the queen appeals to commonwealth leaders to appoint prince charles to succeed her as head of the organisation. she opened the meeting of the leaders of the 53 commonwealth countries at buckingham palace. it is my sincere wish that the commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity forfuture generations, and will decide that, one day, the prince of wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949. the role of head of the commonwealth is not hereditary — the leaders are expected to make a decision by the end of the week. also tonight... debenhams reports a big drops in profits. other retailers are hit too with falling sales. tributes are paid to the tv and radio presenter dale winton who's died aged 62. as the government announces plans to ban some plastic products in england, we look at the impact of plastic elsewhere in the world.

i'm in indonesia where there is so much plastic waste choking the rivers that the army has been called in to help. beautiful. splendid. amazing. and enjoying the unseasonally sunny weather as the mercury rises to over 29 celsius. and could we see a new style of cricket? the ecb proposes a new 100 ball format to widen the appeal of the game. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the queen has appealed to commonwealth leaders to appoint prince charles to succeed her as their head. as she opened the commonwealth heads of government meeting at buckingham palace,

she said it was her "sincere wish" that he take over from her one day. the role is not hereditary. the 53 leaders are expected to make a decision on the succession on friday. the queen, who will be 92 on saturday, said she took great pride and satisfaction in seeing the flourishing network the commonwealth had become. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports. it has its origins in the days of the empire and there was an echo of imperial grandeur in the welcome london laid on for the leaders of today's commonwealth of nations. the prime minister of the united kingdom. in the ballroom of buckingham palace, where empire transitioned to commonwealth nearly 70 years ago with the signing of the london declaration, commonwealth leaders gathered to witness another future transition. from elizabeth, head of the commonwealth throughout her long reign, to charles, who has been hoping to be endorsed in this non—hereditary role for some time.

commonwealth leaders are keenly aware of the queen's commitment. the commonwealth has been her passion. they are aware, too, that this will almost certainly be the last conference over which she will preside. change is coming and charles reminded the commonwealth of his long—standing involvement in their affairs. for my part, the commonwealth has been a fundamental feature of my life for as long as i can remember. and i pray that this commonwealth heads of government meeting will not only revitalise the bonds between our countries but will also give the commonwealth a renewed relevance to all its citizens. from britain's prime minister, theresa may, a reminder of the incredible opportunities offered by the commonwealth, important in the post—brexit world.

but then to the topic that bound them all emotionally today, a tribute to the queen. you have seen us through some of our most serious challenges and we commit to sustaining this commonwealth, which you have so carefully nurtured. and then it was the turn of the queen to speak. she had committed her life to the commonwealth at the age of 21. now, two days from her 92nd birthday, she was keen to prepare the ground for the leadership of the commonwealth after her death. it is my sincere wish that the commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity forfuture generations, and will decide that, one day, the prince of wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949. by continuing to treasure and reinvigorate our associations and activities, i believe we will secure a safer, more prosperous and sustainable

world for those who follow us. the commonwealth has big issues for discussion — preserving the oceans, democracy, trade, gay rights. but the significance of today was that, for the first time publicly, through the medium of the commonwealth elizabeth ii looked ahead to the time after her reign is over. the queen's words have taken that into territory we have not entered before in quite such an explicit fashion. everybody knows one day it will happen but the palace is relu cta nt to will happen but the palace is reluctant to talk about what will happen when the queen's rain ended but today she led the way to herself, making it clear that it was herself, making it clear that it was her sincere wish that when charles becomes king he would also be head of the commonwealth, which is not automatic. given her language i think it is now a given that commonwealth leaders, when they go into private session

tomorrow, were endorsed her wish and that in due course charles will be head of the commonwealth. it really is the most tangible evidence so far of the preparations being made for the eventual transition from the reign of elizabeth to the reign of charles. nicholas, thank you. sales have fallen at the high street store debenhams, with the company reporting a large drop in profits. it says the poor weather in late february was a contributing factor — 100 of its stores were temporarily closed. it's more evidence of challenges facing the high street. 0verall retail sales fell again last month, too, as our business correspondent, emma simpson, reports. gloucester, basking at last in the sunshine. but things are far from easy on the high street. at debenhams, falling sales and profits, down nearly 85% for the last six months. but that did include some huge restructuring costs for its plan

to turn things around. something they couldn't do at toys "r" us. these are its final few days, and everything must go. bridget has been here since it opened 28 years ago. it's sad but realistic, yeah. it's the way things are going. this is the problem. there's so much space. when these days we are buying nearly 40% of our toys online. it's a similar story here at maplin. its products can also be bought online, and the shops are being wound down. and here's another one that can't make the sums add up, carpetright wants to close lots of stores. mothercare is in rescue talks with its lenders, new look is axing 60 stores, this one remains for now. retailers everywhere are trying to keep up with what shoppers want. ifeel as if i ought to be shopping at the shops but i know that i can

just buy it online and press a button and get it there the next day. it is changing, yeah, but you can't stop progress, can you. gloucester are still trying to fill the hole left by bhs, a tough task when retailers are facing a host of pressures that are increasing costs, consumers feeling the squeeze, and that increase in online shopping. there is a huge structural shift going on and we are seeing some of the retailers that are not adapted to these changes. those that have got a huge amount of debt, those that haven't got their own usp, these are being squeezed out of the retail market. but it's not all doom and gloom, a few miles down the road, this new store is thriving and here is the investor behind it. i think bad retail is in crisis, i think good retail with great product for customers is in great form. we started as a predominantly online business. 0nline gives us access to great data which tells us

what the customers want, how they want it, when they want it. with that feedback we are able to open stores in an economically very different way to the current incumbents in the sector. so it's not the swansong for retail, but it is changing very fast. emma simpson, bbc news, gloucester. that's the picture on the high street but what's the broader economic outlook? 0ur economics editor, kamal ahmed, is in washington dc where the imf and the world bank are meeting. kamal, you've been talking to the governor of the bank of england. what did he have to say? i have. 0n the economy he was quite positive, saying employment was strong, wages were slowly going up. but the big thing we are all waiting for is of course what they will say on interest rates at the next meeting next month. many people expect those interest rates to go up when they meet on the 10th of may. but the governor was a bit more

dovish on that in his interview with me. he said people should get ready foran me. he said people should get ready for an interest—rate rise but maybe not quite as quickly as we thought before. he said why this is a big yearfor brexit before. he said why this is a big year for brexit and that would weigh heavily on their decision—making. the big picture, for people watching, is that, yes, prepare for a few interest rate rises over the next few years. and i think the one other thing we would say is that, look, the biggest set of economic decisions over the course of the next few years are going to be taken in the brexit negotiations. whatever deal we end up with. and then we will adjust to the impact of those decisions. the governor saying that we should be prepared for interest rate rises but it is obviously a very finely balanced decision. those market investors and economists who think it isa investors and economists who think

it is a nailed on certainty for an interest rate rise next month i think are being a little bit overconfident. thank you. a woman accused of throwing acid over her former partner in an attack that left him disfigured, almost blind and paralysed from the neck down has gone on trialfor murder. berlinah wallace is accused of attacking dutch engineer mark van dongen in bristol in 2015. he ended his life in a euthanasia clinic 15 months later. she denies all the charges. jon kay reports from bristol crown court. he was an engineer from holland. she was a fashion student from south africa. mark van dongen and berlinah wallace were together for five years, living in this bristol flat. the prosecution claims that, one night in september 2015, she threw sulphuric acid over him while he slept. it is claimed she bought it online. the jury was told miss wallace laughed as she threw the acid saying, "if i can't have you, no one else will." berlinah wallace wiped her eyes as the jury was played a video showing mark van dongen

in a hospital bed. struggling to speak and with his face and torso badly scarred, he told detectives she had poured the acid over him because she was jealous their relationship had broken down. berlinah wallace denies murder and throwing a corrosive fluid. the court heard mark van dongen was taken to hospital with horrific and catastrophic injuries, paralysed from the neck down and blind in one eye. the prosecution said 15 months after the incident he could take it no longer. he returned to belgium to be near his family and asked a euthanasia clinic there to help end his life. three doctorsjudged his physical and psychological suffering to be unbearable. he died injanuary last year. the prosecution claims that the suffering mark van dongen sustained from the acid ultimately drove him to euthanasia. that is why they say berlinah wallace is guilty of murder. but her barrister said to the jury they must keep an open mind, that there are two sides to every story, and that she will claim mark

van dongen himself left the acid out that night and was therefore the author of his own misfortune. the trial continues. jon kay, bbc news, bristol crown court. it has emerged that two internal home office documents warned that policies designed to create a ‘hostile environment‘ for illegal immigrants could adversely affect older british citizens who'd arrived from the caribbean after the second world war. the government has apologised to commonwealth immigrants from the so—called windrush generation who've been threatened with deportation because they can't prove their right to be in the uk. tributes have been paid to the television and radio presenter dale winton, who has died at the age of 62. he found fame in the 90s, hosting shows like supermarket sweep and pets win prizes, before going on to present the national lottery show, ‘in it to win it'. police say his death is unexplained, but they're not treating it as suspicious. 0ur entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, looks back at his life. the shows might not have been

highbrow, but for millions of viewers their entertainment value was huge. hello, gorgeous shoppers! supermarket sweep, pets win prizes... oh yes! dale winton had the ability to make the unlikeliest concept into unmissable viewing. let's release those balls! and for 20 years he was rarely off our screens. he was such a lively man, oozing joie de vivre. he adored life, he liked whizzing round london in an open topped sports car. he liked sitting and holding court in cafes in the west end. if any fans came up to him, he couldn't have been more thrilled. and on social media, his friend david walliams said, "he devoted his life to making everyone else happy, his friends, the public and his godsons, even though he found it hard to be happy himself. i pray he has found peace." he had spoken publicly about his private loans.

—— private lows. i should have taken myself off the tv but i didn't. and actually i was going to the studio, coming home, i didn't actually... i mean, listen, there are worse things in the world but i had health issues and i had the depression. he was last seen on tv on familiar territory. as i used to say, let's check them out. a channel 5 show that saw him leaving the uk to explore america. i've touched down in the sunshine state. a presenter whose easy—going charm was as evident as ever. dale winton — funny, friendly, fabulous. the television and radio presenter dale winton, who has died at the age of 62. the time isjust the time is just gone a quarter past six. our top story this evening... the queen appeals to commonwealth leaders to appoint prince charles to head the organisation after her. and still to come... basking in the sun on the warmest april day for nearly 70 years. coming up in sportsday on bbc news,

burnley play chelsea in the premier league tonight, where a win would put them above arsenal and in contention for a place in next season's europa league. billions of plastic straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds could be banned from sale in england. the government is to launch a consultation on it later this year. one of the aims of today's move is to cut global marine pollution. so our science editor, david shukman, has been to indonesia to see how bad the problem is there. soldiers hack away at a dense mass of plastic waste. it's hard to believe, but this is actually a river, and they're trying to clear it up. you can just see the water, underneath all the bags, containers and bottles.

this is bandung, one of many indonesian cities choking on so much waste that the army has been called in. for the military, plastic is a new and strange kind of enemy. this looks like a rubbish dump, it certainly smells like one, but what's striking is that this massive accumulation of plastic is happening on indonesia's rivers, despite the country making a huge effort — for several years now — to tackle it. itjust shows you the staggering scale of the problem. all the time that the soldiers are at work, the flow of the river brings yet more plastic waste. it's a constant struggle for the officials in charge. do you think you are winning this battle against the plastic? i think so. yeah, we have to win. if not it is dangerous for our lives. but, how long will it take you? i'm sure within ten years. within ten years you could

clear everything up? yes. while we are filming, the soldiers realise they don't have enough trucks to carry away the waste, so they use a diggerjust to push it downstream. it's not exactly a long—term solution, and the plastic floats away to become someone else's problem. and part of that problem is that this landfill site is the only one bandung has. the convoys of rubbish trucks collect just a fraction of the waste generated by several million people in the city. a new load is dumped, flies swarm in the tropical heat. people rush to be first to search the rubbish. it's incredibly risky — dodging an excavator. someone died here recently, but ironically they are after the very things that most people want to get rid of — a plastic bottle.

little by little the message is spreading that recycling can create an income. in a village outside the city, the scheme is tiny, but it's one of many. and separating the different types of plastic earns a higher price. experts say that a culture of just throwing things away is now changing. i think particularly the young people here are very much aware of that i don't want to be part of this problem, and they want to have a future that is at least in a plastic free environment. they are working hard for that. but a view from the air reveals just how massive the challenge is. plastic dumped close to the river soon finds its way into the water and then downstream. and down at the coast, a fishing village looks like it's drowning in plastic. the children here are growing up surrounded by the stuff.

it's depressing evidence ofjust how much still needs to be done to clear it up. so, what begins as a local problem of failing to handle waste turns into a global one as the oceans fill with plastic. the bbcjournalist who broke the story about a police investigation into sir cliff richard has denied that he coerced the police into telling him about the raid on the singer's home. in court, he also said that it was his bbc bosses that made decisions about the singer's privacy when deciding to cover the story in 2014. sir cliff is suing the broadcaster over its coverage of a police investigation into an allegation of sexual assault about which which he was never arrested or charged. our special correspondent lucy manning was in court. look who's here! sir cliff richard, with his friend gloria hunniford alongside him, heard the journalist who reported the police investigation into him strongly defend his right to run the story. what is the latest there, dan?

the police search is still going on here... dan johnson was praised by his bosses for this reporting. they called it a gold—plated scoop. the story, he explained in court, wasn't about sir cliff richard being guilty but about the police investigation, and he claimed although it could be damaging, it doesn't mean we don't have the right to tell people what the police were doing. sir cliff richard's barrister questioned why mrjohnson had felt the need to report the allegation against the singer at all. he said, "you don't have to be sherlock holmes to conclude this looks like potentially a pretty flimsy complaint, do you?" mrjohnson replied, "i'm not sherlock holmes, i'm not the police. that's theirjob. but given they have decided to take this forward, to take it seriously, to take it to the next stage, i couldn't just ignore what they were doing." the bbc was criticised for using a helicopter to film

the search of his flat. mrjohnson claimed issues about sir cliff richard's privacy were considered by those higher up — his bosses in london. mrjohnson claimed, "this was a story involving allegations of a serious nature against a figure of the highest profile, against the backdrop of a number of other allegations being made against celebrities, some having beenjailed, guilty as a result of other victims coming forward because of media coverage in some instances." mrjohnson was asked about remarks he made about a billy graham religious rally, which is where the allegation about sir cliff richard was said to have happened. the reporter wrote an e—mail saying, "it wasn'tjust the hand of god doing the touching." sir cliff richard shook his head as mrjohnson denied he had been treating the singer as a guilty man. lucy manning, bbc news. the pilot of a jet which crashed during the shoreham airshow has appeared in court charged with manslaughter.

54—year—old andrew hill, who appeared at westminster magistrates' court today, was flying a hawker hunterjet fighter as part of an aerobatic display when it came down on the a27 shoreham by—pass nearly three years ago, killing 11 people. a cross—party group of mps is to force a commons vote next week on britain staying in a customs union with the eu. ten chairs of select committees, including three conservatives, have tabled a motion calling for "an effective customs union" after brexit. theresa may has pledged to leave the current customs union after brexit. today has been the warmest april day for nearly 70 years. temperatures hit 29.1 celsius in north west london, more than ten degrees above average for this time of year, and other parts of the country have seen hot weather too. sarah keith—lucas has been talking to those lucky enough to be out in the sunshine.

notan not an umbrella or raincoat insight, an early taste of summer. sweltering, absolutely lovely. perfect spring weather. happy. it reminds me of australia. you would be forgiven for thinking it was the middle of august with some parts of the country more than 10 degrees above average for the time of year. with highs in london at 28 celsius, that makes it hotter than madrid and rome with these cities forecast to be about 2k celsius today. it's not just the mercury that has been rising, this weather has also been lifting spirits. it is splendid because we wait for this. it's been

a long winter. what does summer mean to you? i don't know, everyone is happy and chilled, it's nice to walk around and not speak in a big thick coat. it's been the warmest april day in 70 years. so why is it so hot? it's down to where the wind is blowing from. there's a big area of high pressure sitting across central europe and it's been warming up for several days in france, germany and italy and as the winds rotate around the high pressure, they are drawing in winds from southern europe and the mediterranean. as they move north to the uk they are heading over continental landmass which has been bringing the hot and dry weather affecting much of the country over recent days. the warmth hasn't been confined to the south—east. as far north as aberdeenshire it was around 20 degrees and in scarborough it was perfect weather for fish and chips at the seaside. and since it's so sunny outside,

we've decided to free ben rich from the confines of the studio to tell us about the weather up on the roof of broadcasting house. it's quite a view? yes, this isn't spring, this is some, a beautiful view tonight and not too far away from here with 29.1 degrees today, the warmest april day since 1919. there are changes ahead, things turning gradually less warmth as we go through the next few days. there will be sunny spells but as we arrive at the weekend, the increasing risk of some thunderstorms. so get out and about and enjoy the warmth because it will last into the evening, temperatures holding up into the 20s for many. cooler across the northwest, northern ireland and scotland, with cloud sticking at times as we go through the night in those places. some mist and fog patches developing as well, and perhaps not quite as

mild as it was last night although some towns and cities will stick in double—digit. early mist and fog across parts of england and wales but that should burn off and then we will see a glorious day with long spells of sunshine. parts of scotla nd spells of sunshine. parts of scotland have showers in the northwest, and for western areas it will be cooler than today but down towards the south—east again, 26, 27 degrees, another very one day. as we go into the weekend, here is a reason for the change. an area of low pressure pushing in from the atla ntic low pressure pushing in from the atlantic and does that approaches our shores on saturday after a fine start, there is the increasing chance of heavy, thundery downpours creeping up from the south west so bear that in creeping up from the south west so bearthat in mind creeping up from the south west so bear that in mind if you have barbecue plans. a little bit cooler in the north and on sunday that cooler weather will spread further south and east to just about all parts of the country. some show was around at times, 21 degrees in the

south—east, but the cooler deal up to the northwest. after such a beautiful day today, can it last? no, there are changes on the way for the weekend. thank you. a reminder of our main story... the queen appeals to commonwealth leaders to appoint prince charles to head the organisation after her. 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. this is bbc news, i'm rebecca jones, our latest headlines. the queen tells dozens of world leaders that she'd like prince charles to succeed her as head of the commonwealth. it is my sincere wish that the commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations. and we'll decide that one day the prince of wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 19119. the windrush controversy, new calls for an investigation, into why thousands of landing

cards were destroyed. an attempt to clean up plastic pollution, as the government sets out plans to ban billions of plastic straws, cotton buds and drinks stirrers. in a moment, it will be time for sportsday, but first a look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news. in beyond 100 days, you can hear some of newsnight‘s exclusive interview with the former director of the fbi james comey, who was fired by president trump.