:00:00. > :00:09.in advance of the general election. That is all
:00:10. > :00:13.Welcome to North West Tonight with Roger Johnson and Annabel Tiffin.
:00:14. > :00:17.The murder of Rania Alayed was an organised honour killing.
:00:18. > :00:19.Today a judge jailed her husband for at least 20 years.
:00:20. > :00:24.Ahmed didn't like that and he wanted to control her every
:00:25. > :00:34.In an exclusive interview, Rania's family in the Middle East tell us
:00:35. > :00:37.their regret about encouraging her to stay with her violent husband.
:00:38. > :00:40.TRANSLATION: I did not try to reconcile her with him.
:00:41. > :01:03.I wish I had pushed her to divorce him long ago.
:01:04. > :01:05.Also tonight Backing for fracking in the Queen's Speech.
:01:06. > :01:10.A lawyer says a Rabbi who was killed by a speeding
:01:11. > :01:12.driver should share the blame for not wearing reflective clothing.
:01:13. > :01:17.How the Mersey ferries played a key role in an audacious
:01:18. > :01:21.Rania Alayed wanted a life away from her abusive husband.
:01:22. > :01:25.Instead, the mother of three young children was murdered
:01:26. > :01:30.Police have tonight described it as an orchestrated honour killing.
:01:31. > :01:32.Rania's husband, Ahmed Al Khatib, has been jailed
:01:33. > :01:37.for life with a recommendation he serve at least 20 years.
:01:38. > :01:42.After killing Rania in a Salford flat, he stuffed her corpse
:01:43. > :01:46.in a suitcase and dumped it on a roadside nearly 90 miles away.
:01:47. > :01:50.Abbie Jones joins us now from the tower block in Salford
:01:51. > :02:03.Rania wanted what most of us took for granted, to go to college, to
:02:04. > :02:09.wear the clothes she wanted but this drove her abusive husband Ahmed Al
:02:10. > :02:13.Khatib crazy with jealousy and anger. Last June he murdered her at
:02:14. > :02:17.a flat in a tower block behind me before dragging her body down in a
:02:18. > :02:19.suitcase to the road below here. Police said today they have no doubt
:02:20. > :02:23.her murder was an honour killing. Ahmed didn't like that
:02:24. > :02:37.and he wanted to control her every After she was killed here, her
:02:38. > :02:43.husband understood the help of his two brothers, to dispose of her
:02:44. > :02:48.body. They were both jailed for four years and three years respectively.
:02:49. > :02:53.Mohammed was cleared of her murder. After they buried her body, Ahmed Al
:02:54. > :02:59.Khatib staged an elaborate deception to cover his tracks.
:03:00. > :03:04.Rania Alayed married Ahmed Al Khatib aged just 15 in Syria for love.
:03:05. > :03:06.But her husband was jealous, violent and controlling.
:03:07. > :03:09.When she eventually walked out, he lured her and their children to
:03:10. > :03:13.a Salford flat and then killed her while they were inside.
:03:14. > :03:17.I told Rania's eldest son his mother was in heaven with God.
:03:18. > :03:22.He asked me for a large pair of binoculars because he believed
:03:23. > :03:27.he would be able to see his mother between the stars.
:03:28. > :03:31.Her son also wanted someone to wear a mask of his mother's face so
:03:32. > :03:37.Rania complained of years of domestic abuse living
:03:38. > :03:39.in the north`east when she first came to the UK.
:03:40. > :03:42.She asked for help from police and a solicitor.
:03:43. > :03:45.When she moved to Manchester last year, she started attending college
:03:46. > :03:47.to learn English, making female and male friends.
:03:48. > :03:52.She was asked to come here to her brother`in`law's Salford
:03:53. > :03:59.Although her husband did all he could to pretend otherwise.
:04:00. > :04:03.CCTV shows Ahmed Al Khatib leaving the flat wearing a headscarf to
:04:04. > :04:08.He messaged Rania's friends and family trying to convince them
:04:09. > :04:15.But instead of going to the police, he and his brother, Mohammed
:04:16. > :04:18.Mahmoud Al Khatib, drove Rania's body north to Yorkshire, burying her
:04:19. > :04:22.She was to have no funeral, no dignity.
:04:23. > :04:24.How far up there are we going to take this?
:04:25. > :04:28.Police from two forces have been searching for the mother of three
:04:29. > :04:31.for months using helicopters, sniffer dogs but so far, no trace.
:04:32. > :04:36.I've had some sleepless nights about this.
:04:37. > :04:39.It may sound silly, I've had dreams, dreams, far`fetched.
:04:40. > :04:49.But the ghost of Rania is telling me.
:04:50. > :04:52.It sounds stupid but that's where it gets into your psyche.
:04:53. > :04:55.The jury accepted Rania's brother`in`law Mohammed had nothing
:04:56. > :05:00.to do with her murder but it didn't believe Ahmed Al Khatib when he said
:05:01. > :05:03.he was mentally ill when his killed his wife, seeing her as a spirit.
:05:04. > :05:06.TRANSLATION: He is a murderous monster.
:05:07. > :05:09.He picks and chooses when he wants to be sane.
:05:10. > :05:21.All her family want now is to bury her body.
:05:22. > :05:35.Rania's murder has been particularly hard for her family still
:05:36. > :05:40.Her parents have been desperately trying to get visas to come to
:05:41. > :05:42.Manchester to see their grandchildren but have been refused.
:05:43. > :05:46.Her family say they're also full of regret at encouraging Rania to work
:05:47. > :05:49.through her marriage, little knowing she'd pay for that with her life.
:05:50. > :05:51.They spoke exclusively to North West Tonight.
:05:52. > :06:00.Thousands of miles from Manchester, in Lebanon, Rania's family is still
:06:01. > :06:04.They've had to follow her murder, the search for her body
:06:05. > :06:15.At least if we had found the body and given her a burial,
:06:16. > :06:28.Rania grew up in Syria in a refugee camp.
:06:29. > :06:31.It was there she met her husband to be, a blacksmith.
:06:32. > :06:34.Her brother remembers Ahmed Al Khatib was violent even then.
:06:35. > :06:37.It used to sometimes happen in front of me.
:06:38. > :06:41.My sister would tell me, "It's OK, tomorrow he will change.
:06:42. > :06:54.If I hadn't memorised my homework he used to beat me up with his belt.
:06:55. > :06:57.Once he beat me up until my body was blue.
:06:58. > :07:01.Rania and her family hoped her husband would change, that a move to
:07:02. > :07:05.England would mean a safer happier life, but by the time she was in
:07:06. > :07:08.Manchester, he was haranguing her brother on Facebook, complaining
:07:09. > :07:13.about Rania wanting to live life away from her in`laws.
:07:14. > :07:16.Chillingly, he wrote, "I swear, if she doesn't come back to her
:07:17. > :07:23.senses, I swear on my daughter that we will all be sorry."
:07:24. > :07:27.We'd tell her to be patient in the hopes that he'd change
:07:28. > :07:34.We would tell her he is still your husband and the father
:07:35. > :07:39.I wish I did not try to reconcile her with him.
:07:40. > :07:43.I wish I had pushed her to divorce him long ago.
:07:44. > :07:50.Now all the family want is to take care of Rania's children.
:07:51. > :07:54.We want to help them close and raise them so they wouldn't make
:07:55. > :08:08.This isn't the end of Rania Alayed's murder.
:08:09. > :08:11.Greater Manchester Police are currently being investigated by
:08:12. > :08:17.the police watchdog over how they handled her domestic abuse case.
:08:18. > :08:20.And of course her body is still out there somewhere.
:08:21. > :08:35.The police have promised they will keep searching for Rania Alayed.
:08:36. > :08:38.An engineer has given evidence that there was serious overcrowding
:08:39. > :08:40.at Hillsborough seven months after the tragedy which caused
:08:41. > :08:44.The new inquests heard that the overcrowding happened during
:08:45. > :08:46.a derby match between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United.
:08:47. > :08:49.Stadium engineer John Strange said efforts had been made to re`assess
:08:50. > :08:52.the capacity of each pen, but the calculations had been based
:08:53. > :09:00.The man set to become Rochdale Council's new leader says he'll
:09:01. > :09:03.press ahead with an independent inquiry into an alleged cover`up of
:09:04. > :09:06.Richard Farnell, who's due to be confirmed
:09:07. > :09:10.as leader tonight, says he never saw reports highlighting abuse at Knowle
:09:11. > :09:15.View School when he previously led the Council in the early 1990s.
:09:16. > :09:19.The family of a woman from Blackpool who died after falling 30 feet
:09:20. > :09:22.from a wall in Menorca are raising money to bring her body home.
:09:23. > :09:26.Kay Flitcroft, who was 30, was on holiday with her husband when she
:09:27. > :09:39.Her relatives say she didn't have travel insurance.
:09:40. > :09:42.If you thought fracking couldn't get any more controversial,
:09:43. > :09:45.In today's Queen's Speech, the coalition Government outlined
:09:46. > :09:48.its plans to make it easier to frack under people's homes.
:09:49. > :09:51.A proposed infrastructure bill will change trespass laws,
:09:52. > :09:54.so shale gas companies don't need permission from homeowners to drill
:09:55. > :10:01.Opponents of fracking say today was about pomp and circumnavigation,
:10:02. > :10:09.allowing shale gas companies to sidestep trespass laws.
:10:10. > :10:18.The bill will enhance the United Kingdom's energy independence and
:10:19. > :10:22.security by opening up access to shale gas and other sites. It came
:10:23. > :10:29.as no surprise at all for that we knew they had moved the goalposts.
:10:30. > :10:31.They tried bribing communities. As a resident of Singleton, I'm not
:10:32. > :10:37.interested in that. We don't want it.
:10:38. > :10:40.If passed, the new infrastructure bill would remove a huge stumbling
:10:41. > :10:54.As it currently stands, we would have to negotiate with each
:10:55. > :11:00.individual landowner. It's quite different for utility companies,
:11:01. > :11:06.Telecom or coal miners, which don't have to do that. It will bring it
:11:07. > :11:08.into line with mining and telecom companies.
:11:09. > :11:10.Fylde coast resident Karen Ditchfield is one
:11:11. > :11:13.of thousands who last October joined a Greenpeace campaign to block
:11:14. > :11:15.shale gas drilling beneath their properties by using trespass laws.
:11:16. > :11:17.Today's new proposals she says need challenging.
:11:18. > :11:22.I am talking about educating yourself. Writing to your MP.
:11:23. > :11:26.Writing to all the politicians, informing people. Getting
:11:27. > :11:33.communities back together again so that they can say, no, this is not
:11:34. > :11:38.what we want. There will still be the established system for planning
:11:39. > :11:41.consensus, permits to drill. Environmental assessments. All that
:11:42. > :11:51.will remain in place to provide protections which of course we
:11:52. > :11:56.understand from the local community. Greenpeace said 74% of the British
:11:57. > :11:59.public were opposed to these changes in the trespass laws. Greenpeace
:12:00. > :12:04.says it will do all it can to block the proposals.
:12:05. > :12:07.An elderly man killed by a speeding driver should share
:12:08. > :12:10.That's the controversial claim made by a
:12:11. > :12:14.lawyer who defended the motorist who received a suspended jail sentence.
:12:15. > :12:17.He admitted his careless driving caused the death of Hyman Steinberg,
:12:18. > :12:22.According to the lawyer, Mr Steinberg's orthodox Jewish
:12:23. > :12:27.And he would have been safer if he had worn something reflective.
:12:28. > :12:34.Rabbi Steinberg was dressed as a traditional Orthodox Jew,
:12:35. > :12:37.all in black, when he was knocked down and killed.
:12:38. > :12:50.Simon Martins says he didn't see Mr Steinberg until it was too late.
:12:51. > :12:56.Rabbi Steinberg was crossing this road on his way to the synagogue
:12:57. > :13:04.when the accident happened. The driver was travelling at 42 mph in a
:13:05. > :13:06.30 zone and had sent a text message at all `` a short time earlier
:13:07. > :13:49.pleaded guilty. driving. The text message was no
:13:50. > :13:54.part of it. Is it not a bit insensitive to shift the blame onto
:13:55. > :13:56.the man who died? Possibly, some people may view that but we say it's
:13:57. > :15:13.We've had two deaths at the Isle of in everybody's
:15:14. > :15:16.We've had two deaths at the Isle of Man TT which is pondered some strong
:15:17. > :15:22.words from a pretty well`known rider who was taken part.
:15:23. > :15:25.Yes, Scott Redding, a Moto GP rider, says he won't be taking part
:15:26. > :15:29.Karl Harris died in a crash on Tuesday
:15:30. > :15:33.after Bob Price had been killed in an accident the day before.
:15:34. > :15:34.Scott tweeted this after the second death.
:15:35. > :15:39.All the riders that finish are relieved to finish in one piece
:15:40. > :15:45.He was a particularly good friend of Bob's who was a mentor to him
:15:46. > :15:49.and has since explained he won't be there on Friday, not because he says
:15:50. > :15:53.I have anything against the Isle of Man TT, but because I prefer to
:15:54. > :15:56.mourn Bob in the places where I knew him best. Not the place
:15:57. > :16:01.The organisers of the event have stressed they do try to make
:16:02. > :16:05.the races as safe as possible but concede there will always be a risk.
:16:06. > :16:12.I've heard people say the TT is too dangerous. These bikes are getting
:16:13. > :16:18.faster. Each year, we carry out a full risk assessment with the riders
:16:19. > :16:21.themselves so this is carried out on an annual basis. And we improve it
:16:22. > :16:25.throughout the year. On a much more positive note,
:16:26. > :16:28.Morecambe's John McGuiness has won He's now just five wins short
:16:29. > :16:36.of Joey Dunlop's all`time record. John has been riding with
:16:37. > :16:39.a wrist injury and says it was probably his best chance to notch up
:16:40. > :16:42.a victory this week. Lancashire's cricketers had
:16:43. > :16:44.the weather to thank after their County Championship
:16:45. > :16:46.match against Somerset ended The Red Rose, who were following on,
:16:47. > :16:51.needed another 122 to make But rain prevented any play
:16:52. > :16:57.on the final day. An international football tournament
:16:58. > :17:01.is already under way and The Isle of Man's team,
:17:02. > :17:04.Ellan Vannin, are in the quarterfinals of their
:17:05. > :17:08.first Conifa World Football Cup. The team were outsiders
:17:09. > :17:10.for the tournament but have caused a big surprise by winning both
:17:11. > :17:14.of their opening games in Sweden. Ostersunds in Sweden doesn't scream
:17:15. > :17:22.international sporting venue at you, but it is currently home to a World
:17:23. > :17:26.Cup and this one is a bit different. This is the World Cup for peoples
:17:27. > :17:29.and regions outside FIFA and We're only 80,000 people yet we are
:17:30. > :17:40.getting the opportunity to play against possibly Kurdistan,
:17:41. > :17:49.population of 25, 30 million. We don't know but it's putting
:17:50. > :17:54.the Isle of Man out there. In doing so, they help the team
:17:55. > :17:57.of refugees get here too. The Manxmen fundraised so
:17:58. > :18:00.Darfur United could fly in The first match
:18:01. > :18:02.against Nagorno`Karabakh, and for these players,
:18:03. > :18:05.a step into the sporting unknown. After some warming up,
:18:06. > :18:08.time for some teeing up. We want to show people all
:18:09. > :18:13.around the world that we can play. The Nagorno`Karabakhans, from a
:18:14. > :18:15.disputed area in the former Soviet Union were odds`on favourite to
:18:16. > :18:20.win and it soon became clear why. 2`0 up in little more than half
:18:21. > :18:23.an hour but, watched by their Darfuri friends,
:18:24. > :18:26.the Manxmen got one back before the break, equalised late on, and even
:18:27. > :18:33.later on secured a bit of history. Frank Jones's winner made
:18:34. > :18:36.waves back to the Irish Sea. They went on to win their group
:18:37. > :18:40.for the game against the odds. Next up, the champions Kurdistan
:18:41. > :18:45.in the the Well, that quarterfinal between
:18:46. > :19:15.Ellan Vannin and Kurdistan It is 1`0. Thanks very much. The
:19:16. > :19:19.real World Cup is not far away now. Very good. Thank you.
:19:20. > :19:22.The First World War saw millions of ordinary people pitched into
:19:23. > :19:27.As we continue our commemorations of the centenary of the start of
:19:28. > :19:31.the Great War, tonight we tell the story of two little ships and their
:19:32. > :19:36.In the latest in our series looking at the war's impact on the home
:19:37. > :19:40.front here in the North West, I went along to find out more about
:19:41. > :19:47.The Mersey Ferry is as much a part of Liverpool is football,
:19:48. > :19:53.They've been shuttling passengers across the water for hundreds
:19:54. > :19:58.But long before Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Mersey ferries
:19:59. > :20:02.had another spectacular moment of fame when the Iris and the Daffodil
:20:03. > :20:07.gave up the mundane commuter routine to become warriors.
:20:08. > :20:11.One night in April 1918, they quietly sailed out of
:20:12. > :20:19.These two little ships, along with many of their regular crew,
:20:20. > :20:22.had been drafted in to take centre stage in one of the most audacious
:20:23. > :20:32.The plan was to block Zeebrugge Harbour.
:20:33. > :20:35.An important U`boat base by deliberately sinking three
:20:36. > :20:40.Now if the ships were to get through,
:20:41. > :20:45.the German guns along the mile`long stone jetty had to be taken on.
:20:46. > :20:47.The Iris's and the Daffodil's job was to land
:20:48. > :20:55.They were tubby little ferry boats that could glide over the German
:20:56. > :21:00.minefields that had been laid outside Zeebrugge Harbour.
:21:01. > :21:02.And they were sub`divided into so many different compartments,
:21:03. > :21:07.And, as you can see on this modern ferry,
:21:08. > :21:17.which almost replicates what they were like, they were a high`density
:21:18. > :21:19.passenger` carrying ship so you could cram lots or soldiers
:21:20. > :21:27.on board. The idea was to put up smokescreen to get
:21:28. > :21:30.the Royal Marines off to attack the
:21:31. > :21:33.U`boat base. The wind blew in the
:21:34. > :21:34.opposite direction so they were
:21:35. > :21:36.terribly exposed and unfortunately, the
:21:37. > :21:38.Iris was shelled and a bomb went through
:21:39. > :21:40.her deck and killed something like 49 of
:21:41. > :21:42.the 56 Marines that were there. Terrible
:21:43. > :21:43.carnage. The Daffodil suffered
:21:44. > :21:45.two shells going through the engine
:21:46. > :21:46.room, so they suffered very badly.
:21:47. > :21:48.The battered ferries limped back across
:21:49. > :21:50.the Channel and, a few weeks later,
:21:51. > :21:51.Pathe newsreel cameras recorded
:21:52. > :21:52.their triumphant return to the
:21:53. > :21:54.Mersey. Civic dignitaries queued
:21:55. > :21:57.up to view the bullet holes and
:21:58. > :22:01.shrapnel damage. When these two
:22:02. > :22:03.little ships, which I suppose you could
:22:04. > :22:05.see them as the Davids against the
:22:06. > :22:07.Goliaths of the German Imperial
:22:08. > :22:08.Navy, went over and did their bit in
:22:09. > :22:11.Zeebrugge, they were welcomed like
:22:12. > :22:15.nothing before. So they were put on
:22:16. > :22:17.display in Canning Dock. They were open
:22:18. > :22:20.to the public. The two boats were in a
:22:21. > :22:22.terrible state when they came back but
:22:23. > :22:24.they were restored and then put back
:22:25. > :22:27.into public service. The two ships were
:22:28. > :22:29.scrapped in the 1920s. Their
:22:30. > :22:30.glorious past couldn't save them
:22:31. > :22:32.from the breaker's yard. But their
:22:33. > :22:35.exploits earned them the prefix Royal.
:22:36. > :22:37.Today's Iris and Royal Daffodil still
:22:38. > :22:39.bear that royal title. A living
:22:40. > :22:41.memorial to the two little ships and
:22:42. > :22:43.their crews who, for a few terrifying
:22:44. > :22:45.hours off the coast of Belgium, swapped
:22:46. > :23:11.the humdrum for the I had no idea Mersey ferries were
:23:12. > :23:14.involved. You picked a drizzly day to film it. , yes, we did,
:23:15. > :23:20.unfortunately. The Dutch painter Mondrian was one
:23:21. > :23:23.of the most important abstract You might recognise
:23:24. > :23:26.his most famous works by their Now the largest ever British
:23:27. > :23:30.exhibition of his neo`plastic paintings is being
:23:31. > :23:32.assembled at the Tate Liverpool. It includes some never seen
:23:33. > :23:34.in this country But the exhibition's curator
:23:35. > :23:38.Francesco Manacorda has given us Mondrian played
:23:39. > :23:45.an incredible role in setting up He was one
:23:46. > :23:50.of the pioneers who invented how canvas and painting could be used to
:23:51. > :23:57.invent a new reality. Here we are inside the
:23:58. > :24:00.reconstruction of the studio that Mondrian had in Paris in the 20s and
:24:01. > :24:06.30s which has been put here inside Tate Liverpool as a starting point
:24:07. > :24:10.of an exhibition which looks at how the painter used this place
:24:11. > :24:15.and which works he produced in There are two quite important
:24:16. > :24:22.connections between Mondrian The first one has to do with these
:24:23. > :24:28.two paintings that we put side`by`side because they were here
:24:29. > :24:33.in 1936 at an exhibition, which created an audience
:24:34. > :24:38.for Mondrian in this country. Which also was one of the reasons
:24:39. > :24:42.why he decided to migrate to London The second reason, most importantly,
:24:43. > :24:48.is in this. We can see the list of passengers
:24:49. > :24:53.of the Cunard ship that left from Liverpool, from that very pier we
:24:54. > :24:57.can see from this window and in this Essentially, the connection
:24:58. > :25:03.between Liverpool and Mondrian is a very important one because he
:25:04. > :25:10.left Europe, not just this country, but this country and moved to
:25:11. > :25:13.the US from that very pier. He had an incredible influence
:25:14. > :25:16.on architects and fashion designers and his legacy is incredible still
:25:17. > :25:19.today with people referencing his ability to create quite
:25:20. > :25:22.remarkable and dynamic compositions We are incredibly proud here
:25:23. > :25:32.in Liverpool to have an exhibition that gathers the highest number
:25:33. > :25:51.of abstract works that has never Interesting. You turned into a
:25:52. > :25:56.snake. Anaconda. There was a time when weather forecasters didn't have
:25:57. > :26:04.computer`generated graphics. They had things on the back of the screen
:26:05. > :26:06.to stick on. How I long for that because I've worked all day on it
:26:07. > :26:13.and in the last five minutes, the whole thing is disappeared.
:26:14. > :26:24.Everything you do is reversed on the chart. Somebody else made an error.
:26:25. > :26:28.The F slipped down the chart and you may find it offensive. Some
:26:29. > :26:34.significant changes. This has been the picture for us today. It has
:26:35. > :26:37.been grey, overcast and at times, fairly wet. The West has been best
:26:38. > :26:41.today. The worst of the rain away from the coast. What we are
:26:42. > :26:44.expecting to happen for the next couple of days is a much warmer
:26:45. > :26:48.conditions to move in from the south. As they bump into a line of
:26:49. > :26:52.weather on Saturday, the Met Office 's warning potentially we could have
:26:53. > :26:57.some very, very thundery downpours so we're looking ahead to that.
:26:58. > :27:09.There will be spots of rain through the night school, 9`12. Tomorrow,
:27:10. > :27:13.not the best of starts. It doesn't last for long. It will clear very,
:27:14. > :27:20.very quickly and it on improving picture for tomorrow. Writer skies
:27:21. > :27:32.through the afternoon. 16 Celsius. 20 by Friday. My age.
:27:33. > :27:40.Thank you. We believe that there. Hopefully it's working again at
:27:41. > :27:54.10:30 p.m.. At night. `` good night. When the first travellers crossed
:27:55. > :27:57.America, they were faced with this - The very nature of
:27:58. > :28:13.the American personality was defined. Ray Mears explores
:28:14. > :28:15.the land behind the Hollywood legend and discovers the wild
:28:16. > :28:19.that made the West.