the desperate plight of the rohingya muslims — the pope calls for respect for all ethnic minorities on a visit to myanmar. while the pope doesn't mention the rohingyas by name, he makes a plea for every individual‘s human rights to be defended. more than 620,000 rohingyas have been driven out of their homes and are trapped in refugee camps over the border in bangladesh. iam here i am here at southern bangladeshi refugee camp where have fled terrible conditions. we'll be hearing from reeta in the refugee camps in the second of her special reports. also tonight: prince harry and meghan markle are to be married next may. the venue — st george's chapel in windsor. the duchess of cambridge wishes them well. william and i are absolutely thrilled, it is such a exciting news. it is a very happy time for any couple and we wish them all the best and hope they enjoy this happy moment. why living in the east midlands could blight your chances

for the rest of your life. and the extra terrestrial bin lorry catching old bits of satellite and rockets that are filling up outer space. coming up on sportsday on bbc news... ben stokes heads to the southern hemisphere, but he's more likely to be playing cricket in new zealand than australia. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. pope francis has used a trip to myanmar to call for respect for all ethnic groups and for human rights in what's being seen as a reference to the plight of the country's rohingya muslims. since august, more than 620,000 rohingyas have been driven out of their homes mainly by the burmese army though the army claims it is responding to militant attacks.

the rohingyas have been forced to flee across the border into neighbouring bangladesh. the un has called it "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing". my colleague reeta chakrabarti is at the kutupalong refugee camp in bangladesh, home to hundreds of thousands of rohingyas, half of them children. reeta, what difference is a papal visit going to make to them? thanks, fiona. people here do look to world leaders to highlight their plight and they will have been expectations of pope francis on his first visit to myanmar and francis on his first visit to myanmarand in francis on his first visit to myanmar and in particular whether he would refer directly to them rohingyas by name, something he has donein rohingyas by name, something he has done in the past, but the word that the myanmar authorities and their leader, aung san suu kyi, has refused to do. it has been a highly sensitive visit and we will have more on that in a moment. but first,

i have been following one young family on theirjourney i have been following one young family on their journey from different points in the refugee camp. waiting at the border in bangladesh, 600 refugees who have crossed from myanmar. they are held here for two days before being allowed in. they are exhausted and anxious. among them we found 18—year—old rabia and her two nieces, nine—year—old umi and four—year—old noor. they said they escaped after the army and local buddhists in myanmar attacked their local village. rabia's parents were killed. the little girl's mother was also killed and they do not know what has happened to their father. they had been walking for 25 days. translation: people gave us food. ijust brought the two children. i didn't bring anything to cook with. she says she is determined to keep the children with her although it may be difficult. a week later we find them in the un transit camp were vulnerable

transit camp where vulnerable people are looked after. umi has left to get their food rations. so how are they getting on? oh, this is where you live. you don't have much, do you? psychologists say little noor is severely traumatised by her experiences. she never speaks to any adult. almost everybody that you meet in this camp say that they have seen some terrible things. this group has been set up to help people deal with their experiences. it is run by mahmuda, a psychologist. all the women here have lost their husbands in the violence in myanmar and they are grateful for her counselling. anjum and khatoun, says mahmuda, ask questions about their lives, they really talk to each other

about all the bad and the good that has happened to them. herfriend hemida begum echoes her, saying the sessions make her feel happy and they are thanksful. people come from all over the camp come for help from mahmuda. she works with them to rebuild their lives. it really works magically because in my session normally i say a few words and that is like you are here, now you are safe and you are not alone, we are with you. so acknowledge your life as you are alive because you have to work through many stories and experiences, but finally you are here and you are safe. we knew the three girls we met earlier were safe but it had been four days and they had moved on. we found them with a group of people from their village, waiting to be registered

in a more permanent camp. translation: i hope for a good life, i will never let the children go, i will never go anywhere, i will never leave their side. aid workers told us the girls will get child protection because they have no parents and they will be placed with the others from their community. rabia, umi and moor are being looked after, but they will take a long time to recover from the trauma they have experienced. reeta chakra barti, bbc news, bangladesh. a flavour of what some of the camps young inhabitants have had to endure. back now to the pope's visit to myanmar. 0ur religious affairs correspondent has been travelling with the pope and has just sent this report. 0n the lush grounds of

myanmar‘s presidential palace a military band announces the arrival of pope francis. the rich pageantry a world away from the terror felt by more than 600,000 rohingya muslims who, since august, have fled into bangladesh in what the united nations has called textbook ethnic cleansing. today pope francis met with myanmar‘s de facto leader aung san suu kyi with human rights organisations urging him to name the rohingya as victims despite myanmar not recognising them as citizens. myanmar‘s civilian leader, whose shares power with the army, spoke first, acknowledging the focus of the area where the rohingya have lived for generations. as we address long—standing issues, the support of

oui’ long—standing issues, the support of our people and of good friends only who wish to seek to succeed in our endeavours has been invaluable. aung san suu kyi chose to say little about the crisis. expectations then shifted to pope francis. translation: the future of myanmar must be peace, based on the respect for the dignity and rights of each memberof for the dignity and rights of each member of society. we speak for each ethnic group and its identity, non—excluded. ethnic group and its identity, non-excluded. pope francis praised the united nations, but he did not referred to the un's accusation that myanmar has engaged in ethnic cleansing. while he said the future of this nation must include all people regardless of their race and religion, he did not use the word rohingya. those working with rohingya. those working with rohingya refugees say the pope surrendered his moral authority by not offering an explicit criticism, but many in a country that is 75%

buddhists were relieved he did not mention the rohingya by name. translation: it was wise of him not to use the word. the world is hearing the wrong message. the pope may also have been mindful of potential repercussions for another religious minority. christians make up religious minority. christians make upjust 6% religious minority. christians make up just 6% of the population here and many have travelled here to take pa rt and many have travelled here to take part ina and many have travelled here to take part in a special mass were pope francis will preside tomorrow. martin bashir, bbc news, myanmar. while world leaders attempt in their way to find some resolution to this crisis, here on the ground conditions remain desperately sad. what is really needed is more food aid, clean water and proper shelter. with that from southern bangladesh, fiona, it is back to you. in the day's other news: prince harry will marry his fiancee meghan markle next may

in st george's chapel, windsor castle. buckingham palace has released more details of the couple's wedding plans and say that ms markle will become a british citizen. as our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports, the palace has also confirmed the royal family will cover the cost of the wedding and the reception. they have in the words of their spokesman been overwhelmed by the amount of the support they received from britain and other parts of the world of the news of their engagement, now, harry and megan are starting to organise for all aspects of the ceremony, according to officials. other members of the royal family have been expressing their happiness at the news of their engagement. william and i are absolutely thrilled at such exciting news, it isa thrilled at such exciting news, it is a happy time for any couple and we wish them all the best and they enjoyed this moment. it is our gain and we are all absolutely delighted. they are so happy. sometimes in a

climate where we are surrounded by a lot of bad news it is a realjoy to have a bit of good news for once. the first big decision in terms of the wedding planning is the venue. it will take place inside windsor castle in the historic saint george's chapel. the month on the invitations will be made, a precise date has still to be decided. the 15th century chapel festering by the banners of the knights of the garter is where harry was christened. the disadvantage is its size. it can seat only 800 guests, half the capacity of westminster abbey. it is a more intimate setting, it is where the marriage of the duchess of wales and the duchess of cornwall was blessed after their marriages in the wedding office. the reaction in the town was predictably positive. we are amazing, we are so town was predictably positive. we are amazing, we are so excited. fantastic, really nice, it will be

good for winter as well.|j fantastic, really nice, it will be good for winter as well. i lived locally and it will be nice to have such a big event in the local area. aside from wedding preparations, megan will be preparing for british citizenship. yesterday she said she wa nted citizenship. yesterday she said she wanted to get to know them better. as far as boots on the ground are concerned, i am excited to get to know more about different organisations here and i am excited to get to work with passions by her boys been excited about. that will start this friday in nottingham, the city will witness the first engagement of the new royal team, prince harry and meghan markle. nicholas witchel, bbc news. our royal correspondent daniela relph is outside windsor castle. i imagine there'll be some excitement there and preparations will start pretty soon, even though the wedding's not until may. yes, they will start soon, but

windsor is a place that takes a ride eventin windsor is a place that takes a ride event in its stride there have been so event in its stride there have been so many here. it will be very well prepared for a royal wedding. princess anne's son has married here so princess anne's son has married here so they know what they are doing. it is within the precincts of the castle and it is that bit more private, but it will still feel very much like a big royal event. prince harry is very familiar with windsor castle. he has been coming here throughout his life. he went to school down the road at eton and we know during the course of their relationship prince harry and meghan markle have come to windsor on many occasions and they have described it asa occasions and they have described it as a special place to them, hence their decision to choose it as their wedding venue in may next year. in terms of the costs of the wedding, it has been confirmed by buckingham palace that the church, the flowers,

the reception, the music, the bill for all of that will be paid for by the royal family. within the last hour, bath university has announced the retirement of its vice chancellor, professor dame glynis breakwell who'd been criticised over her salary. she's the highest paid university vice chancellor, in the uk, on a salary of £468,000. students and staff had complained her pay was disproportionate and far exceeded pay rises for lecturers. our home editor mark easton is here. professor brea kwell‘s salary has been under fierce attack for many months, why is she going now? she is resigning. the inflated salaries of university vice chancellors, the argument is they are living a life of luxury whilst the students are saddled with debt. she leaves ahead of a planned protest this thursday by students and staff and that was really the final straw. her wages and benefits

amounted to £468,000, a fabulous georgian house on lansdowne crescent, and interest loan piquant, £31,000 for her housekeeper to do laundry and ironing. there was even £2 for biscuits. when all this was revealed, there was pressure on her to quit. she is also the chief executive of a very successful business that has tripled in size and her leadership. the university today did indeed praise her outstanding service and said she will continue to contribute to the ongoing success of the university until she leaves the job at the end of the summer. she will not get a payoff. it signals a change. vice chancellors will have to be much more transparent about their pay and perks and justify all that to the other stuff and most importantly the students. our top story this evening: the desperate plight of the rohingya muslims, the pope calls for respect for all ethnic minorities

on a visit to myanmar. still to come: new measures to help reduce the number of baby deaths and injuries in childbirth in england. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: looking to qualify for the next world cup, wales' women top their group after beating bosnia—herzegovina. england and northern ireland are in action later. there's a "spiral of ever growing division" between richer and poorer parts of england, according to a report by the social mobility commission. it says many areas feel left behind with children getting a poor start in life from which they can never recover. the report ranked all 324 local authorities on this map in terms of life chances for someone from a disadvantaged background. the areas coloured blue, many rural or on the coast, have the lowest levels of social mobility. the orange, the highest.

in london, 51% of children on free school meals achieved a star to c in english and maths gcse, compared to 36% in the english regions. newark, in the east midlands, is the worst performing authority. adina campbell has been finding out the challenges people face there. that's for you to figure out. so don't doubt it, stand up and shout it — i've got this. i've got this! a special assembly from a local poet, inspiring children here in newark to dream big. i want to be a heart surgeon and to do that i'm going to have try my hardest and get into the best universities there are. i'd like to be an architect with my sister and to do that i've got to pick it in my gcses. i would like to be a police officer and to get that i'm going to nurture other people and work together. a third of children at this school have free school meals and to give those from poorer backgrounds a fighting chance of doing well, teachers say it's all about starting early. we've got learning

mentors in school. we've got people trained in lego therapy. the families have support with attendance and reading at home. it all comes together to give the children that springboard into all of the rest of the curriculum. young people from disadvantaged families in newark are facing a tough reality, only one in three achieve the expected standard at the end of primary school. while one in four gets two or more a—levels, and only one in ten go to university. it's not just children from poorer backgrounds here in the east midlands who may face some challenges, only a fifth of those in work have senior or professionaljobs. you're not really pushed into this area and i wouldn't say our colleges are that good. i didn't really feel encouragement. round here not very many people want

to give opportunities to people. the social mobility commission says people who live in places like newark need hope, the stakes are too high. we are becoming a nation of us and them and the growing sense in the country that we've become an us and them society is deeply, deeply corrosive of our cohesion as a nation, and that goes to not just our society or the economics of our country, but also the politics of the country. the government says 1.8 million more children are in good or outstanding schools than in 2010 and the national living wage is helping to boost salaries. like many other small market towns, job opportunities in newark are limited, many people have no option but to commute if they want to climb up the career ladder. relax your shoulders... and that's why starting young could make all the difference, but there's only so much schools can do. with budgets being squeezed everywhere, this could have a lasting impact on the country's future. adina campbell, bbc news, newark. if you'd like to know how

social mobility varies across your local authority, if you live in england, you can go to the bbc news website and click on the map to find out. 2,500 staff have been redung tan at the palmer and harvey. the company has collapsed into administration. the nhs in england must do better at learning from mistakes to reduce the number of baby deaths and injuries in childbirth, says the health secretary. the uk has some of the highest levels of stillbirth in western europe. for the first time, parents of stillborn babies are to be routinely offered an independent investigation into what went wrong. here's our health correspondent, dominic hughes. amanda is a busy mum, but she lives with a terrible loss. hi, riley—moo. hi, mummy.

she enjoyed a normal pregnancy and labour with her second baby, but shortly after the birth her daughter, tallulah, died. the response from the hospital didn't help. they said, you know, often there aren't any answers. it was the first thing i was told, not to get my hopes up that there would be answers. that many babiesjust die in labour and no—one really knows why. unfortunately, by the time the inquest came around, the hospital had lost all the blood results, the chord results, so we had nothing really to go on. but the histologist at the inquest said, looking at her and doing the post—mortem, there was no explanation. it's this kind of situation health secretaryjeremy hunt wants to end. among the measures announced today is an independent review of every unexplained death during labour, rather than hospitals conducting their own investigations. when i talk to parents whose heart has been broken by something that's gone wrong, in those very small numbers of cases, what they say is, it's not about the money, they just want to know that the nhs

has learned from what went wrong, so that that same mistake isn't ever going to happen again. without doubt there has been some real progress over the last decade when it comes to reducing the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths, which is when a baby dies within four weeks of being born, but the uk still lags some way behind other european countries. ministers clearly believe part of the reason for that is that the nhs has been slow to learn the lessons of past mistakes. the vast majority of 700,000 births a year pass out without incident, but each day there are around nine stillborn babies. —— off. roughly 50 women die in england each year from issues related to pregnancy and around 50,000 babies are born prematurely. problems during pregnancy and birth have complex causes, alcohol, smoking and being overweight can all come into play,

but across the nhs a shortage of staff to provide safe care remains a concern. we've been saying for some time there isn't enough midwives. we really need more staff and more capacity in order to safely care for mums and babies. too many families are being left to deal with the devastating loss of a baby. care is improving, but there are concerns that progress is still too slow. dominic hughes, bbc news. ireland's deputy prime minister, frances fitzgerald, has resigned. it follows criticism of her handling of a whistleblower scandal. she said she's stood down to avoid a "potentially destabilising" snap election and insists she's acted with integrity throughout her political career. the brexit secretary, david davis, has been summoned to appear before a committee of mps to explain why they've not been given full details about the economic impact of the uk leaving the european union. mr davis gave them a dossier covering 58 different sectors of the economy, but has withheld some "sensitive information."

he's been accused by some mps of treating parliament "with contempt. " space is filling up with junk — old bits of rocket, fragments of space crafts, even old satellites are all up there. that poses a threat to vital space technology which could be hit and damaged. now, a british team is hoping to solve the problem by sending up a spacecraft to clear it up. our science correspondent, rebecca morelle, explains. trois, deux, un — lift off. blasting off, for decades we've been launching into space, but what goes up rarely comes down and space has become crowded with junk. the remove debris spacecraft could be the answer, the world's first attempt to test how we can clean—up celestial clutter. it will see if it's possible to snare a satellite in a net and review how effectively a harpoon is. it will then bring everything back down, burning up as it enters the earth's atmosphere.

it's been assembled in surrey and it's cost £15 million. this is the last chance to see it before it's packed up for its launch early next year. this is the remove debris platform and it's going to be one of the world's first missions to actually demonstrate cleaning up space junk. this mission is incredibly important. we have technologies on here that have never been demonstrated in space before and it's urgent that we actually launch this mission now so that we can develop these technologies for use in the future. since the early days of exploration, the area around the earth has grown more and more cluttered. it's estimated there are about 7,500 tonnes ofjunk, made up of old bits of rocket, fragments from defunct spacecraft, even tools dropped by an astronaut. scientists believe there are now half a million pieces of debris the size of a marble or bigger and each piece has the potential to do some serious damage.

last year, the international space station was hit. this chip in a window was caused when it was struck by a tiny fleck of paint. but the bigger pieces ofjunk are a more pressing problem. this european satellite, the size of a double decker bus, suddenly stopped working in 2012. since then, it's been circling the earth, threatening other key satellites in its path. the problem is going to grow. it's going to grow because collisions are going to take place in the orbital environment. we're going to lose the satellites that we rely on. that's going to be costly to us, it's going to be costly to the future generation. all eyes are now trained on the remove debris spacecraft. if the technology works, the hope is future missions can be scaled up and the space clean—up can begin. rebecca morelle, bbc news. back down to planneth earth. time for a look at the weather, here's lucy martin.

sunny spells today, but it has been feeling cold. snow on the hills there. scattering of showers as we moved through the day. the showers largely in the north and east. there have been a few for northern ireland, wales and the south—west of england. brightness despite the fact it feels cold. tonight he we will see showers clipping the east coast. they will extend further into east anglia and one or two into the south—east. showers for northern ireland, one or two for south—west wales and england. it will feel. where we have showers there is the potential for patches of ice for northern parts of scotland. cold start to the day tomorrow, patchy frost first thing for prone spots. plenty of brightness. the best of the sunshine in the south—west of scotland, wales and south—west of england. showers along eastern coastal areas. some could be wintry in nature. showers for northern ireland. one or two in the south—west. temperatureses not up to much, maximum around seven degrees

celsius. here is how the pressure charts are looking as we move into thursday. high pressure out in the west continuing to see that norly feed as we move into thursday. it will turn a bit colder. you can see we are firmly in that cold air mass. the temperatures coming down a bit on what we've seen today. again, that north—easterly wind means it won't feel particularly warm. a cold start to the day again as we move into thursday. plenty of sunshine around and the best of the brightness down the central spine of the country, still some scattered showers in the east. some of those could be wintry in nature, even to low levels. temperatures though not feeling warm when you add in the cold north—easterly breeze. feeling wintry by the end of the week. thank you. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. hello.

this is bbc news. the headlines. pope francis is appealing for tolerance in myanmar after meeting the country's leader aung san suu kyi, but he chooses not to mention the persecuted rohingyas by name. prince harry and meghan markle will marry at st george's chapel in windsor in may. the american actress, who is a protestant, will be baptised and confirmed before the ceremony and will become a british citizen. the uk's highest paid vice—chancellor is retiring from the university of bath amid criticism over the institution's handling of senior staff pay. professor dame glynis breakwell who earns 468 thousand pounds a year, is stepping down after 17 years in her post. inquests into stillbirths — and other measures — have been announced to try and reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries during childbirth.