that was jonah fisher with an that wasjonah fisher with an update into what is happened. england. this is what the main parties have been saying about today's news. as parties camping at at the local elections in maine. it's very disappointing but sadly not surprising. it is another sign that regulation isn't doing enough in the sector, and that is the reason why the greens are calling for the water companies to be brought back into public control, where we can make sure we clean up this industry and stop the sewage expenditures. it's an environmental catastrophe and government has done nothing for so long. _ and government has done nothing for so long, that's why liberal democrats are saying we need tougher regulation _ democrats are saying we need tougher regulation and a sewage tax on what the prophets and shake up the industrx — we are doing more. i had a chitchat with an _ we are doing more. i had a chitchat with an area — we are doing more. i had a chitchat with an area in— we are doing more. i had a chitchat with an area in my— we are doing more. i had a chitchat w

our environment correspondent jonah fisher explains. they're so beautiful.s 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

jonah fisher, bbc news, in wisley. top work from jonah.g across these pictures on bbc news. analysis suggests patients of the worst performing hospitals are waiting four times longer than those of the best, and it comes at the figures at the end of january shows the waiting list has fallen. colchester hospital one of the first to offer this sort 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 red

jonah fisher, bbc news.go into the thames after high levels of e coli were detected in the river. the crews from oxford and cambridge have also been told to cover up blisters and open wounds. the pressure group river action said tests indicate that the ecoli comes from sewage directly discharged into the thames. thames water said improving river health was a "key focus" for the firm. here's ellie price. it's tradition — every year the winning cox is thrown in. this year, there's a good chance they might throw up, too. we found 10,000 colonies per 100 millilitres of e coli. what that means is it's ten times worse than the worst rating for bathing water. and also means, therefore, you shouldn't go in the river. and, in the case of rowers, they need very careful health guidance. archive: many watermen declared race conditions the worst for 70 years, - and each cox wore goggles to help in their difficult task. rowers in this historic race are used to natural challenges. and cambridge are sinking. cambridge are g

jonah fisher, bbc news. our top story this afternoon.time in weeks after abdominal surgery. a new report says the scale of pothole repairs in england and wales has reached an eight—year high. coming up on bbc news, england women have beaten new zealand by 27 runs in theirfirst t20 in dunedin. captain heather knight top scored with 63 from just 39 balls. sex scenes that were previously acceptable in films with a 12 or 12a rating are now more likely to be rated 15 under updated guidelines. the british board of film classification has carried out its first major audience research for five years and found people are more concerned about how much sex and nudity can be seen by children under 15. charlie rose has this report. released in 1964, goldfinger is one of the classic bond movies, but some of the content hasn't stood the test of time. now let's both play. the british board of film classification, or bbfc, says people who took part in its research feel this scene actually portrays sexual assault. and these drama and media students in bur

jonah fisher, bbc news. now how many of you remember this smash hit from the late 90s?.# it's a bit of an ear worm, but that is tubthumping by chumbawumba. the british punk band are in the spotlight once again, having demanded that the right wing new zealand politician winston peters stop using their biggest hit at his rallies. they say "tubthumping" is a song of hope for ordinary people not for politicians with what they called "bigoted views". they've told their record company to issue a legal notice. mr peters says there is nothing wrong with his party using the hit because it is not for commercial gain. winston peters has views that are at odds to everything that chumbawumba stands for, he is anti—immigration, the rhetoric from him is egregious, and a lot of what he stands for in the way that he pushes his populist views which i think have a right wing element to them, and only cause hatred and division within communities. that song is specifically about different communities coming together in a pub in leeds, so everything he stands for is against that song. what a

jonah fisher, bbc news, in wisley. is that my neighbour? just to tell you the rocket we were telling you about has blasted off from the spacex launch site, 400 feet will, remember, no one on board, but it appears this is the live shot, it appears this is the live shot, it appears it is successful so far. we will keep an eye on that through the day on bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's sarah keith—lucas. a bit of spring sunshine. of us. this is the picture in east sussex. a little bit hazy if you have blue skies. for most, sky is a little bit more like this, the picture in cumbria. a lot of cloud and for the rest of the day producing showery outbreaks of rain drifting east, but quite mild. particularly in the south and south—east. we could see 17 degrees this afternoon, down to the fact the winds are coming from the fact the winds are coming from the south—westerly direction, so we have the warmer air mass and weather fronts continuing to produce rain particularly across parts of central scotland, quite persistent here, and nor

our environment correspondent jonah fisher has put on his waders — and he stepped into the water to explainy ways was simply because it rained a lot more in 2023 than it did in the previous year. and the way the sewage system works here is that sewage from people�*s homes mixes with rainwater, storm water in the pipes when it heads towards treatment plant. so if there is a lot of rain as there was last year, it means the system can�*t cope. and instead of it backing up into people�*s homes, there are effectively release valves. a bit like this overflow behind me, which basically allow the raw sewage, the storm water, to come out and flow out into rivers, streams, the sea to stop it, backing up into people�*s homes. and that�*s the data which we�*ve had today. effectively, all of the overflows like this now have monitors fitted onto them, which report back to the water companies and indeed ultimately to the environment agency here, how many times they spilt and for how long for. and so that data that has been published today from all the water companies in england shows a doubling of the hou

jonah fisher, bbc news. programme springwatch, has spoken to the bbc�*s nick ransom about how he believes people who are neurodivergent — those who are autistic, dyslexic or living with adhd — are being let down by a society that was not built with them in mind. for most of my teenage and 205, i thought that i was broken. i�*m not a great fan of chris packham. that�*s a legacy of loathing myself because i was different. there seemed to be more people who were different than me and i didn�*t know anyone who was like me. so it was clearly me that was wrong. and somewhere upstairs amongst my, you know, sort of library of and catalogue of my life, there is a piece of a4 paper that says repeatedly, as if i was given lines at school, "everything i am is wrong." and i wrote that out. you know, i was obviously in a very dark place. i had mental health issues at that point, but that�*s where i was at. and yet even at that time, you know, i have good sensory capabilities, visually, i have a really good memory, i�*m go

let's speak to our environment correspondent, jonah fisher.

fisher has put on his waders and he stepped into the water to explain just why the levels of sewage well, the big difference between 2023 and 2022 in many ways was simply because it rained a lot more in 2023 than it did in the previous year. and the way the sewage system works here is that sewage from people's homes mixes with rainwater, storm water in the pipes when it heads towards treatment plant. so if there is a lot of rain as there was last year, it means the system can't cope. and instead of it backing up into people's homes, there are effectively release valves. a bit like this, this overflow behind me, which basically allow the raw sewage, the storm water, to come out and flow out into rivers, streams, the sea to stop it, backing up into people's homes. and that's the data which we've had today. effectively, all of the overflows like this now have monitors fitted onto them, which report back to the water companies and indeed ultimately to the environment agency here, how many times they spilt and for how long for. and so that data that has been published today from all the

jonah fisher has more. rot, grime and raw sewage. and toilet. but, thanks to one of britain's biggest construction projects, things are about to change for the better. the tunnel is under the tidal thames. andy mitchell is the chief executive of the thames tide way tunnel, or as it's better known, the super sewer. the super sewer has been designed and built to intercept the frequent spills of untreated sewage into the tidal thames. it's going to have a profound effect on the health of the river. snaking its way underneath the bends of the thames, the super sewer can hold 600 olympic—sized swimming pools of sewage and rain. it looks like it's getting dark up here. last year, i bicycled with andy along the 7m wide tunnel. here we are at the victoria interception point, which is this connection tunnel here. whoo! echoing. this sort of mega project doesn't come cheap. the super sewer has cost about £5 billion to build and that's going to be paid for by thames water customers through their bills and that's the reality for the rest of the

jonah, thank you very much. jonah fisher reporting there.llapsed yesterday are now presumed dead. the search and rescue operation has been called off. the bridge was hit by a container ship which had suffered a power failure, possibly caused by dirty fuel. here�*s our correspondent graham satchell. as the sun rose in baltimore, this tragedy moved into a new phase. after searching the icy waters of the patapsco river for more than ia hours, emergency services are now in a recovery mission looking for bodies. a team of construction workers were on the bridge at the time of the collision. two were rescued, but six are missing feared dead. one of them has been named as miguel luna. originally from el salvador, he had three children. his wife said, "we are devastated, our heart is broken." a second man has been named as maynor suazo. local officials have now met all the families of the missing. we had the chance to pray with them. we had a chance to pray for them. and we want to let them know that we are going to keep on praying for them. and not

our environment correspondent jonah fisher has the details. charlie and the chocolate factory. pete used to love taking his coracle out on the river wye. if you'd have come here four years ago and we'd have been stood here, you could have seen the bottom of the river right the way across. people'd shout from the bank to me and i'd encourage them down and show them how to paddle a coracle. it broughtjoy notjust to me, but to lots of people. but the joy for pete has gone. the declining health of the river means going out just isn't fun any more. it feeds my anxiety, my depression. it's damaging for my mental health. rather than coming off the river with a big grin and taking lots and lots of photos, which i then share — instead of that, i'm coming off angry. angry with who? angry with the people polluting the river. so who's to blame? these guys are at least part of the problem — the last decade has seen a massive expansion in chicken farming near the wye... ..and that means lots of chicken poo. and if too much of that is spread on fields as fer

our environment correspondent jonah fisher reports. it's covered in raw, untreated sewage.me to one of the many rather smelly front lines in england's war on sewage. i mean, the smell here is very much poo rather than chemicals, isn't it? yes. the reason for that reflects the fact that we've had overflows of sewage. and the latest data shows that particularly when it rains, it's a battle that's being lost. we've seen, you know, solids floating past. turds? yeah, turds. we're outside a sewage treatment works in surrey. simon, a geography teacher, and nigel, who's retired, are showing us a video they filmed of sewage spilling through the fence onto the public footpath. there's a problem at this sewage works at horley where the storm tanks overtop across and out of the sewage works into the public realm where people are walking, dogs, children are playing. the latest environment agency data shows this site discharged sewage 80 times last year, for more than 1,200 hours. across england, the figures are as grim as the water by the footpath, with the number of hours of spells wit

jonah fisher, bbc news. or the thames tideway tunnel as it's officially known — will begin testing in a few months time. it is a huge tunnel — it's nearly 16 miles long and it stretches underneath the thames. eventually it'll connect 3a storm overflow drains and it'll take the sewage to be treated to a works in beckton in east london. leana hosea co—runs watershed, its an investigativejournalism unit focusing on water issues. this explanation about this spills being down during heavy rain, as i understand it, the high court ruling was switched should only be dumped in exceptional circumstances and exceptional weather. so unique that they cannot be foreseen. and i don't classify it as exceptional circumstances, do you? it classify it as exceptional circumstances, do you? it is illegal for companies _ circumstances, do you? it is illegal for companies to _ circumstances, do you? it is illegal for companies to release _ circumstances, do you? it is illegal for companies to release and - circumstances, do you? i

jonah fisher, bbc news, in wisley. is that my neighbour?r, no one on board, but it appears this is the live shot, it appears this is the live shot, it appears it is successful so far. we will keep an eye on that through the day on bbc news. time for a look at the weather.

let's speak to our environment correspondent, jonah fisher. more than doubled, why?y good cuestion. more than doubled, why? very good question- it — more than doubled, why? very good question. it has _ more than doubled, why? very good question. it has more _ more than doubled, why? very good question. it has more than - more than doubled, why? very good question. it has more than doubled, i question. it has more than doubled, 3.6 million hours of discharges last year. there were an average of 1271 spills every day. this has been measured by event duration monitors attached to the 111,000 also combined sewer outflow pipes around and they report back in every time sewage and water comes out into the sea. this is a collation of data we have seen today, summarised in effectively what the water industry has been saying is though they do regard sewage discharges like this as being unacceptable, last year was a particularly wet year, 2023 was particularly wet year, 2023 was particularly wet year, 2023 was particularly wet compared to 22 which was dry. there is a factor whi

that was our environment correspondent, jonah fisher.it is possible that the sun newspaper would not have published this because the couple were not on any official royal duty, they were simply out doing a bit of shopping in their private time, but the paper says it wants to end what it calls the madness of the social media speculation we have seen over the past couple of months, ever since it was announced that kate had gone into hospital to have abdominal surgery. now the speculation got even worse after mothering sunday, when kensington palace published a picture of catherine surrounded by her three children, but the picture looked rather odd and the following day catherine was forced to apologise, saying she had edited the picture. today prince william is expected in sheffield, where he wants to talk about his homelessness project. kensington palace would far rather we concentrated on that than the ongoing speculation but looking at social media this morning i think the conspiracy theorists have not been silenced.— the conspiracy the

fisher, is there for us. morning. am prepared for everything. gloves, _ for everything. i am prepared for everything. gloves, glasses, i for everything. i am prepared for i everything. gloves, glasses, hats, we have everything going on. talking about those figures from the environment agency, we are expecting to hear later today about how many sewage spills took place in our rivers and seas in the year. it is expected to be pretty bad for the sewage industry. the figures about how many ends how many hours will be big, possibly record numbers. we are here in east london and abbey mills pumping station to talk about the weather thames tideway project. a huge tunnel under london aiming to divert some of the raw sewage into the tunnel, so it can be treated, possibly. we are hoping that the final piece of the jigsaw will be completed today. earlier on, i went to have a closer look. rot, grime and raw sewage. for centuries, the river thames served as both the capital's dustbin and toilet. but, thanks to one of britain's big

our environment correspondent jonah fisher is at rhs wisley for us, jonah.hs wisley and a definite sense that spring is in the air, and that is the _ that spring is in the air, and that is the time — that spring is in the air, and that is the time when gardeners around the country— is the time when gardeners around the country are starting to think about— the country are starting to think about putting seeds, seedlings on the ground and also the start of what _ the ground and also the start of what can— the ground and also the start of what can be a pretty deadly battle between _ what can be a pretty deadly battle between the gardener and the slug and between the gardener and the slug ahd shait, — between the gardener and the slug and snail, and the reason we are here _ and snail, and the reason we are here is— and snail, and the reason we are here is because the royal horticultural society are suggesting we rethink how we manage slugs and snails _ we rethink how we manage slugs and snails ih _ we rethink how we manage slugs and snails in our— we rethink how