Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

Cancer and the number of teenagers with the disease is rising. The thames riverboat in which 51 people lost their lives. 30 years on, tributes are paid to those killed in the marchioness disaster. The government has reiterated its insistence that there is no prospect of a brexit deal until the eu agrees to scrap the irish backstop from the current Withdrawal Agreement. The backstop is intended to prevent a hard border on the island of ireland. Speaking earlier this evening, the Prime Minister, whos due to meet european and World Leaders this week, said he would try to persuade brussels to renegotiate the exit terms to get an agreement that would be passed by parliament dont forget why we are doing this. The existing agreementjust does not work for the uk. They have rejected it three times and we cannot have this backstop. So im going to go see him ourfriends and then going to germany and france and i am going to germany and france and i am going to make the point that the backstop is going to come out and i have also said that, under no circumstances will the uk be putting in any kind of checks at the border in Northern Ireland. We simply do not think that is necessary and it is a bit of a paradox because it is the other side of the argument, the eu, who seem to think that it might be necessary to have checks to preserve the integrity of the Single Market. De using a market. We do not think that is true. We see a big opportunity for everyone to come together, take up for everyone to come together, take up that backstop and and in the course of the negotiations on the free trade deal, which we are going to do after october the 31st, we will be bringing forward and looking at all the ways in which we can maintain frictionless trade at the Northern Irish border whether it is a trusted trader schemes or what ever it rhymes to be all that kind of thing, checks away from the border, points of sale, if you do crackdown on smuggling. All of that kind of thing come up with those or agree those solutions, i should say, in the context of the fda. That is we we re in the context of the fda. That is we were going to approach it. At the moment it is absolutely true that it isa moment it is absolutely true that it is a bit negative, and i so would donald tusk had to say, with the sense of optimism, but we will get there. I think there is a real sense now that something needs to be done with this backstop and we cannot get it through parliament as it is so i am going to go added very adamantly andi am going to go added very adamantly and i hope will be making progress in the next few weeks. But clearly, one thing that is slightly, i think, complicates the picture is our eu friends still clearly think that theres a possibility that parliament will block brexit and as long as they think theres a possibility that parliament will block brexit, they are unlikely to make the concessions that we need. So it is going to take a bit of patience. The Prime Ministers comments are the latest in a Frank Exchange between mrjohnson and eu leaders over the past 2a hours. Writing last night to the European Council president , donald tusk, mrjohnson said the uk was ready to start talks with brussels and that he was confident a tweaked deal would be approved by parliament. But he declared the backstop unviable and anti democratic. And demanded flexible and Creative Solutions from the eu instead. Responding on twitter earlier today, mr tusk rejected borisjohnsons demand saying the uk Prime Minister was not proposing realistic alternatives to prevent the creation of a hard border in ireland. The letter from mrjohnson is said to have taken the eu by surprise. Georgina wright, Senior Researcher at the institute for government, explained. The responses interesting. The reiteration of what the eu has said all along that this backstop is an insurance policy and will only apply until alternatives are found where he was a bit more strong in his language where is actually, trying to ditch this backstop with no work alternative is like deciding that youre going to wreck a hard border. Those opposing the backstop without realistic alternatives support reestablishing a hard border. That is pretty hostile language, isnt it . But this is where we are in the negotiations. It is like we are too farfrom negotiations. It is like we are too far from that cliff edge to really kind of get in mind a focus and try to find a compromise and we are still a deposition where who is going to blink first and you know, the german chancellor has echoed some of those words although not in such strong language. They are open to solutions but they have to work and at the moment, that letter does not provide with those solutions will look like. Lets get more reaction to this now from David Herszenhorn chief brussels correspondent for politico. David, good evening. Good evening. We have the letter from boris johnson, we have the reaction from the eu, where does this take us . The Prime Minister seems increasingly detached from reality and the view of brussels. He didnt propose any concrete alternative to this backstop and one key point that is mostly glossed over in his letter is that the backstop is not supposed to come into force on the day after the Withdrawal Agreement on the day after brexit takes place. In fact, it is not supposed to come into force at all. But to say he does not wa nt to force at all. But to say he does not want to put checks on the Northern Ireland border is disingenuous because it is not up to them because of the uk falls back on the rules, thatis of the uk falls back on the rules, that is what will have to be there. If there is not a Single Market in it is out of the eu market, you have the border checks and without a concrete alternative for he proposed nothing new from the eu site, then there is nothing to talk about. But there is nothing to talk about. But there was a clear message and the basic message was if you take a look at this backstop again, i think i can geta at this backstop again, i think i can get a new deal through parliament. Is that quite persuasive to the eu . No. Because there really isa to the eu . No. Because there really is a need for this insurance policy in the view of ireland, the eu and increasingly and it looks like an act of desperation, given the weeks that have come out of this are damaging and no deal brexit would be. So this seems like a Prime Minister who may be new to the job but the uk and eu negotiators have been at this for the better part of three years and if such an alternative arrangement existed, they would have found them and they wouldve put them in place. What is guaranteed if this is ratified by the house of commons of the uk will have that soft landing, the transition period on november one and they will be the time needed to get that trade deal in place. The best way for the eu to prevent the backstop from ever coming into force would be to show unity on what the future relationship with the eu will look like. But as long as the country remains divided as it is, the eu sees an increasing need for that backstop because their fear is that backstop because their fear is that the negotiations under free trade deal could drag on for a long time, given that there is no consensus on what kind of relationship it wants of the after brexit. You say it is an act of desperation, is there another reading of this that this is the start of a new set of negotiations because the government looks different from the 1000 and power a couple weeks ago and therefore the negotiations start with both sides playing hardball negotiations start with both sides playing hard ball and negotiations start with both sides playing hardball and in a few weeks time, both will start to move . Again, this is not my view, this is the view of what we are hearing from, brussels, politico, we talk about this 20 a7, they have been all over this ground already, there is no new ground because borisjohnson is not proposed anything new, if you had a new idea and put something on the table and said hey, heres what im suggesting that is different, then they could say that we might agree or disagree but in fact, he has offered nothing concrete and thats what youre hearing this tough language saying that there is no offer, there is nothing new and no offer, there is nothing new and no shift in the uk position, all there is is a desire to get rid of there is is a desire to get rid of the position that we remember was substantially altered and it was theresa may and her uk negotiations that wanted to change this to in all uk backstop and that was because they wanted it that way, they wanted to be clear that the entirety of the United Kingdom was being treated the same and once again, this backstop is intended to never come into force, it is a safety net if in fa ct, force, it is a safety net if in fact, the free trade deal after brexit can get done. What you dont often brussels is confidence that there is enough consensus in the uk to see what is a country and the government deeply divided. It is not the democracy that is failing, the representatives that are deeply divided on those who want to remain in the eu, those want to leave at the deal in those who are ready to leave without a deal. Meanwhile we see all of the announcements cummings from the uk saying just how devastating economically, socially if theres a crash out on october sist, if theres a crash out on october 31st, and they have to look at this and say you know, there is no alternative but they are not going tojump off of alternative but they are not going to jump off of this cliff. Apologies, the line broke up a little bit towards the end. Well, the bbc has seen documents suggesting that british fuel refineries, where oil is turned into petrol and diesel, could face severe difficulties in the aftermath of a no deal brexit. The documents, from within the fuel industry, also reveal the extent to which councils are already stockpiling fuel. Heres our economics editor faisal islam. By the humber, tankers fill up with petrol that has just been refined from north sea oil at one of the six remaining refineries in the uk, pumping out the petrol and diesel used by millions of vehicles. According to contingency planning, there is a danger to their viability under the governments current no deal brexit plans. The specific problem is that under no deal brexit, these refineries now face a near 5 tax on exports a tariff into the eu. Its currently zero with the uk as a member of the eu. Anything that puts uk industry at a disadvantage isnt something we think is a good idea. If we export petrol to europe, we face a 5 tariff, whereas a european refiner would face no tariffs. Its not a level playing field, but in the context of refining, its a significant figure. On top of that, in order to keep pump prices for British Consumers down after a no deal brexit, the government has allowed all petrol imports in at a 0 tariff. That makes the fuel produced here at the refinery in Pembrokeshire Wales uneconomical for exports to ireland, and yet at the same time leaves production here outcompeted by european refineries for use within the uk. That is why a local Authority Brexit planning document from anglesey says. But there is more than that. Under wto rules that will apply after a no deal brexit, the uk governments offer of zero tariff free access to eu refineries must apply to the world refineries too. The industry has told government that that means an increased dependence on the likes of russian fuel. Isnt it a good thing for consumers if they can get cheap petrol from russia and everywhere else in the world . I think the inflationary pressures long term of having a dependency on an import market would be a disadvantage. Do we want to be dependent on any country outside of the uk for our fuel . Is that really a possibility . We could end up in a situation where it becomes extremely uncompetitive for a domestic industry to stay in the uk. Although these same companies have gone public to the bbc on the threat to their refineries, they are understandably more shy on the impact of a possibly imminent no deal brexit on fuel availability. But other internal council documents seen by bbc news shed a light on existing preparations. Aberdeen council has two weeks of bunkered fuel and says of the uk wide worst case no deal scenario. So that its services dont have to operate hand to mouth in a fuel shortage after a no deal brexit. So that its services dont have to operate hand to mouth in a fuel shortage after a no deal brexit. The system to deal with fuel shortages, the National Emergency plan for fuel, is already well developed after the gridlock caused by fuel protests in 2000. Now, councils are going to notable lengths, but there are wider concerns about the viability of large parts of this vital industry. Handing a letter calling for parliament talking in downing street, they said every day from now until the 31st of october, mps should be in the house of commons forwarding the government to account describing it as a time of national crisis. And well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at 10 a0 and 11 30 this evening in the papers our guests joining me tonight are sonia sodha chief leader writer at the observer and martin betham Home Affairs Editor at the evening standard. The eu rejects borisjohnsons calls to reject the backstop, they maintain that it has to go. A 20 year old appears in court charged with the murder of pc Andrew Harper, killed by investigating a burglary last week. The Energy Regulator launches an investigation into the outage that left a Million People, with no power and it could lead to fines. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. Steve smith is out of the 3rd ashes test. He hasnt recovered from the concussion suffered after being struck by a bouncer from jofra archer at lords on saturday he couldnt bat in the second innings he couldnt bat in the second innings in the drawn test. This was him at headingley this morning. He didnt take part in training and has failed to pass concussion tests. Smith has been the man of the series so far, so this is a massive blow for australia. He scored two centuries at edgbaston as well as 92 at lords. We are going to lose her best batter, so it is always a blow, no doubt about that when you have your best player out it always has an impact. So we have to make sure that we have our senior players and our younger players all step up and feel what are almost unbillable shoes because hes the best player in the world. The squat mentality being ready and when things come up like they always do in this game, our quys they always do in this game, our guys are they always do in this game, our guys are ready to step up and i am confident that they will do that. Mark robinson is stepping down as the head coach of the england womens cricket team. Robinson has been in the role for four years and won the world cup two years ago. His departure comes after england suffered a disappointing ashes defeat to australia this summer. Assistant coach alastair maiden will take temporary charge ahead of the championship series against pakistan in december. There is a full midweek programme this week, five matches taking place tonight with a couple of the goals and the match so far. Leading 1 0, middlesboro are also a goal up in the final six places in the Champions League are also up for grabs in the final round of the qualifier taking place of the next week. The last week semifinalist, one of the teams in action they are one of the teams in action they are on their way to the first leg, the goalless there. Twitter says its suspended several accounts after paul pogba was targeted with racist abuse. Its after he missed a penalty in last nights 1 all draw with wolves at molineux. Manchester united have condemned the posts, saying theyre trying to identify the people behind them. Social Media Companies are also being urged to do more. The former united player and now england womens manager phil neville has called for a socila media boycott. It isa it is a problem notjust in football, it is a problem in society. But football now is at the forefront of everybodys minds in terms of we have the power to do something about it dating the Football Community will. I think we try, but it is getting to the point where i think we need to make a very strong message and i said every single footballer out there and to every cloud into the pfa is why do we not make a big stand . All social media now and see if that makes a big enough impact . Its understood that the bury owner steve dale has turned down a new offer to buy the club from a former chairman. The League One Club began the season with a 12 point deduction and have yet to play a game. Theyve had all of their matches called off by the Football League forfailing to provide proof of funding. The club only has until friday to try and avoid expulsion from the league altogether. England, scotland and ireland have all failed to reach the mens semi finals at the eurohockey championships. England needed to beat spain in their final pool game, but could only draw 2 all. Scotland lost to the netherlands after germany had beaten ireland. These are the live pictures from waless match against belgium now in pool a. If theyre to avoid the fate of england, scotland and ireland they must beat the hosts by 5 goals thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in sportsday at half past ten. National grid say a Lightning Strike was to blame the man charged with murdering pc Andrew Harper, who was killed last thrusday, has appeared at Reading Magistrates Court. Jed foster, aged twenty, is also charged with the theft of a quad bike. He denies the charges and his solicitor called on the police to follow all lines of inquiry. Pc harper of Thames Valley police had only been married for a month. Our Home Affairs Correspondent Daniel Sandford was in court. Being brought upstairs in handcuffs at Reading Magistrates Court today, jed foster, who was charged last night with the murder of pc Andrew Harper. The 20 year old is also accused of the theft of a quad bike, just before the Police Officer died. Pc harpers family came to court to see the man accused of killing him in person, to bear witness to his first appearance in the dock. During the two minute hearing, jed foster simply confirmed his name, date of birth and his address near reading. His family were also in court, including his mother, holding a teddy bear, and afterwards his solicitor made this statement. On behalf of him and his family, he emphatically denies any responsibility or involvement in the horrific murder of pc Andrew Harper. We urge the police to follow every single line of inquiry to prove who is responsible and to ensure that there is justice in this case. Pc Andrew Harper was the first Police Officer to die in the line of duty for more than two years. He married his wife just 28 days before he was killed. Pc harper had been called out on thursday night to reports of a burglary and a stolen quad bike, but somehow he ended up under a vehicle, being dragged across the busy aa and ended up being treated for his fatal injuries in that road on the other side of the junction. This afternoon, scenes of crime officers continued to work at a local travellers site and on nearby roads, while the nine other people who had been held on suspicion of murder were released on police bail until next month. Pc harpers death has been felt very deeply in the wider police family, with officers from forces across england laying flowers at the crossroads where he fell. Meanwhile, in neigbouring oxfordshire where pc haper lived blue ribbons have put put up in shop windows in his memory. Louisa currie reports from wallingford a month into married life of so many plans for the future. Reading and open letter in tribute to her husband. She starts, to my best friend, the kindest loveliest most selfless person youll ever meet. You are brave, funny and almost the always there for anyone. My heart is broken without you in i never stop loving you and i feel so grateful for the happiest 13 years of my life. In the home town, thin blue lines adorn the town centre. He was the sort of person that you just ta ke two was the sort of person that you just take two and reallyjust the nicest quy take two and reallyjust the nicest guy you can meet. A blue ribbon outside of his nursery in tribute to his late friend before he knew it, he was inundated with requests. We just wanted to make attribute without bothering the family and it is been really emotionalfor without bothering the family and it is been really emotional for people that knew andrew but we didnt realise just how much other people felt the same grief and when we first were asked for the ribbon, most people didnt realise that andrew was as local as they were. Many of those displaying the ribbons had never met him. It was a shocking thing to happen and he was a local lad who lived in the area and we just want to show our support to the family and friends of harper and we are so family and friends of harper and we are so proud of what he went out to do to look after the community and to look after the people and doing hisjob. To look after the people and doing his job. As the floral tributes grow, she thanked them for their m essa 9 es grow, she thanked them for their m essa g es of grow, she thanked them for their messages of support and kind words. National grid say a Lightning Strike was to blame for an electricity blackout that caused more than a Million People to lose power in england and wales earlier this month. Two generators effectively tripped causing the biggest blackout in more than a decade. The National Grid and other Companies Involved are now being investigated by the Energy Regulator and they could face fines. Our Business Correspondent emma simpson reports. Lights out, chaos and confusion. It was the biggest blackout in a decade, hundreds of trains cancelled and passengers stranded. Traffic lights not working, a large hospital affected and Newcastle Airport too. Today, more detail on what caused the power cut. At a 52pm, there was a Lightning Strike north of london hitting a transmission line. Immediately, hornsea offshore wind farm lost power. It shouldnt happen with lightning. At the same time, at Little Barford in bedfordshire, a gas power station also tripped with two large generators failing. There wasnt enough reserve power to instantly bridge the gap. So the emergency system kicked in to prevent a wider shutdown, and 5 of the countrys electricity demand was taken out. It meant 1. 1 million customers lost power. Shortly after 5pm, the system stabilised. It could have been a lot worse, the system worked to prevent a cascade failure and we still have a system operating now. I would say it worked as intended. But did it . Why was there so much disruption, especially on the railways . There were some minor signalling problems, but the key issue was 60 new Govia Thameslink trains. An internal safety mechanism was triggered and they ground to a halt. Around half of them needed engineers to get them restarted, causing widespread chaos and delays. So, should the National Grid be more resilient . This company and its batteries helped to restore the power supply. Its on standby to deliver instant electricity when needed. Simply, the incident could have been avoided. What we need is more back up, Fast Response power such as batteries which operate in less than a second. If we had those we wouldnt have seen an outage. As we go further forward with climate change, this will happen more and more. Thats something the Energy Regulator will also be looking at as part of its investigation. It could fine the National Grid or any of the other electricity Companies Involved if they are found to be at fault. Well, lets speak now to the energy consultant, georgia elliott smith, who joins us live from enfield in north london. We do not know the full story but based on that, what do you make of that . Well, obviously as your report said, the fact that it was two stations that went out at the same time within seconds of another was really unprecedented event in fact, it has not happened for over a decade and less time it happened was in 2008 where a nuclear station and a power station both at interrupted and a half Million People lost power so this was a much larger scale. The point theyre made was that shouldve been a system where there is more back up when this kind of thing occurs. Is that right . How would that look . At the moment, there are systems in place that mean that the grid holds a back up and that the grid holds a back up and thatis that the grid holds a back up and that is to cover a Single Source, the largest Single Source to the grid going down to what happened in this case we do not know why yet, to major sources went down within seconds of one another and clearly the back up that was held was not enough and the lack of power to the grid totalled 1a00 megawatts and so it was some way short of what was required on that particular day and Lightning Strikes happen all the time, sometimes they can be thousands of Lightning Strikes across the grid on a particular day and this should not have happened. So we need a lot more investigation into the final which i believe is the beginning of september. What about the decisions that are made when Something Like this occurs and as to who is affected and who is not . How is that decision arrived at . A standard is in place with all of the Distribution Networks operators and a process called shedding, with the frequency of the whole grid drops 5 of the network shuts down, 95 and as i said it is somewhat randomised however the major protected site, such as hospitals and airports that have their own Generation Networks and should be protected from power cuts like this but what theyre saying is it indicates here that they believe it indicates here that they believe it was failures of the independent generators and systems at the hospital and the airport that failed rather than the power from the grid. When the full report comes out a suspect rule talk to you again soon. Hello. There have been some really decent spots of sunshine across the uk this afternoon and tomorrow i think there will be cloud around where it will be notably stronger but the south westerly wind is the start to bring us into the warmer air. And work its way north across overnight, he did this make that here. A warm front that will bring some showers into Northern England in southern scotland but to the south of it, temperatures in double figures much milder than last night but still some cooler spots across rural scotland. But it continues its journey north is going to wednesday with daytime actually quite a lot of sunshine through there and it should be pretty pleasant, but a few showers from wells in Northern England in the front brings rain into Northern Ireland, and then on the wet afternoon for parts of Northern England. Temperatures around eastern scotland where we keep the sunshine, or 2a in the southeast. Hello this is bbc news. The headlines. A war of words on the irish backstop the eu rejects borisjohnsons calls to ditch the arrangement, hes adament, it has to go. The existing agreement does not work for the the existing agreement does not work forthe uk, the existing agreement does not work for the uk, parliament sorted out three times we cannot have a backstop. Britains Oil Refineries warn that their long term future may be in doubt if britain leaves the eu without a deal. A 20 year old appears in court, charged with the murder of pc Andrew Harper, killed while investigating a burglary last week. The night a Million People in england and wales lost power the industry watchdog opens an investigation there could be fines. Khaleeya was just fourteen when she was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer and the number of teenagers with the disease is rising. The thames riverboat in which 51 people lost their lives. Million pounds to raise the rail route has been announced today. More now on the uk government, is a 2a hours and Northern Ireland economics and business editorjohn campbell has this assessment of the content campbell has this assessment of the co nte nt of campbell has this assessment of the content of borisjohnsons letter to donald tusk. This means the Prime Minister is effectively accepting long standing unionist criticism, the backstop. It draws analysis by Laura Trimble and others is a the backstop bridge is the principle of consent and gives a dublin too much say over that direction of cross border operation. The dup welcome the Prime Minister comments. Hes right to point out that there is Union Support for the backstop, and that part at the good friday agreement at the core that is of course a cross agreement at the core that is of course a cioss community consensus. That is present for the backstop. Unsurprisingly, sinn fein say he has it all wrong. Had no interest in the good the interest reality is putting a hard barter and island. The uks farming unions have warned that leaving the European Union without a deal would cause severe disruption to the industry. The governments farming minister, George Eustice said the government would support the sector through what he called short term turbulence. Gareth barlow reports. Brexit has brought uncertainty to agriculture, but nowhere more so than here on the irish border. Owen martins family have farmed dairy cattle in south armagh on the very edge of Northern Ireland for nearly 100 years. You wouldnt think there was a border. Many times you cross the border and you dont realise it. No deal is chaos, its going to be. Nobody seems to know what we can do. Staff you can hold on, but milk has to. Our tanks are full every other day. Second day, with a hard border, wed have to throw it out. Thats our livelihood. So what do you need to see . Whats the best possible outcome . A deal and a transition period. Hundreds of thousands of animals and millions of litres of milk cross the irish border every year. Its somewhere around here but theres nothing to show exactly where it is. For the businesses and for the people on both sides, its practically invisible. Unlike here, between sweden and norway, where you simply cant miss the border. This crossing from an eu country into a non eu country is not only a physical barrier but also impacts the decisions made by the norwegian government and their farmers. Norway isnt in the eu, but it is a key trading partner, a situation the uk will be keen to replicate. The countrys Agricultural Policy is focused on guaranteeing food prices and supporting norwegian farmers. One of the Biggest Challenges forfarmers like bjorn is competing against the size of the European Union. We feel that its always in favour of the eu because we are not able to compete on the eu market. There is a strong support for agriculture in norway by the consumer and by the government and parliament. So, the best paying market is right here outside my barn door. Back in the uk, farming unions have called on the government to strike a deal with the eu and do more to support british farmers. Weve spent three years planning for a no deal brexit, were going to do everything we can to make sure that the border flow continues and we are also going to put in place support for sectors like sheep that may be affected through that short term turbulence. Confidence in westminster, but even amongst farmers who support brexit there are calls for clarity. I probably would vote the same way. The problem is, weve let politicians take over and do it and thats where the problems arise. It doesnt matter what happens comes the 31st of october, we just need to know whats going to happen. Just knowing. This uncertainty has been the biggest challenge. Forfarmers, dealing with brexit is like dealing with the weather. The question being asked across the sector whats coming next . Gareth barlow, bbc news. Its a disease that normally affects women over the age of 50 but cases of Ovarian Cancer in younger women and teenagers are increasing. The teenage cancer trust is now calling for young people with symptoms to see their gp as early as possible. So what should you look out for . Our correspondent, adina campbell, has been to meet one girl who was diagnosed at the age of 1a. In the lead up to her diagnosis, aspiring singer kelliyah had a number of symptoms, but didnt think they were serious. My belly got really big, but i thought i was putting on weight. Then i started doing exercises, i started going up hills, doing push ups, but nothing was working. Then i went vegan to see if i would lose a bit of weight. But my belly was getting bigger and bigger. Weeks later she was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer at the age of just 1a. Doctors found a tumour weighing five kilograms. The womans face was like. Like, what is that . so, i then started to get scared and i started crying. Ovarian cancer normally affects women over the age of 50, but the teenage cancer trust and Cancer Research uk say there has been a rise in the number of under 25s being diagnosed since the early 1990s. Overall, the number is low, around 1a0 cases in the uk every year. Unfortunately, there is no Screening Test for Ovarian Cancer. There is confusion, that women believe the cervical smear test will test for Ovarian Cancer. It doesnt, it only tests for the cervical cancer. Only 2 of these cases affect women and girls under the age of 20. Kelliyah has made a full recovery, but has to have checkups and scans every three months for the next five years. Her fertility may also be limited. I can still have children in the future, but i would have to have them earlier, because unfortunately, i might experience menopause at an early age. Ijust wanted to do everything now, now, now. Time doesnt wait for anyone, so i might as well do it now. Adina campbell, bbc news. 30 years ago a boat sank on the river thames and 51 people lost their lives. A group of friends had hired the marchioness for a Birthday Party and in the early hours of the morning it was struck by a much larger vessel near southwark. A service of remembrance has been held today, to mark the anniversary. Our reporter has been speaking to survivors and relatives of the victims about that day in 1989 and their long fight for answers. And just a warning you might find some of the details in this report by ayshea buksh upsetting. The boat was hired for a private party organised by jonathan the boat was hired for a private party organised byjonathan for his friends birthday. They had it from 1am to party through the night along the river thames. But a5 minutes later there was a collision. I turned around and saw this large vessel coming towards us with people running on the bow and shouted and realised we were going to get run over and they bashed into us and all the windows started bursting and we started capsizing and it then was just horrific. The party boat had been struck pay dredger called the, struck by a dredger calmed the bow bell. I could see the debris of the broken boat on the water. Lots of people screaming. Another friend of mine called matt floated by on a piece of drift wood and hauled me on to it as well and he was very encouraging, saying, we are going to be fine, we will be ok. And obviously the water was getting colder and colder. And wider and wider as we were floating out of london, sort of floating towards the east. It was completely dark. It was derelict that part of river. We started hearing helicopters and they seemed to be going in the other direction. It transpired the Emergency Services were given the wrong information about the boats location and party goers on another cruise rescued jonathan and others. There had been 131 people on board. 51 died. For the families of other victims, 30 years on, the memories of the lives that were lost live on. Julie lost her 20 year old sun simon and margarets sun sean was also killed. How will you be remembering him . Remembering all the laughter and his smile. Because he had a sense of humour and he enjoyed life. He is not physically, but he is in my heart and hett all the time. The last thing i said to him was i love you. You cant measure that. That is one of the last things i said to him. Their grief was compounded by a long fight for justice. Eventually a Public Inquiry made recommendations for improved river safety, including more lifeboat stations along the thames. Since the incident, we have introduced a gps tracking system for boats and that allows us to, similar to air traffic control, allows our centre at woolwich to monitor the traffic on the river. A Memorial Service is being held today to remember those killed in the disaster 30 years ago. The headlines on bbc news. The eu ditch his calls for a backstop saying he has no alternative and they say yes to 19 to go. 20yearolds charged with the murder of pc Andrew Harper while investigating a burglary last week. And regulator launching an investigation into the outage leaving millions of people without power and it could lead to fines. Russia says it wont hand over radiation data to a Nuclear Watchdog which has raised concerns about an explosion at a military testing facility earlier this month. Moscow says five people were killed. The comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation wants to know why four russian monitoring sites went off line after the accident in the Northern Region of arkhangelsk. Two days after the reported explosion, the two nearest testing stations in kirov and dubna stopped transmitting data. A spokesperson for the comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization confirmed issues at the stations and said theyd also experienced issues receiving data from sites at zalesovo and bilibino three days later. Lets talk more on this now with executive director of the arms control association, Daryl Kimball who joins me from washington. Good evening to you. What suspicions come to mind for you when you put all this information together . Well, we know that there was an accident off the northern coast of russia and august eight involving what appears to bea august eight involving what appears to be a missile propulsion system involving nuclear material, so there was some sort of radiation leakage, the wind was blowing north to south, reaching the coast and there were scattered reports of spikes in radiation levels and some of the populated areas. Said the stations he mentioned that are part of the comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban treaty is monitoring system, they are designed to detect and deter clandestine Nuclear Weapon test explosions, not radiation from nuclear accidents, which is essentially august eight. Suresh appears to be trying to obscure details about the type of radioactive material, the amount of radioactive material, the amount of radio active dispersal in the days afterwards. I did to obscure the nature of the Research Work theyre doing on the Missile System or to try and downplay public concerns about health risks caused by some of the low level radiation exposure. Under the International Arrangements that exist in the area, is it feasible to put any pressure on russia to reveal more . Feasible to put any pressure on russia to reveal more . |j feasible to put any pressure on russia to reveal more . I think its not a legitimate reason for russia to stop the transmittal of information to the Treaty Organisations data centre. But the treaty is not enforced because some countries like United States and china have not ratified it. So the is being delivered by many countries through the 300 plus stations around the world essentially on a voluntary basis. Suresh has unilaterally decided not to send this data. I think its a mistake, i think it sets a very bad precedent, and other countries should be encouraging russia to make sure the stations are operating normally and fully and not the information they have gathered is eventually delivered it to the International Data centre at the organisation indiana. E make an interesting point though, is their inclination on the part of countries like the United States or china to change their view of it so the whole thing carries more weight . Well, i think other countries could weigh and particularly those and europe and particularly those and europe and elsewhere, japan who has signed and elsewhere, japan who has signed and ratified the conference at Nuclear Test Ban treaty. U nfortu nately, Nuclear Test Ban treaty. Unfortunately, the United States doesnt have much leverage chair because the us under the Trump Administration has said they did not support the treaty. They did not intend to rectify, so i think their credibility and encouraging russia to provide information from the stations is extremely low. At the us wa nts to stations is extremely low. At the us wants to benefit from getting the data from the stations, the us needs to fulfil its responsibilities. But let me be clear. Russia i think has an interest in making sure the system operates normally. It should not be hiding information from its public or international community. And i hope they are more cooperative and transparent. Thank you for coming on. The man who tricked detectives by claiming to be the yorkshire ripper has died. John humble who was known as wearsidejack sent police on a wild goose chase when he sent them hoax letters and an audio tape in the late 1970s. Alistair gill reports. Imjack. I see you are still having no luck catching me. The words of a man police were convinced was the yorkshire ripper. This tape and letters sent to West Yorkshire police in 1979 led the manhunt to focus on the north east and sunderland in particular. You are no nearer catching me now than four years ago when i started. But wearsidejack, as he was known, wasnt the ripper. He was this man, john humble, a hoaxer who police pursued while the real Ripper Peter Sutcliffe remained at large by going on to kill three more women. I can remember, there was one young detective, new onto the enquiry, and he came in and he said, ive interviewed a man today. One of the officers said, is he a geordie . No, no. Whats his name . He said, peter sutcliffe. Now, listen, boys. Peter sutcliffe is not the yorkshire ripper. In a documentary released earlier this year, tracy brown who as i typed in 1975 by a man thought to be the rapper said she told police the voice on the tape was not the right man. Well, to me it was obvious it was not him. And so the more i kept saying it was not him, the more incensed they were getting because i wasnt telling them what they wanted to hear. A lot of resources were diverted north, and as i say, they really frustrated and hindered and distracted this inquiry and like say, perhaps lives could have been saved if it wasnt for him. He was arrested in 2005 thanks to dna taken from envelopes he had sent. In this police interview, he was made to read the transcript from his tape. You are no near catching me now, and four years ago when i started. I regret it, like, especially those lasses who died. He served just four years in prison, but guilt for what hed done no doubt stayed with him for the rest of his life. Alasdair gill, bbc look north. The Foreign Office has expressed concern over reports that a hong kong consulate employee has been detained at the chinese border since august the 8th. Simon cheng, who is thought to be from hong kong, is believed to have gone missing on his return from shenzhen. Our china correspondent Steven Mcdonnell reports the announcement was short on detail but an announcement of some form has been promised. The hong kong leader says she wants to hear from across the community about the current tensions but she did not explain how this would happen. We will start immediately a platform for dialogue with people from all walks of life, so this is something that we want to do in a very sincere and humble manner. Many are blaming herfor tricking the hong kong crisis, but carrie lam has been under pressure, with a slip political solution. Injune the proposal to allow people to be sent to chinese courts controlled by the communist party sparked mass rallies. From the bungled government response to hundreds of thousands protesting against the bill, there have been increasingly violent conflicts between radicalised youths and thousands of riot police. Now, in may be something of an olive branch, she says she is ready to listen. I and my principal officials are committed to listen to what the people have to tell us. We want to reach out to the community as soon as possible. In the battle for ideas, social Media Company twitter says it has uncovered widespread Misinformation Campaign emanating from the chinese government. According to twitter there has been a significant state backed Information Operation focused on the situation in hong kong with the goal of undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement. Hundreds of thousands of patrol accounts have been detected. Diplomatic stress between britain and china is increasing again following reports that simon cheng, a trade and Investment Officer at the british consulate, was detained trying to re enter hong kong from the mainland. A Foreign Office spokesman said we are concerned by reports that a member of our team has been detained while returning to hong kong from shenjen. We are providing support to the family and seeking further off information from the authorities in the province and hong kong. There does seem to be an easing of tensions in recent days with protesters returning to a more peaceful path and the government of carrie lam offering some sort of dialogue but its not until we know what form this dialogue will take that we will know if this is a genuine shift in this citys political crisis or merely a temporary ceasefire with a more violent street clashes to come. Long awaited plans to upgrade the Trans Pennine railway between manchester and york have been announced. The route will be part electrified, stations rebuilt and tracks upgraded to create a 100 mile per hour railway, as spencer stokes reports. One of the busiest railways in the country, and it shows. Many services on the line are late and overcrowded. Network rail is effectively starting from scratch. Relaying the route from here to huddersfield would double the number of tracks. Its a big project costing billions of pounds, involving rebuilding for stations. Including the dilapidated ravens start. It provides additional capacity for fast trains to take over the slow trains, which would be for tract electrified with modern digital signalling and improved Customer Experience along the route. Its Customer Experience along the route. Its part of a large enhancement for the railway and north england. Hopefully with the first phase of many more enhancements against to calm. Although transco 100 miles an hour rather than 70, network rail states not by be its not getting more trains running and crucially running on time. Dont underestimate the size of the task facing them. They are going to completely reengineer eight miles of victorian rally. Thats going to bring disruption for passengers, but also for people and businesses along the route. Adding the tracks mean more land will be needed, so around ten homes will have to be demolished. Some firms next to the rally could see compulsory purchase orders. The Storage Company received a letter asking for a meeting. If they want the whole site, which is about two acres, is life changing relief s. Are you in limbo wondering and waiting . A little bit, because he had planned to develop the site, there was a five year plan to raise it up there was a five year plan to raise itupi there was a five year plan to raise it up ijust bought it from my pa rents it up ijust bought it from my parents estate synaptic on hold till we hear something. It takes four yea rs we hear something. It takes four years to rebuild that rally with a line closed for months at a time. Trains vibrated and replacement buses brought in. So, is it worth it . If you take a bus its about one hour so is way longer i dont want to do that. Its the same as motorways and they have been upgraded died so we are seeing the benefit of that, i think gives us a benefit of that, i think gives us a benefit and takes four years has to benefit and takes four years has to be good. We should because its very slow so i think its good. At the scheme backed up version of what was pressure proposed in 2011. That was the electric wires running from liveable to hollow, but now i grab a leave the stations will deliver greater benefits for passengers. Now its time for a look at the weather. Hello, my defence by the sun shining across the uk this afternoon. Tomorrow more cloud around, and wind will be notably stronger. Southwest wind starting to break into someone air. Notair wind starting to break into someone air. Not air moving north across the uk overnight. As lena cried he can make out here is a one front that brings showers. To the south, at temperatures in double figures every night milder than last night. Cooler spots across scotland. The one front continues its journey north as he go into wednesday cannot quite a lot of sunshine around that morning feeling pleasant. The wind strengthens all the wire with a few showers throughout the Northern England and defined his rain into Northern Ireland clearing for the evening here, then a wet afternoon with scotla nd here, then a wet afternoon with scotland and pricing of Northern England. Temperature is around 18 degrees, sunshine about 23 or 2a in the southeast. Hello, im ros atkins, this is outside source. Italys political crisis got deeper today. The Prime Minister has resigned, after launching a fierce attack on his deputy the populist matteo salvini. What happens next is largely up to the president it could be an election, but not necessarily. Well talk through the options in a moment. The eu defends the irish backstop, after borisjohnson said it cant be part of any brexit deal. Well hear from brussels. Syrian rebels have withdrawn from a key strategic town inside the last remaining rebel held province. And Facebook Says it will now tell you which apps and websites send it data about you