02/01/2018 BBC News at Six

The biggest increase in rail

prices for five years

as commuters head back to work.

Average ticket prices across the UK

have gone up by 3.4%.

Unions say many people are simply

being priced off the trains.

I don't know why we have to pay such

a lot of money for such

poor service really.

Investment is needed,

and the only way to pay

for that is by increasing fares,

unfortunately they always

encourage you to use

public transport but then,

the price of it's ridiculous.

The rail industry says the changes

are needed to fund improvements.

Also on the programme.

Anti-government protests continue

in Iran for a sixth day -

at least 22 people have died -

Iran's supreme leader blames foreign

enemies for stirring up trouble.

Cut down on the snacks -

parents are told children should

have no more than two sugary

treats a day.

Would you trust a computer

more than a consultant

to diagnose a hospital scan?

We report on the scientists turning

to Artificial Intelligence.

And the new kid on the block -

a 27-year-old former electrician

causes a sensation in the world

of darts as he's

crowned world champion.

And coming up on Sportsday on BBC

News: Andy Murray says he's

demoralised as he considers surgery

to resolve a hip injury that's

forced him to postpone

the start of his season.

Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six.

The biggest hike in train

fares for five years -

that's what commuters faced this

morning as they returned to work

after the Christmas break.

The average price for tickets rose

by 3.4% today, with some commuters

spending as much as £5,000

on a season ticket.

The rail industry says the changes

will mean a better service,

and investment for the future.

But unions say commuters

are being priced out as the burden

of paying for the rail system falls

increasingly on passengers.

Our transport correspondent

Richard Westcott has the story.

His report contains flashing images.

It's one of the most reliable things

on the railway.

This is a busy

commuter line, people coming in from

Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire

into London. Many people on this

train just a few pounds shy of the

£5,000 club. That's gone up by about

£600 in the last five years. Price

rises have been relentless.

Other

countries in Europe don't pay

anywhere near as much as we do and

their services tend to be better

than I was.

I could be taking home

more of my salary if I was working

back home in Hertfordshire. But most

job opportunities for young

graduates are down in London.

Different parts of the country, but

most people have similar gripes.

It's pretty disgusting. You're not

even guaranteed a seat. I think it's

wrong.

I travel around Cardiff quite

a lot using the train, I find it

quite convenient and I find it quite

affordable. It compares quite well

with the bus and driving.

Better

service please, more trains and

there will be more people. They'll

get people off the roads then.

This

is where a lot of the money is

going. London Bridge has just had a

£1 billion makeover. And there's a

whole new line coming under London,

Crossrail. The government says it is

investing record amounts to improve

the trains, but it's also changing

who fits the bill. A smaller

proportion now comes from the

taxpayer which means more has to

come from ticket sales.

For every

pound a passenger pays in fares, 97p

goes directly into running and

improving the railway. Also with

more people using the railway, it

means we'll have more money to

invest.

Campaigners argue some

people are being priced of the

railways. This graph shows what's

been happening to rail fares in

recent years. And here's what's been

happening to the average pay packet.

You can see fares have often been

outstripping wages. Labour want to

re-nationalise the railways.

If we

can continue to make savings by

bringing the railways back into

public ownership, stop wasting money

on franchising, the complexity of

the arrangements between the

different companies, and we don't

pay out dividends to state-owned

companies across the Channel, who

are here, we can keep that money

in-house.

As many of our trains get

busier, the annual fare rise looks

set to stay.

It's such a controversial subject,

there are political developments on

this today. Labour have accused the

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling

of hiding away. He's been on an

official visit to Qatar and has

responded saying he hasn't been

hiding away, these figures were

first out in the summer and he's

already talked about them. I'm sure

that will develop as the days go on.

I said in my report this government

and consecutive governments actually

have changed who pays for the

railways. A bigger proportion now

comes from the people who use the

trains. That means that we are

likely to be having exactly the same

conversation on the 2nd of January

next year. Thank you.

Hospitals in England have been urged

to postpone all non-urgent surgery

until the end of this month.

NHS chiefs say it's to ease

pressure on services

after a busy Christmas period.

Our health editor Hugh Pym is here -

how serious is this?

It comes as tomb Ambulance Services

in England say they've been under

extreme pressure. East of England

said the said over the year cabs

have been used to take some patients

to hospital.

If the NHS and are much more

pressure than this time last year?

We have to say the NHS is always

under great pressure at this time of

year, partly because patients have

held off over the festive season. It

seems to be under greater strain

even than last year. I think the

fact NHS England has had to put this

statement out shows there is concern

at a very high level. They say there

has been sustained patient demand

and pressure. Higher numbers of flu

cases and respiratory illnesses.

They are urging hospitals to

postpone routine operations until

the end of January, an extra two

weeks beyond the middle of January.

They are also saying they will

suspend fines for hospitals which

put patients into mixed sex wards.

In other words saying that will have

to be temporarily acceptable to free

up beds. All this on a day when

we've had one A&E consultant saying

on twitter their third World

conditions with patients due to

overcrowding and two Ambulance

Services, East of England and

north-east of England, on a higher

state of operational alert, urging

patients to be brought to hospital

by their families where possible.

More protests are under way

in a number of cities

across Iran this evening -

at least 22 people have died

since the anti-government

demonstrations began six days ago.

The Supreme Leader,

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,

has accused Iran's enemies

of stirring up the unrest.

The protests are the boldest

challenge to Iran's clerical

leadership for almost a decade.

Here's our Middle East

editor Jeremy Bowen.

In Tehran, squads of motorbike

police are cruising the streets

to break up groups of demonstrators.

The protests have changed

since they started last Thursday.

To begin with, they

were about the economy.

Most of the protesters

are young men, more than 50%

of Iranians are under 30.

And perhaps 40% of

them are unemployed.

That pent up political frustration

is spilling out and much of it has

been directed at this man,

the supreme leader

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He is the powerful figurehead

of the Islamic Republic,

and attacks on his posters will be

seen as a tax on the Islamic system.

He's blaming Iran's foreign enemies.

TRANSLATION:

Following recent

events, the enemies have united

and using all their means -

money, weapons, policies

and security services dashed

to create problems for the Islamic

Republic.

It's not just Ayatollah Khamenei

the supreme leader who's

blaming foreigners, Mohammad

Hartemi, a reformist, says Iranians

have the right to protest,

but he blamed Iran's enemies,

led by the United States,

for inciting people

to destroy public buildings

and to insult religious values.

President Obama, in 2009,

was careful not to give the last big

protest his backing.

But President Trump has

tweeted his support.

But whatever President Trump wants,

this isn't a new revolution.

They are still the most serious

popular protests since the mass

demonstrations that

followed the disputed 2009

presidential election.

Those protests were beaten

by the power of the state,

even though they were led by top

politicians and directed

at a badly divided leadership.

The new protests are not as well

organised and may run out of steam.

But the fact they're happening

at all is very significant.

They show how discontented Iranians

are with state repression

and increasing poverty.

Jeremy Bowen, BBC News.

A man who already had convictions

for killing his wife and a former

partner has pleaded guilty

to murdering his ex-girlfriend.

Theodore Johnson attacked

Angela Best in north London a year

ago after they broke up

and she began a relationship

with someone else.

The Old Bailey heard he was

"an abusive and controlling man".

He'll be sentenced on Friday.

Witnesses in Australia have been

describing the moment a seaplane

crashed into a river near Sydney

killing five British

tourists, and the pilot.

The group of men who were

on a nearby houseboat dived

in and tried in vain to save them.

Richard Cousins -

a prominent businessman -

died along with his two sons,

his fiancee 48 year old Emma Bowden,

and her 11 year old daughter.

From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

The wreckage of the seaplane lies

in more than 40 feet of water

on a riverbed north of Sydney.

Aircrash investigators are searching

for clues to explain why it crashed,

killing all six people on board.

They were businessmen

Richard Cousins, who was 58.

He died alongside his fiancee

Emma Bowden, who was 48,

and her 11-year-old daughter

Heather.

William Cousins was 25,

and his brother Edward was 23.

The pilot was Garath Morgan.

Accounts from witnesses will help

Australian authorities to establish

why a routine sightseeing flight

ended in disaster.

Will McGovern says he saw his

friends dive into the water

to try to help those trapped

in the plane.

I saw three of my mates, dead set,

risking their lives.

You know, they could have died.

This plane was moving

fast, it was going down.

It was pretty hard because of

the oil, but I could see

windows, the windows.

We just couldn't dive down

deep enough, really,

to be able to see more.

At least they'll know

that there were people

there trying to help,

and I'm sorry.

The authorities hope to retrieve

the wreckage of the seaplane that

lies to the north of Jerusalem Bay

near the town of Cowan

by the end of the week.

All of this evidence

will then be taken to

the Australian capital,

Canberra.

We'll be looking at a number

of areas, particularly around

the aircraft's components.

We'll also be looking

at any recorded data that

might be on the aircraft.

So that could involve both

avionics, or instruments

attached to the aeroplane.

Aviation experts have speculated

that the seaplane may have

stalled before crashing,

because of engine failure

and unexpected gust of winds,

or a mistake by the pilot.

Phil Mercer, BBC News, Sydney.

The time is 6:15.

Our top story this evening:

Rail fares have gone up by 3.4%,

the biggest increase

in prices in five years.

And still to come:

A pressing problem with plastics -

who will be recycling our waste

now that China has refused

to deal with a lot of it?

Coming up on Sportsday on BBC News:

Ahead of the final match in Sydney

in the Ashes Series,

England opener Mark Stoneman says

the drawn Melbourne Test has given

the team the boost they need.

Parents in England are being urged

to limit their children to two

sugary snacks a day,

containing no more than 100 calories

each, in an effort to curb obesity

and combat tooth decay.

Every year children are consuming

on average almost 400 biscuits,

around 100 portions of sweets,

more than 150 cans of fizzy drink.

Now public health England

is launching a campaign to help

parents find healthier options

as Sima Kotecha reports.

Half the sugar us kids

eat and drink each year

comes from snacks and sugary drinks.

You are what you eat,

at least that's how the saying goes.

Through an ad campaign,

parents are now being urged to think

along the same lines.

Feed your children healthier snacks

to stop them from becoming obese.

At the town hall in Birmingham,

families are arriving

for a theatre show.

Let's have a look.

What have we got here?

It's not great.

We've got some popcorn, crisps.

How do you feel about that, man?

It's terrible. It is. I know.

You're 13 years, what's next

you have on a daily basis?

Crisps, popcorn and chocolate.

The advice from Public

Health England is to give

children two snacks a day,

amounting to 100 calories each.

Popular foods such as crisps

and chocolate bars contain

around 200 calories,

while a portion of chips can

amount to a thousand.

A can of fizzy drink can have

as much as 150 calories.

Well, Public Health England say that

children between the ages of four

and ten get more than half

of their sugar intake

from products like these -

crisps, pastries and biscuits.

Around a third of primary school

children are overweight or obese.

The suggestion is to replace

naughtier items with things

like malt loaves, yoghurts

and plain rice cakes.

Tell me what your favourite snacks.

Chocolate and crisps.

Pancakes, lots of things.

Would you swap them...

No.

From malt cake?

No.

Rice cake?

No.

How about some yoghurt?

No.

Too much of it can cause

our teeth to rock...

Along with the ad campaign,

the agency is working with some

supermarkets to offer a discount

on less sugary foods.

We have a quarter of children

in England with tooth decay aged

five, and that's something

that's entirely preventable.

However, taste often

overrules calorie content.

And in many cases, convincing

fussy children to change their diet

won't be without its challenges.

Sima Kotecha, BBC News, Birmingham.

You go to hospital,

you need some tests,

then you get your results,

but it's a computer not a consultant

that's analysed your results.

Would you feel reassured?

Well, scientists in Oxford have

developed a system which can

diagnose some diseases

more accurately than doctors.

It uses Artificial Intelligence

to analyse scans, and in clinical

trials, it outperformed human

specialists for lung cancer

and coronary heart disease.

The technique could save

the NHS billions of pounds

through early diagnosis.

Here's our Science

correspondent Pallab Ghosh.

Scans are modern medical miracles

but still need a doctor to make a

diagnosis, until now. Scientists

have developed artificial

intelligence to do the job better

than the best doctors. The

government's health care 's art says

AI systems are set to revolutionise

medicine.

20 years from now, health

care will have a eye embedded in a

whole variety of different levels,

and much of the health care systems

will be enabled by smart systems

that help you identify people

at risk, diagnose disease earlier,

diagnose disease more precisely,

and identify who will benefit

from what interventions.

It changes the whole

way it operates.

This is Oltromics, the world's

first cyber cardiologist.

Developed at the John

Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford,

it's an AI system that can

analyse heart scans.

Here, Oltromics has identified areas

of heart disease, shown in red.

It then gives a recommendation,

positive which means it believes

there is a risk of the patient

having a heart attack.

Doctors get one in five

of their diagnoses wrong.

The artificial intelligence

system does much better.

So how much could hospitals

save using the new system?

12,000 heart scans alone

are misdiagnosed each year.

That costs the NHS £600 million.

Because artificial intelligence

is more accurate, it

could save £300 million,

and that's just the start.

AI can be used to diagnose

many other conditions.

The software tells asked the risk

of it being cancerous.

We just click on it,

and it tells us the risk is 14%.

This system looks for

early signs of lung cancer.

It can rule out harmless

cases several months

earlier than human doctors.

It can save the NHS money

and patients a lot of anxiety.

What we have developed is software

that will help us decide

whether the patient has a nodule

that we need to follow up,

or is likely to be cancer,

or is one we don't need

to follow up.

And then we can

discharge the patient.

Britain leads the world in AI,

and the systems currently

being developed will be

available for free to NHS

hospitals next summer.

Pallab Ghosh, BBC News, Oxford.

More than 7,000 extra grammar school

places have been created

in England since 2010,

according to new

analysis by the BBC.

That's the equivalent to opening

around 11 new grammar schools.

And in many areas, the schools have

added new places where there's no

demand for additional secondary

school places, as our Education

Editor Branwen Jeffreys reports.

The Cotswolds, a landscape

shaped by tradition,

home to some of the oldest grammar

schools in England, schools close

to the village where Henry

and Florence have grown up.

They're both now at grammar schools

after passing an academic test.

Their mum Ruth is pleased

more grammar school

places have been created.

It's a consumer society,

so if parental demand is there,

and there are children that

want to go, and I do think

it's harder for children

to get good results,

get to university and get a job.

So anything we do to help them

seems to me a no-brainer.

Was their anxiety here

about the number of grammar school

places that were available?

We are competing with children

coming up from Swindon,

and Wiltshire, and Bristol,

and some people are even relocating.

You know, they're doing the test

and moving from another

part of the country.

Which is fair, I suppose.

But another part of me thinks

it's unfair, because it's five

miles from where we live.

Every grammar school

in Gloucestershire has added more

places, even though

the number of 11-year-olds

hasn't been going up.

Grammar schools can

expand because they're

so popular with parents.

After all, they only take

the children who are already

doing well at school.

But that also means the larger

they grow, the greater their effect

on other neighbouring schools.

And some fear that could

reach a tipping point.

In many parts of England,

grammar school places have increased

faster than pupil numbers.

In 2010, there were just

over 110,000 pupils aged

11-15 in grammar schools.

By 2017, that had reached 118,000,

the equivalent of 11

new grammar schools.

This risks a knock

on impact on other schools.

Results are above average

at this secondary in Warwickshire,

but both the nearby grammar schools

have added lots of extra places.

With the places, they take

a bigger share of local pupils,

and the cash that follows

them through school.

Over five years with a backfill,

it would be, let's say,

£600,000 that is brought

in by adding an additional class.

And that's a tension,

regardless of what the school is.

It may be selective,

it may be nonselective.

To offer enough subjects

in their 6th form,

they need enough cash

and pupils coming through.

But here, and other places

where grammar schools are expanding,

the competition is getting tougher.

Branwen Jeffreys, BBC News.

And you can read more

about that story on our website,

that's at bbc.co.uk/news/education.

Britain's recycling system is about

to be put under severe pressure.

Until now, almost half

of what we recycle every year has

been sent to China,

to be dealt with there.

But yesterday, China

introduced a ban on recycling

many types of plastic

wastes from abroad,

to try to reduce pollution.

So what will happen now

to all the plastic we throw away?

Our Science Editor

David Shukman reports.

Ever wondered what happens

to our recycling?

well, great streams of it all sorted

in giant centres like this one in

south-east London.

The tins are

extracted by magnet and are sold to

food and drink manufacturers. A

vigorous shake separates bottles

from paper and cardboard. They're

also in demand. The machines then

try to pick out the plastic. The

bags make this much harder. But if

all this can be sorted, it can be

sold on, and the biggest market has

been China, until now.

This is the tip of the iceberg

of what we send off for recycling.

What the Chinese have done is said

that they're no longer

going to accept anything that's

difficult to handle.

So anything that's dirty,

or this kind of thin plastic

that we can't recycle.

In fact, a mix of different

types of plastic.

This has sent shock waves

through the cycling industry.

Already huge bundles of recycling

turned down by China

are piling up in Hong Kong.

And mountains of unwanted plastic

waste may build up in Britain.

I think it's a game

change for the UK.

I think for the last two decades,

at least, all our collection systems

have been geared up to

having the Chinese market.

China take virtually half

of everything that we produce

in terms of paper and plastics

in the UK.

So what will happen?

Well, there's now a rush

to try to sell the stuff to India

and other countries.

But there's a limit

to what they'll take.

Another option is to

burn the plastic here.

Most incinerators generate

electricity, so this

wouldn't be a total waste.

But the greenest solution is to

turn plastic into the raw material

to make new plastic objects,

like milk containers,

and we may see more of this.

We've made incredible progress

in terms of recycling in this

country, but we're stalling now.

And the Chinese ban to import bad

quality may be a great incentive

and the best chance ever

for this country.

It takes a human eye to pick out

what the machines miss.

Householders are often confused.

Most thin plastic film

can't be used again.

Different councils

have their own rules.

And few products are designed

with recycling in mind.

There is now pressure

for all that to change,

and China's ban may

actually encourage that.

David Shukman, BBC News.

A man who already had convictions

for killing his wife and a former

partner has pleaded guilty

to murdering his ex-girlfriend.

Theodore Johnson attacked

Angela Best in north London a year

ago after they broke up

and she began a relationship

13 monkeys have been killed

in a fire at Woburn Safari

Park in Bedfordshire.

The blaze in one of the enclosures

was spotted by security guards

during a routine patrol,

but despite efforts to rescue

the animals, none could be saved.

The safari park's manager says

the fire may have been caused

by a faulty generator

as Chi Chi Izundu reports.

Locals and staff say the patas

monkeys were a popular

attraction here at the park,

greeting guests and their cars

as they drove through the enclosure.

Fire crews were called to the site

at 2:30 in the morning

after security reported the fire.

Due to the intensity of the fire,

and the location of the building,

the fire was totally engulfed

in the building and

the roof had collapsed.

Investigators believe

a faulty generator may

have started this fire,

and staff who cared for the animals

are now being supported by experts.

This morning, the heads

of departments spoke to the staff,

and again, we'll be talking

to the staff later.

We also have an employee relations

support system that's in place

from our human resources Department.

This fire comes just

ten days after a blaze

ripped through London Zoo

killing five animals.

Now, because this is a safari park,

we're not actually allowed

to step out of the car.

But the cones behind me lead

to the area where the patas monkey

house is, and that's been closed off

to the public.

Fire chiefs tell us that 90%

of the building was damaged

and they are now conducting

an investigation to try and find out

exactly what started the fire.

Other animals,

including these Barbary monkeys,

have been checked over

and are still being monitored

to make sure they haven't affected.

Chi Chi Izundu, BBC News,

Woburn Safari Park.

This time last year

he was working as an electrician.

But last night, Rob Cross caused

a sensation in the world of darts

when he was crowned world champion.

The 27-year-old beat the 16

time winner Phil Taylor

to the title at Alexandra Palace

as well pocketing £400,000

in prize money.

Rob Cross, now the first

debutant to become world

champion in ten years,

says he still can't quite

take in what happened,

as Natalie Pirks reports.

This time last year,

he was watching the final on TV.

COMMENTATOR:

Rob Cross!

When Rob Cross sealed victory,

it was clear this wouldn't

sink in for a while.

He'd not only become £400,000

richer, he'd beaten the greatest

darts player of all time to be

crowned world champion.

Even today, he was struggling

with the magnitude of his win.

It all feels very surreal.

It's like I need to pinch

myself or something,

because I couldn't have

wrote my year any better, really.

It's been a bit like a fairy tale.

You might not associate the game

of darts with fairy tales,

yet Cross was an unknown electrician

until the start of 2017.

Last year, his winnings included

£7 picked up in a pub tournament.

The rise from anonymity

to acclaim has been dizzying.

I would say that anyone

what believes they can play the game

and sort of aspires to it,

then go and have a go

because you never

know what's going to happen.

If you thought darts

was just a pub game,

you might be shocked to hear

what the future holds

for a world champion.

It's difficult to put

a number on it.

I would think the value of winning

the World Championships in today's

market would be a minimum

of £5 million and possibly

10 million or more.

No one can take away that he's won

the World Darts Championship,

and that has ramifications

financially which will

safeguard him and his family

for the rest of their life.

And he has potentially

decades left in the sport,

unlike his opponent.

Phil Taylor won his first

of 16 world titles in 1990,

the year Cross was born.

Nicknamed 'The Power',

last night was his last

ever professional match.

He will go down as the best

the game has ever seen.

You're never going to see

another Phil Taylor

in any sport, I don't believe.

I don't think someone can

dominate their sport

for that amount of time.

So it's probably the coming of me,

but at the same time,

we were saying farewell to a legend.

To shout in his face

at the end and do all that,

I wasn't willing to do that.

I've got too much respect for him.

Cross has now set his sights

on becoming world number one.

When your year starts as well as

this, anything is possible.

Natalie Pirks, BBC News.

Time for a look at the weather.

Here's Louise Lear.

It's all about storm Eleanor

tonight.

In the last half hour, the Met

office has issued an amber weather

warning, be prepared for disruption.

The storm is arriving now in parts

of Ireland, rain turning heavy. Look

at this, gusts of wind across

southern island along the west Coast

in excess of 87 mph. Storm force

gusts. Likely to be disruption on

the southern flank, where we will

see the stronger swing. We will

continue with issues. Not only the

wind, the culmination of heavy rain

as well. That with rough seas and

high tides, there could be coastal

flooding across north-west England

and Wales, gusts of wind 70-90 mph,

causing issues with power cables

coming down and disruption for

travel as well. 60 mph across the

Channel coast, we could see in

excess of 70 mph gusts of wind. A

pretty stormy start to Wednesday

morning. The gusts of wind will

continue through the morning, rush

hour as well. Accompanied by

scattered showers, with heavy hail,

and even fund a mixed in. Some of

them across Northern Ireland and the

west facing coast of Scotland. Into

Aberdeenshire, it starts off chilly

but you will see sunshine. You will

probably have the best weather. Wind

will ease, but it is a blustery

afternoon, squally shower was set to

continue, not very pleasant.

Brighter in South Wales and southern

England by the end of the day, ten

or 11 the high. Further north, seven

or eight. But a chilly day in

Aberdeenshire, but at least you have

sunshine. Moving into Thursday,

another area of low pressure moves

in from the Atlantic. Things are

unsettled in the first week of

January. Wind will be a feature

again. Gales in the south-west,

driving the rain at a pace, but it

may grind to a halt across central

and southern Scotland and Northern

Ireland, where we will have rain and

hill snow. Double digits further

south with sunshine, but cold, and

that is an indication of what is to

come as we head into the weekend,

quieter but colder weather on its

way.

A reminder of our main story: