18/01/2017 BBC Wales Today

That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me,

Tonight, the pressure on the NHS this winter.

It's seen some of its busiest days ever and is facing

There has been an increase in children's admissions. And also the

elderly who can't go back to their home. Staff in this department

adding they are feeling the strain. The NHS government and health board

insist winter plans are holding up. Chelsea Manning was jailed

for 35 years for leaking Her Pembrokeshire mother

says she's overjoyed. President Obama commuted her

sentence, and she'll soon be freed. Farming outside the

Europe's single market. One union warns of a "perfect

storm in the making." The Welsh government is accused

of negligence over the way it handled air pollution concerns

from Wales' largest And jumping or climbing

on buildings, it's a new sport. Why one club is teaching free

running alongside gymnastics. The NHS in Wales is facing

exceptional challenges this winter. That's according to the head

of the health service He says the last month has seen some

of the busiest days ever faced by hospital emergency units

and the Welsh Ambulance Service. Let's get the latest now from our

health correspondent Owain Clarke. Welcome to one of Britain's busiest

A departments at Wales biggest hospital. Since midnight staff have

seen 320 patients. When they're really busy, they can see up to 60

patients each and every hour. The figures out today suggested there

had been a deterioration in the performance of A departments

across Wales in the early part of the winter but what does that tell

us? Especially when the boss of the NHS in Wales warns that the system

is facing exceptional challenges? Winter or summer, rain or shine,

it's rarely quiet here. Staff and Britain's biggest A department I

used to working under pressure but they've been busier than ever. We

have experienced a 2% increase in attendance compared to last year and

that's been predominantly with children. We have seen an increase

in children's admissions and also with the elderly. The elderly that

have fallen but can't go back to their home. They are overrun. And

when the seat you, they are great. I've had no problems and I've been

in and out of this place a few times, I'll tell you. They are

certainly busy but they still have time for you. And introduce

themselves by name. The upshot is described as extraordinary pressure.

Take a look at this map. On Christmas day, most of these places

were quiet, circled in green. Two days later, admissions soared. New

Year's Day was the busiest on record for the Welsh ambulance service.

Look at the red on the map, most hospitals were at the highest state

of alert meaning they were facing extreme pressure. So, how do they

respond? When we moved escalation level format, we look at where do we

have space? Where is the space we wouldn't traditionally use? Let's

use that space, let's ensure we get the discharge process in place, we

are clearing patients by midday. Let's look at the additional

capacity we can use. And we have a large number of plans that we are

already implementing to improve capacity and the flow through the

system. A similar across Wales. Several health boards have had to

redirect patients from one hospital to another at times of spikes in

demand. Many have also reported a big increase in the most urgent

category of patients. But several say they are preventing planned

operations from being spent 400 beds are available across Wales when

things are very busy. Here at the heart of the Welsh government's HQ,

officials can monitor the situation in each and every hospital in Wales

minute by minute. And it happens in this room. When I visited, this was

the situation. Really busy hospitals just about managing. Twice a day,

conference calls take place involving health board bosses to

discuss ways to ease the strain. The boss of the entire NHS in Wales says

system is coping. We remain a system under a lot of pressure. I think the

fact we've come into this winter with an ambulance service that has

been performing more resiliently and has really helped us in our

response, they have maintained a really good level of response. We

have kept our social care delays low, which is positive, but there is

more to go out. Staff have done a great job to manage, whether in GP

settings, in social care or on the hospital site and in A but it is

important we focus on the demands on an ongoing basis. A shortage of

staff and beds is making a difficult situation even worse, bosses say.

We've lost 40% of bed numbers in Wales in the last couple of years.

When there is the surge, you don't have the capacity to cope. That is a

knock on. Even when you're back to more normal levels, you have the

backlog because he can't get people out of hospital because of social

care cuts, because of difficulties of getting people back in their

environment. The priority the staff is to make sure patients get treated

safely, even when the pressure's really on. The problem is the

strain, year on year, shows little signs of easing.

So, Owain, do today's figures tell us anything

about whether the pressures on the Welsh NHS are any different

Well, generally speaking, I think it is fair to say the simple answer is

they are broadly similar. I was spoken to the doctors to the BMA,

and their members, wherever they worked, England, Wales, the rest of

the UK, the same as their message. It's really tough out there. Leaked

figures in England suggested that performance in A deteriorated

quite rapidly there during the first week of the New Year. The very time

the boss of the NHS in Wales is saying that the system had

significant problems. But we won't get to judge the impact of that

until the next set of official statistics are out in February.

Historically speaking, it's fair to say that the performance in Wales

has been worse than in England. The Nuffield trust, an independent think

tank, says there might be a mismatch between the number of beds in

hospitals and the demand for them. But part of the reason might be that

the Welsh population, as a whole, is older, poorer, and less healthy than

across the border. Thank you very much.

Chelsea Manning's family in Pembrokeshire say they're

overjoyed by the news that she will be freed in May.

Barack Obama has announced that Manning's 35-year sentence

for leaking military documents will be commuted, or reduced.

Tonight President-elect Donald Trump's Press Secretary has said

Mr Trump is troubled by President Obama's decision.

With the reaction, here's Teleri Glyn Jones.

With three days left before he leaves office, President Obama has

commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former Army private who

gave thousands of military documents to WikiLeaks. The leak was one of

the biggest breaches of classified material in US history. For some,

Chelsea Manning is a hero who expose wrongdoing in the military. For

others, she is a traitor that could encourage other acts of espionage.

She was born Bradley Manning in Oklahoma but spent most of in

Pembrokeshire. James went to school with Chelsea. She was very

interested in computers and very political. A lot of people are and

you don't expect them to stand up and make that big step forward but

themselves out there in that sort of position. After leaving school,

Chelsea Manning joined the US Army and was posted to a rock in 2009 but

was found guilty for years later of espionage by leaking three quarters

of a million documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Private Manning was sentenced to 35 years and a maximum security

military prison. Last night, that sentence was commuted by Barack

Obama in one of his last acts as president. And the family home, the

news that Chelsea Manning will be released in May has been welcomed.

I've spoken to Kevin Fox, Chelsea's uncle, who said they are over the

moon. In a statement, Susan Manning, her mother, says she now hopes

Chelsea will be able to get on with the rest of her life and added there

will always be a welcome for higher here. Family and friends have kept

in close contact with Chelsea Manning throughout her imprisonment

in the USA. One school friend visited her in prison and has always

aborted her. When I heard the news last night that President Obama has

commuted Chelsea's sentence, my personal reaction was utter joy.

When you're faced with a 35 year prison term, it is an incredibly

daunting prospect. I cannot imagine being in Chelsea's shoes. The

priority now is when Chelsea is liberated is to make a plan for her

welfare. Nobody is seeking to downplay the enormity and zero and

solve a crime but anybody looking into this can see this is far from

straightforward, it is complicated. There have been can serious concerns

about Chelsea Manning's emotional and physical well being expressed by

family and friends and I think President Obama has taken a very

human decision. It isn't the pardon some campaigners have hoped for but

having been expected to be in prison until 2045, Manning will now be

released in May. BBC Wales understands Wrexham's

new prison, HMP Berwyn, will accept its first inmates

on the 27th of February. Work began on the category C

men's prison at Wrexham When full, it will house up to 2,000

prisoners and will be The unemployment rate

in Wales has risen slightly It's up 0.1% since

December to 4.4% %. 66,000 people over the age of 16,

are out of work here. The UK rate has remained

the same at 4.8%. A sex offender from Clydach

in the Swansea Valley who poses a risk to young girls has been

spared a jail sentence. A judge said it would not

properly protect the public. 52-year-old Bernard Merrells

was arrested after being caught sending explicit messages online

to who he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but he was actually speaking

to a member of the public posing Bernard Merrells arrived at court

today. And and and and after pleading guilty to inciting sexual

activity with a child. In March 2015, the former supermarket worker

sent sexually explicit messages online. He believed he was

contacting a 13-year-old girl. In fact, he was talking to a member of

the public, posing as a child, cold Roxy. The conversation took place on

a dating website. The chat log was later posted on an online blog which

claims to expose suspected paedophiles. In the messages,

Bernard Merrells asks the girl if she has any photos. When the request

is refused, the 50-year-old man offers to be her boyfriend. As the

chat continues, Bernard Merrells asks if she's ever seen a nude man.

She says no. He promises to send pictures of himself naked. The court

heard Bernard Merrells sent a number of naked photos and indecent video

of himself. We know from the requests we've had, in terms of data

and evidence, the grooming process which in the past has happened in

ways that could have been in a local park or school in the past, we are

learning most grooming, the majority, is taking place online.

The judge said if Bernard Merrells were to receive treatment for sex

offenders in prison, he'd need to give him an immediate four-year

sentence, something which she said the legal guidelines don't allow for

in this case. The judge said it would be more constructive to give

him a suspended sentence and a rehabilitation and to register as a

sex offender. This is Wales' largest

coal-fired power station. The Welsh government is accused

of negligence over the way it And it's a newly recognised sport,

how free running is being taught alongside gymnastics,

in the hope of increasing That's how one Welsh farming union

has described a combination of Brexit and a trade deal

with New Zealand, they're worried, of course,

about the possibility of competition But what will leaving

the European Union and the single Could there be opportunities,

as well as challenges? Rebecca Roberts is 23 and has her

future mapped out in front of her. At least she thought she had. Taking

on in time the family's sheep and beef farm. Brexit has brought new

uncertainties. It may well be your generation that will have to sort

this out. What do you make of that? I don't know if I will be able to

stay on the family farm. I'll probably have to diversify or go out

to work. I don't know. It's worrying but we have to do something. And the

whole of the Welsh farming industry will have to do something, one way

or another quiz Brexit poses questions. There's no doubt Brexit

will challenge every sector of the Welsh economy, and agriculture more

than most. The Common Agriculture Policy is one of the pillars on

which the common market and the EU was built. In the future, Welsh

farmers will have to learn to live without it. 90% of Welsh

agricultural exports go into the EU, with a value of more than ?270

million. Under the EU's, agriculture policy, Welsh farms get ?336 million

in direct subsidies. For nothing to change, we will have to have

unfettered access to European markets and guarantee UK or Welsh

government subsidies at the level currently paid by Europe.

Uncertainties which farmers here know would prompt some tough

talking. Most of our produce is going into Europe. Theresa May and

her negotiating team will have to have this in mind. Nobody knows what

is going to happen, do they? Everybody is working day to day.

Challenges, but what about opportunities? Brexit backers talk

about winning new markets away from Europe, and shaping a British or

Welsh agriculture policy rather than one which also has to suit France,

Greece or Italy. Rebecca's father is president of the National union of

farmers in Wales. Getting a trail deal with a country is one Dale.

Getting a proper market is another. We have to look at helping us. The

British government has made it clear it will be positive going into the

negotiations with the European Union because we do need the broadest

possible access to the single market. Don't forget the reach of

Welsh agriculture goes way beyond those who are directly employed in

it. Culturally, linguistically, the industry is bound into the fabric of

rural Wales. There is a lot at stake here.

The Welsh government has been accused of "negligence"

in its handling of concerns about air pollution from Aberthaw

In September last year, the European Court of Justice ruled

that the plant had been emitting illegal levels of air pollution.

Now Plaid Cymru says it's found out there's been no correspondence

between Welsh ministers and Natural Resources Wales

Our environment correspondent Steffan Messenger reports.

It is one of Wales' largest power stations. For over 40 years,

Aberthaw has been generating electricity from burning coal.

Enough to meet the needs of some 3 million homes. But in September last

year, EU judges ruled that it was also pumping out too much air

pollution. Double the legal amount of toxic nitrogen oxides which can

harm people's health. The case was brought against the UK with the

Westminster government ordered to pay legal costs. As the plant in

Wales air quality measurement lies with the Welsh government. Now Plaid

Cymru says it has discovered via a Freedom of information request there

hasn't been a single letter or e-mail sent between Welsh ministers

and an RW on this issue since the court ruling. I'm flabbergasted.

They should have been in there straightaway after the decision was

made, this was illegal commissions and Wales, polluting the air,

polluting people in Wales. Natural Resources Wales told the commission

today it is assessing Aberthaw's permit, which it needs to operate

the plant. We will vary the permit, based on the European Court

judgment, and we seek information from them to allow us to do that, so

we are currently waiting for that information. Environmental groups

say all involved need to pick up the pace. This is causing about 400

premature deaths every year. It really is not good enough to be

leaving it as long as this. It needs to be treated with a level of

urgency that doesn't seem to be being shown. The Welsh government

told us it was committed to improving air quality across Wales

and it was urging RW even to cut emissions from this site. It has

said it plans to downgrade its operations here from April focusing

on generating electricity at times where there is peak demand. The UK

government wants to see all coal-fired power stations closed by

2025. It's a test of extreme

individual endurance, the challenge for one Welsh sailor

is nearly over, Tomos After 73 long days alone on the

ocean, Alex Thomson is now within hours

of finishing the round-the-world race, the Vandee Globe, and is

Within the last few hours, he's speaking to the French Navy

French Navy aircraft, this is Hugo Boss. We want to check everything

was OK and your ship is all right. Everything is fine, looking forward

to getting to dry land again. He hasn't got long to wait,

he's expected to finish The sailor, born in Bangor,

is now just 33 nautical miles behind the leader,

with less than 300 miles to go. It's remarkable that Thomson

is still in this race, he's been competing with a damaged

boat for weeks, and has made-up nearly 900 miles

since the end of the December. Organisers of the Champions League

final in Cardiff in June are looking Cardiff hosted the Uefa Super Cup

three years ago, now the Football Association of Wales

wants people to help with transport, marketing, ticketing

and dealing with VIPs. Another 500 volunteers could also

perform in a pre-match ceremony at the Principality Stadium,

which will be re-named the National Stadium

of Wales for the game. Cardiff City have signed Scotland

international goal-keeper, Allan McGregor, on loan

from Premier League side Hull City But the club's had a second

bid for Aberdeen winger Snooker, and the only Welshman

at the Masters, Mark Williams, has been knocked out in the first

round by the World Williams took the match to the final

frame, losing narrowly 6-5. It's a newly-recognised sport,

where people jump over improbable obstacles and move

from rooftop to rooftop. Elements of free-running are now

being taught alongside gymnastics, it's helped boost numbers

at the Valleys Gymnastics It's an idea praised by seven-time

Commonwealth Games medallist, Frankie Jones, but some are warning,

combining both sports Run, jump or climb freely over

any type of terrain. This is parkour, or free running,

now a recognised sport in its own right, taught and trained

for at a custom-built Similar elements to the sport

of free running have been introduced at this gymnastics club

in Crumlin near Newbridge. Attendence here is up,

particularly amongst boys, most of whom, they say,

would have otherwise lost interest. Probably 200 young people coming

through every week that we know wouldn't be coming through these

doors if it were only offering If people said, come

along and try gymnastics, You have to put loads

of effort into it. Would you recommend

it to your friends? I've got a few of my

friends coming here. Frankie Jones won gold for Wales

in rhythmic gymnastics She has praise for the work here

in appealing to more young people. It's just kind of a different

mindset for them to buy And then actually realise

how much fun it is. I think gymnastics has a level

for any person to get As soon as you get through the door

and you see the bouncy floors So, seeing them all go

mental and having fun One of the coaches here has

a background in free running but they're keen to stress this

is freestyle gymnastics, albeit with a few extra tricks,

not something they encourage Back in Cardiff, professional free

runners say there is an important distinction to be made

with their sport and Knowing how to do it safely

and with respect for the outdoor environment is what they teach

here with separate It's all about learning risk,

and figuring out what you can do, And you kind of can't quite do

that in an environment What both sports do agree

on is encouraging more young people to take part in exercise,

whichever of these two Let's get the weather forecast,

Derek is with us tonight. Snow on the beach at Havea

on the Costa Blanca. The settled weather set

to continue into next week. Pressure is high abut high pressure

doesn't always bring sunshine. Grey and cloudy in Porthcawl

today with a high of 6. A few spots of drizzle

otherwise dry. And in the south and south-east,

the cloud may clear with temperatures falling as low

as 2 or 3. Under the cloud, temperatures

a few degrees higher. So here's the picture

for 8 in the morning. However, parts of the south

and west may be brighter During the day most

of the country cloudy and dry. Some sunshine in the south may

spread a little further north 10 on the north and west coast

with light or gentle winds. In Flintshire tomorrow,

grey and mostly dry. Dry, bar the odd spot

of drizzle in the north. Sunny in parts of

the south and west. As we head into the weekend, high

pressure still the dominant feature. Drifting away to the east but then

another high develops So the outlook for the weekend

mainly dry and settled. Mind you, it will turn colder

with overnight frost. It now looks as if the dry, settled

spell will last until next Tuesday. A reminder of tonight's

top news stories. Boris Johnson has warned EU leaders

not to give the UK, what he called, "punishment beatings,

in the manner of some world war The Foreign Secretary's comments

come after Prime Minister Theresa May set out her Brexit strategy

in a speech yesterday. It included leaving

the EU single market. From all of us here,

thanks for watching,