this is bbc news. i'm chris rogers. the headlines at 2: travel disruption at airports, on the roads and the channel tunnel, as the recent heatwave continues to cause problems. some ryanair flights from stansted have just been cancelled. mps warn british democracy is in crisis because of targeted campaigns of hate and misinformation on social media. the chief constable of the west midlands admits his police force is occasionally providing a poor service — and apologises. we are incredibly busy at this time. level of calls we receive in the summer level of calls we receive in the summer of very challenging. sometimes that service we provide in the peak times doesn't meet the service people expect. also coming up — australian sailor wendy tuck has become the first female skipper to ever win the clipper round the world yacht race. thousands watched her team

return to liverpool, nearly a year after 12 yachts set out from the city. can't wait to see my mum and my brother! can't wait to see my mum and my brother! the cast for the next star wars film is revealed — and it will include previously unseen footage of the late actress carrie fisher. and at 2:30, witness looks at the process of designing the iconic sydney opera house. hello, good afternoon. first it was the hot weather causing disruption, now it's storms leading to misery for tens of thousands of people. violent storms and lightning strikes have caused the cancellation of flights and trains. among the worst affected have been stanstead airport, the eurotunnel and the east coast mainline. simonjones reports. the holiday getaway from hell, seemingly unending queues

at stansted airport as flights were cancelled, blamed on the thunderstorms that meant planes couldn't fly safely. after waiting for serveral hours, many had to give up and head home. it's just incredible how unaccountable they are, there is no—one here to deal with it. the queues are never ending. people are supposed to wait. it's ridiculous. they say that the flight is delayed. then we come back here, another queue for ten hours, just to talk with them. the storms that swept in, heralding the end of the heatwave, were supposed to put a stop to this, too, the chaos at the channel tunnel. for three days, trains had been unable to run at full capacity because it was too hot. the air conditioning couldn't cope. now it's much cooler, but delays have gone up, a six and a half hour wait for some. the company says it's taking time

to bring back the carriages that had to be taken out of service. lightning strikes have also taken out some rail services. whoa! and members of the rmt union have walked out on strike on southwestern railway and eurostar. weather alerts remain in place, warning of danger, as the weather continues to claim lives. this morning, a body was found close to the beach at clacton on sea in essex, after a teenager went missing in the water. real problems at stansted airport today. we can speak to katherine da costa, who's at stansted airport. it is very windy, isn't it? it is very windy, isn't it? it is, we have been speaking to plenty of angry and frustrated and is now very tired passengers who said they have spent the night in the terminal building sleeping on the terminal building sleeping on the floor, many of them with very young children. this has come about because of the storms that caused

cancellations and that means planes are now out of position and it causes knock—on effects for today. traffic control restrictions are also still in place because of the storms elsewhere in europe. we have been hearing chaotic scenes overnight and into today. some queues had gone down at some check ins but particularly around ryanair, that was still longer queues, many people waiting and still facing delays and cancellations. people waiting many hours for information. they are not being told what is happening. some said they had managed to board a plane but they sat on the target ——, for around six hours, only to be told the plane had missed its slot and they had to go back to the airport. they then continued to wait to reclaim their luggage. it has been causing lots of frustration, as you can imagine. sta nsted has frustration, as you can imagine. stansted has told us those huge queues were caused by passengers who

decided to stay at the airport to reebok after their plates had been cancelled. they are telling passengers they should speak to their airlines for the latest information. as for ryanair, as we mentioned, they have said that they we re mentioned, they have said that they were forced to cancel a number of flights. they have not said how many we re flights. they have not said how many were cancelled last night, but that, together with staff shortages, has caused further disruptions today, including cancellations and delays. they have said they have contacted customers directly affected by text and e—mail offering a refund or to catch the next available flight. and the company has apologised, but they said the weather conditions were simply out of their control. thank you for that update. much more information on the bbc news website regarding stansted information on the bbc news website regarding sta nsted and information on the bbc news website regarding stansted and we will try to keep you updated. our correspondent claire marshall is heading with the family in the car to the south of france. a short time ago, she told us about the delays they have

faced since friday. somebody in the departures lounge said yesterday that somebody was working on the tills, people with stock for six and a half to seven hours. we were supposed to go a couple of hours ago and we're now on our way to the passports bet. and apparently, there is another queue down there. and ijust saw apparently, there is another queue down there. and i just saw a apparently, there is another queue down there. and ijust saw a message from somebody who is on the shuttle, presumably before it went under the ocean, saying that there is no working loos on there as well, so interesting journey, but start of the day! heading to the south of france, stuck in folkestone with some very well—behaved children on the back—seat! more information on the back—seat! more information on the bbc news website as well. voters are being systematically manipulated by the spread of fake news, according to a group of mps. in a report due tomorrow, but which has already been leaked, the culture, digital media

and sport select committee says the uk is facing a "democratic crisis." it's urging tighter regulation of political posts on social media and measures to combat interference in elections. our politcal correspondent, suzana mendonca, is here. we're not talking about people getting their facts wrong, this is something that is criminal and organised. fake news is what it says, it is a news article or a news piece that is basically not true. but presented as though it is news. so people can get, i suppose, confused and think it is real news when it is not news. mps have been looking into this issue since last year and then we had the revelations that people's personal data was being harvested on facebook by a company called cambridge analytica

to influence the us elections. this raised concerns further among mps in the uk that perhaps something similar may have been done in the eu referendum so they had been looking into this issue and they are concerned about whether there may have been russian interference. if you look at the wording, it is quite language, strong they said the uk is facing a democratic rises and voters are being religiously targeted through social media m essa 9 es targeted through social media messages “— targeted through social media messages —— democratic crisis. if you are messages —— democratic crisis. if you a re interested messages —— democratic crisis. if you are interested in immigration, for example, or animal welfare —— the —— being deliberately targeted. and what are the recommendations? this is not easy. there are a lot of wide—ranging recommendations, and the first thing they talk about is basically new rules for online political campaigning, they basically said the current laws do

not meet the change in technology we have had. making clear where adverts have had. making clear where adverts have come from because many of the adverts people are getting, they don't have any indication as to which organisation sent it, and also having a public register so people can see the adverts that are sent to other people on social media because the adverts you receive will not necessarily be the same as other people receive in this targeted way. then we have a recommendation there should be a tax on social media networks and the idea behind this... like a networks and the idea behind this... likeafine? networks and the idea behind this... like a fine? they would have to pay a levy to fund the regulation that would be imposed upon them, so they are talking that changing the regulations and at the moment social media outlets, they say they are a publisher and not a platform, but mps are saying they are somewhere in between the two of them. they are happy to advertise. yes any questions about the way they operate but basically saying there needs to

be new regulation on them —— yes, many questions about. but also about awareness campaigns is calls about fa ke awareness campaigns is calls about fake news and telling people what fa ke fake news and telling people what fake news and telling people what fake news is all about. —— awareness campaigns in schools. and there we have a watchdog looking into whether electoral law is stuck to. at the moment the largest fine the electoral commission can impose is just £20,000 which is not very much you are talking about massive companies which make billions in revenue. “— companies which make billions in revenue. —— if you are talking about. there have been warnings about some mps possibly overreacting, though, from campaigners, and dominic cummings, the director of vote leave, he refused to be

interviewed by the electoral commission. vote leave was fined by the electoral commission a few weeks back for overspending during the referendum campaign, and he has described this as fake news. both sides of that town have been accused of that. and still are. —— both sides of that camp. let's talk to tom baldwin — author of the book: "control; alt; delete: how politics and the media crashed our democracy". he is also a former spin doctorfor ed miliband in the 2015 election. fake news is another name for propaganda which has been around for hundreds of years, but it is easier to do now. easier to get to people with it? my book sets out a 30 year

abusive relationship between politics and the media on the one hand and the information age on the other, so this has been a long time coming, but when you have some of the elements that came into being in the elements that came into being in the 80s and 90s and the early years of this century, combined with data collection and social media advertising, you get a perfect storm, and the mps are right to say there is a crisis about our democracy now. the question is, how do you deal with the crisis without censoring organisations and the public and the platforms in a world that so many of us have fought hard to remain free for people to express their opinions? the problem is not people expressing opinions, the problem is social media advertising in particular is a playing field where the advantage goes to the people with the deepest pockets and the lowest standards. 0ne

people with the deepest pockets and the lowest standards. one idea i suggest is a complete ban on social media advertising on politics, and that would not stop people in political parties and campaigns putting up a you tube video, but what it would stop is the insidious targeted advertising we now see on social media, we have a tradition in this country of banning political advertising on tv and radio and i think politics is a better place for it and there is no reason why we can't extend that banter social media. social media advertising is much more insidious —— why we can't extend that ban to social media. that is one aspect of it, people can say pretty much anything they like on the internet and that is more difficult to police. people who are not part of a systemic criminality of propaganda and just want to

express their opinion or show their support, they could be censored and they could be stopped and that destroys the spirit of things like twitter? i'm not advocating censorship, i'm advocating a ban on political cans >> studio: -- a ban on political campaigns on the internet. social media platforms should verify these users. we have trolls who lurk behind a cloak of anonymity and you have bots, as well, so if you know who someone is, people are open about their identity, you are taking some of the

shrillness and viciousness out of the debate. we can police this ourselves with fact check, go to trusted websites. it is down to us. thanks forjoining us. a 24—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and sexual activity with a child, following the death of a 13—year—old girl. lucy mchugh‘s body was found in woodland in southampton on thursday. she'd been reported missing the night before. the man remains in police custody. an international arrest warrant has been issued for a man who killed a woman in a speedboat accident on the river thames in london in 2015. jack shepherd, who has been on the run since may, was found guilty of the manslaughter of charlotte brown, and sentenced to six years in prison at the old bailey yesterday. the chief constable of england's second largest police force says budget cuts mean the current level of policing in the west midlands is not sustainable. dave thompson has apologised to people who feel they've received

a poor service from his officers — whose numbers have fallen by around a quarter since 2010. mr thompson says he's having to prioritise which crimes to investigate. sima kotecha reports. a taxi driver doing hisjob, and then attacked. one of the guys came and smashed the windscreen wipers, threw more bricks, and one of the guys, i did not even see from where he came, he threw a pile of bricks on me. and first it hit me, i was like that, in this position, so it hit me on my elbow, and then on this side, then ijust lie down and i saw them running. he says he was repeatedly targeted in a matter of minutes. his arm and waist were severely bruised. but he claims the police response was nil, leaving him feeling afraid and deflated. i don't feel safe. they're not scared of the police because they feel they will not get caught. that is what they told

you to your face. west midlands police admits at times it's struggling to cope and that it simply cannot investigate every crime because of a lack of resources. sometimes that service that we provide in those peak times does not meet what the public expect, i get that. sometimes that service will be a poor service. sometimes, actually, the service is what we can and say we will offer. and sometimes that might not always be what the public want to see. the head of the country's second—largest force goes even further and says sorry. demand on the service is going up because actually local authorities and other services have been reduced. some more vulnerable people are coming to the police and we are absolutely at a point where that is not a sustainable position for policing any more and i'm sorry about that, but that is the reality where policing is now. west midlands police has experienced the biggest budget cut of any other force in the country.

it has 2,000 fewer police officers today than it had in 2010 and over the next few years, it expects to lose hundreds more. new figures show the number of front line police officers in england and wales has reduced by 20,000 over the last eight years. the government says this force will get millions of extra cash over the next year and that it expects the police to investigate every crime thoroughly, but according to the officer who leads the force, that's simply not possible. sima kotecha, bbc news, in the west midlands. labour party members in birkenhead have passed a motion condemning their pro—brexit mp, frank field, for supporting the government in the commons last week. they also urged the party at westminster to withdraw the whip from mr field. earlier, the constituency party of kate hoey at vauxhall in south london took a similar decision. pope francis has accepted the resignation of the former

archbishop of washington, cardinal theodore mccarrick. he's accused of sexually abusing a teenager as well as several young priests during his time as a bishop. the pope says mccarrick is no longer a member of the college of cardinals and has ordered him to observe a life of prayer and penance in seclusion while the church investigates the allegations. the headlines on bbc news: travel disruption at airports, on the roads and at the channel tunnel, as the recent heatwave continues to cause problems. some ryanair flights from stansted have been cancelled. mps warn british democracy is in crisis because of targeted campaigns of hate and misinformation on social media. the chief constable of the west midlands admits his police force is occasionally providing a poor service — and apologises. the world's largest firefighting plane — carrying about 70,000 litres of water — is heading towards northern california

where a wildfire has been out of control since monday. thousands of firefighters are continuing to battle the fire, six days after it started. two people have been killed by the flames and hundreds of buildings have been destroyed. almost 40,000 people have already left their homes in the town of redding. courtney bembridge reports. firefighters say they are battling a fire tornado. fuelled by high temperatures. and large pockets of dry vegetation. the fire has destroyed 500 homes in california, and threatened thousands more. oh, my goodness. the blaze has been burning for six days. so far it has scorched more than 118,000 acres of land, an area larger than the city of san francisco.

further south, another fire rages, this one deliberately lit, forcing thousands to flee their homes. i didn't realise how much my home means to me. in the community. while many seek shelter in evacuation centres, others have been able to return to where homes once stood. we came around the corner and saw this and it was pretty... heartbreaking. we knew if a fire came up it was going to take it. well, it took it. it has taken ten years for it to happen but, yes, it's sad. it is the worst start to the fire season that california has seen in a decade. we have had the drought issue for years now in california. the wildfire aspect has

intensified over the years so we've experienced more and more damaging wildfires, fires that start rapidly. it is like throwing gas in these fires. they spread so fast. in december, california's governor said devastating wildfires fuelled by climate change have become the new normal and that large fires could happen every year. almost 3500 firefighters are battling to control the fire, working through the night to try to contain the blaze, but authorities warn many homes more may be lost. female skippers have taken first and second place in the clipper round the world yacht race — a first in team ocean racing. australian wendy tuck became the first female skipper to win the 40,000 nautical mile race. speaking at the finishing line in liverpool this morning, ms tuck said she was looking forward to seeing her family.

a bit ofa a bit of a relief, now the race is done, a bit of everything at the moment, i can't wait to see my mother and grandmother. earlier our correspondent peter harris spoke to us from the finish line in liverpool. this is the yacht back in the dock, they have been coming in from the river mersey, at the end of this amazing feat of endurance, 40,000 nautical miles and 11 months away overall, and a wonderful experience for these crews, who are not professional, to come back and be greeted by their friends and family backin greeted by their friends and family back in liverpool where it began in august. last year. with mejonathan and fiona, who were among the crews, hurricanes, goodness knows what you

have dealt with? we have been through everything, every experience you can ever imagine, highs and lows, but what you get out of the sailing is great people, i'd never sailed before and it was a great experience and i would never change it for the world. there must be times where you wonder if you will ever get back? there were times when we went to a hurricane in the pacific and you are a very small dot ina very pacific and you are a very small dot in a very big ocean, and you have got to hang on, but we had a professional skipper and he was very professional skipper and he was very professional and he kept us save all the time. there was always that. fiona, you are a nurse, i gather you we re fiona, you are a nurse, i gather you were dealing with the grain for disaster shortly before you left. —— the grenfell tower disaster shortly before you left, how difficult was that? in any professionaljob you learn to deal with what you are

dealt with every day, and i have worked in london for a number of years. i have been exposed to a numberof years. i have been exposed to a number of incidents that have happened over the years now, so this is something we deal with as a professional nurse and you learn to deal with it at the time and then move on to other things. you will go back to nursing? yes, i'm going to go back, i'm not sure when, but i will be returning to london as a nurse. what have you gained in your life as a result of this experience? my main aim was to come away a better person, i wanted to take a step out of my normal day—to—day life for a year, quite an extreme way of doing it, but i definitely managed to achieve that, and i'm a better person and i'm ready to take on new challenges. fiona and jonathan, thanks for joining on new challenges. fiona and jonathan, thanks forjoining us and congratulations. the race overall

was won by the skipper wendy tuck, the first woman to win the round the world yacht race. the cast for the next star wars film has been revealed with a mixture of veteran stars and new faces set to appear. the late actress carrie fisher will also feature, using previously unseen footage. and no cgi either, we have been told. fisher, who played princess leia in the film series, died suddenly in 2016. veterans mark hamill, who plays luke skywalker, and anthony daniels who plays c—3po, have also been confirmed. no surprises there. joining us now from north wales is star wars superfan daniel morgan jones. starting with carrie fisher, it is important that she remains part of the franchise despite her death?m really is important. important the

idea of the characters are intact and that they part with star wars in and that they part with star wars in a good manner, rather than an abrupt manner. if you wasn't in the second film, the fans would have responded negatively —— if she wasn't in the next film. does this give you any spoilers as to where the storyline is going? disney have done a good job of making exciting and you have no idea what is going to go on, especially as we have seen with the lastjedi and the force awakens, and everything they have done is to make sure we are kept in the dark and it is very exciting. billy dee williams coming back as lando, as well, but also introducing new characters. there were concerns about disney taking over lucasfilm and also therefore the franchise, just

because you are a star wars fan does not mean you like the films. you are pretty fierce when it comes to your reviews. rb disney films better than the ones made by george lucas —— rb disney films —— are the disney villains. we have the mistake of judge arbour links. —— jarjar blinks. those prequels were a good attempt at astori but they were not very well done. disney have kept the feel of the originals. talking about cgi, the special effects, almost like computer—generated animation, and fans did not like that in the star was formed, they want the dodgy models. —— star wars films. star was formed, they want the dodgy models. -- star wars films. in the

first three films, which were golden, they went out there, with real landscapes and people were dressed up, and that gave such a raw feel for what star wars action was, and when you compare that to be prequels were within was made in a green screen studio, it looks too polished. but star wars fans have moaned that we have only had three films and then we get another three, and they still moan, but now they are moaning that disney are going to ruin itand are moaning that disney are going to ruin it and milk it, are moaning that disney are going to ruin itand milk it, but are moaning that disney are going to ruin it and milk it, but i think expanding the universe is really call macro and that is giving fans more to go on —— really cool and thatis more to go on —— really cool and that is giving more for the fans to go on. hope you enjoy the next instalment whenever it comes. now it's time for a look at the weather. we can cross the newsroom to tomasz schafernaker. it isa it is a bit like star wars.|j it is a bit like star wars. i guess

so, very dramatic in the last 24 hours, and we will still have very cool blustery weather for the rest of the day and into tomorrow and for some it is more thanjust of the day and into tomorrow and for some it is more than just call macro and blustery, in northern ireland there is an amber warning —— cool. northern ireland, check your local weather, it might impact your plans. that is valid for the rest of the afternoon, that warning. showers elsewhere and then we have another weather system approaching southwest and parts of the uk by the early hours of sunday morning, with the heavy rain around the brecon beacons and down into south—western england and down into south—western england and very strong winds, around 15 mph, not great for holiday— makers, and tomorrow there will be raised sweeping over the uk, and tomorrow there will be raised sweeping overthe uk, but and tomorrow there will be raised sweeping over the uk, but a few pockets with sunshine —— there will be rain. where ever you are