our news reporter charlotte gallagher is with me now.ould tell me from the beginning, what is fracking? is a process to extra ct what is fracking? is a process to extract oil or gas from deep within the earth. how it works as you drill a well, and then this narrow well, you pump down the sand, water and chemicals. those three things mixed together, essentially, the gas or the oil floats to the surface, simply, that is how it works. what has the british government now done? they've suspended it immediately. this is after a report from a government agency said it was impossible to predict the size or probability of earth tremors caused by fracking, and the government have said at this stage itjust isn't safe enough to proceed. now there was actually only one active fracking site in the whole of uk, in lancashire, north—west england. activity there was suspended in august when there was an earthquake. now it looks like all future projects are being put on hold. let you know what a public opinion was like in that area? in that area, public o

charlotte gallagher, bbc news.lowing a record turnout. it's believed anger at the government's handling of months of protests will secure victory in several council races and send a clear message to china. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports from hong kong. in the eastern district of hong kong island this morning, the queue to vote at the shau kei wan polling station went on and on and on. we're seeing queues like this in districts all over hong kong today. people waiting for an hour, even up to an hour and a half to vote. and people are telling us they have never seen anything like this in a local election in hong kong before. translation: we didn't have to line up before. everyone is more enthusiastic. they really want to contribute to the society. he speaks in cantonese the passion of those standing for election today is out of all proportion to the power of the local council seats being contested. but for the opposition, today is a referendum on the protests that have rocked hong kong for the last

charlotte gallagher, bbc news. chains in the uk, have issued a statement. but there are some contesting the decision of vue to pull the film from its 91 outlets across the uk and ireland. earlieri from its 91 outlets across the uk and ireland. earlier i spoke to a co nsulta nt and ireland. earlier i spoke to a consultant solicitor and member of... explained what upset him about this decision. the issue is really that they have taken an issue with a group of people of south asian descent and they have linked the two development the messages the film is trying to promote and have taken the decision to withdraw the film from almighty one of the cinemas. and actually, when i was on my way here, i learned showcase cinemas have also taken the same view. and for me, it is like, hang on, this is something that ratman and his team have been trying to portray, a particular kind of story, and you have made a decision based on an incident which, how is it even linked? how did you come to the decision—making process, but the ma

charlotte gallagher reports. screaming.en police officers injured trying to break up a brawl involving around 100 people and machetes. six have been arrested, the youngest a 13—year—old girl. this startling picture is being shared on social media — a group of young teenagers apparently armed with a machete. we're not entirely certain what caused it, and so we're not going to get into that speculation. but it is reassuring that we were able to deal with it. today, vue cinemas announced it was pulling this film, blue story, from all its venues. it is about gangs in london, though it is not known if the people involved in the violence at star city were there to watch it. vue is one of the biggest cinema chains in the uk, with more than 90 cinemas. and most of the new releases, they end up in one of their screens. so it's a big blow for the makers of blue story that their film has been dropped. now, showcase cinemas are banning blue story as well. in south—east london tonight, there was a special showing of the film at an indep

charlotte gallagher, bbc news.s and paramount pictures have said they are appalled by the incident in birmingham, but have described the film as important and say it has received a positive response. an acrobat has fallen 30 feet whilst performing in london's winter wonderland in hyde park. the production company said that jackie armstrong was thought to have slipped from her harness during the zippos christmas circus show. her condition isn't known. two of tv‘s most famous puppets are going up for auction. emu, seen here attacking michael parkinson back in 1976, was used by handler rod hull throughout his career. emu is going on sale in london next month, alongside orville the duck, a regular on tv entertainment shows in the 1980s. the puppets are expected to fetch around £10,000 each. i think michael parkinson was asked if he would be bidding for emu, and he said no, thank you. i think he referred to that bloodied bird again. i won't be bidding any money for that bloody bird.|j again. i won't be bidding any money

with me is our reporter charlotte gallagher. festival, charlotte, has easterbrook said anything?p and he sent an e—mail to staff saying it was a mistake but he does agree with the board that it is time to move on. it is vague. we don't know who the employee is that you know, given that he is the president and ceo it has to be someone beneath him. everyone is beneath him. yes. we don't know who the person is and we imagine their identity, mcdonald's will try to keep it private. inevitably some people might say is this really about his personal life or is it about esna's performance quest to mark especially because it was as consensual relationship between two adults.- mcdonald's say no, this is only about the relationship. it violated company policy and this is nothing to do with the financial performance of the business. quarterly profits however from mcdonald are of the business. quarterly profits howeverfrom mcdonald are being published on tuesday and i think many people will be looking at them with interest to see how they have done this quarter. according to the company he wa

charlotte gallagher, bbc news.in birmingham but have described the film as important, and say it has received a positive response. prince andrew is to step back from all 230 of his charities, and won't undertake any public engagements for the foreseeable future, according to buckingham palace. the palace says the move was temporary. a number of organisations had already cut their ties with the duke of york, following his interview on bbc newsnight, when he faced questions relating to his friendship with the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. good morning. it has been a cloudy start to the day and a wet one, bands of rain moving across england, wales and northern ireland and heading to scotland. this morning in scotla nd heading to scotland. this morning in scotland we have rain and drizzle. the driest lots will be in the far north and 0rkney. here we have got some gusty wind, later we may see glimmers of brightness in dorset. temperatures around nine, 13. feel

bbc reporter charlotte gallagher joins me now.about that are being released? the term, explosive bombshell allegations is probably overused, but in this case it certainly fits. megan is basically accusing the daily mail of waging war against her, a fake news war, so some of the story she is talking about in the court papers are you might remember a letter that she sent her father that was on the front cover of a lot of newspapers in britain and across the world. she says the papers removed sections of that letter to make her look bad and essentially bits her she was talking about her father's health and saying that she was worried that he was taking advantage of by tabloid journalists. and the relationship with her mother saying that she was not invited to her baby shower. megan says that is simply not true, her mother was invited and she could not make it. scandals about renovations to the real couple's home saying that it cost them millions of pounds, and these court documents, the duchess says that these allegations were not tr

charlotte gallagher, bbc news.ou think about the ban? it's horrendous. it sets a really negative precedent. when you actually watch the film, which i fortunately have you see it humanises people from these backgrounds. it gives context as to why people may go down the wrong path and shows how empty that lifestyle is. in no way does it glorify that lifestyle at all. for them to blanket ban it? it‘s really bad. the police did not say that the film should not be shown. why do you think the link was made between what happened in birmingham and this band coming about? i think there have been assumptions. even when i have looked through the news reports. i don‘t know the full context but looking at the report, the children we re looking at the report, the children were not even old enough to see the film. most of those kids were under 15. the films were 15 and above. the fa ct 15. the films were 15 and above. the fact that they have run and shows in that film as the scapegoat, i think to potentially take numbers around o

clint lawrence, matthew goldstein or edward gallagher show up at his 2020 rallies or even have a moment on the stage at his renomination convention in charlotter. >> it's shocking, i guess, but it's very trumpian in another. this is an extension into the military. he already raided the military budget to fund his wall. so there's that. this is actually taking people who are accused of some of the most egregious war crimes and popping them up on the campaign stage. the state department he clearly views as a vessel for his reelection campaign. the department of agriculture, he's doling out billions to help farmers. the gop is looking to the origins of the 2016 meddling. that is a domestic political agenda. >> the fbi wanted him to stop the investigation into russia because it covered him and he's told the cia, who brought him news he didn't want to hear about russia and iran and north korea, to go to school. >> politicians use their agenda as inherently politically beneficial but this is very different. this is actually taking the mechanisms, the resources of document and putting them to domestic political use. what separates the gallagher stor