had her hearing restored in a world first. and coming up on bbc news, calling it the biggest game of the season as aston villa look to shock at the euro up a conference league final. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. more than 30 major criminals have been jailed after £1 million worth of cocaine was stolen from a violent organised crime group. the crime bosses wanted to murder the men they thought were responsible but police had cracked their encrypted phone app and could see what they were planning. thousands of messages reveal how the so—called huyton firm was trafficking huge quantities of drugs around the uk from

its merseyside base. bronagh munro reports. three masked men arrive outside a drug stash house in liverpool. a fourth is pretending to deliver a parcel. four minutes later, they escape with the huyton firm's cocaine. hello. two men in the house have been attacked with a machete and an axe. what injuries have you got, mate? just sit yourself down. you all right there, mate? yeah. a trail of blood leads to a manhole cover where the cocaine was hidden. are you in dispute with anyone? have you upset anyone lately or has anybody got a bit of beef with you? any information�*s better than nothing. no—one from the huyton firm talks. but this time the police have a secret weapon. the encryption system the criminals use, called encrochat, has been cracked.

detectives can see the messages they're sending each other. the group they're talking about is the stolen cocaine. 30 kilos are gone. that's £1,000,000 worth. it's clear from the messages i've seen that this is a very effective criminal business, high, industrialscale trafficking of drugs, with tentacles across the uk and internationally and obviously willing to resort to severe violence. this will place them, for me, in the upper tiers of organised crime in the uk. crime boss vincent coggins thinks he's identified some of the cocaine robbers and he wants revenge. his enforcer, paul woodford, asks how many he wants killed. coggins replies, "four dead men walking." they do business with violence. it is a world where a bullet

in the head isjust literally another way of doing business, and that's the brutality of it. it's a world where there are no laws other than essentially what you could call the laws of the jungle. vincent coggins and paul woodford were arrested before they could carry out their threats. coggins has been jailed for 28 years for drug trafficking and blackmail. woodford got 2a years and six months. in total, more than 30 serious criminals linked to the cocaine heist have been convicted. they've been sentenced to over 350 years. bronagh munro, bbc news. and you can see more on that story on panorama's the crime bosses who terrorised a city, on bbc iplayer now, and on bbc two at 8pm tonight.

a man who was badly injured during the attack in east london last week that left a 14—year—old boy dead has been describing the moment he woke up to find a man with a sword in his bedroom. henry de los rios polania spoke to our special correspondent lucy manning just hours after leaving hospital, where he'd had surgery on his right hand. henry de los rios polania and his wife carolina and their young daughter survived last week, attacked in their bedroom when a man burst in with a sword. i thought i was going to die. to be honest, i thought i was going to die, leaving my wife and my child. we thought we were going to die that morning. it was only on to, i believe a miracle happened in the room. i feel so helpless. seeing my hand cut in, and looking around how to protect myself.

all i see was pillows and teddy bears. there was nothing that i could use to stop him from attacking us. but i do believe that it was a miracle, what happened in that room. yeah, it was. it's a nightmare, i can't... me and my family, i don't think we will be able to go back. we get flashbacks. i get flashbacks. you don't think you'll be able to go back to live there? i don't think so. it will feel unsafe for me and my family. if it's ok to ask, how is your daughter doing? she's just four, is she? she's... i hope she doesn't remember anything. ijust hope so. what she did saw, the guy with the sword and...

and ijust pray and hope she doesn't get any memory for it. 0bviously, on that awful morning, daniel anjorin was killed as well. what are your thoughts for his family today? i feel so sorry for them. isaw him. when i got close to the ambulance, i saw him on the floor. yeah, it shouldn't happen. it shouldn't have happened. ifeel so sorry for their family and for everyone. your sister said afterwards that she thought you were a hero. yeah, and i would do everything for my family. especially for my little one. she's my angel.

that was henry de los rios polania, speaking to our special correspondent lucy manning. five babies in england have died from whooping cough this year alone after a rapid rise in the number of children getting it. nearly 2,800 cases have been reported across england so far this year — more than three times the number recorded in the whole of last year. 0ur health correspondent sophie hutchinson is here. people will be really shocked by these deaths. u nfortu nately, unfortunately, whooping cough is extremely dangerous for some babies put it is caused by a bacteria which is highly infectious and it starts with just cold symptoms that can develop into that very distinctive cough and can in some cases lead to breathing difficulties. what seems to be happening at the moment is the number of factors have come together to cause quite a dangerous environment and has been a drop in the number of pregnant women getting the number of pregnant women getting the vaccination against whooping

cough. also among babies as well. at the same time, the natural cycle of peaksin the same time, the natural cycle of peaks in whooping cough cases has started to rise again. the last peak year was in 2016 when there were 6000 cases but in the first quarter of this year alone, just at the beginning of this year, they have already been 2800 so half that number. of the realfear already been 2800 so half that number. of the real fear is we will see a peak that is significantly higher than previous years and of course the tragedy of these five babies who have died. the uk health security agency has said it is thinking of those families and is urging any pregnant women and any families with babies to make sure they are vaccinated.— the porn star at the centre of donald trump's criminal trial has been back in court in new york. and there've been tense clashes between her and the former president's legal team. stormy daniels is a key witness in the hush money trial which centres on a $130,000

payment made to her before the 2016 election. the former president is pleading not guilty to 3a counts of falsifying business records. 0ur north america editor, sarah smith, is outside the court. this was a pretty hostile session, as you said, with donald trump's essentially accusing stormy daniels over daniels over and over again of being a liar. he denies he ever had sex with her and his attorney went through her story in great detail, looking for any inconsistencies. referring to her career in adult films, the lawyer said to her you have a long history of making up stories about sex, haven't you question to which she replied, the sex in those films is very real, just like what happened to me in that room, apparently referring to her alleged sexual encounter with donald trump in a hotel room. she said if this story was not true, i would have written it to be a lot better. she was also accused of trying to make a profit from her notoriety because she was selling

merchandise like t—shirts and candles on the back she said, not unlike mrtrump candles on the back she said, not unlike mr trump because he of course sells caps and trainers and even bibles. legally, it doesn't really matter whether or not donald trump and stormy daniels ever had sex, he admits he did pay her to keep quiet before the 2016 election and what he is charged with falsifying business records because he marks those hush money payments as a legal expense but nonetheless his team want to paint stormy daniels out to be a lawyer who made the story up in order to try and extort money from donald trump. order to try and extort money from donald trump-— donald trump. sarah smith in new york, donald trump. sarah smith in new york. thank— donald trump. sarah smith in new york, thank you. _ thousands of pro—palestinian demonstrators have gathered in sweden's main square in malmo ahead of the eurovision song contest�*s semi—final tonight in which israel's contestant is performing. the climate activist greta thunberg is among the crowds demonstrating. but israel's singer, eden golan, who was booed at dress rehearsals yesterday says "nothing will deter" her. david sillito reports.

malmo, eurovision 2024, and the build—up to tonight's semi—final has been a day of protest. these demonstrations are an expression of anger — anger about israel, its actions in gaza, and the fact that it's been allowed to participate in this year's eurovision song contest. i'm here because i think it's totally incorrect that to let israel be a part of the eurovision. i think it's not fair that russia was excluded due to their terrible invasion of ukraine, whereas there has been no exclusion of israel. booing. and at last night's rehearsals, this was the reaction from a part of the crowd to israel's eden golan. it's not putting her off. indeed, speaking before the rehearsal, she said this was a symbolic moment for israel.

to make them feel something, to show that we're here, to show our voice. it's truly a once—in—a—lifetime experience, and i will never forget it. and, yeah, i'm so excited. in the middle, eurovision, trying, perhaps vainly, to keep the event free of politics. ireland's bambie thug, for instance, was told to remove body writing with the word ceasefire. but with competitors coming under pressure from protesters to boycott the contest, and extra police from denmark and norway drafted in for the security operation, this is a testing moment. as you can see, the protesters have now dispersed and among them was the climate protester greta thunberg. now attention is focused on the arena where eden golan was rehearsing the softening of up

largely without incident, one or two briefly excellent —— escorted out but there is a degree of caution. in the past, performers would be seen out among the fans but this year they are all in the hotels when they go out to the arena, it is under police escort. there is definitely a wariness around here at the moment. david sillito, thank you. the bank of england has left interest rates unchanged at 5.25% for the sixth time in a row. the bank's governor, andrew bailey, says it looks like the econonmy has turned a corner, things are moving in the right direction, but said more evidence is needed before interest rates can be cut. 0ur economics editor, faisal islam, is here. how soon could that be, then? i think we are inching towards an interest rate cut, as you said, further hold, the sixth in a row today. but an extra vote for a rate cut on the 9—member panel and if you take all of the forecasts and some of the answers given by the bank of

england today, i think the interpretation in the markets is that a cut next month injune is 50-50, that a cut next month injune is 50—50, and we should get a cut by august. but they have been wrong in the past but that is where the markets are expecting. as important as the timing of the first cut is what happens after. we had new information from the rank of england governor that he thought they could be a case for more cuts over the next year than is currently expected so direction of travel is downwards, just not quite yet. so direction of travel is downwards, just not quite yet-— just not quite yet. what about the state of the _ just not quite yet. what about the state of the economy _ just not quite yet. what about the state of the economy and - just not quite yet. what about the state of the economy and the - state of the economy and the recovery, what did he say about that? ., ., ., ., that? tomorrow morning we get the im ortant that? tomorrow morning we get the important data _ that? tomorrow morning we get the important data for— that? tomorrow morning we get the important data for the _ that? tomorrow morning we get the important data for the economy, - that? tomorrow morning we get the | important data for the economy, the gross domestic product number for the first quarter and that should come all expectations, show a growing economy, the official end of the recession pulled around at the something of a political row between the opposition and government about the opposition and government about the strength of the recovery. i put some of that to the bank of england governor and he said that the economy has turned a corner, we are not seeing strong growth but it has turned a corner and the recession

was the mildest of the bank of england has seen on record, that number released at seven o'clock tomorrow you. our top story this evening... more than 30 criminals have been jailed after police on merseyside cracked a group's encrypted messages. coming up, a futuristic desert city being built in saudi arabia, but allegations over the eviction of villagers. coming up on bbc news, and within saracens * receives a formal warning from the football union for his arrest in new york last month and he has avoided any further sanctions. hundreds of people in the uk do not know that they are living with hepatitis c after being infected with contaminated blood. up to 27,000 people were exposed to the virus, which attacks the liver, after having blood transfusions

in the 1970s, �*80s and �*90s. but the bbc has found that around as many as 1700 people are still believed to be living undiagnosed with the condition because both the government and the nhs failed to raise awareness or trace those who were most at risk of having the virus. 0ur health editor hugh pym reports. i didn't know for 27 years that i was walking around with hepatitis c. somebody in a&e blurted it out to us, that mum had liver cancer. i went in, i had a baby, and i was given a death sentence. remembering the thousands who have died after being given blood contaminated with potentially fatal hepatitis c during surgery. doctors knew a quick diagnosis could save lives but transfusion cases are still coming forward, even decades after being infected. the hep c trust says two newly diagnosed people

call their helpline every month. that's really quite shocking, that there's people walking around, having had blood transfusions many years ago that have never actually had any treatment for the hep c. and had they had treatment for the hep c, their prognosis would be hugely different. victoria's mother maureen was one of many with this story. when she passed she was probably below four stone. she was in chronic pain. she didn't want to eat. it was just horrific. maureen died in february with liver cancer, five months after she was diagnosed with hep c and 47 years after she had the blood transfusion that infected her. even though her medical records show she needed many blood transfusions in 1976 and had hep c symptoms since 2008, she wasn't tested for the virus. why was there not a campaign on the tv? posters in the doctors'?

you know, why was mum not tested? because if mum had have been tested many, many years earlier, the outcome would have been very, very different and my mum would still have been with us. infections were the direct result of nhs treatment, but still the government didn't even start trying to trace infected people until 1995. despite saying they wanted to find victims, new evidence seen by the bbc shows the government instead tried to limit public awareness of the virus, deciding not to speed up detection to avoid embarrassing bottlenecks at liver clinics. this internal note, written by a government official, says "raising awareness poses undoubted difficulties for the nhs." it adds... "in terms of value for money, there may be better candidates for additional resources." jo was given a contaminated blood transfusion in 1988 but wasn't diagnosed for 27 years.

i had hot sweats, night sweats, day sweats, brain fog. "you're going through the menopause." no, i'm not! i've been through the menopause. they kept putting it down to other reasons. alcohol, other reasons. ahead of the inquiry�*s report, the government says it will listen carefully to the community as this dreadful scandal is addressed. the failings for patients with infected blood transfusions will certainly form a large part of that report. hugh pym, bbc news. the united states has suspended a shipment of heavy weapons to israel after president biden warned that the us would not supply arms that could be used in a major assault on rafah in southern gaza. people in rafah say there is constant shelling today with israeli tanks massed on the outskirts of the city where hundreds of thousands of people fled for safety.

the mp natalie elphicke, who defected from the conservative party to labour yesterday, has told the bbc tonight she is sorry for comments she made supporting her ex—husband after he was convicted of sexual assault. charlie elphicke was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women in 2020. 0ur political editor chris mason is in central london. what she said has caused a fair amount of consternation among labour mps. it really has, yeah. there is anger, there is fury and upset amongst plenty of labour mps over these remarks from their new colleague in an interview she gave to the sun newspaper almost four years ago in which she said her ex—husband was an easy target because he was attractive, which many regarded as blaming his victims. i have been talking to natalie elphicke in the last half an hour.

what do you say to your new colleagues who were upset at those remarks you made about your ex husband's victims?— remarks you made about your ex husband's victims? about that period of m life, husband's victims? about that period of my life. it — husband's victims? about that period of my life, it was _ husband's victims? about that period of my life, it was an _ husband's victims? about that period of my life, it was an incredibly - of my life, it was an incredibly difficult — of my life, it was an incredibly difficult and stressful period. but i do recognise it was much worse for all those _ i do recognise it was much worse for all those people, all those women, who had _ all those people, all those women, who had to — all those people, all those women, who had to give evidence at that time _ who had to give evidence at that time and — who had to give evidence at that time. and so i would like to take the opportunity to apologise to them — labour will hope that this softens the anger of labour mps on this particular issue but there is still a real disc and population for many in the labour party about the arrival of natalie elphicke because of her previous outlook on various policies. to give you a sense of that, fellow labour party members in a neighbouring part of kent, where she is an mp, have said tonight that she is an mp, have said tonight that she is a toxic and divisive figure who has no place in the labour

party. they are talking about labour's newest mp.- party. they are talking about labour's newest mp. chris mason, thank you- — imagine living here — it's a futuristic desert city being built in saudi arabia. it may look like a pipeline but it's actually a huge glass and mirror construction that will look like this inside. it's called the neom eco—project, it will cost £400 billion, and it's being built by dozens of western companies. but a former saudi intelligence officer has told the bbc that lethal force has been used to evict villagers from their homes so the land can be cleared to build it. bbc verify�*s merlyn thomas is here with this investigation from bbc verify and bbc eye. thanks, sophie. this is part of neom — saudi arabia's grand plan to transform the country and its image. it's the world's biggest construction project. a futuristic eco—city. built by companies from all over

the world, including more than a dozen from the uk. at its heart, the line — a desert city envisaged to be a 100—mile straight line. but only 1.5 miles will reportedly be built by 2030. it's in the north—west of saudi arabia cutting across the vast desert. neom's driving force is the country's crown prince, mohammad bin salman. he's courted many western leaders, including rishi sunak. the crown prince says neom is being built in an empty space, but it isn't. thousands of people lived in these three villages. for years they objected to being moved for the project, but they were still made to leave their homes. this former saudi intelligence officer told us he was ordered to clear one of the villages near neom in 2020 and that security forces were allowed to kill those who refused eviction. translation: the order said whoever continues l to resist should be killed, so it licensed the use of lethal force against whoever

stayed in their home. the orders were never this brutal, like using lethal force against peaceful activists. he says he dodged the mission, in which this villager was subsequently shot dead by saudi forces. the saudi government said the villager was an armed terrorist. but human rights groups and the un said he was killed for resisting forced eviction. in the villages, these three men who refused to leave are now on death row facing terrorism charges. the saudi government and neom did not respond to our questions about their cases. and look at these before and after satellite images, which show one of the villages where they lived. homes, schools and hospitals have been wiped off the map. the project's rights record means some businesses are choosing to walk away. solar water was one of the uk companies working on neom, but recently pulled out of a £80 million contract. i think the line is not the future,

the line is destructive. if they are there and things are happening, they can't ignore these things. do something about it. we contacted some of the british companies involved in the project. engineering and design firms atkins and arup, and racing company mclaren told us they take human rights concerns seriously and consider the broader contexts of projects. today, the foreign secretary, lord cameron, promised to look at the allegations. mohammad bin salman wants neom to be his legacy. but critics say the project has cost some saudis their freedom, and their lives. sophie. merlin thomas, thank you. football, and aston villa face their biggest game fax of the season tonight as they take on 0lympiakos in the europa conference league semifinal. excited villa fans have travelled to athens hoping their side can overturn a 11—2 defeat after the first leg. their manager says his side will need to be much improved

if they're going to reach the final. an 18—month—old girl who was born deaf has had her hearing restored after becoming the first person in the world to take part in a new medical trial. 0pal sandy, from 0xfordshire, was treated shortly before herfirst birthday, and, six months on, is starting to talk. michelle roberts met her. recorder plays note. yay! 18—month—old 0pal is learning how fun making noise can be. yeah! she's the first person to get a new type of gene therapy treatment for an inherited deafness she was born with. her parents, jo and james, say it was a really hard decision to make. it was really scary, but i think we'd been given a really unique opportunity, with no real evidence that any harm or adverse effects was likely to come to her. surgeons carried out 0pal�*s procedure just

before her first birthday. the infusion delivers a working copy of the 0tof gene that 0pal is missing. everything went to plan. gene therapy in her right ear and a cochlear implant in her left. clapping. just a few weeks later, she could hear loud sounds. and i'm not sure i believed it at the start. kept my phone out. i said it wasjust a fluke. now she can even hear whispers in her gene therapy ear. that was 2a weeks post—surgery, and we heard the phrase "near—normal hearing." she was turning to really soft sounds. yeah. they played us the sounds that she was turning to and we were quite mind—blown by how soft it was, how quiet it was. hiya, ladybird. 0pal�*s part of an international study and experts hope the treatment could work for other types of profound hearing loss, too. this is a very specific gene for quite a rare

type of hearing loss. so what i'm hoping is that we can start to use gene therapy in young children, restore hearing from a variety of different kinds of genetic hearing loss, and then have a more one and done type of approach. big sister nora has the same rare gene as 0pal. good girl! keys for daddy. more than half of hearing loss cases in children have genetic causes, so there's big potentialfor this new type of therapy. michelle roberts, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. i think we should stay with this picture. at last, finally. it has been another glorious day with temperatures peaking in the mid 20s. for most there has been a bit more cloud toppling over the high pressure. this cloud has brought drizzly outbreaks of rain to the far north—west of scotland, caithness, sutherland and the northern isles.

that will put steadily north. 0vernight tonight we will have clearing skies with temperatures holding up in double digits. we could see a little bit of mist and fog first thing in the morning but we don't expect it to last, shouldn't cause too much of an issue. favoured spots are likely to be across the south—east of england with some fog to the south—west end running up through the welsh coast and across to the isle of man. further north, more in the way of cloud through the legacy of that front and outbreaks of showery rain across the northern isles and it may linger for much of the day. the fog and mist will lift and lots of sunshine coming through and into the afternoon, just a little bit of fairweather cloud. temperatures peaking at the mid 20s. a little bit warmer in scotland way we have more sunshine. more of the same as we going to the start of the weekend. the weather front, a weakening affair, risking the chance of sharper showers on saturday. high

pressure staying with us and again it will be pleasantly warm. high uv so if you are out for any length of time bear that in mind. the high pressure will start to drift away for the second half of the weekend and allow weather fronts to move in so sunday becomes more tricky. might start glorious but we could see some thundery downpours. most likely in the south—west. enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. and that's bbc news at six. you can keep up with all the latest developments on the bbc website. now it's time to join our colleagues for the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm sarah mulkerrins. coming up on the programme... not quite mission impossible for aston villa — but there's a big battle ahead if they're to reach the europa conference league final. we'll be live in greece shortly.

issues off the pitch are affecting everton on it.