tonight at ten, two people have died after being stabbed in what police describe as a terrorist incident, on london bridge. eyewitnesses capture the moment members of the public rushed in to help, pinning the suspect to the ground. eventually, after a struggle, armed police intervene, firing two shots, killing the attacker. all the traffic stopped. the police were armed. they were shouting at the person on the ground and telling us to get off the bridge, and that's when i heard what sounded like two shots fired. the suspect was wearing an explosives vest, which turned out to be fake. there's been widespread praise for those who helped tackle him. this country will never be cowed or divided or intimidated by this sort of attack.

we live in a democratic society and those that would seek to silence us will not succeed. three other people were stabbed in the attack, and the prime minister has been chairing a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee tonight. also on the programme... heated exchanges in the bbc‘s election debate in cardiff, as conservative and labour brexit plans are described as a lie and a cop—out. up to 4,500 jobs could go at the energy provider npower. thousands of students across the world walk out of school, as part of a global climate strike. the players deserve huge credit for that. and gareth southgate tells us of his high hopes for the england team in next year's euros. and in the sport on bbc news, time's up for unai emery, sacked by arsenal after 18 months at the club. freddie ljungberg takes temporary charge.

good evening. two people have died in what the metropolitan police are describing as a "terrorist incident" on london bridge. the attacker was later shot dead. several members of the public managed to wrestle him to ground, and their bravery has been widely praised. police say the attack started here, in fishmongers‘ hall, at the northern end of the bridge. the alarm was raised just before 2pm this afternoon. the attacker then appears to have moved onto the bridge, where he was tackled and disarmed amid chaotic scenes. police then arrive at 2:03pm, five minutes after the first emergency call. armed officers then fire two shots, killing the suspect,

fearing he was wearing an explosive vest. the prime minister, who is chairing a cobra meeting in downing street right now, said earlier that any accomplices to the attack will be "hunted down and brought to justice". the mayor of london, sadiq khan, praised what he called the "breath—taking heroism" shown by members of the public who tackled the suspect before police arrived. tonight, large parts of central london remain cordoned off, and police say extra patrols will be on duty across the capital. our correspondent daniel sandford is at the scene tonight. yes, clive, once again a major bridge in central london is closed following a suspected terrorist attack, which killed two people. once again it involved knives and a fa ke once again it involved knives and a fake bomb and once again police had to kill the suspect. the attack started at fishmongers‘ hall, at what is thought to have been a criminal justice event and what is thought to have been a criminaljustice event and the main suspect is thought to have been a

former prisoner attending that event. my report of the day contains some distressing details. —— distressing details and pictures. it was a crisp winter afternoon in the city of london just before 2pm. the panic starts. passengers filming from a bus see armed officers pointing their weapons. there is a struggle on london bridge and two of the officers go forward. beside the melee is a man standing with a knife which he is taken from the suspect. he runs with it as armed officers shout, get back. they pull away a man who is wrestling with the suspect and then opened fire. gunshots. 0h suspect and then opened fire. gunshots. oh my god! there were two loud pops.

when he was lying on the floor, after the pops, he then sort of pulled hisjacket back and you could see underneath that there was some sort of vest, whether a stab vest or an explosive vest, and at that point the police officer really backed away. of course, i was really scared at this point because we were about as close as the police officers in our bus, so yeah, that was scary. there was more firing and the suspect, who the police say was wearing a hoax bomb, died at the scene. i can confirm at this time we believe a device that was strapped to the body of the suspect was a hoax explosive device. the london ambulance service declared a major incident. at least five people who had been stabbed were taken to hospital, but two of them died. my heart goes out to their loved ones and to the three further injured victims who i understand are being treated in hospital, and of course to everybody who has been affected

by today's terrible and mindless events. the attack started in fishmongers' hall. people attending a criminaljustice event there said at least one woman had been stabbed. shocked witnesses from the hall, some of them with blood on their clothes, were ushered away and driven off in a bus commandeered by police. then the area was flooded by armed officers and other specialist teams, as all the surrounding buildings were evacuated. it's 3:20pm. normally at this time on a friday the city is buzzing, the bars open, people starting to make their way home. but this evening it's sealed off with armed officers and officers with dogs patrolling every street. this evening, with a good section of the city still closed off the leaders of the two main parties were defiant. i think the message that we

send to them and anyone associated with this type of attack is one that will be familiar and that is that this country will never be cowed or divided or intimidated by this sort of attack, and our values, our british values, will prevail. we have to remember that we live in a democratic society and those that would seek to silence us will not succeed. our democracy must be alive and vibrant. tonight a full-blown terrorism investigation is under way. three and a half weeks ago the threat level was lowered from severe to substantial, but today, the city was reliving the horrors of the london bridge attack two and a half yea rs london bridge attack two and a half years ago. daniel sandford, bbc news at london bridge. in a moment, we'll hear from our deputy political editor john pienaar in downing street. but first, let's speak to sarah campbell, who's at new scotland yard for us tonight.

watmore are saying? the metropolitan police have given two statements here today, giving this clear timeline of events. so the commissioner, cressida dick, described how the event started at fishmongers' hall with the police receiving the first call at 1:58pm this afternoon and she said just five minutes later city of london police had confronted the suspect. in terms of what is happening here this evening, counter—terrorism detectives, she said, would be working around the clock to identify the victims and to help their families, whilst at the same time working at full tilt, she said, to understand what happened and crucially whether anyone else was involved. in practical terms, crucially whether anyone else was involved. in practicalterms, in london, this does mean that those cordons around london bridge will remain in place for some time. london of course very busy at the moment with shoppers and with tourists and as a reassurance the commissioner said that people would

expect to see more police on the streets, both armed and unarmed, and anyone with any information is asked to call the anti—terror hotline. straight to you, john, in downing street. any word yet from that cobra meeting being chaired by boris johnson? we wait for word after that meeting. it's taking place behind me here at number ten, the prime minister in the chair, the siddique khan, the mayor of london is in the meeting too. —— sadiq khan. the minister is being fully briefed on the police operation and latest intelligence and his job since the operation has been running on well planned and practised lines with no need for political interference, he's had a big job of articulating the view of the country, so he spanked the emergency services, he's praised members of the public who stepped in at some risk to themselves —— he thanked the emergency services. he articulated the message of defiance which has been picked up by leaders of all the

parties. borisjohnson been picked up by leaders of all the parties. boris johnson has been picked up by leaders of all the parties. borisjohnson has stepped back from campaigning, the labour party has suspended campaigning in london this evening but when campaigning picks up as normal you can naturally expect that security and confronting the threat of terrorism will rise higher up the election agenda in coming days. 0k, john, thank you for that, john pienaar in downing street and sarah campbell at new scotland yard. our security correspondent gordon corera is here. what is the latest on the investigation into all this? initially that looked similar to the attack on london bridge two years ago in which innocent people appear to be targeting at random at the bridge and borough market but our picture has evolved somewhat as to what might have happened today. the incident did start in fishmongers' hall, where there was a criminal just this research meeting taking place. the person believed to be responsible is, the bbc understands, thought to be a former prisoner, and i've been told there is a connection with that event in terms of what has

happened. now, there was no intelligence, no advance warning, that anything like this could have happened, although there will be questions about it. the threat level against the uk was actually brought down a level from severe to substantial at the start of the month, reflecting that they'd seen less potential attack planning and activity recently. the one thing they will think though is the actual response to the attack did happen very quickly, thanks to the police, thanks to members of the public. now it turns to the investigation, understanding the details of the man, whoi understanding the details of the man, who i understand has been identified, understanding what motivated him specifically, whether he was targeting specific people, and crucially whether there were any other connections, and whether there is any residual threat out there. if there is then we may see that threat level go up but at the moment it hasn't gone up. gordon corera, our security correspondent, thank you. in cardiff, during tonight's bbc election debate, all the participants expressed their horror at the events on london bridge and paid tribute to the victims and the emergency services. the debate itself saw heated

exchanges over brexit, with conservative claims they could get "brexit done" being described as a lie, and labour's position branded as a cop—out. our political editor laura kuenssberg is in cardiff for us tonight. at the technicians pack up in cardiff, inevitably and quite rightly probably this debate that began with a more sombre tone to reflect the events of what has happened in london, less of the hurly—burly, less of the political pantomime that dominated much of this election campaign so far. there we re this election campaign so far. there were serious clashes though and serious conversations over the issues that divide and unite us. seven politicians, seven parties, all here tonight fighting for their corner. a clash of political shades, a rainbow of seven party colours. taking the stage together in an election with a debate taking a more serious turn. acknowledging and asked how

they would tackle the kinds of events that took place 150 miles away. what do the panel members propose to do to tackle security issues in the uk in future? the first duty of every government is to keep us safe and, of course, a conservative government will continue to do that, investing in our police, giving them the resources and the powers they need. we've seen over 20,000 police officers cut from front line services so, it is right to recognise that would have a direct impact and, of course, we've got to invest more in community neighbourhood policing. we have to make sure that we support our security services, that we keep access to the best intelligence, which is one of many reasons i think leaving the european union is a mistake. we have set out plans to increase police numbers by 20,000. i think it is also important that we look at what the police do in that community policing. suggestions, too, though, the police take a different approach in preventing terrorism. i think we need to look again at the prevent programme

because i think we need to make sure it is enjoying as much confidence in every single community in our country as it can and i'm not sure right now it is. we must keep investing in more police and more technology. but however many police we have, and we need as many of those police as possible on the streets. then a clash over the two big parties' big differences on spending. i think you were referred to recently in the media talking about the figure of 1.2 trillion spend, which is a fabricated lie the conservative party have been perpetrating over the last few weeks. you look at people like the ifs, respected think tanks, they describe the labour plans as simply not credible. they've said they are wholly unprecedented... they shout over each other. can i just finish? they've also said, they've said clearly it would be ordinary working families that pay the price in higher taxes. we need to look for parties that will set out where they will get the money from and we are saying

very honestly we think the nhs needs more money and we will raise income tax by a penny in the pound in order to do so. then the core question, how to conclude brexit or stop it altogether. i was a remain voter but feel we are so far along the brexit journey now that it has to go ahead. how do those of you here this evening feel about talk of a second referendum? we are so not far along in this brexitjourney. the idea brexit is going to be done, we are like in episode one of a ten season box set and if you don't like what you've seen up until now, you don't have to watch the rest. it is going to take us years to negotiate a new trade agreement. it took seven years with canada. the idea you'll get it done through this is simply a fantasy. nobody but nobody thinks a trade deal can be negotiated and agreed by the end of next year. we do! yeah, but we don't trust you, sorry. i don't trust you! because you don't trust brexit! you don't trust 17.4 million people! borisjohnson, of course, insists it is possible. you said he couldn't get the brexit deal, it would be impossible but he did. he did get a great new deal

and he got it in three months. it isn't a great deal, it is a dreadful deal. no wonder people don't have faith in politicians when the leader of the labour party that wants to be prime minister won't even tell us where he stands on the central question that is going to cast its shadow on a generation. it is right thatjeremy acts as an honest broker in this because he needs to get a good deal with the european union and i think stating how he would vote in a final public vote would undermine that. as ever, this election's about the health service, too. the nhs is failing. what are you going to do to stop this and make sure it isn't sold to the highest bidder? the nhs is not for sale, never has been and never will be. documents were released... let me finish, it is only polite to let me finish. documents were released this week that showed very clearly the government had been involved in numerous discussions with us trade officials. it is a desperate conspiracy theory. we are absolutely crystal clear, the nhs won't be on the table. the price the nhs pays...

the nhs pays for drugs will not be on the table. when borisjohnson says the nhs is not on the table in a future trade deal, i simply do not trust him and i do not believe him. last, how would they greet the controversial visitor, donald trump? if you had 30 seconds with him, what would you say? happy thanksgiving. i'm a good catholic so i won't say probably what i would say to him. let's get a quick trade deal done. and here is our nhs, is what he would say! it's pathetic! just lying to the british people continually, it's pathetic! i think you have form on that. applause. resign and take boris with you. at the end, there were some friends on stage but they'd be wise to hug their political enemies closer still. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, cardiff. there were passionate arguments tonight but no grand revelations you

think might upset what really has been stable tram lines running through this campaign. that finale on donald trump's imminent visit, though, a reminder there are plenty of events, clive, left ago in what is now less than a final fortnight when the public in the end on thursday, in ten days' time, will have made its decision. 0k, have made its decision. ok, laura, thank you. laura kuenssberg live in cardiff. the energy supplier npower is to cut to up to 11,500 jobs in the uk, as part of restructuring plans to make it more profitable. three call centres, in sunderland, hull and worcester, could be closed. unions have called it a "cruel blow" for the compa ny‘s workers in the run—up to christmas. our economics correspondent andy verity has more details. sunderland, where workers used to be told that manufacturing was the past and call centres were the future. not any more. a few miles away, near the town of houghton—le—spring, 2500 call centre workers were among those told by npower today theirjobs were going.

disappointment, but it's a shame, there's nothing else we can do. i'll take it one step at a time. i'm still going to do myjob, still going to do the best i can, and take it from there. it's a heavy blow for an area already reeling from bad economic news. the future does look bleak, to be honest. you've got tata, you've got british gas. for 2000 people to lose theirjob, what else is going to replace thatjob? where are they going to go? it's just another nail in the coffin in this area. it's one after another. my fear is what about nissan — that could be next, and if that happened this city would be dead. for people, you know, especially if they've got children and mortgages and things like that, it's absolutely terrible. npower has struggled to stop customers leaving and recently struggled to make a profit. it's an incredibly sad day and we can't play that down. npower has been a loss—making business for some time. the energy retail market in the uk is under considerable strain

and it's absolutely critical that we take action to make sure we have a sustainable business for the future. that's why we're also saying to our employees that we're going to take all action we can to mitigate the impact of this announcement. competition in the industry is so intense some suppliers are now charging loss—making rates to win new customers. there are now 64 suppliers competing to bill you for your electricity, some of whom went bust last year. a record 20% of customers switched supplier last year. farfrom making big money ripping off consumers, the typical profit margin has dropped to just 3% and this year energy companies have come under even more pressure. the energy price cap that came in injanuary is meant to help millions of households pay less than they otherwise would for their energy. it has helped to hold down the cost of living. inflation is at a three year low, but it has also squeezed the income of energy companies like npower, who say they can't cover their costs. they say they can't afford to keep the lights on at centres like this if they are ever to make a profit.

unions say the financial pressure on suppliers is now so intense the energy market is in real danger of collapse. if nothing is done, they warn, this won't be the last round ofjob losses in the power industry. andy verity, bbc news, houghton—le—spring. three people have been wounded in a knife attack in a busy shopping street in the hague. police cordoned off an area near the town's historic centre. the attacker is believed to be still at large. the iraqi prime minister, adil abdul—mahdi, has announced he'll resign, a day after security forces killed more than a0 people protesting against his government. demonstrators in the capital, baghdad, celebrated the news. around 400 people have been killed since the protests began almost two months ago. thousands of students across the world walked out of class today, as part of a global climate strike. the protests are taking place ahead of the next un climate conference,

beginning in madrid on monday. around 120 demonstrations were staged around the uk, as well as more than 3,000 in 150 countries. our science correspondent victoria gill reports from manchester. we care about our future and we demand that those in power care about it as well! another friday, another climate strike. and as the scale of this movement grows, its message is becoming increasingly urgent. youth strikers are trying to put an impending environmental crisis at the top of world leaders' agendas. it's a pretty friendly, even jubilant atmosphere here, but the banners that people are carrying have messages that are really stark. essentially that we're running out of time to save the planet and stop climate change. protests like this one are happening in towns and cities all over the world. the day of protest began in sydney, where smoke from the recent devastating bush fires still hung

in the air. students took to the streets in tokyo. and crowds of schoolchildren in delhi, a city that's experienced hazardous levels of air pollution, joined the march. in madrid, environmentalism and anti—consumerism came together in a black friday protest. world leaders will gather in spain's capital next week for un climate change talks that are being labelled as a last chance to act. and in manchester, less than two weeks from a general election, that was the message from demonstrators. we are really, really close to getting past the point where we can't return. so i'm here in desperation and solidarity. have you made different choices to try and limit your impact on the environment? yeah, i've recently gone vegetarian and we've stopped buying straws and plastic bags. do you have a message for those world leaders that are gathering next week? we need to be listened to. you need to take action on climate change.

everyone needs to help. the richer nations need to help the poorer nations achieve this. and the richer nations need to change and develop. it's business as usual which has led us to this place. these young voices will be ringing in the ears of world leaders at next week's climate talks. as scientists warn that those leaders are almost out of time to set the planet on a new trajectory. victoria gill, bbc news. arsenal have sacked their manager unai emery. he's only been in the job for 18 months, but the club is in the middle of its worst winless run in all competititons for 27 years. mr emery‘s assistant, freddie ljungberg, who's a former arsenal player, has been put in temporary charge. the newly—appointed chief executive of the football premier league, david pemsel, has resigned before starting thejob. he'd been due to take up the position in february, but has stood down after allegations about his private life appeared in a newspaper.

the draw for next year s european football championships takes place tomorrow in romania. wales are among those in contention, having reached the semi—inals four years ago, while england go into the tournament as one of the favourites. our sports editor, dan roan, has been speaking with the england manager, gareth southgate. final preparations in bucharest today where those competing in european football's flagship tournament next summer are about to learn their fate. after an impressive qualifying campaign, england are amongst the favourites for euro 2020 and, here at their training base, their manager told me the perception of the team has now shifted. a draw is always a decisive moment for everybody, knowing when the dates are, knowing what the route looks like. i think the country, it feels as if they've been more engaged with the team over the last two years, and that's one of the biggest highlights for me. never more so than at the last euros when an abject england

were humiliated by minnows iceland. two years later, southgate's young side surpassed all expectations, reaching the world cup semifinal in russia. the growing sense of his team are now genuine contenders. i think we've gained some respect. and i think people would view us as a threat, which certainly wasn't the case ahead of russia. we also know we've got to improve. euro 2020 kicks off in rome but the tournament will be spread across the continent with 12 host cities. wembley will stage both semifinals and the final itself. if england get that far, they would have played five of seven matches at home, raising hopes of a first major trophy since 1966. we saw this with the rugby team and the cricket boys. whenever you see the national team in any sport doing well, people get behind it. and sport is about taking people from the day—to—day into dreams, into hopes and aspirations and pride. that's what we've got to provide. next summer will evoke memories

of the last time england enjoyed such home advantage, euro 96, when the hosts shone and southgate's semifinal penalty miss was a sad end to an unforgettable campaign. the tournament next summer is not about me and, you know, redemption. the team is about the players and the team is about our fans. and it is more important that we make them proud. like i said before, to do that we've got to win matches as well. wales have also qualified and, having reached the last four of the last euros in france, will go into the draw full of confidence. they will have a belief, they will have experience of getting to a semifinal. they will enjoy it, there's no doubt about that. and when the draw is made, people will not want wales because they are matchwinners. northern ireland, scotland and the republic of ireland are also in the draw but they still have to go through the play—offs to secure their place at european football's showpiece event. dan roan, bbc news. let's return to our main story

tonight, the attack on london bridge which has left two people dead. the police say it was a terrorist incident. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford is at the scene. this, of course, bringing back terrible memories of that other attack just 18 months terrible memories of that other attackjust 18 months ago on the bridge. yes, clive, that's right, it was just bridge. yes, clive, that's right, it wasjust 2.5 years bridge. yes, clive, that's right, it was just 2.5 years ago that the london bridge attack took place, a few hundred yards from here, and that in the same year as the horrors of the manchester arena, the westminster bridge attack and the finsbury park attack and there was a sense we were starting to put that year of terror behind us, the threat level had been reduced from severe to substantial and things were starting to move on, people started to feel they were not being hit by attack after attack after attack and now comes another horrendous, fatal suspected terrorist attack rate in the heart of central london. overshadowing the whole thing

tonight is the fact that this suspect is a former prisoner and i've had it confirmed just in the last few minutes that he is a former prisoner convicted of a terrorism offence still serving his licence period after having been released from prison. so, now question is already being asked about how we deal with former prisoners, not least of all by the prime minister himself and as we get through the next few days, that question, how do you deal with former terrorist prisoners once they've been released, i think that'll be hanging over the whole tragic affair. 0k, daniel, thank you. daniel sandford, our home affairs correspondent. well, this is the scene at london bridge tonight, as police continue their investigations. two people died today. three people are still being treated after this latest attack. you can keep up—to—date with all the very latest developments on the bbc news channel, but that's it from us. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. goodnight.

hello, i'm olly foster at the bbc sport centre, here's what's coming up on sportsday. time's up for unai emery, sacked after 18 months at arsenal. fulham have hung onto third in the championship after being fellow play—off side swa nsea and owen farrell returns for saracens, to help secure 4 more points in their great escape.