:00:00. > :00:07.Hello and welcome to South Today, I'm Laura Trant.
:00:08. > :00:26.Some restrictions are lifted after the bird flu outbreak.
:00:27. > :00:29.Innovative and life-changing - doctors from around the world gather
:00:30. > :00:31.in the South to learn pioneerling techniques in keyhole
:00:32. > :00:41.As efforts continue to prevent a spread of bird flu,
:00:42. > :00:44.some poultry farmers have today found themselves facing continued
:00:45. > :00:48.restrictions which they say threaten their livelihoods.
:00:49. > :00:50.All poultry owners have had to keep their birds
:00:51. > :00:53.inside since December, and while those measures will be
:00:54. > :00:56.lifted for many from next month, some areas of the country have been
:00:57. > :00:58.labelled high-risk so controls will remain in place.
:00:59. > :01:01.Lewis Coombes is live at one such farm in Berkshire.
:01:02. > :01:16.Riverways Farm here in Twyford usually has around 5000 chickens
:01:17. > :01:18.running around outsid, but since an outbreak of avian flu
:01:19. > :01:21.just before Christmas at eight sites across the country
:01:22. > :01:24.they've been told to keep inside instead.
:01:25. > :01:27.Today they've found out that restriction remains, as this
:01:28. > :01:28.farm is close to water where wildfowl gather.
:01:29. > :01:30.The problem with that is when chickens are kept
:01:31. > :01:33.inside for over 12 weeks their eggs can no longer be labelled
:01:34. > :01:35.as free-range, which affects their price.
:01:36. > :01:37.For other farmers, outside the high-risk zone, today has
:01:38. > :01:42.Well, it's really good news for me, we will be able to carry on our
:01:43. > :01:46.The cash flow is what's the best thing, because we
:01:47. > :01:49.know we will still get the same amount of money for the product that
:01:50. > :01:55.we sell that we have been doing all the time,
:01:56. > :01:59.so it will make our lives not easier but take a lot of pressure
:02:00. > :02:02.away from us, you know, the worry of having our eggs downgraded.
:02:03. > :02:04.So Phillip in Hampshire wiping his brow, not the case
:02:05. > :02:07.for Andrew Cardy here in Berkshire and other egg producers who fall
:02:08. > :02:17.It must be frustrating that some farms are affected and you are one.
:02:18. > :02:22.Very frustrating. This morning I was very pleased that some farmers but
:02:23. > :02:29.it is worrying for all of us. Free range is a brand you are hoping to
:02:30. > :02:35.protect? Very much so. We are lucky, we sell most of our eggs locally and
:02:36. > :02:41.our customers will support us, but larger farms tied into supermarket
:02:42. > :02:47.contracts, will they maintain the same price? It remains to be seen.
:02:48. > :02:52.Free range is a product people are prepared to pay for. Farmers have
:02:53. > :02:56.invested millions in their farms, we can only be free range when we have
:02:57. > :03:01.roam around, and the reduction in roam around, and the reduction in
:03:02. > :03:04.price from free range to barn eggs could hurt a lot of people, there
:03:05. > :03:07.will be farmers going out of business to be sure.
:03:08. > :03:10.If you keep poultry or other birds then you can find out if you fall
:03:11. > :03:13.within a higher-risk zone by typing in your postcode on an interactive
:03:14. > :03:25.This than maybe extended but hopefully it will be over soon for
:03:26. > :03:26.farmers like these. -- this ban may be.
:03:27. > :03:28.There's a new case of female genital mutilation, or FGM
:03:29. > :03:31.as it is known, every 90 minutes in the UK.
:03:32. > :03:33.That's according to the charity Plan International UK.
:03:34. > :03:37.It has been illegal to carry out FGM in the UK since 1985,
:03:38. > :03:39.but there has not been a single prosecution.
:03:40. > :03:41.In Reading, an area with a high prevalence of FGM,
:03:42. > :03:44.a new centre is being opened to tackle the issue.
:03:45. > :03:50.I was at an age of four or five years old when my grandparents
:03:51. > :03:55.started speaking to me about being cut.
:03:56. > :03:58.Jennifer comes from an influential east African family but she only
:03:59. > :04:02.avoided female genital mutilation by running away from home.
:04:03. > :04:04.Now living in Berkshire, the cutting tradition
:04:05. > :04:10.still casts a long shadow over her and her mother.
:04:11. > :04:15.She says that her life has been ruined by me not getting cut.
:04:16. > :04:18.She gives examples of where she has received death threats,
:04:19. > :04:25.Sometimes she would go back home to her family in the village
:04:26. > :04:27.and they literally would not accept her, nobody
:04:28. > :04:33.In 2014, Reading was declared one of 11 hotspots for FGM
:04:34. > :04:39.Mandatory reporting has uncovered more than 40 cases
:04:40. > :04:46.Initial research suggests that the actual figure is far higher.
:04:47. > :04:48.This week campaigners were preparing for the launch
:04:49. > :04:53.It is the first organisation of its kind bringing together
:04:54. > :04:58.professionals and those groups where the practice continues.
:04:59. > :05:01.The ultimate aim is to end FGM and community engagement
:05:02. > :05:08.Now a mother herself, Jennifer worries for her daughter,
:05:09. > :05:11.for even though the little girl's parents have decided she won't be
:05:12. > :05:18.cut, both mum and dad are under pressure from the wider family.
:05:19. > :05:22.Despite female genital mutilation being banned in the UK since 1985,
:05:23. > :05:24.it continues to happen - figures suggest more than 130,000
:05:25. > :05:28.women and girls in Britain are affected,
:05:29. > :05:31.with 5,700 new cases in 2015 to 2016.
:05:32. > :05:39.That's the question I asked Jacqui Hunt from Equality Now.
:05:40. > :05:42.It is a huge problem in the world, 3 million women and girls
:05:43. > :05:46.are at risk every year of FGM, and there is still a sense
:05:47. > :05:50.I think more and more, and increasingly in the UK
:05:51. > :05:53.and globally, with the leaders from African countries,
:05:54. > :05:56.we are seeing it as a human rights abuse that has to be addressed
:05:57. > :06:00.by everyone, so even though the figures are really large
:06:01. > :06:03.and very disturbing there is more political will now to address it
:06:04. > :06:14.Because we have the legislation in place but in fact there have
:06:15. > :06:16.been no prosecutions, even though it's been
:06:17. > :06:19.That's true, there have been no prosecutions.
:06:20. > :06:21.I know there's a push to try and get a prosecution,
:06:22. > :06:24.not for the prosecution's sake but to show that we're really
:06:25. > :06:29.I think what you have to do is have a multi-sectoral approach,
:06:30. > :06:32.so you have the Health Department working on it, you have social
:06:33. > :06:39.services, teachers becoming more aware and the police as well,
:06:40. > :06:45.and communities being very much organised.
:06:46. > :06:48.But how will that actually change, because this is a hugely sensitive
:06:49. > :06:50.issue immersed in cultural practices that have existed for
:06:51. > :06:53.How do we actually go about creating change?
:06:54. > :06:55.I think we create change from within the communities
:06:56. > :06:58.themselves, and also showing the support of the broader community
:06:59. > :07:01.that it is a human rights abuse, and that change is coming.
:07:02. > :07:04.We work very much all over the world, in Kenya particularly
:07:05. > :07:08.Local communities are talking about the practice,
:07:09. > :07:13.they're getting together, they're having alternative rites
:07:14. > :07:16.of passage, to keep some of the culture but remove the bad
:07:17. > :07:18.bits of the culture, the harm to the girls
:07:19. > :07:20.being done, and so there is an enormous change happening.
:07:21. > :07:24.I think when you look at it here it's very difficult,
:07:25. > :07:28.because the diaspora community sometimes is far away
:07:29. > :07:30.from the progress that has actually been happening at home.
:07:31. > :07:57.operations that helps patients recover more quickly
:07:58. > :08:00.and frees up hospital beds is being pioneered in Southampton.
:08:01. > :08:02.Today nearly 100 specialists from around the world
:08:03. > :08:05.As our health correspondent, David Fenton, reports,
:08:06. > :08:06.patients are already seeing the benefits.
:08:07. > :08:08.Georgina Westbrook had 60% of her liver removed
:08:09. > :08:12.I was told that they only ever do the liver with open surgery
:08:13. > :08:15.but I was fortunate that I entered a trial which resulted in me
:08:16. > :08:17.randomly being picked out for laparoscopic surgery.
:08:18. > :08:18.That means keyhole surgery, and it worked.
:08:19. > :08:21.36 hours after the operation, Georgina left hospital.
:08:22. > :08:28.For my family, for myself and for the NHS.
:08:29. > :08:30.Keyhole surgery is used for all sorts of procedures.
:08:31. > :08:42.But today nearly 100 specialists from all over the world met
:08:43. > :08:44.at Southampton General, where new keyhole techniques
:08:45. > :09:04.Southampton has a unique position in that type of surgery,
:09:05. > :09:06.so they have a lot of input and innovation in the procedure.
:09:07. > :09:09.Now the surgeon behind many of those innovations says more NHS
:09:10. > :09:12.Our patients suffer less, they do much better,
:09:13. > :09:15.they have less complications, they go home much quicker.
:09:16. > :09:17.And I think that patients across all the UK should
:09:18. > :09:21.have the possibility to have the same treatment.
:09:22. > :09:26.Not everyone can have this type of surgery but,
:09:27. > :09:28.three weeks on from her operation, Georgina's recovering well.
:09:29. > :09:37.That's all from the South Today news team this evening.
:09:38. > :09:39.We're back tomorrow with bulletins in BBC Breakfast and there's more
:09:40. > :09:50.Here with our regional weather forecast is Alexis.
:09:51. > :09:58.Good evening. Lots of cloud tonight. Where we have clear spells the
:09:59. > :10:02.chance of frost in the countryside and the chance of isolated wintry
:10:03. > :10:06.showers. Chairing the early hours maybe a dusting of snow, more likely
:10:07. > :10:11.for eastern parts of the region, but they could push westwards, and
:10:12. > :10:17.bridges will drop to freezing in towns and cities, slightly lower
:10:18. > :10:20.temperatures in the countryside. An increasing easterly and
:10:21. > :10:25.north-easterly wind tomorrow, bringing in those wintry showers, a
:10:26. > :10:31.dusting of snow possible, but drying out through the afternoon. Still the
:10:32. > :10:35.increasing breeze and a high of just two or three Celsius in some parts
:10:36. > :10:41.but feeling more like freezing with the wind. A cloudy night tonight,
:10:42. > :10:52.Maura the chance of a dusting of snow over high ground. -- more of a
:10:53. > :10:55.chance. We could see sleet or even snow on Saturday. The cold
:10:56. > :10:58.north-easterly wind will stay with us tomorrow and Saturday. Still
:10:59. > :11:03.quite a windy day on Sunday, sleet and snow. The outlook, Sunday
:11:04. > :11:09.will turn a bit less cold again. All the way up seven Celsius.
:11:10. > :11:16.At this time of year we can often get the weather stories that reflect
:11:17. > :11:17.the battle between winter and spring, and that's what's