this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. the headlines at seven: four men have been charged with terror offences, following the attacks in spain that killed 15 people. one of the suspects told the judge they were planning a bigger attack. a british tourist harry atwal, has been praised, after staying to help a child on las ramblas during last week's van attack, ignoring advice from a policeman, to move to safety. i could see the fear in him, i could see the faith in him. basically said there could be another car or van coming down. i said i'm there could be another car or van coming down. isaid i'm not there could be another car or van coming down. i said i'm not going to move because i'm not going to leave this child. president trump changes policy and commits to sending more troops to afghanistan — the us secretary of state is expected to give more details shortly. the former owner of bhs, dominic chappell, is to be prosecuted by the pensions regulator, following the collapse of the high street store. also on the programme: george osborne, has

called on theresa may to commit to building a high speed rail line across the north of england. the former chancellor says h53 would help the prime minister to "relaunch her premiership." and as the new bake off prepares for take off on channel 4 — we look at tv‘s dramatically changing landscape. good evening and welcome to bbc news. four moroccan men have appeared in court in spain, accused of being part of a terror cell which planned and carried out the attacks in and around barcelona last week. 15 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the violence. the four suspects are the only surviving members of a group of 12.

in court, one man admitted a bigger attack was being planned. there are reports tonight they've been charged with terror related murder. from spain, tom burridge reports. one by one, they were led into a high—security prison outside madrid. they are suspects in a plot, linked to attacks which killed 15 men, women and children. this morning, they were driven in for questioning in a closed session at madrid's high court. taken there in his hospital pyjamas, mohamed houli chemlal. the 22—year—old was badly injured when an alleged bomb factory blew up the day before the ramblas attack. here, police found 120 gas canisters as well as explosives. investigators believe the terror cell was planning a more sophisticated attack. also in court this morning, mohammed aalla, said to be the owner of the audi a3 used in the attack in the coastal resort of cambrils. a speed camera clocked four

of the attackers as they drove to paris in that very car, the week before the attacks. and this man's passport was found in the van, rented and used to kill. the driver of the van, younis abuyaqoob, was shot dead by police yesterday in countryside outside barcelona. he'd been on the run for four days. this new video shows police raids in ripoll on the night of the ramblas attack. the town is where the imam, abdelbaki es satty, is thought to have driven young men to carry out violentjihad. one of the suspects apparently told the court that he and his accomplices were plotting a much bigger attack than the one here on las ramblas and they planned to use bombs. the buzz of everyday life in barcelona goes on, past the mountain of tributes for lives lost, young and old. tom burridge, bbc news, in barcelona. a british tourist harry athwol, has been widely praised,

after staying to help a child on the las ramblas boulevard, during the van attack in barcelona, ignoring police who were shouting at him to move to safety. adina campbell has been to meet him. like thousands of other holiday—makers, harry athwal didn't expect to see the horror of last week's terror attack in barcelona. but he found himself rushing towards one of the victims. in the middle of las ramblas was the body of a child, and that automatically drew me to that child. at that point, i knew what i had to do. ijust raced to that child. many of us have seen the picture of you crouching down beside the boy. what was going through your mind? i was afraid for the boy at that point. when i looked at his injuries, they were severe. i was actually quite emotional as well, because i knew straight away that this boy had to be seven

or eight years old, the same age as my son. and like i said, due to the injuries, i was quite upset. but the first thing i tried to do was to check his pulse to see if he was alive, and because of the nature of the injuries, i didn't want to move him. his hairwas similar to my son's hair. it was a bit shorter than my son's now, but the hair was the same. it was brown hair, beautiful, thick brown hair. i stroked it, trying to talk to him. i said a little prayer as well, in punjabi. people have called you a hero. i'm not a hero. i'm just a common man, same as anybody else. these situations are occurring more and more often. now we have to stand up and be counted. and how are you coping? i think i'm still in shock. it's difficult to digest what you've been through. i can't look at that picture. i look at that picture and it takes me straight back. harry athwal reliving the horror

of last week's attack in barcelona. a bit more news coming in on the suspects today, one of the suspects has told because, they bought material to assemble explosive growth in spain and in other countries. this is according to a source speaking to the reuters news agency. one of the suspects in catalu nya has agency. one of the suspects in catalunya has suggested that b—cell brought material to assemble explosive is not just brought material to assemble explosive is notjust for attack in spain but apparently in other countries as well. we understand that thejudge has basically remanded the four suspects in jail until their next court appearance. but as the very latest on the situation there from barcelona. president trump has announced that he's sending more troops to afghanistan to fight

the resurgent taliban. it represents a reversal for the president who — whilst campaigning — had called for a quick withdrawal from a conflict which he'd called a "total disaster". washington is expected to send an additional 4,000 troops to the country. they'lljoin around 8,000 who have already been deployed there. but together that's still far fewer than in 2011 when 100,000 us troops were in afghanistan. our north america editor jon sopel reports. donald trump loves being a crowd pleaser and throughout the campaign he delighted audiences with the promise to pull us forces out of afghanistan — "a gigantic waste of money and american blood", he said. so this speech was going to take a bit of navigating, because above the sound of the band playing hail to the chief was the screeching noise of a u—turn. my original instinct was to pull out, and historically, i like following my instincts. but all my life, i've

heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the oval office. but what this flip—flop means in practical terms is hard to assess. the president wouldn't say how many additional troops he would send, nor commit to how long they would be there. the mission would bejudged by results, not timelines. he called the policy "strategic realism", and it was summed up thus: we are not nation—building again. we are killing terrorists. some of his harshest words were aimed at the pakistani government, whom he accused of harbouring terrorists while taking billions of dollars in us aid. and although kabul may be a long way from charlottesville, recent events in virginia were clearly in his mind when he said this. loyalty to our nation demands loyalty to one another. love for america requires love for all of its people.

when we open our hearts to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice, no place for bigotry and no tolerance for hate. more than 2,000 us troops have already lost their lives in afghanistan, and the president would have liked nothing more than to announce their withdrawal. but the strategic importance of not letting afghanistan fail as a state again, means that donald trump have had to sign his name to a policy that means there is now an open—ended commitment to the us remaining. although donald trump has tried to dress this speech up as marking a significant shift in policy, the most striking thing about it, is the sense of continuity with the obama white house. and one other thing. now that this major policy announcement has come, this is donald trump's war in afghanistan. not barack obama's, not the generals‘. he now has ownership of something he never wanted to buy.

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the former boss of the retail chain bhs, dominic chappell, is to be prosecuted by the pensions regulator forfailing to provide information to an investigation into its sale. bhs went into administration last year, causing 11,000 people to lose theirjobs and leaving a £571 million pension deficit. our business correspondent emma simpson gave us the latest. this saga is far from over. you join me at what used to be bhs‘s flagship store on oxford street. you just might be able to make out a huge curtain covering up the refurbishment work inside. but today, what has been revealed that dominic chappell has been summoned to appear before brighton magistrates‘ court next month forfailing to provide information and documents without a reasonable excuse. the pension regulator wants this material because it's still

pursuing mr chappel over whether he avoided his responsibilities to the bhf pension scheme. you may remember back in february, sir philip green finally stumped up £363 million to settle his case with the regulator. remember, he sold bhs to mr chappell. the enforcement action against mr chappell is still continuing and although he has previously maintained that this big black hole in the pension scheme wasn't his fault. so if he is convicted on these specific, quite technical charges, he will face an unlimited fine. so the tale of bhs, i think, has yet to run its full course. emma simpson. more than 70,000 people have signed a petition calling on the government to spend more on transport outside of london and the south east of england. it emerged earlier this year that

more than half of england's annual £32 billion transport budget is spent in the capital. the former chancellor, george osborne says a northern powerhouse rail network connecting liverpool to hull must be planned for. our north of england correspondent fiona trott reports. life beyond westminster. leeds is the uk's largest legal and financial centre outside london. but could it be better connected to boost northern businesses? hi, dan, are you all right? this online gambling company is one of leeds‘ biggest employers. 50% of the people we spoke to said the commute was just too difficult, even a0 or 50 miles away, so improving transport links, particularly rail, would really help our business. today the former chancellor says a high—speed link between liverpool and hull is the answer. well, if the government is serious about building a northern powerhouse, it needs to commit to high—speed links between the northern cities, so we bring those cities together and then the whole of the north will be stronger than the individual parts.

the government has recognised the problem. it launched the northern powerhouse project just three years ago and is determined to improve transport across the north, actually so we can see our economy grow as that northern powerhouse, that we know it can be. this is what the government is planning already. hs2 would connect london with birmingham and then crewe and manchester and leeds. an hs3 project would improvejourney times across the pennines, from liverpool to leeds and then possibly onto hull. it could cut the 40—mile journey from 48 minutes to 26 minutes and the 90—minute journey between liverpool and leeds could take an hour. george osborne believes the northern economy will be transformed by investing £7 billion in the rail infrastructure, but what do passengers themselves think? if you‘ve got a good train service, with the potential of getting work elsewhere, but it‘s still in good travelling time, i think it‘s always going to be good. i'm not sure the powerhouse is a concept i really believe in,

in terms of it, but i think individually the cities in the north can do a lot more development. there's a lot of potential for them. i'm all for it, whatever. no good arguing about it and carrying on, get it done, i say. people here want all politicians to look beyond london. that‘s why any campaign for future investment in rail or road can‘t come soon enough for towns and cities across the north. fiona trott, bbc news, leeds. rescue workers on the italian island of ischia say they have pulled alive three children, including a seven—month—old baby, from the rubble of their home after an earthquake. it hit the holiday island off the coast of naples, killing two people and injuring a0 others. richard lister reports. minutes after the earthquake, dazed survivors escape their ruined homes. around them, in a blizzard of dust, buried cars and rubble—strewn streets, several buildings

in casamicciola collapsed. rescuers worked frantically to get to those buried. here, the faint sounds of a baby crying and, after some careful digging, a small miracle. seven—month—old pascale was safe, his brothers though were still missing. the earthquake struck as people were sitting down for their evening meal, the homes of some 2,000 residents were damaged, some may have to be demolished. translation: the house is destroyed, we can‘t even get in. what should we do? falling masonry remained a threat as the emergency services brought in more resources. and then some good news, both of little pascale‘s brothers were found alive, his family survived. applause.

others, though, are counting the cost of a terrifying night. richard lister, bbc news. one of the victims who died in the grenfell tower fire has been formally identified. sakina afrasehabi was 65 years old. her family said she was "a loving mother of five, who is much missed by all of us. she was completely selfless in all she did and always put other people first." the headlines on bbc news: four men have been charged with terror offences, following the attacks in spain that killed 15 people. one of the suspects told the judge they were planning a bigger attack. a british tourist harry athwal, has been praised, after staying to help an injured child on las ramblas during last week‘s van attack, ignoring advice from police,

to move to safety. president trump changes policy and commits to sending more troops to afghanistan — the us secretary of state is expected to give more details shortly. divers have located bodies in the flooded compartments of a us warship that collided with an oil tanker near singapore on monday. ten sailors from the ussjohn mccain went missing during the accident. a malaysian vessel has recovered another body. rupert wingfield—hayes reports from singapore. these are the latest pictures of the badly damaged uss john these are the latest pictures of the badly damaged ussjohn mccain as it limped into port in singapore, a massive said, in its side. today the newsroom has only got worse. speaking to media tonight, the commander of the us specifically said the first bodies had been found. one body that has been reported by the malaysia and navy has been found. we had discovered other bodies during the diving today

but it is premature to say how many and what the staters of recovery of those bodies is. it is only two months and this happened off the coast of japan. an months and this happened off the coast ofjapan. an almost identical collision that took the lives of seven us sailors. now there may be ten more to add to that list. back in the us, navalfamilies ten more to add to that list. back in the us, naval families are suggesting it is no coincidence. is there an issue of negligence?” was on uss john is there an issue of negligence?” was on ussjohn mccain this morning looking at the eyes of those sailors, even after hariri efforts yesterday, i did not see exhaustion so yesterday, i did not see exhaustion so that the is not a view that i see reflected to me by the 140,000 sailors that manly pacific fleet. but diva chris from some of the us navy families we have contacted. people are really, really tired. there are too many demands are not enough reviews those —— resources.

one sailor, i went without sleep for so one sailor, i went without sleep for so long i could not —— i began to see things that were not there. an expert agrees the us navy is overstretched. if you like the demand that is mentored on the us navy in the middle east and the persian gulf and increasingly out here in the pacific, i mean, basically we have got a 300 ship navy and we are asking it to do the job of 400 ship or maybe you even thought and 50 ship navy. you may just about to see the outline of the ussjohn mccain just about to see the outline of the uss john mccain docs just about to see the outline of the ussjohn mccain docs by me in singapore. the surgeon rescue operation continues his tonight and then there is the question of how this all happened and that is a big and deeply disturbing question for the us navy. straight to washington, rex tillerson is giving everything. he is going to talk about afghanistan. let us see what saying.

particular supporting the economy, it is provided by them all that provided economic ‘s assistant they are hosting an important economic conference in india this next week, all of that is important stabilising afghanistan as a nation. get their economy functioning, stabilise the country so that they can provide more opportunities to their citizens. these are all elements of what will will be to stability and an ultimate peace agreement. but the effort is again a reasonable effort, put pressure on the parties to understand that this fighting is going to take everyone nowhere and it is time to begin a process, it may be a lengthy process. it can choose its former government, as the president says, that this suits the needs of its people as long as it rejects terrorism, never provide territory in afghanistan, provide safe haven for terrorists and

accommodate all of the groups represented inside of afghanistan. ethnic groups and others. how they wa nt to ethnic groups and others. how they want to organise themselves is up to them but we have to recognise that their culture is a tribal culture and their history accommodates the nature of those relationships. there is no reason theirformer, cannot accommodate that as well. we want to facilitate a reconciliation peace process and we will facilitate them coming to some conclusion about how they want to govern themselves. that is really the essence of the strategy and if i take any questions, i do want to make one comment on north korea. i think it is worth noting that we have had no missile launchers or provocative a cts missile launchers or provocative acts on the part of north korea since the unanimous adoption of the un security council resolution. i wa nt to ta ke un security council resolution. i want to take note of that, i want to acknowledge it. i am pleased to see that the regime has certainly

demonstrated some level of restraint that we‘ve not seen in the past. we hope this is the beginning of the signal that we have been looking for that they are ready to restrain their level of they are ready to restrain that the document acts and that perhaps we are seeing our pathway to sometime in the new feature having some dialogue. we need to see more on their part but i wa nt to need to see more on their part but i want to acknowledge the steps they have taken thus far. i think it is important to take note of that. i‘m happy to take your questions.” important to take note of that. i‘m happy to take your questions. i will be brief. it seems like to me at least with the no nation—building concept the president laid out last night on what you just there, the main difference otherwise than the timetable part of the military staff, the main difference between this new approach and the old one is that you are eliminating two thirds of what used to be known as the clear hold and build strategy, in other words, weekly or you clear

when you hold and we will not build, you well. so if that is correct, what happens to the anti—corruption efforts that you mention, the good governance , efforts that you mention, the good governance, the education programmes? what happens to those and more specifically, what is that going to mean particularly for afg ha n going to mean particularly for afghan women and girls who have been assured for the last 16 years by two separate demonstrations that they would not be bad? as you point out, there has been enormous strides achieved in afghanistan both in terms of the numbers of millions of children that are now in schools being educated, the role of women in the afghan economy now has been dramatically changed. i do not expect any of that to be rolled back. i think that has become part of the afghan government structure,

it has become part of what the people themselves i think you expect. if you go back many years ago, prior to all this disruption, that was afghanistan, that was the nature of afghanistan 30, 40, 50 yea rs nature of afghanistan 30, 40, 50 years ago. i think it is part of their culture already, we want to support that. in terms of the clear and hold, that still be approach is that areas will be cleared and afg ha n that areas will be cleared and afghan security forces can hold those areas. thereby enabling some growth in the afghan economy, but of what afghanistan is struggles under is likely not have control of what proportion of economy. the forces are able to either hold areas and stabilise them so they do not give up stabilise them so they do not give up further ground and they are still losing ground to date, as you well know. so this is going to take a little while. it is to stabilise and hopefully begin to regain control and as ground is going, it will be held by afghan security forces while allowing the afghan governor continue what has been very successfully doing under our systems

for many years. not roll back any of these games that have been made. i do not think that is the aspiration of the afghan government or the people either. we are going to continue to help them institutionally, we may be taking different approaches and not putting so much of the us taxpayer dollar on the ground, building schools and building infrastructure. we think there are plenty of others that we are going to call upon for assistance as well, we are there to facilitate and ensure that there is a pathway for reconciliation and peace talks. a suspension begins to ta ke peace talks. a suspension begins to take hold, we believe we already know there are certain moderate elements of the taliban who we think are going to be ready and want to help develop a way forward. how long that will take will be again based on conditions on the ground. mr secretary, a question that embraces both the military side and the diplomatic side. on the military

side, what the new rules of engagement mean is that in the short term at least, our forces will be more at risk because they will be potentially doing night race against the taliban again, notjust potentially doing night race against the taliban again, not just training but actually supporting in a more active role because the afghan troops are not all up to part here to push back against the taliban advance. and on the diplomatic side, why did not the president mentioned the russian rearming of the taliban? he seemed to be letting russia off the hook in his speech. do you have enough people given the fact that there are not trump confirmed diplomatic appointees in many of these positions. in the region. on these positions. in the region. on the military operation side of it, i would really defer to the department of defence to answer that one. i know the approach is going to be, as

isaid, similarto know the approach is going to be, as i said, similar to what we have had success elsewhere, this victory describes it, i‘d buy with three approach and i think that is part they need to step up in troop levels. organise and help the afghan army fight levels. organise and help the afghan armyfight in levels. organise and help the afghan army fight in a different way with close ground, and the battalion level, the ability to call in support it is needed to ensure victory as opposed to either stalemate or defeat. with respect to the comment about russia, to the extent russia is a bearing arms to the taliban, that is a violation of international norms, it is a violation of un security council norms. we would certainly object to that and call russia‘s attention to that. if anyone is going to supply arms, it has to be through the afg ha n arms, it has to be through the afghan government. in terms of our third print on the ground, we‘re very confident, explains people there now. —— experience people

there now. —— experience people there now. —— experience people there now. even in the transitional in afghanistan, we have nominated a very extrinsic diplomat, bin running the embassy, he has equipped to step into this situation as well and we‘re looking at a couple different people for the special representative to afghanistan and pakistan position. it is open currently, it has been filled with a very experienced individual to date so we are ready to get going with very competent people. i am not at all concerned about the competent level of the express of the people that we have working on this. i am quite confident with that. i know you do not want to talk about the military that you were just using the military terms and battalion level and that. i know and

understand why the administration does not want to talk about tactical moves, but strategy, don't the american people deserve to know approximately how many more of their sons and daughters will go back to afghanistan in a war that has lasted nearly 16 years? i think the intent is that there will be visibility to troop levels once the decision has been made. i think what the president has conveyed and i agree wholeheartedly with him is that we are not going to signal ahead what our plans are, we are not going to signal ahead and increase, decrease, the timing of any of that. it will be driven by conditions on the ground, the only way we can defeat an enemy that is as nimble and is cagey, tactically as this enemy, is that we have to be as cagey and tactical as they are and we have not been fighting that way. could that include strikes in pakistan? i'm not

going to comment on what it could include but the president has been clear that we are going to protect american troops and servicemen, we are going to attack terrorists wherever they live and we have put people on notice that if you are harbouring and providing safe haven to terrorists, be warned. be forewarned. we are going to engage with those who are providing safe haven and ask them to change what they are doing and help us help them because in my view, the best, the greatest benefactor other than the afg ha n greatest benefactor other than the afghan people themselves to achieving stability and peace in afghanistan are the people of pakistan. they will benefit more than any other nation. you said no preconditions to the talks. are you saying that the us no longer expects the taliban to accept the afghan constitution and the rights of women specifically. and on

pakistan did you articulate in specific terms to pakistan and the consequences of their actions whether that be sanctions, dropping their non—nato ally status, what exactly have you communicated.” their non—nato ally status, what exactly have you communicated. i had a good call with the prime minister of pakistan yesterday afternoon. to give them for warning of what they we re give them for warning of what they were going to hear in the speech. and we touched on the points i made to you today. we‘re going to be engaging with them in a very serious and far—away. as to our expectations. and the conditions that go with that. all those things that go with that. all those things that you‘d listed on the table for discussion. if in fact they are unwilling to change their posture or their approach to dealing with the numerous terrorist organisations inside pakistan, finding safe haven

there. it is in the interest of pakistan to take those actions. saying with no preconditions on the we‘re saying we need to sit down and sort this out. it is not for the us to tell them, it must be this model or these conditions, what the president means when he says were not nation building, we have tried taking certain principles and forms around the world sometimes it works, in many places it does not. we do not know what is going to emerge, with will be there to encourage others but it will be up to the afg ha n others but it will be up to the afghan government and representatives of the taliban to work through a reconciliation process. what will serve their needs and achieve the american people‘s objectives which is security. and no safe haven for terrorists to operate anywhere in pakistan now or in the future. you mentioned the force

protection concerns. how are you going to get someone who is able to going to get someone who is able to go out beyond the wire and negotiate regularly in a weekly basis with individuals from that network. we will have to improve the security environment. the environment today is not conducive to carrying out those kinds of activities, that is right. part of what we‘re going to have to do is to ensure we are ready to engage when permissions —— when conditions permit us to engage. that is why pakistan is also important, it can facilitate much of that discussion. there are other players in the region to which this particular conflict, this unstable situation in afghanistan are important. we‘ve had discussions with the chinese about the role they

could play, discussions with the russians about the role that they could play if they choose to. and certainly regional players in the gulf. they are interested in seeing this stability in afghanistan. so there are partners on the periphery that from time to time will have an important role to play. ultimately it comes down to the two parties, the afghan government and the taliban representatives. going back to pakistan, officials for quite some time have tried to get government to stop giving a safe haven to terrorist groups. what leveraged do you have? i think obviously we have some leveraged that has been discussed in terms of the amount of aid and military assistance, their status as non—nato

alliance partner. all of that can be put on the table. at the end of the day pakistan must decide what is in its best long—term interests from a security standpoint for themselves. and for their people. quite frankly asi and for their people. quite frankly as i evaluate their current situation, if i were the pakistan government i would have growing concerns about the strength of the taliban and other organisations inside pakistan who seem to be growing in their numbers and their presence and at some point they will become a real threat to the stability of the pakistan government itself is. i think they need to think about what is in their best long—term interests and how we can work with them to achieve a safer and more stable pakistan in the next decades to come as well. it will ease up to them, they must ask themselves the question, why this works for them and wide this is going to be continuing, to support

their stability and the survival of their stability and the survival of their government in the years ahead. if they continued to allow these elements just to grow and maintain their presence inside pakistan. on the other side do not fear that too much pressure on pakistan may destabilise islam's bad —— islamabad and the region with having a stronger taliban. that is a concern, andi stronger taliban. that is a concern, and i think it is important that pakistan begin to think about its ability to to contain these groups as well. that is why we take original approach, the us alone will not change this dynamic with pakistan. —— a regional approach. pakistan. —— a regional approach. pakistan have their own issues that they must work through. but there are areas where perhaps even india can take some steps on issues with

pakistan to improve stability within pakistan to improve stability within pakistan and removed some of the reasons why they deal with these u nsta ble reasons why they deal with these unstable elements inside their own country. other regional players have strong interest in pakistan, china. having a stable and secure future pakistan is in a lot of our interests. they are nuclear power, we have concerns about their weapons, the security of their weapons, the security of their weapons, there are many areas in which we believe we should be having very productive dialogue that serves both of our interests and regional interests as well. so again this is not a situation where the us is saying it is just a thank you, what our approach is to bring these regional players aren‘t all other interests into this effort. much as we have done with north korea, there isa we have done with north korea, there is a global effort there. i think too often we try to distil these

challenges down to just the us and some other country and only between the two of us. we have to enlarge the two of us. we have to enlarge the circle of interest and bring others into the effort as well. that is what we will be doing with pakistan. us secretary state their rex tillerson at the state department in washington. fleshing out a few more the details concerning that announcement by president trump that he intends to send more troops to afghanistan. he said pakistan, much of the discussion has been about pakistan, that it must adopt a different approach to afghanistan. he says there is now an erosion of trust between washington and islamabad. of course many have accused pakistan and president trump certainly did earlier today, accused islamabad of harbouring and sheltering taliban elements and extremist militants in

the northern frontier province. there will also be a slight change in the way that america approaches the war in afghanistan. not now going to come if it takes territory back from caliban, all that territory. that would be given straight to the afghan security forces for them to deal with the building of schools and infrastructure and so on. american and nato allies have been doing that?. but a lot of discussion there and we can have more analysis of this now. joining me now is dr afzal ashraf, a visiting fellow at nottingham university‘s centre for conflict security and terrorism. dr ashraf also served in afghanistan as a nato security advisor. this focus on pakistan and its relationship with its neighbour, how fair is it for people like rex tillerson and the president to

accuse pakistan of harbouring terrorists? i think it is a reasonably well funded accusation. but there are subtleties that have not been aired. one of the reasons why pakistan has done what it has done is because it feels india is using afghanistan as a means to destabilise its eastern border. whether that is true or not of course is debatable. but certainly pakistan views the threat from india in afghanistan and that is one thing perhaps that has not been thought about to the same extent that other points have been made. pakistan has, as rex tillerson pointed out, diplomatically, it has its own problems. a number of extremist groups and not just problems. a number of extremist groups and notjust the taliban but

many others, pakistan has used them to further its foreign policy. and they are now attacking the hand that used to feed them. and so pakistan itself is under a great deal of threat. the pakistani army has in the past couple of years carried out a phenomenally large counterterrorism operation on its eastern border with afghanistan. and toa eastern border with afghanistan. and to a large extent it has succeeded in getting rid of a lot of militants and has reconstructed. so it is moving in the right direction. but i think the key to getting pakistanis to work much more effectively with the afghans and with the americans is to remove any interests that india might have in afghanistan. and the us can go a long way by getting

that close link tie between the two countries and say it is a no—go zone for both pakistan and india. 16 yea rs of for both pakistan and india. 16 years of war in afghanistan, we have heard a lot about pakistan being involved and it wanting so—called deep state or this idea that if they have a buffer within afghanistan that that could deal with whatever problems islamabad itself might have in dealing with india. but there has not been much talk of india and its involvement in this. because of the new focus it seems from rex tillerson and president trump on engaging india. is that a shift from past policy from president obama or george w bush? past policy from president obama or george w bush? it seems to be, when i was george w bush? it seems to be, when iwas in george w bush? it seems to be, when i was in afghanistan in 2011, that is one of the areas i highlighted as

an area for exploration as a possible solution. i do not think it has been addressed to the same extent. there is some confusion between what president trump has said and what i thought that rex tillerson said, which was that president trump was encouraging greater involvement, economic involvement of india in afghanistan. and i think secretary of state rex tillerson was looking more at a relationship building, confidence building between india and pakistan which i think is the solution. india has been investing a lot for a poor country, it has invested perhaps far too much in afghanistan. in return for building up its relationship with that country. and turning to some degree the confidence of the afg ha n some degree the confidence of the afghan regime against the pakistanis

and they have been successful in that. the indians have been very effective in conducting their foreign policy behind if you like the gaze of international politics. what they‘ve done their done very effectively. but of course pakistanis know what was happening and they are annoyed by it, perhaps over reacting to it. and it is that relationship amongst others, that is one of the things that is encouraging, but the secretary of state talk about involving china and russia. and that approach is i think very encouraging. and of course iran isa very encouraging. and of course iran is a neighbour of afghanistan and pakistan. and also has an interest. if there was a regional approach taken there is encouraging hope that

there will be a solution. very interesting. thank you forjoining us. as we‘ve been hearing, the former chancellor george osborne has called on the prime minister to commit to building a high speed rail line across the north of england. mr osborne, who chairs the northern powerhouse partnership, said more money should go to areas outside of london after it emerged that more than half of england‘s annual £32 billion transport budget is spent in the capital. we can speak to tom forth — who‘s an associate at the open data institute leeds — an organisation that looks to share non personal data to improve the prosperity of cities and communities. hejoins us from our studio in sheffield. we heard a lot about the northern powerhouse. george osborne again pushed it today. is the government listening? to be honest in sheffield, we do not know whether the government is listening but it

seems that the right people are talking about it. i think if george osborne and andy burnham are talking about it, then we have got the right people talking and i hope people are listening. i saw the northern powerhouse minister talking about it also early today. so i do hope so. the problem is andy burnham and george osborne are not in government. and it seems ridiculous, if people on either side of the pennines, that it takes you an age to cross the pennines to get from liverpool to hull city or leads to manchester. absolutely, even in the three biggest cities, those connections between really big cities, just not good enough. it ta kes too cities, just not good enough. it takes too long, often it is a very unpleasant journey. gaps between

services are not good enough and that affects business. it reduces the opportunities that we had to create economic growth in the north of england that could help us pay a ru nway of england that could help us pay a runway in the uk. but if high-speed rail way forward? that is an interesting question, they will be good for the north of england. are they the top priority appear, while data is something we look at a lot. and probably it is not the top priority. the top priorities are things like bus regulation, small improvements to trams, cheaper ways to ta ke improvements to trams, cheaper ways to take the bus between local centres. that would not get on the news, if we want to win the political battle then maybe we need to say that hs2 and hs3 are the big things to fight for. that seems to be what the political leaders have picked as the target to go for. but

all the local stuff that you say is mundane, bus routes and so one, that is the responsibility of local authorities and surely they would understand it is important to include these routes so why are they not doing it? i should correct you, buses and uk outside of london are deregulated. so local authorities really have no power. almost none. if you look at sheffield, this competition on the bus routes. it is very ha rd to competition on the bus routes. it is very hard to understand the layers. outside of peak times it is not clear whether buses run at all. so i do think in the north of england there is little power that local authorities currently have two improve the boring things like bus services. but all of them what to do. therefore made clear to government for decades that they wa nt to government for decades that they want to improve things like bus services and i hope that will happen with a new bill coming into power at the moment. we will see whether that

gives us enough power. but local authorities in the north of england know what they need to do and desperately want the power and money to do it. and if they have that power and money they will focus on the things that are most important for the population. are we going to be having this conversation in 20, 30 years‘ time, and it has not happened, the northern powerhouse, bus services not improved, not being able to travel between major cities ina timely able to travel between major cities in a timely manner. because nothing has changed for decades.” com pletely has changed for decades.” completely agree. when i was about 15 years old in east yorkshire i came quite often to leeds and i was promised a tram and is never happen. ido promised a tram and is never happen. i do think some things have changed, when you have someone like the mayor of greater manchester and the mayor

of greater manchester and the mayor of liverpool city able to talk and really put the case for investment, someone like george osborne who was moved up to the north—west to be an mp and really has understood what was happening. even though he‘s not in government i still think you have influence, influencing the thinking. i feel there is a influence, influencing the thinking. ifeel there is a decent influence, influencing the thinking. i feel there is a decent chance, influence, influencing the thinking. ifeel there is a decent chance, not definite, but a decent chance that this could be a decade where we make progress. we will see. good to see you. thank you. the liberal democrat‘s new leader, sir vince cable, says he continues to support the legalisation of cannabis. his comments came in an interview for bbc radio one‘s newsbeat, which has been speaking to a number of politicians across the political spectrum about whether it‘s time for laws relating to the drug to be looked at. jim connolly, has the details. at the last election the liberal democrats made headlines with one of their most eye—catching manifesto promises, to legalise cannabis. lib dem insiders tell us it wasn‘t that popular. so is it a policy the party continues to back?

the evidence is clear that if you want to stop abuse and damage to young people, you‘ve got to bring the trade into the open and out of the hands of the criminal underworld. attitudes to cannabis are changing across the world. take, for example, north america. in the us, 21 states have decriminalised personal possession, and eight have legalised it. next year canada is expected to go further and make the drug legal across the whole country. back in europe, portugal has some of the most liberal drug laws. all substances are decriminalised. we‘ve come to meet the man often described as the architect of the portuguese system. we had one of the highest rates of problematic drug use in europe by the late ‘90s. 15, 16 years later we can look back and say that we were... of course, it‘s not a solved problem in our society, but we have a lot of improvement. cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug in the uk.

take, for example, england and wales — in the past year, more than 2 million people have admitted using it, and there‘s a growing campaign to change the law on the substance. united kingdom cannabis social clubs is an umbrella group campaigning for the drug to be freely available. it went from no clubs back in 2011 to more than 100 this year. these brighton members get together to eat meals with cannabis cooked into them. take a look at spain, portugal, canada and america — they are all coming through with progressive, forward—thinking policies that are basically spreading more of a positive impact and utilising the cannabis culture for the positive it can do for local community, for the industry, for medical patients, for recreational users thatjust want to have a social experience but not be criminalised for it. the government says it‘s aware of different approaches being taken abroad, but won‘t be changing how things are done here, arguing it‘s overly simplistic to say that legalisation works. so, whilst there‘s no chance

of a change of law any time soon, these users say they‘lljust carry on regardless. jim connolly, bbc news. and at nine o‘clock tonight — there will be a special programme by radio 1‘s newsbeat — debating the future of britain‘s laws and attitudes to cannabis. presented by tina daheley it will be shown live on the bbc news channel as well as on bbc radio 1. ford has become the latest car company to launch a scrappage scheme for older cars. they say the move will help cut air pollution. customers with cars made before 2010 will be offered 2—thousand pounds off some new models. unlike schemes by bmw and mercedes, ford will accept petrol — as well as diesel cars. it was a bbc hit for years — but next week the great british bake off will appear for the first time on channel 4. there was uproar last year when the broadcaster poached the show in a multi—million pound three year deal. but as our media editor amol rajan

reports the television landscape is changing dramatically. and the bake off brouhaha may well just be the start of things to come. this is channel 4‘s shiny new toy. nobody wants to be the first person to leave. the great british bake off, poached from the bbc and due to air next week. the winner of the 2015 great british bake off is... this is what they want to recreate... ..nadiya. cheering and applause. ..watched by 13 million people on bbc one. channel 4 paid a reported £75 million for three years. according to the man who ran both channel 4 and the bbc, bake off is outside channel 4‘s remit. personally, i think channel 4 were out of their minds. buying a show like that, using a cheque book to buy a ready—made bbc show, the most popular show on british television, it‘s not what channel 4 is there to do at all. it‘s there to be a nursery for talent and ideas. so i was quite shocked.

the islamic state is the state of the muslims and we are responsible for making it grow, flourish. this is channel 4‘s shiny new toy. though a public broadcaster, channel 4 is commercially funded and believes only big audiences can generate the revenues necessary to fund shows that push boundaries. up you come. it‘s not going tojump, they can‘t jump. up you come. the competition for eyeballs has become ferocious. four of the five biggest companies in the world — google, apple, facebook and amazon — are moving dramatically into quality tv. queen elizabeth ii. meanwhile, streaming services, like netflix and disney, are investing billions in original programming to broadcast directly to hundreds of millions of customers. technological innovation is changing both the supply and the demand of tv. on the supply side, the choice for audiences is greater than ever. in terms of demand, many young viewers increasingly consume tv across multiple devices, ignore tv schedules and, in some cases, don‘t own a television at all. finally, we called at the clarke‘s and although it was saturday,

we found them all at home. time was when families across the country would come together to watch a limited range of channels. that still happens, but on fewer occasions. oh, yes, definitely. the buttlergo family in kent illustrate the changing way parents and children watch programmes. so adjay, is this a normal family scene for how you guys watch tv together? it is, it is. as soon as i come home, it‘s the news that everybody watches and theyjoin in, you know, and then after that they watch what they want to watch. so drew, tara, do you guys watch tv with your parents most of the time or not? i live away from home most of the time, so my access to the tv is very different, it‘s through my laptop and through netflix or bbc iplayer. i'm usually spending my time on nickelodeon or even watching food network, good food. to quote the late sir bruce forsyth, television is today a generation game. while broadcasters from the bbc to channel 4 compete ever harder for the flagship shows that can bring a nation together, technology is pulling audiences and families

in different directions. amol rajan, bbc news. time for a look at the weather with louise lear. good evening. it‘s been a funny old day, cloud and a few showers broke to some decent spells of sunshine and some warmth for many of us. but some of the rain in northern ireland has been very heavy indeed, with rumbles of thunder and lightning and that is moving its way into western scotland as we speak. now, that will continue to brew some heavy rain. the risk of thunder decreases as we go through the night, but an unsettled night to come here. elsewhere, a little bit more in the way of cloud across north—west england and wales and a scattering of showers. quite a humid night again with lows of 14 to 17 celsius. we start off tomorrow with marked contrast across the country. this weather front still producing some very heavy rain as it moves it way through scotland, gradually drifting its way eastwards. a band of cloud through england and wales, ahead of it, it stays very humid. behind it, slightly fresher but sunny spells with just a scattering of showers

into northern ireland. top temperatures of 15 to 20 celsius here. highest values of 24 in the south—east corner. this is bbc news. i‘m clive myrie. the headlines at 8. four men have been charged with terror offences after the attacks in spain. one of the suspects told a judge they were planning a bigger attack. a british tourist harry athwol, has been praised, after staying to help a child on las ramblas during last week‘s van attack, ignoring advice from a policeman, to move to safety. i could see the fear in him, i could see the fear in me. there could have been another car coming down but i said, iam been another car coming down but i said, i am not going to move. i am not going to leave this child. president trump changes policy and commits to sending more troops to afghanistan — the us secretary of state says washington will also focus

on anti—corruption measures in the country. it is very difficult