:00:00. > :00:10.A man's been stabbed in Newcastle in County Down.
:00:11. > :00:12.He's been taken to hospital in Belfast where he's said to be
:00:13. > :00:23.Our reporter David Maxwell sent us this report a short time ago.
:00:24. > :00:31.Police were alerted to this stabbing at around 7:30pm. We understand the
:00:32. > :00:39.victim is a man in his 40s and that he was stabbed five times outside
:00:40. > :00:44.this Tesco in Newcastle. The victim's injuries are described as
:00:45. > :00:48.serious and he was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital for
:00:49. > :00:52.treatment. We understand one man has been arrested in connection with
:00:53. > :00:56.this stabbing and this evening you can see the evidence of what
:00:57. > :00:59.happened with clothing and bloodstains on the ground. The
:01:00. > :01:05.police are appealing for information. They say this would
:01:06. > :01:09.have been a busy area at 7:30pm, people coming back and forth from
:01:10. > :01:13.the shopping centre and they want those people to come forward.
:01:14. > :01:17.Community leaders here expressing shock something like this could
:01:18. > :01:24.happen. Our thoughts are with the victim. It's been a shock to the
:01:25. > :01:29.community. I was talking with local residents half an hour ago and they
:01:30. > :01:35.are non-at what has happened. Police have a line of enquiry and arrest
:01:36. > :01:39.has been made. That goes some way to reassuring the public that the
:01:40. > :01:44.police are on top of it. Some of the emergency vehicles are still here,
:01:45. > :01:48.the area remains cordoned off and crime scene investigators have
:01:49. > :01:50.arrived. They are expected to be here for some hours to come.
:01:51. > :01:52.Police have launched an investigation after a body
:01:53. > :01:55.was found on Tyrella beach in County Down this afternoon.
:01:56. > :01:58.It's understood the body of a woman was found by a person
:01:59. > :02:01.Nothing about the identity of the woman or the circumstances
:02:02. > :02:09.The Ambulance Service has apologised to an elderly man and his family
:02:10. > :02:13.for having to wait nearly six hours before he was taken to hospital.
:02:14. > :02:16.As Maggie Taggart reports, the service has held up its hands
:02:17. > :02:19.to admit that the service in the Bangor and Newtownards area
:02:20. > :02:31.At 10pm yesterday a call was made to the Ambulance Service about an
:02:32. > :02:35.elderly man in Bangor. He was in his 80s and had either a fractured it or
:02:36. > :02:41.broken leg, it wasn't known at that time. The analysis was that was a
:02:42. > :02:48.category C nonurgent goal but it's should be responded to within an
:02:49. > :02:54.hour. The response to that call took no less than six hours. Even a
:02:55. > :03:00.seasoned ambulance crew around here were shocked at the delay and the
:03:01. > :03:04.suffering of that man. I know, speaking to every single member of
:03:05. > :03:09.staff, and personally speaking, if this was my father I would be
:03:10. > :03:16.raging, I would be absolutely livid. I would expect an unreserved
:03:17. > :03:19.apology. In a statement, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
:03:20. > :03:39.is a sincere apology to the patient involved and his family.
:03:40. > :03:42.A new law prohibiting the selling of so-called legal highs has
:03:43. > :03:45.passed its final hurdle at Westminster.
:03:46. > :03:49.From the spring, offenders face up to seven years in prison.
:03:50. > :03:51.Several young people have died from taking these substances,
:03:52. > :03:53.which can be stronger than current illegal drugs.
:03:54. > :03:55.Among them was Sean Paul Carnahan from west Belfast.
:03:56. > :04:02.BBC Newsline's Tara Mills has been speaking to his mother.
:04:03. > :04:10.Sean Polwart 's 22 when he died. He lost his dad at the age of ten and
:04:11. > :04:16.his mum said he always had trouble coming to terms with it. -- Sean
:04:17. > :04:21.Polwart. What age would he have been then? Tracy knew he had been to a
:04:22. > :04:30.party but it was only afterwards he -- she found out what he had taken.
:04:31. > :04:34.A few weeks later the boy told me Sean Paul had taken legal highs. At
:04:35. > :04:44.that stage I had never heard of them. I asked his friends, his best
:04:45. > :04:49.friend, please tell me how long he had taken. He told me had taken
:04:50. > :04:53.another drugs, but that was his first time taking legal highs. Were
:04:54. > :05:02.you able to find out where he got them from? From a shop which has now
:05:03. > :05:06.closed down. The drugs are now known as psychoactive substances. They
:05:07. > :05:10.mimic the effects of drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, but their
:05:11. > :05:19.effects on mental health can be even more severe. If a drug dealer was to
:05:20. > :05:23.sell me drugs at the door now, the police would arrest him. But shops
:05:24. > :05:28.can sell them. Those working to protect young people are relieved
:05:29. > :05:30.the legislation has made its way through Westminster. The current
:05:31. > :05:34.legislation gives the impression that these substances are safe.
:05:35. > :05:40.Throughout will work with services that work with both young people and
:05:41. > :05:44.adults, it's clear these substances have the potential to cause
:05:45. > :05:48.individuals a lot of harm. Yes, we certainly welcome the legislation
:05:49. > :05:54.today. The damage that can because it to mental health by these drugs
:05:55. > :05:56.has been well-documented. What's not so well known is the devastation
:05:57. > :05:58.caused to the families left behind to grieve and mourn the loss of a
:05:59. > :06:02.life. The winter storms led to huge
:06:03. > :06:04.flooding around Lough Neagh, but they've also created another big
:06:05. > :06:07.issue which is only now The flooded waters have carried
:06:08. > :06:11.tonnes of rubbish into the Lough and it's now being washed
:06:12. > :06:13.up along its shores. Our agriculture and environment
:06:14. > :06:23.correspondent, Conor Macauley, The winter weather is still whipping
:06:24. > :06:27.up the swollen waters, but now there's a new problem coming to
:06:28. > :06:33.light after the unprecedented rainfall that filled it to
:06:34. > :06:37.overflowing. This is Randall Stout, 140 14 National nature reserves in
:06:38. > :06:41.Northern Ireland. It's an important habitat which we've pledged to
:06:42. > :06:46.conserve, but as you approach the shoreline, you quickly realise the
:06:47. > :06:50.place is in a shocking state. As far as I can see in both directions
:06:51. > :06:56.there is a long line of plastic, a tide mark. The kind of thing you
:06:57. > :07:01.would see at the seaside. Broken basin, an old workman 's helmet. And
:07:02. > :07:09.a skittle. But probably the most concerning thing I've found is this.
:07:10. > :07:13.A box for used needles. People -- places like pharmacies and doctors
:07:14. > :07:19.surgeries, and there are needles in it. Much of the land adjoining the
:07:20. > :07:24.Lough is privately owned, but one organisation hopes to get funding to
:07:25. > :07:31.start and sort the litter problem. Basically get volunteers to identify
:07:32. > :07:34.and put in a scheduled clean-up twice a year or three times a year
:07:35. > :07:41.over the next five years. Start doing two things. Begin to address
:07:42. > :07:44.and take some of the rubbish away, but also to look at it
:07:45. > :07:49.scientifically and get a feel for the size and scale of it. That's
:07:50. > :07:51.worked that badly needs done at what is supposed to be one of our most
:07:52. > :07:55.highly protected habitats. A radical plan for an official
:07:56. > :07:58.opposition in the Assembly has been Parties including Sinn Fein,
:07:59. > :08:03.the SDLP and the DUP objected to major parts of a bill drawn up
:08:04. > :08:06.by the independent unionist John He claims that what is left
:08:07. > :08:10.is still a major breakthrough. Here's our political
:08:11. > :08:20.correspondent, Gareth Gordon It's the highlight of Westminster's
:08:21. > :08:24.week. We've done more on tax evasion and tax avoidance than Labour ever
:08:25. > :08:29.did. The truth is they are running to catch up but I haven't got a leg
:08:30. > :08:33.to stand on. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition doing
:08:34. > :08:37.battle across a crowded chamber. Officially Stormont doesn't have an
:08:38. > :08:43.opposition though parties who share the executive table often share
:08:44. > :08:45.little else. That may change if the independent Unionist MLA John
:08:46. > :08:53.McAllister gets his way. He proposed radical plan. As it stands every MLA
:08:54. > :08:56.has to align themselves to either the Unionist nationalist community.
:08:57. > :09:02.He wants that the end. Gone would be the current system of community
:09:03. > :09:07.designation is where parties are identified as Unionist, nationalist
:09:08. > :09:11.or other. No cross community voting system. And six or more MLAs could
:09:12. > :09:15.form the opposition. What we are more likely to end up with other
:09:16. > :09:26.proposals can turn -- contained in the fresh start deal.
:09:27. > :09:36.In other words, large parts of John McAllister's bill have been killed.
:09:37. > :09:41.We believe the fresh start has provided an administrative basis for
:09:42. > :09:50.an opposition. We believe in the sap can -- second aspect around
:09:51. > :09:54.community designation. It's a national -- natural evolution that
:09:55. > :09:56.this assembly would have the proper functions of an opposition, properly
:09:57. > :10:02.resourced and with proper speaking time. We think it's very, very bored
:10:03. > :10:06.and to maintain the power-sharing provisions we all struggled so hard
:10:07. > :10:12.to achieve. The DUP also had problems with other aspects of the
:10:13. > :10:18.bill. It is more significant than some people would claim it is. There
:10:19. > :10:24.are other technical aspects we don't think it would be prudent to follow
:10:25. > :10:28.through on, but most of this bill will be supportive of. It's almost
:10:29. > :10:34.inescapable now that a private members bill at this late stage will
:10:35. > :10:39.only be acceptable if they have the support of the DUP and Sinn Fein.
:10:40. > :10:46.But the man behind the original bill is not responding. -- despondent.
:10:47. > :10:50.The principal that we will have the rights and parties will have the
:10:51. > :10:56.rights to take up an opposition role in the assembly and provide that
:10:57. > :11:02.scrutiny and choice and challenge to voters. A step forward, maybe, but
:11:03. > :11:03.not the Lee P1 did. Once again this place has shown it only changes
:11:04. > :11:10.Vakatawa pace. -- at its own pace. Football, and there have been plenty
:11:11. > :11:13.of goals tonight And Linfield moved into second place
:11:14. > :11:18.thanks to a 6-0 victory over One of the best goals of the match
:11:19. > :11:22.was this first-half breakaway A look ahead now to a story
:11:23. > :11:31.that our investigations reporter, Kevin Magee, will have on tomorrow's
:11:32. > :11:43.Good Morning Ulster programme, Another developer wants to build a
:11:44. > :11:49.tower block just the students. It will be in the heart of Shaftesbury
:11:50. > :11:53.Square just over there. At eight stories tall, local residents are
:11:54. > :11:57.calling it the holy land in the sky. Coverage begins on BBC ready Ulster
:11:58. > :12:03.in the morning and I'll have more on BBC newsline at 6:30pm tomorrow. --
:12:04. > :12:09.BBC Radio 1 Ulster. Now let's have a look at the weather.
:12:10. > :12:16.At its peak, storm Henry gave gusts of 75 mph. That storm now pushing
:12:17. > :12:20.off towards Scandinavia. The winds have dropped, but we still have
:12:21. > :12:25.tightly packed isobars and for this evening and tonight, as the weather
:12:26. > :12:31.front sinks, we get squeezed so is very strong winds again. We could be
:12:32. > :12:35.seen gusts of 50 to 60 mph around the coast as the band of rain, sleet
:12:36. > :12:40.and snow works its way south. Some of the snow settling on the hills.
:12:41. > :12:46.Temperatures close to freezing so it will become quite icy in places. It
:12:47. > :12:49.is a bit touch and go, a bit marginal but later in the night
:12:50. > :12:54.temperatures might start to creep up a bit and that means ice and snow
:12:55. > :12:57.will become more patchy. Do be prepared for some icy patches
:12:58. > :13:02.tomorrow morning. Then it's a bright and breezy day to come. A few
:13:03. > :13:05.showers jury the morning, but in between some pleasant spells of
:13:06. > :13:10.sunshine. A few showers trickling across the Republic of Ireland,
:13:11. > :13:20.across the Irish Sea into Wales. Wintry on the hill tops. Some wintry
:13:21. > :13:24.flurries for the hills of sunshine. In the afternoon, still bright
:13:25. > :13:28.enough, one or two showers, but more dry than wet weather. We will start
:13:29. > :13:32.to see cloud increasing and temperatures of seven or eight
:13:33. > :13:36.Celsius. Then a band of wet and windy weather tomorrow night.
:13:37. > :13:37.Temperatures rise and it stays mild for the rest of the week. Wet and
:13:38. > :13:42.windy on Friday. Our next BBC Newsline is at 6.25am
:13:43. > :13:46.during Breakfast here on BBC One. You can also keep updated
:13:47. > :13:49.with news online.