this is bbc news i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 8. tributes are paid to the first victim to be named in the london bridge attack. cambridge graduate jack merritt, was running a prisoner rehabilitiation conference — to which his attacker had been invited. police have commended the actions of members of the public, including convicted criminals who overpowered the knifeman. it's emerged that usman khan had been released on licence for his involvement in planning terror attacks. and in other news, millions of commuters will have to pay an average of 2.7 percent more, for rail tickets in the new year.

and england will face croatia in their opening game for euro 2020, on ilijune. good evening. one of the victims of the london bridge attack has been named as jack merritt — a cambridge graduate who was helping to coordinate a conference on prisoner rehabilitation near the scene. he was one of two people killed by 28—year—old usman khan — a former prisoner who'd been convicted of terrorism offences — and released from prison on licence last year. khan, who'd been invited to the conference, was shot dead by police after members of the public tackled him. here's our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford.

25 years old and a keen traveller, jack merritt had a masters from cambridge university. he was described by his father today is a beautiful spirit who always took the side of the underdog. yesterday, he was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack by a former prisoner at a conference that he had helped organise. in the aftermath, his killer was wrestled to the ground by other former prisoners who had been attending the conference and then shot dead by police. the man who stabbed him, usman khan, was released from prison last year halfway through a sentence for plotting to bomb the london stock exchange. 11 years ago he told the bbc he was no terrorist. i have been born and bred in england, in stoke—on—trent and all the community knows me and if you ask them, they will know, these labels they are putting on like terrorist, they will know, i am no terrorist. today, his lawyer said his client had wanted help with de—radicalisation but had

not got the right assistance. he requested assistance with addressing some of his flawed thinking. he recognised that. his extreme violent ideology was wrong and he wanted to correct himself and move on. a police forensic tent marks the place where usman khan was shot dead by police. but the building where he carried out his attack is just on the side of the bridge. that was where he was attending a conference on prisoner rehabilitation. a conference at which he turned on some of those who had invited him and killed him. this picture was taken just before the attack at the conference in fishmonger tall where usman khan also stabbed a woman to death. the attacker then left the building and ended up on london bridge. he was pursued and detained by members of the public, as well as a british transport police officer who was in plain clothes, before armed officers from both the city and metropolitan police arrived, confronted

the attacker and shot him. the actions of the police and the public are all the more remarkable as we now know the attacker was wearing what looked like a very convincing explosive device. thankfully, we now know that was a hoax device. today, this address where usman khan had recently been living was being intensely searched. but police say at this stage there is no evidence to suggest anybody else was involved in the attack. this way, please. which leaves the burning question, how was a convicted terrorist released from jail while still dangerous? and how did he, still wearing a tag, kill two people at a meeting focused on the rehabilitation of prisoners? daniel sanford, bbc news, london bridge. borisjohnson visited the scene of the attack this morning and pledged to toughen up sentences. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn called for a full

investigation into khan's early release from prison. our political correspondent, jessica parker reports. hello, how are you doing? visiting the scene at london bridge, the prime minister, alongside the met police chief, cressida dick, as people try to take in what has happened and understand what lessons can be learned. boris johnson today said that the case of usman khan raised the issue of sentencing. i have said for a long time now that i think that the practice of automatic early release, where you cut a sentence in half and let really serious violent offenders out early simply isn't working and i think you have had some very good evidence of how that isn't working, i am afraid, with this case. general election campaigning has overall been more muted today, but the labour leader said there needs to be a full investigation into what has happened. clearly, there has been a complete disaster and lives have been lost because of his behaviour and i think there is also question about what the probation service were doing.

were they involved at all and whether the parole board should have been involved in deciding whether or not he should have been allowed to be released from prison in the first place. the details of this case will inevitably come under great scrutiny, but today politicians across the board have been offering their sympathies to the affected families and paying tribute to those who rushed to the same. our emergency services as always rise to the challenge, so, you know, we need to make sure there is a robust response to incidents like this. any lessons that need to be learned are learned but at the moment i think everybody 's thoughts are with everybody who has been affected. there are clearly questions that need to be asked and answers found to how this happened and the process for that is very important, i think today that the focus is on those who are mourning. during the 2017 general election there were two terrorist attacks, at manchester arena and another

at london bridge. it can lead to greater political focus on security issues. parties records and their future plans for keeping people safe. but for some those conversations may be for another day. jessica parker, bbc news. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford said the attack raises some "difficult and urgent questions" about the justice system as people conviction of terror—related crimes are released. many of them have been released are coming upfor many of them have been released are coming up for release and this is something that needs to be dealt with. in his case he had to be automatically released under the current system halfway through his sentence and that was done on this far as anyone can tell, he was complying with the conditions of that release. he was wearing his tag and doing what he was supposed to be doing and he had permission to be at

the conference yesterday. clearly in his case the system has completely failed. a dangerous man has been released from prison and within one year he has killed which is what he had not been able to do previously when his previous attempts to carry out an attack had failed. in his case it has failed and clearly we wa nt to case it has failed and clearly we want to make sure it will not be failing again. that was daniel sa nford. nick aldworth was the counter terrorism national coordinator based at scotland yard between 2015 and may 2019. hejoins me now. thank you very much for speaking to us. thank you very much for speaking to us. how difficult is yourjob or rather the job of those in scotland ya rd rather the job of those in scotland yard when it comes to tracking those involved in terrorism? so, the managing of offenders was not necessarily my specific portfolio. however, when you look at the scale of the enterprise, both in terms of

monitoring the criminal fraternity and the terrorist fraternity, it is and the terrorist fraternity, it is an enormous task. and we live in a liberal society, where we demand and expect freedoms and our law is structured in the way. and there is a real balance to be struck between supporting people in their rehabilitation, but also trying to monitor what quite often are unseen threats from people. and if you just think about it in terms of the terrorists that the police and the security services are currently investigating, there was something in the region of 750, 800 live investigations. well, even that relatively small number in the big scheme of things would be almost impossible to overlay a 24—hour coverage on without enormous resources . coverage on without enormous resources. and that level of resourcing just doesn't exist. resources. and that level of resourcing just doesn't existm that what it comes down to?

resources? it is notjust resources. it is about that proportionality that people overlay on the debate. it is about fundamentally asking ourselves some questions about what sort of society do we want to live in? do we want to create a section of people who have offended against the law and we say there is no rehabilitation and therefore we will subject them to intensive and intrusive supervision and monitoring? 0r intrusive supervision and monitoring? or do we look at the processes that we have in society, in prisons, schools and all those other institutions where we look to manage and develop people and say to yourselves, that we do understand rehabilitation and what it means and we are confident that we can assist someone we are confident that we can assist someone against a certain criteria make decisions about whether they are safe or not. i think in the case of what we have seen over the last several years with islamic inspired

terrorism, this is an idea, this is an ideology. we celebrated the defeat of faisal geographically but the idea has not gone away and i don't think anyone would expect it to anytime —— the defeat of isil. what about those involved in the radicalisation and rehabilitation, how on earth do they go about it? so, i'm afraid that really is not my specialism. there is a national coordinator specifically allocated to supporting the prevent programme. but when you look at our uk national security strategy, we are i think quite advanced, in that respect. by identifying that terrorists come from many walks of life and you transpose that onto the counter—terrorism strategy and there isa counter—terrorism strategy and there is a distinct strand in contrast, the prevent strand, we have prevented duty in the uk were all those people who perhaps can have

influence around stopping radicalisation or at least identified it, have a statutory role to play. and i think, one of the great challenges of terrorism now is anyone can be a terrorist, using anything, against any target, and we are seeing even anything, against any target, and we are seeing even more so a anything, against any target, and we are seeing even more so a great diversity of ideologies. so, there is no single narrative or de—radicalising people. it has to be done on almost a bespoke basis, based on what their beliefs or interpretations are of the cause that they are purportedly supporting. the other really complicating factor that i was starting to see, working with my collea g u es starting to see, working with my colleagues in prevent, was that this isn't just about radical colleagues in prevent, was that this isn'tjust about radical ideologies. there is an awful lot of complex social needs spread with that many of the group who turn to violent acts. the sentencing policy is also being looked at because of what

happened yesterday on london bridge. how is that sentencing policy, how is that helping or making everybody ‘sjob harder? what needs to be changed? again, i don't thinkl am really qualified to make an objective comment on sentencing policy, and i think the most important thing is that we do in the uk have a graduated response and we do have the ability to keep the most dangerous people in custody and there are many life charmers in the prison system who hopefully will never emerge from the confines of that. i think the challenge unambiguously is for us as a society to say, how is it we want to believe, do we believe in redemption or rehabilitation, and then what do those processes look like? from a policing perspective, the police are a lwa ys policing perspective, the police are always there to pick up the pieces, to deal with things when they happen. it certainly shouldn't be

responsibility of the place and it not the response ability to manage offenders once they are convicted. 0ne hopes and one has to trust that the broad judicial system in which we operate has recognised that it creates risks if you do not get that equation right. thank you very much indeed. thank you. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are uk correspondent for france 2a and the president of the foreign press association, benedicte paviot and i'm alsojoined by new european columnist & playwright bonnie greer. dutch police have arrested a 35—year—old man, in connection with a stabbing in the hague yesterday. two 15 year old girls, and a 13 year old boy who were injured in the attack, have since been released from hospital. local media are reporting that the none of the victims knew

each other and police say it s too early to indicate any motive. rail fares will rise by an average of 2.7 percent in january, according to the body that represents the rail industry. it means some commuters will see their season tickets go up by more than a hundred pounds. the independent watchdog, ‘transport focus' said a majority of rail users did not feel they were getting value for money. katie prescott has the details. christmas is coming and for commuters on south—western railway that means almost a month of scenes like these as strikes on the line start on monday. so the news that train fares will rise again next year, above the standard rate of inflation has not gone down well with these passengers in bristol. i think the rail service probably needs to be improved nationwide before they can think about putting up fares. i've just come from cambridge and it would have been cheaper

for me to go to paris. today ‘s announcement means many commuters face an increase of more than £100 on the annual cost of getting to work. for example, a season ticket from eastbourne to london goes up £136, tipping it over the £5,000 mark. a season ticket between glasgow and edinburgh will set you back by £4200 a year, up £116. but the rail industry defends the increases, saying 98p from every pound spent on fares goes into running the railway. at the moment we're going through like a record splurge on the railway network, more money is being put onto the network now than at any other time since the victorian era. so, we are half of the entire nation ‘s fleet, but we are also putting money elsewhere, by adding extra services where they really needed. both train companies and passengers

say they would like to see a new, more flexible system for fares put in place. but the future of fares and indeed the railways will be in the hands of the ever wins the election. katie prescott, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... tributes are paid to the first victim to be named in the london bridge attack. cambridge graduate jack merritt, was running a prisoner rehabilitiation conference — to which his attacker had been invited. police have commended the actions of members of the public, including convicted criminals who overpowered the knifeman. it's emerged that usman khan had been released on licence for his involvement in planning terror attacks. sport and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. (pres)good evening....

england and wales know their opponents for next year's european championship after today's draw in bucharest... in group a — wales, who reached the semi—finals at the last tournament — face the tough task of italy, who won every game in qualifying along with switzerland and turkey. but england will have some rather familar opponents... their group d euro 2020 group, sees them first take on their opponents in last year's world cup semi—final croatia. they also have czech republic, who they face in their qualifiers — and winner of a playoff, which could include scotland... let's hear what the managers had to say. we know the quality of their midfield players, when they can leave cover checks on the bench, that had story. that is a really top—level fixture. and funny enough i had top—level fixture. and funny enough ihada top—level fixture. and funny enough i had a picture with him before the draw and he was looking forward to it and wanted to be in london and thatis it and wanted to be in london and that is interesting from their point of view. at this stage there are all tough games. switzerland are good him,| tough games. switzerland are good him, i watch the progress and they

we re him, i watch the progress and they were against denmark in the republic of ireland and they are a talented team and turkey were in a group with france as well and iceland. to come out of that, they have done well and italy are fantastic, winning every game. that will be a tough game, obviously. a crucial day for liverpool in the premier league... after man city dropped more points, in a 2 all draw with newcastle... jurgen klopp's side stretched their lead at the top of the table to 11 points but victory over brighton at anfield was far from straightforward. it should have been when two virgil van dyke headers gave them a 2—nil lead at halftime but they had their keeper allison sent off for handling outside the box, and lewis dunk scored from the resulting freekick — as substitute keeper adrian was trying to line up his wall, leaving an open goal but — liverpool hung on for the 2—1win adrian is probably the man of the match. coming on in a game like this, yeah, making really two sides someone was this, yeah, making really two sides someone was tricky and even the goalie kicks difficult and anyone

who ever did that with completely cold feet, it is just not possible. we should have done it differently but we were not prepared for that situation. so, iam but we were not prepared for that situation. so, i am completely happy. sixth tier altrincham, werejust moments away from causing a shock, in the second round of the fa cup today. a penalty with seven minutes to go.... at 2008 winners portsmouth — looked like securing a replay for the national league north side. but.... a last minute winner for pompey — from brett pitman at fratton park broke their hearts — and it means portsmouth will go through to monday's 3rd round draw. four games in the scottish premiership today — leaders celtic and second placed rangers don't play until tomorrow.. but aberdeen remain third after a 2—1win at home to st mirren, who are level bottom of the table with st johnstone now... hibernian and kilmarnock drew 2—all, it was goalless at livingston.... while motherwell thrashed stjohnstone a—nil. cricket now and england face a real battle to win the second test and level the series

in hamilton england were 39 for 2 at the close in reply to new zealand's first innings 375. they still trail by 336 with day three getting underway in around two hours time. it is an opportunity for some people in the middle order to put their hand up, ben stokes, joe root, rory burns has to start, people there are capable of batting long periods of time and it does not look like it is the type of forget where you can walk in straightaway and blast away. you have to earn the right to score the runs as we have seen so far in the runs as we have seen so far in the series and i think people or england will be looking to do that tomorrow morning. defending champion ronnie 0'sullivan is through to the third round of the uk championship after a routine victory in york. this time it was china's tian pengfei on the end of another ruthless display from the seven—time winner of the event. 0'sullivan has lifted the trophy in at the barbican centre more times than anyone else and is aiming for his third title in a row.

that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. lewis hamilton is on pole for the abu dhabi grand prix. let's return to our top story — the aftermath of yesterday's london bridge attack — and hear more from the news conference held by the assistant commissioner of the metropolitan police, neil basu this afternoon. i would like to update you on our continuing investigation into the terrible attack yesterday near london bridge. 0fficers terrible attack yesterday near london bridge. officers from london ‘s counter—terrorism command have been working flat out with security services overnight, as you would expect, to continue to try and establish the full circumstances of has happened. at this time, we have found no evidence, no evidence to suggest anybody else was involved in

this attack. however, we are still making extensive enquiries to ensure that no one else was involved. 0ur investigative priority at this time is to ensure that there is no one related as an outstanding threat to the public. to this end we have carried out two searches at addresses in both staffordshire and in the stoke—on—trent area. our officers have therefore been supported by officers from staffordshi re supported by officers from staffordshire and west midlands counter—terrorism police. i would like to thank them as well as the local community in those areas for the support they have shown as we carry out this crucial enquiries. the investigation team was also speaking to many of those present at fishmonger ‘s call and i would appeal to anyone he was there on friday he has not been spoken to to contact police. we now know is this attack began in the halljust before tpm yesterday and the attacker whose

identity we confirmed last night stabbed a number of people in back of the building and as a result of five people have suffered injuries. three people, a man and two women we re three people, a man and two women were injured and remain in hospital. theirfamilies have were injured and remain in hospital. their families have been were injured and remain in hospital. theirfamilies have been contacted and specialist officers are supporting them. tragically, two people, a man and a woman, were killed during the attack. and of course i am fully aware that the media and social media have named it one of those victims. you must understand that i have to wait for formal identification from the corner. but i will provide you an update as soon as i can. 0n the half of the entire policing family can i offer my heartfelt thoughts and condolences to those families of the victims, both the deceased and those still in hospital and everyone who has been affected by this incident. we are still piecing together the exact details of what happened. it is already clear that this cowardly

act was immediately countered by some incredible acts of bravery, both by members of the public and from police officers. we know this attacker was attending an event, called learning together and some of those present at that event with the people who confronted this attacker to try and stop him. the attacker then left the building, he ended up on london bridge, he was pursued and detained by members of the public, as well as a british transport police officer who was in plain clothes. before armed officers from both the city and metropolitan police arrived and confronted the attacker and shot him. a maltese businessman has been charged with complicity in the murder of the anti—corruption journalist, daphne caruana galizia. yorgen fenech appeared in court where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. ms galizia was killed by a car bomb 2 years ago. the investigation into her killing has sparked a major

political crisis in malta. demonstrators have been calling on the prime minister, joseph muscat to resign. the families of 2 police officers who died, when their helicopter crashed into the clutha pub in glasgow, 6 years ago, have spoken out in support of the pilot. an inquiry ruled last month, that the crash happened because pilot, david traill "took a chance" and ignored fuel warnings —— killing the crew and 7 people in the pub. but family members of the officers killed, say they trusted the pilot "implicitly". the final providers of the help—to—buy isa s will close the window for new applications today. the product ? available since 2015 ? was introduced to allow first time buyers the chance to save, tax free. nearly 260,000 properties have been bought using the isa according to the government. a number of banks have already pulled their help to buy isas, prompting a late surge, according to some providers.

it's gone from remote wilderness to tourist hotspot — in just a few decades. antarctica is now the destination of choice, for thousands of thrill seekers. but with tourism and climate change taking their toll on the region — visitors now have a greener, more sustainable way of getting there. andy beatt reports. ladies and gentlemen, have a wonderful first day in antarctica. the coldest, most hostile place on earth. and one of the most popular. nearly 80,000 visit this fragile environment each year. every passenger generating five tonnes of c02. a polar paradox — antarctica's tourist boom threatening its very existence. now, though, hope on the horizon. to be on the first hybrid—powered expedition ship in the world, that makes it pretty special.

it is the same technology as you have in your trusty telephone, only larger. on its maiden voyage, the ship's electric engines drastically cutting the environmental impact and delivering savings of 20%. 0n higher decks, 430 passengers can enjoy its lounges, infinity pool and hot tubs — a bubble of luxury in a wintry wilderness. they are also invited to seek scientific enlightenment. you have passengers coming down, which provides a great opportunity for them to be involved in actual science that is going on in a region of the world where we don't have a lot of data. we are also increasing the awareness of our guests on the problem that is climate change, for example, and the many changes that are taking place. trips ashore are carefully controlled. tourists keeping well away from wildlife and cleaning personal effects to avoid the introduction

of invasive species. translation: when we come here, when we see and feel the reality, we understand how important it is that it stays that way — protected, uninhabited, reserved for animals. with a second hybrid ship planned, visits to this white continentjust got a little bit greener. andy beatt, bbc news. the annual christmas tree lighting ceremony, in bethlehem's manger square has taken place. the tree is outside the church of the nativity — where christians believe jesus was born. the tree lighting marks the beginning of advent. and staying in bethlehem, a fragment of wood, believed by christians to be from jesus s manger — has been returned to the town after more than a thousand years in rome. the thumb—sized relic has been given to the holy land on the orders of pope francis, as a gift.

now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. we have got a frost developing across many parts of the country now and towards the south west of england it has been a bit milder, we still have cloud, more of a breeze and a few showery burst of rain that will help south towards the channel finals. wales and the midlands, there will be more mist and fog overnight, a few showers coming into east anglia. north of here will have the coldest and clearer skies away from some showers near the northern coast, particularly the north of scotland. further south where there is more of a breeze and a bit of cloud, those temperatures, in terms of frost, a little more marginal. but with more of a breeze tomorrow, that were left in the mist and fog more regularly in those places and they will be dry and sunny by late morning. a few showers continuing on the far north and north—east of scotland, one or two near the north sea coast as well. more of a noticeable breeze for of the uk and for the first day of december, these

are the temperatures, similar to