19/12/2016 BBC Wales Today

earlier this evening. There will be more on that and any

Our top stories: Zoe Morgan and Lee Simmons, the young couple

stabbed to death on one of Wales' busiest streets.

Andrew Saunders pleads guilty to murder.

And Plaid Cymru's former leader, Dafydd Elis-Thomas, says he'll

support the Labour Welsh Government this term, giving them

A 20 year old man has admitted murdering a young couple found

stabbed on one of Wales' busiest shopping streets.

Zoe Morgan and Lee Simmons - who'd been together

just a few months - worked together at the Matalan Store

Their bodies were discovered outside the store in September.

Andrew Saunders has now pleaded guilty to their murders.

It was just before six o'clock in the morning on the 28th of September

this year that one of Wales' busiest shopping streets became a major

crime scene. It is full of Christmas shoppers now but when police arrived

to start their investigation that morning it would have been quiet.

The focus on the investigation was this Matalan store. Two workers,

young couple who had met there, were stabbed outside on the street. Three

hours later at 9am, as shoppers and workers arrived in the city centre,

officers arrested Andrew Saunders near Newport. He has now admitted

murdering Zoe Morgan and Lee Simmons, who had been in a

relationship for a few short months. Zoe worked as a window dresser,

having just finished a fashion course at the University of south

Wales. Alongside the flowers and gifts left outside the store, Zoe's

family paid tribute to her, describing her as a beautiful

daughter, sister and my granddaughter and auntie, who had a

heart of gold. Lee's friends said the 33-year-old was a genuine and

lovely young man who always had a on his face. In the days and weeks

after, relatives and friends gathered with vigils in the city to

remember the couple. He was very quiet and kept himself to himself.

He was a genuine guy who would not hurt a fly. I only saw him last

week. A few months ago, I saw that they were in a relationship, which I

thought was lovely. She was his Tinkerbell. It was so nice to

actually see him happy. This morning at Cardiff Crown Court, and is Li Na

Andrew Saunders of no fixed aboard spoke to confirm his name before

pleading guilty to both murders. The prosecution says that the judge will

now have to watch disturbing CCTV footage before sentencing in the New

Year. Three men have been jailed

for a total of 6 years following a riot in the centre

of Newport, during which fireworks The disturbance, which took

place in the Pill area of the city in October,

also saw wheelie bins set alight - Grant Cuthbert, Gary Radford

and Ahbil Hussain Ahmed all pleaded At least a thousand fish -

including salmon and sea trout - have died after the River Teifi

was polluted, according Water was discoloured in Ceredigion

with environmental officers believing the source of the problem

to be an agricultural site Control measures have been put

in place to stop any We don't know where the source of

the pollution is that we do not know exactly what it is. It is not only

the fish kills, we need to look at what the invertebrates and the

insects that lives in the river, if we go in the future to reintroduce

fish, is the going to be food for them in the future? We just don't

know. It is all up in the air but unfortunately, seeing dead fish on

the bottom of the river is just heartbreaking.

The minority Labour government in the Assembly now has

The former leader of Plaid Cymru, Lord Elis-Thomas, who now

sits as an independent, has told BBC Wales that he will be

supporting the Welsh Government throughout the rest

Here's our political editor Nick Servini.

After a fractious relationship with polite Cumbrian's current

leadership, Lord Elis-Thomas left the party in October, claiming it

was not serious about supporting a stable Labour government. -- Plaid

Cymru's current leadership. Since then, speck elation he may join the

Labour cabinet which has no overall majority and has to rely of the

support of other parties to get legislation passed. He has given

Welsh Labour the support for the remainder of this Assembly term,

saying he will provide the stable majority the government needs to

continue to develop devolution and to negotiate a continuing

relationship with mainland Europe. The Plaid Cymru leader, Leanne Wood,

has a cooperation deal with Labour now. She says that will end if Lord

Ellis Thomas is given our job in the government but is now a ministerial

job is offered, then the deal at the moment still stands. Plaid Cymru

said that the fruits of the deal will be seen tomorrow with the

publication of the final version of next year's budget, described as the

best scene in Wales this year. It says the future of the deal with

Labour will be discussed in the New Year. In the meantime, Lord

Elis-Thomas's statement is an early Christmas gift for the First

Minister, who can count on extra support without even offering him a

job yet. Income tax could be varied in Wales

from 2019, following an agreement between the governments

here and in Westminster. The transfer of powers will not

require a referendum, and would allow the Welsh Government

to cut or raise rates by 10 pence It seems impossible to argue against

the proposition. A democratic institution that spends money should

be some responsibility for raising that money. We have been doing that

for the first time and that is a serious set of responsibilities. It

could change the nature of the debate. But we can do it in a way

that underpins the growing maturity of devolution in Wales. It goes

along with the Wales Bill, empowering the Welsh government to

legislate on things that matter. I don't want any more constitutional

arguments, I don't want any more debates relating to finance. This

settled those for the long-term. It is now up to the Welsh government is

to be able to respond, and human needs in education, health and so

many other important public services.

Four prisoners barricaded themselves into a cell in Cardiff prison

yesterday in protest at being moved there from Birmingham, following

They surrendered after two hours and no one was injured.

The Ministry of Justice says - all prisons are being closely

Passengers travelling between south Wales and London over Christmas

are being urged to plan ahead as Paddington station will be

There'll be no services operating to and from the station

from Christmas Eve until December 29th as Network Rail

The Football Association of Wales has been find more than ?15,000 by p

Fifa for displaying poppies in Cardiff City Stadium during the

World Cup qualifier against Serbia on Armistice we can't. -- Armistice

weekend. Wales opted against players wearing

black armbands with the poppy on - instead a mosaic was held up

in the stand, and members of the armed forces

were pitch-side holding poppies. FIFA says the display of any

political symbol is not allowed. Let's see what the weather has

in store in the run up to Christmas. Unlikely for most of us. Maybe a

little snow on the mountains but no more than that. We are in for a big

change. The weather is going to turn more unsettled over the next few

days. The jet stream will be ramping up over the Atlantic. For tonight,

it is a cloudy picture. Some rain spreading westwards across the

country. Also some mist and hill fog. The lowest temperatures around

five Celsius. A bit of a murky start for some of us tomorrow morning.

Most of the rain on the western side of the country. Towards the east, it

will be becoming drier and brighter with a hint of some sunshine. Across

the rest of the UK, quite frosty to start for parts of Scotland. During

the day, wet and windy weather will spread into western Scotland and

Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, much of central and eastern England is dry,

and brighter than recently with some sunshine. Looking damp for Cornwall

and the west of Devon. Close to home, still a few spots of light

rain and drizzle, cloudy skies. But further towards the east, dry and

bright with temperatures around 6-9. The breeze is settling. Breezy

tomorrow night, and we have some rain coming along as well. That will

clear from most places towards the end of the night. For Wednesday,

breezy with heavy showers moving through. Becoming dry and brighter

on Wednesday afternoon. The wind falling light. Thursday, a decent

day, mostly dry with some sunshine. Temperatures around 8 degrees in

banner, and for the end of the week, dry start on Friday, 20 wet and

windy. -- turning wet and windy. Thank you for watching,

from all of us on the programme.