good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the rmt union has suspended strike action planned from tomorrow, after the train operating companies promised to table a pay offer. the union has said it will now enter into a period of negotiations with network rail and the operators, meaning the walkouts planned for tomorrow, and november 7th and 9th are off. let s get more on this from our transport correspondent katy austin. i think that this was unexpected. yes, this is a significant moment, i think. this is the first time in a quite long running dispute that the rmt have called off, or suspended plant strike action for the purpose of facilitating more talks. now the rmt says eight has now had a commitment from the train companies, there will be an offer made because there will be an offer made because there has not been an offer made so far. they also say that network rail has now committed to talks without conditions attached. speaking to people in the rail industry, they say the
good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. a bbc investigation has found that albanian drug gangs are offering to pay for migrants to cross the english channel, if they are prepared to work in the uk drugs industry when they arrive. gangs are using the migrant camps of northern france as a recruitment ground. there s been a sharp rise in the number of albanians crossing the channel in small boats this year. they now account for around a third of the almost 40,000 people who have landed on england s beaches this year. lucy williamson reports. for each boat, each migrant, there can be many smugglers albanian fixers, uk guarantors, kurdish criminal gangs. the journey starts in towns like laknas, now marked by absence. the shuttered houses and empty streets signs of an exodus this year. most were drawn by uk wages ten times higher than here. and each departure makes business in laknas even harder. as the price of crossing to the uk has dropped the suburbs around tirana ar
tonight at ten. the rise in albanians crossing the channel in small boats, lured by higher wages and gangs recruiting them for the drugs trade. the numbers have gone up sharply this year we report from albania on what s behind it. locals in this neighbourhood say 70% of the community has already left, and many of those living here now are thinking ofjoining them. also on the programme tonight. staff at twitter find out if they ve been sacked, as the firm s new owner, elon musk, drastically cuts costs. a series of rail strikes due to start tomorrow has been suspended, but the late notice means services tomorrow will be extremely limited. a major shift in money for the arts. the english national opera will move out of london, as blackpool illuminations wins funding for the first time. and the facial recognition technology that s helping to identify photos of holocaust victims and its survivors. on bbc london, the growing numbers of child trafficking victims disappearing from
Build up around gaza , build up around gaza, International Reaction grows as leaders and diplomats around the world try to stop the conflict from escalating. From escalating. Well, in the last few hours, an Israeli Defence force spokesperson has said some half a Million People have already left northern gaza for the south and repeated that the Israeli Military does not actively target civilians. Prime minister target civilians. Prime minister rishi sunak will address the house of commons later today to set out the uks response to the escalating conflict. And well be speaking to the minister for armed forces , James Heappey, in armed forces, James Heappey, in the next hour. The next hour. Back at home, net migration is unlikely to fall to pre brexit levels even by the end of this decade. Will this be another conservative promise broken or Political Correspondent olivia utley live in westminster with the latest. Olivia yeah. Olivia yeah. Once upon a time we were promised net migration le
Party success in the local elections, an opinion poll gives sir keir starmer a 30 point lead over the conservatives, which does not support the prime ministers quirky theory that we are headed for a hung parliament. Starmer seize the initiative on small boats as he announced his plans to use Counter Terror powers to smash people smuggling gangs. But does the loss of some muslim voters in the local elections . Nonetheless put pressure on starmer to pivot his partys stance on gaza, and looking north of the scottish border. Can john swinney and kate forbes steer the snp away from the gender and hate crime policies pursued by Nicola Sturgeon and humza yousaf . Ill discuss all of that with my political panel. The final of the Eurovision Song Contest took place last night, with switzerlands nemo picking up the crown. Theres been a lot of controversy in recent weeks about the uks representative Olly Alexander, who said that he was ambivalent about the union jack. Doctor eurovision himself. Do