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tv   BBC News at Five  BBC News  July 21, 2017 5:00pm-5:46pm BST

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at five... a bbc investigation finds evidence of children as young as nine being groomed on the live—streaming app, periscope. children are found streaming video live from classrooms and bedrooms. the nspcc says the evidence is disturbing. so vulnerable and being so clearly groomed for sexual purposes by a pack of people online. it's really shocking. we'll have the latest and i'll be asking the nspcc what can be done to protect our children. the other main stories on bbc news at five... a new scan on charlie gard makes for "sad reading", says a lawyer representing great ormond street hospital. a strong earthquake near the greek island of kos kills two people and injures more than a hundred. the fans were thrown around, the mirror came off... it lasted approximately ten to 15 seconds, myself, my wife and my children, we just gathered our stuff as quick as we could and as we were making our way out
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there was a second shock. the hunt for missing raf airman corrie mckeague. police say the search of a huge landfill site has failed to find his body. air traffic controllers warn the uk's skies are almost at capacity because they're dealing with a record number of planes. there is no hiding from this, son. we have a job to do. and christopher nolan's blockbuster dunkirk is released in cinemas. we'll get mark kermode‘s thoughts on that and the other releases in the film review. good evening. welcome to bbc news. a bbc investigation
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has found evidence of children as young as nine being groomed on the live—streaming app periscope. launched two years ago, periscope allows its millions of users to broadcast live from their phone. but our team found children streaming video live from their classrooms and even their bedrooms — leaving themselves open to abuse. twitter, which owns the app, says it has zero tolerance for this kind of conduct. our correspondent angus crawford reports. not learning by broadcasting live from the back of the lesson. viewers send her direct messages. another school, another class. more questions from total strangers. but this is not just questions from total strangers. but this is notjust an innocent chat. are you in high school? yes. we found pupils live streaming across the country. and they have all been using this, periscope, which is a map owned by twitter. it allows
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users to broadcast live from anywhere. and our investigation found children using it in their own bedrooms. being groomed in front of oui’ bedrooms. being groomed in front of our eyes. this child is still in school uniform. probably 12, no more than that. talking straight to the camera. and there is seven requests already. one of them is asking the size of her bra. another one has just joined. size of her bra. another one has justjoined. someone hasjust asked her to unbutton her shirt. the age limit is meant to be 13 but we easily find children younger than that. this little girl is really young. it is my first time playing this up. i don't even know what to do. iam this up. i don't even know what to do. i am nine. this up. i don't even know what to do. iam nine. iactually look
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seven. up top, please. what do you mean by that? we passed the details of all these children to the police. and we should not be found to the nspcc‘s head of online safety. and we should not be found to the nspcc's head of online safety. hi. well, it is very disturbing to see children as young as nine, when they are so children as young as nine, when they are so vulnerable and being so clearly groomed for sexual purposes bya clearly groomed for sexual purposes by a pack of people online. it is really shocking. what is really worrying about periscope is the way that it uses maps. if i go life from a street corner in west london, then anyone can zoom a street corner in west london, then anyone can zoom in a street corner in west london, then anyone can zoom in and find out exactly where i am. twitter refused an interview request but said in a statement... but our investigation showed
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children openly being groomed. the question for periscope is, can young people really broadcast to the world and stay safe? with me now is emily cherry — head of participation at the children's charity the nspcc. this is so disturbing. let's start with payments. there will be paid and is watching this, extremely worried. what is your advice to them, to families, tonight?” worried. what is your advice to them, to families, tonight? i am a pa rent them, to families, tonight? i am a parent myself and this is so shocking to see this evidence of predatory paedophiles easily accessing children. but there is a lot that parents can do. at the nspcc, we have a fantastic tool
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called net aware that helps you have that conversation with your child. the minute that you put technology in their hands, you as a parent can really help them to understand things like agassi settings, location settings and to the speaking to. and the benefits that might exist out there. that makes sense but i wonder if that presupposes parents understand the internet as well as their children, and we know that that is not always the case. we know that from research at the nspcc that one in five pa rents at the nspcc that one in five parents feel uncomfortable talking to their children about that. we also know that four out of five children are telling us clearly that they do not think social media companies are doing enough to keep themselves safe. it is notjust about payments but it is about the industry stepping up and really putting child safety at the heart of everything that they do. and so on apps like this, twitter, which owns it, says it does not condone any of this, of course. but purely in terms
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of the setting, the technology, do you feel there is more companies should be obliged to do? you might be what minimum standards of safety that apply to all companies. things like having safe accounts for anyone under 18 so that you can't have the same location features. things like privacy settings at the highest level so that they cannot accept friend requests from strangers are comments from strangers. there is definitely more that the industry can do. it is about time, is minimum standards can be applied... if companies can't live up to that, they should be fined for failing to keep children safe. are you looking for government to legislate on this? we know that there are some things government are prepared to do. with the digital economy bill forthcoming, there are things happening around age verification. pornography sites will require anyone over 18 to have a credit card. that is a simple thing that could be applied to all social media
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sites, you have an age verification in place there. government could do more and i would urge them to make sure they work with industry and child safety experts to put online safety at the heart. and differ much younger person is watching this to me, what would you say to them? or god forbid, if they have spoken to someone god forbid, if they have spoken to someone online and now the questioning in it, what would your message be? if there are any children young people worried about someone children young people worried about someone who has contacted them are something we have done or shared, it is never your fault. if something we have done or shared, it is never yourfault. if you come forward , is never yourfault. if you come forward, there is definitely support available. childline is the 24/7 and you can speak to one of our trained counsellors to keep yourself safe online. emily, thank you very much indeed forjoining us tonight. from the children's charity the nspcc. news just newsjust coming news just coming through from washington, dc in the last few moments. we are hearing from reuters and others that sean spicer has
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resigned. that has just come through noa resigned. that has just come through no a few moments —— in the last few moments. the white house books and sean spicer has resigned. these are the pictures that you would be familiar with. the man who frequently gives the white house daily briefing and talks tojohn lusts. had a very controversial relationship and has some controversial comments since the trump administration came into power. we're hearing that he has resigned. let's get the very latest from our correspondent. what more can you tell us? the new york times is reporting, as you said, that sean spicer has resigned his position as white house press secretary, and according to the times the reason that he did this is because a supporter of donald trump had been appointed to head the white house can occasion is office, overseeing all the press
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operation, including sean spicer‘s position as press secretary. and sean spicer raheem only objected to this. he felt he was not right for the role and as a result, because of his reservations, he offered his resignation. in the early days of the administration, he had regular white house press briefings on camera. sometimes contentious. he was a very camera. sometimes contentious. he was a very outspoken advocate and defender of donald trump. in recent days, his role in the white house has been somewhat circumscribed. yes ta ke has been somewhat circumscribed. yes take a less visible role and he has not done as many on camera press briefings. his deputy has been taking some of those. many of the press briefings where off—camera. but he was expected to stick around in the white house. there were no rumours of his impending departure until today and it seems like the cause is the man who was offered the white house communications role this
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morning and access to that from the president. sean spicer objective and thatis president. sean spicer objective and that is why he is leaving the white house. is there an assumption on capitol hill that this man was offered disposition to get rid of sean spicer? it is well—known that there has been some controversy surrounding him since donald trump took office. that is a possibility. ido took office. that is a possibility. i do not have much we want to read into the motivations behind it but it was quite an open secret that there were some conflict that sean spicer had questions over scan —— the new man in the imitation. he did not start working for trump initially, but when seeking one board and the waiters, he has been a
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very active, animated surrogates for the president you liked the positions —— for the president. sean spicer was not part of the trump campaign team. he was press secretary for the republican national committee in all 2016. he was brought in once donald trump won the white house and presidency. he was put forward as the press secretary perhaps as a bridge between washington and donald trump's team, which had not as much experience of the give—and—take of politics in washington. thank you very much for the news. if we get more reaction, we will be back of course. the news in the last few moments that the press spokesman sean spicer has resigned. the parents of charlie gard have been told that a new scan carried
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out on their terminally ill baby son makes for "sad reading". a high courtjudge is deciding whether charlie should be sent to the us to undergo experimental treatment. upon hearing the news, charlie's father shouted that the lawyer for great ormond street hospital was "evil". our correspondent helena lee is at the high court. the details of the scan, it would seem, have only emerge to —— very recently. explain what has happened. this has been a case management healing and the judge this has been a case management healing and thejudge brought this has been a case management healing and the judge brought all the legal teams together to make sure they have got all the evidence ahead of the film hearing, which is due to take place on monday and tuesday of next week. it was towards the end of the day's hearing that the end of the day's hearing that the lawyer representing great ormond street hospital told the court that
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a report into a new scan onto charlie makes for sad reading. earlier this week, an mri scan was carried out on 11—month—old charlie. at that point, as you said, the pa rents at that point, as you said, the parents reacted. charlie's father shouted, evil, towards the barrister representing great ormond street hospital. also, charlie's mother, connie, broke down in tears and she told the court that she and chris had not seen the results of this mri scan yet. it appears that this is the first indication they have got the first indication they have got the results of that scan. now, what will happen next is the will come back to court heard that the high court on monday and tuesday of next week. what thejudge has court on monday and tuesday of next week. what the judge has to decide, he says, is he has to know whether there is new material which could make a difference to charlie. and of course that american doctor came over earlier this week and on monday
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he met with the clinicians from great ormond street hospital. he also met charlie for the first time. that meeting has been transcribed. thejudge will look at that meeting has been transcribed. the judge will look at that and be expected to make his final decision on what will happen to charlie gard on what will happen to charlie gard on tuesday. thanks very much. this is bbc news at five. the headlines... us media is reporting that the white house press secretary sean spicer has resigned after objecting to the appointment of a new communications director. a bbc investigation here finds evidence of children as young as nine being groomed on the live streaming app periscope. the parents of charlie gard have been told that a new scan makes makes for "sad reading", according to great
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ormond street hospital. and in his first open appearance since 1980, richard bland has a shade of the lead at royal deal. he is on four under par with four other players, including ian poulter. henrik stenson reveals his rented home was burgled during yesterday's first round at royal deal, saying that he had valuable personal items stolen. and chris froome is two stages away from a fourth tour de france title after maintaining his lead on stage 19 and finishing safely in the main bunch. moray low stories just after half past five. —— and we will have more on those stories. two people have been killed, and more than a hundred injured, after a powerful earthquake struck near the greek island of kos. the 6.7 magnitude quake hit in the early hours of the morning. holidaymakers on kos woke to find parts of
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the island turned to rubble. there was also flooding in the turkish resort of bodrum. let's either report on the latest from this earthquake with richard galpin. panicked shouts. it's just after 1:30am in the morning, local time. and holiday—makers who have been enjoying a night out are now running for their lives. security cameras captured the moment the powerful earthquake shook the turkish city of bodrum. anyone inside at the time getting out as quickly as possible, fearing otherwise they would be crushed. but it was the nearby greek island of kos which was hardest hit. it was closer to the epicentre. there was significant damage in the main town.
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police say two tourists, one from turkey and one from sweden, were killed, when the roof of a popular bar collapsed. we were literally ripped from our sleep. the bed shook uncontrollably, the room shook from side to side, the noise was terrible. i actually thought that was it, i really did. it was getting really, really loud and i thought we were being attacked, but then bits of the walls started falling off and our beds were shaking. so we ran over to the door frame to hide under it and it stopped, and we heard everyone screaming in the hotel, running down, trying to get out. 1.30 in the morning, we were woken by a tremendous shaking of the whole building. the fans were thrown around, the mirror came off. it lasted approximately 10—15 seconds. myself and my wife and two children just got our stuff as quick as we could, and as we were making our way out
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there was a second shock. all this at the peak of the tourist season. officials here say there are 200,000 holiday—makers on kos at the moment. at least 10,000 are british. with a series of strong after—shocks throughout the night, many people in bodrum and kos decided they'd be much safer sleeping outside. and while many of the injured have been treated locally, those badly hurt on kos are being flown out for specialist treatment. richard galpin, bbc news. the environment secretary michael gove has said the uk will need continued access to workers from europe as the country goes through the process of leaving the european union. mr gove said the cabinet was agreed on the need for an implementation period between britain formally leaving the eu and a new trading relationship coming into force. but it's not clear whether that
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would include continuing freedom of movement for eu nationals. from westminster, here's our political correspondent, chris mason. this week's brexit negotiations concluded with an acceptance on both sides there's still a lot of work to do and the clock is ticking ever closer to the uk's exit day in march 2019. but the government wants a transitional period after that, where the uk is out, but some elements of eu membership remained. could that include unlimited immigration from the eu? the prime minister has made clear as we leave the european union we will have an implementation period which will ensure we can continue to have not just access to labour, but the economic stability and certainty which business requests, and again, that something around which the government and cabinet are united. the details, inevitably at this stage, are sketchy. the boss of the bank goldman sachs says that means they are spending a lot on contingency planning.
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if i knew today that we'd have a transition period, i could stop spending that money, taking out the insurance, because i know i'd always have time to transition my business. if they tell me in february of 2019 there will be a transition period, well, i've already spent that money, it's not much use to me. businesses and others want certainty but the only thing certain right now is the opposite, uncertainty, because no—one, either here at westminster or in brussels knows for certain what if any deal will be reached and so what a transitional arrangement might look like and how long it might last. the newest party leader at westminster said... it's encouraging that some of the more sensible and pragmatic members of the government are beginning to exert themselves and look for a compromise, but it's still the case that, within a few years, british people are going to lose their right to move freely around the continent.
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ukip, the party that achieved its dream in the referendum, says the government would be cheating those who voted out. we are seeing brexit betrayed because the eu doesn't want us to leave. it's delaying, impeding, in the hope of overturning, and it is assisted by quislings in both houses of parliament over there. pleasing big business, pleasing brexit voters, trying to do a deal. the government's big task is onlyjust beginning. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. palestinian protesters have clashed with the israeli police in an escalating confrontation that began near the holy site injerusalem known to muslims as the haram al—sharif, and tojews as the temple mount. the palestinian health ministry says three palestinians have been killed in the violence, though the circumstances remain unclear. more than 150 people are injured. unrest has spread to parts of the west bank. earlier, israeli police prevented
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men under 50 from attending muslim friday prayers at haram al—sharif. israel installed metal detectors at the compound following the killing of two israeli policemen in the area last week. here, a man has admitted murdering his brother, and attempting to murder his brother's girlfriend, by setting fire to their family home near glasgow on new year's day. glasgow high court heard that blair logan, who's 27, had a hostile relationship with his younger brother cameron. police say they have found nothing at a landfill site in the search for missing raf serviceman corrie mckeague. the airman went missing after a night out in bury st edmunds in in suffolk last september. officers have been searching a landfill site in milton in cambridgeshire for the last 20 weeks, after it was believed he may have ended up in a bin lorry, but that search will now end. we can now speak to our correspondent alex dunlop at the landfill site in milton in cambridgeshire.
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there was a lengthy news conference this afternoon. explain what the police have been saying. in effect, the police have this afternoon packed away the rakes at least eight and admitted defeat. they cannot find any sign or evidence that corrie mckeague is buried here. the set—aside initially 6—10 weeks and half a million pounds for the search. that came and went and the extended the search into a wider area. that search has gone on for 20 weeks. for the officers here, it has been hot, uncomfortable, sometimes dangerous work, wading through the reviews in very high temperatures. they say that they have been some
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material, newspapers, that sort of stuff, that indicates they were searching in the right time frame of last september and in the right area, that shows that the refuse came from bury st edmunds. but nothing that links corrie mckeague to the site. that said, they say they are still convinced corrie mckeague is here but this is not a criminal investigation. i was here backin criminal investigation. i was here back in early march when they started that landfill search and the detective superintendent fulcher confident they would find him. today at the press conference, she struck at the press conference, she struck a very different tone. this has been an unprecedented search in the scale and amount of waste examined. we have searched a whole area will be believed corrie would be. we had compelling information directed us to this area. however, we have not found corrie and this is bitterly
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disappointing. we have searched over 6500 tonnes of waste, excavating a huge area. without anything further to tell us where he might be on such a vast site, the search cannot continue. what happens now? suffolk police say that they will have an external review undertaken of the investigation so far by another force and they say that should that review revealed father lines of enquiry, they will pursue that vigorously. corrie mckeague was last seen vigorously. corrie mckeague was last seenin vigorously. corrie mckeague was last seen in cctv in bury st edmunds. it is fair that he entered a bin willingly or unwillingly and ended up willingly or unwillingly and ended up at this landfill site. corrie mckeague's mother, police officer from scotland, says she is devastated that the search is stopping. there is a lot that i agree with that has been said. the amount of work that has been carried out. the level that they have carried the search out. i do believe
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is corrie was there, they would find him. i have tried really hard to put my trust in them. but to say that i am devastated that they are now saying they think he is still in there but they're going to stop searching, i can't begin to explain how that makes me feel. the family believe that corrie is in this landfill but crucially they say that they want to know how he died. they think there could have been felled play. but for them, sadly there is no closure. —— foul play. air traffic controllers are warning that the uk's skies are almost at capacity — because they're dealing with a record number of planes. it comes on what is one of the busiest days for controllers, who are anticipating nearly 9,000 flights as many families begin their summer holidays. andy moore reports. air traffic building over the uk as the sun rises on a typical summer's day.
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today, the skies will be even more congested, the busiest ever day at the beginning of the busiest ever summer. new technology is being used all the time to increase the capacity of our airspace. this is a virtual control tower for london city airport. computers can see more than the human eye. national air traffic services are expecting more than 770,000 flights to cross our skies this summer. that's 40,000 more than last year. but by 2030, there would be a predicted 8000 flight cancellations unless something is done. the current system was designed for the planes of the 1960s. modern aircraft are much more sophisticated and that means a new plan can be created. effectively, it's redrawing the air networks we have and airspace, to accommodate that future growth. but it can mean more direct routes, it can mean continuous descents into airports, continuous climbs out of airports, so there's potentially environmental benefit
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as well as addressing issues around noise pollution through modernising our airspace. this morning, transport secretary chris grayling launched a £1 billion programme to double the size of manchester airport's terminal two. he also announced a consultation on the government's aviation plans for the next 30 years. this is all about asking the country, people who use aviation, the businesses that use aviation, the aviation sector itself, how should government work with you in the future, what should our approach to regulation be, and decisions we take about the future of the sector, what should those look like? but not everyone is convinced we should keep on increasing the number of flights. it's a very small minority of people who take the overwhelming majority of flights. we need a common—sense approach. we can't go on expanding aviation indefinitely, so we need a levy which penalises those that are taking flights multiple times a year but respects people who need to take a family holiday.
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everyone accepts our skies are reaching saturation point. the question is what to do about it. we will take a look at the cinema releases at quarter to six including... the story of two naughty schoolboys who accidentally hypnotise their headmaster into thinking he is the dim—witted superhero captain underpants. now it is time for the weather. the weather has been a bit bad today. so, let's have a look at the forecast. here is the low pressure across the country. that is what has really brought the miserable conditions and it has been raining heavily in the south west, we have had gusts of wind around 50
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mph, so for anyone holidaying in the south west, it has not been a great day. the rainfall will move into other parts of the country through the course of this evening and some of the east areas who have not seen the rainfall will have a bit of rain tonight. it will not rain everywhere, there will be clear spells around as well. tomorrow, a mixed bag, ithink spells around as well. tomorrow, a mixed bag, i think the showers will be hit and miss, some of us will miss them completely, whereas some of us will get some heavy ones. temperatures around 20 degrees at best and it will stay like that through the course of sunday. by the time we get to monday, the weather will improve but by that time, the weekend is over so be prepared for showers but also a bit of sunshine thrown in as well. good evening. you're watching bbc news. these are the headlines. i
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think we might be able to go live to washington but the main story that has developed is. the white house press secretary sean spicer has resigned — after objecting to the appointment of a new communications director — according to us media reports. a bbc investigation finds evidence of children as young as nine being groomed on the live streaming app periscope. a lawyer representing great ormond street hospital has told the high court that a new scan on the terminally ill baby, charlie gard, makes for "sad reading". two people have been killed and around one—hundred others have been injured, following a powerful earthquake which hit the greek island of kos and the coast of turkey. let us take you straight to washington tonight, specifically to the white house because that news came through just in the last 15 minutes that sean spicer has resigned. he will know his face, you will be familiar with him, he is
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president trump's, was his press spokesperson. fronted so many of those white house briefings, a controversial figure, those white house briefings, a controversialfigure, he had made some controversial statements, he had a few run—ins with various journalists and donald trump took office in january and journalists and donald trump took office injanuary and we are hearing, have heard, just in the last few minutes, that sean spicer has resigned. there is clearly a news co nfe re nce has resigned. there is clearly a news conference going to happen, apologies for that, there will be a white house statement very shortly. because what we are keen to hear is a few more reasons for this. we know that someone has been appointed, was appointed earlier today, in —— seniority to him, so it appears to be that would be the key reason for his resignation, resignation, that that appointment caused some
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displeasure and that is what prompted him to resign. that working assumption at the moment and we are waiting to hear more. we will be back there in washington, clearly the journalists there look expectant, so we will be back in washington once that briefing gets underway. we will keep an eye on that. meanwhile we will catch up with the latest sports news. good afternoon. the open leaderboard is getting pretty congested. as those at the top battle the toughest conditions of the week so far. the rain is very heavy at the moment at royal birkdale but it has not stopped adam wilde from keeping an eye on everything and humayan men currently sharing the lead. that is right, the rain has for the moment stopped, it was very heavy ten or 15 minutes ago. the players are really having the worst of it, those who are still on course this afternoon.
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really very difficult conditions, i am being told, as we speak, that play has just been suspended. we heard just as you were coming to us, a few rumbles of thunder in the background and that of course spells very bad news for golfers. play has been temporarily suspended but we will bring you the leaderboard. a four way tie at the top, matt kuchar, the clubhouse leader, four under, he finished with a round of 71a under, he finished with a round of 71 a little earlier on, jordan spieth going nicely, on number —— four under, brooks koepka, has played well as well, he is four under, two englishman, richard bland, he is up there asjoint leader and ian poulter hasjust dropped a shot and is three under. hideki matsuyama, the world number two is going very well as well on one under. very congested, all
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change at the top of the leaderboard, earlier on, rory mcilroy, he had a very good round, he was delighted with his round, finished two under for the day, one under overall so still in contention and here's what he had to say. anything around even par was good. i got off to the best possible start, i made some birdies, early on and that gave me a little bit of a cushion to play with. i needed to make some big up and downs around the middle of the round, but i did exactly what i wanted to do, get in and finish the tournament under par and finish the tournament under par and see what the guys do this afternoon. tell us a little bit about richard bland, he is a player that sent —— so many will not know? it has been a few years. it is a great story, richard bland, a 44—year—old, the last time he played
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in the open was way back in 1998. the best part of 20 years of, of course in 1998, it was here as well at royal birkdale. he has been off the open scene for a long time. he is back this year and making the most of it, joint leader as we come towards the end of the second day. most of it, joint leader as we come towards the end of the second daylj do very much. that is all the time we have for the sport. we will have more in sports day coming up at half past six. sorry to cut too short, we will have more sport later. the environment secretary michael gove has said that brexit offers a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity to reform britain's agriculture and fisheries. he announced farming subsidies will in future be paid only to farmers who use their land responsibly, by managing natural resources and habitats. our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. the racehorse frankel, owned by a saudi billionaire. he gets £400,000 of eu money for his stud farm near newmarket. the royals get more than £0.5 million for the sandringham estate.
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the sums based on the amount of land you farm, basically, the richer you are, the more you get. mr gove says that must change. leaving the eu gives us a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity to reform how we manage agriculture and fisheries and therefore how we care for our our rivers and seas. and we can recast our ambition for our country's environment and for the planet. in short, leaving the european union should mean a green brexit. that means payments for owning land will be scrapped by mr gove. subsidy will come instead for protecting the soil and waterways, preventing flooding, and reducing pollution from farm chemicals. landowners have been braced for reform. farmers like me are both producers of food and conservationists at the same time. you must remember that most farmers, a small family owned businesses, hard—working, trying to produce food
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for the nation but also trying to conserve a clean environment. the key question will be how much of the total subsidy farmers retain when reform happens. mr gove's speech stretches beyond farming. on fisheries, he said the eu had allowed overfishing. the uk would stick to tighter limits. on plastics, he said the 5p bag charge had been a success, but he wanted to do more to cut plastic waste. on animal welfare standards he said he wanted the uk to lead the rest of the world in producing healthy food. gove has been saying positive things on the environment, re—purpose think the agricultural policy so the environment is at the heart of that. the devil is in the detail and we looking forward to seeing actually how this is going to be done. mr gove's next big test is on air pollution from cars and planes.
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will the government favour business, or will it put air quality and public health first? we'll soon find out. roger harrabin, bbc news. joining me now is robin milton, who is a hill farmer in exmoor, and is the nfu's uplands forum chairman; hejoins me from exeter. good evening. thank you so much for joining us. what would it mean to you and your farm if you didn't have the subsidies you currently have? farming and environmental management are intrinsically linked for us, there is no question about that. the support packages that have been there so far, have led to as ensuring that the landscapes have managed very much as people want to see them. good enough that in the la ke see them. good enough that in the lake district for example, we have actually ended up in the situation
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of designating a world heritage site on the value of that palm landscape. i think it would be pretty devastating if we removed all support, but as farmers, we recognise our environmental value and we are willing to work with it. when michael gove says that payments would go to those farmers who do the best to look after the land or provide other services like managing water quality or connecting habitats, would you argue that most farmers are doing that anyway. they are doing that under those rules they would continue to get some subsidy? i think hill farming is doing that, it has worked with it, historically speaking, we have engaged totally with those areas. but the bases being around food production. there have to be people there and managing that landscape and the reason they are there is because they produce food, some of
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the finest quality food you can find and some of the most environmentally friendly. most hill farmers are family farms, very small, very small amounts of subsidy collected compared to the ones you mentioned earlier. net farm income last year ona earlier. net farm income last year on a hill farm was somewhere under just £10,000, which is not very much. indeed. what is the figure of the subsidy you get and what are you therefore spending it on at the moment? realistically speaking, just look at the hedges, the walls, the fields, that network of landscape, that has something to work with. within what we have put their and our ambition, every farm has ambition in the hills and that would be to leave their farm in a better state for the next generation and we started with and actually, i think we have done pretty well, the number of hedgerows have been planted in the last few years, stone walls that are managed, with flood prevention measures and so are managed, with flood prevention measures and so on, we are are managed, with flood prevention measures and so on, we are pretty well on the list of engaging and working with all of that, as well as
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producing some of the food production that everybody actually ta kes for production that everybody actually takes for granted. absolutely. but if you and your farm takes for granted. absolutely. but if you and yourfarm did not get that subsidy, what would disappear? what are you doing with the money at the moment that if it suddenly was taken away from you, you simply would not be able to do any more?” suspect we will have to look very critically at how we spend some of it and probably the first things to go would be those who do not provide us an go would be those who do not provide us an economical return and that would be the management of the hedges and the stone walls will stop after all, two strands of electrical fa ns after all, two strands of electrical fans will do exactly the same, but would not have a maintenance value, but there is absolutely no benefit to biodiversity of two strands of electric fencing. they are really expensive to maintain and i estimate that keeping my hedges in shape it cost me approximately £10 per acre per year. and that is the sort of
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thing. that is just one of the examples. that is where the money is going. thank you very much. we may well talk again about this topic in the future. robin milton, hill farmerfrom exmoor, the future. robin milton, hill farmer from exmoor, thank the future. robin milton, hill farmerfrom exmoor, thank you your time. this is bbc news at five — the headlines: white house press secretary sean spicer has reportedly resigned after objecting to the appointment of a new communications director. a bbc investigation finds evidence of children as young as nine being groomed on the live streaming app periscope. the parents of charlie gard have been told that a new scan makes for "sad reading" according to great ormond street hospital. the film review is coming up but first let's take a look ahead to sports day at 630. coming up we will have the latest from a wet and windy afternoon at the golf open
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championship as rory mcilroy uses the best of the conditions at royal birkdale to turn around his bad start. elsewhere chris froome closes in on start. elsewhere chris froome closes inona start. elsewhere chris froome closes in on a fourth title of the tour de france and we will look ahead to the evening action at the world para athletics champion chips in london and with the cricket world cup for women coming up, and with the cricket world cup for women coming up, we and with the cricket world cup for women coming up, we will find out how the english preparations are going. that is all coming up at 6:30 p:m.. now it is time for film review. hello and welcome to the film review and to take us through the cinema releases as ever, mark kermode what have you been

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