Here's
the ITV News at 10.
[Music]
The Home Office wins an appeal to stop
the closure of an asylum hotel, but the
political battle is far from over.
Police remain outside the Bell Hotel in
Eping tonight with some local residents
voicing anger over the ruling that
asylum seekers are allowed to stay
there. The government knows there will
be no letup in public concern. we will
get out of hotels which aren't a
sustainable solution by the end of this
parliament. This judgment assists us in
doing that in a planned and orderly
fashion.
Tory leader Kem Benedok strongly
criticized the decision and urged
Conservative councils planning legal
challenges to block migrant hotels to
fight on. So, how does the government
chart its way forward in a debate which
has dominated the summer? Also on news
at 10 tonight,
why Madlin Macan prime suspect Christian
Brookner is set to be released in two
weeks time.
Israel launches its initial attack on
Gaza City, declaring it a combat zone
and recovers the remains of two of its
hostages.
Why is it still so hard for gay men in
football to come out? one of the first
gay professional stars in decades to do
it, tells us the game is going
backwards.
>> In normal footballing world, if you miss
a shot on goal or you get uh yelled at
by the crowd, right? And I think that's
a similar thing in terms of like your
sexuality. I think that's something that
people don't want to be targeted for.
>> And going ape for the world's gibbons,
how genetic testing at a Leicester zoo
could be a boon for the survival of a
species.
This is ITV News at 10 with Julia
Edgingham.
>> Good evening. The backlash began as soon
as today's appeal court ruling was made
public, overturning an injunction
against a small hotel in Essex that has
become a national focal point of protest
and controversy about illegal
immigration. The ruling means that 138
people seeking asylum in the UK can go
on being housed at the Bell Hotel in
Eping. Lord Justice Bean said the
original decision ignored the fact they
would have to be relocated somewhere
else. Eping council said it may
challenge the ruling and the
conservative leader Kem Bedon called on
other Tory councils to continue seeking
similar injunctions against so-called
asylum hotels in their areas. The
government says it wants these hotels to
be closed in a controlled and orderly
way.
It is a ruling with consequences that
reach far beyond this suburban town. The
Bell Hotel in Eping has become a flash
point in a national row over the use of
hotels to house asylum seekers.
And today's Court of Appeal decision
overturning a temporary injunction that
blocked asylum seekers from being placed
here will have huge consequences across
the country.
>> We want them out.
>> Yeah.
>> Want them out. And it they will get out
eventually. they will get out cuz this
is going to have repercussions and civil
unrest.
>> We're sure about that.
>> Yeah, definitely.
>> Today, judges warned the initial ruling
had failed to consider the wider
pressures on the asylum system. The
shutting one site simply means finding
space somewhere else. They also stressed
it could risk fueling further protests
and violence elsewhere. If an outbreak
of protests enhances the case for a
planning injunction,
this runs the risk of acting as an
impetus or incentive for further
protests,
some of which may be disorderly around
asylum accommodation.
>> For the government, today's decision is
not a victory to celebrate. But what it
does do is lift the looming deadline of
September 12th, which was when the hotel
was due to be cleared.
>> Well, nobody wants to close the Bell
Hotel and all other asylum hotels more
than me. And we have pledged that we are
going to do that by the end of the
parliament. Today's judgment allows us
to do it in a planned and managed way.
Eping has had weeks of often tense and
sometimes violent demonstrations which
have set the backdrop for this national
debate. Today, the council expressed
disappointment with the judgment and
said they would keep fighting.
>> This is not the end of the matter. While
the court of appeal has lifted the
temporary injunction, the case for the
final junction is still to be heard.
Our battle on behalf of our residents
will continue. The Conservatives who
oversaw the surge in hotel use when they
were in power are urging other councils
not to give up and to continue seeking
injunctions, blaming Labor policy for
this situation. The reason this Labor
government are still using asylum hotels
and indeed the numbers in those hotels
have gone up since the election is
because Labour have lost control of our
borders. They canled the Rwanda
deterrence scheme just days before it
was due to start. For now, as night
falls on Eping, the temporary relief the
government may feel will soon be
replaced with the pressure that it now
has to deliver on its pledges.
>> We'll speak more to Shihab in just a
moment, but we can speak uh to Neil
who's in Eping tonight and indeed has
been reporting on the some of the
protests over these long weeks there uh
in recent times. Neil, what's it like
there tonight? It seems relatively calm.
>> Yes, it is, Julie. The last few
protesters drifted away in the last few
minutes. their numbers were dwindling
during the evening. I think there is a
deep sense of frustration among them at
this ruling today. We're now into this
legal vacuum, if you like, for the next
six or seven weeks uh as a result of
what's happened today. But given the
protests over the past two months, I
think the notion that somehow people are
just going to sit on their hands here uh
may be wishful thinking. For their part,
Eping Forest District Council say the
battle goes on. They will stop at
nothing here and take this to the
Supreme Court if they need to and lose
uh at that full hearing in October.
Julie, as you say, over the past few
weeks, I've been speaking to people
here, those who haven't been taking part
in these protests in Eping who have
concerns about this. Some of them have
told me, and this isn't scientific, but
some of them have told me they feel
ignored by the government. They feel
their concerns have not been listened
to. And you know, I think that is the
challenge for ministers here. legal
process goes on, but it is finding the
right political tone. I think that's
going to be absolutely crucial in trying
to move all of this forward.
>> Okay, Neil, thank you very much indeed
for that. Well, let's pick up that point
directly then with Shehab. Um, and that
and that that is key to it, isn't it?
The legal battle goes on, but Parliament
is back next week. This has dominated
the domestic debate over the summer. How
does the government chart its way
forward now?
>> Yeah, it's going to be a balancing act.
I was speaking to someone in government
yesterday just before this came out
today and they were saying that they
felt no matter what happened today it
was a bit of a lose-lose and I'll
explain why. Whilst initially there's
that momentary relief because we've been
reporting there's been so many councils
upwards of 30 who are looking at this
judgment and considering their options.
There was a real possibility here,
according to the people that I've been
speaking to, that the asylum system
could have been in absolute chaos
because the government has a legal
obligation to not let asylum seekers out
on the streets. They have to house them.
If councils had followed suit, they
would have had to find accommodation
urgently. That's why there's a little
bit of relief. However, this feeds into
this narrative that judges, that
government lawyers are against the
protesters, against the British people,
and on the side of the asylum seekers.
That feeds a narrative that helps the
conservatives. It helps reform. It helps
Nigel Farage. That's why this is
essentially a lose-lose. Labor MPs that
I've been speaking to say it's great
that the government have this target to
end asylum hotel use by 2029. They need
to do this quicker. They can't wait that
long. Interestingly, Pat McFadden who is
one of the most influential ministers in
government at the moment has been
speaking today and in the last few hours
has made an intervention about ID cards.
It's something that Tony Blair spoke
quite a lot about a few well several
years ago. Pat McFaden used to work for
Tony Blair of course. The idea here is
that it may work as a a disincentive to
asylum seekers to come to the UK because
ID cards would make things more
difficult to work. Ultimately though,
the government needs to get a grip on
this fast because it is such a big
issue.
>> Okay, Shehab, thank you very much indeed
for that. Thank you.
>> The man identified by police in Germany
as the prime suspect in the case of
Meline Macan looks set to be freed from
prison in a matter of weeks. Prosecutors
say that despite the fact that Christian
Brookner remains the sole suspect, there
is not enough evidence to charge him.
Brookner, who is near the end of a jail
term for rape, has always denied any
involvement in the disappearance of
three-year-old Madlin from a holiday
complex in Portugal in 2007.
>> German investigators make no secret of
their belief that this is the man
responsible for the murder of Meline
Macan, but they can't prove it. And
because his sentence for raping a
pensioner is almost up, Christian
Brookner will be freed before the 17th
of September. With the clock ticking,
this was the last throw of the dice. In
June this year, a search of an area in
the Algarve where Brookner was living
around the time Meline vanished from her
family's holiday apartment in Priad
Deluj, but nothing significant was
found. Last year, the prosecutor was
remarkably open about his investigation
into Brookner's alleged links to the
little girl. Christian Brigner is our
prime suspect and he's still the only
suspect we have in the medie Mccan case.
We have evidence that he killed Maline
McCann. Um but um it's not the time for
us to put it on the table and to decide
if we could charge him or if we could u
go for an arrest warrant or something
like that in a med case. Maybe we will
um come to this point in the next year.
>> A year later without the evidence they
believe would stand up in court,
Christian Brookner will go free. He's
already been acquitted of unrelated rape
and sexual offenses in a trial last
year. In the 18 years since Meline was
taken, her parents have suffered the
heartache of her loss as well as
enduring becoming suspects themselves
before being exonerated of any
involvement in her disappearance. In
recent years, they've remained silent
while British, German, and Portuguese
police have cooperated to bring this
case to a conclusion. It now seems the
wait will go on. Christian Brookner may
be forced to wear an electronic tag to
track his movements when he does leave
prison. Ian Woods, News at 10.
>> Israel today brought back the mortal
remains of two hostages and
simultaneously launched what it called
the initial stages of a massive new
offensive in Gaza. Israel's military
declared Gaza City a dangerous combat
zone as its planned offensive got
underway. A move that has already met
with international condemnation.
Hundreds of thousands of people are
sheltering in the city in what are said
to be near famine conditions. Israel
says Gaza City remains a Hamas
stronghold with their network of tunnels
still in use.
Gaza City once again under heavy Israeli
military assault. Not yet the full scale
offensive, it says, but a preliminary
operation.
And nowhere is safe here. What buildings
remain are being pounded into dust.
Entire neighborhoods erased. And once
more, people are forced to flee. But
where do they run in this land of ruins?
>> We don't know where we are going. This
man says the army has been dropping
leaflets, shells, and explosive devices.
It's terrifying.
This is the 10th time we've left our
home. This woman said, "We were told,
get out. You're in a dangerous place.
We're being forced to leave. We don't
want to."
>> In Gaza's mortteries, the anguish of the
newly bererieved. More tears, more
goodbyes. With the death toll rising
still,
the Israeli military says its latest
operation is eliminating Hamas
terrorists, its forces striking from the
ground and the air, targeting what it
calls militants and observation posts.
>> We are currently operating with great
force on the outskirts of Gaza City. Its
Arabic spokesman said more large forces
will soon join this fighting, deepening
our strikes on Hamas and the other
terrorist organizations.
But this renewed assault hits a city
already starving and in desperate need.
Famine now ravaging its people.
And with this offensive, Israel has
halted the daily pauses that allowed aid
convoys in. The army also confirmed it
had recovered the bodies of two Israeli
hostages, one of them, Elan Vice, killed
during the October the 7th attacks.
But tonight, European ministers from
Spain, Norway, and Ireland have
condemned Israel's latest offensive, one
that deepens Gaza suffering and adds to
an already staggering death toll. Sadel
Karia, News at 10.
Three years after he sacked almost 800
workers and replaced them with cheaper
agency staff, the controversial boss of
Pendo Fairies is to step down. In a
brief statement, the company said its
chief executive Peter Hebel was
resigning to dedicate more time to
family matters. The ferry giant and its
top management were widely condemned for
the summary sackings in March 2022,
which came without consultation. The RMT
union claimed Mr. Hebweight had
effectively left the scene of a crime
with his departure.
>> The mass sacking of nearly 800 seafarers
was brutal. Workers who described
themselves as family lost their
livelihoods without warning.
Replaced by cheaper agency staff from
overseas, the move sparked widespread
outrage. seize their ships.
>> Now, the man who oversaw those
controversial plans plans to quit.
>> Should you resign?
>> I have no plans to resign. I need to see
this through.
>> Despite insisting he wouldn't at the
time,
>> the devastating news was delivered in a
company video to some.
>> Your final day of employment is today.
>> One of those affected was John Lansdown,
who was working as a chef aboard the
Pride of Canterbury. It was absolutely
horrific. And the worst part of it was
was seeing many of my colleagues walking
around absolutely devastated because
this wasn't just a job to us. It was
very much part of our identity as
seafares and we spent half of those liv
half of our lives on those ships.
>> Peter Hebweight admitted to MPs that the
sacking took place without trade union
consultation.
>> We did choose not to consult. He argued
that no union would have accepted the
firm's plans and that they were
necessary to save the business. He later
said he was deeply sorry for the
redundancies and claimed he wouldn't
take the same decision again. The
government described the move as
despicable. It even prompted employment
law changes to improve protections for
seafarers.
Despite that, the RMT union's general
secretary branded him a corporate
pirate. Today it said it was looking
forward to a hebthweight free ferry
industry where mandatory seaf farer
employment conditions agreed with trade
unions are enforced. But PNO fairies
thanked him for his time at the company.
It said it extends its gratitude for his
contributions as CEO over the past four
years. Now with customer numbers staging
a recovery, the firm will hope to put
all this behind them. Laura Jones, News
at 10.
Now, punitive sanctions were meant to be
the big stick that would help persuade
Vladimir Putin to pull back from his war
against Ukraine. At the same time, the
Trump tariffs were meant to bring China
into line. So far, neither has worked.
And the flourishing trade between Russia
and China is one big reason why. This
weekend, President Putin is heading for
a summit in Beijing where he'll meet his
Chinese counterpart, President Xi.
Debbie went to a Chinese city near the
border with Russia, which has come to
symbolize this new trade boom.
In the far northeast of China, where it
borders Mongolia and Russia, the city of
Mangali has grown from a small trading
town to a central pillar of the Chinese
economy. It is home to the busiest
landport between China and Russia. The
latest figures from the local government
show a 400% increase in border trade
year on year.
>> Ah, good.
>> Good.
>> At several logistics centers across the
city, we found Russian trucks lined up
having dropped off or picked up their
cargo.
Timber is one of the main commodities
being traded, imported from Russia,
processed in China.
This wood will become furniture or even
chopsticks destined for domestic and
international markets.
>> The manager of one timber plant we
visited said freight volumes were
growing every year.
In Mangali, you can see the importance
of a trading partnership which the
Communist Party describes as the most
strategically significant in the world.
One reason Russia's economy has survived
Western sanctions is its growing
commercial cooperation with China.
Even blocking Moscow from trading in
dollars and euros has ended up helping
Beijing in its bid to end the dominance
of the dollar. Before the war in
Ukraine, 75% of trade between Russia and
China was being done in US dollars. In
the last 3 years, that has completely
changed. Now, more than 90% of
transactions between the two countries
are being made in the Russian ruble or
Chinese yuan. There has also been a
workaround in the luxury car market.
Most Western brands ceased exports to
Russia in 2022.
But at this car salesroom, we saw
several almost new Mercedes, VWs, and
Range Rovers ready to be shipped across
the border. Business has been slower
this year so far, but Xiang Leen
believes Russia and China are on the
same page, so things will improve.
>> I believe it's going to get better and
better. Her shipping company is one of
many located next to the customs
checkpoint on the border. She said it
has been good for many businesses to be
able to pay in alternative currencies.
>> Previously it was only one way using
dollars, but now you can choose y or the
ruble.
that Mangali's tourist spots President
Putin can be found on everything from
cigarette packets to magnets alongside
President Xi. It is their relationship
that is at the heart of rising trade
between the two countries and the
shifting spheres of influence in global
order.
Debbie Edward News at 10. Man Julie.
>> In women's professional football, barely
an eyelid is battered if a player is
gay. But in the men's game, things are
still very different. Few can forget the
case of Justin Fashionu, who faced a
torrent of homophobic abuse after coming
out in 1990. More than 35 years later,
it seems little has significantly
improved. Indeed, with the advent of
social media, things have arguably got
worse. So, it was a courageous move
indeed when Josh Cavalo, who is playing
topflight football in Australia,
declared openly that he is gay. He's
just moved here to play in the UK.
>> Of the thousands of players in the
pyramid of English football, it's a new
arrival in the sixth tier who could be
about to change the game. Josh Cavalo
played at the top of Australian football
and wanted to transfer to an English
club, but it was his sexuality over his
skill that drove his final decision
about who to play for.
>> There was interest from other teams and
in other leagues as well that were
higher. For me, as an outgay male
footballer that's actively playing, I
wanted to find a team that was
comfortable with me and an environment
where I can thrive and be myself on and
off the field. Four years ago, Josh put
this video online that made his
sexuality public knowledge.
>> There's something personal that I need
to share with everyone. I'm a footballer
and I'm gay.
>> To this day, he still gets hateful and
homophobic comments posted about it.
>> But it's the private messages he
receives that remind him he made the
right decision for him.
When you posted your coming out video
and you made that decision, were you
contacted by any professional
footballers for advice?
>> Yeah, I was contacted by a lot of
footballers that don't feel like they
fit in in terms of they're not out. Um,
and that's something that I won't share
publicly of who these people were and
that is obviously their own chapter and
their own story. Um, but I honestly felt
honored that I could be the ears for
these people. In 1990, Justin Fashionu
became the first male professional
footballer in England to say he was gay.
Eight years later, he took his own life.
Only two British male professionals have
publicly come out since Fashionu. Josh's
transfer here makes him the only openly
gay male player with a club in English
football. What do you think is still the
problem that is persisting in football
that makes it really challenging for
players?
>> If you miss a shot on goal or if you
miss a penalty or you do something
that's not right on the football field,
you get uh yelled at by the crowd,
right? Your sexuality. I think that's
something that people don't want to be
targeted for and that's why they don't
want to be out. You you don't have to
look twice at my social platforms to see
the hate that it incomes and brings in.
Even in 2025,
Josh's club has had to take steps to
protect him.
>> In the event that there's any abuse,
homophobic abuse towards Josh, that will
be picked up quicker than normal. Josh
has got uh a direct number to the police
rather than to go through the normal
route. He can he's got a fasttrack route
if he's got a problem.
>> How do things feel to you at the moment
in terms of where we're at about
sexuality in professional football? It's
quite sad to see that actually people
are getting praised to say something
negative about the LGBTQ plus community.
And it's quite sad to see that,
especially with Trump and everything
that's going on in the world. For change
to happen, there needs to be people
doing what I'm doing. And that's
something that I'm willing to sacrifice
in order for people to take the next
step moving forward. If that's going to
help the next little Joshy come out and
find a football team and he identifies
as an LG LGBTQ plus person, that's more
than I could ask for. The already
enormous attention footballers get
becomes toxic when identity is
weaponized. And the threat of this means
that on professional pitches, there is
still a silence about sexuality that
hangs over the game. Ellie Pit, News at
10.
>> Well, staying with football now, and we
all know what it's like. You've had a
hard week, things haven't gone so well,
and you end up saying a bit more than
you probably should. Perhaps this was
what happened to the Manchester United
manager Ruben Amarim today when, as it
inevitably would, Wednesday's cup defeat
by Grimby came up.
>> Of the season, he's moving the pieces
around on his little laminated sheet.
But sometimes in football when it rains,
it pours.
>> Which side is he going to go this time?
He's going to hit the bar. Oh, they're
out. And two days after Manchester
United got drenched and dumped out of
the Carabal Cup in Grimby, the man in
charge could do little to hide his
feelings.
>> Sometimes I'm I I I want to quit.
Sometimes I want to be here for 20
years. Sometimes I I love to be with my
players. Sometimes I don't want to be
with him. So um again, I I need to
improve on that. It's going to be hard.
Um but now I'm focusing the next game.
Ruben Amarims cut a frustrated figure at
Old Trafford for much of his 10-month
tenure. United have won just seven of
his 29 Premier League games.
>> It's It's over.
>> But for some online commentators,
patience is running out.
>> Missed it. Never let Anana play for
United again.
>> After a slow start to the new season,
despite a 200 million pound spending
spree on new players,
>> do you think he he should leave?
Um well a fussy statement I think you
know what I mean that's not supporting
the players.
>> It was good but cuz he's like honest
about who he is. So managers just keep
it in.
>> Yeah it's rehearsed. It's media trained
the two media train. It was nice to see
a bit of honesty coming from the manager
like
>> feel that he wants to just give up and
just go away from the team but to me he
can do it.
>> Prepared to stick with him for the
moment. So
>> he seems a bit deflated. You do too.
>> Yes.
for the gloom to lift around Manchester
United. Amarim and his players certainly
have a lot of work to do. Tomorrow
afternoon they take on Burnley here in
the Premier League where another defeat
could be one too many. Jonathan Brown,
News at 10, Old Trafford.
>> Never mind, Ruben. I'm sorry it'll feel
better soon. Now, finally, gibbons are
among the most endangered apes on planet
Earth. But up until now, attempts to
save them from extinction have come up
against one very basic obstacle. It's
very difficult to tell the different
species of gibbon apart, which poses a
pretty major problem when it comes to
breeding them in captivity and releasing
them back into the wild. Now,
thankfully, a genetic test developed in
Leicester is helping zookeepers get
round the problem.
>> There are 20 species of gibbon in the
world.
Known for their excellent acrobatics,
but even with this speed and skill, they
are struggling to escape extinction.
Zoos across Europe are managing the
numbers in captivity. But even here,
these endangered agile gibbons won't be
around for much longer.
>> There's 11 of these individuals in
Europe.
>> Wow.
>> And they're all really closely related.
So instead of trying to spend a lot of
time and effort thinking about how you
could possibly save them, you long term
it's not going to work.
>> They're focusing on preserving the other
gibbons species and the key is telling
these lesser apes apart. I can I can see
dad. Dad is there for sure. He He loves
it in that
>> Lauren developed a genetics test while
she was at the University of Leicester
to stop accidental inbreeding in zoos,
but it's also expected to help in the
wild.
>> They're really popular for the pet
trade, which is illegal, but people
still do it. So when the police are able
to confiscate these animals and give
them to rescue centers, ideally the
rescue centers will want to release
those animals back into the wild. But if
they're not certain what the species is,
then they don't know what geographic
range they should release it into.
>> Lindsay, who manages the Gibbon
population at Twos Zoo, says now they
know they're breeding the right species,
it makes it possible that one day
animals could be returned to the wild.
So now we have that confirmation. Then
we've got the ability in the future to
release animals if that's the right way
to go and if we've got the habitats and
the safety of those animals that we can
secure for the future. Baby Pida, a
piliated gibbon was born here 2 years
ago. Like mom, her future is confined to
conserving her species in captivity.
But now, a simple test developed in
Leicester means some of our smallest ape
relatives could make it back to the
rainforests of Southeast Asia. Stacy
Foster, News at 10.
And that's it for tonight from all the
team here. Good night. Have a lovely
weekend.