mark easton is there. bring us up today. mark easton is there., mark easton is there. bring us up toda. ., , today. perhaps the most troubling elements of _ today. perhaps the most troubling elements of what _ today. perhaps the most troubling elements of what has _ today. perhaps the most troubling elements of what has been - today. perhaps the most troubling - elements of what has been happening on a very violent night in sunderland is the news that a police officer, a small telly station on the high street in sunderland was broken into by a group of protesters and set alight. fortunately this was and set alight. fortunately this was a building, we understand, would have been empty at night, it is a neighbourhood police team that operate from the building. but nevertheless, a very serious event at the end of a very serious night of violence. indeed, the home secretary, yvette cooper, has put out a statement saying, criminals attacking the police and stoking disorder on our streets will pay the price for their violence and thuggery. the police h

our home editor, mark easton, has this report.eat cleaver. yeah, received — he's been seen to put it down his pants, yeah? in greater manchester, operation venture targets knives on the city's streets. reports of a man seen concealing a machete in his trousers leads officers to a residential street in salford. come here. come here. male making off! come here! get on the floor now. get on the floor now! the suspect scales a fence, being pepper—sprayed as he flees, losing a shoe and his coat. what strikes me, this is a huge police response to a report of somebody who's got a large knife. is that typical? yeah, it will be. he's come over there. it's mainly due to how much of a high risk he is to members of the public. and the fact that he's been described as having a large machete—style meat cleaver. so, he's obviously a huge risk to members of the public. this is what's called a desert machete. as you can see, that has got a blade of over eight inches long. zombie knives, rambo knives, machetes — weapons designed to intimidate and t

we can speak now to our home editor, mark easton. d by the home office today, how do you interpret them at?— home office today, how do you interpret them at? well, there are two aspects. _ interpret them at? well, there are two aspects, there _ interpret them at? well, there are two aspects, there is _ interpret them at? well, there are two aspects, there is what - interpret them at? well, there are two aspects, there is what we - interpret them at? well, there are i two aspects, there is what we might call irregular, what the former government called illegal migration, the small boats and so on, and undoubtedly it is that kind of issue and asylum which is behind at least some of the motivation of those far right riots that we saw a few weeks ago. but i think for me what is more interesting is the challenge thrown up interesting is the challenge thrown up ijy interesting is the challenge thrown up by the change in visa policies introduced by the last government, which have seen significant falls in the number of workers being granted

mark easton, bbc news, manchester.get instant declare that the london fire brigade, the whole building effective, two people have been taken to hospital. we have a life page with more details and we are waiting for a press conference by the london fire brigade that they will bring us updates, cameras and microphones ready for that announcement. this incident is still unfolding, some major questions still waiting to hear about. still the question of whether people are trapped inside as the search effort continues. more than 200 firefighters at the scene, worth mentioning the cause of the fire is still unknown but what could be under way to remove noncompliant cladding on the flats. they also said that number of fire issues known to officials. people who have escaped and the bbc has been speaking to several, a lot of those stories and testimony on the bbc life page, many taken to a leisure centre. it is also worth mentioning that a lot of these people have required medical help, ambulances on the scene. whilst we wait fo

mark easton, bbc news, sunderland.elopment from london. he told me what more the police have been saying about the incident. we've had an update from northumbria police. their offices were out on the street in numbers trying to quell the violence but certainly they were having trouble keeping the situation under control. officers coming under attack, people in masks throwing bottles, fire extinguishers at them, cars being set on fire. police say their officers came under serious and sustained levels of violence. the police have described what happened in sunderland as being utterly deplorable. we know that three police officers have been taken to hospital. one has subsequently been released but the two others remain in hospital, and eight people have been arrested for things such as violent disorder and burglary. given hundreds of people were taking part in these protests, the police in the coming hours will no doubt be trying to track down others that were involved. though some of them were wearing masks so that may p

mark easton, bbc news, sunderland.of hours or so we have heard from the mp representing the area who is also the education secretary bridget phillipson, in a state —— in a statement on eggs she said scenes in our city centre tonight are shocking and we have seen unforgivable violence and thuggery". that is it from the statement from the mp representing sunderland. well, we can now go live to our newsroom in london and join my colleague simon jones who has been monitoring developments. ring us up to date on what more we have heard from the police following the unrest tonight.— from the police following the unrest tonight. we've had an u date unrest tonight. we've had an update from _ unrest tonight. we've had an update from northumbria - unrest tonight. we've had an - update from northumbria police. their offices were out on the street in numbers trying to quell the violence but certainly they were having trouble keeping the situation under control. officers coming under control. officers coming under attack, people in

mark easton, bbc news.nd northern ireland have been receiving gcse, btec and other level two results. the pass rate for gcses has fallen for a third year running, the overall pass rate is now 67.6%. that's down from 68.2% last year. the students sitting their gcses this time were in their first year of secondary school when the covid lockdowns began. esme lillywhite is a doctoral researcher at the university of strathclyde, and focuses on inequality in the english education system. she told me why, across england, wales and northern ireland, pass rates have fallen back to 2019 levels. obviously, the pandemic had a really big impact on the lives of everyone in, including the massive disruption that happened to young people. so with the school closures and also inequalities in the home learning environments, um, and the knock on effects of the cost of living crisis, we've seen a big impact on gcse results. a big impact on gcse results. but the fact that the the rate is falling, i just wonder, help us to under

mark easton, bbc news, hartlepool.in the attack in southport on monday have now been discharged from hospital. our correspondentjudith moritz has been speaking to a mother and her daughter, whose friend died in the attack. poppy is eight, and hers is a world of playing, dancing and fun. but this week, that world changed. she heard that something bad had happened, and she asked her mum what it was. "can you please just tell me what's going on"? and then i was open and honest, wasn't i? you were open and honest and you said at the yoga club, a couple of people were stabbed. and i was a bit like, "do you know who?" poppy was at school with alice aguiar. they sang in the choir together. i literally knew that alice was definitely in there, so my fingers were crossed that she wasn't injured or anything, because i knew she was in there. but then when i found out that she was in hospital, i was like, "i'm crossing my fingers all week". that's what we've done for all of them, haven't we? you've been crossing your fingers all we

mark easton, bbc news, sunderland.change between russia and the west since the cold war, us presidentjoe biden has told reporters that the white house will continue to pressure russia to release another american left out of the deal. it comes in the face of criticism from the family of marc fogel, an english school—teacher from pennsylvania. you can see him here on the right, being detained at a russian airport in 2021, where he was found to be carrying a small amount of medical marijuana. he is now serving a iii—year sentence. in a statement mr fogel�*s family said: "we are completely heartbroken and outraged that marc has been left behind while the us government brought other americans home." they said they feel mr fogel has been "abandoned" to die in prison. three americans released in the deal landed in the us late thursday night — meeting theirfamilies, along with presidentjoe biden and vice president kamala harris. evan gershkovich, paul whelan and alsu kurmasheva were then flown to san antonio, texas for medical

our home editor mark easton reports from sunderland.urn into an all night to all out riot. police were doled out to deal with a wave of criminality. around the next corner, a taxi overturned and satellite. about 4—500 protesters here in the centre of sunderland, we've got a police helicopter overhead — you can probably see the right squads just getting out of their van, we've had police on horseback charging through the crowd to disperse them. but it's a strange scene, to be honest, because you've got the hard right mask the olives hurling bricks at the police lines — then you've got families all wearing england tops tearing them along. i've seen babies and pushchairs, very small children on the march, and scores of teenagers, young boys and scores of teenagers, young boys and girls club all dressed up to their nines out on a friday night just looking for a bit of excitement. gathering missiles to throw it police officers. "head for the mosques," shouted one. as fears grew that the town might descend into major public disorder. mark eas

mark easton, bbc news, hartlepool.s for the first the bbc has tonight defended its decision not to sack huw edwards despite knowing that he had been arrested for being in possession of the most serious category of indecent images of children. in an interview tonight, the director general tim davie also revealed that they are exploring recovering some of edwards' salary. joe pike has the latest. 2a hours after huw edwards pleaded guilty, the bbc is now in the dark guilty, the bbc is now in the dock over how it handled the crisis around the top presenter, who we now know accessed paedophile images. the primary thoughts here are always were victims of these terrible situations. 50 were victims of these terrible situations-— were victims of these terrible situations. , ., , situations. so why not 'ust sack him? because, h situations. so why not 'ust sack him? because, quite _ situations. so why notjust sack him? because, quite simply, i situations. so why notjust sack. him? because, quite simply, the olice him? because, qu

mark easton, bbc news, hartlepool. on monday have now been discharged from hospital. judith moritz has been speaking to a mother and her daughter whose friend died in the attack — and a warning, her report contains flashing images. poppy is eight, and hers is a world of playing, dancing and fun. but this week, that world changed. she heard that something bad had happened, and she asked her mum what it was. "can you please just tell me what's going on"? and then i was open and honest, wasn't i? you were open and honest and you said at the yoga club, a couple of people were stabbed. and i was a bit like, "do you know who?" poppy was at school with alice aguiar. they sang in the choir together. i literally knew that alice was definitely in there, so my fingers were crossed that she wasn't injured or anything, because i knew she was in there. but then when i found out that she was in hospital, i was like, "i'm crossing my fingers all week". that's what we've done for all of them, haven't we? you've been crossing your finge

mark easton, bbc news, manchester.r being stabbed at the notting hill carnival in west london. the met police said the carnival�*s family day had been "marred by unacceptable violence". two men were also stabbed at the festival on sunday — though neither sustained life—threatening injuries. no arrests have been made in relation to the three stabbings. health workers in the democratic republic of congo have told the bbc more than 70% of people being treated for mpox at their clinics are children under the age of ten. the bbc has been given exclusive access to two treatment centres in the eastern part of the country — the epicentre of the latest mpox outbreak. 0ur africa correspondent simijolaoso has this report, filmed inside the drc for the bbc by a local camera operator. a warning, viewers may find some images distressing from the start. toddler cries. weary and in pain. two—year—old encima caught mpox from one of her five siblings, who have all had the disease. translation: this is - the first time i've seen it. when

mark easton, bbc news. a group who were staying at the hotel sapphire in kramatorsk. two journalists from the team are in hospital and one is being treated for serious injuries. the news agency said it was sending its deepest condolences and thoughts to mr evans' family and loved ones. health workers in the democratic republic of congo have told the bbc more than 70% of people being treated for mpox at their clinics have been children under the age of 10. 0ur africa correspondent, simijolaoso has been given exclusive access to two treatment centres in the eastern part of the country — the epicentre of the latest mpox outbreak. a warning, viewers may find some images in her report distressing. weary end in pain, two—year—old and see my caught mpox one of herfive siblings and see my caught mpox one of her five siblings who have all had the disease. translation: this is the first time i've seen it. when my child got sick, other parents told me it may be measles. we started treating measles and failed. this hos

mark easton, bbc news.ept her party's nomination for november's election and launch her bid for the white house. last night, her running mate, tim walz, delivered a pep talk to a jubilant crowd, who hailed him as america's favourite "coach". our north america editor, sarah smith, reports from the convention in chicago. # oh, no. # let's go crazy it has been a crazy three weeks for tim walz, thrust unexpectedly into the spotlight. he brings a different energy to the democratic ticket. a former high school teacher who served in the national guard, he's aiming to take back themes recently claimed by republicans like patriotism and freedom. when we democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love. freedom to make your own health care decisions and, yeah, your kids. freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall. this is an authentic small—town guy whose traditional values can appeal to voters who are not normally democr

mark easton has more details. more than 5,000 people have arrived in small boats across the channel since labour came to power. migrants brought ashore in dover last weekend adding to more than 2,000 already this month. home office figures today illustrate the challenge of reducing what it calls "irregular migration". today's numbers reflect the situation before the election. we know that in the year tojune, there were 38,784 irregular arrivals — 81% of them, people coming in small boats. now, that's actually down by a quarter, 26% fewer people than in the previous 12 months. but with improvements in the weather over recent weeks, there's been a notable rise again in channel crossings. my country! let's have it! recent rioting — much of it, stoked by the far right — showed what an incendiary issue immigration has become for parts of the electorate. and the new government faces the same challenges as the previous one when it comes to controlling our borders and stopping the boats. labour have now removed the partne

mark easton, bbc news, manchester.o sea before it could be properly assessed, according to police. it was spotted on the sand in the village of beer but had been washed out by the tide by the time the bomb disposal team arrived. a coastguard spokesperson said rescue teams would return to the beach at low tide to reassess the situation. an area of farmland in county lowth, near the irish border, is to be searched for the remains of a british soldier murdered by the ira in 1977. captain robert nairac was working undercover when he was abducted. the search has been organised by the independent commission for the location of victims remains. it said it has "sufficient credible information" to begin a search of private land in the faw—khurt area near dundalk. we're just two days away from the start of the paralympics — and as part of the build—up the torch crossed from england into france through the channel tunnel. it was joined by hundreds of british athletes, who'll be hoping to repeat their recent successes in the games

mark easton, bbc news, manchester.ah has said its reprisal for the assassination of its senior commander last month has been completed, after it launched hundreds of rockets and drones at israel. israel said there'd been little damage and that it had pre—emptively struck targets in southern lebanon. the escalation comes as hamas says it's rejected new israeli conditions put forward in talks to try and negotiate a ceasefire in gaza. 0ur middle east correspondent lucy williamson reports. by the time the sirens came, northern israel was awake. israeli fighterjets bombing hezbollah launch sites, the army said, before hundreds of drones and rockets met israel's air defences overhead. the fight, clearly visible from yuval�*s house, six miles from the border. we felt really, really large explosions. we felt like an earthquake. the whole ground was moving, like, my windows were shaking. the the keys in the door, like, everything was shaking. so i went outside to look at it, and i just saw the whole sky is bright, bright orange

and your correspondent, mark easton, did comment in sunderland that there were people coming out withnvolved in the rioting and very unlikely to be attacked by other rioters. and so you do get lots of people coming out to the events. but i would say that it would be people that, while they may not be directly involved in violent acts, probably have a degree of sympathy to the values of what's been called at that protest, and the people that didn't either wouldn't go or they would be on the other counter side, which is what we've seen a lot of in the last couple of days. cou nter— protests. what draws people out? people who wouldn't normally take to the streets in this way? i'm thinking about the sort of the sociology of it, that idea of, you know, groupthink, crowd behaviour, what draws people out. i mean, we've got the added, um, influence these days, which we didn't have so much of in 2011 of social media at play. social media and misinformation and social media clearly has a role in this. but i would say as well is that, um, we need to be careful when we talk about what draws peopl

mark easton has more details.hem, people

mark feldstein. he's the richard easton chair on broadcast journalism at the university of maryland. right, there is mark. my old friend lawrence larry meyer former reporter and editor of the washington post. he was here every day of the hearings. and he said he's written a book and he's got me in it as a character and will not tell me what it is. and i i see trouble looming. uh, we also have martin sram formerly newsday bureau chief and syndicated columnist and they are going to analyze. the role in watergate of the of the journalism and the changing watchdog roll and what is then and now so i'm going to call right now. over here brother mark feldstein you come right here and take over and you'll be better talking into this. yes, sir. um, so thank you. i'm honored to be here. uh, martin schram and lawrence meyer both covered watergate. at the time including these urban hearings and i guess marty you had a a brush with fame when you were booted off nixon's trip to china and the white house tape showed him making anti-semitic comments about you. um we were going to have barry sussman h