

quality checks.

They've been arrested

but not charged.

The company says it

deeply regrets the

distress caused and is paying

for thousands of retests.

But the regulator believes

it is an isolated

problem.

I have absolutely no indications

that it is part of a

broader problem in the system.

I can't say that something like this

could never happen again, because I

don't think any quality

system could completely

prevent a recurrence.

There are also concerns about work

done by the same two employees on

family cases and workplace testing

at Trimega Laboratories before

it was taken over by Randox.

Daniel Sanford, BBC News,

at the Court of Appeal.

Northern Ireland's border

is being used as a bargaining chip

in the Brexit negotiations,

according to the leader

of the DUP, Arlene Foster.

She's accused Ireland and the rest

of the EU of being 'careless'

and 'reckless' in the way

they are using concerns as part

of the Brexit talks.

It comes after Ireland suggested

Northern Ireland may need to stay

inside the EU's single market

or customs union to

avoid a hard border.

Our Political Editor Laura

Kuenssberg reports.

The answers aren't written

in the sky, but Number Ten's got

ministers on board to dangle

the promise of a bigger

payment to Brussels.

Theresa May hopes that will shift

the EU to talking trade next month.

We are ready to move on to phase

two, to see those talks about a deep

and special partnership with the EU

for the future by a hypothetical

bigger bill isn't the only demand

the Brexit Secretary's

counterparts are making.

--But a hypothetical

bigger bill isn't the only demand

the Brexit Secretary's

counterparts are making.

The EU's pressing the UK

to be more specific

about what happens at the border

between Northern Ireland and

the south when it's time to leave.

We need to take into account the

shape of a future partnership with

the EU. Final financial settlement

depends on it because nothing is

agreed until everything is agreed.

Serious slips can easily be made by

both sides. One diplomat said today.

And serious awkwardness is emerging

over the Irish border. The Irish PM

is demanding that a hard border is

ruled out, concerned that putting up

real barriers could undo progress on

peace in Northern Ireland. The DUP,

who remember have the casting vote

in the Commons and the prime

minister's ear, aren't happy about

how Ireland and the EU are playing

their concerns.

I am accusing them

of being reckless, because if you

listen to some of the rhetoric, and

nobody understands negotiations

better than I, people will come out

and say things to try and push

agendas forward, so it is almost a

full battle.

You think some of this

is confected? You call it a false

battle.

There are people trying to

get the maximum from negotiations,

and I understand that, but you

shouldn't play about with Northern

Ireland.

It sounds rather like you

are warning of the Irish prime

minister.

I am saying to him that he

should know better than anyone that

you don't play around with Northern

Ireland to effect change in other

places. We need to get into the next

phase to look at what it actually

looks like in terms of trade. I hear

this phrase the borders of the past,

but of course, they were there for a

completely different reason - to

deal with terrorism, to deal with

very difficult situation in Northern

Ireland.

What is the solution?

People talk about a frictionless

border, and for pretty much 18

months now, nobody's come up with a

solution. What might be?

Counterparts are making. The EU's

pressing the UK to be more specific

about what happens at the border

between Northern Ireland and the

south when it's time to leave.

We

need to move to the second phase to

deal with the For Ireland, north

details.

And south, for Brussels as

well as Westminster, the border

could yet hold up deliberation of

the next crucial stage - a reminder

Brexit is not just about our

departure, not just about our

parliament, and certainly not just

about our politicians. Laura

Kuenssberg, BBC News, Westminster.

Our top story this evening:

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe

has finally resigned. Wild

celebrations across the country as

he decides to step down. His

decision to resign brings to an end

his 37 year reign during which he

presided over political repression

and economic chaos.

We will bringlet

latest reaction from around the

globe as the President steps down

after 37 years.

A drugs company has been accused

of overcharging the NHS by tens

of millions of pounds a year

for a thyroid medicine.

Ten years ago the annual bill

to the NHS was £600,000,

last year the company Concordia

charged the NHS £34 million for it.

The Competition and Markets

Authority says the manufacturer

abused its dominant position.

Concordia denies it

infringed competition law.

Our health editor,

Hugh Pym, reports.

Fran has a serious

thyroid condition.

After having her children,

she was too unwell to go back

to work as a psychotherapist,

day-to-day life was a real struggle.

But then doctors put her

on liothyronine and that

made all the difference.

It was just like a light

had been switched on.

It was the difference

between day and night for me.

I stabilised pretty

much immediately.

My blood tests, they've been stable

ever since and I felt

like I could possibly,

you know, do the things I used

like go out on my bike and I felt

better in myself.

I felt alive again.

But regulators say the drug supplier

abused its dominant market position

to overcharge the NHS with the price

soring from £4.46 per packet

to £258.00 over a decade,

an increase of almost 6000%.

One consultant told me similar drugs

elsewhere were much cheaper.

Patients were telling

me that they could go

to a foreign capital and buy it

for £5.00 a month.

So there was massive difference

in what the NHS was being charged

versus what people were accessing it

at a European level.

The company Concordia said it didn't

believe competition rules had been

broken and it had worked openingly

and transparently with

the Department of Health in the UK

over a period of ten years,

and that over that time significant

investment has been made in this

medicine to ensure its continued

availability for patients in the UK.

As it happens, NHS England has put

liothyronine on a list of drugs

and treatments it no longer wishes

to see routinely prescribed

because it says they don't

offer value-for-money.

With liothyronine, the significant

rise in price is quoted as a factor.

The proposal's been strongly

contested by some patients,

a final decision will be

made next week.

Fran feels stressed even

at the thought that her medicine

might not be prescribed any more.

I've had to see a counsellor

because actually my anxiety

is so high and I have to try

and manage it and this whole

situation, it kind of takes

over your life because it's

so important to you.

Yeah, I feel very

afraid of losing it.

The question now is whether NHS

England feels if the price

was right for this drug,

it could still be supplied

to those patients who say

they desperately need it.

Hugh Pym, BBC News.

A fatal accident inquiry in Scotland

has ruled that the deaths of three

people who were killed in a rally

in the Borders could have been

avoided if people had been clearly

banned from standing in the area

where crash took place.

The inquiry was held into the deaths

at the Jim Clark Rally in 2014

and a fourth fatality

at the Snowman Rally

near Inverness in 2013.

The security contractor, G4S,

says it's sacked six staff

after the BBC's Panorama programme

showed apparent abuse of detainees

at its immigration centre

near Gatwick Airport.

The dismissals were confirmed

as it was revealed that

an independent inquiry,

commissioned by the company

into events at the centre,

will be carried out by barrister

Kate Lampard.

Railcards offering discounted train

travel are to be extended

to people up to 30-years-old.

The Chancellor, Philip

Hammond, is expected

to announce the extension

in tomorrow's Budget.

At the moment, the young persons'

railcard is only available to people

between the ages of 16 and 25.

It's thought the so-called

'millennials' card' will be

available in the Spring next year.

It will be six months tomorrow

since a suicide bomber blew himself

up at Manchester Arena,

killing 22 people who'd

been at a concert,

including young children.

14-year-old Nell Jones and

15-year-old Olivia Campbell-Hardy

were among those who died.

To help deal with the grief,

their families and friends have been

creating memorial projects

to keep their memories alive

as our correspondent,

Judith Moritz, reports.

Nell Jones loved having fun

with her friends and they loved her,

particularly her best friend,

Olivia.

They'd spend hours together,

and Nell's death has

hit the teenager hard.

Olivia went to school with Nell

and the pair were part of a group

of friends, who are now working

with the teenager's family to create

a memorial garden in her name.

It's given us something to focus

on rather than just think

of all the bad things,

we can look back and remember

all the happy times we had with Nell

and just remember what we did

as a group.

When I met Nell, you know,

I found her someone

who was really special.

Nell was at the Ariana Grande

concert with her friend Freya,

she's still recovering from serious

injuries and is helping

with the garden.

She's brought us together really

and this would just kind

of symbolise it because we can

all sit there and talk about her.

We talk about her 24/7 anyway,

but now we can have

like a place where we can think

about her even more.

The garden will be at Nell's school

with pebbles painted

by the children and staff.

The teenager's family say it's

the perfect way to remember her.

It's her.

I mean, she loved flowers,

roses and lavender especially.

She would be happy because it's

for other people as well.

Nell was a people person, really.

But a place for people to come

together, just to sit

or remember loved ones,

I just think it's fantastic.

Those who knew Olivia Campbell-Hardy

have found a different

way to remember her.

Olivia was passionate about dancing,

this video was filmed just days

before she was killed at the arena.

Now her dance troupe must perform

without her and they're supporting

supporting Liv's Trust,

which will help children to take

dance and music lessons.

Olivia's relatives started

the charity instead of a memorial,

like a garden or bench.

Liv wouldn't have liked that.

She wouldn't have liked

anything just standing

there with her name on.

She wasn't that kind of girl.

She didn't want the publicity.

She wouldn't have liked it

to just be stuck there -

Oh, this is done for the girl that

died in the bomb.

We decided a trust would be

the best idea, if we could

find a way to do it.

If two or three people in the next

20 years come out and make

something of themselves,

it's something that

she would have wanted.

So she has given something back

even though she's not had that

opportunity herself to become

what she wanted to be.

So all through that your

hands are straight.

Six months since the arena attack,

it's still very early days

for all of those affected.

The memorial project provides some

small comfort so that the names

of those killed live on publicly

amidst private grief,

which is still so raw.

Judith Moritz, BBC News, Manchester.

Back to our top story, the news that

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe

has resigned after 37

years in power.

Boris Johnson called it a "turning

point" for Zimbabwe.

Lets go to our correspondent,

Shingai Nyoka, in Harare.

The celebrations will no doubt go op

into the night?

Absolutely. The

celebrations have been growing for

the last two hours since it was

announced that President Mugabe had

handed in his resignation. You can

hear on the streets below cars are

filling the street. People are still

pouring out on to the street. The

cars are hooting. People are singing

and dancing. I witnessed

independence in 1980 and frankly

these scenes compare to what I saw

37 years ago. The overriding hope

and wish of people is that this

signifies a new beginning for

Zimbabwe.

Robert Mugabe, the only

leader that people have known there

since 1980, what do Zimbabweans

wants now, though?

Well, the

overriding word, or the word that

Zimbabweans have been saying is that

they want change. President Mugabe

has stepped down, his sacked

Vice-President, Emmerson Mnangagwa

will reportedly be sworn in today,

tomorrow or the day after. That

there's an immense burden of weight

on his shoulder to deliver that

change that people have been waiting

for since 1980. President Mugabe was

once the darling of the West. There

was hope on his shoulders. People

are hoping that Emmerson Mnangagwa

will...

We seem to have lost the

line at the end of that. That was

the latest from Harare.

Time for a look at the weather,

here's Lucy Martin.

Time for a look at the weather,

here's Lucy Martin.

Cloudy scenes being sent in, this

one from County Durham. Cloudy skies

in Richmond. Despite, temperatures

have reached 15 degrees in the

south. That is thanks to being in

this area of mild air which we

dragged in from the south as we

moved through today. All of us have

been largely in that. This evening

and overnight outbreaks of rain will

work north-east. Rain to Wales,

Midlands and East Anglia into the

early hours. The rain will push into

Northern Ireland from the south-west

into Wales and parts of northern

England as well. More breezy across

England and Wales into the early

hours. Temperatures largely in the

double figures in the south. Cooler

in the north. Tomorrow will start

off with fairly windy conditions

across England and Wales. The chance

of seeing some gales on exposed

coasts. Up to 17mph. That area of

rain working its way north-east as

we move through the day. . Heavy

bursts for Scotland. Temperatures

reaching a maximum of 14 degrees

Celsius. As we move into Thursday we

will drag in cooler air from the

north. That is a sign of things to

come through the second part of the

week. That cold air will spread

south and east. Temperatures will

start to drop off. We will start

Thursday with some snow in the north

of Scotland, over