tom burridge reports.es on in birmingham, criticism from the government's spending watchdog over management of the budget for hs2, which has ballooned. to day's report says the government and hs2 ltd underestimated the scale and hs2 ltd underestimated the scale and complexity of this project, and that's one of the region is why the budget has risen so much. this is the vision for that site once a station is built here. the national audit office says risks and uncertainty weren't property but says the budget for phase one of hs2 is now robust. they've done an awful lot of work to understand the cost and they now have a better estimate of how much it will cost and how long it will ta ke to it will cost and how long it will take to build the railway between london and birmingham. that said, the programme as a whole is at a very early stage and risks remain. some conservatives have urged the prime minister to rethink. other seniorfigures say hs2 prime minister to rethink. other senior figures say hs2 has to go

tom burridge, bbc news.f an early and accurate diagnosis of breast cancer is quite often the key to successful treatment. now researchers at google health and imperial college in london have developed an artificial intelligence computer program that is more accurate at assessing a mammogram than one radiologist working alone — and as good as two experts working together. as our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports this use of what's called ai could well improve all cancer care. this is painstaking work. it takes more than a decade of training to become a radiologist and have the skill to read a mammogram. in the nhs, two doctors analyse every woman's x—rays. now, artificial intelligence, a machine learning computer designed by google health, can do itjust as well as humans. this went far beyond my expectations. it will have a significant impact in improving the quality of the reporting and also freeing up radiologists to do even more important things. women aged between 50 and 70 are invited for breast

tom burridge, bbc news. before his trial for financial misconduct, has spoken for the first time since his extraordinary journey to lebanon. the former boss of nissan said the decision to leave was the "most difficult" of his life. carlos ghosn was under house arrest in tokyo when he escaped on 29th december. that afternoon, it's thought he boarded a bullet train to osaka. from the airport in osaka, he boarded a private jet to istanbul. and from there, he flew to beirut in lebanon. our world editorjohn simpson's report contains flash photography. it was chaos. everyone wanted a first glimpse of the international motor industry tycoon turned escape artist. i'm going to try, as much as possible, to answer as many questions as possible. this is the chartered jet that whisked carlos ghosn out of japan to istanbul. and these cctv pictures seemed to show him being shunted onto a smallerjet, which then took him onto beirut. but this, on the right, is apparently the box he was smuggled out in. he is five foot six. i

tom burridge, bbc news. before his trial for financial misconduct, has spoken for the first time since his extraordinary journey to lebanon. the former boss of nissan said the decision to leave was the most difficult of his life. carlos ghosn was under house arrest in tokyo, when he escaped on 29th december. that afternoon, it's thought he boarded a bullet train to osaka. from the airport in osaka he boarded a privatejet to istanbul. and from there he flew to beirut in lebanon. our world editorjohn simpson's report contains flash photography. it was chaos. everyone wanted a first glimpse of the international motor industry tycoon turned escape artist. i'm going to try, as much as possible, to answer as many questions as possible. this is the chartered jet that whisked carlos ghosn out of kansai airport in japan to istanbul. and these cctv pictures seemed to show him being shunted onto a smallerjet, which then took him onto beirut. but this, on the right, is apparently the box he was smuggled out in. he is fi

tom burridge has more.rnational airlines flight shot down by mistake by an irate missile? reports out of washington tonight suggest it was. us media is quoting american officials are saying satellite imagery shows the trail of two missiles. the president dismissing other theories. i have my suspicions. some people say it was mechanical, i personally don't think thatis mechanical, i personally don't think that is even a question, personally. so we will see what happens. that is even a question, personally. so we will see what happensm that is even a question, personally. so we will see what happens. it was just five hours after iran launched a wave of missile strikes on us basesin a wave of missile strikes on us bases in iraq that the plane crashed shortly after takeoff from tehran airport. this video appears to show the plane, which seems to be on fire as it goes down. it will take months if not years to get the full crash report, led by the iranians. but they say their preliminary findings suggest the plan

tom burridge, our transport correspondent, thank you.e a look at some of the other stories making the news. the owners of travel x say they do not expect material financial impact from the cyber attack that hampered the company. this website remains out of action but it is working to resume normal operations as soon as possible and there's still no evidence that any data has been sent out all used in a misinformation manner. the company has been forced to turn off all computer systems because of hackers demanding $6 million in return for safe return of customer data. uk prime minsiter borisjohnson will meet the european commission president, ursula von der leyen, in downing street later today, for their first face to face talks since she took office last month. the uk government has reiterated that it expects to agree a new trade deal with the european union by the end of this year. the british mining giant anglo—american has confirmed it is in talks with the company mining potash in north yorkshire. its future was in doubt after it had

tom burridge, bbc news, in lancashire. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear.even look up to a winter wonderland. i was even look up to a winter wonderland. iwasa even look up to a winter wonderland. i was a bitjealous when i saw sites like this. there was a bit of disruptive snow, particularly in scotland. that's no chiefly fell through the night. we still have some showers being driven in on the blustery westwind. dodge the showers, particularly for england and will, you will get some lovely spells of sunshine. it looks as though central and southern parts of england will stay largely shower free. most of the showers will be further west. when you factor in the wind, it is going to feel a touch on the chilly side. through the night tonight, we keep the westerly wind feeding the showers in and we could see more snow falling to higher ground in scotland, northern england and the tops of the hills in northern ireland for a time. widespread cold, low single figures generally across the country, perhaps just below in more generally across the country, perhapsjust

our transport correspondent tom burridge reports from manchester. absolutely shocking. i can't get to the nursery sometimes on time. we can't get to meetings on time. it causes logistical nightmares. travel from the midlands... at the end of the day we're always late for work, we're neveron time. it's so bad, sometimes i have to get a taxi. ..to the north of england and the stories are similar. today's rail fare rise, hard to swallow. the prices seem to keep going up and you don't seem to get anything more for your money. as i say, they are always late. sometimes only by a minute or two, but always late. as the price hike took effect this morning, the transport secretary said the company running the largest franchise in northern england wasn't fit for purpose. ijust don't think it is acceptable. i've been a long—suffering commuter myself for many years, and i don't think it's right that people can't always rely on their train services, and particularly in places like northern, where it has been notably bad, i will absolutely bring that situation to

our transport correspondent, tom burridge, reports. on hs2, as work to build a new high—speed line goes on in birmingham. clearance for a new station here has revealed the remains of the old one. archaeologists now need to look at the foundations of the old station and work out if any of it needs to be preserved, before this entire site can be cleared to make way for the new station. it's another indication of the complexities of this entire project which, according to today's report, hs2 and the government underestimated, and that's one of the reasons why the budget has ballooned. this, the vision for that site, once the station is built. the national audit office says risks and uncertainty weren't properly managed, but says the budget for phase one of hs2 is now robust. they've done an awful lot of work to understand the cost and they now have a better estimate of how much it will cost, and how long it will take to build the railway between london and birmingham. that said, the programme as a whole is at a very early stage and risks

tom burridge, bbc news in leeds.re protesters have been killed today as demonstrators continue theircampaign for new elections and an end to corruption. most of the protesters are young iraqis who want an end to american and iranian interference in the country. more than 500 have been killed by security forces and pro—iranian militia during months of demonstrations. 0ur middle east correspondent quentin sommerville and cameraman nik millard have spent the past few days following the protesters in baghdad. iraq is both a country in gridlock and coming apart at the seams. for months, young iraqis have been on the streets, intent on sweeping away the old guard. they say their government isn't listening, so these young iraqis are piling on the pressure — here in baghdad and in cities across iraq. they say their demands won't be forgotten and their protests won't end. they've already brought down the last government, but it's not enough. in a country of fierce division, they've emerged united — sunni, shia, christian, ric

tom burridge, bbc news, in leeds.d in the refurbishment of grenfell tower have asked for a guarantee that anything they say at the public inquiry won't be used for any prosecution. the chairman of the public inquiry, sir martin moore—bick, said he was "surprised" by the move and "disappointed" by its timing. the fire in the tower in west london injune 2017 killed 72 people. bbc news is planning to cut around a50 jobs, under ongoing plans to save £80 million by 2022. bbc two's newsnight and bbc radio 5 live are among the outlets that will be affected, and as previously announced, the victoria derbyshire programme will end. the bbc is also carrying out a major restructuring of its news operation. the brexit process has cleared its final legislative hurdle, after the european parliament voted overwhelmingly to ratify the withdrawal agreement. it paves the way for the uk to leave the eu at 11pm on friday. the agreement settles the terms of brexit, on the issues of mutual citizens‘ rights, arrangements on the irish border,

our transport correspondent tom burridge is here. how much more do we know?this is early stages. this was a new aircraft and had been serviced in the last few days. from data available online we can see that the plane took off at the initial phase of take—off seem to pass as normal commit client about 4000 feet after taking off from the main international airport near tehran but suddenly it then disappeared from the radar and we do not have any trace of its decline or even the rise of the plane telling off. that is strange and it suggests some type of catastrophic incident. that's a broad term, with no suggestion at this stage what would have been the cause. there was a line from a ukrainian official saying it could have an engine failure but they since retracted that statement and i think although that statement and i think although thatis that statement and i think although that is a possibility it is unlikely as the boeing is designed to withstand an engine failing. the pilots are trained for that kind of scenario every few months. and crucially what of th

tom burridge, bbc news in leeds. hall, has announced he's standing down in the summer, after seven years in the role. he said he loved the corporation, but that he wanted his successor to be able to lead it through a formal review in two years time. 0ur media editor amol rajan is here. this was a surprise annoucement, certainly took us here by surprise. it was a surprise announcement. a lot of tony hall's friends thought he would stick around for a couple of years, but the fact that he is going on to be chairman of the national gallery suggests this has been some time in the works. he has had the toughestjob of any director general, he arrived at a time of crisis and there was revelations overjimmy savile and the mistreatment of lord mcalpine, the conservative peer. so his firstjob was to steady the ship. and then he had a tough er chapter and he made concessions over the fact that the bbc would be co—0ped into welfare policy, paying the licences of over 755 and releasing the salaries of big broadcaster and the next

tom burridge, bbc news.te of emergency is declared in southeast australia amid warnings of more bushfires. it's the largest forced evacuation new south wales has seen, as thousands flee the path of the flames. delays and cancellations on the railways, but fares still go up from today by an average of nearly 3%. and researchers say artificial intelligence can be better than doctors at diagnosing breast cancer from scans. artificial intelligenc, or ai, could be as accurate, if not better, than doctors at spotting breast cancer in scans. researchers trained a computer system to read x—rays and found it was more accurate than a single radiologist and equal to the ability of two experts working together. as our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports, this use of ai could well improve all cancer care. this is painstaking work. it takes more than a decade of training to become a radiologist and have the skill to read a mammogram. in the nhs, two doctors analyse every woman's x—rays. now, artificial intelligence

tom burridge, bbc news, in leeds.e managing editor of rail magazine, explained that the service wouldn't improve under government control unless drastic changes were made to rail infrastructure and the franchise system. whoever runs that franchise can't magic infrastructure improvements out of midair, nor trains, nor solve working issues. what grant shapps has actually nationalised today is the blame, and his going to find out about it pretty soon. so what happens next then? if this isn't the magic bullet to solve everything, surely these decisions will catch up with ministers if what you're saying is true? it is true and it's absolutely the case that these decisions will catch up case that these decisions will catch up with them, because you cannot magic those solutions, those problems, out of thin air and they will continue. there will be some tinkering around the edges, more of the new crowns, trains, which are a year late, will arrive, and dou btless year late, will arrive, and doubtless they will say because of i

here is tom burridge. tom: devastation minutes after takeoff.later, bodies of those on board e ukrainian airline flight were taken away. there were no survivors. most of those killed were iranian or canadian. british national and another on board, so were a man and his wife who got married in tehran. when report quoted a canadian intelligence official suggesting that initial evidence suggested that the plane was nrought down by missile and may have suffered a technical malfunction. ukrainian airline sa serviced two days ago. added an emotional press conference, the airline's technical director said the plane was one of the best. the plane left of the iranian capital,n, teharlier this morning. n it was dowfor the ukrainian capital, kiev. data published online shows the plane crashed minutes after takeoff. the boeing 737 steadi climbed some 4,500 feet. takeoff initially appeared normal. then the plane suddenly disappeared from radar. that sugsts there was some type of catastrophic incident. there was an initial suggaition from a uan official ofn e

tom burridge, bbc news. a woman found stabbed to death on new year's day alongside her partner had contacted officers before she died. the couple have been named as helen hancock and martin griffiths from the village of duffield. the woman's estranged husband has been charged with their murder. the former nissan boss carlos ghosn has insisted that he acted alone in fleeing from japan to lebanon, despite seven people being detained in turkey for helping him escape. mr ghosn had been under house arrest in tokyo awaiting trial on charges of alleged financial misconduct. there's now an interpol arrest warrant for him. 0ur middle east correspondent quentin somerville is in the lebanese capiral beirut. quentin, what are the authorities in lebanon saying about mr ghosn's escape from japan? well, the lebanese authorities responded to that interpol arrest warrant today, saying that carlos ghosn may be summoned, it could be interrogated by the justice minister then made the point about lebanon simply doesn't extradite

tom burridge, bbc news, in birmingham. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: chinese authorities are taking drastic action to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has now claimed 25 lives. spain's prime minister is due to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the government's response to a storm which has killed 13 people so far. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the daily mail, which asks if the deadly coronavirus has arrived in the uk. according to authorities, the death toll in china currently stands at 25, with 830 confirmed cases, with another 13 cases being detected in other countries. in the new york times, the trump administration has finalised a rule to strip away us environmental protections for streams, wetlands and groundwater. some us fossil fuel producers and real estate developers have hailed the rollback, having felt burdened by previous regulations. on the quartz website, the doomsday clock, which indicates how close our planet is to

tom burridge, bbc news, in birmingham.r annabella sciorra has testified in harvey weinstein's trial that he raped her at her home 25 years ago. she's the first accuser to take the stand against the former hollywood producer. she told the court he forced himself into her apartment and attacked her. weinstein denies all charges, including rape and sexual assault. an nhs trust being investigated for at least seven preventable baby deaths was paid a bonus £1.5 million pounds for claiming it provided good maternity care. east kent hospitals nhs trust said it had met all required safety standards to receive the money. this week it was subject to an unannounced inspection by the care quality commission. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. sheuey shelley russell lost her daughter following a maternity error. her baby was stillborn after a midwife failed to act on a suspicious heart rate reading. they came in, said to me, yes, herfeet looks ok, are you happy, she said to me, and i said to her, if you're happy

tom burridge, bbc news.n the bbc‘s jonah fisher, who is in kyiv, and nada tawfik in toronto. let me start with you, what is the reaction from the ukrainians to this news we are getting out of washington? to be quite frank, the unit to ukrainians discovered this info from the united states as the same time we alldid. an the united states as the same time we all did. an hour before it all came out, president zelinski was tweeting in a very positive faction about a discussion he had with the iranian president. in the last half hour or iranian president. in the last half houror so, iranian president. in the last half hour or so, there have been some things which you could response classify as a response of sort from president's zelinski office. it says ukraine is interested in the truth, we ask all our international partners to assist in the investigation and provide any information. they are saying to the us, if you have any information, share it with us. ukraine has a team oi'i share it with us. ukraine has a

tom burridge, bbc news, in birmingham.—bailey and emily thornberry are looking tojoin sir keir starmer and lisa nandy on the ballot to replacejeremy corbyn. the result of the leadership contest will be announced at the beginning of april. our political correspondent, nick eardley is at westminster. i think it is highly likely that they will back rebecca long bailey today. we know that they are pretty left—wing, the leadership of unite are certainly very pro—jeremy corbyn or have been in the past. the expectation is that they will want people to carry on in the same sort of mode asjeremy corbyn. that is definitely being seen as rebecca long bailey. mccluskey, the secretary when he arrived this morning. i think whatjeremy did four years ago, he probably changed british politics forever, and i think he changed the labour party. we now have a clear alternative to a conservative austerity government, a government that actually governs for the rich as opposed to the rest of the people, and whatjeremy corbyn has done with labour,

thank you for that update, tom burridge.f days. yesterday was a mild day for early january. look at all that orange across the uk. temperatures way above average. today you can see blue is starting to take over across northern areas of the uk. there will bea drop northern areas of the uk. there will be a drop in those temperatures, and it will be noticeably more chilly across northern parts, with almost a 10 celsius drop in some parts of northern scotland. the drop not quite as pronounced across central and southern areas, still fairly mild, here, a decent start with this weather watches photo from dorset this morning. some bright skies across southern areas, then cloud will increase, rain will move its way into south—west wales, the south—west of england, but further north, dry with sunny spells, showers wintry of a higher ground, temperatures are around six celsius in northern parts, double figures in the south. that rain will continue to spread north and east tonight, a wet night with some snow across the higher ground of

tom burridge, bbc news, in lancashire.we've got to build the entire network which is why that £a8 billion, working on the existing network is important. but i think things like reversing the beeching cuts is important as well. so we can connect up all of these communities, too many of whom get left behind because they were cut off from the railway network and nobody seemed to ca re railway network and nobody seemed to care all these years. well let's speak to andy mcdonald, labour's shadow transport secretary who joins me now from westminster. good morning to you. labour are calling this meaningless, why do you think it's meaningless? its drivel and i'm amazed that anybody is taken in by it. £500 million, if that sum was devoted to restoring railways, it would cover about 25 miles. 3300 miles taken out by beeching. so you can readily see that this, to say that this marks the beginning of the reversal of the beeching cuts is disingenuous at the very least. and this is simply seedcorn money to look at some feasibility studie

my colleague tom burridge has been finding out.ne goes on in birmingham, criticism from the government's spending watchdog over management of the budget for hs2, which has ballooned. today's report says the government and hs2 limited underestimated the scale and complexity of this project, and that's one of the reasons why the budget has risen so much. this is the vision for that site once a station is built here. the national audit office says risks and uncertainty weren't properly but says the budget for phase one of hs2 is now robust. they've done an awful lot of work to understand the cost and they now have a better estimate of how much it will cost and how long it will take to build the railway between london and birmingham. that said, the programme as a whole is at a very early stage and risks remain. some conservatives have urged the prime minister to rethink. other seniorfigures say hs2 has to go ahead. this part of the country, the north, turned decisively to the conservative party and the prime minister has talked about l

tom burridge, bbc news, in buckinghamshire.e we can hear more from tom, at calvert jubilee nature we can hear more from tom, at calvertjubilee nature reserve in buckinghamshire, on the proposed route. environmentalists have been flagging these concerns for some time now. i'm wondering about the timing of this latest report, given it is so close to the point at which the government matter is supposed to make a decision on the future of hsz? make a decision on the future of hs2? i think make a decision on the future of h52? i think the timing of this report isn't coincidental. hs2, the new rail line from london, birmingham, leeds, manchester, is effectively on hold. still some work is going on in areas around here. at the government commission that reviewed it, if you might remember, it knows the results of the review and it has to make a call in the coming weeks, if it should scope down the project likely will proceed. it will have an influence on projects like this, a beautiful view across the lake at calvert jubilee. we saw so

now on bbc news, tom burridge revisits the collapse of travel firm thomas cook and its far reaching effectsaff. in review 2019: the thomas cook story. all chant: what do we want? answers! when do we want them? now! it's a travesty, it's devastating. our lives are ruined because of thomas cook airlines uk. the captain turned around to me and said to me, "it's gone." i went into the flight deck and cried. when do we want them? now! it has not been possible to save one of the most—loved brands in travel. after 178 years, it was all over. as i got to the airport, i started to cry, because i thought, "i'm coming here in a uniform and i've got nowhere to go." you can't just leave brits stranded abroad. i want to go home! bankruptcy, bitterness and rage. i think it's been a national scandal to let a company of that size and that heritage in history just fall like that. they took millions of british tourists abroad every year. the biggest brand offering winter or summer sunshine. thomas cook was the uk's oldest travel business. also, the best—known travel brand on the high street as well. so it had

here's our transport correspondent tom burridge. devastation minutes after take—off. were taken away. there were no survivors. belongings and parts of the plane strewn across the crash site. most of those killed were iranians or canadian. three british nationals, sam zokaei, saeed tahmasebi and mohammed reza kadkhoda zadeh, were on board. at an emotional press conference, the airlines technical director said the plane was one of their best. the aircraft was three yea rs old their best. the aircraft was three years old and had a maintenance check two days ago. the plane left the iranian capital tehran early this morning. it was bound for the ukrainian capital kiev. data published online show it crashed minutes after take—off. the boeing 737 max steadily climbed some a500 feet. take—off 737 max steadily climbed some a500 feet. ta ke—off initially 737 max steadily climbed some a500 feet. take—off initially appeared normal. then the plane suddenly disappeared from radar. that suggests there was a type of catastrophic incident. there was an initial suggestion of an engine

our transport correspondent, tom burridge, is here. why not? its passengers effectively and you have to remember that northern already finds itself in this position so the fa ct finds itself in this position so the fact that the government is saying another franchise is not sustainable speaks of the pickle in which the ra i lwa ys speaks of the pickle in which the railways today find themselves. basically this is the starting gun on formal negotiations between the pa rent on formal negotiations between the parent companies of south—western railway and the department for transport. two options on the table, one is to bring in a short—term new performance —related contract, they already exist on mostly male and here in london on tfl and that will be the type of contract that we will see more of when the government brings in wider reform. the other option is effectively the government taking control of the operation of the trains, effectively nationalising the railway the situation on movement must be resolved by the end of them to the government

tom burridge has travelled across the network and has been hearing how an unreliable train service hasi've had to move house to be closer to uni because the trains are cancelled, or late, and i really struggle to get in in time for lectures and stuff. so, it's been really hard. you've moved house because of an unreliable train service? yeah. i've, like, moved towns completely. quite a lot of people, including myself, will end up spending an extra £100, £150 a week sometimes on taxis because the train hasn't come, i need to be in work. so, i'm a head chef at the moment. if i don't get in, people don't eat. because i use the train for university. so, like, if there are delays, i get late for lectures. so, ifeel like it's better if you drive. i've lived in the south—east. there, they've fantastic trains, millions and millions of pounds spent. in the north — north—west, particularly — they've never had any investment, and it's an absolute disgrace! it's all over. this franchise has failed. i've not been on time once to work in four months. it can't get worse, so i'm just... any change is g

tom burridge, bbc news, in buckinghamshire.aid there will be a brexit event in parliament square on 31 january. he says that is great news. more on today's main stories coming up on newsroom live here on the bbc news channel, but now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. no further details on that event yet. nigel farage has said he is very pleased that is happening. it's been a blustery and wild start to the day for many. strong winds blew the roof off a building in berkshire. winds of more than 50 miles per hour ripped the roof off this apartment block in slough, leaving it strewn across the high street. nearby roads while a clear—up operation is under way. at 0rpington in kent, scaffolding has fallen from a ten storey block of flats which has closed several roads in the area. a number of fallen trees are blocking roads elsewhere in kent, including this one in tunbridge wells. meanwhile, the roof at ravenscourt park tube station collapsed onto the tracks. this has since been cleared away. the weather, which caused disruption

endangered species could become extinct and eco—systems could be destroyed. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridgeee nature reserve in buckinghamshire, which is on the proposed rail route. the timing of this report is not coincidental. hs2, the new rail line from london, birmingham, leeds, manchester, is effectively on hold. still some work, as really will hear ina still some work, as really will hear in a second, is ongoing in areas around here, but the government commissioned that review, you might remember. it knows the results of that review, it has to make a call in the coming weeks whether or not to de—scope of the projects likely 01’ to de—scope of the projects likely or proceed. but it will have an impact on reserves like this, a beautiful view across the lake. some of the species that call this home, the managerless reserve for the wildlife trust which route to the's report! the balance. how concerned are you about the impact of high speed two, which will run along one end of this reserve, on the species which call this home? we are really concerned about the impact here at calvertjubilee

tom burridge has been listening to commuters tales of woe.s and stuff. so, it's been really hard. you've moved house because of an unreliable train service? yeah. i've, like, moved towns completely. quite a lot of people, including myself, will end up spending an extra £100, £150 a week sometimes on taxis because the train hasn't come, i need to be in work. so, i'm a head chef at the moment, if i don't get in, people don't eat. but nationalising this vast network — which runs from the humber, in the east, to places like blackburn, further west, linking communities to cities like leeds — won't change things overnight. northern's parent company said it did what it could. we have been trying to put more services on the network, but the network hasn't kept up, and that has meant that services have become far too unreliable and, rightly, a new plan is now needed. the government wants performance—based contracts instead. so, rather than this franchise system, which i think has now run its course, have a system of service contracts for passengers, p

i'm joined now by our transport correspondent tom burridge.took off from tehran airport in the early hours of the morning. tehran airport is at 3500 feet. it climbed to about 8000 feet within a matter of minutes. according to experts that climb was pretty normal as you would expect from an aircraft at take—off and suddenly, a few minutes into the flight the data disappeared. that is unusual. that suggests some type of catastrophic incident on board the plane. what caused that incident, we have no clues at this stage. there was a report earlier suggesting it could be engine failure. anyone seen with any certainty that at this stage that it was engine failure, is probably going too far. i've spoken to experts that basically say that an engine failure would normally not cause this type of incident. engine failures do happen and these boeing 737 800 aircraft are designed to keep going. they could have pulled the plane round all landed at another nearby airport. and the pilot says that every six months he is trained to deal with engine failure. it

tom burridge has travelled across the vast network and has been hearing what impact an unreliable trainad on people's lives. i've had to move house to be closer to uni because the trains are cancelled, or late, and i really struggle to get in in time for lectures and stuff. so, it's been really hard. you've moved house because of an unreliable train service? yeah. i've, like, moved towns completely. quite a lot of people, including myself, will end up spending an extra £100, £150 a week sometimes on taxis because the train hasn't come, i need to be in work. so, i'm a head chef at the moment. if i don't get in, people don't eat. because i use the train for university. so, like, if there are delays, i get late for lectures. so, ifeel like it's better if you drive. i've lived in the south—east. there, they've fantastic trains, millions and millions of pounds spent. in the north — north—west, particularly — they've never had any investment, and it's an absolute disgrace! it's all over. this franchise has failed. i've not been on time once to work in four months. it can't get worse, so i'm j

tom burridge, bbc news in leeds.d three parliamentary defeats in a row this evening. his first since the general election as his brexit bill goes through the house of lords. peers backed a cross—party agreement to the withdrawal agreement, to allow eu citizens physical proof of their right to live in the eu, rather than the digital proof proposed by the government. the prime minister then lost two further votes, both over the future relationship of the british courts with the eu. it means the legislation will have to go back to the commons, where the prime minister should be able to use his very large majority there, to push it through. isa it through. is a look at the headlines now. now. now. prince harry has been making his disappointment clear about his and meghan‘s future. beales has collapsed into administration putting 1,000 jobs at risk. the transport secretary has asked for more data before making the decision on hs2 as it merges it could cost £106 billion. now the sport. well it has been described as the big

tom burridge has been listening to commuters tales of woe. struggle to get in time for lectures and so it has been really hard. you moved up because of an unreliable train service? i moved towns completely. a lot of people could myself will spend an extra 100, £200 weight because the train has not, to work. i am a head chef. if i don't come in... nationalising this vast network which runs from the humber in the east to places like blackburn further west linking communities to cities like it leads one change things overnight. —— like weeds. northern pots i pick up and he said it did what it could stop you but we try to put more services on the network and the network has not kept up. that means the service has become fortune revival and a new plan is needed. the government wants performance—based contracts instead. rather than disenfranchise system which has run its course, have a syste m which has run its course, have a system of service contracts for passengers and over a long period of time but most important of all, they get paid when they

let's talk to our transport correspondent, tom burridge. where do they run trains?ss the country, in and out of big cities like manchester, leeds, places like that. bake for the rest of the country as well because it speaks about the mess the railways are in today —— big. and the action needed to sort them out and the punctuality we are seeing not only on northern in recent months, well below what passengers would expect for the money they pay for tickets. what the government has announced is, basically, the franchise, the northern franchise, has not got long left and it will be sorted quite soon, and in a matter of months, it will run out of money. not running to the end of its contract, it will end ina to the end of its contract, it will end in a couple of months because it will run out of money? at the end of last year, the government said before the election, look, northern is in trouble, came clean about the extent of the problems and said, the franchise in its current state, current guise, the set up it is today, they are complicated contracts between train co

but now work will begin to see if any of those cuts can be reversed. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridgers. volunteers who want this, the only line into fleetwood, reopened. the railway corridor is here, and we are very passionate on getting it reopened. if it reopened to fleetwood, it would make the joined up fleetwood, it would make the joined up transport that we need in this area. work needed to bring it back to life will now be assessed, as well as the value of fun —— a functioning railway would ring. back in the day used to be able to get a train from fleetwood, half a mile in that direction, right down that track, direct into london euston. but for around half a century it has been a challenge for people to even get to places nearby, like manchester or preston. the line was one of hundreds to close in the 19605 one of hundreds to close in the 1960s and 1970s. doctor beeching's new look for british railways is as sweeping as expected. richard beeching's plan was radical. more than 2000 stations will be closed. scotland's rail network before and after. wales in the north of england.

tom burridge, bbc news, in buckinghamshire.e volcano and grow vegeta bles the vicinity of the volcano and grow vegetables and breed chickens for a living, but their life was turned upside down on sunday when taal began erupting. translation: on friday afternoon, i panicked. there was a big smoke cloud and we could smell something awful. ash began falling with small stones and soil. we evacuated because somebody said there would be a toonami. we became scared. he says he wanted to return to his house today to check on his livestock, but he found many birds were in a sorry state. he was showing me a fighting clock, a popular sport in the philippines, and the bird is covered in dustand philippines, and the bird is covered in dust and ash. he said a lot of the birds were affected and he left his farm to seek safety and shelter in an evacuation centre, and other chickens are in a bad state. i have seen one at the back with what looks like a broken wing. the philippine department of agriculture says thick ash has caused more than $10

tom burridge has been following the story.ainian international airlines but i think there was even more crucial because normally the americans would be very much about what the investigation because boeing is an american manufacturer, but, given the dynamic in the region at the moment, that is going to be much more tricky commerce of ukrainians i guess will have some kind of role brokering, i guess, between the americans and the iranians, andi guess, between the americans and the iranians, and i think diplomacy will have a role to play in that kind of thing. you are not missing anything, we are keeping an eye on the white house. still awaiting the arrival of president trump who is scheduled to address the nation, he was scheduled to address the nation 11 o‘clock washington time, which is four o‘clock our time, but he is running more than ten minutes late with that. we will return to the white house as soon as he comes to the podium there. earlier i spoke to frank gardner, who gave me his thoughts on that missile strike last ni

the bbc‘s transport correspondent, tom burridge, spoke to us just before about the ukrainian airliner and crew that crashed in iran. the investigation is in its earlier stages, this airline —— this aircraft went down and what we do thatis that is available online. it shows that is available online. it shows that the plane took off normally, it climbed to about 8000 feet. at that point, the data suddenly disappears. that is unusual and suggests a catastrophic incident at some time on the plane. that is a broad term i'm using because we can't say for certain what caused that incident at the time. there have been reports about engine failure and a mechanical problem. i think any claims about that at this stage are premature, and even if there was an engine failure, the boeing 737 is designed to keep flying if an engine fails, so at the moment i think we have to keep an open mind. graham braithwaite, a professor of safety and air accident investigation at cranfield university, spoke to us a little earlier regarding the big questions now for boeing. it is also a very large fleet of aeropla

our transport correspondent tom burridge reports.w high—speed line goes on in birmingham. clearance for a new station here has revealed the remains of the old one. archaeologists now need to look at the foundations of the old station and work out if any of it needs to be preserved before this entire site can be cleared to make way for the new station. it is another indication of the complexities of this entire project, which, according to today's report, hs2 and the government underestimated. and that is one of the reasons why the budget has ballooned. this, the vision for that site. once the station is built. the national audit office says risks and uncertainty weren't properly managed but says the budget for phase one of hs2 is now robust. they have done an awful lot of work to understand the cost and they now have a better estimate of how much it will cost and how long it will take to build the railway between london and birmingham. that said, the programme as a whole is at a very early stage and risks remain. the first stretch of

our transport correspondent, tom burridge, can explain. bye for now.can see something come out from the read bit here. seeing it up close. what a stunning bird. like this in central london is rare —— central link -- central london is rare —— central link —— england. but this side of the reserve will have to be cleared to make way for a new high—speed railway called hs2. as you can see, there is already a local line here. that is where hides —— high speed two, the first stretch of it, linking london to birmingham, will run. but high—speed is a much bigger project and requires land either side of the line and in this case, it will mean would land on this side of the nature reserve will have to be cleared and as we have seen, it isa be cleared and as we have seen, it is a vital habitat for rare species of insect and birds. some locals are concerned. element people know you can't move an ancient forest from one base to another. once you have lost a habitat like this, it is gone. plus all the wildlife within it, it is gone. this reserve is one of hundreds o

tom burridge, bbc news in leeds. three men have been stabbed to death in east london.they believe the men who in were in their 20s and 30s and all from the local sikh community in ilford are "known to each other". two people have been arrested. the number of prisoners developing a drug problem in england and wales has more than doubled in the past five years, according to new research. the government doesn't dispute the findings put forward by the think tank reform, but it insists that staffing levels in prisons are at their highest for eight years. and the government has suffered three defeats over the eu withdrawal bill in the house of lords. peers voted to overturn plans for eu nationals to have a digital code to prove their right to live in the uk instead of a physical document. then later they voted against the government over two amendments on the role of the courts after brexit. ministers will aim to reverse the move when the brexit bill returns to the commons. the director general of the bbc is to leave the corporation in the summer. lord hall said leaving afte