15/02/2018 BBC News at Six

A teenager is charged with 17 counts

of premeditated murder after a mass

shooting at a school in Florida.

Fleeing in panic as

the gunshots rang out -

inside, pupils hid under desks,

and barricaded the doors.

He went up and down the hallway,

just banging and shooting into the

classrooms.

He shot through my door.

Nikolas Cruz was arrested

after going on the run.

His actions led President Trump

to pledge to make schools safer.

No child, no teacher,

should ever be in danger

in an American school.

We'll be looking at the challenge

facing America, as it

suffers its 18th school

shooting this year.

Also tonight.

The former football coach Barry

Bennell is found guilty of a further

seven counts of sexual abuse.

And

brings the total of convictions to

43.

How can it be that no one realised

something was wrong?

How is it that no one

protected us then?

Ciro Ramaphosa duly elected

president of the Republic of South

Africa.

A new era for South Africa,

as the ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa

is elected as its new President.

A rip-off - MPs are scathing

about financial advisers mis-selling

new products to members

of British Steel's pension scheme.

And the highly processed foods

that are being linked

to an increased risk of cancer.

And coming up on

Sportsday on BBC News.

Looking for a sweet night in Sweden

- the only English manager

in European competition this season

welcomes the stars of Arsenal

in the Europa League.

Good evening.

A teenager has been charged with 17

counts of premeditated murder

after a mass shooting at a high

school in Florida.

Police say the gunman -

19-year-old Nikolas Cruz -

was a former pupil at the school

who'd been expelled.

The FBI confirmed this afternoon

that it was warned about Cruz

after he left a comment on a YouTube

video last year, stating he would be

a "professional school shooter."

President Trump said that

making schools safer

will be his administration's top

priority - and that he was

committed to tackling

the issue of mental health.

You may find some of the images

in Nada Tawfik's report distressing.

Running for their lives, these

panicked students fled as fast as

they could. They realised quickly

that they were in very real danger.

This was not a drill that American

schools have rehearsed time and

again for these exact scenarios.

I

have the gunshot victim.

Stoneman

Douglas I was quickly placed on

lockdown. These were the terrifying

sounds from inside. Students huddled

together, shaken, scared, and

completely helpless. They leaned on

each other for support as the horror

unfolded in front of them. Police

have identified the 19-year-old

attacker as Nikolas Cruz. He arrived

on campus heavily armed, with a

semiautomatic rifle and several

magazines of ammunition. He also

carried a gas mask and smoke

grenades. It is clear that this was

a well-planned plot to maximise the

loss of life. The shooter set off

the fire alarm to draw children out

of their classrooms. Police warned

that the shooter was still at large

even as the rescue operation was

underway. Another jolt of terror and

then relief as students realised

SWAT teams and not the shooter had

reached them first.

He went up and

down the hallway banging and

shooting into the classrooms, he

shot through my door and broke the

window.

As soon as the fire drill

went to the kids got evacuated. Then

all of a sudden we heard one of our

student government teachers say run

as fast as you can come and we heard

a gunshot.

17 children and teachers

killed, more than a dozen injured,

being treated in local hospitals.

President Trump addressed the nation

from the White House and said he

will visit victims and local

officials in parkland. Is that the

country needed to tackle the

difficult issue of mental health but

was silent on gun control.

No child,

no teacher should ever be in danger

in an American school. No parent

should ever have to fear for their

sons and their daughters when they

kiss them goodbye in the morning.

This is the moment Nikolas Cruz was

finally arrested in a nearby town.

He evaded authorities for almost one

hour, blending in with the swarms of

students fleeing the school. He has

now been charged with 17 counts of

premeditated murder and is being

held without bail. Authorities are

piecing together his possible

motives. He was expelled from the

school last year for disciplinary

reasons and students described him

as troubles. He was on the FBI's

radar since September. He was

flagged up to the agency after he

commented on a YouTube video that he

would be a "Professional schools

should". The FBI says they

investigated the thread but could

not identify the person behind it --

professional school shooter. One of

the safest cities in the country but

it did not stop it from becoming the

18th school shooting busier. The

question that seemingly everyone in

the nation is now asking is whether

this is the new normal. Tales of

heroism are emerging from the

tragedy. One security guard and

football coach is said to have

shielded children as the gunman

fired. He did not survive his

injuries.

The kids in the community

loved him, adored him. He was one of

the greatest people I knew. A

phenomenal man.

With each shooting

there is the inevitable debate on

gun ownership in America. Yet this

country is more divided than ever on

how to solve this problem.

Well, there have been numerous

warning signs ahead of this

shooting, that is now clear. The

shooter on social media, on YouTube,

declared he would be a professional

school shooter. The FBI knew of the

threat. Here in parkland

administrators warned about his

behaviour to teachers. Students even

predicted he could be capable of

something like this. So questions

are certainly being raised about

whether opportunities were missed to

prevent this tragedy. But what is

also becoming increasingly clear is

that schools will never be

that schools will never be saved, as

things stand. Here in Parkland this

school was in lockdown and followed

procedure and have security guards

Andy and 17 lives were lost easily.

Nada Tawfik, thank you.

The former football coach

Barry Bennell has been found guilty

of seven more charges of the sexual

abuse of boys in his care.

He's now been convicted of 43

offences in all against 11 victims.

He'll be sentenced on Monday.

This report is by our

correspondent Danny Savage.

My name is Micky Fallon.

I was abused by Barry

Bennell as a child.

My name is Stephen Walters,

I was abused by

Barry Bennell.

My name is Chris Unsworth,

I was abused by Barry

Bennell as a child.

Three of the 12

victims in this case.

Boys, now men, damaged

by controlling paedophile

Barry Bennell.

Now defiant and waiving

their anonymity to shed light

on their shocking

childhood experiences.

For decades we held our silence just

like our abuser told us

to.

For decades we've lived in fear.

Because we might be grown men stood

in front of you now, but we were

once a little child.

We are no longer afraid

of you, Barry Bennell.

For years hundreds of us

were groomed in plain view.

The shame, the nightmares,

the lot...

No child should suffer

the way we did.

How can it be that no one realised

something was wrong?

How is it that no one

protected us then?

Their remorseless

abuser, now aged 64,

shook his head and laughed

as the jury returned with the last

guilty verdicts today.

One of football's leading youth

coaches, Barry Bennell

worked with Manchester

City and Crewe.

For him it was cover to get close

to young boys and abuse them.

"A child molester on an industrial

scale" is how he was

described in the trial.

Andy Woodward was also

abused by Bennell.

When he went public,

other victims broke their

silence.

Andy, if there are any other victims

out there who haven't yet

come forward, what would be

your message to them?

If there are any other victims,

which I believe there

are, it's up to each and every one

of them whether they feel that they

are strong enough to come forward

but I hope this has given them some

more courage that justice has

been served today.

It is understood more than 80 other

men have come forward to say

Bennell abused them.

This prolific paedophile will be

sentenced next week.

Danny Savage, BBC News, Liverpool.

The extent of Bennell's abuse has

raised questions about football's

handling of the case,

and about how far chances were

missed to protect young footballers.

Our sports editor Dan Roan reports.

He was one of football's top talent

spotters.

We do a lot of talking to them,

as well as showing them skills

and explaining the game.

There is more to it than just coming

here for an hour a week.

We give them homework.

But Bennell was also

a serial paedophile.

Gary Cliffe was one victim,

abused by his former coach

when playing for junior teams linked

to Manchester City.

Every school holiday,

Christmas time, and this is over

a four to five-year period.

He's ruined a lot of lives,

hundreds of boys' lives.

Manchester City say

they are investigating but Cliffe

insists some people at the club

in the '80s would have known

about Bennell's behaviour.

They knew what he was

but they allowed it to continue

because he was producing results.

Bennell's precise relationship

with Manchester City remains unclear

but we've obtained what is believed

to be a business card

the coach handed to young

players and their parents,

describing himself as

a club representative.

If this is what it appears to be,

it may show how Bennell used City's

name to lure some of his victims.

Simon Cussons was a board director

at Manchester City when Bennell had

an association with the club.

Could more have been done,

do you think, to pay more attention

to the young players

and how they were being

looked after and treated?

With hindsight, the

answer is yes, but...

Did anybody raise it

at the time or know about it?

No.

Simon Cussons died last year before

Manchester City spoke to him

as part of their enquiry.

The club has now identified another

alleged paedophile, now deceased,

with whom they had potential

connections and face the threat of

legal action.

Bennell was most closely linked

with Crewe Alexandra,

where he was youth team coach

in the late '80s.

Hamilton Smith was the managing

director at the time and he says

that, after being made aware

of concerns and rumours

about Bennell's behaviour,

he raised the issue in a board

meeting, but the coach was allowed

to stay for three more years.

The meeting that we had, the special

board meeting that we had, and they

are still saying they didn't know

something was going on? I went to

the FA to talk to them about my

concerns. And ended up getting a

Dear John letter, which said they

had investigated, and found nothing

to be answered.

Everybody involved could have done,

and should have done a lot more.

The then manager, Dario Gradi,

was one of those who Smith says

was aware of general concerns

about Bennell's behaviour.

Now the club's director of football,

he denies having had any knowledge

of Bennell's crimes,

but he was suspended

by the FA in 2016.

Crewe say they were unaware

of Bennell's behaviour

before his first of three previous

convictions in 1994,

But just over a year ago the full

extent of the football abuse scandal

was exposed.

It is massive, it is

huge. And the ripple effect through

football, I hope people are

listening.

Former England

international Paul Stewart revealed

the extent of the abuse he had been

subject to buy a different

paedophile. Horrific. How long did

it go on for.

For years. Almost

every day.

And as more players spoke

out the chairman of the FA launched

a review into the subject.

We are

making sure we do what we can to

step up to the mark.

With police

forces investigating and fund was

set up for the victims, 285

potential victims identified and 331

clubs involved. Youth football is

now more regulated than when Barry

Bennell was coaching and abusing

that the game 's most notorious

paedophile continues to want the

sport.

Dan Roan, BBC News, Liverpool.

The leader of the African National

Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa,

has been sworn in as South Africa's

new president.

It follows the resignation

of Jacob Zuma last night

after pressure from his party over

numerous corruption allegations.

Our Africa Editor

Fergal Keane reports.

In the place they call the mother

city of the Republic,

exaltation at what they felt

was nothing less than deliverance.

And, inside, the words that

signalled the arrival

of a new and very different order.

I declare the honourable

Cyril Ramaphosa duly elected

President of the Republic of South

Africa.

He knew this moment was coming,

yet seemed abashed.

In his first words as President,

the tone was consciously humble.

When one is elected in this type

of position, you basically become

a servant of the people

of South Africa, and I'll seek

to execute that task

with humility, faithfulness

and with dignity as well.

That is what I will seek to do.

For now, his party enemies

are defeated and the country

is broadly behind him.

But, on the other side

of Table Mountain from Parliament,

a sense of the challenge facing

the new leader.

Here in Langa township,

they welcome Ramaphosa

but expect him to deliver

houses, jobs, services.

We are still living in sheds.

We, our mothers and fathers lived

in shacks, and we the children

and obviously our grandchildren have

to live in shacks also.

Mr Ramaphosa, we vote for him,

give him a chance and see

if he will do things better,

different than Mr J Zuma.

After years when their party

was tainted by corruption

and losing electoral support,

ANC Members of Parliament

are daring to hope.

There is a great deal of joy here,

but also expectation.

Cyril Ramaphosa will have to move

quickly to answer people's

needs on the economy and,

above all, corruption.

Fergal Keane, BBC News, Cape Town.

The time is just after quarter past

six.

Our top story this evening...

A teenager has been charged with 17

counts of premeditated murder

after a mass shooting at a high

school in Florida.

And still to come, can Dom Parsons

win Team GB's first medal

at the winter Olympics?

Coming up on Sportsday

on BBC News...

Back behind the wheel -

less than a year after losing both

of his legs, racing driver

Billy Monger aims for the top

in a specially modified car.

We all know that highly processed

foods should be eaten in moderation,

but now research suggests

they could be linked

to an increased risk of cancer.

Mass-produced bread and cakes,

chicken nuggets and instant noodles

are being classified

as "ultra-processed"

and potentially harmful.

The study of over 100,000 people

hinted that, the more

of such foods people ate,

the greater their risk of cancer.

Our Health Correspondent

James Gallagher has more.

Pizza and fizzy drinks

are ultra-processed foods,

but so too are bread

and breakfast cereals.

They are some of the nation's

favourite foods but new concerns

have been raised by French

scientists.

They think the way these foods

are produced or packaged may be

raising the risk of cancer.

It may come as a surprise but around

half the foods we eat

are classed as ultra-processed.

That generally means they're made

in a factory with a huge list

of ingredients down the side

of the packet.

We know they're bad for our

waistlines, but could they be bad

for our health in other ways too?

The French study looked

at nearly 105,000 people.

They were quite young

with an average age of 43.

The results showed a 10% increase

in ultra-processed foods was linked

to a 12% increase in the risk

of cancer, and an 11% increase

in breast cancer risk.

But critics say the term

"ultra-processed" encompasses

so many foods it's hard to work out

what's really going

on, and while this research

has found hints

of a link with cancer,

it's not definitive.

So do we need to bin the bread?

We should not be panicking.

I think as all of us know,

highly processed foods like these -

so things like pizza,

crisps and chips - are not

things we should be making

the main focus of our diet.

This study adds to our understanding

but it's not saying anything new,

and it certainly isn't saying

we need to throw these foods

away out of our cupboards.

Gorging on huge amounts of processed

food will make us fat

and being overweight is the biggest

preventable cause of

cancer after smoking.

For health experts, the study

is a timely reminder

we all need to improve our diets.

On average our diets

are unhealthy in this country.

We all, on average, need to take

steps to improve our diet so, yes,

take the results of this study

seriously and make changes.

The Saxtons from Doncaster

say processed food is

a fact of family life.

You think, well how can you avoid

buying ultra-processed

food unless you grow

everything yourself basically.

I think evening is not as difficult

as the mornings, I think,

in terms of breakfasts.

That's very difficult to rule out

cereal and toast on a day-to-day

basis when you're doing the school

run and rushing to get out the door.

Any dangers lurking in these foods

are continuing to be investigated,

but eating less of this and more

of this is clearly

good for your health.

James Gallagher, BBC News.

The former executive at the centre

of claims of sexual misconduct

by Oxfam staff in Haiti and Chad has

given his version of

events for the first time

since the scandal broke.

In an open letter,

Roland Van Hauwermeiren said

he was "not a saint",

but insisted he hadn't

paid women for sex.

Gavin Lee is in Knokke in Belgium,

where Mr Van Hauwermeiren lives.

Gavin.

As you say, it's the first

time Roland Van Hauwermeiren has

broken his silence after a week

where the allegations have been

building and building. As director

for operations for Oxfam in 2011,

and with a British different charity

in 2004 in Liberia. He spoke to

reporters on his doorstep and gave a

different account, he said it was

lies and exaggeration. He spoke

about how in the last week since the

allegations his family hadn't spoken

to him. He also posted an open

letter to the media today, he went

through detail by detail how he

didn't believe any of these

allegations from Liberia onwards,

specifically in Haiti saying he was

involved in a sexual relationship

with a Haitian woman but didn't pay

for prostitution and she wasn't a

victim of the earthquake. We are

hearing that high-profile figures

including the

including the South African

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has left the

organisation and said he was

disappointed with the allegations.

Thank you.

Members of British Steel's pension

scheme were the victims of a "major

mis-selling scandal".

MPs on the Work and Pensions

Committee say the scheme's members

were targeted by "vulture" financial

advisers, who encouraged them

to transfer their savings

to "unsuitable funds."

It happened when the pension

fund was hived off

in order to keep the UK company,

owned by the Indian

firm Tata, afloat.

Sian Lloyd reports.

"Exploited....

For cynical personal gain.

Shamelessly bamboozled by dubious

financial advisers."

The words of a report today by MPs

about steelworkers who devoted years

to the industry but face changes

to their pension scheme.

Some had the option of transferring

their benefits to private schemes,

but what happened has been described

as a mis-selling scandal.

Yes, we've been let down

with the trustees, we've been let

down by Tata as a company.

We uncovered the case

of Richard Bevan who had

transferred his savings

into a private scheme.

He believes the financial advice

he was given was unsuitable

and resulted in him losing

out on £200,000.

He welcomes the scrutiny by MPs

but says it's too late for him.

Where that leaves people like myself

I really don't know.

It may highlight the fact for other

pension schemes in the future,

and this may not happen

on this scale again.

Hopefully it doesn't,

but that's little comfort to people

like myself, you know?

The report noted that the regulator,

the Financial Conduct Authority,

only acted two months

after we highlighted Richard's case.

It calls for the authorities

to be more proactive.

There are large numbers of people

who will do other people down

when it comes to money,

and therefore what we want is robust

regulators who don't wait to be

pushed into it but actually

are on the lookout,

on the front foot, thinking,

"these are our responsibilities".

The Financial Conduct Authority told

us that following what happened

to steelworkers at plants like this

one in Port Talbot,

it's reviewing its rules

on pension transfers.

But some experts say that

what happened here should be

a wake-up call to the industry.

This is not uncommon.

We have seen BHS and Carillion

are similar examples of this,

so the individual details will vary

but these situations will arise

again so it is important the lessons

are learned from this case.

Pension freedom reforms have led

to a boom in similar

transfers over recent years.

This report highlights that workers

like Richard need more protection.

Sian Lloyd, BBC News, Port Talbot.

Team GB could be about to win

its first medal of the 2018

Winter Olympics after Dom Parsons

put himself in contention

in the men's skeleton competition.

The 30-year-old is in fourth place

at the halfway stage

ahead of the final runs tomorrow.

In the curling, Britain's men

earned their second win with a tense

victory over Japan,

while the women's team

lost their second match.

There are flashing images

in this report from Andy

Swiss from Pyeongchang.

Here he is for Great Britain.

Run two, Dom Parsons.

He arrived an outsider,

he's now a contender.

Dom Parsons is ranked

just 12th in the world,

but wearing Team GB's much discussed

new skin suit, he was

out to prove his pace.

Well, Dom Parsons is

flying around this track.

He did look so impressive

in his training runs here,

but can he back it up with a big

performance when it really matters?

The answer was encouraging.

Dom Parsons goes to the front!

Come on, Dom!

He ended up fourth at the halfway

stage, just three hundredths

of a second off the medal places.

Tomorrow could be special.

The medal chase for

Britain is on here!

I hope I can sleep tonight.

Yes, it's like the last four years

obviously I've just been aiming

for this one moment so I'm

going to make the most of it.

From the ice to the snow,

it was a day for speed.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal making

history in the men's downhill.

At 35, the oldest ever champion.

Oh, she's down!

In the women's giant slalom

meanwhile, the photographers got

an unexpected close-up.

Both they and Switzerland's Lara Gut

thankfully unscathed.

By the end they had a new focus,

America's Mikaela Shiffrin the first

of potentially several golds here.

But for sheer thrills

and spills, today's medal

goes to snowboard cross.

In particular France's Pierre

Vaultier, who crashed

in his semifinal, got up,

scraped through, and then

only went and won it.

Rarely has persistence paid

off quite so perfectly.

Andy Swiss, BBC News, Pyeongchang.

Time for a look at the weather.

Here's Stav Danaos.

Good evening. It's been quite a

mixture of weather today.

mixture of weather today. In the

north and particularly in Scotland

we have seen heavy snow showers.

They are going to continue on and

off through the overnight period,

some for Northern Ireland and maybe

the odd one further south for

Northern England. A nice -- risk of

ice where we have had those showers

and a cold night with frost to

contend with for Friday morning.

That said, Friday is not looking too

bad. A lot of dry weather around and

further showers for the north west

of Scotland. More of a breeze here

as well. Temperature wise not to bad

across the south, 8-10d and a cool

feel across Scotland and Northern

Ireland. On Saturday it looks like a

milder day. More cloud across

western areas thanks to a west

south-westerly breeze. A few showers

dotted around. A better chance of

staying dry the further east you are

with temperatures 8-11d. Even milder

across Scotland too. This feature

running in on Sunday looks like it

will thicken the cloud, certainly

across western parts of the country.

We could see drizzle and low cloud

at times. Across the south-east it

will be a largely dried picture.

Even some gaps appearing to the east

of the Pennines and north-east of

Scotland too. Despite the cloud,

temperatures nine - 11 degrees.

There are signs of things turning

much colder by the end of the week.

That's all from the BBC News at Six

so it's goodbye from me