ivan this is bbc news. the headlines at midday... tens of thousands of people are on the streets in zimba bwe‘s capital calling for president mugabe to resign. mugabe must go, he must go yesterday. it is a new beginning for us, at the end of tyranny rule and we are going to take zimbabwe back. richard leonard is the newly elected scottish labour leader — replacing kezia dugdale who stepped down in august. we need to restate our scottish labour vision for the economic, social and environmental transformation we want to deliver for the people of scotland. police and air accident investigators search for clues as to why two aircraft collided — leaving four people dead. hundreds of volunteers assist dorset police in searching for missing teenager gaia pope — who disappeared 11 days ago. also in the next hour...

taxing takeaway boxes to tackle what's described as a "global emergency." the chancellor is considering measures to help cut the 12 tonnes of plastic going into the oceans every year — often found inside birds, fish and sea mammals. a rare ink picture of tintin — and his dog snowy — is expected to fetch more than £700,000 at auction. and made in china... the click team are looking at mobile phone production in shenzhen. that's in half an hour here on bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the main breaking story in the

southern end of africa at the moment. jubilant scenes are unfolding across zimbabwe capital harare this morning. these are the pictures. protests demanding the resignation of president robert mugabe have turned to a celebration of the army's role in ending his grip on power. meanwhile in zimbabwe's second city of bulawayo, crowds can be seen cheering an army convoy. mr mugabe has been under house arrest since a military takeover four days ago. the rally is supported by the army and members of the ruling zanu pf party, which has passed a vote of no—confidence in the president, according to state media. protestors on the streets in harare spoke to our correspondent. basically we are zimbabweans, we are saying thank you very much for the peaceful intervention and it is time for the masses of zimbabwe to say mugabe must go and he must go yesterday. for us it is about a new beginning

and the end of a tyranny rule and we will take zimbabwe back. some of the thoughts on the streets of zimbabwe. earlier i spoke to our africa correspondent who gave us a sense of what was happening on the ground. it feels like a revolution. the mood here is one of delirium. i am looking past an armed personnel carrier here, thousands of zimbabweans converging on these streets and mobbing the military thanking them for the coup that triggered this. it is extraordinary. everybody coming together with one focus for now and that is getting rid of president mugabe. the fear that has kept so many people in check over the years has lifted with the permission of the military and zanu pf who authorised today's events.

now people are going quite delirious with happiness, hope that president mugabe will very soon step down and when you ask them, people say this has gone beyond something that zanu pf can control, that there is such a groundswell now of hope and passion for real change here so it will be very interesting in the days and weeks ahead, the extent of which zanu pf can manipulate and keep control of this and keep their iron grip on power. that was the latest from andrew harding. some live pictures coming through. you can get a sense of the atmosphere there. music playing. clearly those sort of thoughts that

we re clearly those sort of thoughts that were coming through from andrew, it continues. people dancing. something ofa continues. people dancing. something of a carnival atmosphere there. because, and it appears from the reports that we are getting from the ground, this goes for the vast majority of those in zimbabwe, people are supporting what the army has done in the last week or so. they are supporting this move to try and get rid of president robert mugabe, who has been in charge of the country for the best part of four decades. they are supporting this move to try and stop him and think of a power which is what it was believed he wished to his wife grace. and they are supporting the moves at the moment to see a peaceful transition of power, probably in the early phases to other members of the zanu pf party, the ruling the party of resident

mugabe. a series of speeches going on, vast crowds in the zimbabwean capital this afternoon. and across other parts of the country as well. we will leave those scenes from now. we will leave those scenes from now. we will leave those scenes from now. we will bring you more later and throughout the day is that develops. now closer home... the msp richard leonard has been elected as the new leader of scottish labour. mr leonard beat the party's health spokesman anas sarwar by around 3000 votes — securing overwhelming support from trade unions. the leadership contest was triggered by the surprise resignation of kezia dugdale in august. mr leonard said he intended to follow a radical agenda — pushing to extend public ownership and introduce a more progressive taxation system. comrades, what this leadership election has shown is that a reinvigoration of our politics in scotla nd reinvigoration of our politics in scotland is both needed and yearned

for by the people. we need a vision ofa for by the people. we need a vision of a better future, for by the people. we need a vision of a betterfuture, a vision for by the people. we need a vision of a better future, a vision of hope again, so that 20 years on, since the devolution referendum we need to restate our scottish labour vision for the economic, social and environmental transformation we want to deliver for the people of scotland. and so reinvigorate the very reasons why the labour party campaigned forand, very reasons why the labour party campaigned for and, let's not forget, delivered the scottish parliament in the first place. applause that is richard leonard. 0ur scotland correspondent steven godden is in glasgow and has been following the leadership campaign over the last nine weeks. certainly you heard richard leonard talking there about the need for unity, for everyone to come together after this result. certainly in this campaign it has been a long campaign at times, it has been quite bitter at times. these two men, richard leonard on the one side seen as a left winger, a former union official, against anas sarwar

who is viewed more moderate. richard leonard has come out on top. he certainly has a challenge. one of his first challenges is to bring unity to what has been a very divided party. also the wider political challenge to get labour back position that they historically enjoyed in scotland, the position of power. they have fallen at holyrood to third place behind the conservatives. that concerns everyone in that room. you heard richard leonard talking about the need to restate the vision for scottish labour, so very much that is the challenge for him. and he has other things on his plate as well. it is certainly a lot for him to do now that he is in position but you heard the reaction to him there, certainly a lot of happiness in thst room. now has to bring them together. investigators are continuing

their examination of the wreckage from a mid—air crash involving helicopter and a light aircraft over buckinghamshire. four people died in the collision, near the waddesdon estate yesterday lunchtime. 0ur correspondent dan johnson is at the scene. any update? no, we have learned very little more about this crash. 2a hours now since it happened here on the edge of aylesbury, this estate, the edge of aylesbury, this estate, the management saying the crash just off their land but it has disrupted things. this road is still closed, because accident investigators are still going through the wooded area just off the plane out of sight. in scene investigators on the air accident investigation bragg going to bits of wreckage, bagging of these and taking them away because examination. the fire service also involved in that examination and

police still here. conditions are not great. it is pretty wet and miserable. their work is slow and painstaking anyway and the conditions certainly will not be helping. the area of which the wreckage is spread, we have seen pictures from our helicopter which shows that wreckage scattered throughout the woodland, heavily dense wooded area. the chancellor investigators putting together all the evidence that will lead them to work out exactly because discretion —— the challenge for investigators. we know four people lost their lives. some of the eyewitnesses we spoke to add as described a noise and then seeing two objects following from the sky and crash landing in the woods just behind there. much more for the investigators to do to work out what went wrong here. i know you will keep us today throughout the date on anything coming out of this scene there. thank you. large numbers of volunteers are helping dorset police continue their search for gaia pope — the 19—year—old who went missing 11 days ago. in recent days, three people have been arrested on suspicion

of murdering the teenager, but all of them have been released as investigations continue. the search is focused on an area north of swanage, where items of clothing thought to belong to gaia were found on thursday. large numbers of people who get the new benefit — universal credit — to top up their low incomes face a difficult christmas. i beg your pardon, we can actually go to james i beg your pardon, we can actually go tojames bingham. i beg your pardon, we can actually go to james bingham. desperately sad times with the family. yes, very difficult but i think they will be buoyed by the support they are receiving to date. you can see behind me there is a large crowd gathering ready to start searches organised by friends and family of gaia. about to get underwayjust after midday. here two other points around the town of swanage as well. with me is gaia's sister, clara.

what are you hoping to do here today? we want a mass search at all three points that you mentioned, the country park, and two car parks. hoping to get lines of searches as best as possible, with guidelines on a certain section of map covering right and to walking down fairly near where her clothes were found and hopefully the lines of searchers will mean more people are more eyes oi'i will mean more people are more eyes on the ground and be able to cover every inch of ground that has not been yet seen. he talked about gaia's codes being found and clearly that was a big setback for you and the rest of the family, but you still hope you can find her? actually it wasn't a setback at all, shockingly, knowing that that was impossible place she could have been, or even having some kind of lead as to what has gone on. it was a very distressing time for us, but

at the same time positive in that we have some lead up to so many days of having literally nothing. you can't go anywhere in swanage without seeing posters of her face, also leaflets. you pleased with how the community is responding to your calls for help? the community has been amazing and i am beyond grateful. i cannot express my gratitude towards them. i have been involved pretty much every night with community searches as well, door—to—door, pretty much every house in swanage in coordination with the police to give them posters and give them other information, to search their gardens, sheds, missing girls tend to wander statistically, it is very likely that gaia could be there or back at any point. it has been such an unusual missing person inquiry, because there has been the arrest, the police suspecting she has come to harm, but you are a storm in the hope that searching is the way forward. by no means is the

missing persons investigation dropped by the police either. the murder investigation is running very much alongside that and they are open to every possibility, as are we. we are choosing to believe that a murder investigation isjust a formality and that she is alive and safe and we will find her. thank you for joining safe and we will find her. thank you forjoining us and i hope the search goes well. you can hear clara derek, emotional words. the rest of the family very hopeful, police concerns that gaia has come to harm, these people hope she will be found alive. let's hope so. thank you very much for now. large numbers of people who get the new benefit — universal credit — to top up their low incomes face a difficult christmas. the government has confirmed to the bbc that thousands of weekly wage earners will see their benefit stopped during the festive season through no fault of their own, but simply because of the workings

of the calendar. earlier i spoke to the presenter of radio 4's moneybox programme, paul lewis. i asked him how many people would be affected by this. they have been quibbling about the numbers today. we said it was probably up to 100000 and they think it might be purer than that, but tens of thousands is definitely right. if it affects you it doesn't really matter how many others are affected. the reason is this. universal credit is worked out on a monthly basis, a calendar monthly basis. but people who are paid weekly, we think that this almost half of those on universal credit, the dwp says it might be more like a quarter. the people paid weekly, you can have four or five paydays in the month, and that means your income in that month is very different. it is a month with five paydays, then you will certainly see a reduction in

your universal credit and in most cases we believe it will disappear altogether. december is a month with five fridays, which will probably affect all these people who are getting their money this month that they are paid weekly, so it is a lot of people. so their money goes over the minimum amounts which they each month get paid for universal credit. topping up the paper people in work. the next time this happens is much and it happens to four times a year. four times a year. we have had a response from the government, have you had an indication from the government that they consider this to bea government that they consider this to be a problem? this is how it works and they made it very clear. it isa works and they made it very clear. it is a monthly benefit and they think most people in work are paid monthly and that may or may not be true. is it any understanding from the government that the people on low incomes this is important money and a six—week delay in getting back on universal credit system is going to be very problem —— problematic.

if people whose benefit people will have to reclaim but they are not subject to that same waiting period, the famous six weeks, 44 or 45 days normally, because it is a reclaim within six months. they cannot tell whether they will get it immediately, after exactly one month whether they will have to wait a month and a week, we don't know that yet. but they will certainly have to wait and they have to reclaim it and that means going online, but all these people will have easy access to the internet and they have to do it at the library or relatives so it isa it at the library or relatives so it is a difficult process. this problem exists, the numbers that dwp is arguing about at the moment. look at the headlines on bbc news. mike tens of thousands of people are on the streets of the zimbabwean capital harare and other cities across the country calling for the resignation of president robert mugabe. richard leonard is the newly elected scottish labour leader, he

replaces kezia dugdale who stepped down in august. police and air accident investigators are searching for clues as to why two aircraft collided over buckinghamshire, leaving four people dead. the lebanese prime minister, saad hariri, is in france where's he met president macron. he travelled there from saudi arabia and said it was a lie to say that he had been held by the saudi authorities against his will. he handed in his resignation two weeks ago. there are reports that mr hariri has told lebanon's president michael aoun that he expects to be back in beirut by wednesday. our correspondent hugh schofield in paris has more on what's been it seems there has been successful french mediation in this crisis. mr hariri has come to france after mr macron as had intensive discussions on the telephone and in person with

the saudi, and the result seems to be that mr hariri is not going directly back to beirut, which would have been seen as a bit of a climb—down, excessive climb—down by the saudis, but he is coming to paris, seen as some kind of decompression chamber in this crisis, with a view presumably what the french expect, then going back to beirut and that is what will be under discussion no doubt at this lunch. as you havejust under discussion no doubt at this lunch. as you have just said the lebanese president has said he expects mr hariri back next wednesday which is independence day in lebanon. that seems to be a growing confidence in lebanon but the resignation of mr hariri was a temporary measure, that he is going back, but we willjust have to see. maybe he will go back and resubmit his resignation or maybe he will try and form a new government. we just don't know. that is what will be

subject of discussion here today but also in the days ahead between the saudis, lebanese, different factions and the french, macron very assertive foreign policy trying to mediate it further. 90 mps — about a third of them conservatives — have signed a letter to the prime minister and chancellor to say that patients are being "failed" by the nhs and social care in england. the politicians who signed the letter — including nearly 30 former ministers — are calling for parties to work together to find a solution. our health editor hugh pym reports. the pressure on the nhs is growing. there are fears that hospitals will continue to struggle to find enough beds to admit new patients, partly because of difficulties discharging elderly patients, caused in turn by problems with social care. a group of mps now says that a long—term sustainable settlement is needed and that only a cross—party nhs and care convention can deliver that. in the letter written to the prime minister and the chancellor, the mps say...

senior conservative, labour and liberal democrat backbenchers are among those who signed the letter. i think the nhs and social care are huge issues for our generation and we've got to get it right and i think it's bigger than just one party. the mps also call for action in next week's budget to address the short—term pressures on the system. a government spokesperson said it was recognised there was broad agreement across parliament, that social care reform was a priority, and there would be consultation ahead of a policy paper next year. the government is considering a tax on single—use plastics that are used in packaging and polystyrene takeaway boxes. the chancellor, philip hammond, is expected to use next week's budget to announce a consultation

on the measure to cut waste and pollution. an estimated 12 million tonnes of plastic enters the oceans each year, and residues are routinely found in fish, sea birds and marine mammals. 0ur correspondentjoe lynam explains how the tax would work. exa m ples of examples of some of the types of plastics that the chancellor is hoping to target, a classic bolstering box which many of us have enjoyed takeaway meals with. it cannot be recycled. it is single use plastic and could take decades if not longer to process. but they are doing is they are calling for a consultation to establish whether there should be a tax applied on such products and what kind of tax and how much and all that kind of thing. to deal was on the issues you have talked about, 12 million tonnes entering the ocean. the uk alone, they say that 1000 royal albert

halls full of plastic, single use plastic every year. that is a lot of plastic. and there is an obvious need to cut down on it. the plastic bag tax that was bulletin which is presumably this is based on, that has been very successful in reducing the use of plastic bags. 80% down the use of plastic bags. 8096 down from its previous years, england was the last bit of the uk to introduce it. 2015 introduced, an 80% reduction. it is about changing habits. it is coming in the budget so it is obviously about raising money as well. what sort of money do you raise in something like this? nothing that will get rid of the 3% deficit that the united kingdom has. the budget deficit is something you need major measures to get down, the chancellor does have my problem and he does not have enough money in. if he does not have enough money in. if he wants to have juicy giveaways, that all costs money. so why do it?

it will presumably it's the people who buy single use plastic, processed food and the like, and thatis processed food and the like, and that is not going to be going down particularly well with them. you are right. it is interesting, the people who would end up paying for attacks on post irene and single use plastic, would we be the less well—off groups in society, they will pay proportionately more of their income if there were attacks so that is the dilemma that the chancellor has. he needs to bring in money and c02 chancellor has. he needs to bring in money and co2 emissions down and something the environment, but who pays for it? the people who can least afford possible. the sinn fein president gerry adams has said he will set out a plan for a leadership change in his party at its conference in dublin this evening. mr adams, who is one of the most significant and divisive figures in irish politics, has led sinn fein since 1983. he's indicated he won't stand down immediately, but will talk about future plans. today marks 30 years

since the king's cross fire, when 31 people lost their lives in the worst blaze in the history of the london underground. it started when a single match was discarded on a wooden escalator. as tom edwards reports, the tragedy brought about monumental changes in fire safety. thousands use this escalator every day and many don't know this is where the worst fire in the history of the tubes started. stewart button is now retired, but nearly 30 years ago he was one of the first firefighters to arrive. we were laying out the equipment and it was then that we heard or started hearing all the screams. i thought there must be loads of people down there. just scream after scream. 30 years on and this official report still makes terrifying reading. it describes how this station, full of commuters, turned into a furnace.

it also outlines how the response from the emergency services was hampered, due to a breakdown in communication. and there was a lack of knowledge of the station layout. even 30 years on, for the families of those who died, the memories are still raw. you cry a lot... for a long time. it's a shocking thing and everytime something like that happens, whether it's grenfell or a terrorist incident, you think of all the people who are getting that news and the shock of it. the following enquiry led to a huge change to the tube and the fire service's safety regimes. among the many recommendations, wooden escalators should be removed,

smoking should be banned and heat detectors and sprinklers should be installed. and crucially, the emergency services should be able to communicate with each other underground. most of the recommendations have since been implemented. these types of exercises are now part of training and legislation ensures minimum staffing levels on deep line stations. there isn't a month goes by in myjob where we don't reference the king's cross fire. it had such a phenomenal and beneficial effect on the organisation. so out of a desperate tragedy, good things have actually come. the unions say they will resist anything that they think could compromise safety. and these changes only happened after the deaths of 31 londoners. an original drawing of the comic book hero tintin is expected to sell for nearly £1 million today.

it has pulled for nearly half $1 million. the artwork, by the belgian artist herge, was published in 1939 as the cover of a story called king 0ttokar‘s sceptre. other pieces up for auction in paris include herge's designs for board games. let's get a look at the weather. no great rush about the weather for saturday. there is a lot of wind across the north—east of scotland. some showers here. a lot of dry and fine weather across the northern pa rt fine weather across the northern part of britain but the temperatures in single figures. by the affair, mild affair across the south. prospect for some other bit of rain. that prospect dragging its way down towards the surface. is there a skies began to clear it ends up being quite a frosty night, down to minus fouror minus being quite a frosty night, down to minus four or minus five we think but at least that gives us the prospect of dry and fine and settled weather to start a new day and the

sunshine through central and eastern parts. fill in that cloud through the day and eventually reign the western scotland, northern ireland, maybe the first fingered and fun north of wales. despite the sunshine, five or 67 only in the east and the problem is we are pushing mild air into some cool stuff across the heart of scotland, could be some snow elsewhere. a mild start of the week. hello. since bbc news. headlines. mike thousands of people are on the streets of the zimbabwean capital to cope with the resignation of robert mugabe. richard leonard is the newly elected scottish labour leader replacing kezia dugdale who stepped down in august. police and air accident investigators search for clues as to why two aircraft collided over buckinghamshire leaving four people dead. a tax on

single use plastic products such as food packaging trays and pastime to great boxes is being considered to try and cut ocean pollution. the chancellor is expected to announce the measure in next week's budget. sports now. good afternoon. the big match in the premier league is the north london derby. arsenal versus totte n ha m north london derby. arsenal versus tottenham just getting under way. arsenal have lost their last six league games against their neighbours but on a record winning strea k neighbours but on a record winning streak at the emirates. record hurricane and dele alli asked it for spurs despite missing england's's latest friendly against brazil. ryan giggs is the odds—on