tonight at ten — a national service of remembrance for the victims of the grenfell tower disaster, six months on. more than 1500 people attended the multi—faith service at st paul's cathedral, including members of the royal family. among those who took part were relatives of those who died, as others questioned whether the deaths could have been prevented. today, we ask why warnings were not heeded, why a community was left feeling neglected, uncared for, not listened to. and tonight, in the streets of west london, a silent march to involve more of the local community in today's remembrance. we'll be reporting on the service at st paul's and we'll be talking to some of the families who attended. also tonight. theresa may is attending the eu summit in brussels, insisting the government is on course to deliver brexit. in one of the biggest media deals for years, disney buys most of rupert murdoch's

business for £40 billion. the christmas spirit in edinburgh, as the scottish government uses its powers to change income tax for the first time. and the plans for deep—ocean mining off papua new guinea are condemned by the world's leading conservationists. that humanity should just plough on with no regard for the consequences, because they don't know what they are. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, in a few hours england resume their quest to keep the ashes series alive on 305—4, thanks to a century from dawid malan. good evening.

six months to the day since the devastating fire at grenfell tower, a service of remembrance has been held at st paul's cathedral for the bereaved families and survivors. for the first time since the tragedy, those affected came together to remember the 71 people who lost their lives. the congregation reflected the multi—cultural community in west london where the disaster happened. the bishop of kensington told the congregation — which included the prince of wales and other members of the royal family — that there were still many unresolved questions after the fire. our home editor mark easton reports from st paul's. they came to st paul's to mourn those who were lost, to comfort those who still suffer. and to thank those who've worked to heal. this is the family we lost — five people. on the 215t floor. on the 21st floor. so...

yeah. that's why we're here. and how important is this event to you? very important. anything to remember them is important to us. yeah. every strand of british cultural life was woven into a service of remembrance, community and hope. grenfell survivors, families and friends, politicians... and royalty. the grenfell fire exposed deep social divides in modern britain. this morning, here at the cathedral, those destined to inherit a kingdom stand beside those who have lost everything. from highness to homeless, together beneath the dome of st paul's. so, now, together, we remember and reflect... some politicians from the area around grenfell were asked not to come today. the emotions are still too raw.

don't come and look at taking selfies. no, no, no, no. this is not respectful. we want people to know what's happened. using voices from the time, the lingering agony of the grenfell community was dropped into the calm of the cathedral. you need to feel what we felt... they've let us down, this borough, it's let us down, honest to god. look, this is my borough. there's so many questions and no answers. today, we ask why warnings were not heeded, why a community was left feeling neglected, uncared for, not listened to. in a service rich with imagery, a commitment was made to turn grenfell from a symbol of sorrow to a symbol of the time we learned to listen and to love. schoolchildren scattered green hearts at the feet of faith leaders. six months after that fateful day,

the powerful were once again forced to look directly into the eyes of those whose trust was betrayed. it's like yesterday. the pain‘s deep, and... we shall not forget. for three centuries and more, st paul's has marked the highs and the lows of the capital. today, to that list was added grenfell — a tragedy that awoke london to the injustice hidden in plain sight. mark easton, bbc news, st paul's cathedral. among those who died in the grenfell

fire was khadija saye, a promising young artist, whose mother, mary mendy, also lost her life in the disaster. today, members of their family were among those who went to st paul's cathedral to take part in the memorial service. later theyjoined a silent march by grenfell tower. our special correspondent lucy manning spent the day with them. they walked silently. it's hard to speak ofjust how much has been lost here. the firefighters, who were the first to grenfell that night, stood to honour those they rescued and those whose relatives they could not save. they comforted each other. so many families, the mendysjust one of thousands walking. the family had gathered this morning.

while the months have passed, their sadness hasn't. they lost mary mendy and her daughter khadija saye. some people wanted her to be a doctor, but she didn't want to be a doctor, she wanted to be an artist. yeah. i cry every day, every day. it was the only thing i have, i don't have nothing. nothing. they took out the best members of our family. they did, yeah. the best people in ourfamilies. especially khadija. from the youngest, just three months old, they all came to st paul's, to stand with other families, to remember with them, to cry with them. they talked to prince william about the art khadija had produced, the prolific artist she would have become. this was khadija last year, talking about a future that was never hers. i can't be struggling, i need to, you know, actually progress and see how...

how to make a career. because that is the dream, isn't it? what was lost at grenfell, notjust the talented artist but the architecture graduate, the engineering student, the taxi driver, the teaching assistant, the bride—to—be, the girl taking her gcses, and, of course, all the young children with their lives in front of them. it was very emotional. emotional. yes, very emotional. and we felt that it was something that she would have loved, because she's very religious. how would you like people to think of khadija? i want people to remember khadija's smile. mmm. the soft, kind—hearted, brave young woman who would have become somebody. for now, we just want to know why. because they died needlessly — they didn't have to die. marion lived with them in grenfell for a few years before the fire.

but her aunt, cousin and 69 others weren't safe in their own homes. they took the flowers from the memorial to mary mendy‘s grave. for one day, everyone remembered grenfell — her family will never forget. lucy manning, bbc news. some of the grenfell families today talking to my colleague, lucy manning there. the prime minister is in brussels attending an eu summit where she hopes fellow leaders will give permission for the brexit negotiations to move on to the next phase, defining the relationship between the uk and the european union after brexit. mrs may insisted the brexit process was still on course, despite her defeat in a parliamentary vote last night when mps insisted on a legal guarantee that they'd get a final vote on the brexit deal. from brussels, our political editor laura kuenssberg reports.

herjob tonight — to get 27 countries of all political colours onside, a day after failing to line up everyone in her own party. will theresa may bend to her rebels‘ will? i'm disappointed with the amendment, but, actually, the eu withdrawal bill is making good progress through the house of commons, and we are on course to deliver on brexit. and remember last week, presidentjuncker said that significant progress had been made to move on to phase two of our negotiation. do you accept that as prime minister, you are going to have to make more compromises, notjust with the opposition parties, but with your own side? well, let's look at the passage of the eu withdrawal bill so far. as i say, it has been making good progress through the house of commons. we've actually had 36 votes on the eu withdrawal bill, and we've won 35 of those votes. will you compromise more? we have won 35 out of our 36 votes on the eu withdrawal bill. good morning.

give and take at home? not quite. but abroad, where she has had to compromise, her cheery counterparts sent a mixture of sympathy and demand. this makes it even shorter for theresa may's government to make proposals, because if, after it, she needs to get an agreement in london, that doesn't help a lot. i've absolute faith and confidence in her, that she speaks for the government of the uk, and that as long as that is the case, as long as she is prime minister, we will deal with her, and treat her as though she had an overall majority. she's holding her cards close to her heart at the moment, which i understand, on the next phase. and this is probably a wise negotiating tactic. it is now for the uk to make up its mind, and then together, to collectively to see where we can get to. the closest friends may be not quite convinced. "we've made progress with great britain," said the german leader, "but some questions are still open."

in the negotiations that i have the support of parliament in what i am doing." barring last—minute disaster, the rest of the eu is to agree that britain can move onto the next phase of our long goodbye, but theresa may will enter that knowing that the other countries provide 27 items on her list of problems, but parliament is perhaps the 28th, and the trickiest of all. remember, tomorrow's expected agreement is only a promise to move onto talks about the long—term relationship. at home, and here, there is still an awful lot to be worked out.

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positions, letting them fight for the top position and whoever wins would take over and the murdoch name would go on for ever. and here in a stroke, he's unbundling the empire and the dynastic ambitions are gone. but what does this mean for british viewers? the implications for british broadcasting are enormous and largely unrealised by the people who run british broadcasting. if an $80 billion company like fox is not big enough to survive in the new age of digital disrupters like netflix, then what chance does channelli, channel5, even itv, even the bbc itself? the deal still needs regulatory approval, but if it goes through, it'll create a new media. it'll create a new media superpower. mr murdoch is selling his world—famous film studio, 21st century fox, international tv businesses like sky in europe and star in india. cable networks such as fx and national geographic.

and perhaps most strikingly, a stake in hulu, a streaming service with access to millions of customers which could rival netflix. and that's the key for disney. streaming has changed broadcasting for ever, allowing you at home to watch a seemingly infinite number of shows how you want, where you want and when you want. ondemand services like hulu, in which disney will now have a controlling stake, cut out the middleman of domestic television stations, broadcasting directly into millions of homes. the fox international footprint has some extremely high—end technology to deliver all this content to consumers in more modern ways. sky in europe is a good example of that, star in india, another one. and so to the consumer, not only will they be getting more great content, high—quality content, but they will be getting it in ways that they demand. there are still many unanswered questions about this deal. but sky news and sky sports look set to continue, while fox says that its own bid

for full control of sky, still with regulators, remains in place. even with this acquisition, disney is playing catch—up with tech giants like facebook, amazon and apple, who, if they aren't there already, are coming to a small screen near you. amol is here with me. what does this deal tell us about the rapidly changing media world that we are in? if you had said this time last year that rupert murdoch was going to sell most of his company, nobody would have believed you, they would have said you are mad. but it has happened because there is a revolution going on in there is a revolution going on in the world of media which is dominated i a few key players. gone are the days when you had to watch scheduled tv and scheduled programmes on television sets. nowadays you can watch what you want, when you want, on a mobile phone. so this is a golden age, an amazing age in terms of choice. but

here is the rub — it is dominated by a few big american companies — google, apple, amazon, and now disney, they want to be part of that club. there has never been a better time for people who love great shows and content, but there has never been a harder time for the media industry. if even rupert murdoch can't keep up with the big boys from silicon valley, what hope, frankly, for anyone else? four children have died after a train crashed into a school bus at a level crossing in southern france. 19 others were injured, seven seriously, in the accident which happened near the city of perpignan. the bus was carrying students from the local secondary school, aged between 11 and 15, when it was struck. images from the scene show how the bus was destroyed by the force of the crash. for the first time the scottish government has used its new tax—raising powers to propose changes to rates of income tax in scotland. low earners would pay less tax than they would in the rest of the uk, but higher earners would pay more.

scotland's finance secretary derek mackay said his budget would protect scotland from spending cuts being imposed by the government at westminster. let's join our scotland editor, sarah smith, at the scottish parliament in edinburgh. this is a really significant moment in the history of devolution, because it is the first time the scottish government have used their powers to vary income tax rates, and they've created a tax regime quite different from that in the rest of the uk. here in scotland we now have five income tax bands with a starting rate that's lower than in the rest of the uk and a top rate that's higher. the snp hope that by cutting taxes for more than half of scottish workers, they can increase the revenues they bring in without losing too much public support. an early christmas present was delivered to many scottish taxpayers today, as more than two thirds will pay less income tax next year.

all of these msps posing in their festive jumpers, though, will have to pay higher taxes. the scottish government will increase nhs spending and give public sector workers a 3% pay rise. it overturns the tory cuts to our block grant, it delivers an additional £400 million to the health service without damaging other vital services. it protects the vast majority of taxpayers. it is a budget for fairness and a budget for growth. a new starter rate of i9% mean those earning less than £24,000 will be £20 a year better off than taxpayers in the rest of the uk. a new intermediate rate of 21% means somebody earning £33,000 will be £70 worse off. increasing the higher rate to 41% means anybody earning £60,000 will be £755 worse off. putting the additional rate up to 46% will see those earning over £150,000 paying £1,774 more than those outside scotland. raising an extra £164 million

for the scottish government. the new scottish tax rates create winners and losers. as a public sector worker, john will get a tax cut, and a pay rise. we definitely do need to address the crisis in public sector pay. wages in the civil service have gone down by about 20%, in terms of buying power. business owner sharon wants to know that higher taxes will be spent wisely. i think if we're confident and trust that it will be used for the purposes that the public want, we need more money, but there are so many needs that it needs to go to, and i'm not confident it's all going to the right needs. a lawyer, alan is one who will now be paying more. are you personally happy to be paying higher tax rates? yes, lam. i think that it's entirely reasonable that i should pay higher rates, it is a question of how much of a reasonable balance for it, but yes, i would

certainly pay more tax. while some people will pay much more, the tax cut for lower earners is worth just £20 a year. behind all the smoke and mirrors, nearly half of scotland's workers are paying more than they would do in the rest of uk and we've had all of scotland's business organisations coming out saying that raising taxes would damage scotland's economy and our growth. figures released today show the scottish economy is forecast to grow more slowly than the rest of the uk, but public spending in scotland will be significantly higher. sarah smith, bbc news, edinburgh. a brief look at some of the day's other news stories. the high court has ruled that the removal of eu citizens sleeping rough in the uk is unlawful and must stop. the case was brought on behalf of three men facing removal under the government policy, which was introduced last year. a judge said the measure was discriminatory. campaigners say the decision will affect hundreds of people. a third person has appeared in court charged with the murder of four children in a house fire in greater manchester on monday. david worrall, who's 25, was remanded in custody. he'll appear at manchester crown court tomorrow,

alongside two other people, who've also been charged with murder, attempted murder and arson. the leader of the far—right group britain first has been arrested in belfast. paul golding was with his deputy jayda fra nsen as she appeared in court. ms fransen has been charged with using threatening and abusive language at a rally in the city in the summer. detectives are now questioning mr golding about the same event. the ministry of defence has been ordered to pay damages of up to £30,000 to four iraqi citizens. the high court has awarded the compensation for their ill—treatment and unlawful detention by british armed forces during the iraq war. lawyers for the men say the judgment could determine the outcome of hundreds of other claims. a mile underwater off the coast of papua new guinea, preparations are under way for the world's first deep—ocean mine. rocks found on the ocean floor are exceptionally rich in copper and gold and could be worth billions of pounds.

but scientists are warning that mining the rock will devastate marine life, and sir david attenborough has condemned the plans. 0ur science editor, david shukman, has been given exclusive access to the project. in the brilliant tropical waters of papua new guinea, a controversial project is taking shape that could have a huge impact on the oceans. a vast, lumbering machine is going through final testing. it looks like a cross between something military and an invention from science fiction. its whirling steel teeth are designed to break up the rocks of the sea bed. this will be part of the world's first deep sea mine. this is the first time that anything like this has ever been tried, sending these massive machines a mile down to the ocean floor and there, well,

tearing it up to send valuable metals up to the surface. and because this is all so new, no one really knows exactly what the impact is going to be. the company behind the mine portrays it as a neat and efficient way to get at rich deposits of gold and copper, and it claims there will be less disruption than there is in mines on land. the offshore alternative is in fact from an environmental perspective a far better way to provide the world with the minerals that it requires. offshore, there will be no clearing of rainforests, there will be no relocation of communities, there will be no large waste dumps. but not everyone believes all that. fishing supports thousands ofjobs in papua new guinea, and some here worry that important tuna stocks will be at risk. the un development programme wants the mining project stopped. 0ne sixth of the tuna in the whole

world comes from this, the pacific, and from this one country. huge numbers of people's lives depend on fisheries, and this project potentially will jeopardise all of that. so, there's a difficult balance for papua new guinea. millions here live below the poverty line. this is one of the poorest countries on earth. but mining projects on land have often failed to improve conditions. as a developing country, papua new guinea is obviously looking for new sources of income, and deep sea mining may help provide that, and if it works — and it is a gamble — there are dozens of other mining projects around the world that are likely to follow. so, what happens here could really usher in a whole new era of what we do to the oceans. the first project will target deep hot springs known as hydrothermal vents. they're packed with minerals, needed for electronics

and renewable energy, so some scientists say we'll have to mine them. but others warn that teaming communities of rare forms of life could be wiped out. it's heartbreaking. we showed david attenborough our video of the ocean mining machines. he's horrified at the idea of the destruction of hydrothermal vents. that's where life began. and that we should be destroying these things is so deeply tragic, that humanity should just plough on with no regard for the consequences — because they don't know what they are. back in papua new guinea, testing continues. one major concern among critics is that the government here is a shareholder in the mine, raising doubts about its ability to step in if things go wrong. but staff here say they'll try to minimise the impact.

we're not in an environment that we can just do whatever we want. people are watching, there are regulations that we need to abide by and modify to suit, so that the environment is the winner in the end. one of the giant machines is tested under water. in the next two years, it will be lowered to the sea bed and put to work. the start of a new gold rush in the deep ocean. david shukman, bbc news, in papua new guinea. cricket, and in perth, england have made a strong start in the first day of the crucial third test of the ashes series. of the ashes series. a century from dawid malan — the first english batsman to score a hundred this series — left the visitors in the driving seat, as our correspondent andy swiss reports. they've been waiting a long time for this. after watching collapses, calamities and controversies, at last, for england fans, a bit of cricketing cheer. not that it necessarily

seemed that way at first — england opted to bat, but in alastair cook's case, not for long. out for just seven, as australia's bowlers set about making life decidedly uncomfortable. they broke mark stoneman‘s helmet, and soon, it seemed, england's hopes. stoneman gone controversially for 56, the video umpire deciding it had just brushed his glove, to england's frustration. at 131—4, it seemed another tale of what if. but in the nick of time, a centurion emerged from the ranks — the unheralded dawid malan. yes, he rode his luck, dropped on 92, but together with jonny bairstow, he made australia pay. what a time to score your first test hundred. if the day belonged to england, the moment was all his. magnificent effort! it was so emotional. you know, i didn't really know what to do, when i got the hundred, i wasjust so emotional, i almost started crying, to be honest, when it happened.

just when they needed it, england's best day of the series so far.