the spacex falcon blasted off from the kennedy space centre on an uncrewed test—flight to the international. three, two, one, zero, ignition, liftoff. nasa says it's a critical mission and, if successful, will be a major step forward in space travel. our science correspondent pallab ghosh has more. three, two, one, zero. ignition, lift off. up and away. spacex's mighty falcon rocket, and on top, the dragon space capsule. designed to take four astronauts into space, but not just yet. instead, just a solitary crash test dummy, wired with sensors, is in one of these seats. this uncrewed test is part of an ambitious nasa project to send astronauts into space from us soil once more. we're doing things that are really risky, that most normal human beings don't do. and the designs and the complexity of what we have to do — you know, we're strapping human beings on top of rockets with millions of pounds of thrust and hurling them into orbit, to go attached to a space station, to do world—cutting research, and that isn't trivial. it has been eight long years since the country that won the space race

the spacex falcon blasted off from the kennedy space centre on an uncrewed test—flight to the internationalthe first step towards opening space travel to commercial customers. pallab ghosh has more. three, two, one, zero... ignition, lift—off. up and away, spacex mighty falcon rocket. and on top, the dragon space capsule. designed to take four astronauts into space, but notjust yet. instead, just a solitary crash test dummy — wired with sensors — is in one of the seats. this uncrewed test is part of an ambitious nasa project to send astronauts into space from us soil once more. what today really represents is a new era in space flight and an era where we are looking forward to being one customer, as an agency and as a country. it's been eight long years since the country that won the space race has been grounded. the shuttle was withdrawn from service, because it was unsafe. and nasa had to pay the russian space agency to send its astronauts to the space station on its soyuz rockets. but in 2014, nasa awarded spacex and boeing a combined £5 billion contract so that each could build their ow

spacex's falcon rocket blasts into space from floridas kennedy space centre, it's on a mission to showit can carry astronauts into space. labour's internal row over anti—semitism has deepened with two of the party's most senior figures clashing over how to handle complaints. reports from the disputed region of kashmir say there's been a new violation of the ceasefire along the line of control between india and pakistan. now time for travel show. this week... i mean this is pretty embarrassing. we'll wait for this. christa scores points with the locals in riga, as she delves into latvia's soviet past. rajan travels to a remote spot in wales to find out about a unique painting project. did you work out how long it would take you? no. and ifinish my breakneckjourney around the great cities of japan, this time in fukuoka. delicious. but first, we send christa to the eastern part of europe, in one of the three baltic countries, latvia, and yes, it's the one in the middle. winter in latvia's capital city, riga, is nojoke, but snow and freezing temperatures don't deter tourists from visiting

the space x falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the kennedy space centre on an unmanned flight to the internationalajor step towards opening up space travel to commercial customers. i've been speaking to dr ken kremer, a space writer with universe today, who watched today's spacex launch at the kennedy space centre. this was so significant. if this had failed, it would have been a major setback. but this sets us on the path to finally launch american astronauts from american soil on american rockets in an american rocket to a primarily american space station. so it couldn't be bigger. the stakes could not be higher today. other than national pride, why does it matter that they are american shuttles and not russian? well, first of all, you always want to have a back—up system and, you know what, six months ago the russians had a problem. the capsule with the russian cosmonaut and an american cosmonaut failed and they came back to earth two minutes after they launched. so that's the problem, you need a back—up. that was what we had with the shuttle, which by the way was retired by the politicians, no

a test mission from the kennedy space centre, just down from the kennedy space centre at the old air at cape canaveral. it would have the same sorts of procedures that we see at these rehearsals, where the capsule comes towards the station and is commanded then to move away and see that those systems are working how they shed. then, it can be brought in under its own stea m, can be brought in under its own steam, totally automatic, and attached to the ring at the front of the station. jonathan, we are told it is only about 20 metres away. how difficult is a docking like this?m i told you that these two vehicles are moving relative to the earth at about seven kilometres per second, that gives you some idea of what they are doing. it is moving very fast. between one another they are moving at a rate ofjust a use centimetres per second but obviously, this is all being done for hundred kilometres above the earth. it is no small challenge, what they are doing now. particularly on a new system. as we have said, the previous cargo vessel, that space—x has been running at the station, has be

when the space x falcon rocket blasted off from the kennedy space centre in florida a few hours ago, ight to the international space station, a flight the us sees as a major step towards once again being able to send astronauts into space. the rocket is carrying the dragon capsule, which could in future be used to transport passengers. this time it was home to a humanoid dummy called ripley. here's our science correspondent pallab ghosh. three, two, one, zero, ignition, lift off. up and away, the spacex mighty falcon rocket. and on top, the dragon space capsule, designed to take four astronauts into space, but not just yet. instead, just a solitary crash test dummy wired with sensors is in one of these seats. this uncrewed test is part of an ambitious nasa project to send astronauts into space from us soil once more. what today really represents is a new era in space flight, an era where we are looking forward to being one customer as an agency and as a country. it's been eight long years since the country that won the space race has been grounded. the shuttle was withdrawn from servi

the headlines at 12:30pm: spacex's falcon rocket blasts off from florida's kennedy space centre — it'sn a mission to show nasa it can carry astronauts into space. labour's internal row over anti—semitism has deepened, with two of the party's most senior figures clashing over how to handle complaints. and reports from the disputed region of kashmir say there's been a new violation of the ceasefire along the line of control between india and pakistan. sport now, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's mike. good afternoon. the first weekend derby match is about to get under way. there are quite a few coming up in merseyside, but this one is at wembley. it matters to tottenham and arsenal. they are just about to kick off. this was a moment ago, spurs coming out as the hosts look to bounce back. a third defeat was against arsenal. they have now kicked off at wembley. it doesn't get much tougher for include‘s women tonight than when they face the world number ones, the usa, in the she believes cup. quite a challenge lies ahead. it is the one where we can really see where w

let's show you a view of the kennedy space centre, the falcon rocket is due to launch from there.ook much, does it, on its own, but it will be quite a spectacular sight, and naga is beside herself, so we will cover that very soon. there has been a clash at the top of the labour party over the way it handles anti—semitism allegations. the party's general secretary, jennie formby, has accused the deputy leader, tom watson, of undermining the party's attempts to deal with complaints. our political correspondent tom barton is in our london newsroom to tell us more. we understand we have been speaking a lot about these allegations under labour party about anti—semitism, and the way it is dealing with it is being focused on now. that's absolutely right, naga, in the last few weeks we have seen nine labour mps quit the party, blaming in part the leadership‘s response to the issue of anti—semitism. just in the last few days jeremy corbyn‘s ally chris williamson has been suspended from the party for saying they have been too apologetic on the issue. now we have this extraordinary public ro

spacex's falcon rocket blasts off into orbit from florida's kennedy space centre it's on a mission toanti—semitism has deepened with two of the party's most senior figures clashing over how to handle complaints. reports from the disputed region of kashmir say there's been a new violation of the ceasefire along the line of control between india and pakistan. britain's golden girls — katerina johnson—thompson takes gold in the pentathlon and laura muir defends her three thousand metres

years, an american rocket capable of carrying astronauts is preparing to blast off from the kennedy space centreed test flight to the international space station. nasa says it is a critical mission, and if successful, could be a major step forward in space travel. we will be joined by libbyjackson from the uk space agency to watch the take—off just after 7:45am this morning. there has been a clash at the top of the labour party over the way it handles anti—semitism allegations. the party's general secretary, jennie formby, has criticised the deputy leader, tom watson, for asking members to contact him directly with their concerns. she has accused him of undermining the party's attempts to deal with complaints. but he has hit back, saying people have lost confidence in the existing system for handling allegations. the number of smokers in england and wales has fallen while the number of visits to sexual health clinics has gone up, according to a report on council—run health services. the local government association is warning tough budget cuts are undermining future efforts on improving healthca

the headlines at 1.30: spacex's falcon rocket blasts off from florida's kennedy space centre — it's ono show nasa it can carry astronauts into space. labour's internal row over anti—semitism has deepened with two of the party's most senior figures clashing over how to handle complaints. reports from the disputed region of kashmir say there's been a new violation of the ceasefire along the line of control between india and pakistan. a 17—year—old girl has been stabbed to death in park near romford, east london — the 18th homicide in the capital this year. now on bbc news — this week's our world tells the story of a south african journalist's attempts to save a family friend from drug addiction. and a warning, the programme features footage some viewers may find upsetting. across south africa, communities are being dismantled by a deadly narcotic called nyaope. this is the story of a drug epidemic fuelled by corruption. and one man's fight for redemption. a drug epidemic is raging in townships across my country. nyaope is a highly addictive heroin based narcotic. it sometimes contains hi

eight years, an american rocket capable of carrying astronauts has been launched from the kennedy space centreorida. three, two, one, zero. ignition, lift off. this was 12 or 13 minutes ago. the spacex falcon blasted off from florida. for an unmanned test flight to the international space station. nasa says it's a critical mission and if successful could be a major step forward in space travel. there is an awful lot resting on it. what is amazing watching these pictures is just the access we can get to, having being able to experience it. used to be from one camera going up and out of britain, now you can follow it through the whole process. it's been remarkable. —— in and out of vision. there's been a clash at the top of the labour party, over the way it handles anti—semitism allegations. the party's general secretary, jennie formby has accused the deputy leader, tom watson, of undermining the party's attempts to deal with complaints. our political correspondent, tom barton is in our london newsroom to tell us more. this is a very public, another extraordinary clash, isn't it, tom? it is abso