the ministry of defence confirmed the dismissals from hms vigilant, one of four submarines that carryhe men are alleged to have taken cocaine. a royal navy spokesperson said it does not tolerate drugs misuse. 0ur correspondent laura trant is outside the ministry of defence. the defence secretary is said to have given the head of the royal navy a roasting after learning that nine members of hms vigilant tested positive for illegal drugs. sir michael fallon has ordered compulsory testing of all crew on board royal navy submarines. the ministry of defence says that the nine servicemen have been dismissed from hms vigilant. now the daily mail has said that the nine crew members tested positive for cocaine which they allegedly took during parties in the united states when the submarine was docked while it was waiting to pick up nuclear warheads. an mod spokesman has said we do not tolerate drugs misuse, those found to have fallen short of our high standards face being discharged from service. the submarine isn't new to controversy. these latest revelations come after claims that the captai

tonight, the ministry of defence is having to defend proposals that go to the heart of how our countryan defend itself. newsnight has learned the royal navy would lose its ability to assault enemy held beaches and plans currently being considered. the specialist landing ships, hms albion and bulwark, would be taken out of service, a plan which has caused huge alarm among senior royal marine officers who believe it would deprive the core of its core mission. mark urban has the story. emily, we are in a situation, not unprecedented, where there are too many things in the programme and aspirations to be paid for but there is also a depreciation in the value of the sterling which affects some of the bigger projects and there needs to be a review. in 30 years of reporting defence in this country, i've never seen a situation like the one we are now in. we cannot call it a review, and whitehall isn't because apparently the defence secretary had won just two years ago and does not like the optics of calling it a review. we are not supposed to call what is now being considered cuts "cuts", but

today the ministry of defence confirmed that nine sailors serving on the submarine had been thrown outer failing drug tests. according to one report, the drug they took was cocaine. now the mp who represents the area which takes in the home of trident nuclear weapons says answers are needed. i am astonished. deeply disappointed and very concerned. if we are to have these weapons of mass destruction on our doorstep here at faslane, we have got to be absolutely confident that the people at the ministry of defence, the royal navy put in charge of them, take the responsibility seriously. i don't believe in this case that we have. there has been trouble on hms vigilant before. the captain was relieved of his command after an alleged inappropriate relationship with a member of his crew, although the navy said operations were not impacted. following today's revelations, the royal navy said it did not tolerate drugs misuse, adding. defence secretary sir michael fallon is now understood to have ordered drugs tests on all uk submarine crews. he is said to have given the head of the navy a roasti

our doorstep here at faslane, we have got to be absolutely confident that the people at the ministry of defence i don't believe in this case that they have. there has been trouble on hms vigilant before. the captain was relieved of his command after an alleged inappropriate relationship with a member of his crew although the navy said operations were not impacted. following today's revelations, the royal navy said it did not tolerate drugs misuse, adding that those who are found to have fallen short of our high standards face being discharged from service. defence secretary sir michael fallon is now understood to have ordered drugs tests on all uk submarine crews. he is said to have given the head of the navy a roasting for the incident. meanwhile the snp, which wants trident removed from the clyde, says it is seeking to ask urgent questions in parliament next week. voting in kenya's disputed election remains on hold, with the poll suspended in several areas, because of clashes between rival groups. the opposition leader raila 0dinga refused to run in the contest against the sitting president u

the ministry of defence confirmed the dismissals from hms vigilant, one of four submarines that carryeged to have taken cocaine. a royal navy spokesperson said it does not tolerate drugs misuse. 0ur correspondent laura trant is outside the ministry of defence. the defence secretary said to have given the head of the royal navy a roasting after hearing that nine navy officers tested positive for drugs. they have ordered compulsory drugs. they have ordered compulsory drugs testing for everybody. now, the daily mail has said that the nine crew members tested positive for cocaine which they allegedly texturing a party in the united states while the submarine was docked while it was waiting to pick up docked while it was waiting to pick up litter will have. a royal navy spokesman person said they do not tolerate drugs misuse, they have fallen short of our high standards and face being discharged from service. these latest revelations come after claims that the captain and the second—in—command were both removed over allegations of having inappropriate relationships with female groom on boa

our doorstep here at faslane, we have got to be absolutely confident that the people at the ministry of defenceem, take the responsibility seriously. i don't believe in this case that they have. there has been trouble on hms vigilant before. the captain was relieved of his command after an alleged inappropriate relationship with a member of his crew although the navy said operations were not impacted. following today's revelations, the royal navy said it did not tolerate drugs misuse, adding that those who are found to have fallen short of our high standards face being discharged from service. defence secretary sir michael fallon is now understood to have ordered drugs tests on all uk submarine crews. he is said to have given the head of the navy a roasting for the incident. meanwhile the snp, which wants trident removed from the clyde, says it is seeking to ask urgent questions in parliament next week. stay with us here on bbc news. still to come. the pakistani cricket team prepare to host sri lanka. it's the first time in nine years after an attack by gunmen. after 46 years of unhappiness the

look at our ministry of defence now and look at it three years ago. the ministry of defence is an example of this. look at the management of the war. this year, the war is being superbly managed. we were like i2—year—olds taking over the responsibility of a 30—year—old. and now, in terms of management and leadership, things are really falling in place. there are changes in our inherent law that are going to make it more robust. systems and processes are being created to support this. within four years, we think our security forces would be able to do their constitutional thing, which is monopoly... ..the claim to legitimate monopoly of power. but our struggle, our engagement, with the international community, is not confined to our security, it also has the global security component. so the counter—terror terror cooperation does not depend on us, it depends on the robustness, unfortunately the morphing of terrorist organisations that are transnational. that component relies on all of us to be able to continue. if we just look at the hard statistics las

the ministry of defence confirmed the dismissals from hms vigilant, one of four submarines that carrydent nuclear deterrent. kathryn stanczyszyn is here to tell us more. what has happened here? the royal navy says that it will not tolerate the misuse of drugs. the ministry of defence has confirmed that all nine of these sub mariners have now been removed from duty. the daily mail is reporting that hms vigilant was. somewhere in the united states for some time. there was work going on in the vessel. during this time, there seems to have been a lot of partying, the daily mail alleges that all nine of these service personnel had taken cocaine and when senior officers ordered drug testing thatis senior officers ordered drug testing that is when all of this came about. hms vigilant is an important part of the uk's nuclear deterrent, one of four submarines with nuclear warheads on board. it is no stranger to controversy. earlier this month its captain was removed from post after allegations of an inappropriate relationship with one memberof the inappropriate relationship with one member of

we have had a statement from the ministry of defence which confirms nine british servicemen have beenarries the trident deterrent. the tests moved positive. the royal navy says they don't tolerate drug misuse by service personnel and those found to have fallen short of their high standards face being discharged from service. drug testing is fairly regular in the service, as well, so you have got to be pretty dumb to do that. most people pass these things with flying colours, so this is an outlier, if true. the big talking point, even if there is nothing that much new, the jfk point, even if there is nothing that much new, thejfk files, and many papers have gone pretty big on this, look at the daily mirror. the front page. you have been looking through this, is there anything we are learning which is new? this is the most fascinating and gripping mystery that has been for most of my lifetime, and people will always talk about this, which is why the tabloids will be doing it, but business solution or answer to the conspiracy theories. this is a re—sto ke conspiracy theories. this is a r

now, the government today insisted it wasn't decisions made here at the ministry of defence that caused losses. however, demand from governments around the world, particularly for the typhoon fighter jet, has weakened. the company says if revenues are weak, costs need to be cut. the worry is that if these workers and their skills leave the industry, they never come back. once you lose workers that have got 35 years experience, having served long—term apprenticeships within this industry, and you take the kids out of apprenticeships that are serving now in five—year apprenticeships, building these skills for the future, you don't just replace them. you can't pick them off the shelf and just replace them when you need them. orders for the hawk training jet flown by the red arrows and made in brough and east yorkshire are also falling. so is the axe on jobs, with half of those 900 employees facing redundancy. i think this is damaging for the united kingdom's industrial capability. exports are key to the future of the uk with brexit etc. aerospace is the number one export. and what we're do

the ministry of defence confirmed the departures from hms vigilant, one of four submarines that carryhe trident nuclear deterrent. kathryn stanczyszyn is here to tell us more. good morning. this is an interesting story. the daily mail reports all nine of these submariners allegedly had been taking cocaine. that is why they failed the drug test. hmas vigilant was docked in the us. there was a period of shore leave. all nine of them have been dismissed and the royal navy says it will not tolerate any kind of misuse of drugs. this vessel is part of the uk's defence firmament, one ofjust four submarines with nuclear missiles on board. but it is not the first scandal to hit hms vigilant. earlier this month, the captain was removed from this post for having an allegedly incorrect relationship with a member on board. thisjust raises more questions about exactly what has been going on one of the nuclear submarines of the uk. thank you very much. jeremy corbyn says a "warped and degrading culture" where the abuse of women is accepted and normalised is thriving in the corridors of power, includ

the ministry of defence confirmed the departures from hms vigilant, one of four submarines that carryuclear deterrent. kathryn stanczyszyn is here to tell us more. it is good to see you. what has happened? yes. good morning. the royal navy says it will no longer tolerate the news use of any kind of troops following the failure of drug tests from these nine submariners. allegedly, all night had taken cocaine while hms vigilant was in the us. it was getting work done. there were a lot of parties going on. drug testing was demanded before they went back on board. hms vigilant is an important part of the uk nuclear deterrent, one of four which carries trident missiles, armed with nuclear warheads. it is not the first time it has been in the news. earlier this month, the captain was relieved of his post following an inappropriate relationship with a female member of group. the royal navy says that has been under investigation. operational duties continue as usual. but this certainly adds to the controversy, which is deepening around one of the key navy vessels of the uk. thank you very muc

the ministry of defence confirmed the dismissals from hms vigilant, one of four submarines that carrynt nuclear deterrent. kathryn stanczyszyn is here to tell us more. what has happened here? the daily mail is reporting that all nine of these sub mariners tested positive for drugs after allegedly taking cocaine whilst hms vigilant was docked in the united states somewhere. it was having some work done which meant there was a period of shore leave and this is when all of shore leave and this is when all of this happen. the royal navy says it will not tolerate any kind of misuse of drugs, and this is the second time that hms vigilant has hit the headlines in around a month. 80 weeks ago —— a few weeks ago its former captain was... after a inappropriate relationship. there was a strict no touching rule. it investigated and duties are now carried out as normal. this is part of the uk's nuclear deterrent the submarine, and it raises questions again and that exactly what has been going on with the crew and how it has been manage. thank you. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn will use a speech t

look at the ministry of defence. and look at it three years ago. managed. we were like 12—year—old is taking over the responsibility of a 30—year—old but we learnt in the process and now in terms of management and leadership, things are really falling in place. 0ur security forces would be able to do their constitutional things and cling to the legitimacy of power. 7000 soldiers lost their lives, 12,000 were injured, 10% of your fighting force was lost, including desertion. no army can sustain losses like that and you're telling me the corner has been turned?m brea ks me the corner has been turned?m breaks my heart, but please understand, over 100,000, over 110,000 nato troops were suffering casualties. we are a developing country but i am extraordinarily proud of the sacrifices and the reason it is changing is because of equipment. in 2014, it looked like an impossible task now it looks so the difficult task and difficult is within our grasp. we see the taliban extending our the area. if it does not have support how could it be doing that? it has

the ministry of defence confirmed the dismissals from hms vigilant, one of four submarines that carry alleged to have taken cocaine. a royal navy spokesperson said it does not tolerate drugs misuse. the winner of the royal institute of british architects' most prestigious award — the stirling prize — will be announced next tuesday. the nominations to become britain's best new building 2017 include a rejuvenated seaside pier on the south coast of england, a london housing development and an extension to the british museum. today we look at the city of glasgow college by reiach and hall architects and michael laird architects. this is a world—class learning facility and what you see here is actually technical and professional education on an immense scale. the college wanted a building that exuded quality and ambition and aspiration for their students. we have created a building of scale, of character, of quality. they walk in and they say wow, this is a place i wa nt and they say wow, this is a place i want to be part of. the building is located in a high point in the city and that tra

the ministry of defence confirmed the dismissals from hms vigilant, one of four submarines that carryhe daily mail, the men are alleged to have taken cocaine. a royal navy spokesperson said it does not tolerate drugs misuse. england face spain in the final of the under 17's world cup this afternoon. the side made it to the final after a hat—trick from liverpool's rhian brewster against brazil earlier in the week. he's on course to become the tournament's top goal scorer. our correspondent, rahul tandon is in kolkata, where the final is taking place. he's been telling us the level of interest in india has been enourmous. you can see people already streaming towards the stadium. we are expecting more than 66,000 but they could have sold 150,000 tickets for this match. the people here are having england flags painted on theirfaces. a few with a spanish one as well. a big moment for india, an even bigger one for this england under 17 team. the under 20 team are already world champions. can they join them? can brewster score more goals to take them to victory? probably the best young playe

look at the ministry of defence and look at it three years ago. we were like i2—year—olds taking over the responsibility of a 30—year—old but we grew in the process and now in terms of management and leadership things are falling into place. within four years we think our security forces will be able to do the constitutional thing, the monopoly of power. look at the statistics last year, 7000 afghan soldiers lost their lives, 12,000 injured, you had desertions and you lost 10% of your fighting force. no army can sustain losses like that indefinitely and continue to wage a successful war. are you telling me that a corner has been turned? yes. it breaks my heart but please understand, over 100,000, 10,000 nato isf troops withdrew. they suffered casualties in the thousands. we did it without their support, without the armour, etc. we area support, without the armour, etc. we are a developing country army but i'm extraordinarily proud of the sacrifice. the reason is changing is because recruitment is up. every single person in the army, police and secr

look at our ministry of defence now. and look at it three years ago. over the responsibility of a 30—year—old but we grew in the process and now, in terms of management and leadership, things are really falling in place. within four years, we think, our security forces would be able to do their constitutional thing, which is the monopoly, claim to legitimacy momopoly of power. but look at the statistics last year — i mean, 7000 ana soldiers lost their lives, some 12,000 were injured, you had desertions, i mena, in effect you lost 10% of your fighting force. —— i mean. no army can sustain losses like that indefinitely and continue to wage a successful war. i mean, are you telling me that the corner has been turned? yes. when first. . .you know, it breaks my heart, but please understand, over 100,000, over 110,000 nato isaf troops withdrew. they were suffering casualties, in thousands. we are a developing country, aren't we? but i am extraordinarily proud of the sacrifices and the reason it is changing is because recruitment is up. in 2014, when i became

looked at al ministry of defence. look at it three years ago. perbly managed because we were like 12 —year—olds taking over the responsibility of a 30—year—old. but we grew in the process. now, in terms of management and leadership things are falling in place. we think our security forces will be able to do their constitutional thing, the monopoly, the claim to legitimate monopoly of power. but the statistics last year, 7000 soldiers lost their lives, 12,000 we re soldiers lost their lives, 12,000 were injured. there were desertions... you were injured. there were desertions. .. you lost were injured. there were desertions... you lost 10% of your fighting force. no army can sustain a loss like that indefinitely and continue to wage a successful war. are you telling me that the corner has been turned? yes. when first. . .you know, it breaks my heart, but please understand, over 100,000, over 110,000 nato isaf troops withdrew. they were suffering casualties, in thousands. we are a developing country, aren't we? but i am extraordinarily proud of the

now the government today insisted it wasn't decisions made here at the ministry of defence that causedovernments around the world, particularly for the typhoon fighter jet, has weakened. the company says if revenues are weak, costs need to be cut. the worry is that if these workers and their skills leave the industry, they never come back. once you lose workers with 35 years experience, having served long—term apprenticeships within this industry, and you take the kids out of apprenticeships that are serving now five—year apprenticeships, building these skills for the future, you don't just replace them. you can't pick them off the shelf and just replace them when you need them. orders for the hawk training jet, flown by the red arrows and made in brough, yorkshire are also falling. so is the axe on jobs, with half of those 900 employees facing redundancy. i think this is damaging for the united kingdom's industrial capability. exports are key to the future of the uk with brexit etc. aerospace is the number one export. and what we're doing is diminishing that capability. but the govern

to reaffirm, in the last year the ministry of defence has spent almost £a billion with bae systems ase defence secretary signed the statement of intent with cat by 2a typhoons and six hawks. this is extremely positive news and demonstrates continued confidence globally of britain‘s defence industry. we will continue to work with bae systems to maximise opportunities for the typhoon and hawk training aircraft and the type 26 combat ship in markets such as saudi arabia, indonesia, belgium, finland, canada and australia. we absolutely understand this is a worrying time for those affected. we are determined to do all we can to support bae systems future export opportunities and i stand by ready to meet workers unions and mps. thank you for allowing this urgent question. today's announcements by bae systems has come as a blow to thousands of workers and their families across lancashire in the run—up to christmas. the majority of landless mps have written to the prime minister seeking immediate action and offering to establish a task force to avert this disaster. and as the minister for a s

the ministry of defence says that no decisions have been taken. backed calls for limits on the sale of rapid—fire devices for guns, stephen paddock, the gunmen who killed 58 people in las vegas on sunday, use what is known asa bump vegas on sunday, use what is known as a bump stock to modify some weapons, turning them into fully automatic machine guns. white house and senior republicans are also saying they will report a review. voiceover: latest pictures showed the panic as stephen paddock opened fire, the frenzy of gunfire magnified by a commercially available device called a bump stock, edible of turning a rifle into a machine gun. there are now growing cans for such devices to be banned, and move which even has the backing of the most powerful lobby group in america, the national rifle association. —— national rifle association. —— national rifle association. in a statement, the nra said that such a caesarea should be subject to additional regulations. caught in the middle of the carnage on sunday, these british soldiers, based at swanton morl

navy could lose its ability to attack enemy—held beaches under plans being considered in the ministry of defencestands. two specialist landing ships would be taken out of service as part of a proposed package of cost—cutting measures. the mod told the bbc that no decisions have been made yet and that discussion of options was pure speculation. the powerful us gun lobby, the national rifle association, has backed calls for tougher regulations on a rapid fire device used in the mass shooting in las vegas. the group said that so—called bump stocks, which allow semi—automatic rifles to fire like fully—automatic rifles, should be subject to additional rules. republicans have said they would consider banning the tool despite years of resisting any gun control. spain's constitutional court has suspended a session of catalonia's regional parliament on monday in an attempt to stop it declaring independence. it follows the protests and violent scenes last sunday, when police tried to stop a referendum on independence which the spanish government labelled illegal. the sale of almost all ivory, including an

the ministry of defence confirmed that he was entitled to two world war ii medals that had not been presentedhonour, and i contacted the french embassy, they made some inquiries, and sure enough, they said that he was so entitled. and today, surrounded by four generations of his family, a war veteran officially became a war hero. he speaks french a moment to remember, but one hilly with emotion. the comrades did as much to get the medals and helped me get my medals, and they are not around to receive theirs. that's, you know... that's the sad thing about it. if you look at the schedule of history, if it wasn't for their actions, i would probably be part of those fighting the third world war, because basically, we were at war every 30 or 40 years. not only was george verden prepared to lay down his life for country, he also helped win the freedom of another country, and for that, almost 70 million french men and women owe a debt of thanks. and finally, here's a story for a slow news day — it's international sloth day. here is bob the two—toed sloth, trying to turn a flag of the toronto zoo aro

the ministry of defence says no decisions have been taken. with two mobile phone apps, one of the women involved, product designer roya ramezani has come up with an eye—catching way to portray everyday examples of workplace sexism. nuala mcgovern went to silicon valley to see the results of all the hard work. behind this door is some of the work that roya and her team have been creating, inventing, throughout this week. it is something that is meant to help with a solution to bro culture, to raise awareness. she also talked about bringing men and women into this particular project. i'm really excited to see what it is. and it is just beyond this door. oh, my goodness. it's huge! 0k, bbc, 100 women. we saw some of the laser printing earlier, and let's see what's on the other side. there is the hashtag "me too". and so this is some of the painting and spray painting. what does sexism sound like? and then we've got a map of the world. so this is what was going on behind those closed doors of roya's team. i do wonder, what's next? and here it is

very pleased thatjust last month my right honourable friend the defence industry signed a statement of intent with qatar. last year, the ministry homelessness, prevention is better than cure. so i'm delighted that the government has backed the homelessness reduction act. one of the obstacles that people who choose to rent face is putting together the deposit and helping with the rent. will my right honourable friend look ata will my right honourable friend look at a scheme that would provide 32,000 people a year the opportunity to rent foran 32,000 people a year the opportunity to rent for an investment of £3.1 million a year? but not only that, mr speaker, it would save the public purse up to £18 billion over a three—year period. purse up to £18 billion over a three-year period. i thank my honourable friend for raising this issue and i'm pleased that we were able to support his homelessness reduction act nothing that will be an important contributing in this area. i understand on the specific issue he has raised, he has made a prebudget representation to the chancellor of the exchequer, who i'm sure will be looking at that rep

guard, which is the police force controlled by the interior ministry and defence ministry in madrid, to intervene. that brings back echoes ofhold out of catalonia. it brings back very bad memories. andy moore scenes like this we are watching now, it presumably inflames passions and even increases feelings for independence. —— and the more scenes like this. if there were a com pletely scenes like this. if there were a completely constitutional referendum with everybody allowed to vote freely, would there be a majority for independence in catalonia? no. 0pinion polls showed 45—55 against independence. but what catalan does not like is being told it cannot vote. it would like to hold the exercise. and that is where the madrid government might eventually be seen to have made a tactical error. maybe if they let the ballot go—ahead, there would not have been a vote in favour of independence a nyway a vote in favour of independence anyway or it would have been so close the justification wouldn't be there. max sanders. monarch, the low—cost travel company, has been granted a 24—hour extension to its license to sell package holidays

national guard, a police force controlled by the interior ministry and defence ministry in madrid, to intervene. that really brings back echoes of when madrid was in the power, the fascist power, against the republican holdout, catalonia and it has been very bad. andy moore scenes like this we are watching, riot police on the streets, it presumably inflames passions. —— and the more scenes we see like this. what is the mood here? if there were a completely constitutional referendum and everybody was freely allowed to vote, would there be an overwhelming majority for independence in catalonia? basically, no. opinion polls show probably 45 up to 35 against independence. but what the catalonia ‘s do not like is being told they cannot vote. they want to hold the exercise. and that is where maybe the madrid government might eventually be seen to have made a tactical error. if they had let the ballot go ahead, perhaps there would not have been a vote in favour a nyway not have been a vote in favour anyway or it would have been so close the justification would not be there. these are live pictures of voting in barcelona at a polling st

of casualties is still being confirmed. four people have died after a train and army lorry collided on a level crossing in southern finland. the defence ministrye were injured. huge crowds have lined the streets of bangkok to mark the funeral ceremony of the late king bhumibol, who died in october last year aged 88. hundreds of thousands of mourners wearing black watched the funeral procession. buildings on the route were draped in yellow marigolds. the cremation ceremony is now under way. our correspondentjonathan head sent this report from bangkok. strict laws there mean he is restricted in what he can say. monarchy matters in thailand more than in most countries. so their kings get a lavish sendoff. king bhumibol reigned for 71 years. he shaped modern thailand and restore the monarchy to godlike status. no expense or effort was spared in this intricately choreographed procession taking an ornate royal urn from the palace to the cremation site. it was moved at a snail‘s pace in a 14—tonne chariot dating back to the 18th century. those able to get close to the procession went down in the traditional thai gesture of deference. tens of thousand

of the company's plan to cut costs and increase profitability. four people have been killed in finland in a collision between a train and an army truck on a remote level crossing. the defence ministrysk of being involved in crime. the recommendation's been made by her majesty's inspectorate of probation, which has warned that a quarter of the crimes it studied were directly linked to social media. we found a range of things, sometimes simple exchanges could escalate into violence when people met, particularly if there's a knife involved. secondly, people were using social media to plan crime. thirdly, sometimes people were using social media to commit crime, so, for example, blackmailing people who put unfortunate images of themselves on social media. there have been clashes in kenya between police and opposition protesters as polls open in the re—run of the disputed presidential election. president uhuru kenyatta won the august election by 1.4 million votes, but the supreme court annulled the election, citing irregularities. the main opposition leader has described the election as a sham and urged his supporters to boycott it. a car capable of travelling at up to 1,000 miles an ho

the defence ministry said three of the dead were soldiers, thought to be conscripts doing compulsoryed this year's poppy appeal, with the words to one of the most famous world war i poems spelled out in locations in england, wales and france in poppies. let's get more on this from ena miller, who's at the royal chelsea hospital. tell us more about this idea. the royal british legion is recreating the words of a famous poem written in 1915, called in flanders fields. this year they decided to spell it out in poppies. each line of that pawn is positioned in seven different locations around the country. there is one of dunkirk beach. another in dover and another at media city in salford. as you said, i'm at the royal hospital chelsea in london. this is where the poem begins. i'm not too sure how well you can see it, butjust behind me the poppies spell out the first line which is, in flanders fields the poppies grew between the crosses rule on group. the lines end just over there. the last sentence will be positioned in manchester. i have claire from the royal british legion with me. wel

the national guard, a police force controlled by the interior and defence ministries in madrid to intervene. that brings back echoes ofblican holdout catalonia. madrid was the power against the republican holdout cataloniam madrid was the power against the republican holdout catalonia. it has been very bad. andy moore scenes like this which we are watching, it presumably inflames passions. —— and the more scenes we see like this. what is the mood? if there was a constitutional referendum where everybody was freely allowed to vote, would there be an overwhelming majority for independence in catalonia? no, basically. opinion polls showed probably 115—55 against. but the catalonian ‘s do not like being told they cannot vote. they wa nt to being told they cannot vote. they want to hold the exercise. and that is maybe with the madrid government might be seen to have made a tactical error. and if they had let the ballot go ahead they would not have been a vote in favour of independence anyway or it would have been so close the justification isn't there. it could be counter—productive in the long run? it seems it is going th

of the decision. a suicide attack in the afghan capital, kabul, has killed at least 15 military cadets. the defence ministry said the attacker targeted a bus carrying the cadets outside the main military academy. and the party led by the billionaire businessman andrej babis has scored a convincing victory in the czech republic's general election. the ano party has won about 30% — not enough to govern alone, but it could lead a coalition. now on bbc news: a weather world special. from florida and the bbc weather centre, the team examines why this year's atlantic hurricane season has been so active. this time on weather world, i'm in florida in the united states where the power of hurricane irma has had devastating consequences. and we'll be speaking to scientists about forecasting tropical cyclones here in the weather centre. key indicators are the atlantic in august and september. we will be looking at the season's other major hurricanes, including harvey and maria. plus the science behind these monster storms, and how climate change could be affecting them. from harvey's unprecedented tropical deluge in te

said that the information came from its defence ministry, and included the latest war plans from seoul and washington. south korea said in may that a large amount ofe north denied. for more, we foi’ more, we cross for more, we cross to seoul. what more can you tell us about these two us bombers on a training exercise in the korean peninsula? it is notable but routine that these bombers took pa rt but routine that these bombers took part in this mission. to us b—i bombers flew with ella paynes from the japanese and south korean air force. —— aeroplanes. we understand the exercise took place outside nbc ofjapan, to the exercise took place outside nbc of japan, to the east of the korean peninsula. controversial a few weeks ago, some b—i bombers went closer to the north korean coast and cause the north koreans to complain about that. those planes flew further north than they had ever been. this was not one of those exercises. this is one of the joint ones involving south korean, japanese, and american air planes, just training for any possible scenarios. and of course, we tensions high in the region, we are closer to military action and as we have bee

of the decision. a suicide attack in the afghan capital, kabul, has killed at least 15 military cadets. the defence ministry has scored a convincing victory in the czech republic's general election. the ano party has won about 30% — not enough to govern alone, but it could lead a coalition. now on bbc news: a weather world special. from florida and the bbc weather centre, the team examines why this year's atlantic hurricane season has been so active.

said that the information came from its defence ministry, and included the latest war plans from seoul and washington. south korea said in may that a large amount of claim the north denied. as with many things on the korean peninsula, it is deja vu. it happened some years ago. due to sloppiness on the part of the south korean defence official, north korea got a ccess korean defence official, north korea got access to a previous or another plan of this nature. so this is something we have seen before. it raises questions, i think, primarily about operational security here in south korea and in terms of the alliance with the united states. people are saying it is a provocation by north korea, but obviously this is something that any state could try to do, to gain access to these kinds of plans. state could try to do, to gain access to these kinds of plansm indeed, professor, pyongyang stole these military documents, could it have been the reason why north korea ramped up its missile launchers? —— if. -- ramped up its missile launchers? —— if. —— launches. ramped up its missile launchers? —— if. -- launches. that is a bit of a leap. apart from the pl

defence ministry says america will never accept a nuclear north korea. james mattis spoke after speaking to south korean officials and said any use of nuclear weapons against allies would be met with a massive and overwhelming military response. the united states does not accept a nuclear north korea. we have repeatedly emphasised diplomats are most effective when backed by credible military force in this sort of situation. make no mistake on any attack on the united states or our allies will be defeated. any use of nuclear weapons by the north will be met with a massive military response effective immediately. south africa is in trouble, a young democracy now engulfed by a spectacular corruption scandal. at its heart, allegedly, president jacob zuma and a wealthy family, the guptas, originally from india. it is claimed they used their close ties to win contracts and siphon off huge payments, claims they denied. from south africa, andrew harding reports. south africa is in trouble, a young democracy now engulfed by a spectacular corruption scandal. at its heart, allegedly, president jacob zuma and a wealthy family, the guptas, originally from india. leaked