21/10/2016 BBC News at Six

The Welsh village of Aberfan falls silent, 50 years after the disaster

that killed 144 people - most of them children.

Remembering the dead at the exact moment when the village

was suddenly hit by an avalanche of coal mining waste.

It engulfed a primary school and houses around it.

People had to dig with their bare hands to reach survivors.

A hell of a noise, didn't know what it was and we looked up to the

window and we saw, like, a black mass.

Tonight, we'll hear from one of the last people

Tonight, we'll hear from one of the last people

A teenager's arrested on suspicion of terrorism

after a suspect package was found in London yesterday.

The undercover Fake Sheikh - journalist Mazher Mahmood -

is jailed for tampering with evidence in a drugs trial.

Sailing past the White Cliffs of Dover - the Russian

warships heading to Syria, shadowed as they go

And an unexpected twist for Wonder Woman as the fictional

character's made a United Nations envoy for women.

And coming up on BBC News, more toil for England in Chittagong.

A half-century from Tamim Iqbal helps Bangladesh gain the upper hand

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

It was one the worst disasters in modern British history.

This morning, a minute's silence was held in the Welsh village

of Aberfan at 9.15 - the exact moment 50 years

ago when 116 children and 28 adults were killed.

They died when an avalanche of coal waste ? 150,000 tonnes of it -

slid down the hillside and engulfed the village primary school

Around the half the children at the school were killed.

Sian Lloyd has spent the day in Aberfan and joins us now.

Sophie, this is the entrance of the memorial garden where Pantglas

school once stood. There have been many visitors here today. It has

been difficult for some, but it has also been an opportunity for

bereaved families, survivors and rescuers to be reunited.

Early morning in Aberfan and a community coming together

to remember the disaster 50 years ago.

The site of Pantglas School is now a memorial garden.

At 9:15, the moment classrooms were engulfed,

And at the cemetery, high on the hillside.

This was a time to remember the 144 people who died in a man-made

disaster when liquefied coal waste slid down the mountainside.

Eight-year-old Gerald Kirwan was in the second year juniors. He was one

of the lucky ones, but his memories are still very raw. I could hear

like, a rumbling, thunder. Like a jet aeroplane. A hell of a noise,

didn't know what it was and we, like, looked up to the window and we

have seen, like, a black mass coming to the window. I remember being

pushed across the classroom to the back wall, the muck was up to my

chest. We were just waiting, wondering, what had happened to

cause the devastation we were trapped in. Where classrooms had

once stood, today the Prince of Wales planted a tree, a tribute to

the lost generation. No one should have to do bear the

losses you suffered, but no one could have borne those losses with

greater strength or greater courage. A balloon for each of the victims

and a moment for Gerald Kirwan to share with his granddaughter, after

keeping his emotions bottled up for half a century. We never, ever spoke

about it, to my mother and father, my brothers, nobody. Even the

children, there were only a few of us in that second year who survived.

It was like... It was like our little dirty secret. But it had been

a disaster that was waiting to happen. Coal waste had been dumped

in huge tips on top of streams and natural springs on murder mountain.

Local people were joined by miners in the search for survivors --

Merthyr mountain. But as the hours passed, rescuers realised that the

children they were now finding had all died. Many were looking for

their own own sons and daughters. David Goldsworthy lost his

ten-year-old brother that day. This is the first time he has returned to

Aberfan on the anniversary itself from Canada, where he emigrated more

than 40 years ago. Daredevil. He would have been 60 this year, in

August. And the fact that I'd liked to have had a brother. No one was

ever prosecuted for the lives that were lost, although the National

Coal Board was found to be to blame. I can go back to that class in

seconds. If I close my eyes, I'm there. And I don't imagine that will

ever go away. Jeff Edwards was also in Pantglas

school that day, in the same class as Gerald Kirwan. He was the last

child to be carried out alive and he has helped organise today's events.

What has today meant for the community of Aberfan? This morning

at the cemetery was a very emotive thing for us and it always is. We

remembered those people who lost their lives on that particular day,

so always a very difficult time up at the cemetery, but at one o'clock,

when the Prince of Wales came, the atmosphere was lightened

considerably. The Prince took his time to speak to everybody walking

down my road and he asked them what their involvement was in the

disaster and how they got over the disaster, and what were their

futures like? People started to speak openly about what happened on

that day and I think that has been very cathartic for people and it has

released a huge amount of emotion and energy and it has also brought

the community back together. There are people who visited today that we

haven't seen for 40 or 50 years and it has really gelled the community

back into a real community, a community that is looking forward

but also remembering the past and the terrible tragedy that took place

50 years ago today, on the 25th of October. Because for many years,

decades, Aberfan was a closed community to the outside world,

people didn't want to talk about it. We didn't want to speak about it at

all, really. I think that is one of the benefits of the Prince coming,

they have opened up and I think they will find it very useful in coming

to terms with the anxieties they have had over many years. So the

visit has been very beneficial. Obviously, he brought a letter from

the Queen of condolence to the community, which was very important

to us. He spoke up the courage of the community and the determination

of the community and that was an important message to give, but it

also reflected the nation's sympathy for us, and those condolences, and

that has helped us and supported us during this very difficult day

today. Thank you so much for talking to us. This has been the story of

Aberfan, one of such tragic loss but also a spirit of survival.

Sian Lloyd, thank you. A 19-year-old man has been arrested

under the Terrorism Act after a suspicious device was found

on a Tube train yesterday. Our home affairs correspondent

June Kelly is in North London Our home affairs correspondent

June Kelly is in north London Well, yesterday, there was a

security alert on the Underground system in south London and today,

and arrest Ian Holloway, north London, and this followed a

counterterrorism operation involving armed police -- in Holloway.

The teenage suspect under arrest and being led away

It was early afternoon when they moved in on him on a busy

They had him just under where the bridge is, just there.

This witness, who doesn't want his face shown, works close by.

All of a sudden, I saw four or five men running towards this guy then

they put him on the floor, they were shouting, saying

And then I was looking from upstairs, they had him

on the floor and he was struggling, obviously.

Police used a Taser stun gun to overpower the 19-year-old.

He was struggling not to be arrested, but in the end,

they arrested him and they took him away.

He's been detained after a security alert yesterday on the Tube network.

A suspicious package was found on a train at North Greenwich

station and was detonated in a controlled explosion.

It is now being forensically examined.

There are reports, unconfirmed by the police, that it contained

Tonight, the suspect is being held on suspicion

of committing, preparing and instigating terrorist acts.

Theresa May has warned other European leaders

that she won't be sidelined during Brexit negotiations.

She said that the UK would continue to "meet our rights

and responsibilities" as long as it's a member

The Prime Minister was speaking on the final day of the EU summit

from where our Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg reports.

Colour-coded documents tagged, ready for the talks.

But after only a five-minute hearing at 1am can Theresa May

Not just throw up their hands, or worse, gang up against Britain.

My aim is to cement Britain as a close partner with the EU

once we have left and the UK will continue to face

similar challenges to our European neighbours.

We will continue to share the same values and so I want a mature,

cooperative relationship with our European partners.

Do you really expect all 27 countries in the European Union

to keep listening to Britain when we are quitting?

Aren't they entitled, actually, to ignore us now?

But as long as we are members of the European Union,

we continue to meet our rights and obligations as members

of the European Union and that has been welcomed and I think

that is the right spirit and approach to take in this.

We will continue to play our role, as I have done,

I can assure you that I haven't been backwards

Just listen to the EU's top official.

How did the evening go with Theresa May?

We had no special event with Theresa May yesterday.

to stop influence draining away before we leave.

She has all the experience, she knows the corridors,

how to talk on how to behave and what to expect from others,

There's still business to do, on steel dumping, on Russia.

How did you get on with Theresa May last night?

..that the UK still deserves to have a voice.

This is so tricky for the Prime Minister because Britain

has basically told the rest of the EU, we want a divorce,

but we won't move out for two years and we still want to call the shots.

Theresa May is keen to preserve as much influence as possible,

but that will be irritating to the rest of the EU.

It's been a grumpy summit all round, with tensions between its leaders

on Brexit, and despite the Brussels' top brass's best efforts,

an EU trade deal with Canada is being blocked by just one tiny part

an EU trade deal with Canada is being blocked by just one part

A taste of what might lie ahead for us.

As meeting the EU's top official, the difficulties of escaping

As leaders left after 15 hours of talks out of 24...

More or less one hour left to Italian journalists.

..not much is settled, but this - there is no guarantee continental

colleagues will heed Britain's demands to be heard.

No sense, even, that our wishes will be a priority.

And the Prime Minister leaves under no illusion that quitting the EU

The newspaper journalist Mazher Mahmood - known

as the Fake Sheikh - has been jailed for 15 months,

for tampering with evidence during the drugs trial of

A number of other celebrities who claim they were victims

of Mahmood's "stings" and jailed as a result are now trying to

The man with his face hidden behind the hood is Mazher Mahmood,

the Fake Sheikh, the king of the tabloid sting.

He would pose as an Arab sheik and lured dozens of people to do

or say things that made them front-page news.

Today, he was the one heading for jail, a 15 month sentence

for lying and manipulating evidence, trying to get the singer Tulisa

Outside court, one of his former victims, the actor John Alford,

We now know that Mazher Mahmood is a manipulator of evidence

This goes to show no one is above the law.

Behind him, others who had been stung by the Fake Sheikh.

He's not a journalist, he is a nasty conman.

No, I never did, I never thought that we, the little people,

would ever get the truth out there and it's a great day for us.

Now many of the criminal cases are under review.

Over the years, he's boasted about how many people he's

helped send to prison, sometimes based almost entirely

He has now been sacked by the Sun On Sunday

but some wonder why it didn't happen sooner.

It was 28 years ago that he left his job at the Sunday Times

He was soon back, a star of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World.

His former boss always felt there was something wrong.

The warnings were there, the warnings were there

for the police, who continued to assist him, the warnings

were there for News International, who continued to employ him,

and I find it astonishing that he wasn't found out soon.

And of course, all this follows the hacking scandal.

The Government said there would be a second part of the Leveson

Inquiry, an investigation into the press and the police.

This conviction has only added to the demands for that inquiry

Aberfan remembers, 50 years on from the disaster that killed 116

children and 28 adults in the Welsh village.

Wonder Woman - the UN's new ambassador for the Empowerment

Coming up in Sportsday on BBC News, Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho

admits Stamford Bridge is no longer his lucky ground,

as he prepares to face his former team, Chelsea, this weekend.

A flotilla of Russian warships has passed

through the English Channel today - on its way to Syria.

The vessels included the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov

which was belching black smoke, as it passed

The flotilla, which is being viewed as a show of strength from Moscow,

was shadowed all the way by the Royal Navy.

Our correspondent Daniel Sandford watched as they passed

Cruising past Dover Harbour, beneath the iconic White Cliffs of Dover

and into the English Channel, Russia's only aircraft carrier

the Admiral Kuznetsov, a 30-year-old survivor

On its decks, the planes that will reinforce the Russian

Also in the flotilla, the battle cruiser, Peter the Great,

and the Russian ships were man marked as the Defence Secretary put

The type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan had sailed from Portsmouth to do

The type 23 frigate, the HMS Richmond has been

tracking the Russians all the way from Norway.

As we watched, all the ships were sailing west, straight down

It's been an extraordinary display of Russian military power,

just a few miles off the British coast.

One Moscow newspaper called it 'an armada',

and its chosen route, straight down the English Channel,

is likely to have been chosen deliberately.

The warships could have gone round the north coast of Scotland,

but this was the route that sent a message.

The deployment itself is clearly directed,

in the immediate sense, toward Syria, but it has a side

benefit to the mentality of the present-day leaders

of Russia, of showing that they still have a navy

And the message to this country, in particular, is probably

that their navy is more extensive than ours now.

For ten years now Russia's been directing displays

This was an encounter off the coast of Scotland,

filmed by the crew of a Russian bomber as it was challenged

But today's Russian drive-by, on the way to prop up

President Assad in Syria, was one of the more

dramatic displays, so close that the warships

could be clearly seen from the White Cliffs of Dover.

Daniel Sandford, BBC News, in the English Channel.

In Iraq, government troops backed by Kurdish forces are inching

forward in their fight against so-called Islamic State.

Clashes near the city of Mosul have continued through the day with Iraqi

troops pushing in from the South and Kurdish fighters from the East.

Today, IS struck back launching an attack in Kirkuk

Our Middle East Correspondent Orla Guerin sent this report.

Savouring freedom, civilians brought to safety by Kurdish fighters.

They escaped the tyranny of so-called Islamic State,

and the dangers of coalition air strikes.

IS targets north of Mosul being pounded again today,

This is the scene in the city of Kirkuk.

Security forces battling to regain control, after a daring

They hit multiple targets in and around the oil-rich city,

which is 100 miles from Mosul and had been considered secure.

Troops hunting for the militants who proved they can still strike

Back at the front line, bomb disposal experts arrived

They've already cleared 300 landmines along a stretch

Troops are getting into position now for mine clearance.

This is absolutely crucial for the Peshmerga

The mines are slowing progress and they're claiming

lives, but the work has to be done with care.

Islamic State has laid mines in this area like a carpet.

There were fears it was a suicide bomber.

Nearby, civilians who had just fled, now safe from IS, but being screened

by Kurdish intelligence, they're trying to prevent militants

This man tells us they were forced to grow beards, and if IS caught

someone with a phone, they were beheaded.

He's rushed away before he can say more.

A new camp is now being raised here for the many others

who are expected to seek refuge from Iraq's latest war.

Orla Guerin, BBC News, north of Mosul.

Emergency services are dealing with a possible chemical incident

at London's City Airport this evening.

The Firebrigade says the airport has been closed,

and around 500 passengers were evacuated from the terminal

after a number of people reported feeling unwell.

Flights due into the airport are being diverted elsewhere.

A former police chief who won $375,000 in libel damages

from media accusing him of involvement with paedophiles has

today been found guilty of the historical sex abuse

Former Superintendent Gordon Anglesea - who's 79 -

worked in the Wrexham area and was convicted of four

charges of indecent assault involving two boys.

The funeral of the Irish Rugby Star, Anthony Foley, has taken

The Munster coach and former Ireland international was 42.

He died in Paris from a build-up of fluid on his lungs

Mr Foley was found in his hotel room where Munster were staying before

a European Champions Cup game on Sunday.

She's a comic book superhero who became a TV star

in the 1970s, watched by millions here and around the world.

But now in a story twist that may well have surprised even

the fictional superhero, the United Nations is making wonder

a UN Ambassador for Women and Girls.

It is a decision that has bewildered some and sparked

protest from others, as Nick Bryant reports

She can leap from tall buildings, she can also bend steel, but the

transformation of Wonder Woman into a UN Ambassador for Female

Empowerment has plunged this world body into the kind of storm that

would test even her superhuman powers.

This is the modern-day face of Wonder Woman, and the actress

Lynda Carter who brought her to life in the television series was also at

With a new film about to be launched, UN officials

hope the hero will help to reach younger audiences around the world.

So Wonder Woman lives, do not doubt it.

Wonder Woman helps bring out the inner

But staff at the UN today mounted a silent

"Real women deserve a real ambassador", read their signs.

There is also a real annoyance that the

superhero's leather boots might trample on cultural, religious and

Hundreds of UN staff have added their names

to an online petition, complaining, and I quote,

"That a large breasted White woman of impossible

proportions, scantily clad in a shimmery, thigh-baring body suit

with an American motif and knee-high boots is not an appropriate

So what's been the reaction outside the UN?

I like what she stands for, I don't really

Although Wonder Woman is a great character, I think we can find

someone better to represent women, someone who is not so hyper

The UN hope this collaboration would be a PR coup,

but there are many senior figures here who view it

Time for a look at the weekend weather...

Thank you, fast approaching and it looks half decent.

Today's sunshine has been topping and tailing the country and in

between a fair amount of cloud. The best of the weather in Scotland and

the south-west. If you don't believe me, take a look at this picture from

the Shetland Islands and here, the south-west of Cornwall. Absolutely

glorious. As we move towards a weekend it does look as though we

will keep some decent weather for most of us. There will be some sunny

spells as well. Early morning fog and frost could be an issue,

particularly on Sunday, and most of the showers will be out to the east.

Though showers continuing to spill in of the North Sea coast through

the night tonight. Further west, some clearer skies. That could lead

to some patchy fog in few places, and it will allow those temperatures

to fall away, the countryside pretty close to freezing. A bit of a chilly

start, a bit of a great, drab Saturday morning, but be patient,

condition should improve. We will see a few showers out to the east.

These may well just push a little further inland through the

afternoon, but generally speaking, not a bad afternoon. Those

temperatures will sit around where they have been throughout the week.

A little bit on the chilly side for this

time of year at around 10-15d. As we go through Saturday night into

Sunday morning, not much in the way of change. Fog could be an issue

perhaps first thing on Sunday morning. The wind will start to

strengthen because of this area of low pressure, but it won't arrive

and bring any significant rain until the end of the day on Sunday. Sunday

again, decent, dry with some sunny spells, a few isolated chows. When

the fog clears, highs of 9-14. Enjoy.

That's all from the BBC News at 6, so it's goodbye from me,