tv BBC News BBC News October 17, 2021 6:00pm-6:31pm BST
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this is bbc news — i'm ben boulos with the headlines at 6: i think it's fair to say we all have to be incredibly self—aware, conscientious, as to how we conduct our business and put safety front and centre of this. we take social media very, very seriously. you know, it inflames, it inspires and it drives others to do things that we, quite rightly, do not fit in with our values. a murder inquiry is underway in glasgow after a 14—year—old boy was stabbed in the city. the duke and duchess of cambridge arrive at the new environmental award, the earthshot prize, which prince william is awarding tonight. the newcastle tottenham
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game has resumed — after it was stopped while a supporter in the stands received urgent medical attention. hello, good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the home secretary, priti patel, is considering a range of measures to protect mps at constituency surgeries, following the death of sir david amess, killed in a knife attack on friday. a security review is looking at whether there should be routine police protection, as well as pre—booked surgery appointments. the man arrested following the killing, has been named as ali harbi ali. the 25—year—old is being held under the terrorism act, and officers have until friday to question him. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, has the very latest
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on the investigation. a significant search operation at a large family house in london as the counterterrorism investigation into the murder of sir david amess mp turned towards the capital today. this is one of three addresses that detectives have visited to gather evidence. yesterday, there was a police guard at this house on a leafy street in north london. today, the search operation intensified. police have also searched a smaller house in croydon where the suspect grew up. the man in custody is ali harbi ali, 25 years old, and a british national of somali heritage. he went to school in croydon in south london. a few years ago he was referred to the prevent scheme. the scheme designed to stop people getting involved in terrorism. he was not an mi5 subjective interest. in leigh on sea, the murdered mp was being remembered at a series of church services.
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our community has been rocked by the death of david amis. one man was talking to him on video call moments before he was attacked. i happen to be on zoom. minutes later this attack happened. as the town mourned its long—serving member of parliament, we learned more details about sir david's parliamentary assistant witnessed the attack. all of a sudden there was a scream from her because the person deliberately whipped out a knife
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and started stabbing david. and of course the other lady who was out getting names of people and organising them outside came running into find the situation she did of poor david who had been stabbed. the home secretary priti patel has known sir david for over 30 years. she is encouraging individual mps to discuss the risks they face with the police to work out what protection they need. there are a range of measures in place. this is notjust about saying, "let's go for option a, have bodyguards and security." there is a panoply of measures and we have to be proportionate in terms of the risk individuals are subject to. it looks like the killing of sir david, allegedly murdered by a man who had apparently booked an appointment to see him, could change forever how british politics works. daniel sandford, bbc news. our correspondent, duncan kennedy, has been at the scene in leigh—on—sea in essex. earlier he described what the mood has been like. on what has been a pretty sombre day here all in all,
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dozens and dozens of people coming to the scene to lay down theirflowers and cards, and the cards containing some really poignant messages. one read how they were happy that david had served them as an mp, and they praised him for what he had done for this constituency. another card said simply, "thank you, to a great gentleman." i also spoke to one or two of those people that came to lay their flowers and cards, and one man who owns a local restaurant where sir david ate on occasion said he saw him the other day and he put his hand up and sir david put his hand up, and the exchanged a few pleasantries. another man said he came across sir david in a local supermarket last week and he asked the mp for a selfie. he said that sir david obliged him with a selfie picture, and he showed me the selfie picture, and there was sir david amess in his
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covid mask, and you could clearly see there was a beaming smile on his face, standing in that supermarket, just a couple of examples of how accessible sir david was to those people here in his constituency, a constituency where he had a majority of more than 14,000. elsewhere, there have been these church services. one just finished at st michael's church, a service for friends and those people who knew sir david. earlier, there was one at st peter's catholic church. sir david was of course a devout catholic. the priest there spoke of the genuine warmth of sir david's smile and he said that sir david amess was a man who listened to absolutely everyone. the speaker of the house of commons, who helps oversee security around mps, says lessons must be learned, after what he called the "hideous killing" of sir david amess. mps are warning of increasing hostility towards politicans. our political correspondent, damian grammaticas has more. in leigh—on sea today, more tributes for sir david amess. many have come from his
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constituents, but some were from his neighbouring mps. the killing of one of their number has shaken many. this morning across the airwaves they had stories of how they too had faced threats. do you feel safe doing yourjob going around your constituency? not really, no, if i'm honest. mps are treated as if we weren't humans. | we have seen the encouragement of a climate often of hostility towards members of parliament. i have had people writing in my office will, "why. don't you kill yourself?" the staff are pretty scared most of the time. i had a threat to abduct my children. another essex mp who came today, notjust a parliamentary mp but a friend of sir david's.
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there is now obviously a fear there is bad people out there who want to do harm. and david is a victim of that. so i'm afraid it will change things. some mps have had guards before now. the review of mps' safety may consider if this should be offered to all. order, order. the speaker of the commons, who has overseen the review, says mps have to be protected but with democracy and openness too. i i don't want to go into a knee jerkl reaction to say what we need to do. tragically, we have lost our friends, sir david amess. . our thoughts are with his family. i want to say we must do i the right thing and we have to make the best come out of this hideous, - hideous killing of our colleague. and what i would say is that we will look. at all different measures. and those measures may involve more than just protecting physical venues. some say a culture of abuse and threats online has to be tackled too. the mp chairing the committee looking at the new online harms bill says people should not be able to hide identities. if someone uses a false name when they create an account,
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that company should hold enough information about the individual so police can access it as part of an investigation and users should know even if they are not using their real name when they post, they can and will be identified if they create and cause harm to other people. so the repercussions of this killing may go far. but first, tomorrow, the nation's politicians will meet in parliament to remember sir david amess. damian grammaticas, bbc news. i was also speaking to conservative mp tobias ellwood about whether he thought mps should pause holding surgeries following sir david's killing. there is an absolute passion to not see that bond, that link, that important communication, between mps' accessibility removed. that's been identified right across parliament and indeed in the public as well. i look at these events through the prism of security. the killer was linked with extremism — that has now been established. he was on a home office watch list.
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so this is being treated as a terrorist attack. he was self—ratified, a lone operative, and the police are concerned about copycat attacks. so, yes, as we move forward in the way you have been discussing today, we have to do that in a rational, sensible and safe measure. already some mps are having to be escorted and looked after by police presence. and others are saying, "absolutely not, i'm going to carry on what i'm doing." i'm simply looking at this from a wider perspective to say that until we fully understand this threat we're actually dealing with, then we have a duty of care are not just to mps, the staff, but also to the public itself, but far be it for me to advise any member of parliament. each individual has to make their ownjudgment. i said these comments on friday nightjust after this happened. absolutely, we must stand up to terrorism, and i make that very clear. i hope i will be one of the first
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people seen to do that. we must not let the terrorists alter our way of life, but as we move forward and push back against this we must do it in a responsible way. have you yourself been in situations where you have felt your security, safety or that of those working around you was compromised or, you know, you felt unsafe at any point, when you were just going about the daily work of an mp? yes, we all have brushes of this sort of... these events. we should also make it clear that it is notjust mps — it's many people who work in the front line in our world. you know, bus drivers, nurses, social care and so on. the difference here, and i stress this, we are dealing with islamic extremism, which after 9/11, 20 years ago, burst into our lives, this new form of asymmetric warfare. individuals believing that what they are doing is for some form ofjust cause. we still haven't managed to deal with that. that is why individuals are then radicalised and believe they are going to be rewarded for such behaviour. so there's a bigger theological question here we need to answer,
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and until we do so i'm afraid we will continue to see attacks such as this take place. as you say, there are those questions, but also the questions i discussed with your colleague, damian collins, mp, about tackling the problems online and the hostility and extremism that can flourish in some dark corners of social media, and how you go about trying to deal with that without pushing it so far underground that the problem doesn't go away butjust ends up being more hidden. yes, i think this is exactly where priti patel, the home secretary, and indeed the speaker want to widen this important inquiry, this review into mps' security, this ability to be anonymous and express hate and express anger, and also the wider method in which we are having debates now. "i not only disagree with you but i also hate you because of the position you take." you know, and we have seen this
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in american politics to some degree, where you simply cannot agree to disagree, and i think it has spilled over i think here as well, not least because i think tensions are high as well. it's not an excuse at all. it has been a tough couple of years because of covid, but nevertheless the ability for us to debate things and have sensible conversations without spilling into this area of hate absolutely needs to be addressed, and the fact that it is so easy to do this — by not announcing who you actually are, you can be anonymous online and you can actually show and vent your aggression in a way that i don't think you could have done ten — or 20 years ago. 0k. tobias ellwood, conservative mp, talking to me a little earlier. time to move on to some other news. the government's latest coronavirus figures show there were 45,140 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. another 57 deaths have been recorded — that's of people who died
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within 28 days of a positive test. on vaccinations, 85.9% of the population aged 12 and over, have had their first dose, and 78.9% have had both doses. a soldier who died during an army training exercise on salisbury plain has been named. private jethro watson—pickering, who was 23, of the 1st yorkshire regiment, was part of a crew operating an armoured vehicle near enford in wiltshire, on friday. the yorkshire regiment said on facebook that its thoughts and prayers were with private watson—pickering's family. the newcastle tottenham game was paused earlier, after a supporter in the stand had a medical emergency. medics rushed to the aid of the fan 41 minutes into the game, and players were taken off the field. a debifrilator was carried onto the terraces as crowds remained in the stadium. private firms have been called in by brighton and hove city council to remove growing piles of rubbish amid continuing bin strikes.
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mountains of waste have been accumulating around the city for almost two weeks, after the gmb union called the strike over drivers being removed from long—standing rounds and pay. with the dispute ongoing, residents in the city have become increasingly angry. a murder inquiry is underway in glasgow after a 14—year—old boy was stabbed in the city. justin mclaughlin was seriously injured at high street station yesterday afternoon, later dying in hospital. our scotland correspondent alexandra mckenzie has this update from the scene. there is still quite a lot of police activity here outside the station, and some floral tributes have been laid. we understand that a fight had broken out on the train that spilled out onto the platform here, and the 14—year—old was stabbed down on the platform. police scotland put out a statement this afternoon and they
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said this was a shocking act of violence in broad daylight. which had seen a boy tragically lose his life. they also said this happened on a saturday afternoon. it would have been very busy here in the middle of the city. now, they have asked anyone to come forward, anyone who saw anything suspicious at all. the 14—year—old, justin mclaughlin, he went to school in coatbridge, at saint ambrose high school. the headmaster there has paid tribute to him, saying he was a valuable member of the community and would be missed by pupils and staff —— a valued member. by pupils and staff -- a valued member-— by pupils and staff -- a valued member. �* . . n member. alexandra mckenzie there. you are watching _ member. alexandra mckenzie there. you are watching bbc _ member. alexandra mckenzie there. you are watching bbc news. - the headlines on bbc news... the home secretary, priti patel, says she is looking at a "whole spectrum" of measures to better protect mps following the death of sir david amess. issues on social media have
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been highlighted as part of the discussion around the safety of mps. a murder inquiry is underway in glasgow after a 14 year old boy was stabbed in the city. the duke of cambridge will call for society to "unite in repairing our planet", when he takes to the stage, for the presentation of his inaugural environmental award. here he is arriving at the ceremony�*s green carpet with the duchess of cambridge. the award will celebrate five winners, who've come up with the best solutions to tackle the world's environmental problems. our media and arts correspondent, david sillito has more. each year we will award five £1 million prizes to those who we believe can transform our chances of repairing our planet... inspired by president kennedy's moonshot challenge in the �*60s, earthshot is a challenge to find environmental solutions.
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ultimately, if we want to tackle this, if we want to get on the front foot, we have to bring people with us. people have to think there is a chance and that we can fix this and that is what the earthshot prize is about, providing solutions to some of the world's biggest environmental problems. among the supporters of prince william's initiative, his father, prince charles, who tweeted that we need to come together to build the sustainable future we so desperately need. a less wild world is| a less stable world. another supporter, david attenborough. that's why i agreed to join. the earthshot prize council. i noticed the iron venders in my street using charcoal... beyond all of this is a desire to move beyond the often gloomy headlines. among the finalists, this 14—year—old from india, who has designed a solar
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powered ironing art that can even charge mobile phones. across london, to mark this moment, and environmental light show at a number of landmarks — most notably a green buckingham palace. that was david sillitoe reporting. let's speak now with german climate activist luisa neubauer — she's a member of the earthshot prize council panel and assigned with the task to award the one million pound prize to five of the finalists to support their innovative environmental solutions. good to have you with us. can you give a sense of the range of ideas and entries you have been going through and how impressed you have been with them. it through and how impressed you have been with them.— been with them. it has been an adventure- _ been with them. it has been an adventure. we _ been with them. it has been an adventure. we have _ been with them. it has been an adventure. we have a - been with them. it has been an adventure. we have a very - been with them. it has been an i adventure. we have a very diverse jury adventure. we have a very diverse jury council that has come together to look into every one of those projects and we have been looking into lasting solutions, people designing new schemes to protect the environment, but also technical solutions, people really inventing stuff desperately needed as well as schemes applied in city councils, surreally highlighting as well where climate action is needed, and that
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it is not about one single solution we can all apply but it is really about the diversity of things we need to get going with. {131 about the diversity of things we need to get going with. of course the award ceremony _ need to get going with. of course the award ceremony is _ need to get going with. of course the award ceremony is happeningj need to get going with. of course - the award ceremony is happening this evening. we will not ask you to give any spoilers or reveal anything before time, but ijust wonder how easy was it for you as a panel to agree on the winners, how much difference there in opinion on which the most innovative ideas where? well, i was glad and surprised. there were very heated debates. it was exciting and interesting to see our opinions coming together. you know, a panel coming togetherfrom across the world, so there was much discussion going on. but really it should be part of that spirit for the prize, right? {131 should be part of that spirit for the prize, right?— should be part of that spirit for the prize, right? of course, and there is a _ the prize, right? of course, and there is a very _ the prize, right? of course, and there is a very high _ the prize, right? of course, and there is a very high profile - the prize, right? of course, and| there is a very high profile name behind the prize, prince william, the duke of cambridge. how important is that, do you think, when it comes to drawing attention to prizes like
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this and the issue of climate change? this and the issue of climate chan . e? ~ , ., this and the issue of climate chance? ~ ~ ., . ., change? well, you know, climate activists are _ change? well, you know, climate activists are often _ change? well, you know, climate activists are often portrayed - change? well, you know, climate activists are often portrayed as i activists are often portrayed as young kids, girls, often times, who care about the environment, and that doesn't really inspire many older people especially to get going and become activists themselves and that is why i think it is desperately needed to diversify the palate that we have of people who get started. i had some family members of mine who knew i... they have known i am an activist for years, but when they saw the headline, they really got onto me and said, luisa, that is really exciting, maybe we can do something too. i think people see themselves, then, in the prize committee see addressed in a different way, but at the end of the day it affects everyone, no matter whether they are interested or not, and it should invite everything to do something themselves, and for that i think we need everyone we can
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get, really. i that i think we need everyone we can net, reall . �* , , get, really. i can't help but wonder. — get, really. i can't help but wonder. a _ get, really. i can't help but wonder, a bit— get, really. i can't help but wonder, a bit like - get, really. i can't help but wonder, a bit like when - get, really. i can't help but. wonder, a bit like when very extravagant outfits are revealed during fashion weeks but they are of very little practical use or relevance in the real world, are the ideas being put forward for this prize viable to be used in the real world to practically make a difference?— world to practically make a difference? ~ , ., ~ ., ., , difference? well, you know, that is one of the criteria _ difference? well, you know, that is one of the criteria we _ difference? well, you know, that is one of the criteria we looked - difference? well, you know, that is one of the criteria we looked into, l one of the criteria we looked into, and i think there is always a question of how do things work out in real life, are things scalable, but eventually, you know, we are looking at a crisis that is built on a fossil fuel system that has been affecting every single aspect of our lives for over 150 years, so we really need to start rethinking every single thing we do, and for that i think we need a lot of invention but we also need a lot of system change and it is necessary, that we need people to really rethink and reimagine new ways of
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getting stuff done, of moving, of working, of travelling come of trading and all those things, and for that we need those spaces that cherish ideas and that celebrate ideas and those people behind them. 0k, ideas and those people behind them. ok, we will watch with great interest the outcome of the award ceremony tonight. luisa neubaue, german climate activist, thank you very much. german climate activist, thank you very much-— very much. thank you so much for havin: very much. thank you so much for having me- _ very much. thank you so much for having me. you _ very much. thank you so much for having me. you are _ very much. thank you so much for having me. you are watching - very much. thank you so much for having me. you are watching bbc| having me. you are watching bbc news. at least 25 people have been killed and others are missing in the southern indian state of kerala, after heavy rain caused landslides and floods. homes were damaged and trees and power lines were brought down. many towns and villages remain cut off. the indian military are assisting emergency teams. the government has taken over the running of the southeastern rail network — which connects kent and parts of east sussex with london. the move was announced last month after govia, which had been running
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the franchise, failed to declare more than £25 million of taxpayerfunding. passengers have been told they are unlikely to see any immediate changes to services. windermere in the lake district could become "ecologically dead" within years, because of the amount of sewage being pumped into its waters, according to campaigners. an online petition calling for a ban on sewage pollution has now reached over 99,000 signatures. but the situation is complex, as our environment correspondent judy hobson explains. tourists come to the lake district for its outstanding natural beauty, but campaigners say the water quality in windermere is so poor it's a national scandal. and there has just been the biggest blue—green algal bloom, all because of sewage entering the lake. a local conservationist has been filming water pollution in the area.
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that dark patch is a benthic algal bloom. this is the river rothay that feeds into the lake. it actually prevents invertebrates from being able to breed on the substrate of the river itself and then, because of that, invertebrates have died and, subsequent to that, fish are dying. matt has started an online petition calling for a ban on sewage pollution in windermere. he said the waters here are close to ecological collapse. i have seen a decline in fish, invertebrates, freshwater vegetation. i have seen otter spraint completely absent of white—clawed crayfish. i have seen dead fish floating down the river past me. it is in a very dire state and it will only get worse. algal blooms come and go, but they are appearing more frequently and they can be very harmful to humans and animals. there are two many main sources of sewage entering windermere. one is from the waste treatment site, and that comes in when we have rain. they call it their storm overflow system. and the other is from septic tanks. there are over 1,500 septic tanks that are around windermere itself
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and there is no regulation keeping these in check. last year, the sewage treatment plant at ambleside overflowed for weeks after heavy rain. what you can see is the very fine filters at the back end. the company said it happens to prevent flooding, but a new plant at windermere is now improving water quality. over the past five years we have invested £40 million into our assets around windermere both at ambleside, glebe road station and here at windermere waste water treatment works to address some of those challenges. but the sewage problem comes from different sources and the answer will be for different organisations to work together. the nutrients have probably been discharged over decades. - so it's a case of continual- improvements in ongoing work and then looking to the future. it is notjust local people — it is a special part of the world for millions from all around the world. it is a unesco world heritage site. it is known for its natural beauty but now we have to protect that.
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that was judy hobson reporting from the lake district. the former us president, bill clinton, has left hospital in california. president clinton, here accompanied by his wife hilary, walked out of the southern california hospital where he was being treated for a urological infection. the 75—year—old was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit on tuesday after suffering from fatigue. pigs have been deployed at one of europe's busiest airports to keep geese away from farmland between the runways. the bbc�*s correspondent in the netherlands anna holligan has been to see them in action. are pigs the new scarecrows? i think pigs are the best scarecrows you can have. they are really big, large, moving, and they are a natural way of keeping the geese away. but their greatest attribute here is their appetite. they really like to eat everything. the idea is they'll gobble up
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leftovers from the sugar beet harvest, removing the crop residue from this freshly turned soil that usually entices the winged trespassers. this is the sugar beet. when they harvest the crop, they take the sugar beet out. they sell the crop, and they leave the top of the crop, the harvest residue over here, and the birds really like it. but the pigs are here first, so they eat it, and that is why the birds fly over and search for another place. this pig patrol is being used in combination with technological innovations like sound generators and green lasers that spook the geese. they are watching 24/7. we have bird detection radars at schiphol. birds learn pretty fast. so we have to keep innovating with the measures.
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when you look around, this land is below sea level. it's fertile farmland. it's very attractive for geese especially. you're battling against nature really here. and the pigs can play a role on this front line. they sure can, yeah. these are sensitive, intelligent creatures, so i am curious about how they feel being so close to the runways. here they've got, like, four soccer fields. they have the same houses, the same water system and feed system. so it is really normal to keep them this way. these snuffling swine are part of a six—week pilot project, and if they are successful in keeping the birds and geese away from the runway, then similar projects could be trotted out at airports all over the world. anna holligan, bbc news, schiphol.
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right, time now for a look at the weather with tomasz. well, damp and mild, i think that's the best way how to describe the weather for most of us today. but having said that, a little bit of sunshine certainly in the forecast through the afternoon across the south and the southwest. that could bump up temperatures to around 17 but for most of us, it is going to stay cloudy through the evening and through the night, little pieces of rain. and, in fact, we've got more wet weather heading our way for tomorrow. it's just approaching ireland in the early hours monday morning and of it, very, very mild, double temperatures for most of us first thing. and certainly by mid morning, we've got rain moving through the southwest and across many western areas of the uk,
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