24/11/2017 BBC News at Six

Murdered in a mosque -

at least 235 people have been killed

in a bomb and gun attack in Egypt.

Gunmen detonated a bomb before

storming inside this mosque,

shooting at men and children

at the end of Friday prayers.

Also tonight, panic

in heart of London.

Oxford Circus is locked down

in a major police incident

after reports of gunshots.

Thousands of people fled

as officers told them to take

shelter in buildings.

So far police say they've

found no casulaties

or evidence of gunshots.

Celebrations in Zimbabwe

as the country's new

president is sworn in.

The EU tells Theresa May it

needs to see progress

from the UK within ten days

on all Brexit issues.

A number of big brands suspend

advertising on YouTube

after sexually explicit

comments are made on videos

posted by children.

And England and Australia are neck

and neck as they go into the third

day of the Ashes in Brisbane.

Coming up on Sportsday,

England's women return

to World Cup qualifying tonight

without the sacked former

manager Mark Sampson, who oversaw

victory in their first group match.

Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six.

It's one of the deadliest attacks

in modern Egyptian history.

At least 235 people have been killed

and more than 100 injured,

many critically, after gunmen

detonated a bomb and then

stormed a packed mosque

at the end of Friday prayers.

It happened in a remote town

in Egypt's north Sinai region.

Egypt's president has vowed

to respond with brutal force.

James Landale reports.

This report contains some

distressing images.

These were some of the chaotic

scenes after the attack,

as hundreds of wounded people

were rushed to nearby hospitals.

Survivors of one of the most deadly

attacks on civilians in Egypt.

Witnesses said the militants stormed

the mosque in northern Sinai

and exploded a bomb inside.

They said around 40 gunmen then

fired on worshippers

as they tried to flee.

They came here to kneel in prayer.

Instead, they lay down in death.

President Sisi sent his condolences

to the families of those who had

died and said the attack would only

increase Egypt's determination

to face up to terrorism.

Many of the dead and wounded

were said to be Sufi Muslims,

whose brand of Islam is rejected

by jihadi extremists.

But a mass attack on a mosque,

with such devastating consequences,

is very rare in Egypt.

This is unprecedented.

I can't see any particular

imperative behind it

in the slightest.

You haven't had this sort

of attack take place before.

You've seen the rhetoric about Sufis

and Sufism from these radical groups

for years but you've never seen

an attack like this.

The Egyptian government has been

fighting a jihadi insurgency

in the northern Sinai desert

for more than four years.

It intensified when the Army ousted

the former President

and his Muslim Brotherhood movement

in 2013, and since then

local militant groups,

some affiliated to so-called

Islamic State, have killed hundreds

of police and soldiers.

But this is by far the largest

attack on civilians.

The militants have long targeted

religious opponents such

as Coptic Christians,

particularly by mounting

attacks on their churches.

They've also killed civilians who

work with the authorities in Sinai.

Until tonight, Egypt's deadliest

terror attack was the downing

of a Russian passenger jet over

Sinai in October 2000 and 15.

IS said they were behind the bombing

that killed 224 people,

but so far no one has claimed

responsibility for today's

attack, which has now left

even more people dead.

James Landale, BBC News.

Our Middle East Editor,

Jeremy Bowen, is here.

This is a remote town

in a remote part of Egypt.

These were Muslims

at prayer in a mosque.

Why would they be the target

of such a brutal attack?

As James said, if it is the case

that these are Sufi Muslims, it is a

mystical form of Islam, then these

are people who have often been

attacked in the past in different

countries by these violent Islamist

extremists. So that is the kind of

target they might be going after.

They have been fighting Islamic

State in Sinai since 2015. But this

year, the tempo of the attacks by

these violent Islamists has gone up.

There is one line of thought about

this, that it coincided with the

caliphate in Syria and Iraq, the IS

caliphate there, being destroyed by

military action. There have also

been reports of fighters from that

place going towards Egypt and Libya.

Who knows? Perhaps there is some new

blood in there that wants to come in

and carry out this kind of

slaughter. But it is not just about

religious hatred. It is about power.

IS, if they carried this out, and it

is a likely assumption that people

are making at the moment, they have

pretensions to govern parts of

Sinai. So there is also a message

which is, the President in Cairo is

powerless to stop what we, the

jihadists, want to do.

Zimbabwe has a new President,

only its second in 37 years.

Thousands of people

celebrated in Harare today

as Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in.

It has been an extraordinary

fortnight for the man

who was until a fortnight ago

Zimbabwe's vice president.

He had to flee the country

after Robert Mugabe

abruptly sacked him, a decision that

led to his own downfall.

Our Zimbabwe Correspondent,

Shingai Nyoka, reports.

The changing of the guard

in Zimbabwe, and long-time leader

Robert Mugabe was not

there to witness it.

But newly-elected President

Emmerson Mnangagwa does

not need his blessing.

I, Emmerson Mnangagwa...

The moment Zimbabweans

have been waiting for,

the swearing in of this country's

second leader in nearly 40 years.

This is Zimbabwe's new President,

not through an election

but with the help of the military.

It caps the most dramatic two weeks

in Zimbabwe's history,

and a surprise comeback from a man

who just a fortnight ago fled

the country in fear of his life.

With Mugabe's departure,

Mnangagwa will serve

as interim President

until next year's election.

But he inherits a fragmented party

and a country broken under Mugabe's

isolationist policies.

In his inaugural speech there

was praise for his predecessor.

He led us in our struggle

for national independence.

He assumed responsibilities

of leadership at a formative

and a very challenging time,

at the behest of our nation.

That is to be lauded and celebrated.

But also a pledge to

break from the past.

I am not oblivious to the many

Zimbabweans from our political,

ethnic and racial divides,

who have helped make this day.

So what do we know

about Emmerson Mnangagwa?

Jailed for ten years in 1965,

he met Mugabe in prison.

There, the two men formed

a close association.

After independence in 1980,

he became Mugabe's right-hand man.

In 1983, he was implicated

in the mass murder of thousands

of opposition supporters

in Matabeleland,

something he denies.

More recently, he was accused

of orchestrating a violent crackdown

on opposition supporters.

Those who are very close to him say

that he listens more than he speaks.

He is a soft-spoken man,

a gentleman, contrary

to what the reports say about him.

He is a God-fearing family man.

We have to give him some time

because an improvement

is something which cannot be

improved like overnight.

After two weeks of uncertainty,

Zimbabwe seems to be

returning to normal again.

No one knows what the future

holds, whether Mnangagwa

is the man to bring a new era

of democracy and freedom.

In the last hour police have been

responding to an incident

at Oxford Circus in Central London.

Two tube stations were evacuated and

thousands fled in panic. In the last

few moments, police have stood down

the operation. Tom Symons has been

following it.

The police say it is over but it

sparked mass panic.

It really did.

This started with what several BBC

reporters told us were a couple of

bangs around Oxford Circus station.

People started running, there was

screaming, children crying, shopping

being dropped. People ran into

shops, which closed their doors,

following protocol for an incident

like this. The police response was

very fast. We are about 200 metres

away from where this is happening.

As we arrived, the police were

arriving, armed officers, and a

quadrant of the Central London

shopping area, Oxford Street and

Regent Street mainly, was closed

off, the area completely cleared of

people, officers closing the

streets. As time went on, it became

clear that the police could not find

any evidence that shots had been

fired, that there were any kind of

casualties in the streets, and we

started to see armed officers

leaving the area and the incident

being closed down. During that

period, it two Jude stations, Bond

Street and Oxford Street, were

closed, so trains would have been

going straight through. And many

shops closed their doors. The

incident has now ended. The

Metropolitan Police are saying that

"Given the nature of the information

received, 999 calls about gunshots,

they responded in line with the

suggestion it might have been a

terrorism incident but it was not".

EU leaders have said hopes

of an agreement next month to begin

trade talks following Brexit remain

a "huge challenge".

It follows talks with

Theresa May in Brussels.

The EU Council President,

Donald Tusk, said that

progress was needed

from the UK in the next ten days

"on all issues".

John Pienaar reports from Brussels.

An amicable divorce

from a roomful of partners,

but it is getting tense.

So, now Theresa May is hinting to EU

leaders, starting with Donald Tusk

in the summit chair,

that Britain might up and some say

double its offer of £20 billion

in a separation deal.

Dig deeper into the nation's purse.

If only the EU is

ready to talk trade.

Or this long goodbye could end

in tears, the last thing she wanted.

These negotiations are continuing,

but what I am clear

about is that we must

step forward together.

This is for both the UK

and the European Union to move

onto the next stage.

Brexit negotiations could,

maybe will turn to trade next month.

Leaders here need more persuasion.

Mr Juncker, are you

worried about Brexit?

Brexit is a tragedy.

I will meet the British Prime

Minister on the 3rd of December

and then we will see if there has

been sufficient progress.

Are you at all confident that

progress will be made?

Yes.

But every country must agree

to start talking trade,

and Ireland's minority government

is facing the risk

of collapse at home,

but was sounding tough here.

Suggesting Brexit talks could stall

without clear guarantees

there will be no hard

north-south Customs border.

Is Ireland prepared

to block progress?

I don't think Ireland will have

to block anything on its own.

There is absolute solidarity

across 27 countries here.

Germany is not much more supportive.

Angela Merkel was

already firm on Brexit.

Now she has her hands full

forming a new government.

She met Mrs May today,

another leader looking for more give

on the British side.

In her one-on-one talks

with the EU Council president,

no final proposals, no breakthrough

and they may not settle hard

numbers on the divorce

Bill for months to come.

But they explored the case

for more compromise.

There are still issues

across the various matters

that we are negotiating on to be

resolved, but there has been a very

positive atmosphere in the talks

and a genuine feeling

that we want to move

forward together.

Neither side wants

the Brexit talks to end in

stalemate, but without more give

and take it could happen.

And then the risk would

grow of negotiations

ending with no EU trade deal at all.

And that is the outcome business

leaders who are worried about Brexit

say they fear most.

So, more talking to do ahead

of the next big summit

next month.

The slow march of Brexit goes on.

Its course and destination

being decided one step at a time.

John Pienaar, BBC News, Brussels.

A court in South Africa has more

than doubled the jail sentence

of the former Olympic and Paralympic

athlete Oscar Pistorius.

He has been given 15 years

for murdering his girlfriend

Reeva Steenkamp, after prosecutors

argued his original six-year

sentence was too short.

Pistorius was jailed in 2016

after being found guilty on appeal

of killing his girlfriend.

He shot Reeva Steenkamp four times

through a locked door at his home.

Major companies have

suspended their advertising

on YouTube after it emerged that

people have been leaving sexually

explicit comments next

to videos posted by children,

comments that hadn't

been removed by YouTube.

Adverts for major brands like Mars

and Cadbury have been appearing

alongside some of the videos.

YouTube says since this came

to light it has taken action

to remove the comments.

Amol Rajan, reports.

YouTube has reinvented the very

idea of broadcasting,

allowing anyone with access

to the internet to create their own

channel and build a following.

The site now has a billion users

and pulls in around £4 billion in ad

revenues every year.

Users have to be 13 before they can

upload and share videos,

but millions of teenagers use

the opportunity to share their inner

thoughts with the world,

or just to have fun.

That is why and where sexual

predators often stalk them online.

These comments found by the BBC

are a fraction of the total material

on YouTube but they show how

the digital platforms have

emboldened some would-be offenders.

New research by BBC Trending,

the BBC social media

investigations unit,

has discovered that for close

to a year something went

wrong with the system

for removing obscene comments.

I am really, really concerned

that the public function reporting

isn't seemingly working.

It's something I will be writing

to YouTube about straightaway

and I will want them

to take immediate action.

Several leading brands have now

said they will suspend

their advertising on the platform

until it is further cleaned up.

Brands such as Mars,

Adidas and Lidl.

In a statement, YouTube's owners,

Google, said: "Content that

endangers children is abhorrent

and unacceptable to us.

"In just the past week,

we've disabled comments on thousands

"of videos and shut down

hundreds of accounts

"identified as making

predatory comments".

A power broker in Britain's

advertising industry applauded

the tech giant's efforts to address

the issue but said

they should do more.

I think we have to be

incredibly diligent.

Whether they would call themselves

a platform or a publisher,

they are responsible to advertisers

I think to make sure

that the environments that they take

advertising in and make money

from are free of these dangers.

Some campaigners and indeed

politicians say that YouTube

should be regulated just

like any other broadcaster.

But the very principle of the open

Web is that users and not companies

should shape our public domain.

And the sheer volume

of content on YouTube,

400 hours of video uploading every

single minute, means that ultimately

this is an issue that would be

managed not by human beings,

but by machines.

Digital giants like Google

are adamant that social problems

in the internet age have

technological rather

than regulatory solutions.

But the prevalence of sexual

predators online is an issue that

will never be fully eradicated,

because the anarchic freedom

of the internet will always afford

them a home somewhere in cyberspace.

To fight them is to enter

a war without end.

Amol Rajan, BBC News.

Our top story this evening...

One of the deadliest attacks in

modern Egyptian history. At least

235 people have been killed in a

bomb and gun attack in a mosque in

north Sinai.

And still to come ...

We're on the trail of the flytipping

gangs, taking advantage

of homeowners and illegally

dumping their rubbish.

Coming up on Sportsday

on BBC News...

The foremr footballer

MIchael Owen impresses

on his first race as a jockey,

finishing second in

a charity race at AScot.

It's Black Friday again, but this

year most of the bargain-grabbing

seems to have gone online.

By the end of today it's thought

that British shoppers will have

spent more than £2.5

billion in one day alone.

That's about £937,000

a minute online.

But not all retailers like it.

Emma Simpson's at Amazon's warehouse

in Tilbury in Essex.

Oh, they definitely like Black

Friday here. This is Amazon's

biggest and newest distribution

centre. They do some of the packing

down there. This place is the size

of 34 football pitches. It's

mind-boggling. That's some of the

parcels down there waiting to be

shipped. It has been busy here, but

the big question for retail is, will

this entirely manufactured event

kick-start festive spending?

Everywhere you look today,

a blizzard of deals from the high

street right to your inbox.

Black Friday in full swing.

It's first light, and we have come

out to see who's shopping.

Forget the stores,

we're on the train,

because it's all about this.

I've been shopping

online this morning.

Already?

Yeah, I managed to get

a discount for my son

for a monitor for Christmas.

I bought a Dyson this morning.

It seems to be getting bigger

and bigger each year.

I don't know, it's mental.

I've actually been thinking

about it for the past

week, waiting for today.

The first opportunity I've

got, I've logged on.

Those orders are already

on their way here at Amazon,

with robots moving thousands

of items from the shelves

to the pickers.

They've been doing deals all week.

So too have many others,

anything to get shoppers to spend.

Personal finances

are under pressure.

Consumer confidence

is beginning to falter a bit.

But this is a really important time

of the year where Black Friday

is the starting gun for Christmas,

and retailers will be hoping this

spurs consumers on to spend.

As the day rolls on, where else

are all these orders coming from?

It's lunchtime, and lots

of people are at work.

But are they also having

a little sneaky shop?

Put your hands up if you have been

shopping for Black Friday deals.

All of you!

At this small Essex office,

Charlie Lauren spent £200.

Sorry, everybody.

I was online shopping.

Just on my normal girls' websites

like Missguided, Zara and Topshop.

Yeah, I did spend quite a lot.

They are hoping for a lot

of spending at this small

electronics business in Cambridge.

They have bought half

a million of stock to sell -

exciting, but nerve-racking, too.

If we don't operate in Black Friday,

they are just going to

buy off someone else.

It's not an option for us.

We have to sell on Black Friday.

Doing incredibly well on socks...

But the boss of this clothing

chain isn't taking part.

For the high street, it is bonkers.

I can't think of a better

word to describe it.

All it's doing is moving sales

from December into November.

It's not growing the market.

And everybody is having to sell

things at reduced margins.

As the sun goes down in Leeds,

who are the winners on Black Friday?

Shoppers may feel they have bagged

a bargain, but with all these

discounts, the profits won't be

sparkling for many retailers.

Emma Simpson, BBC News.

Fly-tipping is on the rise.

If you want to remove your rubbish

legally, it can involve paying

to hire a skip or paying a licenced

contractor to take it away.

And criminal gangs have spotted

an opportunity to make some cash

by offering cheaper rates and then

dumping it unlawfully.

Last year, councils in England had

to deal with more than a million

illegal dumps on public land,

with the clearing up costing local

authorities £58 million a year.

Dan Johnson reports.

Tonight, the scourge

creeping across our country.

It's a real mess, isn't it?

We investigate the

illegal rubbish dumps.

There's even more of it.

Can you tell us where

the rubbish has come from?

We witness the endless struggle

against criminal gangs.

By having a piece of land,

you then become victim

to such a horrendous crime.

Can we talk to you

about the rubbish?

And we confront the fly-tippers.

And you're going to drive away

and leave this rubbish?

For everyone else to deal with?

There is abuse and intimidation.

They are executing

a warrant over there.

In south-east London, bailiffs

are reclaiming an old warehouse.

Evicting a fly-tipping gang

who have been living there.

And just look what they

are leaving behind.

It goes on and on, pile after pile.

All of this dumped

in just five days.

It is clear most of this

is builders' waste, or old furniture

from house and office clearances.

It's stuff that should have been

disposed of professionally,

but that would have meant a cost.

Somebody saved lots of money

by dumping it here.

And the amount that has accumulated

in such a short space of time

is absolutely staggering.

A court order, an eviction,

the problem has been moved on.

But it's an expensive

game of cat and mouse.

We will probably see these guys

in the next couple of weeks,

and we start the procedure again.

You just keep going

round in circles?

Just keep going round in circles.

The last of the gang return

to move their vehicles.

I'm from BBC News, sir.

Can we ask you about this rubbish?

Can you tell us where this

rubbish has come from?

Are you just going to leave it?

You made a real mess here.

Are you going to clean up?

No answers.

No accountability.

It's like a war zone...

No sympathy for

landowners like Chris.

You feel violated.

You feel powerless to

do anything about it.

You want to be a law-abiding

citizen, and you stay

on the borderline just

watching your property be trashed.

He's angry there wasn't

more help to stop this.

It's his land, his clear-up bill.

On the streets, it's

councils that clear up.

In Croydon, they are

collecting more rubbish

and prosecuting more fly-tippers.

The government should do a national

media campaign to make

fly-tipping a social stigma,

very much like we did with

the anti-drink and drive campaign.

And to explain the actual financial

costs to taxpayers of clearing up

all this fly-tipping.

Taking their vans to be crushed

is one of the extra powers granted

by government to help

beat the fly-tippers.

But still, across the UK,

the rubbish just keeps on coming.

Dan Johnson, BBC News, south London.

England and Australia seem to be

neck and neck after the second day

of the first Ashes test in Brisbane.

England were bowled out for 302

in their first innings.

But then their bowlers reduced

the home side to 76-4,

before an Australian fightback.

Our sports correspondent Andy Swiss

reports from Brisbane.

After a patient opening day,

the Ashes were about to hit

the fast forward button.

Long queues outside the Gabba,

and at first, England also

played the waiting game.

For an hour and a half

they were calm, composed.

A 50 for Dawid Malan.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, pretty much everything

as it turned out.

Malan's swish sparking a collapse

in the grand English tradition.

Losing 6-56.

Moeen Ali was the next

to go as Nathan Lyon sent

the visitors spinning.

Chris Woakes was utterly bamboozled.

Jake Ball, brilliantly

caught by David Warner.

And by the time Stuart Broad

holed out, England hadn't

even lasted the morning.

All out for 302.

Well, lunch will be tasting pretty

good for these Australian

fans after that horrible

collapse by England.

Six wickets in barely an hour that

transformed the mood of this match.

But that mood was about

to swing once again,

as the Gabba's glee was silenced.

Stuart Broad with the breakthrough

before a bit of Moeen magic,

trapping Usman Khawaja.

Suddenly it was Australia's

turn to tumble.

Warner inexplicably serving

up catching practice.

But they recovered thanks

to an unbeaten half-century

from captain Steve Smith to cap

a day of fluctuating,

fascinating fortunes.

An enthralling start

to this Ashes Series.

Andy Swiss, BBC News, Brisbane.

Time for a look at the weather.

We are in the middle of a modest

cold snap, some frost around in the

next few days in the morning and it

already feels chilly out there in

many areas.

In the last couple of

days we have had snow showers across

Scottish ales that will continue

across the course of the evening.

Temperatures dipping to freezing in

many towns and villages with the

risk of ice in northern and western

parts of the UK. The scene tomorrow

morning, cold air from the Norwegian

Sea is digging down into northern

parts of France and Iberia. There

will be lots of crisp sunshine for

us, and it will look beautiful, but

very cold. This is roundabout

lunchtime. Some wintry showers

across the Scottish hills. One or

two showers across Northern Ireland

and Wales. For many, Central,

Eastern and southern areas,

basically what you have is a

beautiful, crisp, sparkling and

chilly autumn day. Temperatures in

London briefly touching six or 7

degrees. There will be a breeze as

well, so it will feel colder. No

real change through tomorrow

afternoon with showers here and

there. For many of us, a clear

Saturday night on the way and that

means Sunday will start frosty once

again. A few showers around on

Sunday and