mark lowen, bbc news, rome.from the scottish nationalist party has been suspended from the party for attending the westminster and in the uk, an mp from the scottish national party has been suspended from the party for attending the westminster parliament, despite being ill with what turned out to be coronavirus. margaret ferrier experienced "mild symptoms" on saturday and took coronavirus test, but rather than self—isolating as she should have done, she took a train to london instead, to speak in parliament, on monday. the same day, she received a positive result and took another train, back to scotland. margaret ferrier has apologised, she said in a statement she deeply regretted her actions and had notified police. it's understood the leadership spoke to her earlier today and it was made clear she had "let herself down". if you watched the debate between president trump and his democrat rival joe biden two nights and if you managed to hear anything above the shouting, you'll know that one issue they clashed o

mark lowen, bbc news, rome.e prompted sweeping action by the government — a state of emergency. let's speak to guy hedgecoe in madrid. what does it mean and how long will it go on for? well, the state of emergency provides the spanish government with a legal framework with which it can introduce stricter measures. as part of the state of emergency, the government today has introduced a cu rfew a cross government today has introduced a curfew across the country, beginning at 11pm, ending at 6am. that will va ry at 11pm, ending at 6am. that will vary somewhat across the country but thatis vary somewhat across the country but that is the recommended timetable for it. also, the central government has handed to local governments the power to restrict movement between regions if they feel it is necessary , regions if they feel it is necessary, in other words, try to prevent infection is spreading from one region to another. the state of emergency is due to last for two weeks. the prime minister pedro sanchez has said

mark lowen, bbc news, rome.y operation onboard a tanker in the english channel has ended with the arrest of seven people. it's thought stowaways were causing problems on board the vessel, which had sailed from lagos in nigeria. the bbc‘s duncan kennedy has the latest. it really has been an extraordinary few hours ending with this special forces raid on a tanker in the solent behind me here. that raid involved four helicopters with teams of what's called a special boat service, sbs, special forces. they're based about 50 miles, about 70 km down the coast here. and they landed on the deck of this vessel in their four helicopters and used what was described as "overwhelming force" to retake the ship. they detained seven individuals, and we're told the whole operation only took around nine minutes, so a very quick operation. an extremely highly proficient professional service, the sbs. very well—known in many parts of the world. we're also told that no members of the crew were hurt during this operation. it was auth

mark lowen, bbc news, rome.and, from turkey and poland will have to self—isolate for 14 days on arrival. the caribbean islands of bonaire, st eustatius and saba have been added to the quarantine list as well. who repeatedly fail to comply with quarantine regulations could now be fined up to a maximum of £10,000. the member of parliament margaret ferrier has said she is very sorry for travelling to and from london to attend parliament after experiencing coronavirus symptoms and later testing positive. the mps said there we re testing positive. the mps said there were no excuses for her behaviour and she apologised for her actions and she apologised for her actions and said she had notified the police. the european union has started legal proceedings against the uk, saying the government's controversial plan to over—ride parts of last year's brexit divorce agreement break international law. the european commission president, ursula von der leyen, said it was a "breach of the obligation of good faith". let's talk t

our rome correspondent mark lowen has been finding out why.ing down its guard. spot checks by italian police to ensure rules on overcrowding and mask—wearing are followed. it's one of the tools italy has used to get infection rates down to some of the lowest in europe, keeping the virus in check while others struggle with a fresh spike. "we issue fines when needed," says giovani cipriani, "but none today. usually everyone wears masks." awareness of the consequences of breaking the rules has helped instill a sense of discipline here. but in reality, police have had to intervene relatively rarely, as italy has on the whole followed restrictions, and now it's reaping the benefits. italy is taking safety as seriously as its food. many restaurants have screens, disposable or digital menus. customers are recorded for contact tracing. it's given them the freedom to stay open and busy, unlike others in europe. the trauma of covid frightened italians into compliance. because we were the first and we had a very long quarantine and we really felt it, and

mark lowen, bbc news, rome.n wildfires burning through thousands of acres of land. the blazes have destroyed property and forced people to leave their homes. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. driving through yosemite national park, a convoy fleeing the flames. rangers leading the way as a number of tourists had to be evacuated. it looked like a fairly perilous trip — dark clouds above, burning trees neverfar away. this is just one of a series of fires burning through central and northern california. high temperatures, precious little rain — it is a dangerous combination. mother nature is something that we don't try to guess so we're preparing for the worst—case scenario and we're hoping for the best. so our firefighters are going to be working around the clock securing those lines. the two latest wildfires called zogg and glass only began in the last few days, but they've been busy, burning through hundreds of square kilometres of land. some of it wine country, trheatening lives and livelihoods. i own this vineyard

mark lowen in rome and before that quy mark lowen in rome and before that guy in madrid. or ‘well being hubs' — as a safe space to help them protect their mental wellbeing as a second wave of the pandemic takes hold. health care workers like nurses and midwives can use these spaces to seek out quietude, or write their feelings down in a book. lauren hatcher is a children's intensive care nurse at the royal london hospital. she told me earlier about the room she uses at her hospital. it's the well—being hub and it's somewhere we can go when we come away from the craziness of what's going on and just to read and to listen to music or speak to our colleagues and share experiences. how important has it been for you? i think you were working... am i right to say you work at the royal london? i do, yes. and you normally deal with very seriously ill children, but during the first wave of the pandemic, you were dealing just with covid—19 patients. yeah, that's right. i normally work in children's intensive care and from around the beginning of march, we started to work in adult i

mark lowen, bbc news, rome.port for oui’ every week, we make her a sport for our website where we look in detail ata our website where we look in detail at a story we coverage of the week. there's been a conflict on the edge of europe. artillery attacks, air strikes, fighter jets coming of europe. artillery attacks, air strikes, fighterjets coming down. civilian buildings damaged and over 100 killed. the historic dispute. russia and the us are calling for a cease—fire, but this is being driven bya cease—fire, but this is being driven by a long—standing dispute that was never resolved. this is why. here on the map, you can see armenia and azerbaijan to the east. both are pa rt azerbaijan to the east. both are part of the soviet union before it is integrated in the early 90s, and right where we see the two meet is an enclave called nagorno—karabakh. it's part of azerbaijan in the eyes ofan it's part of azerbaijan in the eyes of an international community, but it's of an international community, but its population

mark lowen, bbc news, rome.atching it's often a quite drawn out affair, but the champions league drawn out as just finished. hopefully the children have been enjoying some of these ties. manchester united have been handed arguably the trickiest role. and group h. here's a look at some of the other groups. here's a look at some of the other groups. manchester city will face porto, 0lympiakos and x in group c. group g where cristiano ronaldo's juventus will come up against lionel messi's barcelona! that's the one you want to watch. this gets under way on the 20th of this month. england manager gareth southgate has left manchester united's mason greenwood and city midfielder phil foden out of their squad for games against wales, belgium and denmark. foden and greenwood made their senior debuts last month but then broke covid—19 rules before the match against iceland. they were fined by local police and sent home. southgate says "trust needs to be rebuilt" with the pair. they're they‘ re two very talented they're tw

mark lowen there reporting from rome. i want more on our website but...ales. and another wet day for northern and western scotland, too. but as we head on into thursday, a ridge of high pressure should settle things down and become a bit quieter, and we should see some sunshine into the afternoon for many of us. this is the area of low pressure, which brought the wet weather to england and wales through today. this feature continuing to bring some rain to the northern and western scotland, fairly strong winds blowing down from the north and the northeast. further south, a little bit drier, but there'll still be showers dotted around overnight with clear spells, too, temperatures at around 7—12 celsius. so a fairly mild night for most of us. into thursday, then, it stays pretty windy across the northern half of the uk, further outbreaks of rain. but as that ridge of high pressure continues to build in, we should see increasing amounts of sunshine for northern ireland, england, and wales, pushing temperatures up to 15—16 celsius — a bit cooler further north

mark lowen, bbc news, rome.s back out to sea. the five northern bottlenose whales are being moved ahead of planned military exercises in the area — which could disturb them. gorgeous pictures and i hope they managed to be moved safely back out into the open waters. now, the weather with carol kirkwood hello again. after the wet and windy weather yesterday we're looking at something quieter today. drier, lighter winds. still some showers in the forecast, some of those could be heavy with the potential for hail and thunder, particularly in northern ireland, wales, south—west england, later on we see some of those in the midlands as well. yesterday ‘s rain pushed into the north sea but still affecting shetland for much of the day with some heavy rain for you and also quite strong winds. pushing into the north of scotland, turning lighter, we are looking at a lot of dry weather, bright and sunny conditions, do not forget the in parts of the west and west and south and midlands. feeling cold today, temperatures betwe

mark lowen in rome, thank you, and also thank you to guy in madrid. of the liberian—registered vessel, which is positioned south of ventnor. duncan kennedy is in lee—on—the—solent for us this evening. duncan? well, reeta, the nave andromeda was en route from lagos in nigeria to behind me here with a cargo of oil. sources have told the bbc the crew we re sources have told the bbc the crew were aware there were stowaways on board. about nine o'clock this morning, apparently these stowaways, it is not clear how many, became violent towards the crew. the crew then took shelter in a secure area on board the ship which they can lock up, and it is from there they alerted the authorities. the coast guard sent out two search and rescue helicopters. it is not clear what assistance they were able to give. the home office say they are aware of the situation and are monitoring it. the ministry of defence have told us currently there is no military involvement. the greek owners of the ship say it is 100% not a terrorist incident, but exactly what is going on there

our rome correspondent mark lowen reports.d. spotchecks by italian police to ensure rules on overcrowding and mask wearing a followed. it is one of the tools italy has used to get infection rates down to some of the lowest in europe, keeping the virus in check while others struggle with a fresh spike. we issue fines when needed, says this man. but none today. usually eve ryo ne wears man. but none today. usually everyone wears a mask. awareness of the consequences of breaking the rules has helped instill a sense of discipline here but in reality, police have had to intervene relatively rarely as italy has on the whole followed restrictions. and now, it is reaping the benefits. italy is taking safety as seriously as its food. many restaurants have screens, disposable or digital menus, customers are recorded for contact tracing. it has given them the freedom to stay open and busy, unlike others in europe. the trauma of covid frightened italians into compliance. because we were the first and we are the very long quarantine and we

mark lowen, bbc news, rome.custody after british royal navy commandos stormed an oil tanker in the english channel. military assistance was requested after reports that the stowaways on board the liberian—registered nave andromeda had became violent. the bbc‘s duncan kennedy explains what happened. it really has been an extraordinary few hours ending with this special forces raid on a tanker in the solent behind me here. that raid involved four helicopters with teams of what's called special boat service, sbs, specialforces. they're based about 50 miles, about 70 km down the coast here. and they landed on the deck of this vessel in their four helicopters and used what was described as "overwhelming force" to retake the ship. they detained seven individuals, and we're told the whole operation only took around nine minutes, so a very quick operation. an extremely highly proficient professional service, the sbs. very well—known in many parts of the world. we're also told that no members of the crew were hurt during

mark lowen, bbc news, rome.custody after uk special forces stormed an oiltanker in the english channel. military assistance was requested after reports that the stowaways on board the liberian—registered nave andromeda had become violent. the bbc‘s andy moore reports. late last night, and the tanker andromeda it was back under the control of its crew after what the ministry of defence called a suspected hijacking. 16 members of the special boat squadron based on a nearby port we re squadron based on a nearby port were landed on the ship as night fell. defence secretary ben wallace said... what is good to see is that the reaction from our forces, what is good to see is that the reaction from ourforces, the coordination between our agencies, number 10 would have been fully involved in what was going on indeed. this is a good outcome for britain. drama began yesterday morning as the ship prepared to enter the refinery near southampton. seven stowaways, believed to be nigerians, were said to become violent and made

but as mark lowen reports, the sudden influx of people sparked a crisis — both humanitarian and political struggled to respond. the migrants who came to europe in 2015 — including here to sicily — were hoping to find shelter from war and terror or new opportunities for a better life. but their journey was often difficult and dangerous. thousands died attempting to reach europe's shores. and while some countries opened their arms, others put up fences and closed their borders. italy was one of the main destinations, and migration deepened divisions here, leading to the far right entering government. this tiny island of lampedusa is still struggling with migrant arrivals five years on. the joy of getting a chance at life. her name, francesca miracle after her birth on an italian rescue boat in 2015 as her mother fled libya. suffering seizures and in intensive care, they almost didn't make it. the bbc met them back then. now settled in sicily, we've come back. so francesca, sono mark. si. come stai? bene. was everything you went through worth it? yes, it was worth it, because most of the peo

we'll hear from our correspondent in rome — mark lowen — in a moment, but first this update from guyity of the second wave of coronavirus. last week, spain became the first european country to surpass 1 million cases in total since the pandemic began. also, there has been pressure from many regional governments on the central government to take a measure like this and in practice, what it's going to mean is the introduction of a curfew across the country. also, it will mean that those regional governments will be allowed to take any measures, in terms of restrictions on movement, restrictions on social activity, that they deem necessary in their specific areas of the country. i think it did come as a surprise, in the sense that prime minister sanchez says this will last until may, so that gives us an idea of how the government sees this situation panning out. compared to the full closure of the first wave, this is a looser lockdown. restaurants and bars must stop serving tables at 6pm, then takeaway service until midnight. gyms, swimming pools, theatres mash up. a strong recommendati

in a moment, we'll talk guy hedgecoe in madrid, but first mark lowen in rome.l look very different from tonight, including here, this iconic baroque piazza in the heart of rome, this beautiful spot in the centre of the city because from 6pm, restaurants, bars and cafes will have to stop table service, with only takeaway service until midnight. people will be stopped from eating and drinking outside and cinemas, theatres, gyms and pools have closed from today, all contact sport has been stopped and italians are being advised by the government only to move around if absolutely necessary. the prime minister has warned the infection occurs at the moment is very worrying with 21,000 cases here yesterday, 1200 people now in intensive care, a rise of almost a thousand in a month. it all has frightening echoes of march when italy became the first country in the west to be crushed by coronavirus and the first in the world to impose a national lockdown. this time it is looser because what has changed is the covid fatigue setting in with protests here over the last few da

our rome correspondent, mark lowen, is at the vatican this evening.is the first pope to publicly back civil unions the same sex couples. these are his best remarks on the issue since taking office. it is likely to read new debate on a key social issue in the church. remember, the catholic teachings classes homosexuality as deviant behaviour but it is not a radical shift in policy from the pope. when he was archbishop of buenos aires he was fiercely opposed to same sex managers but supported civil unions as an alternative to stop this is a pope who has publicly flirted with liberal sentiments in the past but then tended to fall back on more traditionalists doctrinally positions when push comes to shav. remember, he said these remarks in the context of an interview. no formal speech, these remarks in the context of an interview. no formalspeech, no these remarks in the context of an interview. no formal speech, no high levels of discussion taking place in the higher echelons of the vatican, so don't expect the church to change its policy or teaching on

in a moment we'll hear from our correspondent mark lowen in italy, but first, guy hedgecoe is in madrid's a state of emergency again, that same legal mechanism is being used, the same as back in spring. the measures being introduced under it are more relaxed. this is not the same tight national lockdown that we saw back in the spring. however, we do have this curfew now in place as of last night. the curfew that in most places runs from 11 o'clock at night until six in the morning, although, there is some leeway there depending on which region you are in. also, there's a new rule of six, limiting the number of people who can gather together at any one time. local authorities are now being given extra powers so that they can introduce the kinds of restrictions that they feel are necessary in whichever part of the country is seeing a particularly high infection rates. so we are likely to see more restrictions being introduced by local governments in the coming days. the catalan government, for example, is talking but the possibility —— about the possibility of a weekend lockdown, confinin

mark lowen, bbc news, rome.for many of you to go through friday and into the weekend. today, the relative quiet. there is some rain top and tail of the country, certainly developing later on towards wales and the south—west. but in between, clearer skies, some sunshine. just one or two showers to see the day out. let's go into this evening and overnight. rain remains in place in the far north of scotland. it's set to turn wetter and windier towards the english channel and southern counties of england. in between, though, where we've got the clear skies tonight, just a word of warning, it is going to be a chilly night. a widespread frost, some patchy mist and fog. but all eyes to more really towards the south because potentially some damaging winds around english channel coast. potential flooding rains around some southern counties as well as this storm alex winds itself up. bring in more wind and rain through the day, pushing northwards into wales and parts of the midlands. may edge a bit further northwards may

mark lowen is there.ns responded very well to the restrictions in place. it seems things have changed? yes, i think the media is changing, beginning to change, lewis. you remember back in march and april there was all that clapping for doctors and nurses, rainbow flags with the words... everything will be fine, we find had sky—high approval ratings for his handling of the first wave but patience is wearing thin now. people are feeling frustrated, they are feeling tired, with the prolonged lockdown at the first wave and eve although the vast majority still according to opinion polls still understand and still back the idea of tighter measures to try to bring down the spiralling infection rate in the second wave, there are no protests which we have seen breaking out, the violent ones tend to be quite fringe groups, they tend to be far right of far left extremists, all football hooligans, which are sort of hijacking the peaceful protests, but there is quite a lot of general kind of more measured frustration

mark lowen is in rome.ther countries in europe are seeing. but cases here are raising 20. at the same level now as they we re 20. at the same level now as they were in the middle of april, and so in order to combat at the italian government has introduced new measures, the latest of which is to require mandatory mask wearing outside across the country. the one exception is if you are in a very isolated place, so for example if you're on the beach we are required to have the mask with you but not necessarily to where it if you are a long way away from other people. the government has he recommended you are endorsing your own home that you wear a mask if you're mixing with people were not from your household. next to germany. after cases rose by almost a third in one day. angela merkel says she doesn't want a repeat of the spring. i think we can all agree on that. here'sjenny hill is in berlin. rather fortuitously the health minister planned a press conference this morning to update journalists on the general

let's speak to our rome correspondent, mark lowen. a change in stance this appears to be, mark. well, jane, this is a significant turn of events in terms of the fact that this is his clearest remarks in favour of civil union protection and civil union laws for same—sex couples as pope. but actually, it is not a significant change in what he has said in the past regarding civil unions. because when he was archbishop of buenos aires before he became pope in 2010 when argentina passed same—sex marriage laws and legalized same—sex marriage, then archbishop was staunchly opposed to 93v archbishop was staunchly opposed to gay marriage, but he said that civil unions were an alternative as a way of protecting the sanctity of marriage for heterosexual couples. now this is his clearest articulation of support as pope. but asi articulation of support as pope. but as i say, it is actually — we just had to change there, this has been his clearest articulation so far as pope, so we will be welcomed by the liberal wing of the church and criticised by

our correspondent mark lowen observed their rise to prominence while he was based in the country.r denied the gas chambers, nazi paraphernalia was found at the houses of its mps, one of its mps was recorded filming... recorded telling children how to do the nazi salute and say "heil hitler," and very worryingly it was a party which was engaged in widespread violence against political opponents and against migrants as well. and then in 2013 there was a killing of a left—wing musician, pavlos fyssas, by a self—confessed member of golden dawn, and that led to the party being tried, standing trial for being a criminal organisation. it has now been convicted, the leadership of the party has been convicted, seven of its former mps including the party leader has been convicted along with several dozen members of the party, and really it has all but collapsed in support since then. there was a lot of anger against golden dawn, of course, outside the court. you have seen pictures there are thousands of people protesting, greek police fired tear gas into those antifascist protesters. thanks

mark lowen, bbc news, rome. it's 6:10am and it's cold out. it is chilly.e, all wrapped up. good morning. good morning. good morning to you, too. it is a chilly start to the day here in west sussex. it is across many areas this morning, particularly rural areas. we are here because behind me you can see what is called a stupond —— stewpond because it used to provide stew. we will be talking about it later in the programme. it is quite ethereal. you can see the mist across the water. the forecast for this week is quite mixed. we are looking at windy conditions at times, also some rain, also some sunshine and by the end of the week, particularly in the south, it is going to be mild for the time of year. this morning we are starting off for many on a dry note, particularly central and eastern areas. we have showers across the north and west and a few in the channel coast. as we go through the course of the day, more showers will develop and more will travel eastwards, too. some of them could well be heavy with the chance of some thunder. temperatures ten to 14

moment we'll get the latest from spain with guy hedgecoe in madrid, but first, our correspondent mark lowenll look very different from tonight, including here, this iconic baroque piazza in the heart of rome, this beautiful spot in the centre of the city, because from 6pm, restaurants, bars and cafes will have to stop table service, with only takeaway service until midnight. people will be stopped from eating and drinking outside. cinemas, theatres, gyms and pools have closed from today, all contact sport has been stopped and italians are being advised by the government only to move around if absolutely necessary. the prime minister has warned the infection curve at the moment is very worrying with 21,000 cases here yesterday, 1200 people now in intensive care, a rise of almost a thousand in a month. it all has frightening echoes of march when italy became the first country in the west to be crushed by coronavirus and the first in the world to impose a national lockdown. this time it is looser because what has changed is covid fatigue is setting in, with protests here over the last few days

to get more on what's happening in europe let's go to our correspondents — in a moment, mark lowen intrict lockdown in the spring, one of the strictest in the world, and, i think, obviously people don't want to go back to that situation. the prime minister, pedro sanchez, has said the idea of this state of emergency that has been introduced is to avoid a total lockdown, but nonetheless we're seeing a lot of restrictions. that curfew, we're likely to see restrictions of movement between regions, so there is a great deal of frustration and obviously the big worry here is the economy. the spanish economy is going to fall by about 13% this year, according to the imf. people who own bars and restaurants and other businesses are very worried about the economic impact. in shops, bars and restaurants, the number of people allowed inside them is limited, they're timetables are limited, and, obviously, they have to close early. those bars and restaurants now cannot open beyond 11 o'clock anywhere in the country. so those restrictions are all in place, but we could see further restrictions from

various attacks, including the murder of a left—wing rapper in 2013. 0ur former greece correspondent mark lowenger against austerity measures and against austerity measures and against migrant arrivals, and then in 2012, it stunned the country by getting into parliament. notjust getting into parliament. notjust getting into parliament. notjust getting into parliament, but getting 7% of the vote. 21 mps at its height. this was a party which has a lwa ys height. this was a party which has always denied being a neo—nazi party, but its leader denied the gas chambers, nazi paraphernalia was found at the houses of its mps, one of its mps was recorded telling children how to do the nazi salute and say heil hitler. and very worryingly, it was a party that was engaged in widespread violence against political opponents and migrants as well, and then in 2013 there was a killing of a left—wing musician by a self—confessed member of golden dawn, and that led to the party being tried, standing trial for it being a criminal organisation. it has now been convicted, the leadership of the party has been convicte

mark lowen in rome has more., where you are required to have the mask with you but not necessarily to wind it if you are a long way away from other people. the government is even recommending that if you are indoors in your own home, that you wear a mask when you are mixing with people not from your household. the fine for breaking the mandatory mass waiting outside is up to 1000 euros task mask. italy was the first country in the west to be overwhelmed by coronavirus when it first hit and italians were somewhat frightened into obedience and compliance. mask waiting has been very scrupulous here right across the country. there's not been that kind of anti—mask waiting movement we have seen in other places. but the rise in cases italy is experiencing at the moment shows actually is not immune to the increase in infections and the government is hoping that the new measures on mask waiting will help this country buck the trend of the new wave of infections that other countries in europe are seeing. meanwhile, german

mark lowen, bbc news, rome. capital madrid, after a rise in coronavirus cases there. residents will only be allowed to leave the area for essential reasons. however, madrid's regional government, which is controlled by the conservative opposition and did not vote in favour of the restrictions, questions its legality. mark lobel reports. tempers flare at new restrictions for madrid. normal life set to be masked once again as a high rate of infections means 4 million residents must stay put. bars will shut at 11pm, playgrounds and parks will be closed. gatherings of no more than six. translation: i live alone. the park is an important way out and if they close it, that is very annoying, because being confined at home lowers morale a lot. translation: madrid is the worst—off region. it is true that measures must be taken so things don't get worse and we don't have a second lockdown but i think that a second lockdown is not effective because economically, spain can't afford it. madrid's regional government opposes t