this is bbc news, i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at two: thousands of people are marching through london to demand a vote on the final deal on the uk's departure from the eu. senior cabinet ministers stress the uk is still prepared to walk away from brexit talks without a deal. the prime minister has always said that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and that no deal would be better than a bad deal. and i think it is essential, as we enter the next phase of the negotiations, that the european union understands that and believes it. president erdogan of turkey makes a final appeal for votes ahead of tomorrow's elections in which he's facing a strong challenge. also coming up: tackling the devastating impact of plastic pollution. sir david attenborough launches a new campaign, and says he's been "astonished" by the response to the blue planet series. on talking books in half an hour: norwegian journalist and author asne seierstad speaks to gavin esler at hay festival.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. two years after the brexit referendum, thousands of people are protesting in central london to demand what they call a "people's vote" on the outcome of the negotiations with the eu. we'll be going live to central london in a moment to hear more about the march, but this was the scene in the past hour as a few thousand people demonstrating against it in what they're calling the uk unity and freedom march. it all comes as the german

engineering firm siemens, which employs 15,000 people in the uk, called on the government to remain closely aligned with the single market. senior cabinet ministers have again said the uk is prepared to walk away from the negotiations rather than accept a bad deal. 0ur political correspondent, nick eardley, reports. two years to the day since the brexit vote, visions of the future are still very different. campaigners on central london today calling on a vote for any final deal the government reaches with brussels. there has been two years since the referendum. the government is no clearer about what it wants. it is internally divided, let in argument with the european union, the country is very likely to end up in a bad place. we have got to stop the mess

and the best way of doing it, is that when we know what the outcome is, that the public have the final say. businesses are expressing views as well. yesterday, airbus said it would reconsider its future in the uk if there is no deal. bmw called for more clarity. and today, there was this reaction to borisjohnson‘s call for a full british brexit. it is time to get away from slogans for british brexit going into combat with europe. it is incredibly unhelpful and what we need to do now is to get closer with our european partners and work out what a realistic, pragmatic brexit is. the foreign secretary says the government needs to get on with it and avoid a deal that is soft, yielding and infinitely long. others say to get that the pm must be prepared to walk away if she does not get the right deal. the prime minister has always said that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and that no deal would be better than a bad deal. i think it is essential that, as we enter the next phase of the negotiations, that european union understands that and believes it.

labour say no deal would be the height of irresponsibility and as campaigners gather, they say the electorate should make the final decision. a reminder, if ever one was needed, that views on brexit differ greatly. we can speak to our news correspondent, jon donnison, who's in central london. any idea on officialfigures any idea on official figures for the number of people attending that yet? we don't have any official figures at the moment. 0rganisers are saying that tens of thousands of people, as they were gathering earlier up the road, those kind of numbers. we're not talking about hundreds of thousands, i don't think. parliament square behind me is filling up now and that is meant to be a rally here ina and that is meant to be a rally here in a couple of hours' time. i have got couple of guests with me now. sarah, what do you want out of this

march? it is bizarre that decisions are being made that will affect us, generations to come, and we don't have a say in those decisions. did you vote in the last referendum? of course, but since then it has become chaos. members of parliament have no idea what is going on. it is absurd we do not get a say in those decisions. from the other side, they would say it is a case of sore losers. they would be wrong on that front. if the government recognises that democracy requires people to have a vote in principle as opposed to what leaving the eu would look like, the government must recognise that basic democracy needs to have another referendum. people will say, there was a referendum, people voted, it was close, but the 48%

last. that was a vote in principle but not as to what leaving would look like. no one had a clue, the media was hugely misrepresented. it was based on lies. it has become clear what lies they were. did you feel back in 2016 that you did not know what people were voting for?” felt worried that the media was portraying it a total lies, with the nhs pass, the 30 million a week, it was clearly lies. it was worrying how many people were calling for about an voting based on lies. how do you see this will actually happen in another referendum when you have the two main political parties and neither of them say they want another referendum ? neither of them say they want another referendum? that is why the people are out for it. we will protest for it. we are not optimistic it will happen but it is

about having your voice heard and being seen to take a stand about what will affect our lives. the government has signed a lives in ways we need to take to the streets for it. i will let you get back to the rally. those speeches are due to start an hour the rally. those speeches are due to startan houror the rally. those speeches are due to start an hour or so's time. a quick look now at the counter march, this has been called the uk unity and freedom march. also in central london. a couple of thousand people attending that march. so we will bring you more updates on what is happening there in terms of both marches throughout the afternoon. and remember, you can keep up to date with every twist and turn of the brexit negotiations and the political ramifications by going to bbc.co.uk/politics. turkey's president erdogan has called on voters to re—elect him

tomorrow with sweeping new powers on the final day of campaigning in the country's presidential and parliamentary elections. he's facing a strong challenge from a newly united opposition led by muharrem ince, a former physics teacher, leading the centre left republican people's party. from istanbul, mark lowen reports. turkey's opposition has finally found its voice. for 15 years, it has been fractured, unable to challenge president erdogan, but then came muharrem ince, a fiery centre—left man of the people reaching beyond his party's elitist image and drawing enormous crowds. this man is giving a powerful turkish president the battle of his political life. he told supporters he would fight for the working class, challenging mr erdogan to a tv debate which he has so far refused. polls suggest mr ince could force the president into a second

round run—off after the election tomorrow and with other opposition parties, win a majority in parliament. this is the half of turkey that feels mr erdogan has destroyed democracy with his clamp—downs and hostility to the west. confidence is growing despite the fear of vote rigging. but the pro—erdogan side still passionately believes in him. conservative, pious turks revere him as their saviour in once secular—dominated turkey. they vaunt the bridges and hospitals he's built and they talk about western plot to ruin their country. the odds are still stacked in mr erdogan‘s favour, 90% of the media is pro—government. the kurdish presidential candidate is in prison and opposition posters are vastly outnumbered and torn down but, for the first time in 15 years, turkey mightjust decide that the erdogan magic has run out.

ethiopia's prime minister has survived a grenade attack at a political rally in the capital addis ababa. this is the day that ethiopia has become proud. he was speaking to thousands of supporters when the attack took place. ethiopia's health minister says one person has been killed and 132 others have been injured. the maritime authorities in malta have asked the charity—run rescue ship aquarius to help a boat in trouble off the coast of tunisia. last week, neither malta nor italy would allow the vessel to dock after it rescued 630 migrants off the coast of libya. italy has since banned charity and foreign flagged ships coming ashore if migrants are onboard. a fire has torn through a warehouse

in leyton in east london. black smoke could be seen billowing from an industrial estate in 0rient way this morning with more than 100 firefighters and 20 engines responding to emergency calls. the pentagon has cancelled two joint marine—training exercises with south korea. it follows the decision earlier in the week to suspend a majorjoint military exercise between the two countries, which was planned for august. the pentagon said the move was part of the agreement reached between president trump and the north korean leader, kim jong—un, in singapore earlier this month. 0ur correspondent, sophie long, is in seoul. when donald trump announced he would be stopping joint military exercises in his press conference after the june 12th summit, it came as a surprise to some people and particularly the language used. he called them provocative, expensive war games. these joint military exercises have always been referred to by the us

and south korea in the past as defensive measures necessary to maintain military preparedness. in terms of the statement we heard from the pentagon today, we heard that the us defence secretary james mattis had decided to postpone indefinitely two korean american exchange programme exercises due to take place over the next few months. this comes after of course last week we heard that operation freedom guardian had been cancelled. that's one of the three majorjoint military exercises which takes place in south korea every year. in terms of south korean reaction, i'm actually standing outside the former north korean labour party building, a number of young south koreans were here today for a music festival called the dmz peace train festival and many of them we spoke to are full of hope. and they hope concessions like this and events like this cultural event which took place so close to the demilitarised zone

will help to maintain this momentum we seem to have currently towards proper lasting peace. however, older people, more conservative leaning people, are much more sceptical. for them, they say we have been here before and they want to see some proper concessions from north korea. in terms of official south korean reaction, we heard a statement from the south korean defence ministry earlier this afternoon and they said they confirmed this announcement from the pentagon and also went on to add there could be additional measures should north korea follow suit with productive cooperation. i think certainly, at this stage, the ball now is very much in north korea's park. plans to house tens of thousands of illegal immigrants in detention centres on remote american military bases are being drawn up by the us navy, according to a time magazine report. the department of defence reportedly wants to build facilities on abandoned airfields in a bid to meet president trump's zero—tolerance policy

against unlawful migration. 0ur north america correspondent, chris buckler, has more. just inside america's border, only miles from mexico, this is one of the shelters where children are being held. and from the air, you can see young people being ushered between the makeshift structures in what is being called a tent city. the pictures of cages and crying that have emerged from texas over the last week led donald trump to reverse his policy of separating migrant parents from their children. he has given every indication that he did so against his natural instincts, and the president returned to arguing for tougher laws as he shared a platform with families who have had relatives killed by immigrants. they are not separated for a day or two days. they are permanently separated because they were killed by criminal illegal aliens. these are the families the media ignores. they don't talk about them.

but there is no denying the anger felt in parts of america over the country's current immigration policies and there is confusion over how and when the more than 2,000 children separated from their parents will finally be reunited with their families. the president knows this border divides, but he believes his supporters will be on his side as he pushes once again for illegal immigration to be tackled. there are reports that the us navy is currently working on new plans to build what have been described as temporary and austere detention centres. it is claimed the facilities, on abandoned airfields, are being designed to hold up to 25,000 migrants. translation: it's not ok what they're doing because you're treated like a criminal when all you've been doing is working there. i don't take drugs or anything like that. i've just been working.

it is not fair what they're doing with us. there is unlikely to be any letup in the pressure at the border and, with congressional elections only months away, there will remain a focus on how america deals with the problem on its doorstep. the headlines on bbc news: thousands of people are marching through london to demand a vote on the final deal on the uk's departure from the eu. senior cabinet ministers stress the uk is still prepared to walk away from brexit talks without a deal. president erdogan of turkey makes a final appeal for votes ahead of tomorrow's elections in which he's facing a strong challenge. two thirds of drivers are not aware of the penalties for using a mobile phone at the wheel more than a year after tougher laws were introduced in england, scotland and wales. a poll by the rac found that only 36% of the 2,000 uk motorists asked knew offenders face six penalty

points and a £200 fine for breaking the rules. some a1% believe more visible law enforcement is needed whilst18% of drivers backed the blocking of mobile signals within cars. rod dennis from the rac explained what their survey of drivers had revealed. despite the penalties being increased over a year ago, six points and a £200 fine if you are now caught using a mobile phone at the wheel, awareness of those penalties still seems remarkably low, so fewer than four in ten people we spoke to about it out of 2,000 motorists across the uk, could tell us what the penalties were. there might be a number of reasons for this. it may well be down to just the sheer lack of enforcement of this law. we know it's a very difficult law for the police to enforce and perhaps there's a feeling amongst drivers they won't get caught doing this sort of thing. unlike things like speeding,

where people talk about speeding points, the same has not happened when it comes to mobile phones, so it's remarkable still that the proportion of people aware of it is seemingly so small. new evidence of the devastating effect of plastic pollution on wildlife has been recorded by the bbc. a team filming on a remote island for the bbc one documentary drowning in plastic revealed seabirds there starving to death because their stomachs were so full of plastic that there was no room for food. 0ur science correspondent, victoria gill, reports. flying through the ocean in search of food, but these sea birds are all too often finding and eating pieces of plastic. tens of thousands of flesh—footed shearwaters nest on this remote island hundreds of kilometres off the east coast of australia. but even here, plastic is killing them. and another. scientists are finding young birds with so much of it in their stomachs

that there is no room for food. these chicks have starved to death. but the researchers stepped in to save them and this bbc documentary crew filmed up close as the birds had their stomachs flushed out. 0h! it was shocking to see just how much would come out a chick. i mean, we saw 90 pieces come out of one of the chicks on the second night but the scientists were telling us they sometimes pull out as much as 200, 250 pieces of plastic out of either dead birds orfrom the regurgitation. it is just one example of how our discarded plastic is damaging marine wildlife around the world, an issue that was thrown into sharp focus by the bbc series blue planet ii. efforts are under way to stem the tide of plastic. here in england's south coast, sea bins have been installed that can suck up half a tonne of plastic waste per year. there's a plastic bottle there, that's fairly obvious,

and a coffee cup lid. but there's also some smaller pieces of plastic. i think that's the lid off an aerosol and there's two cigarette buts there. there are also plastic fibres. but some parts of the ocean now contain more pieces of plastic than plankton so scientists say we all need urgently to change how we use and dispose of what has become a floating menace. after the response to the issue of plastic pollution and its effect on wildlife when it featured on blue planet ii, the bbc is launching more programmes to try to help people reduce their plastic footprint. i'm joined now by sian sutherland, co—founder of a plastic planet — a campaign group that aims to reduce consumer use of plastics. you have been going as an organisation about 18 months now. how much progress of the made in

that time frame? in the last three months, after a lot of meetings and lip service by industry and supermarkets, we launched the world's first plastic free all in amsterdam and that has been rolled out and 7a dutch supermarkets. that isa out and 7a dutch supermarkets. that is a real symbol of change today. a month ago, we launched the world's first consumer trust mark because we believe the power lies with the people and we can vote with our wallets. now we know what we know, we see these images, and it is so fantastic the bbc announcing what they did today because we need to keep the focus on it. we need to vote with those wallets and champion products are plastic free. when you talk about empowering the public to be part of change, things like this, a consumer trust mark, are things people can easily look for an easily make a change in their lives.

exactly. i look at a pack, i do not have a clue what all of those symbols. and now we actually find out that we do not recycle anyway. of the 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste on the planet, only 9% of that has ever been recycled. you only ever down cycle plastic so our focus is on food and drink predominantly because that is 40% of all the plastic we make. production is ramping up. pretty soon, it will be half 1 ramping up. pretty soon, it will be half1 trillion tonnes a year. as i say, you only ever down cycle plastic. food and drink packaging is contaminated and valueless, it is lots of different types of plastic which is why it untiljanuary this year we have been sending it to china, expecting some else to do with it. it is also images from the

bbc documentary, those horrendous images of those birds with those stomachs full of plastic, unable to eat because of it. the bbc has launched its twitter account today as well. there is a momentum building, but you would argue that, while britain may be making a lot of noise about this, there needs to be more action. what specifically do you want to see? we know that legislation is the thing that will change everything. many supermarket bosses we meet with say, come on, can we introduce plastic free in the oui’ can we introduce plastic free in the our supermarkets to give your customers choice? many of them will say, we wish we could be legislated into this because then they have an excuse for doing it. but i feel now the momentum that has built up, and of course it is so much down to the influence of blue planet, it is so tremendous what the bbc are launching today, but we need to keep it up. there can no longer be an excuse. why is it ok for us to wrap

perishable food and drink in this indestructible material that we now know live somewhere on the plan for ever? if you laid all the bottles, all those bottles, and the end, just the ones that were made in 2016 alone, that is halfway to the sun! all of this plastic go? we now know it exists for ever so the idea we can catch up with recycling is com pletely can catch up with recycling is completely misleading. we need to turn up the plastic tap. —— turn off. and you can find easy ways to make a difference and share what you are doing at bbc. co. uk/plasticswatch. british troops have arrived in mali this week ahead of three raf helicopters, which willjoin a growing international military presence in the sahara desert to counter the increasing threat of terror groups linked to so—called islamic state and al-qaeda. human trafficking across the southern stretch of sahara known as the sahel is funding the islamists, who are

growing in strength. mali is now home to the un's most deadly peacekeeping mission, and the us recently lost troops in neighbouring niger. 0ur africa correspondent, alastair leithead, travelled to the region and sent this special report. the sahara used to be a big empty space on the map. but now this desert the size of america is being filled up by foreign armies and jihadist terrorists. convoys are coming under attack from both al-qaeda and islamic state fighters. roadside bombs are being used to deadly effect. this is what is left of timbuktu airport after the french and united nations base there was hit in april by three suicide car bombs, mortars and the soldiers

strapped with explosives. a foreign military presence creates a target as it did in afghanistan, but this is about fighting a war abroad rather than at home. other european trends and aircraft are in mali, pa rt trends and aircraft are in mali, part of the world's most dangerous un peacekeeping mission. the raf is coming toa un peacekeeping mission. the raf is coming to a base where both germany and holland have lost helicopters. britain already has a presence in the sahel. this training exercise tours african nations how western armies work and, for the visitors, it isa armies work and, for the visitors, it is a chance to find partners who will fight for an karavev them. with little will to send ground troops... 0ur little will to send ground troops... our special forces little will to send ground troops... 0ur specialforces are little will to send ground troops... our special forces are training local soldiers to be the boots on the ground facing the enemy. sta ble the ground facing the enemy. stable and secure africa really does have importance to us in europe and

particularly in the uk. there is a direct link with increased demographics, lack ofjobs, that will affect migration, and therefore, the security bit. the many migrant trail is heading from the desert are firmly linked to the islamist groups. they give the money and cover the travel freely. and america is rolling out resources across africa. this multi—million pound runway is one of many bases often secret that project us power across the sahara. islamist fighters ambushed four us soldiers in niger... many americans did not even know the troops were here in the four were killed by islamic state in niger. the argument is it is better to fight here and now before the groups grow and spread. certainly, with the collapse of the covered in

iraq and syria, the foreign fighters that have moved to the caliphate are likely to go somewhere and, if they come here, that could be devastating to the security situation across north africa. and into this mess step thousands of un peacekeepers, struggling to find peace. heavily protected convoy risked roadside bombs to go and meet community members. blue helmets give far less protection these days. but the elders cannot speak openly. the islamists are already here, the kids do not play football, radios are silent and secular schools have been forced to close. radical extremist groups are operating in this whole area but it is much more complicated than that. there are centuries of tension between different ethnic groups, unemployment is high, the economy is failing and there is no government in these areas because of

the violence. that is the space that the violence. that is the space that the regional and international forces are stepping into. for centuries, mali's mud masks and rich history brought tourist to a place known for its religious tolerance. that has all changed. a fast—growing population, worsening poverty and climate change are all playing into the extremists‘ hands. britain has joined a tough new front on the war on terror. and you can see more on this story in alistair leithead‘s special programme, africa‘s secret war, on bbc news at 9:30pm, and it‘ll be available afterwards on the iplayer. in the world cup, a new record has been set. this penalty from belgium‘s eden hazard continues the run of no 0—0‘s in the tournament.

27 games and counting. the current score is belgium 4, tunisia 1. there it goes! time now for the weather forecast, the very latest to now. with helen willetts. strong june sunshine, as you would expect, grey cloud around, as you can see, in north somerset here, just a little earlier today, we have some thicker cloud, but even here it will disappear, and this warming trend will continue, we are in for some hot weather has most of the weather bearing france are to the north, and heading across into northern parts of russia,