frank, thank you very much, frank gardner there for us on the story from saudi arabia today.e hasn't been sufficient progress at the brexit talks for negotiators to move on to discussing britain's future relations with the eu. mr tusk, who met the prime minister in downing street, was speaking as a fourth round of negotiations were taking place in brussels. if you ask me and if today member states ask me, i would say there is no sufficient progress yet. but we will work on it. donald tusk there today. while the brexit negotiations reach a critical point, president macron of france has set out his vision for reforming the european union, describing the current union as too weak, too slow and inefficient. he's called for a european defence force and a common budget, and he's also suggested that the uk might, in a few years, wish to join the kind of reformed european uniion that's he's proposing. 0ur paris correspondent, lucy williamson, has more details. with the leadership of france under his belt, president macron set out today to conquer europe with a vision of the future —

frank gardner, thank you.exit department — 0liver robbins — has left his job, after reports of tensions between him and the brexit secretary david davis. he's moving to downing street to work more directly for theresa may. a spokesman for number ten said the appointment would "strengthen coordination" of brexit across the government, as the next round of negotiations with brussels approaches. norman smith is in westminster, why has he moved ? norman smith is in westminster, why has he moved? officially, he has moved because his job has he moved? officially, he has moved because hisjob is too big, running the brexit department and dhekelia brexit negotiations. in future he will be working as an adviser to the prime minister and it is argued that he will be able to bring together different departments to coordinate our approach to brexit. i must say that at face value it looks like a demotion. he was permanent secretary in the brexit department and now he is an adviser to the prime minister. unofficially there i

frank gardner was watching that statement with me.would have been discussed. i'm quite surprised at that actually, because the threat level is not decided by the threat level is not decided by the government, but by an independent national body, the joint terrorism authority, a fusion cell of 100 specialists that sits inside mi5 of 100 specialists that sits inside m15 headquarters on the embankment and 20 47 analyse all the threats to uk security. their advice to the government is mandatory. we are at sophia, which means a terrorist attack is thought to be highly likely —— severe. if they think another attack is imminent, it has to go to critical. it happened after the manchester arena bobbing because at the time they thought there was a bomb make out there making more devices. the bomb maker died in the blast, in fact. this particular attack, though it appears to have failed to have carried out its original huge damage, the perpetrator is still at large. i'm surprised in a way... moving it to critical is a big step, it doesn't happen

worth pointing out, we have had a flash in from frank gardner, the bbc security correspondent, and hewhat caused the explosion at parsons green, but a explosive disposal team is there. the counterterrorism command at the scene leading the response. thank you very much indeed. if you are joining us this morning, an explosion has been reported on a london tube train this morning at parsons green, which is in south—west london. at a very busy time of the money, an emergency call was received at 8:20 with reports of an explosion on a london tube train, which you can see at the moment. we can still see people being escorted off the train, armed police are there at the moment. there appears to be people at the station or more or presumably, on the train. we can see them being escorted away. at the moment, we know that what ever happened, the incident sounds like it happened in one carriage in this district line train. again, a white container in a shopping bag caught fire. we don't know what caused the fire. we don't know what caused the fire. we don't know what that container is. we don't

let's stop to our security correspondent frank gardner. losive device. there are reports that hardy timer. it could have been a great deal worse. at the present moment, there are no reports of any fragmentation, of any nuts and bolts, the kind of shrapnel we saw in the aftermath of the manchester ‘s explosion at the concert. of course, this was horrific by anybody caught up in it, but looking at it in perspective, compared to manchester, compared to the 7/7 london bombings and compared to madrid in 2004, the latter to which involve multiple devices going off at several locations, coordinated, this was relatively small and relatively amateur. i think the intention was probably to kill and maim a lot more people actually happened. extraordinary that it could have been on the tube floor. i suppose the tube at that time of day was so crowded people didn't notice it. it's a very unusual object in which to hide the bomb. traditionally, it has been a backpack, and a lot of people carry backpacks on the tube. but after the london bombings, that ins

frank gardner. let's cross back to my colleague matthew price in south west london. the police cordon, the houses on the street behind me which lead up to parsons green tube station, which isjust beyond police, couple of hundred meters away, the houses here, they've not all been evacuated. the area, the council leader, the local council leader was telling me about an hour or so ago the area itself is largely deemed to be safe except for a very small cordon, our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford was telling us earlier, of about 50 metres or so radius around the station itself, because at this stage those investigating this incident, this crime, are currently trying to move, we believe, the remains of this device. clearly, because it is believed it only partially went off, there is essentially volatile substance there. they are trying to remove it, therefore, they've moved people away from about 50 metres from the station itself. as for the investigation that is going on, the latest update we had came in the hours immediately following the explosion and the su

frank gardner. let's cross back to my colleague matthew price in south west london.road down here which leads up to the station, you might be able to make it out in the distance, they either come out and walk past down to the police cordoned they go in. there hasn't been a large—scale evacuation of people from the properties around here. we understand some people were moved, those within about 50 metres of the station, not a wide area, moved for their own safety because of the fact this device only partially went off so there were some partially went off so there were so m e safety partially went off so there were some safety concerns. broadly speaking there are people beyond the police cordoned who'd been coming and going and some families who live down this street as well. much reaction has come in through the day, most notably the important stuff coming from the met police. earlier the assistant commissioner for the met, mark rowley, gave us this update on his investigation. i want to talk briefly about the incident, about the police response and what we need from

earlier, we had reaction from our security correspondent frank gardner, who has worked extensively inaudi arabia. iam not i am not surprised it has happened now. the king, king salman, is very close to his son, the crown prince, as you would imagine. in the crown prince is pushing through a programme called vision 2030. he wa nts to programme called vision 2030. he wants to modernise saudi arabia and bring it far more in line with the rest of the world. he wants to introduce entertainment. he had a lwa ys introduce entertainment. he had always hinted that this would be possible. now, you may think that it is saudi kings, saudi monarchs, printers, that have been holding the country back all these years. it is not them, it is the religious conservatives, and some of the views they have expressed as to why women shouldn't drive have upset a lot of people. they have said they are too stupid to drive, or it will burn their ovaries, or very popular among religious conservatives, they say that it will lead to chaos and privately. men and women getting together and having trysts in the backse

frank gardner said thousands of foreign chauffeurs will no longer be needed. 800,000 foreign chauffeursd in saudi arabia added is estimated up to a third of family's incomes go on chauffeurs. this is one high profile reform but it is pa rt one high profile reform but it is part of a bigger series of reforms, all being pushed by the crown prince. it is part of a project called vision 2030. it is about social and economic reform. before we get carried away, there are still very strict dress codes for saudi women. they are not allowed to associate with unrelated men. if they want to travel, work or have health care, they must be accompanied by a man or have written permission by a male guardian. this is the analysis from another campaigner who pushed for women to be able to drive. but now with this new vision i am all for it. it is taking place step—by—step in a very well—organised way and it is getting there. the next thing we'll be getting rid of the guardianship which is really the campaign we have been working on for almost a year now. now, next, let's play the latest bbc report from i

let's talk about what happened at parsons green with frank gardner. a manhunt under way as to there is a manhunt under way as to the person who may have placed this device. from cctv they should identify from the footage quickly what he or she looks like. the fact that somebody placed what could have been a really devastating device on a packed train, that they are stale at large, that under review right now is the national terrorism threat level it is currently severe, mean meaning that a terrorist attack is likely but they are looking to raise it to critical. meaning that one is imminent. if they are able to do this device, they could do another. at the manchester bombing, at the time it was thought that there was a separate bomb maker who did not die in the blast, they raced that to critical. it is not an easy decision to make, it is made byjtac, advising the government whether or not to do it. it is pretty much an order. the government would not disagree with it. the device itself has been described to me by experts as a defromming ration, rather

with me is our security correspondent frank gardner. what is the role particularly of china here?ere? it is absolutely key. china holds the key to resolving this, if it chooses to. they will be heads down, trying to work outjust what they should do. the one country that really has got a good insight into what is going on in north korea and can influence it is china. south korea has a degree of optic on it because they have their own agents inside there but china is very heavily dependent on their north korea's trade survival. north korea has a tiny border with russia and its biggest border is with china. the problem is, china and the us have a future potential conflict in the making when it comes to the south china sea. china probably knows a lot more intelligence about north korea than it is sharing. it does not want to share it up to now. there have been allegations that chinese parts have been found in missile fragments that have fallen into the sea. that there is chinese collusion in some of the weapons programme. the chinese don't want to comment on that. there is also specul

the bbc‘s frank gardner has this report.eing king salman issued a decree — from june next year, women can finally take to the roads. for saudi arabia, this is huge. translation: i am very happy, i haven't slept since yesterday. we have waited years for this to happen. translation: this will help us depend on ourselves and not need anyone to take us. we will not need drivers anymore. every woman will be free and independent. the lifting of the ban will have an economic impact. an estimated 800,000 imported chauffeurs work in saudi arabia, costing families a third of their budget. in the past, some women have tried flouting the law, driving illegally to demand rights, leading to arrest and imprisonment. this is one of the activists — she had to leave the country. i was targeted by a campaign shaming me. i lost myjob, i lost my child custody, and i had to leave my country eventually. i still go and come, but i am harassed so much, especially my mother and father. my father was in a mosque listening to an imam, who was calling m

will be changed next june, after a decree from the country‘s king. 0ur security correspondent frank gardner ageing king salman issued a decree from june next year — women can finally take to the road. for saudi arabia, this is huge. translation: i am very happy, i haven‘t slept since yesterday. we have waited years for this to happen. translation: this will help us depend on ourselves and not need anyone to take us. we will not need drivers anymore. every woman will be free and independent. the lifting of the ban will have an economic impact. an estimated 800,000 imported drivers work in saudi arabia, and in the past, some women have tried flouting the law, driving illegally to demand rights, leading to arrest and imprisonment. this is one of the activists, she had to leave the country. i was targeted by a campaign shaming me. i lost myjob, i lost my child custody, and i had to leave my country eventually. i still go and come, but i am harassed so much, especially my mother and father. my father was in a mosque listening to an imam, which was calling me a whore for driving my car. saudi wom

with me now is our security correspondent frank gardner. how did the west miss this?. it is sealed off from the outside world. north korea is don't have access to the internet. they can access on their phones is a network which is controlled by the government but it's harder for them to find out what's going on outside. it's hard for western intelligence is to insert agents. the people who have got good visibility on what's going on are the chinese. do they wa nt going on are the chinese. do they want to share that with the us? probably not. they have played a game of brickman ship because they don't want to help the united states on this but at the same time it's getting to the point where the situation is getting beyond their control. somebody referred to north korea as a rogue nation and that is the way it is viewed in washington but it has not really being viewed like that in moscow and beijing. with chinese help the north koreans have got as far as they have. whether it's in terms of vehicle parts or missile parts. but i don't think china wants to see a nuclear w

spirits shine in the darkness >> jeffrey brian gardner's >> thomas gardner's >> william arthur gardner's >> frank> james gartenberg >> bruce gerry >> blade alan gatton >> donald gaffigan junior >> terence gazaani >> gary geidel >> paul hamilton geier >> julie geis >> peter gelinas >> steven paul geller >> peter victor genco junior >> stephen gregory >> alayne gentul >> linda george >> edward garaghty >> suzanne garaghty >> ralph gerhard >> marina romanova >> susan getzendanner >> james geyer >> joseph m. giaccone >> n. st. francis giammona >> james andrew geiger sent >> greg neil gibson's >> rani gies >> andrew clive gilbert >> and my sister, judith morgan's. you would be so proud of your son, david, jacqueline and lindsay, your three great nephews luke, richard, john robert and anthony we call them below and curly. you would get a kick out of them. we love you and your brother misses you. >> and for my father and my uncle. i stand here as a reminder to the other families of 9/11 and to the world that no matter how dark moments get there is white ahead if you just choose hope. thank you. >> timot