this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 6. labour's shadow chancellor john mcdonnell calls on main political parties to agree an independent system to tackle sexual harassment at westminster. when all the political parties meet my view is that there should be an element of independence in there, particularly for support as well so people can feel confident about where they can report these things and at the same time how it can be dealt with. lebanese prime minister saad al—hariri resigns, saying that he fears for his life the white house downplays a major report by us government scientists which is at odds with the president's stance on global warming. only half of fixed speed cameras in the uk are actually switched on, according to new data. also in the next hour, one farmer's huge romantic gesture. murray graham created a vast message in a field for his wife, as a way of apologising

for being "grumpy". and in sportsday at 6.30pm, sportsday will bring you news of some upsets in the fa cup, including an incredible result for boreham wood against blackpool. the shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell has called on all the main political parties to agree a new independent system to tackle sexual harassment at westminster. mr mcdonnell said the recent claims of misconduct by mps were distressing, and undermined public confidence in the political system. last night, the conservative mp charlie elphicke was suspended by his party, following what they called "serious allegations" which were referred to the police. mr elphicke said he'd done nothing wrong. our political correspondent iain watson reports. this is the week when politicians

private lives became very public, past actions by some mps have had serious consequences, there have been accusations, resignations, investigations, and it is clear the current crisis at westminster will continue to fill front pages. and now, conservative mp charlie elphicke has been suspended from the parliamentary party and reported to the police, he says he does not know what he has been accused of and denies any wrongdoing. the conservatives have toughened their code of conduct for mps and party members, the shadow chancellor says labour has learned from a past scandal. complaints of harassment will now be made to an independent body, free from political control.

lesson from the mps expenses scandal is act quickly, get independence in place quickly, so that people can have confidence. it is distressing to hear some of these concerns and reports of what has gone on. we have got to act quickly, we must be decisive. jeremy corbyn is still facing questions about why he hardly acted ruthlessly against this mp, kelvin hopkins, promoted to the shadow cabinet after being reprimanded for past behaviour. he denies wrongdoing. the physical structures of parliament have been made fit for the 21st—century, and on monday, theresa may wants to do much the same thing with the wider culture here at westminster. she is holding cross—party talks to try to get broad agreement on tackling harassment and inappropriate behaviour. some mps are worried that political careers could end on the basis of rumour and the settling of old scores. there is a febrile

atmosphere, a feeding frenzy, that some have described quite rightly as a witchhunt, this may sell tomorrow's chip wrappers, but this is more serious than that. i believe that my colleagues, members of parliament, have a right to the same natural justice as anybody parliament, have a right to the same naturaljustice as anybody else, and they are not getting it. party leaders want to be seen to be taking tough action against harassment, they know, they perhaps even fear, they know, they perhaps even fear, they are not entirely in control of events. studio: the growing scandal at westminster has been compared to that of mps' expenses, and iain said there were similarities between the two. day after day, newspaper stories, which must lead to a further erosion in public confidence in politicians, second only to the expenses scandal but like the expenses scandal but like the expenses scandal, i think the culture of westminster will change, there will be long—standing changes out of this process. labour has a

sexual harassment policy only four oi’ sexual harassment policy only four or five months old, sexual harassment policy only four orfive months old, they sexual harassment policy only four or five months old, they have changed that under pressure from mps to make sure that people can make complaints to an independent body. the prime minister herself once more independence in the system. those cross— party independence in the system. those cross—party talks, when they get under way, that will be the focus, to get more independence and less party political control over the process. but in the mps expenses scandal, clear evidence of paper trail, digital trail, of scandal, clear evidence of paper trail, digitaltrail, of what scandal, clear evidence of paper trail, digital trail, of what mps had done wrong, what they had done at all. what we have here sometimes, rumours, gossip, and some people do not want to be put on trial in the court of public opinion on the basis of unsubstantiated claims. netflix has cut all ties with kevin spacey, who plays the lead role in one of its most successful series, house of cards. the company said it would no longer be involved in the series if the actor continued to be part of it.

mr spacey has faced allegations of sexual misconduct from a number of men. earlier this week, production on house of cards was suspended. police in new york say they have a viable case against the hollywood producer, harvey weinstein. the announcement came after an actress, paz de la huerta, made claims that mr weinstein raped her twice in 2010. she is among dozens of women who have come forward, to accuse the 65—year—old of sexual misconduct. he has denied all allegations of non—consensual sex. richard galpin reports. recent weeks have seen a torrent of allegations against harvey weinstein. and now comes the first word of a possible arrest. new york detectives following up are investigating a claim by the hollywood actress paz de la huerta that the former movie mogul raped her twice back in 2010, and she has now spoken to the cbs network in the united states. the new york police say her account is credible. we have an actual case here.

we are happy with where the investigation is right now. mr weinstein is out of state. we would need an arrest warrant to arrest him. so right now we're gathering our evidence, we continue to do so every day. already some of hollywood's biggest names, among them gwyneth paltrow and angelina jolie, have come forward to accuse harvey weinstein of sexual harassment. he issued a statement emphatically denying any allegation of nonconsensual sex. mr weinstein is now under investigation both in the united states and here in britain. like ripples in a pond, and accusations of misconduct against men of wealth and influence

appear to be growing rapidly. richard galpin, bbc news. a seven—year—old girl who suffered "critical injuries" in a house in south west london yesterday morning, has died in hospital. a 55—year—old man robert peters appeared at wimbledon magistrates' court charged with attempted murder, but the crown prosecution service are now reviewing that charge in light of the girl's death. he's been remanded in custody until december. iran says the resignation of lebanese prime minister saad al—hariri will create tensions in the region. at a news conference, mr hariri voiced fears of being assassinated, saying the current situation was similar to that when his father rafik was killed in 2005. he also criticised iran and the hezbollah militant group which wields considerable power in lebanon. earlier i spoke to bbc arabic‘s carine torbey,

who described the reaction from beirut at the moment the country is still reeling from the shock of this resignation, it has been a total surprise. no one knew about it, even the inner circle of the prime minister himself. lots of questions are being asked at the moment, first, about the location of this map why would he announced his resignation from riyadh, the capital of saudi arabia, rather than from lebanon on itself, why did he make this decision today, just months away from elections to which he was preparing in full force. he said in his resignation speech that he feared for his life and also, we launched a scathing attack against iran and hezbollah. the shia militia

thatis iran and hezbollah. the shia militia that is highly supported by iran, but it is also known that his boller has members in the government, saad al—hariri that was deciding over just hours from now. lots of questions about this resignation but also lots of fears about the consequences of the resignation and whether it throws lebanon furthermore into the regional conflict that is already embroiled in. two main players in the region, saudi arabia and iran, taking lebanon as a new arena for their original confrontation. saudi born, saudi citizen, he is sunny, has there been talk of pressure there? the pressure about iran does not come as a surprise. “ the pressure about iran does not come as a surprise. -- sunni. and the fact he is someone who is very close to saudi arabia, that is a known fact, the question is, why did he choose this particular moment to talk about his incapacity to deal

with the rainy and influence in lebanon. this is not a new thing, lebanon. this is not a new thing, lebanon has a strong player, in hezbollah, that is strongly associated with iran, that is not new. what seems to be new is the fa ct new. what seems to be new is the fact that saad al—hariri seems to have endorsed the saudi position towards iran, and seemed to have sided with this resignation totally in line with saudi arabia and with the position of saudi arabia. the president is awaiting the return of saad al—hariri two lebanon, to find out and get more detail for the reasons behind his resignation. is the country confidence that he will return, that he will leave saudi arabia and come back? this is a big question at the moment, lots of reports, lots of analysis, that he might not actually return. at least

not very soon. actually, when he spoke about fears about his safety and security in lebanon, that was read as a hint that he would not come back any time soon to the country, which also adds to the state of confusion that is at the moment reining in the country. the white house has attempted to downplay the findings of a report which goes against the trump administration's view on climate change. the study, compiled by us government scientists said it was "extremely likely" — with 95 to 100% certainty — that global warming is man—made — mostly from carbon dioxide through the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. earlier i spoke to michael grubb, a professor of international energy and climate change at university college london, about the report. this is part of unexpected report,

cycle by the us national academy of sciences, i think it would have been almost impossible, certainly would have created a full rory, for the administration to try to stop it. so i'm not surprised it has come out, i'm not surprised it has come out, i'm not surprised the administration is trying to distance itself from the findings. —— furore. is trying to distance itself from the findings. -- furore. these findings are not really new, what do you take from the report?” findings are not really new, what do you take from the report? i think the report is important for two broad reasons, one, obviously, the political significance in the current situation in the us. the other is, it does seem to take the consensus science a bit further in a couple of key areas. one is, sea—level rise, where the projections, at a high end, are more alarming than any we have seen in any equivalent science reports. the other is, something of a focus on extreme events within the us, and pretty unambiguous, that heavy

precipitation events are both more frequent and more severe. and slightly more guarded wording but same message around extreme droughts. messages here are clearly targeted at the issues of direct concern to the us public. targeted at the issues of direct concern to the us publiclj understand there is more of this report to come in 2018, is that right, what can we expect, in that next pa rt right, what can we expect, in that next part of the report? well, i think what we will see is more detail on regional assessments and other dimensions of this. but i think it is interesting to see the process , think it is interesting to see the process, also in a historical context. it does feel awfully like the first year or two of the bush administration, the president and officials elected against a backdrop officials elected against a backdrop ofa officials elected against a backdrop of a party and lobbying which had led them to really not really believe climate science. and then they were sceptical about the global efforts, the intergovernmental panel

on climate change, although that was set up under ronald reagan. turning to the us national academy of sciences, the academy confirms what the world scientific community have already agreed, and is in some areas, takes it further. we have the un climate change conference coming up un climate change conference coming up in bonn, are you expecting any particular statement to be made, with regards the paris accord, and the us? it is a very strange situation, the president, president trump has been clear that he's intending to pull out of paris. this secretary of state has offered nuances and ambiguities, suggesting there might be conditions under which that would not go ahead, but legally, nothing can take effect for at least another three years. so, it isa at least another three years. so, it is a little bit of an odd situation. what it is really doing is diminishing the influence of the us in these negotiations. the rest of the world has agreed it is carrying

on regardless and if someone is saying they will walk out the door, you just pay less attention to their interventions in the discussion. do you think statements like extremely likely, 95 to 100%, are they enough ha rd likely, 95 to 100%, are they enough hard evidence for donald trump to start changing their mind? do you think they will carry on regardless in terms of their attitude to climate change? well, i think president trump certainly dug himself into a corner in terms of his stance and declarations on climate change but he has been known to change tune as well. i think the fa ct to change tune as well. i think the fact is, he has said a lot of stall by not really paying that much attention to scientific advice. he has dismissed a number of the official scientific bodies closest to the white house. and he has pledged support to the coal industry. it would be hard for him to change his substantive position. i think it is an issue that they

would rather go away and would ignore as much as possible but the language in this report is going to galvanise further many states and many actors in the us, saying, this is not good enough. we know this is a problem, every scientific assessment says the same and if anything reinforces it further, which in some key areas, this also seems to do. it will add to the momentum of, in effect, a us system overall, which is largely ignoring the views of the president. headlines: labour's shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell calls headlines: labour's shadow chancellor john mcdonnell calls on main political parties to agree an independent system to tackle sexual harassment at westminster. lebanese prime minister saad al—hariri resigns, saying that he fears for his life the white house downplays a major report by us government scientists which is at

odds with the president's stance on global warming. president trump has visited pearl harbour ahead of a marathon tour of asia, the longest by a us president in 25 years. mr trump has now left hawaii to arrive in tokyo tomorrow, then it's on to south korea, followed by china, then vietnam for the apec summit. he will round things off with a visit to attend the 50th asean summit in the philippines. tensions over north korea's nuclear programme are set to dominate the agenda, as steven mcdonnell reports, from tokyo. in tokyo people are expecting the visit of donald trump to be com pletely visit of donald trump to be completely dominated by security issues emanating from the north korean nuclear threat. in theory, the united states and japan have lots to talk about, trade, for

example, but everyone knows that all these other issues will be com pletely these other issues will be completely swamped by north korea. on his way to asia, donald trump also travelled to pearl harbor, in hawaii, where, at the sight of a sunken ship, uss arizona, he had a wreath laying ceremony. perhaps more crucially, in hawaii, he had a briefing from the generals of the us pacific command. speaking about regional security. no prizes for guessing what they would have been talking about again. north korea. when donald trump arrives injapan, he will be meeting us troops based here. the same in south korea, perhaps this is a way of sending a message in terms of american capabilities in this part of the world. he will also be trying to build a coalition of age and governments in an attempt to pile even more pressure on to north korea to get them to give up their nuclear

weapons. that includes beijing. now, some analysts have said china have not done enough in this regard. donald trump says his chinese counterpart‘s efforts so far has been pretty terrific. only around half of fixed speed cameras in the uk are actually switched on, according to figures obtained through a freedom of information request to police forces around the country. and at least four police forces don't have any fixed speed cameras at all. alan clayton reports. voiceover: for motorists caught out by them, they create a hefty fine. safety campaigners argue speed cameras are lifesavers.

new research suggests only around half of the luminous boxes throughout the uk are operational. the press association sent a freedom of information request to all of the 45 forces asking how many fixed speed cameras they had and how many were active. the 36 which responded had a total of 2838 cameras, of which only 52% were working. forces in cleveland, durham and north yorkshire said none of their fixed speed cameras were active. while northants said it turned its cameras off six years ago but left them in place to deter speeding. those than replied said they used mobile speed cameras and regularly reviewed which cameras were turned on. i suspect in this case there thinking that the yellow boxes are there, they're sending out the message that motorists ought to be recognising about risky roads, but they're also increasingly looking to more advanced technology such as average speed cameras, or indeed better engineering of the road, which might have a more beneficial affect. the national police chiefs council said the decision to use cameras was an operational matter and that all forces have individual responsibility for their use of the cameras.

alan clayton, bbc news. studio: more than three billion litres of water leak out of the uk pipe network every day, that's enough to fill more than 1200 olympic size swimming pools. despite efforts by water companies in england and wales to reduce the amount of water lost, it's an issue which doesn't look like going away soon, as tim muffett has been finding out. disruptive... all the roads are blocked off and traffic was maimed, to be honest. and expensive. customers can't come to the shop because we have the flood. when water leaks the impact can be huge. it took four months to repair this road in birmingham last year. sometimes leaks are easy to spot. underground, they can go undetected for months or years. this is a new approach to a very old problem. we've got the drone attached to a really sensitive thermal camera that's going to be flying the length of the pipe, where we need to trace the leak.

this is a demonstration, but anglian water will next week begin trialling a new way of finding leaks. with heat detecting drones in the air, a mix of hydrogen and nitrogen will be pumped into pipes. by putting the gas inside the pipe we can then see that outside the pipe, as if it were emitting from a pinprick in a balloon, and we can see the gas inside the soil. and that's much more easy to pick up on a thermal imaging camera than, say, the escaping water. images of pipes will be carefully a nalysed. it is hoped the tiniest of leaks will be picked up by the thermal cameras on the drones. it's a far cry from the traditional method of finding leaks that's still widely used. damien, what are you listening for? i'm listening for water escaping out of a pipe under pressure, which will make a whooshing sound. some leaks are caused by old, corroded pipes, sometimes low temperatures and ground movement are to blame. it's a very, very old—fashioned piece of technology, isn't it? this just gives you an idea that

there's a leak within the vicinity of where you're working. it doesn't pinpoint exactly where. new attempt to tackle the problem have been welcomed by the consumer council for water, which represents customers. what we see is big companies that make a lot of profit wasting water and that just really winds customers up. next month the consumer council will publish its annual report on leakage across england and wales. leakages have gone up by about 1%. there was a lot of progress immediately after privatisation in the early 90s, but that progress has now stopped. some companies have improved leakage rates and different criteria are used to measure progress, but when it comes to cubic metres of water leaked per kilometre of pipe, the worst performers are united utilities in the north—west of england, third from bottom, then south staffordshire water and in last place thames water. its leakage rate is over twice the national average.

all three companies told us that reducing leakage was a priority and that more resources were being committed to tackling the problem. but with more than three billion litres leaking from uk water pipes each day, the challenge won't be draining away any time soon. tim muffett, bbc news. campaigners are warning of the growing threat to marine and wildlife in the uk from the increasing number of helium balloons and sky lanterns being released into the air. they say they can be deadly for animals, both on land and in the sea, as they can become entangled in them, or swallow them, and they fear their warnings are not being heard. dan johnson reports. the litter in our seas, an issue largely hidden. and how it gets there isn't always clear. so look at this, and think about it.

where do they land ? what goes up must come down. and the result is trouble at sea. it's wildlife getting tangled in them, the plastic litter is very unsightly. campaigns have been running for years but the message isn't getting through. most people thinking they are having a great time, we will let balloons off, there isn't much of a problem. but it is when you bring that visual impact that has been ingested and getting wrapped up with bits of string and bits of balloon out of their mouths as well. it could be internal, we find that out when we're able to do a postmortem. the amount of plastic in the ocean is already a threat to marine ecosystems and sea life. and the truth is, it's impossible to tell how much balloons are adding to that problem. because the impact is out there, offshore, unseen and unmeasured. so balloons get released without consideration of the consequences. it landed in the field,

and being curious she swallowed it. and they can be just as deadly on land. jennifer's horse died after choking and panicking. right through here with it tangled up, in her back leg, crashed through this, and broke her neck, and she laid dying for what seemed an eternity. the horse was aiming to be a top showjumper just like her sister here. they don't understand that they are releasing litter into the air, airborne litter, and if anyone dropped that on a pavement they would get heavily fined for it. it is causing untold suffering for animals that are eating them in the fields and they are either becoming very injured or killing them. conversationalist say they are notjust out to spoil people's enjoyment. we want people to have as much fun as possible but there are other wildlife friendly alternatives they can use instead

of releasing sky lanterns. the call is for a wider ban on balloons and people to keep their impact in mind before they drift off out of sight. studio: there are many ways to send a message these days, but a mysterious one the size of a field in oxfordshire has caused some bafflement. the name "sue" with a kiss in giant letters was spotted by a police helicopter near thame. a farmer, murray graham has now admitted he used his gps—operated tractor to spray the crops in the shape of his wife's name, to apologise for being moody. i was bring down there, i had chemical left in the tank, and i wa nted chemical left in the tank, and i wanted to see if i could write my wife's name in it. it takes a couple of weeks, i did ita wife's name in it. it takes a couple of weeks, i did it a couple of weeks ago. she is sure other half, what we're trying to say to the through

the medium of crop spraying? just that i am not quite as bumpy and old asiam that i am not quite as bumpy and old as i am making out, occasionally! they all say that! lets cross to our sparkler of a weather presenter, ben. it's a shame you are not called catherine, because that is only one ican think catherine, because that is only one i can think of, catherine wheel, fireworks display, after this weather forecast. across eastern scotland, fine, clear spells, chilly, but there will be show was blowing in across western scotland, some of them thundery. for northern ireland, showers as well, drifting into north—west england, the odd one trickling into the midlands. across east anglia and the south—east, dry, 9 degrees in london, lots of shower was blowing in, some showers in the west, many bases getting away with a dry night, and as we head through

into the early hours, continuing to see showers feeding into the west, heavy, thundery, and wintry. the coldest weather will be clear skies across eastern scotland and eastern england. into tomorrow, starting off with showers, heavy ones, easing away. by tomorrow, beautiful sparkling blue sky, autumn day, seven to 11 degrees. if you are submitting your fireworks on bonfire night itself, sunday night, looks like it will be colder still. that is all from me for now, have a great evening, i will see use in. is all from me for now, have a great evening, iwill see use in. —— i will see you soon. this is bbc news. the headlines at 6.30: labour's shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, has called on the main political parties to agree a new independent system to tackle sexual harassment at westminster.