this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 7pm: police are investigating the murder of a 17—year—old girl who was stabbed in a park in east london. she's the 18th person to be killed in the capital this year. i'm 23 years old. the fact that this didn't shock me, that's quite sad. that should not be our reality, that shouldn't be young people's reality. the us ambassador urges britain to embrace american farming methods — including chlorine—washed chicken and hormone—fed beef — to help secure a post—brexit trade deal. the row within labour over its handling of anti—semitism shows no signs of being resolved as deputy leader, tom watson, insists there has been a complete loss of trust in the party. three, two, one, zero. ignition, lift—off.

after a successful launch, the first astronaut capsule launched from american soil in eight years is on course to dock with the international space station tomorrow morning. and paying the penalty — arsenal lose out on the chance to beat their rivals, spurs, with a late spot kick miss in the north london derby. good evening. welcome to bbc news. flowers have been laid in the park where a 17—year—old girl was stabbed to death in east london last night. police were called to reports of a knife attack at a playground in harold hill in romford. the victim, who hasn't yet been formally identified, is the first teenage girl to be fatally stabbed in london this year. our correspondent katy austin has been at the scene

for us this evening. that's right. the park behind me remains cordoned off as detectives try to piece together how a teenage girl, who's yet to be officially named, became the 18th person to be killed in london this year. and that number is lower than it was at the same time last year, but that will be of no comfort to the victim's grieving family and friends. flowers have been laid by the park where london's latest knife crime victim died last night, a shock to residents of this normally quiet area. i'm quite shocked, to be honest, that someone died here, because i come with my baby quite often to this park and i thought it's safe. but from now, i don't think i'm going to come ever. the 17—year—old victim was the first teenage girl to be stabbed in the capital this year. it's sad to see this happen. itjust shows kind of the support that is needed in the community and how the community needs to continue reporting, because that's one of the issues we have in havering. the community are not reporting what they're seeing.

therefore, havering is not seen as a priority or is not seen as an area of concern. and today has just shown you that this could easily have been avoided. today, police forensic teams have been examining the park, concentrating on the children's play area where emergency services were called at half past nine last night. a 17—year—old goal lost her life, and i want to express my deepest sympathies to her family and herfriends. her death is a tragedy. a woman whose house overlooks the park told me herfamily heard a commotion last night, and she rushed out. she said there was a small group of young people and she was told one of them had been stabbed. she tried to help the girl as she lay bleeding. an ambulance arrived, but the teenager could not be saved. the london mayor sadiq khan encouraged anyone with information to come forward. i've got a daughter aged 17. many londoners — many people around the country — will have children or will know people who are young and... but for the grace of god,

it could be any one of our children who lost their lives last night. there are people who know who was responsible, and my message to them is to please contact the police. it's really important that justice is done. no one has been arrested in connection with the teenage girl's death here, but murder squad detectives are investigating. katy austin, bbc news. we can speak now to leroy logan, a former superintendent with metropolitan police, who served on the force for 30 years. he's now an adviser to the all party parliamentary group on youth violence. he joins us live from woodford in east london. mr logan, thank you very much for joining us here on bbc news. what do the figures of the number of people who have died from stabbings this year and last year tell you 7 who have died from stabbings this year and last year tell you? you've got a growing crisis, and it's not showing any signs of reducing. i think we need to realise that the number of teenagers that have died in the last 15 years, since the 77

bombings, is almost six to seven times more teenagers dying than in the 77 bombings. and i know that the home secretary then called cobra for those terrorism offences and i was a tragedy full to we've got an ongoing tragedy, so the home secretary needs to call cobra to make sure we've got a national approach to this. it's not just a national approach to this. it's notjust london. a national approach to this. it's not just london. these a national approach to this. it's notjust london. these tragedies with young people, and under senseless circumstances, is happening all over the country and we need to get a grip of this now. nationally, regionally and locally. i suppose, you are right about the numbers but their individual tragedies, aren't they? not a large

number of people dying from one atrocity. you mentioned cobra. what difference would that make if cobra we re difference would that make if cobra were convened? it's the optics. it gives ministerial, central government coordination. for use of all the assets at the local level to make sure this coronation. there's too much breakdown in the strategies. the national strategy is not playing itself out at a local level. it's all splintered. it's all fractured. so many reports have said that these strategies are not bringing together all the safeguarding agencies. i know a lot of it is through austerity and the safeguarding agencies have been reduced, but we need to ensure that we get the connections back with the community, safeguarding agencies, police back in their routines. we need to make

sure this thing is being taken fiercely by central government because people are angry that there doesn't seem to be that mobilisation of assets that is being coordinated centrally to make sure that we get local impact, early intervention and prevention programmes. because you're seeing it's individual incidents. but communities are being traumatised, communities all across london and different cities in this country are being traumatised. so evenif country are being traumatised. so even if it's one borough today, it's having impact nationally is to vital eve ryo ne having impact nationally is to vital everyone tuning in —— i know eve ryo ne everyone tuning in —— i know everyone tuning in —— i know everyone tuning and is feeling a sense of loss and trauma because of this, and we need to recognise the scale of its. we cannot arrest our way out of a problem. we cannot search our way out of the problem. safeguarding agencies, police need to be reconnecting, especially with

oui’ to be reconnecting, especially with our young people who have suffered from adverse childhood experiences. we need to get the grip of this now. describe what in early intervention programme would look like, one that's going to achieve results. sorry, say that again. describe what an intervention programme would look like, and early intervention programme to get young people away from the influences that might feel they need to carry a knife. from the influences that might feel they need to carry a knifelj from the influences that might feel they need to carry a knife. i have been running a leadership programme for the last 18 years. our education is the key. we work to unite students, 1a, 15—year—olds come to know their rights and responsibilities, because they knocking from the national curriculum, to make sure that interventions are curriculum, to make sure that interventions a re culturally competent and actually has a real releva nce, competent and actually has a real relevance, especially when they

start to get in a heated encounter. whether with police or with themselves. and also develop positive peer mentoring. we need our young people to be helping themselves and not resulting to violence... what role do parents play in this? yes, of course, teenagers are very influenced by their friends, teenagers are very influenced by theirfriends, by their teenagers are very influenced by their friends, by their peers, teenagers are very influenced by theirfriends, by their peers, but it starts earlier than that, doesn't it starts earlier than that, doesn't it crucial absolutely. parenting is very important. we work with the pa rents very important. we work with the parents so they understand the reality about the young people, how they get a sense of identity, not only from the home but in the schools and streets, wherever it may be, and understand how it can play itself out into violence. because so many parents are being caught on the blind side. they don't even realise the youth culture of today, a lot of

agencies don't understand how thug life is hijacking the youth culture. but we can't, we have to make sure the narrative does not generalise all young people, because one of the issuesis all young people, because one of the issues is around the gang narrative and all violence is to do with gangs. we need to disaggregate that because less than half of violence has to do with gangs and county lines, because it shows that violence is going into a different dimension in youth culture in a way that it can present itself in so many different ways, especially with the adverse childhood experiences that young people are going through. i went to the funeral of that young man who was run down and said dabs seven times in early january man who was run down and said dabs seven times in earlyjanuary —— and sta b seven times in earlyjanuary —— and stab seven times. his friends and relatives, you could see the trauma

in theirfaces, relatives, you could see the trauma in their faces, and that's going to present itself in so many different ways. that toxic stress, the way in which they are finding no one really acknowledging it, and he needs to be acknowledged. and that's why cobra can bring in those assets, bring in that coronation and notjust in london but right across this country. —— bring in that coronation. leroy logan, thank you very much for talking to us tonight. and we'll find out how this story is covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the political editor of the sunday mirror and the sunday people, nigel nelson, and the political commentatorjo phillips. the american ambassador in london has urged britain to embrace us farming methods, dismissing warnings about chlorine—washed chicken and hormone—fed beef as a "smear campaign". in a newspaper article, woody johnson compared food production in the eu to a museum of agriculture.

downing street has repeatedly denied that it would accept lower food standards. our business correspondent rob young reports. the trade landscape could be about to change. as brexit approaches, the uk is looking to do trade deals around the world. the way food is produced could become a sticking point. the united states says it wants to sell more american food in the uk. currently, there are eu wide bans on american chicken washed in chlorine and cattle given growth hormones. writing in the daily telegraph the us ambassador in london said... he goes on... british farmers are unhappy. they've rejected the call for them to adopt american farming methods to help secure

a transatlantic trade deal. we are asking our politicians to put their promises in writing, that they will respect our high standards and they will not sell us down the river by doing bad trade deals that don't respect the fact we have higher standard and higher costs and make us compete against farmers that have lighter regulation and lower costs. the government has said it's clear the uk's standards would not be compromised in the pursuit of trade deals. eu standards are due to be enshrined in law. the american government has made better access for its products a key aim in various trade talks in recent years, so we can expect the us to push its case hard with the uk. the two governments' differing positions on the way some food is produced could mean reaching a trade deal is more difficult. food experts expect there to be a clash of food cultures. the us argues that it's got a problem with salmonella,

so let's throw chlorine all over it, clean up — let me put it politely — clean up faeces people would rather was not there. the eu says, "let's prevent the faeces being on the meat in the first place." that is what the argument is about. if the uk leaves the eu on schedule, trade talks can start in earnest at the end of the month. the outcome of those negotiations could affect how we farm and what we eat. rob young, bbc news. amy mount from the environmental campaign group greener uk told my colleague, lukwesa burak, the level of chlorine used to wash chicken by american farmers is not unconnected to us farming standards. why the us allows quite so much dowsing in chlorine at their chickens is that the whole process before then is just so much dirtier than what you have here. the eu, there is some chlorine here, but we have much higher standards. through that whole production and growth process.

the us has very intensive agriculture that is not good for where it is, it is not good for the welfare of the animals or for things like antibiotic use, which is a real public health problem. so that's one thing. what michael gove has said... he has said a lot of things. one of the most important things is that the uk will not weaken any environmental protections after brexit. and so, it's hard to marry that with the idea that we would be allowing food in that is produced to a lower standard. and it goes against what the government is trying to do here. we are on the cusp of some important reforms to agricultural policy, that would, far from leaving the us as — i think a museum of agriculture is what the ambassador said — is about making agriculture fit for the future. to be sustainable and have food

production into the 21st century, we need to do that in a way that is consistent with healthily, environmental processes. they can't be separated. what do your members and farmers and environmental organisations think? do they think that there is a likelihood that the uk is going to cave in? on this point in order to secure that brexit deal? what is the feeling? there is a huge amount of uncertainty. it all depends on the power dynamics and what sort of relationship the uk agrees with the eu. if we stay in close co—operation with the eu, which we believe is a good idea, and we need to commit to both sides committing to high standards, that would avoid the damaging effects of a pivot to the us. it is all to play for, but we are so close to exit day and we still don't know whether it will be a close relationship with the eu or a weakening of standards.

that would take us in the us direction. amy mount from the campaign group greener uk. you're watching bbc news. the headlines this evening. a 17—year—old girl has been stabbed to death in a park near romford, east london — the 18th person killed in the capital this year. america's ambassador to the uk urges britain to embrace us farming methods to help secure a post—brexit trade deal — dismissing fears over chlorine—washed chicken and hormone—fed beef. labour's internal row over anti—semitism has deepened — with two of the party's most senior figures clashing over how to handle complaints. the veteran us senator bernie sanders has launched his bid to topple donald trump in the 2020 us presidential election. he's been speaking at a rally in brooklyn, new york.

the 77—year—old is amongst the favourites to secure the democratic nomination after falling at the final hurdle to hillary clinton in 2016. in what he's just called a political revolution, he's campaigning for policies such as medicare—for—all, and a $15—an—hour minimum wage. and i want to thank all of you for being part of a campaign which is not only going to win the democratic nomination... cheering ..which is not only going to defeat donald trump... cheering ..who is the most dangerous president in modern american history. but with your help, we are going to transform this country, and finally create an economy and a government which works for all of us, notjust the 1%.

bernie sanders. chris buckler is in washington. how likely is it to be bernie sanders chance this time? it is very difficult to say, because there is no real front runner and difficult to say, because there is no realfront runner and it is incredibly crowded with the democratic party, and it's only get more and more crowded. as it is there more than a dozen candidates who want to really secure that bid to challenge donald trump, and that's before we even discover whether or not the former vice presidentjoe biden wants to join the race and beto o'rourke. those are the kind of people we are waiting to hear from. are the kind of people we are waiting to hearfrom. we are expecting another to have the first democratic debates for it to be scheduled over two nights just democratic debates for it to be scheduled over two nightsjust to accommodate the number of candidates there will be. it would bernie sanders is really relying on is the fa ct sanders is really relying on is the fact that he's been leading in a way in some of the issues that

democratic party is now focusing on. for example, tackling social inequality, tackling this issue of people not having access to health care, people not having access to health ca re, concerns people not having access to health care, concerns about the price of tuition fees and he believes that sets him ahead of the pack. the on that, he's also making clear that he's determined to take on president trump. you just hurt him there specifically talking about donald trump being, in his view, the most dangerous american president in modern history. it gives you a sense that already the gloves are off in this 2020 election campaign. speaking of donald trump, as we will, he has been on his feet and very long time at this conference of right—wing activists at the conservative political action conference. he's just conservative political action conference. he'sjust finished. what she's been saying and all that time? —— what has he been saying? she's been saying and all that time? -- what has he been saying? a two hour marathon session in which donald trump suggest that he was off

script and said this was his beach he wanted to give. giving a real idea he is starting that campaign for 2020, but there were flashes of real anger with donald trump, particular when talked about robert muller who was investigating the allegations of russian interference. and also claims of collusion involving the trump campaign. he tried to discredit robert milliken is suggesting he was not independent, suggested he had conflicts in terms of his past dealings with mr trump and who his friends were. he tried to rubbish his forthcoming report which is due to be given to the department of justice and perhaps only a matter of days. it has been prepared at the moment. one stage, he even swore as he talked about that reports and said it was in use by his political opponents to try to take him out and he expressed real concern that beyond the report, they were now looking at his business dealings and

his organisation and his financial dealings. it gives you a sense of president trump starting to get ready for a real fight as regards to this report and also as regards to the 2020 election. chris, thank you very much. chris buckler in washington. two senior labour figures have clashed over how the party handles anti—semitism. the general secretary, jennie formby accused the deputy leader, tom watson, of using a "vague parallel process" by asking labour mps to forward complaints to him. mr watson said, people had lost trust in labour's ability to investigate allegations. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. chanting: enough is enough. allegations of anti—semitism have not been easy for the labour party — protests byjewish groups outside parliament, mps quitting the party accusing the leadership of failing to act, rows over accusing the leadership of failing to act, rows over whether it is even a problem. chris williamson, an ally ofjeremy corbyn, was suspended this week for claiming the party had been too apologetic.

but now, a public row has broken out right at the top. this week, i've had 50 complaints... this man, deputy leader tom watson, wants labour to do more to address the issue. he wrote to mps urging them to contact him with complaints. last night, the party's general secretary issued a scathing reply. in a letter to mr watson, sent to every labour mp and peer, jennie formby said... she said... and suggested... for labour, agreeing on how to tackle anti—semitism is proving far from simple. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. nasa and a private space company have launched the first astronaut capsule from us soil in eight years.

the spacex falcon 9 rocket — catchy, isn't it — blasted off from the kennedy space centre on an unmanned flight to the international space station, testing what's been described as a new astronaut taxi service. spacex founder elon musk says it could be a major step towards opening up space travel to commercial customers. pallab ghosh reports. three, two, one, zero... ignition, lift—off. up and away, spacex mighty falcon rocket. and on top, the dragon space capsule. designed to take four astronauts into space, but notjust yet. instead, just a solitary crash test dummy — wired with sensors — is in one of these seats. this uncrewed test is part of an ambitious nasa project to send astronauts into space from us soil once more. what today really represents is a new era in space flight

and an era where we are looking forward to being one customer, as an agency and as a country. it's been eight long years since the country that won the space race has been grounded. the shuttle was withdrawn from service, because it was unsafe. and nasa had to pay the russian space agency to send its astronauts to the space station on its soyuz rockets. but in 2014, nasa awarded spacex and boeing a combined £5 billion contract so that each could build their own space craft. we believe in the future of space and i think it is important that we become a space exploring nation and be out there among the stars. we want the things that are in science fiction novels and movies not to be science fiction forever. we want them to be real one day. nasa hopes to use the vehicles to send astronauts into space by the end of the year. pallab ghosh, bbc news.

let's speak now to dr ken kremer, a space writer for universe today. he watched the spacex capsule launch this morning at the kennedy space centre. hejoins me via webcam from titusville in florida. dr kremer, welcome, and i do admire your appropriately themed shirt. thank you forjoining us. how significant was this lunch? this was so significant. diffs had failed, it would've been a major setback but this sets us on the path to finally launch an american astronaut from american soil on american rockets, in an american rockets to upper merrily american space station, so it could not be biggerfull to merrily american space station, so it could not be bigger full to the states could not be higher today. other than national pride to him why does it matter that they are american shuttles, not russian? first of all, you always want to have a back—up system. you know what? six months ago, the russians have a problem. the capsule with a

russian cosmonaut and american cosmonauts failed and they came back to earth two minutes after the launch. that's the whole problem for tubby need a back—up. that's what we had with the shuttle which, by the way, was retired by the politicians not because it was unsafe, but retired by politicians. that was purely decision for some we need an american system —— with that was purely a funding decision. we need an american system and we will work with the russians. we do not want to be solely depended on them. with boeing, we will have three ways to get astronauts to space because you never know when a disaster is going to happen. how enduring is the controversy to happen. how enduring is the co ntrove rsy over to happen. how enduring is the controversy over having a private company responsible for getting us astronauts into space? good question. that was controversial when it was initially proposed eight yea rs when it was initially proposed eight years ago in 2010 but i don't think there's any controversy about that now. we all want this to succeed. we see that this is a faster way to do

it. it's a cheaper way to do it and we would already be launching if the politicians had not cut the funding for nasa in the past few years, so we got to get this online. i think everybody agrees that this is the right way to go right now. there was nobody on board. how quickly do you think we will see that? there was a test dummy on board outfitted with sensors to see what their sensations would be like for an astronaut, but great question for we hope by about july, august, we will actually have two astronauts... they were at the briefing i was at with elon musk and the nasa administrator a couple of hours ago. they were there. they we re hours ago. they were there. they were raring to go. the capsule is being built. it needs a few upgrades and life—support systems to make it fully capable, but we will launch. we will launch by the end of this year and hopefully within about six months. how soon should we start forming an orderly queue if we wants

to be commercial space tourists? that's a good question. you know what? the russians have open seats now and they're looking for customers. now they've got competition and they need to fill those seats. you got about $80 million, you can buy a seat. but as far as these capsules go, they will have guest astronauts probably within two years or so and i can tell you this. on the second flight after the test flight, there's going to be to international participants who are space station members. i would imagine one will be from europe, maybe one from japan come about anyway they are going to be for people on that flight, notjust two. and it will be the international partners. it is going to be more thanjust international partners. it is going to be more than just nasa astronauts, certainly by a year from now. better start saving! dr ken kremer, space writerfor now. better start saving! dr ken kremer, space writer for university.

thank you very much for talking to us. time for a look at the weather forecast with nick. hello. the uk's already had one area of low pressure so far this weekend, and there is another on the way tomorrow. the first overnight keeps it very windy in northern scotland, some gusts up to 70 miles per hour with heavy showers. outbreaks of rain linger in southern england on a mild night here. most places, though, become dry. now into tomorrow, heavy showers and very strong winds across northern scotland will slowly ease, and then storm freya moves into the uk, with first rain spreading across north across england and wales into parts of northern ireland and southern scotland, and then strengthening winds. they will be strengthened southwestern winds. these are some of the gusts we're going to experience as the day goes on. towards the end of the day, for wales and western coasts of england, they're going to be seeing some gusts around 70—80 mph. over many parts of england and wales, some gusts of up to 50—65 miles an hour through the night into monday morning. so i think there will some disruption in places.