reports. —— 0ur security correspondent frank gardner reports. attacks in britain, inspired by so—called islamic state, in the space of six months. most of the attackers were already known to mi5, the security service. today, its director general addressed journalists on the extent of the current threat. we've seen a dramatic up—shift in threat this year. it's at the highest tempo i've seen in my 34—year career. i asked him why mi5 was unable to stop those attacks by known extremists. the likelihood is that sometimes attacks can happen, we've seen that. i've also said the likelihood is that when an attack happens, it may be done by somebody that we know or have known at some point in the past. were that not so, it would mean that we were looking completely in the wrong place. when three men attacked people with a van and knives in southwark in june, it turned out their ring leader was this man, khuram butt, a well—known extremist already on mis‘s radar. what's the point of surveillance if someone is free to do that? one of the main challenges we'

frank gardner, bbc news.stroy a massive 130 ton fatberg that's blocking one of the biggest sewers in london. 0ur science editor david shukman has been given exclusive access to the teams doing the work. in east london this morning, chris casbolt embarks on one of the worstjobs in the world. he checks a sensor that will detect toxic gases, he's given a constant supply of fresh air. this is what's needed to fight what's called a fatberg down in a sewer. we give chris and a colleague cameras to capture what they're facing. are you 0k? yeah, i'm good. i asked to join them, but wasn't allowed. they're venturing into extremely dangerous territory. hang on, i need a hose. hose! they arrive in an alien and hostile world, a supervisor calls out to check the gas. what's the gas reading down there? in the hot fetid air, the fat releases fumes of sulphur. this narrow tunnel is the only access to the fatberg, but right now it's too deep in sewage for anyone to pass. a pump is used to try to clear it, but gets blocked with

frank gardner spoke to the eu security commissioner.s held by europol and circulated amongst all of the eu member states‘ authorities to keep a watch for them. vulnerable individuals, often vulnerable young men, are enticed into violence by the propaganda and radicalising material but daesh in particular spend a lot of time broadcasting across the internet. working with the internet companies, we are trying to get better at spotting and taking down the material and we said we have got until the end of this year to show as they are making the necessary efforts. if not, we reserve the right european level to pursue legislation next year. the eu security commissioner talking to frank gardner. i will be back with my site in a few minutes, with the latest in the rohingya crisis. your next uk forecast in half an hour, but at this time we look at some of the main weather stories elsewhere in the world, starting in north america, especially the north—west of the usa, where a major weather changes taking place courtesy of this area of low pressu

frank gardner, bbc news.istan five years ago have been released. canadian joshua boyle and his american wife caitlan coleman were freed by pakistani security forces, along with their three children, who were all born in captivity. our north america correspondent aleem maqbool reports. over five long years, the families ofjoshua boyle and caitlan coleman had only seen them in a series of videos released by their taliban captors. they really will not settle this until they get what they are demanding. the couple disappeared in afghanistan. but they, and their our three children, were freed after being ta ken into pakistan. joshua was finally able to call his mother. it is the first time in five years we got to hear his voice. it was amazing and he told us how much he looked forward, his children were looking forward to meeting their grandparents, and that he would see me in a couple of days. we are waiting for that. it is believed their hostage—takers had been demanding the release of taliban prisoners — a dema

here is frank gardner, our security correspondent.n published without the fbi vetting every single word, because he is still an employee, still an undercover agent, and the intention is that he goes back into the field, so he is adamant that he has not given away any techniques, procedures or tactics by this. i have to say, it gives an extraordinary insight into how an undercover agent would first of all penetrate drug gangs in newjersey, and then later, into this islamist cell that was targeting the railway between new york and toronto. it must give some clues, but they are obviously... the desire to get the story out has overridden any desire to keep things secret. meanwhile here in the uk, the times is reporting that the government is toughening its stance on british jihadists fighting for the so—called islamic state, and that rory stewart, a foreign office minister, said that in most instances they should be killed. here's frank gardner again there is certainly a detectable hardening of uk government attitude in whitehall, i think

frank gardner, bbc news.zophrenia has been convicted of murdering a kurdish refugee. jeffrey barry stabbed kamil ahmad to death at a home for vulnerable people in bristol where they both lived. it happened hours after barry had been released from a psychiatric hospital. mr ahmad's family say his death could and should have been prevented. 0ur correspondent, jon kay, reports. i.00am, and jeffrey barry heads from his flat to kamil ahmad's bedsit, a kitchen knife in his waistband. after knocking on the door, he stabs the kurdish refugee more than 25 times and then mutilates his body. that's like a black cloud in my life. kamil‘s brother believes the attack could and should have been prevented, in a country they came to for protection. he came here to be safe, to just live a normal life. but why, how come he get this? why that happened and how that happened? jeffrey barry had a long history of severe psychiatric problems, including episodes of paranoid schizophrenia. this is the supported living accommodation in

frank gardner, bbc news, in brussels.cessful night for english clubs. of the three cubs in action, manchester city, liverpool and tottenham, only spurs failed to win. but it was a draw and it was against defending champions real madrid in spain. spurs took the lead with just under half an hour played, rafael va rane's own goal coming after pressure from harry kane. but a cristiano ronaldo penalty brought the hosts level. elsewhere in the group, apoel nicosia and borussia dortmund both picked up their first point of the campaign with a 1—1 draw in cyprus. manchester city may consider themselves lucky to have won 2—1 at home to napoli despite scoring two goals in the opening 13 minutes. that's because like spurs they conceded a first half penalty. but it was saved. a second penalty though gave napoli a consolation goal. city are top of their group, shakhtar donetsk move second after victory over feyenoord. the american author, george saunders, has won this year's man booker prize, awarded to the best novel written in englis

frank gardner, bbc news.e which lasted longer than four weeks. the research, carried out by the social mobility commission, comes ahead of a bill in the house of lords this week which says the minimum wage should apply after a month of work without pay. our education editor branwenjeffreys is here. why has this become such an issue? partly rooted because internships have grown so much. it is thought now there are around 70,000 every year and they are concentrated in industries like fashion, design, marketing, pr and publishing. if you've just come out of university with all those debts to pay off you might be expected to work unpaid for many months to even get to your firstjob. many months to even get to your first job. and what are the chances of anything changing? well, this is a private members' bill backed by a conservative peer, without government support its unlikely to government support its unlikely to go anywhere but i think there is a sense of momentum about this issue because the government said pr

frank gardner reports. inspired by so—called islamic state, in the space of six months. most of the attackers were already known to mi5, the security service. today, its director general addressed journalists on the extent of the current threat. we've seen a dramatic up shift in threat this year. it's at the highest tempo i've seen in my 34—year career. i asked him why mi5 was unable to stop those attacks by known extremists. the likelihood is that sometimes attacks can happen, we've seen that. i've also said the likelihood is that when an attack happens, it may be done by somebody that we know or have known at some point in the past. were that not so, it would mean we were looking completely in the wrong place. when three men attacked people with a van and knives in southwark in june, it turned out the ring leader was this man, khuram butt, a well—known extremist already on mi5‘s radar. what's the point of surveillance if someone is able to do that? one of the main challenges we've got is that we only ever

frank gardner, bbc news. man booker prize announcement, so connection to the man booker prize announcement, so let me tell you about another story relating to brexit. reversing brexit and staying in the eu would significantly boost the uk, -- in the eu would significantly boost the uk, —— economy, according to the oecd, the uk, —— economy, according to the 0ecd, which concludes that leaving with no deal would see investment seize up and the pound hit new lows. david davis said the uk is trying for a deal but must be prepared to walk away without one. john's report will wait, because the better news is that we have made a connection to the man booker prize ceremony. for his faith in this book, for which i will be eternally grateful. it isa which i will be eternally grateful. it is a profound honour to be on this list with my new friends, paul, emily, mohsin and ali. in each of your books, i have found a wonderful soul uniquely embodied in your fine prose. i want to thank the man booker prize, the chair and the

frank gardner, bbc news.ople to have flu vaccinations. there are concerns the health service would struggle to cope with a majorflu outbreak. the medical director of nhs england has warned the service is already under "severe and unrelenting pressure." 0ur health editor, hugh pym, reports. hi, i'm wendy, come and take a seat for me. this year's public message to have flu jab has an added edge, nhs chiefs are very worried that flu may be a lot worse than in recent years. in australia's winter there were many more cases than is normal and there are fears the same flu strain may spread around europe. health staff get the vaccine free, nhs england wants more of them to have the jab, they're more at risk of catching flu and spreading it to patients. i think wejust i think we just make i think wejust make it i think we just make it easier for staff. today one of its top officials, sir bruce keogh, was at the whittington hospital, in london, to find out how they're getting thejob done. the nhs is under severe and un

frank gardner, bbc news.proposal to limit gas and electricity bills for two thirds of households until at least 2020. it would empower the energy regulator, ofgem, to impose a temporary cap on standard variable tariffs — which are usually the most expensive rates. our business correspondent emma simpson explains. brace yourself — christmas is coming, especially for this stallholder at basildon market today. andy's also thinking about his energy bills. we switch the lights off, we take the plugs out. you know, we do whatever we can, but the bills are always the same or more. are you on a standard variable tariff? yeah, unfortunately. why haven't you switched? it's not as if i don't need the money either! it's just... i suppose it's laziness, much of the time. sound familiar? andy is one of 12 million households on standard variable tariffs, the default rate, and it's almost always much more expensive. the government reckons customers are overpaying by £1.11 billion per year, and its estimated they could save a

frank gardner, thank you.plans to cap gas and electricity bills for twelve million households until at least 2020. its draft bill will require the regulator, ofgem, to consult on and impose a temporary cap on standard variable tariffs as soon as possible after the legislation is passed. our business correspondent theo leggett reports. the government reckons the energy market is broken and that millions of people are paying too much for their gas and electricity. now it is planning to introduce a price cap to bring down their bills. our goal is to ensure a fair deal so the market is currently have not delivered this and that is why the energy companies and that is why the energy companies and ofgem need to act but it's also precisely for this reason that we are publishing this draft bill. the government is concerned about so—called standard variable tariffs, the kind of rate you will be cheap deals come to an end or if you have never changed suppliers. about 12 million households in the uk are currently on thos

frank gardner, bbc news.k now to baroness pauline neville—jones, who was minister of state for security and counter terrorism until 2011 and was also the former chair of the british joint intelligence committee. she joins us live from our studio in central london. thanks very much for being with us here on bbc news. is there anything that you found at all surprising in what andrew parker had to say today? no, ithink what andrew parker had to say today? no, i think that sort afteressment he gave is one that is very recognisable. it is fairly clear that the pace and the rate and the scale of attacks has increased. partly because as daesh has lost ground in the middle east, they have turned their attention to actually creating and inspiring and sometimes organising plots in the countries from which some of these jihadis came. let me say that the uk is not the only country. i mean, we are a major target, but we're not a unique target. you can see that other european countries have suffered attacks of this type. m

frank gardner, bbc news.e brown — an expert in countering radicalisation, gender and religion — from the university of birmingham. the headlines on bbc news: the two sides are still failing to agree on the eu divorce bill. police in new york and london are investigating after a series of sexual assault allegations against hollywood producer harvey weinstein, who denies the accusations. sally annjones, the who denies the accusations. sally ann jones, the british who denies the accusations. sally annjones, the british women recruited by so—called islamic state in syria is reported to have been killed in a drone strike. time for all of the latest sports news. let's go to the bbc sports centre and join mike bushell. we will start with a football, and scottish football because after five years the football association say it is to prepare forfor a football association say it is to prepare for for a change of direction. gordon strachan‘s tenure is over , the sfa, won't renew his contract, which ,was due to run out

frank gardner reports. >> iconic, threatening and british.aganda pictures of woman who went to syria in 2013 with a young son joined the islamic state. she married this man. killed in aacker drone strike. they plotted attacks in the west and pumpe hateful propaganda online. the defective isis capital heavily damaged by airstrikes. she was reportedly trying to leave and come home to britain. intelligence forces had her in their sites. a missile strike similar to this one killed her in june. it is not known for son was with her. her death would bring the total to six of the number of british citizens killed. individuals they see as a threat. they were actively involved in directing a plot of propaganda. you see this in the united states and other countries as well. >> she sold photos to i.s. for publicity purposes. her death will have little impact on the shrinking fortunes. is not likely to be one hundreds of western recruiters to perish. ♪ >> the associated press obtained a recording of the attack severed at the u.s. embassy at havana. they a

frank gardner, bbc news.inisters was right to suggest that britons who join so—called islamic state should be killed. yesterday, rory stewart said recruits to is should not be helped to come back home. today, ms patel said she supported him. the only way to deal with them is, as the secretary of state for defence has said, as rory stewart has said as well, are through the actions that we and others are taking through coalition forces, which is to clearly to kill them in the way in which, you know, the various strikes have been taking place. the financial conduct authority has said it may take "further action" over the way royal bank of scotland treated some small business customers. the watchdog published an interim report into the unit set up by the bank to help struggling companies, and said it is still investigating. it pointed to some failings at rbs, but said it hadn't engaged in systematic inappropriate treatment of customers. our economics correspondent, andrew verity, has the details. it was four year

frank gardner is with me. we have seen a clip of andrew parker.i was able to get a one—on—one with him afterwards. he is the equivalent of the head of the fbi, homeland security and the national counterterrorism centre all rolled into one. so not someone we normally hear from. into one. so not someone we normally hearfrom. he operates in the shadows effectively. and the buck stops with him when it comes to heading off terrorist plots. in the uk with had five successful terrorist attacks, i use the word successful with a degree of distaste. he points out though that 20 have been stopped in the past four years. compared to some of the pla nts four years. compared to some of the plants in the united states, some of these are small. he said the 34 yea rs we “— these are small. he said the 34 years we —— he's been working for mi5, he years we —— he's been working for m15, he has never before seen such a high tempo of terrorist attacks and threats. the multiplicity of them, is truly enormous and they're working at full capacity to head off the next one.

the bbc‘s security correspondent frank gardner has been looking at the report.rowing problem. there has been a great deal of hype about the perceived threat from people coming back from areas controlled by so—called islamic state. most of the people who have come back to europe, certainly britain, came back some years ago. they have already been assessed if they are a threat, and potentially monitored and put under surveillance, some even tried and convicted. the fact is, at least half, in some cases, are staying out there. large numbers have been killed. we don‘t really have a precise angle, governments don‘t know exactly who is still out there, what they are doing and where they are. this report is really welcome because we need some scientific analysis of this. richard barrett is well—placed to do he ran counterterrorism at mi6, well—placed to do he ran counterterrorism at m16, and was head of the un‘s al-qaeda and taliban monitoring unit. a very scientific report looking at where people have come from, why they went. the worrying conclusion of this is that h

next a report from the bbc‘s frank gardner. to syria four yea rs woman who travelled to syria four years ago to act as a recruiter for the islamic state group has reportedly been killed in a drone strike. sally anne jones was originally from kent in the south—east of england. she became nicknamed the white widow and was a high profile supporter for is and used social media to encourage western girls tojoin used social media to encourage western girls to join them. iconic, threatening and british. the jihadist recruiter and convert sally—anne jones from kent. she fled to syria in 2013 and joined so—called islamic state. she was married to this man, junaid hussain, a computer hacker later killed in a drone strike. together, they plotted attacks on the west and gave instructions on bomb—making. sally—annejones made this syrian city her home, raqqa, now heavily damaged by air strikes. msjones was trying to leave, reportedly to come back to britain. but us and british intelligence had her in their sights. the missile strike by a us

but let's start with the bbc‘s frank gardner who knows the country extremely well. about this crown prince. it's impossible to overstate the changes this man is making. by saudi standards it is moving at a lightning pace. these are changes nobody could imagine possible happening so quickly. the man who runs the economy, the defence, the royal court, just about everything, has turned around and told the people of saudi we have been getting it wrong, it is time to stop extremism. and he has the support of the king, presumably, because he was promoted by him a few months back. he does. i met them both in 2013 in the king's palace. i didn't even know who he was. i said what you do for a living, he said he was a lawyer. at the time he was relatively obscure. but he has risen to prominence. he has made some mistakes. he started this catastrophic war with the yemen. nobody is winning it. the yemenis are losing it by the thousands. is also involved in a spat with qatar. but this is a bold step that many people of saudi belief should be done. they need to find an alternative

frank gardner, bbc news.an only talk about what he sounded like, which was a normal person doing an incredibly abnormaljob. he started out as undercover narcotics agent working for the newjersey police and infiltrated various drugs rings and after september the 11th, he had an epiphany and he realised that his arabic would make him a useful asset to the fbi. he went to them and said he is offering his services and they were so frazzled by what had happened, nobody took him up on the offerfor by what had happened, nobody took him up on the offer for several yea rs. him up on the offer for several years. they ignored him, which is mad, and eventually he was meeting another undercover agent, who was sharp enough to recruit him, and he was inserted into this al-qaeda linked cell and was instrumental in stopping a plot to blow up the railway line between toronto and new york. what went through my head, does he have family? we do not know. he has parents, they are egyptian. his father moved the family from egypt to

frank gardner is here. nobody is calling him a terrorist. have to be for some kind of political aim or identifiable aim and we don't know what was in that man's mind when he opened fire. he may have been extremely mentally disturbed. he may have been extremely angry about something. it could have been something as minor of the fact that he got a parking ticket that day and i am being hypothetical, i'm throwing things up. we the don't know what was in the state of his mind. there was no, so far, we're told by us officials that there is no sign of a terrorist connection. so in other words, there is no para fend nailia linking him to any identifiable organisation that has terrorist aspirations. there has been a claim from a certain organisation, there is nothing to back that up at the moment. so i think, you know, there isa moment. so i think, you know, there is a lot of going back over what do his mobile phone records say? who was he with? what do people know about this guy? did he have any medical or psychiatric records? the scary thing here

our security correspondent frank gardner reports. iconic, threatening and british.rried to this man, junaid hussain, a computer hacker later killed in a drone strike. together, they plotted attacks on the west and gave propaganda online. she made raqqa half—time. the caliphate strength by the day. us and british intelligence had her in their sights. a missile strike by a us airforce drone their sights. a missile strike by a us air force drone similar to this one, reportedly killed her injune, is close to syria's border with iraq, it is not known if her sun was with her. it would make six people killed in drone strikes in i. what we saw with the cluster of britain's worst they were actively involved in plots. we have seen this in the united states and the uk, they are targeting individuals they see as a threat. we know from other details and research that there were some british individuals involved in this direction. jones was useful to i the publicity. now the group is on the verge of military defeat, it will have little impact on its shrinking fortunes. the former

our security correspondent frank gardner reports. iconic, threatening and british.ng sonjojo and joined so—called islamic state. she married this man, junaid hussain, a computer hacker later killed in a drone strike. together they pumped out hateful propaganda online. she was a slightly telegenic white woman who had gone to join the fight against bashar al—assad so having her own side was important in terms of rejecting the idea they could get into the very reaches of british society. sally—annejones made this syrian city her home, raqqah, now heavily damaged by air strikes. msjones was trying to leave, reportedly to come back to britain. the missile strike by us drone reportedly killed her injune, close to syria‘s border with iraq. it‘s not known if her son was with her. her death would bring to at least six the number british jihadists with is killed in drone strikes. i think what we saw with the cluster of britons is they were involved in actively trying to direct plots in other countries. we‘ve seen this happening in the united states, the uk and other countries

our security correspondent, frank gardner, reports. iconic, threatening and british.a pictures of the jihadist recruiter sally—annejones, who went to syria in 2013 with her young sonjojo and joined so—called islamic state. she married this man, junaid hussain, a computer hacker later killed in a drone strike. together they pumped out hateful propaganda online. and they pumped out hateful propaganda. she was a slightly telegenic white woman who had gone to join the fight against bashar al—assad so having her own side was important in terms of projecting the idea they could get into the very reaches of british society. sally—annejones made this syrian city her home, raqqah, now heavily damaged by air strikes. msjones was trying to leave, reportedly to come back to britain. but us and british intelligence had her in their sights. the missile strike by a us drone reportedly killed her injune, close to syria's border with iraq. it's not known if her son was with her. her death would bring to at least six the number of british jihadists with is killed in drone strikes. i th