Jackie Long , Social Affairs Editor and Presenter

It was a heart-rending and very human start to the official inquiry into the disaster. The family and friends of all 72 of those who lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire have the opportunity to pay tribute to them. The first few were heard today.

Anyone who’d hoped to see an African-American woman walk a royal bride down the aisle of an ancient English church with the world watching was disappointed today. It may have been Meghan Markle’s mother’s own reluctance, or perhaps it was one step too far from protocol and tradition for Palace officials. We’ll probably never know.…

Security has all but collapsed. Millions are in desperate need of aid and there are constant outbreaks of fighting as the President tries to cling to power. This is the Democratic Republic of Congo, where countless children are caught up in this cycle of political turmoil and violence. Jackie Long has travelled across Kasai, from…

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick discusses violent crime.

Violence has continued to grip the capital, with seven more people injured from stabbings since yesterday evening. The Met Police called an emergency meeting of community leaders to discuss a strategy for dealing with the issue, but those directly affected by violent crime in the city continue to be shocked by recent events. Patrick Boyce, whose…

Tonight in East London now we are joined by Elijah Mochia, youth worker Tom Isaac and Rosemary Watt-Wyness Chief Executive of London Youth and MP David Lammy.

When Sadiq Khan was candidate for London Mayor in 2016, he made a promise to get tough on violent crime, particularly knife crime. Jackie Long spoke to the Mayor earlier and started by asking him if he had failed to deliver his promise.

As we come to the end of a terrible week, six people have been killed in the last five days in the capital victims of stabbings and gun attacks we speak to Paul Barnes whose son Quamari was killed in west London last year.

Harvey Weinstein’s former assistant Zelda Perkins has told MPs a gagging order she says she was forced to sign when she left his company was “morally lacking in every way”. Parliament’s women and equalities committee is investigating the use of non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, which critics say often create a damaging culture of secrecy .

He’s famous for playing politicians and journalists on the big screen. Now actor Michael Sheen has a new role, taking on Britain’s high-cost lenders. The Hollywood actor, who played Tony Blair in ‘The Queen’, has founded and funded a new alliance aimed at promoting, alternative, affordable credit.

The police investigation into the Grenfell Tower Fire in which 71 people died has found that at least one of the fire doors for the flats was only half as effective as it should have been. The Housing Secretary Sajid Javid said the risk to public safety in buildings with the same doors remains low. …

Labour’s response to the Chancellor’s spring statement was that austerity is still hitting the most vulnerable, even though the Chancellor insists spending on people with disabilities is increasing. But families of disabled young people across the UK say services are worse now than they were three years ago.

Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins discusses domestic violence.

It is International Women’s Day and the government has chosen it to launch a consultation on domestic violence, which it describes as a “once in a generation opportunity ” to help stamp out abuse. Among its proposals, a move to put a greater focus on emotional and psychological abuse as well as physical violence. The…

A star of Hollywood’s golden age, she was once called the most beautiful woman in the world. But Hedy Lamarr was also fiercely intelligent, something which went totally unrecognised at the time. Now a new documentary, Bombshell, reveals her invention of secure military communications. Susan Sarandon, the film’s executive producer, and director Alexandra Dean discuss…