starship is vital to nasa's hopes of landing astronauts on the moon — and elon musk�*s hopes of colonising mars. also tonight — the children of some of the post office victims seeking compensation after their lives were ruined. why the government has unveiled its new definition of extremism. the uk's air traffic meltdown over the late august bank holiday last year — 700,000 were affected — what went wrong is finally revealed. and why gardeners are being encouraged to be kind to slugs. 0n bbc london: coming up on sportsday later in the hour on bbc news, it's been a great day for sir alex ferguson, with his first winners at the cheltenham festival. good evening and welcome to the bbc�*s news at six. the most powerful rocket ever made has been launched into space for its longest and fastest

test flight yet. the starship rocket made it halfway around the globe before it broke up as it headed back to earth. but the mission is still being declared a big success. here's our science correspondent pallab ghosh. new objectives that'll eventually get us to that glorious, rapid, reusable future... twice before, starship blew upjust minutes after launch. was this going to be third time lucky? so far, so good. we are feeling the rumble. we are seeing 33 out of 33 raptor engines ignited. and now the critical part, where it blew up before — the successful separation of the upper and lower sections. 0k, we got a starship on its way to space and a booster on the way back to the gulf. oh, man, i need a moment to pick my ijaw up from the floor because these i views are just stunning.

and here's a view of the lower section falling back to earth. but then, communication is lost. and acquisition of signal, we'll see if we can get some other video... but back in space, it's all going fine, and the upper section begins reentry into the earth's atmosphere. this is where the earth's atmosphere is doing the work to slow us down. it's heat shield red—hot, until its signal is lost. again, this is the furthest and fastest that _ starship has ever flown. but overall, it's been a good day for the flight team. looks like success today. they haven't managed to bring the booster back, but that's, i think, a readily solvable problem with a few more trials. and it looks like the starship activities in orbit have gone very well. things keep going wrong because spacex is testing brand—new technologies, but each time, they get a little bit further. starship is absolutely enormous.

it's 120 metres tall. that's nearly 400 feet. the rocket has two main parts. at the bottom is the super—heavy booster, which is incredibly powerful with its 33 engines. on top is a spacecraft, which can carry cargo or a crew of an astonishing 100 people. and what makes it really special is that in theory, both parts are reusable. the eventual aim is to build a spacecraft able to send astronauts back to the moon. and maybe one day take them to mars. pallab ghosh, bbc news. the children of some of the victims of the post office scandal are seeking compensation for the impact their parents' wrongful convictions have had on their lives. the new group is led by katie downey, whose family fled to france when she was 11 after her father tony

was made bankrupt. she's been speaking to our business correspondent emma simpson. katie downey is stepping out to tell her story. her dad ended up bankrupt trying to make up for the huge shortfalls at its post office. nice to meet you finally. of course, i have met your dad. yes. she had an idyllic life until one day they suddenly fled abroad. she only found out the truth six months ago. i wasn't able to say goodbye. i wasn't able to finish my sats in year 6, and ijust had to go to a country where i couldn't speak the language. for 15 years, i have blamed my parents, which really upsets me. i feel guilty saying that now. but it's not the case, the post office did that to my family, and that's why our family unit was destroyed. she has formed a support group for the children of wronged postmasters. i met some of its first members. i am so pleased to meet you all. millie castleton�*s dad featured in the itv drama.

she has got her own full story — bullied at school, ending up —— she has got her own awful story — bullied at school, ending up with an eating disorder. after my first year of uni, i had to drop out for a year because i was very, very sick. i had to go to hospital for about nearly a week because they were concerned about my heart failing. so, yeah... and eating disorders kind of, like, stick with you, so recovery was a very long process. today, others met for the first time on the bbc breakfast sofa. it is like i have known them forever, really, because we have that same awful thing that has happened to us. the group is called lost chances, and it's easy to see why. a lot of us have missed out on careers, we have missed out on education, and ultimately our childhood we have missed out on. a lot of us worked when we were younger to be able to afford things that our friends did and we couldn't. katie's wasting no time. she's already had a reply from the boss of fujitsu. he hopes she can be included

in a wider meeting with victims. but you would like them to offer some money, as well. yes, offer the financial redress that they have spoke about and other things they would possibly be able to offer us — education... counselling? counselling. it could be their best hope. compensation for family members would be a very unusual step. the law doesn't normally compensate for these kinds of losses, but this scandal is already breaking new legal ground, and this group's just getting going. emma simpson, bbc news, staffordshire. the government has released a new definition of extremism in order, it says, to try to stop organisations which promote hatred, violence and intolerance. it's part of a promise to tackle what it says is an "increased threat" to the uk. the new terminology will be used to assess whether groups are eligible to receive public funding or support. but critics say the measure threatens freedom of speech

and public protest. 0ur political correspondent damian grammaticas reports. chanting: we want boycott! conflict in the middle east driving polarisation here. the government says it's not seeking to stop protests or curb free speech, but it needs to deal with groups whose actions, while lawful, are a threat to democracy. so this isn't a new law, but michael gove will have the power to label groups extremist, cut them off from contact with government or any funding. 0ur definition will not affect gender critical campaigners, those with conservative religious beliefs, trans activists, environmental protest groups. but the government cannot be in a position where, unwittingly or not, we sponsor, subsidise or support in any way organisations and individuals opposed to the freedoms we hold dear. we need stronger action to tackle the corrosive forms of hatred that devastate lives and corrode communities, but today's statement does not go far enough. and regardless of how workable

and effective this new definition and centre of excellence is, this announcement will not be enough. the new definition, like the old one, says extremists aim to "undermine or replace the uk's system of democracy" or "destroy fundamental rights and freedoms". what it adds is that they promote "an ideology based on violence or intolerance" and it can be by "creating a permissive environment for others". mr gove named two neo—nazi groups and three islamist ones. he'll assess them to see if action is needed. i fear that the definition, | though well—intentioned, lands in no man's land — - not going far enough to tackle the real extremists, - not doing enough to protect the non—extremists, those people who are simply- expressing contrarian views. one of the groups names is mend. they say their aim is to advocate

for muslim communities and tackle islamophobia. are you extremists? we're not at all. we've worked with police forces. we've worked with muslim organisations, non—muslim organisations. and we definitely do not fall into the new extremism definition that michael gove has put forward. so if he puts you on this list, you will take him to court? we will. we've already sent legal notice to his department. in north london this evening, a multi—faith gathering to break today's ramadan fast. here, they say the government hasn't done enough to consult with communities who have a stake in this. it will divide because it won't create a sense in which everyone has been treated equal. to impose something in this wayjust feels to me to be not— the right way to do it, - especially at the moment. the government says this is about protecting communities, but controversial, too, as it'll take just the decision of a minister to put a group on the list, but an expensive high court challenge to get off it. damian grammaticas, bbc news, in north london.

our legal affairs correspondent dominic casciani joins me now — what impact will this definition have? ., i: what impact will this definition have? ., 11, ., , what impact will this definition have? ., ii, ., , ., have? for 20 years, governments have tried to define — have? for 20 years, governments have tried to define and _ have? for 20 years, governments have tried to define and at _ have? for 20 years, governments have tried to define and at times _ have? for 20 years, governments have tried to define and at times ban - tried to define and at times ban extremism. time and again they have been defeated because this is an enormous problem, nobody can agree what the word actually means. if you think about terrorism, that is clearly defined in law, the use or threat of violence to intimidate society or a government into changes for an ideological cause. that's pretty easy to follow. but what politicians extremists is another person's legitimate access, think about climate change protesters today blocking roads. michael gove thinks he can square that circle because he says, my definition of extremism focuses on those who are sowing division in society which could lead to violence, but not necessarily so. but certainly leaves people distrusting each other. the

problem he has got is by not creating a new law, a lot of this could be subject to legal challenge if a group is effectively named and extremist. 0ne if a group is effectively named and extremist. one of the interesting things which has happened tonight, sadiq khan, the mayor of london, heavily involved in the oversight of policing of the protests, says it could drive groups underground, making it harder to work out who the really dangerous people are. dominic casciani, thank _ really dangerous people are. dominic casciani, thank you. _ remember this? chaos at airports across the uk over last yea r�*s late august bank holiday. more than 700,000 passengers were affected after an air traffic control meltdown. a report from the civil aviation authority says the problems were made worse because the engineers were on call but not on site and were unable to fix the issue from home. here's our transport correspondent katy austin. it was the major meltdown that triggered flight chaos on the busy august bank holiday monday, causing misery for nearly 750,000 passengers. we had booked to take the kids to dublin for the day, and just got here and told us it's been cancelled.

had to fork out nearly £1000 for a hotel for the next four nights. here's how it unfolded. just after 8:30am that morning, nats's automatic system became confused by a flight plan and responded by shutting down. staff now had the process flight plans manually, which takes much longer. four hours of data is kept in the system as a buffer, but the clock was ticking to try and fix it. around 9am, nats engineers contacted a more specialist colleague who was on call remotely because it was a bank holiday. an hour later, it was decided they should go in. they didn't arrive until around 11:a5am. another more senior engineer was also contacted. by lunchtime, delays were mounting up and cancellations had started. queues had built up at airports. here's edinburgh. nats eventually called in the software manufacturer, and six hours after the technical issue had begun, the system could operate normally again. gradually flight restrictions were eased, but that was far from the end of the story.

there were mass cancellations. 0ur flight's been rescheduled| for this afternoon, but there's other flights here that have been cancelled going into london, - so we're just hoping to get out today. i passengers found airports, hotels and crucially alternative flights home had quickly become full. some people ended up stranded abroad for days. easyjet cancelled my flight on monday, and they have booked me to return back on the 8th of september. i am more than 17 weeks pregnant now. they weren't able to book us anything until thursday morning. a new report says there had been a lack of planning for an incident like this. airlines racked up tens of millions of pounds in costs. they said today nats' basic resilience planning and procedures were wholly inadequate. nats said it had already made improvements. a final report is due

later this year. katy austin, bbc news. a 17—year—old boy has admitted killing a schoolgirl who was stabbed at a bus stop in south london. 15—year—old elianne andam was attacked in croydon in september on her way to school. appearing at the old bailey, the teenager, who can't be named because of his age, pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder. the plea was not accepted by prosecutors, and he will stand trial in november. there are big differences across england in how long patients are having to wait for hospital treatment. analysis by bbc news suggests that patients in the worst performing hospitals are waiting four times longer than those at the best performing. it comes as figures for the end of january show the overall waiting list has fallen slightly — to 7.6 million. 0ur health editor hugh pym has the story. high—tech in the nhs — a robot in an operating theatre. colchester hospital one of the first to offer this sort of surgery to all patients. here, it's a hysterectomy. it's less invasive with speedier recovery times. using a surgical robot like this can mean operations are carried out more quickly. this patient may even get

home on the same day, and that frees up more beds for others in the hospital who need them. surgeons say they're doing more operations and cutting waiting lists, but for the nhs as a whole, there's a huge task ahead. it's an enormous backlog, and it's making sure we have everything in place in terms of all teams working together, that we can maintain that speed of progress in reducing the longer waiting and then getting times back to what we feel acceptable. but it really is long—term planning going forward for that. yeah, ijust found that very, very hard to deal with... carol had to wait 2.5 years for major bowel surgery. after three cancellations, it's finally happened. i didn't trust anyone, and he even said, "we'll get you in next week." "0k, whatever, i've heard it all before." that's how you get, and it takes a massive impact on your life. it really, really does. do you feel relieved it now has been done? yeah, yeah, yeah.

beds for patients needing operations can be hard to find if more emergency cases are coming into a&e. the ambulance crews are building up, people are trying to get _ into their gps, unable _ to see their gps, so the increasing pressure in a&e is getting greater. they're having to care for patients on trolleys in corridprs. safe, they say, but farfrom ideal. it means waits, which we really hate seeing and we're forever apologising for. but we just have to work with what we have, and that's what the staff will knuckle down to do. and they've been doing a good job this winter. finding space and then beds for those needing emergency care is difficult enough, so the task of cutting waiting lists for others doesn't get any easier. hugh pym, bbc news, colchester. our top story this evening.

spacex's starship rocket launches from texas and goes further and faster than ever before. and coming up, as president putin looks sure to secure a fifth term in office, we speak to russians ahead of polls opening this evening. coming up on sportsday in the next 15 minutes on bbc news, turning down england — gareth southgate has revealed that he asked arsenal's ben white to be part of his latest squad, but the answer was no. at what it called the "repeated failure" by the premier league to agree a new funding offer that would have seen more money flow down to clubs lower down the football pyramid. top flight clubs walked away from a proposed deal earlier this week,

sparking a backlash across the game and renewed calls for independent regulation. here's our sports editor dan roan. peterborough versus stevenage in league 1 last night as the season enters its decisive stage. at this level of the game, the goal of financial sustainability is a challenge. and in a week in which premier league clubs failed to agree a £900 million deal to share more of their wealth, today the dispute intensified. in a statement, the efl said it was clearly disappointed at their repeated failure to put forward any new funding offer. the lack of progress once again demonstrates how difficult an issue this is for football to address without independent input. a lot of top players in english football, whether it be in the premier league or the national teams, have made their debuts in the football league in the past, and it's important for english football that we have a strong and sustainable competitive football league. in the absence of a new deal, it makes that difficult. the premier league says a settlement depends on the adoption of new spending rules and that they were already giving

away £1.6 billion over three years to the rest of the game. but some feel this episode shows that football governance is failing. the game clearly has not managed itself well. it is still governed by conflicts of interest and vested interests and so on. we have to have a regulator with proper powers and authority. expelled from the football league after going bust amid financial mismanagement, bury is a stark reminder of the difficulties lower league clubs face and inequality in the game. but some premier league clubs question giving more to teams that often have wealthy owners of their own and may have been poorly run. the demise of bury and the impact that had on the local community here acted as a catalyst for the government to commit to the idea of football's first independent regulator, one armed with the power to impose a financial settlement on the game. and following the premier league's failure to reach an agreement, ministers are under renewed pressure to introduce legislation that will establish it. today the issue was

discussed in parliament. fans in bury, macclesfield, derby, reading, scunthorpe and, may i add, portsmouth, want their precious clubs saved, because let's be really clear — if they don't want to regulate football governance, then we will. the government responded by saying a bill for the regulator would be tabled shortly. but with some clubs considering legal action should they be forced to pay more, the fallout from football's no—deal is set to continue. dan roan, bbc news. at least 60 people are reported to have died trying to cross the mediterranean from libya to europe after the dinghy they were in broke down. around 25 people were rescued from the overcrowded inflatable. they said its engine had cut out three days into the crossing — leaving them drifting at sea. russians are preparing to vote in a three—day long

presidential election — the result isn't in doubt. critics say the poll is neither free norfair and is designed to hand vladimir putin a fifth term in office. but what of the country he's ruled for nearly a quarter of a century? 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg reports from the town of borovsk on two very different pictures of russia. these days, when vladimir 0vchinnikov paints russia, the result is very dark. from a mountain of skulls and a dictator's ambition to this — russia's war in ukraine likened to stalin's terror. the 86—year—old artist had taken his anti—war message onto the streets, graffitiing "stop the war". all these paintings were scrubbed out, and vladimirfined twice for discrediting the russian army. but he continues to speak out against the invasion of ukraine. translation: i believe that this

is a crime against the territorial i integrity of a neighbouring country. it is a crime. and if i keep silent about it, it is like i am condoning it. last month, after the death in prison of opposition leader alexei navalny, vladimir went into town. on this memorial to victims of political repression, he painted mr navalny�*s face. it was quickly erased. but vladimir has created this navalny portrait at home. translation: where is russia heading? . some say we are on our way to more repression, totalitarianism, and to full dictatorship. but there is another picture of russia, one much brighter. the official version. the picture the authorities want

russians to see is not of a country that is aggressive abroad and repressive at home, but a russia with a glorious past and a bright future, of heroes and patriots who not only love their country, but also their current president. instead of dictatorship, it's devotion to the leader on state tv and an action man president flying high and on course for an election landslide. mind you, vladimir putin faces no serious challenge. his fiercest critics are in exile or in prison, or in alexei navalny�*s case, dead. but he is on the ballot. although, when i caught up with the communist candidate, nikolay kharitonov, he praised putin. "vladimir putin," he said, "is consolidating the nation for victory." and back in borovsk, many seem to believe that.

"i hope putin wins," lyudmila says, "although we do have talented leaders who could run the country in an emergency." a putin—less russia means an emergency. now, that is a picture of the kremlin will be more than happy to see painted. steve rosenberg, bbc news, borovsk. the conservative party has responded to claims that it has received further donations from frank hester, whose alleged comments about diane abbott were dismissed by the prime minister as "racist" and "wrong" here's iain watson, our political correspondent, to tell us more. the conservative party are not saying much, are they? they issued a one line statement to the bbc in which they said that donations would be reported in the usual way by the

electoral commission. what does that mean? we know mr hester has given £10 million so far to the conservative party, but there has been no new information since december. the electoral commission only reports party political donations four times a year. we would have to wait untiljune to find out officially if any more money had been handed over. but that taught us media website is suggesting that the conservative party is in their words sitting on more cash on mr hester. when he was asked by the telegraph newspaper, giving an interview to them last month, whether he would give further donations to the conservative party, he said "if it's going to help rishi, i would he said "if it's going to help rishi, iwould never say he said "if it's going to help rishi, i would never say never. he said "if it's going to help rishi, iwould never say never. i think he is the right guy". labour and the lib dems tonight are calling for more transparency and for any cash that has been handed over to be handed back. cash that has been handed over to be handed back-— could tiktok really be banned in the united states? politicians have voted for a landmark bill saying that the chinese owner of tiktok has six months to sell up otherwise the social media app will be banned in america. but the bill still needs to clear the senate and be signed

by the president before it becomes law. our north america correspondent nomia iqbal is at the white house for us. millions of americans use tiktok, could it really be banned? this millions of americans use tiktok, could it really be banned?- could it really be banned? this is the big question, _ could it really be banned? this is the big question, because - could it really be banned? this is i the big question, because president biden has said that if it passes the senate, he will sign the ban into law. he has already stopped federal employees from using the app on their mobile phone, but there is confusion here because mr biden's election campaign team is on the app. they are posting content, and his opponent donald trump, who spearheaded the move for the ban, has flip—flopped. he is now saying he's not sure about banning it. why? well, it might have something to do with, as you say, millions of american users. 170 million of them are on the app and they are protesting the ban. i spoke to some of them outside the white house who were protesting. one woman said to me, this isn'tjust some app where

we like to watch a viral dance videos. my business is on there, i make money on there. if it gets banned, i lose my livelihood. another woman said to me that this will determine how she votes in the election, so you get the sense that both men are conscious of a voter backlash. tiktok has denied the claims that they are passing information to china and they called on senators to listen to their constituents before deciding how to vote. that is, if the senate decides to take on one of america's most popular apps to take on one of america's most popularapps in an to take on one of america's most popular apps in an election year. nomia, thank you. an amazing sight in new york today — look at concorde. it was once the fastest way to cross the atlantic. its record time from new york to london was 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds. retirement has brought a much steadier pace — on water this morning as it floated down new york's hudson river. the british airways record breaker is one of only 20 of the supersonic aircraft to ever fly. it was on its way back to a museum in manhattan after spending several months undergoing restoration work. be kind to slugs — that's what gardeners

are being asked to do. they may well munch through your hostas, but the royal horticultural society and the wildlife trust say slugs have an important role to play. our environment correspondent jonah fisher explains. they're so beautiful. that face, how can you not love them? could you learn to love slugs and snails? good job i had a shower this morning, isn't it? abby march certainly has. my favourite slug in particular would be the leopard slug. abby likes leopard slugs so much, she even dressed as one for a christmas party. that's her on the left. if you have a garden and you love your garden, you need slugs and snails. you need to get on board with loving slugs and snails. the wildlife trusts have joined up with the royal horticultural society to stress the positive things slugs and snails bring to gardens, like clearing up rotting rubbish and enriching the soil. i have really grown to love them over the years.

but what about all the damage they do, munching their way through plants and flowers? if you make your garden comfortable for slugs, you're making it comfortable for those natural enemies as well. so, if your garden's comfortable for slugs, it's comfortable for frogs, toads, thrushes. so there'll be a balance? there'll be a balance. it's working towards that balance in gardens. i went looking for gardeners to see what they make of the slug and snail rebrand. do you think you could learn to love the slug? with difficulty. i really can't stand the things. when they eat all my little plants, i'm not overly happy, you know? what do you do with slugs in your garden? throw them next door! jonah fisher, bbc news, in wisley. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. good weather for slugs? i am sure they are coming out this evening because there is plenty of rain out there at the moment. it's

particularly wet across scotland. let's look at the forecast for tomorrow, friday. rain at times with some bright spells. i don't want to emphasise the sunshine too much, because there will only be brief limos. back to today, we got 18.1 in central london, 7 degrees in the lowlands with all of that rain. here is the sluggish weather and the sluggish moving weather front. is the sluggish weather and the sluggish moving weatherfront. the rain could be heavy around the lake district and rain is possible anywhere at any time through tonight. early morning, still chilly in edinburgh. here is the weather map for friday. low pressure is crossing us and weather fronts too. that means it will be a mixed bag. we have south—westerlies across southern parts of the uk, but northerly is in the north, so there will be a big temperature contrast across the uk on friday. and showers are possible at almost any time. don't be surprised if there is thunder. not so mild tomorrow.