for saving the albatross as a whole. the satellite technology could transform our understanding of these birds, and scientists hope to extend the study to other albatross nesting sites. knowing how many birds there are now will help us to track how they fare in the future. rebecca morelle, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. it's the weather lottery out there at the moment. some of you have won the jackpot this week. it's been perfect for the scottish tourist board. look at the highlands macro, beautiful all week, lots of blue sky and sunshine. unfortunately hotel manager is not so happy across the kent coast. this morning, a lot of low cloud, a few scattered showers and it's feeling cold, i'm afraid. i'm sure yoursummer and it's feeling cold, i'm afraid. i'm sure your summer will come in a few weeks or months‘ time. i‘m sure your summer will come in a few weeks or months‘ time. in the south we have quite a lot of cloud with the breeze coming in off the sea and it is exacerbating the problem. it‘s cold, the north sea, around 9 degrees, so with the strengthening breeze just driving

around 9 degrees, so with the strengthening breezejust driving in the cloud and a few showers, it‘s pretty miserable. io—ii the cloud and a few showers, it‘s pretty miserable. 10—11 at best through this afternoon. it‘s a different story, the weather lottery i was talking to you about, further north and west are sorts of blue sky and sunshine. cold across the north—east of scotland but sheltered in western areas. we could see temperatures into the high teens this afternoon. absolutely glorious. it's this afternoon. absolutely glorious. it‘s feeling pleasant. not so bad into northern ireland and parts of north—west england as well. a good slice of sunshine further north and west. a bit of hazy, high cloud as you push south, then into the nuisance cloud, always running the risk of a few scattered showers running along the m4 corridor, down to the south—west this afternoon. cold unexposed east coasts. pleasant and warmer in the far north—west through this afternoon. overnight tonight, we keep the clear skies in the north, so it will turn on the chilly side here. the blanket of cloud sitting down towards the south still can‘t rule out the shower. in towns and city centres, temperatures holding up. in rural scottish blends

we might see temperatures low enough for a touch of light frost. yet again you get the sunshine tomorrow. the winds will start to strengthen tomorrow and might take the edge off the temperatures are little, but we will see potentially gales developing by the end of the day into the south—west. high teens in cheltenham —— sheltered western areas. gardeners and growers might get excited, this is an area of low pressure, some rain pushing in. don‘t get your hopes up too much. u nfortu nately don‘t get your hopes up too much. unfortunately it only looks like heavy rain across cornwall, devon, somerset and it will drift off the near continent. a breezy day on saturday. a good deal of dry weather for many of us. the area of low pressure disappears and as we move into sunday, perhaps a better day of the two over the weekend, but the breeze will be light and from a northerly direction so back to the weather lottery. disappointing on the east coast. the best of the weather further west. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime.

the duke of edinburgh is to stop carrying out public duties this autumn. buckingham palace said prince philip had made the decision himself with the full support of the queen. that‘s all from the bbc news at one. on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. hello, you‘re watching bbc news. i‘m olly foster at the bbc sport centre. the arsenal manager arsene wenger says the extreme highs and lows of a career in football adds to the pressure on players and can lead to mental health problems. everton‘s aaron lennon is receiving treatment after being detained by police under the mental health act last weekend. not all the players, even if they feel the need, they do want to be

helped by people who are at the club. sometimes you don‘t want to show that you could be interpreted asa show that you could be interpreted as a weakness inside the club, and soi as a weakness inside the club, and so i believe that you understand that most of the players, in a situation where they need help, they wa nt to situation where they need help, they want to do that outside the club. jose mourinho has written off finishing in the top four in the premier league, and says that manchester united will now prioritise the europa league, because winning that is the only way they‘ll qualify for next season‘s champions league and that could see them resting players on the home front. they are in spain for the first leg of their europa league semifinal tonight against celta vigo, but play arsenal on sunday before the second leg next week at old trafford so they may play a weakened team against the gunners. i think it would be a good achievement with many problems we had and would allow us to be back to the champions league next season. so we have to try, that is what we are going to do

and honestly the europa league becomes for us now more important. england women‘s cricket captain heather knight has a stress fracture to her left foot but should recover in time for the world cup which starts in just over seven weeks. knight is expected to be available for england‘s warm—up matches, the first of those is on june 19th against sri lanka. it will be her first world cup as skipper after taking over from charlotte edwards. england‘s men start their busy summer tomorrow in bristol, with a one day match against ireland. the two will also play at lord‘s on sunday. the england captain says his side are in good shape as they prepare to host the eight team champions trophy next month. the strength in depth we have had for this site has been extremely strong over the last 18 months. i

think the squad we selected in the champions trophy reflects that. the quys champions trophy reflects that. the guys that have missed out, we could have picked a squad of 18 or 19 that could take the field. that bodes well for us in the competition. i hope it continues over the next two yea rs hope it continues over the next two years as hope it continues over the next two yea rs as we hope it continues over the next two years as we build toward the world cup. that is a huge positive. basketball has changed its rules on headgear to make it more accessible to women‘s teams from muslim nations. hijabs had previously been banned over safety issues, and the qatar women‘s team withdrew from the 2014 asian games after being denied permission to wear them. the new rules, which also allow for turbans and yarmulkas, will take effect from october. usain bolt says his legacy will be proving to youngsters that clean athletes can win medals. bolt will be retiring from the sport after defending his sprint titles at the world championships in london this summer, and speaking to bbc sport‘s steve cram injamaica, he says he won‘t change his mind about quitting and is more than happy with what he has done for athletics. for me, just a great legacy, know

what i mean? to show the kids that anything is possible. you can do it without cheating, you know what i mean? it is one of those things i am happy i can leave in the sport. you can do it without cheating. if you are going to do this, it is going to be hard work and dedication, and a lot of sacrifice. and you can see usain bolt: the final chapter on bbc one, this saturday, at 1:15. that‘s all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. we have the build—up for the manchester united and celta vigo match. i‘ll have more in the next hour. just a recap on the main news of the day. buckingham palace has announced that the duke of edinburgh has decided to stop carrying out public engagements from the autumn. prince philip, who is 95 years—old, is said to have the full support of the queen in taking his decision.

she will continue with all her duties. the duke is the longest—serving consort in british history. let‘s return to buckingham palace andjoin my let‘s return to buckingham palace and join my colleague sophie long mac. he is the longest serving consort in british history. he is a very busy man. we are told already this year he has spent 25 days carrying out public engagements, they range from feeding elephants at whipsnade to unveiling a national memoriam yards away from where i am standing on horse guards parade. he has carried out during his time 60 years, more than 60 years on the queen‘s site, jobs overseas, accommodation of that and his sense of humour have resulted in a large proportion of the world‘s media descending on canada gate outside buckingham palace from the early hours of this morning when speculation was rife on

social media that there was to be a meeting, and the announcement followed later this morning. broadcasters have been coming down here. earlier, ispoke broadcasters have been coming down here. earlier, i spoke to charles anson, former press secretary to the queen, and he told me about his time with prince philip. i think he'll still continue to take a great interest in the causes that he's espoused — the duke of edinburgh award, all his interests in the environment, in architecture, design, all sorts of things he has followed, and 780 charities of which he is either patron or president. so i think he will stay involved, because that's his way. i think his contribution is on a par with prince albert, queen victoria's husband, this massive interest in all sorts of areas of national and international life, and you've gone showing an interest in that,

and i think today's meeting of the royal households, both in london and from windsor, from sandringham, from the other, the other parts of the organisation that work for the queen and the royal family, i think was really to explain this, and make sure that people understood it, and also to guide the different royal households, working for members of the royal family, how they can support the queen and her public duties in a way that prince philip has, as and when he's around, and as and when the queen needs that support. so i think this is sort of good management in the modern age on behalf of a consort of 95 years old, who has done 70 years of brilliant public service, and i'm sure he will continue to do so, in his own way, and by his own choice, and continue to make a contribution to national and international life. and he has been such a support to the queen, hasn‘t he, 110 days of engagements last year, making him, ithink, the fifth busiest person in the royalfamily, as you rightly point out

at the age of 95. what do you think today‘s announcement will mean for the queen? well, i think the queen and prince philip will have discussed this, and planned it in this way, and the fact that the meeting was called yesterday, and households were told exactly what was behind it all, has helped a lot, so i don't think it's a crisis. i don't think, you know, this is a new medical difficulty or whatever it might be, i think this isjust good planning on behalf of a monarchy and organisation that is so much in the public eye, and on behalf of a monarch and her husband, who have contributed this spectacular length of public service, which goes on, the queen remains fully engaged in public life, and i think prince philip will want to support her as much as possible, and it's been very clear over the last two or three years that the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall, prince william.

prince harry, duchess of cambridge, the other members of the royal family, are more than happy to step in where the queen wants support and prince philip perhaps doesn't particularly wish to be out that day. charles anson speaking to me earlier. it is business as usual at buckingham palace today. you can see the tourists behind me as usual, as it has been for both the queen and prince philip. they have been at saintjames prince philip. they have been at saint james palace this prince philip. they have been at saintjames palace this morning attending a service at the chapel royal. he was seen joking and looking very happy, and in good health, of course, as he walked along with the queen there. they attended a service and now will be hosting a luncheon as well. business as usual today, as it will be throughout the summer, we are told,

ina throughout the summer, we are told, in a statement released by the palace earlier this morning that he will continue his duties throughout the course of the summer until the end of august, and will not be accepting any new invitations there after. we can speak to charlie from taunton, journalist and royal watch, good afternoon to you. just your reaction. good afternoon. first of all, we saw a great deal of activity on social media. we did not know what was going to happen. i imagine prince philip himself is rather pleased but typically cross about twitter and facebook. it is a great relief to find out it is only an announcement about a retirement. it's not unexpected. he is 95, 96 next month. yes, of course, a huge amount of speculation, and people very relieved, as you point out,

that he is just going to step back from public life. we have seen him out and about today with the queen at saint james palace. out and about today with the queen at saintjames palace. we are told he will continue to carry out engagements until the end of the summer. what then for the queen? what will this change for her?|j don't what will this change for her?” don't think he is going to take that much of a back seat, he is a chief executive, i can't see him relinquishing that. he has passed on lots of responsibilities over the years, the duke of edinburgh awards we nt years, the duke of edinburgh awards went to his son, prince edward. charles anson said earlier in your programme, there is a new crop of royals coming up who are keen to ta ke royals coming up who are keen to take on these kinds of roles, especially prince harry. yes, we

have seen both prince harry and prince william talking about issues like mental health recently, do you think we will see more and more of the younger royals these days? we are, and they come with a very different style. he does represent an almost victorian, 20th—century authoritarian kind of royal. there has been a resurgence, perhaps, because of that, because they have a different attitude, perhaps. since we have the royal wedding, that captured the dreams of people around the globe. there has been a resurgence in the popularity of the royals. i think it has been a research and over the last 15 years. the 19905 were certainly a low point. it is a peculiar 5ituation.

the royal family is almost democratic, they are there because we almost want them to be there. it make5 we almost want them to be there. it makes it very difficult for republicans to remove them. if we didn't want them to be there, i don't know what would happen. but prince philip ha5 don't know what would happen. but prince philip has been part of 5haping thi5 prince philip has been part of 5haping this kind of royal family. 0k, 5haping this kind of royal family. ok, charlie, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. we are told that prince philip will, on occasion when he feels like it, be out and about alongside the queen. and he is also either patron, president or a member of some 780 organisations. we are told he will continue his association with those. when you think about it like that, you realise how busy you must be. christmas party season must be a nightmare for him. thank you,

sophie. an entire field of barley grown without any help from a farmer, or from any people at all. that‘s the aim of researchers at harper adams university who are using robots and drones to grow a hectare of barley. if they succeed it will be the first time anyone in the world has managed to use robots for every stage of the growing and harvesting of a crop. this is a robot tractor, an autonomous vehicle that striving itself as part of a world first experiment. and these are the rules of the experiment. so this is the safety fence around the hectare, and the team don‘t really want to go inside it, but they are allowed inside if there is a safety issue or if they need to do any repairs. but they can‘t touch the barley that‘s growing here. instead, the sewing, spreading, monitoring and harvesting of the crop itself, all of that is done by the robots and the drones.

after planting the seed, you need to roll the field. but today, the farming press and project partners are about to see the robot tractor go through its paces. really pleased, actually. all the hard work‘s paying off, and finally showing that this can be. for the first time, a team that‘s more usually focused on the machines has a vulnerable crop to worry about. but for pigeons pests, well, there‘s a high—tech solution. slightly worried about the pigeons. they've definitely been picking off some of the grain that has been 5pilt from certain areas, and things like that. but i've a method of dealing with that later on. i'm going to use my drone to scare them off. if the drones keep the pigeons away, then the next big task is how to monitor the crop when you can‘t go inside the fence. it‘s very odd because my natural home is in a field. looking at soils and plants. so to be at home for the majority of it, looking at things on my top is going to be quite unnatural. it‘s working perfectly today, but it‘s not been easy. so far, there have been several sleepless nights.

we got there eventually. a5 i've said, it's not perfect. there'5 room for improvement, but the crop'5 in the ground, we've done it robotically, we've done it autonomously, and we're all just really chuffed, really. now the team have to think about the final step, creating a robot combine harvester. david gregory—kumar, bbc midlands today, newport in shropshire. it is coming up to 13:50. in a moment, a summary of the business news this hour. but first, the headlines on bbc news: the duke of edinburgh, prince philip, will stand down from royal duties in the autumn, buckingham palace says. he "will no longer play an active role" and will only attend previously scheduled engagements between now and august. voters are heading to the polls today for local and mayoral elections. a total of 4,851 council seats are up for grabs in 88 councils, with the first results expected in the early hours of tomorrow morning. the two candidates in france‘s presidential election, emmanuel macron and marine le pen, clash in a debate ahead of sunday‘s vote.

hello there. i‘m egon cossou. the country‘s services sector is going gangbgusters. last month, new work grew at its fastest pace this year. that s according to the purchasing managers‘ index. it‘s a sign that the economy could be picking up speed. it‘s been a pretty good start to the year for morrisons. its sales increased by more than expected in the first three months of the year. that was boosted by price cuts. like—for—like sales, which exclude, new store openings, rose by almost 3.5%. that‘s despite the weak pound meaning higher prices for imported food. sales of new cars plunged in april by around a fifth from the month before. but that march figure was inflated by consumers rushing to buy cars ahead of vehicle tax hike. the car industry‘s trade body says more that 152,000 new cars were registered in april.

let‘s turn to gold now. the mining group randgold is one of the biggest players in the market, and it‘s just seen its profits leap by more than a third. so what‘s it doing right? mark bristow is the chief executive of randgold and joins us now. thank you forjoining us. what is behind the really great results? gold mining is a long—term business, and ourflagship gold mining is a long—term business, and our flagship has gold mining is a long—term business, and ourflagship has really gold mining is a long—term business, and our flagship has really settled down nicely. we had a challenging year last year. but across—the—board, everything came together this quarter, our best first quarter of the year for some 4-5 first quarter of the year for some 11—5 years now. if you focus on profitability, which we have always done, these sort of events happen. you have also seen a really ramping

up you have also seen a really ramping up of production. yes, a steady improvement of production now. what was good about this quarter, as far as mining goes, if you look at our combined delivery, whether it is production of gold, costs or profitability, the run rate delivers within our guidance, comfortably within our guidance, comfortably within our guidance for the full 12 months of this year. one thing that puzzles me, you have got big operations in places like the democratic republic of congo, mali, these places have experienced great instability, can you continue ramping up reduction in places like that? we built one of the biggest gold companies in the world, investing in sub—saharan africa. the principle behind our investment strategy is really to search, explore, scupper and develop

world —class explore, scupper and develop world—class gold deposits. if you have world—class gold deposits, they are, of course, highly profitable. they make a significant contribution, as you have seen, to our shareholders. but equally, to our shareholders. but equally, to our host countries. once you do that, and you play a big role in the economy, you become a wanted partner, a corporate citizen to that host country, and we find that works. we find that we work very ha rd to works. we find that we work very hard to maintain our social licence, and to be part of the delivery of one‘s natural resources. and to be part of the delivery of one's natural resources. thank you for joining one's natural resources. thank you forjoining us. some other stories to catch you up on. tough times for the high street retailer next. the company‘s sales dropped 2.5% in the first quarter.

it‘s also warning annual profits could be affected coming in at up to 740 million pounds. .that‘s lower than it had forecast before. check your purse, wallet and piggy bank for old style paper five pound notes. they‘ll stop being legal tender by the weekend. the bank of england says there are still 150 million knocking around. shops may refuse them from saturday, although banks should exchange them. shell‘s profits roared ahead in the first three months of the year. the company says that, according to the way it likes to measure these things, profits jumped to around £2.6 billon. it was helped by the fact that in the first quarter, oil prices were 55% higher than they were in the same period last year. it‘s a case of good news bad news for hsbc. profits fell by almost a fifth over the first three months of the year. but the figure came in atjust under £4 billion, which is actually better than expected.

the boss called them " a good set of results". let‘s take a look at the markets, and things look pretty healthy in europe, especially here in london. solid results from hsbc and shell are really supporting the markets. in fact, hsbc has been the biggest riser on the ftse, because of those better than expected results and its improved capital position. commodities are also doing well. we‘ve seen good results from some of the big oil companies — and that‘s really encouraging the sector as a whole. that‘s all from me. see you in the next hour. the weather in a moment, but there is time to tell you adele has become the richest musician under 30 according to this year‘s sunday times rich list. the singer‘s fortune has reached £125 million, up 50% in the last year alone. she‘s the only female solo artist to make the list, which is topped by sir paul mccartney and his wife. let‘s see what the weather is doing. the weather is settled for some of

us, not for others. look at the highlands early on this morning. not a cloud in the sky. it has been a different story in the south east along the kent coast, a lot of cloud and breeze coming off the sea, and isolated showers. it is depicted nicely on the satellite picture. cloud in the south and blue sky and sunshine in the north—west. in the south—west corner, it was a cold and disappointing for much of the afternoon. the sea at the moment sitting at around 9 degrees. the breeze coming in off the sea, adding... taking the edge of things. temperatures struggling at ten or 11. showers isolated, but not pleasant. a different story, cold on the east coast of scotland. in sheltered western areas, temperatures in the high teens, not out of the question today. through

northern ireland, stretching out of the borders to the north—west of england, beautiful in the lake district, 16 or 17 this afternoon. there will be sunshine, cloud and showers drifting along the m4 corridor to the south—west as we go through the end of the day. it will be isolated, but stays cloudy and cool be isolated, but stays cloudy and cool, particularly to the east. the high teens are likely. through this evening and overnight, we keep the cloud and breezy conditions across the south, clear skies further north. temperatures falling away, perhaps in sheltered and rural parts of scotland, temperatures low enough for a light frost first thing in the morning. again, almost a repeat performance with the blue sky and sunshine across northern and western areas. the wind will pick up strengthening the gale force before the end of the afternoon in the south—west. we could see a team with sunshine, but cooler on the east coast, 11 or 12. potentialfor rain

in the forecast as we move into the south—west. gardeners and growers ta ke south—west. gardeners and growers take note, only affecting potentially cornwall, devon and maybe somerset. a lot of cloud and drizzle on the south coast, generally. the frontal system will pivot off to the near content. staying dry with sunshine into sheltered north—west. as we move into sunday, the front clears away. a quieter day, light wind, and again with an edge to the field running down through the east coast. little change in the story through the weekend, west is best in terms of sunshine. this is bbc news. i‘m sophie long at buckingham palace where it‘s been announced the duke of edinburgh is to retire from public duties — a decision he took himself, backed by the queen. but it was business as usual this lunchtime when he took his place alongside the queen — by the autumn he will no longer be accepting engagements.

the prince — turns 96 next month — and his decision marks a transition for the royal family. i‘ll be bringing you all the latest developments. i‘m ben brown. the other news at 2pm: the french presidential candidates trade insults on television — now emmanuel macron files a lawsuit to scotch rumours he holds an offshore bank account.