gordon corera, despite today's apology. gordon corera. many — despite today's apology. gordon corera, many thanks. _ a day of mourning has been declared in bulgaria, where 46 people died after a bus crashed and burst into flames in the west of the country. it's thought only seven people managed to escape alive from the vehicle. many of the passengers, who included children, had been travelling through bulgaria after a weekend trip to istanbul. they were returning to north macedonia, which has also declared three days of mourning. our europe correspondent bethany bell sent this report from bulgaria. a catastrophic crash. the bus rammed a barrier on a motorway south—west of sofia. it tore away a 50—metre section and then burst into flames. on board were tourists, mostly from north macedonia. they were returning to skopje from a trip to istanbul in turkey. the victims have not yet been officially named. a cause has yet to be determined, but witnesses reported hearing a blast. translation: the question is, what caused this blast? - if it was an explosion inside the bus

gordon corera, our security _ increased concern. gordon corera, our security correspondent, - increased concern. gordon corera, our security correspondent, thank| our security correspondent, thank you. people in their 40s are to be offered a covid boosterjab following new advice from government advisers. (ani the move adds another eight million people to the list of those eligible, meaning a total of around a0 million in the uk. so far, nearly 13 million people have taken up the offer, in part because you have to be six months on from your second jab. access to vaccine centres has also been an issue for some. second doses for 16— and i7—year—olds have also been approved today. vaccination advisers say the two measures should help to extend protection from the virus into 2022. our medical editor, fergus walsh, explains. just a0 days till christmas, and this year's must—have item is not available in the shops. it's the covid boosterjab that is seen as crucial to saving the festive season. you are here for a booster? yes. now,

gordon corera, bbc news. in yemen, houthi rebels are pressing hard to capture the key city of mareb, the last stronghold of the internationally recognised government, and at the heart of yemen's oilfields. the fall of mareb would be a major—turning point in the conflict. saudi arabia, backed by the us and uk, intervened in yemen in 2015, after the houthis ousted the government from the capital, sanaa. since then, yemen has suffered the world's worst humanitarian crisis. all sides of the conflict have been accused of killing civilians and of other abuses. at least 800,000 people displaced by the war have fled to mareb — and more are on their way. our middle east editorjeremy bowen, cameraman dave bull, and producer cara swift, have made their way to the city and sent this special report. the plains outside mareb are not much of a refuge, but it's all there is for more than 45,000 people who have fled the houthi offensive in the last three months. at this camp, the newest arrivals are in flimsy tents with l

that was the bbc�*s gordon corera there. the government is set to scrap the high—speed rail link between the east midlands and leeds. the department for transport is expected to announce plans later this week, which will see the existing line between east midlands parkway and leeds upgraded, rather than replaced. our political correspondent nick eardley explained how significant it was. the integrated rail plan is a big deal for many people around england, who want to know what it will mean for theirjourney times, but also for the government, as it seeks to try and persuade voters that it means business when it talks about levelling up opportunity outside london. this is going to be a big package, around £96 billion will be spent over the coming decades. £40 billion of the plan we expect to see on thursday will be new money that we haven't heard about before. but there are going to be some significant changes to the plans that we were expecting. so hs2 will still go to nottingham, but it won't now go to leeds. the northe

gordon corera, bbc news. >> out to the shadows. you are watching bbc world news america. packing away a period of caribbean history. barbados cuts its ties with the queen, becoming the world's newest republic. elaine maxwell was number two in the hierarchy of jeffrey epstein's employees. his former pilot has testified on day 2 of her sex abuse trial in manhattan. she denies the charges. >> larry for tzatziki all morning laid out in great detail what his companies looked like, and who flew on those planes. elaine maxwell was there frequently as number two with a staff of her own personal assistance and that she flew the helicopter on her own. he confirmed the public figure such as prince andrew, donald trump, and bill clinton were all guests on his plane. and so were two accusers. he said he never actually witnessed any sexual activity aboard those flights. elaine maxwell the entire time was attempted, putting on her glasses to examine exhibits and she has pleaded not guilty to the charges. >> barbados has become the newest republic after replacing the queen as head of sta

our security correspondent gordon corera is here. the threat level has been raised to severe, is that because of this one attack or is there more to it? this attack has certainly contributed to that raising of the threat level today stop no doubt about it. but it is worth saying investigators are still cautious about what exactly lay behind this attack, what the motivation was. it doesn't look as if that explosive went off properly or was very large, one of the two, as witnessed by the fact that the taxi driver survived even though the perpetrator died. that perpetrator, the individual who appear to have carried this device on board the taxi was not known to mis, on board the taxi was not known to mi5, and that is a source of concern because if he was not on their radar, as it is often put, it makes it harder to understand what his background might have been and what his connections and ideology might have been that motivated him. they will be looking for any connections and contacts. so far, they are, as we heard, no sign of an ongo

corera is at the foreign office. yes, an apology and admission because for 30 years successive governments have hidden the fact that there was a warning which might have been able to stop a group of british people being taken hostage. it goes back to august 1990, when ba flight 149 took off from london, heading to asia but making a stopover in kuwait, and it was that night that iraq invaded kuwait. the plane was unable to take off and passengers and crew were taken hostage, many of them badly mistreated over the coming months. what has emerged today in files is that the british ambassador in kuwait made a phone call as the invasion was starting, and as the plane was in the air, and it was circulated around whitehall that this was happening but it was never passed on to british airways, and as a result, the plane landed. now, passengers and crew have welcomed that admission, but they remain angry because they believe there is another secret to be a 149, which is that they think there was a group of undercover intellig

our security correspondent gordon corera reports. victory in a long fight forjustice forfallen police officer victory in a long fight forjustice for fallen police officer yvonne fletcher and four former colleague, john murray, as he seeks to fulfil a promise he made to her. i am john murray, as he seeks to fulfil a promise he made to her.— promise he made to her. i am very relieved that _ promise he made to her. i am very relieved that it _ promise he made to her. i am very relieved that it is _ promise he made to her. i am very relieved that it is finally _ promise he made to her. i am very relieved that it is finally all - promise he made to her. i am very relieved that it is finally all over i relieved that it is finally all over and the court has found in our favour. this has been a battle lasting 37 years.— favour. this has been a battle lasting 37 years. april, 1984, and machine-gun _ lasting 37 years. april, 1984, and machine-gun fire _ lasting 37 years. april, 1984, and machine-gun fire regs _ lasting 37 years. april, 198

our security correspondent gordon corera is here. no surprise this was declared a terrorist incident given the improvised explosive device. police i have spoken to have been cautious about offering an explosion for the motive of the attack. the attacker is now deceased so the ability to ask them orfind out is is now deceased so the ability to ask them or find out is trickier. there is the issue of the proximity and timing to potential remembrance day events, that is a possibility, but people are being very cautious at this stage. the investigation is really looking at the individual�*s background, at electronic media. they have talked about finding significant items at one address, likely to be bomb—making equipment used to create the device. they will look to see if there is any other credible threat but so far the mood music, the noises from police, suggest they do not see a significant ongoing threat, which suggests they haven't identified a wider network that would be active at the moment. but we could see the threat level go

our security correspondent, gordon corera, has more. m16's mission is to work in secret and gather intelligence from around the world but today it's head ventured out to detail the threats he sees. china, he says, was now his top priority and its desire to take the island of taiwan posed a serious challenge to peace and its drive to master technology and control data wrist giving it too much leverage over our lives, he argued. iflhiha wrist giving it too much leverage over our lives, he argued. china is controlled — over our lives, he argued. china is controlled by _ over our lives, he argued. china is controlled by an _ over our lives, he argued. china is controlled by an authoritarian i controlled by an authoritarian regime and they do not share our values, and often their interests clash with hours, so i think what i'm saying is that we need to be very robust in fighting our corner. todayis very robust in fighting our corner. today is a rare interview came just ahead of the chief of mi6'5 first major speech. ahead of the chief of m

gordon corera has more on the terror alert. , ., ., , ., , alert. investigators are still cautious about _ alert. investigators are still cautious about what - alert. investigators are still| cautious about what exactly alert. investigators are still- cautious about what exactly lay behind this attack, what the motivation was. it doesn't look as though but explosive went off properly or it was very large, one of the two. as witnessed by the fact that the taxi driver survived even though the perpetrator died. that perpetrator who appear to have carried this device on board the taxi wasn't known to mi5, that is also a source of concern because it means he wasn't on their radar and it does make it harder to understand what his background might have been and what connections he might have been and the ideology if there was one that motivated him was so they will be looking for any connections and any contacts. so far as we heard, no sign of an ongoing threat of a credible intelligence of something else being planned. but theissueis something else being

corera is here. a lot of people possibly don't remember this whole episode. a talk as to the background on what is behind this admission and based upon a goes back to august 1990 and a british airways flight took off from london. it british airways flight took off from london. . . . british airways flight took off from london. . , ., ., ~ , ., british airways flight took off from london. ., ., ., ~ , ., , london. it was heading to asia but it was due to _ london. it was heading to asia but it was due to make _ london. it was heading to asia but it was due to make a _ london. it was heading to asia but it was due to make a stop - london. it was heading to asia but it was due to make a stop over - london. it was heading to asia but it was due to make a stop over in l it was due to make a stop over in kuwait on route and after it took off the invasion of kuwait began by saddam hussein's in iraq. now that a plane mandate in kuwait and before it was able to take off again it was stopped in kuwait and befo

saleh ibrahim mabrouk was responsible for yvonne's murder. 0ur correspondent gordon corera gave me the background. the united states has condemned russia for what it calls a "dangerous and irresponsible" missile test in which the russians blew up one of their old spy satellites and created a cloud of debris in space. the us says the explosion endangered the crew aboard the international space station and forced them to take shelter in capsules. sean dilley has more. space. 260 miles above the earth's surface. for the few who are lucky enough to marvel at the universe through the windows of the national space station, hazardous debris, caused by an unexpected blast may be the last thing they would expect. over the weekend, seven crew members made up of four americans, a german and two russians were forced to shelter in protective space capsules as hundreds of chunks of debris came into close proximity. it is believed the russian federation fired a missile that blew up a cold war era satellite that had been floating above the earth for 39 years. the united states has condemned what they

corera, is at the foreign office. an apology and admission because for 30 years, successive governments have hidden the fact that there was a warning which might have been able to stop a group of britons being taken hostage. it all goes back to august 1991 ba flight 149 took off from london heading to asia about making a stop over in kuwait, and it was that night that iraq invaded kuwait. the plane was unable to take off and passengers and crew were taken hostage. many of them badly mistreated over the coming months. what's emerged today in files is that the british ambassador in kuwait made a phone call as the invasion was starting and as the plane was in the air, and it was circulated around whitehall that this was happening, but it was never passed on to british airways, and as a result, the plane landed. now, passengers and crew have welcomed that admission, but they remain angry because they believe there is another secret to ba 149, which is that they think they are a group of undercover intelligence operatives

corera, is at the foreign office. went back and apology and admission because for 30 years, successive government has a warning that might have been able to stop a group of britons being able to prevent being taken hostage when the flight 149 took off from london, heading to asia for making a stop over in kuwait and iraq invaded kuwait in the play was unable to take off and passengers and crew were taken hostage. many of them were badly mistreated over the coming months. what is a merge today in files is that the british ambassador made a phone call, as the invasion was starting and as the plane was in the air and circulated around whitehall that this was happening, bills never passed on to british airways and as a result, the plane landed. passengers and crew have welcomed that admission. but, they remain angry because they believe there's another secret that they think there were a group of undercover intelligence operatives on board who said they saw get off the flight. today, the government has stuck by its denial

corera, and i started by asking him whether we should be surprised that the terror threat level has been raised? i don't think it should be a huge surprise, particularly as we have had two incidents in the last month, of course the death of sir david amess the mp in a terrorist incident are now in limit for the incident yesterday, and i think when you have two incidents like that in a short period of time, thejob of two incidents like that in a short period of time, the job of thejoint terrorism analysis centre housed in mis is terrorism analysis centre housed in mi5 is to look at that and go actually, does the threat picture against the uk look different, and the answer clearly to them is yes. now, it doesn't necessarily mean there is an ongoing threat in liverpool, for instance, and i think we could hear that from the home secretary and we can hear it from people i've been speaking to who suggest that they don't have any evidence of an ongoing situation up there, orany evidence of an ongoing situation up there, or any sense that there are others out there who might be able to carr

our correspondent gordon corera gave me the background. it was very emotional and quiet, wise in the high court this morning, there was spontaneous applies in that verdict came from a quarter impacted police officers, and that's because it's taken 37 years for those former police officers largely to get to this point where someone is being held responsible for what happened to ivonne fletcher. it was 1984, she was policing a demonstration outside the libyan embassy, renamed the libyan peoples barrel in central london when gun fire from submachine guns came out from inside the building at protesters outside, but the only person who was killed was the 25—year—old pc, ivonne fletcher. and it's been this long battle to bring anyone to justice for that. there was a clever case against the perpetrator in 2015, he was arrested by living in the uk, but was dropped on grounds of national security. which then led to the civil case. —— yvonne fletcher. very unusualfor a civil case to be brought byjohn mary, as we had come against this individ

our security correspondent gordon corera joins us. just remind us about the circumstances of her death. yes, she died in wiltshire _ circumstances of her death. yes, she died in wiltshire in _ circumstances of her death. yes, she died in wiltshire in july _ circumstances of her death. yes, she died in wiltshire in july 2018 - circumstances of her death. yes, she died in wiltshire in july 2018 after - died in wiltshire injuly 2018 after she came into contact with novichok, the nerve agent, which was in a perfume bottle which had been discarded after the attempt on the life of the former russian spy. the british police, the government, believe that russian military intelligence had sent a hit team to try and kill him and somehow this perfume bottle containing the nerve agent had been discarded and dawn tragically became into contact with it and died a few days later. an inquest has gone on into her death but the coroner said that she wanted a public enquiry. the crucial reason being that a public enquiry, unlike an inquest, can examine