good morning, welcome to breakfast with ben boulos and rachel burden. our headlines today... a monumentalfigure of scottish and uk politics — tributes are paid to scotland's former first minister alex salmond, who has died suddenly at the age of 69. forty nations, including the uk, sign a joint statement strongly condemning attacks on the un's peacekeeping force in southern lebanon. the crumbling classrooms that won't get fixed any time soon because a government rebuilding programme is behind schedule. and we'll meet yoyo and scamp — the hero detection dogs who have won a special award for their work.

in sport, wigan are the first team to win the quadruple since... ..wigan. they beat hull kr in the grand final to win all four trophies, a feat unprecedented in the super league era. and it is feeling chilly today with sunshine. all chains next week. all the details later. good morning. it's sunday, the 13th october. our main story. king charles has lead tributes to the former scottish first minister, alex salmond, who's died aged 69. the king said mr salmond's devotion to scotland drove his decades of public service. the alba party founder — and former snp leader — is thought to have suffered a heart attack during a trip to north macedonia yesterday. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. in 300 years, no one came closer to ending scotland's union with england than alex salmond.

this, in my estimation, has been the greatest campaign in scottish democratic history. a formidable political figure, who guided a party that for decades was on the fringes of politics, to the heart of power, changing the political landscape of the united kingdom, and delivering a referendum on independence. this is desperately sad news that alex salmond has died, and i extend my deepest condolences to his wife, moira, and to his family. this is a moment that individuals will reflect on the exceptional leadership and contribution that alex salmond has given to public life in scotland, with his service in the house of commons and in the scottish parliament, and especially as the first minister of scotland. it was while studying economics at st andrews university that alex salmond joined the snp. he worked for a time as an oil economist, but politics soon exerted its pull. the mp for banff and buchan, -

alex salmond, has won the leadership of the scottish national party. mr salmond first led the snp in the 1990s. we are going to win the battle for the hearts and minds of the scottish people. cheering. but it was during his second stint that his party became a major political force. well, folks, it's, eh, it's good to be back. within three years the snp were in government in edinburgh. then in 2011, he pulled off a feat that was thought impossible, winning a majority at holyrood. alex salmond negotiated the referendum on independence with the then prime minister, david cameron. how dare they say that this country is not capable of running its own affairs? cheering. he was a formidable and inescapable voice in the debate that followed, on the airwaves, and in towns and cities across scotland. in the end, the referendum result was no. alex salmond stepped down as first minister and leader of the snp...

as leader my time is nearly over. ..later carrying on the fight for independence with a new political party, alba. and the dream shall never die. i was talking to somebody, it so happens, the other day who was telling me the story of alex as a 24—year—old sitting next to a colleague in the royal bank of scotland, outlining his strategy for achieving independence for scotland, and i think he thought about that every day of his life, um, since being a young man and nearly, nearly brought it to fruition. in more recent years there were controversies. he was cleared of sexual assault in 2020, and he also fell out with his protege and successor as first minister, nicola sturgeon. in a statement, she said...

the former mp and msp died after being taken ill in north macedonia. it's understood he collapsed after giving a speech. alex salmond led the snp to political dominance in scotland and pushed independence to the top of the agenda. an orator, strategist and campaigner whose voice travelled far beyond the boundaries of scotland. our correspondent catriona rentonjoins us now from our glasgow newsroom. we have already had many tributes paid to alex salmond this morning. tell us how he is being remembered? well, the news of alex salmond �*s sudden death is now starting to sink in and tributes have been in across a range that reflects the stature with which alex salmond was held in

scotland, the uk and in public life. the kingdom of course, saying that his devotion to scotland drove his decades of public service. the prime minister, sir keir starmer, saying alex salmond was a monumental figure in the political world. david cameron, who was prime minister at the time of the edinburgh agreement that paved the way for the independence referendum was signed, said, we disagreed about many things but there is no doubt that alex salmond was a giant of scottish and british politics, hugely passionate about the causes he championed. he was one of those rare politicians with both enormous charisma and genuine conviction who always held the room. all, of course, offer their condolences to mrs salmond, moira, and his family and friends. i think what is really striking about these tributes is that they reflect these tributes is that they reflect the impact that alex salmond made in politics and public life. yes, there is no doubt there were broken

relationships. he once described himself as no angel. and as we heard in the report, he was cleared of the allegations made against him. alex salmond was colourful, controversial, but also marked out by his conviction. figs controversial, but also marked out by his conviction.— controversial, but also marked out by his conviction. as you mentioned, his drivin: by his conviction. as you mentioned, his driving political— by his conviction. as you mentioned, his driving political passion _ by his conviction. as you mentioned, his driving political passion was - his driving political passion was the fight for independence. 0ne his driving political passion was the fight for independence. one in which he fell slightly short. how will that legacy be remembered, do you think? will that legacy be remembered, do ou think? ~ ., , you think? well, that is the legacy, isn't it? alex _ you think? well, that is the legacy, isn't it? alex salmond _ you think? well, that is the legacy, isn't it? alex salmond made - you think? well, that is the legacy, isn't it? alex salmond made the . you think? well, that is the legacy, l isn't it? alex salmond made the snp a slick electoral machine. they went from the margins, of course, to government in scotland under his leadership. in the referendum campaign in 2014, they ran close. in the end 49% of people voted for a scottish independence, well up on the polling. i think it was about a third before. this independence movement is bigger than the man with whom of course the movement became

synonymous. polling has remained at about 5050 since the referendum. mr salmond believed that independence was still achievable. he said recently within the next decade. he continued to campaign for scottish independence right up to the end. yesterday he was engaging on social media. and of course he was making that speech in north macedonia where he was reflecting on ten years since the independence referendum. a man who strongly believed in independence and was campaigning for it. right until the end. it. riuht untilthe end. ., ~ , right until the end. thank you very much. right until the end. thank you very much- and — right until the end. thank you very much- and in _ right until the end. thank you very much. and in the _ right until the end. thank you very much. and in the next _ right until the end. thank you very much. and in the next half - right until the end. thank you very much. and in the next half an - right until the end. thank you very much. and in the next half an hourj much. and in the next half an hour we are going to bejoined by brian taylor, the former bbc scotland political editor. that is at half past eight. that is the main news. now let's hear what else is going on. yes, there is plenty going on, rachel. forty nations, including the uk, have signed a joint statement strongly condemning attacks on the un's peacekeeping force in southern lebanon. at least five soldiers have been

wounded in recent days, as israel fights the militant group hezbollah. 0ur correspondentjonathan head is in beirut for us this morning, jonathan, what's the latest? well, the attacks on un peacekeepers will tell you how strong the fighting is in the south of lebanon, where there are many thousands of israeli troops quite some way inside lebanon fighting, they say, with hezbollah units. they have argued that the un is caught inadvertently in crossfire. the un has accused israel of shooting deliberately at its basis. it has been much tougher for other parts of lebanon, still under sustained israeli air attack. as you can see behind me, it is pretty peaceful here. we have had a quiet night in beirut. but over the last 24 hours there have been 78 air raids, nearly all of them in the south where the israeli forces are fighting. 23 more villagers —— villagers have been told to evacuate

and move well north, which is hard for the people living there. one town very hard hit yesterday. an entire street reduced to rubble. the pictures are quite devastating. a lot of air strikes in the bekaa valley, an area which has been targeted quite consistently since the start of the israeli operation three weeks ago. the destruction in lebanon is constant. there are huge numbers of people being displaced every day. this country is being squeezed and squeezed from a humanitarian point of view. and of course we don't know what israel's long term goal is. how far it wants to move into lebanon. how many more targets it is aiming for. it is very stressful for the people living here. , ., ., ., stressful for the people living here. ., ., ., ~ , stressful for the people living here. ., ., ., , . here. jonathan, thank you very much. jonathan here. jonathan, thank you very much. jonathan head — here. jonathan, thank you very much. jonathan head in _ here. jonathan, thank you very much. jonathan head in beirut. _ presidentjoe biden will visit florida today to meet communities affected by hurricane milton. at least 23 people have died and more than three million homes and businesses were left without power. 0ur north america correspondent rowan bridge reports.

from the air, the damage wrought by milton is clear. across a swathe of the state, homes and lives were turned upside down by one of the worst storms to hit in 100 years. as the clean—up continues, hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses have been left without power, and the death toll has continued to rise. petrol shortages have led to frayed tempers, as people scramble to get what they can. they were fighting — like, fist fighting. one girl hit another girl with a car. it was just crazy. they were really fighting, over gas. you're seeing lines that are about a half mile long and you are seeing people get very agitated, very upset, over who's cut in line or cut people off. it's one of those things, we're telling people, calm down. given the tensions, refuelling petrol stations has become a priority. it's estimated to be storm caused $50 billion of damage as it tore across florida, with communities

still underwater in its wake. today, president biden will visit some of the areas affected to see the scale of the devastation for himself. in a statement, the white house said it had declared a major disaster in the state, and said it would provide more funding to help the recovery effort. with less than a month before the presidential election, disaster relief has become political. at his rallies, donald trump has been accused of spreading misinformation about the relief effort. president biden called the comments an "onslaught of lies" about how much support is available, and where disaster money was being spent. for those who found themselves in milton's path, the political controversy is not their immediate concern. they're still focused on clearing up and trying to put their lives back together. rowan bridge, bbc news, washington. the owner of p80 ferries will attend the government's international investment summit tomorrow, where its expected to announce a billion pounds for the london gateway port in essex.

there had been concerns dp world would pull out, after the transport secretary, louise haigh, called for a boycott on p&0 for sacking eight hundred british staff in 2022. sir keir starmer says that is not the view of the government. the white house has released kamala harris' medical records, saying she's in excellent health and fit for the presidency. ms harris has accused her rival donald trump of not being transparent because he hasn't done the same. mr trump's team says he's in perfect health. bands and singers are playing half as many gigs in the uk on an average tour as they did in the 1990s. the music venue trust says a typical tour used to have 22 gigs, while now there's often just 11. the trust is blaming rising costs and wants to see a levy on larger stadiums to support small venues. the exploration firm space x — owned by elon musk — is preparing to launch the fifth test flight of its starship rocket later today.

the launch could see the company attempt to return the rocket�*s boosters to their launch pad in what could prove to be a major milestone for the project. here 5 our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. it's the largest, most powerful rocket ever built. mission control: ignition. it's the largest, most powerful rocket ever built. one day, starship will take astronauts to the moon, two...one... maybe even to mars. but right now, it's still in its testing stage. maybe even to mars. this is what happened when starship was launched but right now, but there were cheers because spacex's development process involves making mistakes and learning from them, but there were cheers because spacex's development process so things go better next time — and they did. fast forward to its most recent test

flight injune this year. a flawless launch. after its lower booster_ a flawless launch. after its lower booster rocket _ a flawless launch. after its lower booster rocket separated, - a flawless launch. after its lower booster rocket separated, it - booster rocket separated, it splashed _ booster rocket separated, it splashed down _ booster rocket separated, it splashed down safely - booster rocket separated, it splashed down safely in - booster rocket separated, it splashed down safely in the | booster rocket separated, it - splashed down safely in the ocean, achieving _ splashed down safely in the ocean, achieving its— splashed down safely in the ocean, achieving its first _ splashed down safely in the ocean, achieving its first soft _ splashed down safely in the ocean, achieving its first soft landing. - splashed down safely in the ocean, achieving its first soft landing. so i achieving its first soft landing. so it achieving its first soft landing. it could be recovered and potentially reused. today it will be attempting something that has never been done before, as we see in this illustration. rather than splashdown, the booster will slow itself down and descend gently back towards the launch pad. for the giant arms to catch it in what is known as the chopsticks manoeuvre. the idea is to have fully reusable spacecraft and rocket launchers. the idea is that they landed safely back on earth and are reused. this would speed up the turnaround of launching payloads and bring down the costs. everything will have to go right for the attempt to succeed. and even if it doesn't, flight teams will learn from the experience and try to gain

next time. you are an ardent sky watcher? i love a shooting star. but i have not seen this comet. i was tempted to go out and look for it. i don't think these guys were clear enough. you may have seen it. stargazers across the uk have managed to get a glimpse of the comet of the century after it was spotted streaking across the sky last night. comet a3 was seen last month for the first time in 80,000 years, and the royal astronomical society predicts that it may be visible in the northern hemisphere until the 30th october. the comet appears as a bright streak of light, similar to a torch. so, will be have skies clear enough to see such beautiful sights? i wonder, elizabeth? it is looking pretty good this morning. yes, we did have quite a lot of high

cloud last night. some clear skies. there will be more tonight. all of that cloud earlier this morning gave us a real treat for early birds. lots of red skies, such as here in shrewsbury in shropshire. lovely pictures from our weather watchers. the sun is up now so you may have missed it. beautiful pictures have been coming in. today we keep the hazy sunshine. it will be dry. very different from how it was yesterday. it will also feel colder. then it is all change into next week. i will come to that in a moment. they said this morning. quite breezy towards the north sea facing coasts. elsewhere the winds are light. hazy sunshine. cloud taken from the west. claudia in northern ireland, may be some patchy rain putting into north—west scotland. lots of sunshine. staying dry. eight to 11 celsius north to south. 14 in the

south, south—west of england, because we have an approaching weather front. because we have an approaching weatherfront. that because we have an approaching weather front. that will push some outbreaks of rain across wales and into central england, the midlands, by tomorrow morning. clear skies for comet watchers towards the north—west of england, parts of south—west scotland and north—east scotland and northern ireland. you can see where these guys remain clear because that is where the temperatures remain lowest. milder air creeping into the south. temperatures rising through the night. here comes the milder air. but of course along with the milder air com sweater weather as well. generally warmer and wetter into next week. a lot of dry weather 1431 00:1