good morning, welcome to breakfast with rogerjohnson and babita sharma. our headlines today: john mccain, considered to be one of the most influential american politicians of his time, has died at the age of 81. his death has led to tributes from across the political divide. former president barack obama said he was an american hero. the pope says there will be consequences for those who covered up abuse, as he meets victims during his historic visit to ireland. i got the strong impression that no one will be exempted from just penalties. in sport, mo salah sparkles once again to fire liverpool to three wins from three in the premier league. the weather is not looking particularly cheerful out there, lot of grey skies out there. but tomorrow there is some on the way.

—— some sunshine on the way. it's sunday the 26th of august. our top story — john mccain, the vietnam war hero turned us senator and presidential candidate, has died. he was 81 and had been suffering from a brain tumour. he'd decided to stop treatment two days ago. tributes were paid as soon as the news of his death was announced. our correspondent in washington, chris buckler, looks back at his life. john mccain was a politician of principle. a patriot who believed in his country, and fought for it at tremendous cost to himself. as a young navy pilot, he was shot down over hanoi, interrogated and tortured. his captors saw a potential propaganda coup, when his father became the commander of us forces in vietnam and offered him release. butjohn mccain refused, despite the many beatings he had suffered. on his return, he was hailed

as a war hero and entered politics. and would eventually spend 35 years representing republicans inside congress. but he was fiercely independent and often spoke out against the party, notably challenging the influence of big money on american politics. the party establishment will not finish me off anywhere. why is that? because i will break the iron triangle in washington of money, lobbying and legislation and they know would that would be very, very disruptive financially to a lot of people's lives. he may have challenged washington, but he was respected here too. and in 2008, he was selected as a republican presidential candidate. but his campaign was not without mistakes and he was criticised as choosing sarah palin as his running mate. ultimately, he was to lose to history in the form of barack obama. i wish the outcome had been different, my friends, the road was a difficult one from the outset. but your support and friendship never wavered. in the divisive and aggressive world

of american politics, there was always respect shown between president obama and john mccain. but donald trump didn't always show mccain such courtesy. he's not a war hero. he is a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured, 0k? i hate to tell you. he was a war hero because he was captured! his influence was still obvious in the twilight of his career. after brain surgery, he walked into the senate and stopped donald trump's attempts to get rid of the obamacare health reforms. with a grand gesture, he turned his thumb down. john mccain was a fighter till the end. he lived longer than expected after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. his family said it was with his usual strength of will that he chose to stop receiving medical treatment, but he was a man who never gave up hope in politics, or in his own personal battles. i'm going home for a while to treat my illness. i have every intention

of returning here and giving many of you cause to regret all the nice things you said about me. and i hope to impress on you again that it is an honour to serve the american people in your company. thank you, fellow senators, mr president. applause. that was chris buckler reporting there. john mccain's daughter, meghan mccain, paid tribute to her father in a statement posted on twitter. she said: overnight, president trump also paid tribute to the senator on twitter. he says: and finally barack obama also wrote of the late senator,

who he ran against in the 2008 presidential election. he says: we will continue to reflect the reaction tojohn mccain's death ahead in the programme. on his first official visit to ireland, pope francis has met eight survivors of clerical and institutional abuse by the roman catholic church. earlier he expressed his shame at the failure of the church to deal with crimes committed by its members. this afternoon in dublin, he'll say a mass for an expected congregation of half—a—million people, as richard main reports. the arrival of pope francis

in ireland comes at a time of crisis for the catholic church. despite a string of high profile abuse scandals, there was a celebratory atmosphere as thousands lined the streets of dublin to greet the pontiff. and last night, a distinctly irish display at the festival of families at croke park, as 65,000 people gathered to hear the pope speak about the importance of family and the strain social media can place on relationships. but away from crowds and the bright lights, pope francis has come face—to—face with the trauma that the churches scandals have left behind. he spent 90 minutes yesterday evening meeting with eight survivors of clerical abuse, amongst them was father was patrick mccafferty from belfast, who said the pope had a clear view of the issues facing the church in ireland. he was addressing a terrible reality and described it as filth, and as his predecessor pope benedict

said in the year 2005, talked about such filth in the church, the pope used an even more graphic way of describing it and it was language that was very clear. later today, the pope will travel to a holy shrine in nock in the west of ireland, before returning to dublin where he will deliver mass to half a million people in phoenix park. wherever he goes, his words and actions are sure to be scrutinised intently, as he balances meeting the faithful while acknowledging the churches previous wrongdoing. richard main, bbc news. directors who dissolve companies to avoid paying workers‘ wages or pensions could face heavy fines or be banned from running firms, under government proposals. ministers are planning changes in the wake of what they describe as "recent large—scale business failures", which left suppliers out of pocket and sizeable black holes in pension pots. hundreds of venezuelans have been allowed into peru,

just hours after the country said that anyone crossing the border would need a passport. peru had been trying to stem the flow of people coming into the country as they flee the economic crisis in venezuela, but the foreign minister has now said that no one will be denied entry. emmerson mnangagwa is due to be sworn in as zimbabwe's president this morning, following the ousting of robert mugabe last year. the ceremony will be held at the national sports stadium in the capital, harare. it's expected to be boycotted by the opposition party, the movement for democratic change, which has claimed the outcome of the election was rigged. and there was a lighthearted moment during the pope's appearance in dublin last night. many of us will have asked ourselves what would we say or do when meeting someone famous. well, if you're 12 year old alison nevin the answer is apparently very simple.

you ask him for a selfie! that is the thing to do. the crowd at croke park cheered as pope francis posed for the picture which is sure to be shared around the world when it eventually makes its way to social media. that is what you would expect from a 12—year—old. that is what you do. that is what you would expect from a 12—year—old. that is what you dam would 12—year—old. that is what you dom would have been awful if he said no. it is coming up to ten minutes past seven. you are watching bbc is. returning to our main story... —— bbc breakfast. john mccain, the vietnam war hero turned senator and presidential candidate, has died aged 81. pope francis has said he is ashamed of the catholic church's failure to adequately address the crimes of sexual abuse by clergy. lisa keegan joins us from arizona. thank you forjoining us and it you had worked with him. what was he like? he was a lie and -- lion.

thank you for taking the time to talk to meet about him. he was funny and straightforward and mental to rob a bleak hundreds of us. he was —— a mental to hundreds of us. —— mentor. he fought in the vietnam's war and then went to serve in the senate for many, then went to serve in the senate for any then went to serve in the senate for many, many years. he did. i don't think any of us can imagine the type of torture that he underwent in prison but he always said that people fall in love with america and the idea of service and something better than all of ourselves, serving something much eager. he did all of that and he embodied that and when you watched him he saw the fact that he had on people. —— the effect. he really wanted to do great things or people around him and he did that, for sure. he ran for

president twice, try to get the republican nomination once and lost out and then obviously lost the presidential race against iraq obama. i heard some people this morning saying that he was the greatest president american never had. with that the fairer? that would be painfully fair. —— would that be fair. although i remember when obama got inaugurated, hejust met with him and said he is a wonderful man and will make a wonderful man and will make a wonderful president. john mccain was all about what ever was going to help the country. while i believe andi help the country. while i believe and i think many of us believe, he was indeed the best president we never had. he was also for anything that would work for everybody and we loved that about him. in a political environment in which there are semi— wheels, so many mac nations, was he

very a wheels, so many mac nations, was he verya —— wheels, so many mac nations, was he very a —— was he a very political man? how did he get things done? he was himself. i would say, he wasn't somebody who was always wheeling and dealing so much. certainly you saw time again he went across the aisle. it was just the mac nations, he liked the idea that we can make this work, let's do it takes to make this work. he had great respect for the institution. what was he like as a campaigner? obviously he went on the campaigner? obviously he went on the campaign trail, a lot of glitz and glamour that goes on in american elections. what was he actually liked out there campaigning? we a lwa ys liked out there campaigning? we always tell everybody it was kind of like travelling with elvis. he was unlike any person i travelled with andi unlike any person i travelled with and i had the opportunity to do that

and i had the opportunity to do that a lot. he wasjust and i had the opportunity to do that a lot. he was just unique and i had the opportunity to do that a lot. he wasjust unique in and i had the opportunity to do that a lot. he was just unique in the way that he affected people, particularly military veterans. he changed their lives when spectre than. he has such respect for them and you remember in 2000 when he ran, in america we had trouble with those coming back from vietnam's and he made that so important and i will never forget it. i he made that so important and i will neverforget it. i know he made that so important and i will never forget it. i know they won't stop it but he was fun to travel with, he is very funny. —— i know they won't. he showed you great personal kindness when your own mother died? he did. he did this all the time. he called me after my mother died. you never knew how he knew these things. obviously we knew each other but he was so aware of what was going on with anybody and so what was going on with anybody and so many of us feel like we have lost a father. thank you very much indeed

for giving us your insight. lisa keegan, talking to us by the arizona, she worked withjohn mccain on his campaign. let's find out what the weather is doing. the weather isn't doing so great today across western parts of the uk, the clouds have rolled in off the atlantic and the winds are freshening and we have rain on the way out if you want to make the most of any way out if you want to make the most ofany dry way out if you want to make the most of any dry weather this morning, very still a bit of opportunity across eastern parts of the country, the even some brightness first thing but it wouldn't last long because these clouds are racing in off the atla ntic these clouds are racing in off the atlantic as this weather system is and you can see all of the blue, thatis and you can see all of the blue, that is rain which will be approaching the uk and all of this will be right on top of the country during the middle of the afternoon. this is 9am, many of these eastern cities are still dry but in the west, it is raining and raining heavily at times. strong winds in place, gusting to a0 miles an hour

around the coast, maybe more than that, blustery inland as well. the second half of the date at brightening up later across the western areas but across much of eastern scotland, yorkshire, the south—east, the south coast, it is raining. a good few hours of rain to come today. and then pulls away into the north sea and the skies clear to which means monday morning we are talking about clearing weather, 15 degrees in london, ten in the north—east of the country, and monday promises to be actually a decent day. it will not be com pletely decent day. it will not be completely dry, there are still some showers around but in the wake of the low pressure, a breeze rushing into this, but essentially seeking, better than on monday. graf essentially speaking, better a day on bank holiday monday. bill off with a cool north—westerly breeze here but it will fill warmer on monday, obviously we will have more sunshine around the heads to riches

will rise to 20 or 22 degrees. —— feel warmer. monday into tuesday we start the season slightly warmer air coming in. spain and portugaland france, some warmth wafting in our direction, thejet france, some warmth wafting in our direction, the jet stream france, some warmth wafting in our direction, thejet stream is france, some warmth wafting in our direction, the jet stream is to the north of us it helps the air to leak into the uk and on tuesday, lots of sunshine around and with clear blue skies in some eastern and southern areas but in the north—west, you guessed it, another weather front approach is, perhaps running on the western isles and eventually northern ireland but for many of us, tuesdayis northern ireland but for many of us, tuesday is not looking too bad and it will feel warm as well so today is the low point in the weather, not a great day, but monday and tuesday are much better. acta u2. thomasz, thank you. —— thomasz, thanks. do you rememberjurassic park, the flea

in the amber or whatever it is and they get the dinosaur dna from the flea or mosquito? mosquito? they get their dna from it and can reconstruct these dinosaurs? ever wondered what dinosaur dna looks like? it spawned a fantastic film franchise. and it has spawned a debate between the two of us. do you ever think about dinosaur dna decides the opening ofjurassic park? a team of researchers from kent university have pieced together the genetic characteristics of dinosaurs by working backwards from their closest modern—day relatives. very clever indeed. they say the breakthrough reveals how they dominated earth for more than 180 million years. pallab ghosh has been finding out more. but these scenes from jurassic world really happen? dinosaurs recreated from dna wreaking havoc. geneticist darren griffin has used mathematical techniques to identify the genetic

structure of the very first dinosaurs by working backwards from the closest modern—day relatives, birds and turtles. and so, would he, could he, bring them back to life? if we have some dna the chances that we could recreate an animal from it are vanishingly small. we didn't really know what the overall structure of a dinosaur gena looks like. as a result of the work that has gone on in this lab, you now have a very close idea and a pretty certainty that it was something very close to a bird. birth of the most diverse species on the planet. they come in so many different shapes and sizes. it's thought this is because they have 80 chunks of dna called chromosomes. that is more than three times as as we have. if dinosaurs have the same genetic structure as birds, it may explain why there are so birds, it may explain why there are so many types of dinosaurs. their genetic structure may help to explain why dinosaurs survived so

long and are so varied. some are huge. others were tiny. and some flu. -- huge. others were tiny. and some flu. —— flew. it was their genes that enabled them to adapt to the earth's changing that enabled them to adapt to the ea rth‘s changing conditions that enabled them to adapt to the earth's changing conditions over 100 million years and they were able to do that far faster than any other kind of animal. the current theory is that a giant asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs when it hit the earth 66 million years ago. the new research suggests they survived. the fossil evidence now, and our evident illustrating the genomic structure of dinosaurs, reinforces the idea than rather than being distant relatives they are actually all one and the same and actually the birds around us now and the same and actually the birds around us now are and the same and actually the birds around us now are dinosaurs. so it isn't a question of whether we can bring them back. they never went away. dinosaur genes enable them to change shape and size quickly and so survived the hundreds of millions of yea rs. survived the hundreds of millions of years. —— survive for.

fantastic pick just. fantastic pickjust. amazing. go for pictures. tom carol look at the newspapers. , time now for a look at the newspapers. broadcaster rob mcloughlin is here to tell us what's caught his eye. good morning to you. we'll speak to rob in a minute. but first, let's look at the front pages. the sunday telegraph's lead story says theresa may has told officials to start working on a british satellite navigation system to compete with the eu's galileo because the uk won't be allowed to access the system after brexit. the sunday times has an exclusive story claiming the russian billionaire roman abramovich could sell chelsea football club and claims that the numbers of police on the beat are falling. the mail on sunday's lead story claims there are 3.6 million ghost patients and says nhs doctors in england receive money for each patient registered, but many of those do not exist. and the observer reports that

"crashing out" of the eu without a deal could cause the uk to "break up". the paper says the warning has been sounded by herman van rompuy, the president of the european council. the paper says the warning has been sounded out by the president of the european council and it is politics we are starting with this morning, rob. should i apologise in advance? should i go now? to it. a flood of brexiteers aiming to change the face of the party, these are the conservatives getting new members. this is an interesting piece of research by the sunday times. it is pointing out az out of 75 associations are conservative, are reporting an increase of membership. which you would think they would be pleased about. they would, apart from, in sum, according to the research, in some ministers constituencies there are more

eurosceptic hardline brisk as he is memberjoining eurosceptic hardline brisk as he is member joining while in eurosceptic hardline brisk as he is memberjoining while in others —— hardline brexiteersjoining its members but alan banks, the man who partly funded the live campaign, he was holding to his members and he's claiming responsibility for some of the increase to now, he has 1.3 million followers on social media, to actuallyjoin the conservative party and throughout mrs may's checkers plan —— leave campaign. you can see as we approach september, didl can see as we approach september, did i say the s can see as we approach september, did i say the 5 word? —— threw out. at the bottom of the page, even more interesting, it is about the labour party saying that the majority of people who are saying in a ukip poll, quite a large poll, 10,000 people, they would consider voting labour would do so if labour went for a second referendum as part of their official policy. so... put your money on! you talk about the summer recess but your money on! you talk about the summer recess but it doesn't feel as

though we have had one! we should say a lot of the papers are looking at— say a lot of the papers are looking at — they were printed after the news of senatorjohn mccain's passing. no doubt will have more obituaries dominating the papers in the day to come. picked up the children czar calling for an end to battery hen school holidays. this is fascinating because your review on the papers yesterday was, is the children's minister, adviser, commissioner, and longfield, and she is making an interesting point in this exclusive interview —— ann. she is basically saying the school holidays, even though they have endedin holidays, even though they have ended in scotland, i was impressed the other day and i noticed the school grounds full which was a shock and englishman but they are back, but she is basically arguing that the danger of the school holidays is that the children are turning into battery hens, she was talking about social media but they are stuck in their rooms, focusing

on social media, not going out or being encouraged to go out, not playing, which sounds incredible when i think back to my childhood. summer holidays running around in the outdoors. especially when the weather is as good as this. but she is asking the summer of the money going into the shadow tax, the dividend could be should effectively go to encourage local authorities who are having cutbacks except try to encourage play and get more recreation facilities. it's amazing that you would think with childhood it is the one area we probably don't need to do because it would be the most natural instinct but of course those resources and play areas have gone and so she is saying if we do not, cardiovascular problems increased during summer, obesity increases. so she is calling the quite a radical thing. increases. so she is calling the quite a radicalthing. also, many households now with both parents working as well, it's difficult to know what to do with the children. electronic childminders. the long

school holidays. it probably requires all planning which is more pressure on parents. and costly, it can be, as well. that is why she is saying it needs local government and government support. when roman abramovich took over chelsea, it was massive, wasn't it, all of those yea rs massive, wasn't it, all of those years ago, and changed the fortunes of the club so will he really sell it? they are saying he is that israeli citizens. —— he is an israeli citizens. —— he is an israeli citizens. —— he is an israeli citizens. is it czexit? can we copyright it? this comes after he allegedly turned down a £2 billion offer earlier this year from the richest man in england. it interesting to value because the other day, let me quote this because i want to get the absolutely right, it shows you how important this is

because it comes at a time when chelsea of course wants to improve its stadium and it wants £1 billion of the stadium to do other things of course, to maintain its position and make sure that man city and potentially liverpool this season perhaps don't run away with everything. but the value of foot ball everything. but the value of football clubs is incredible so on friday the value of manchester united was, can you guess? on the new york stock exchange? i don't wa nt new york stock exchange? i don't want to. it is 4.1 billion dollars. which is incredible considering, compared with the success they had five, six, seven, ten years ago. i was reading the other day that a p pa re ntly was reading the other day that apparently they don't even need to make any money from their ticket sales, manchester united... because every so sales, manchester united... because every so much sales, manchester united... because every so much revenue. sales, manchester united... because every so much revenue. yes, from also. i work in a tv company in the 19805 also. i work in a tv company in the 1980s he considered buying agency united and the people who ran it at the top of the organisation turned around and said it is far too

expensive. amazing how assets have gone up, well, some assets, anyway. thank you so much, rob. you want. you go. —— go on. coming up on breakfast, it's national dog day! to mark the occasion, we'll speak to author damian debbin, who's been inspired by his own pets to write about the unbreakable bond between dog and owner. are you a dog lover? yes, but i haven't had won the years. —— had one for years. we want to hear about the special bond you have with your four—legged friends. we have already had one before we even asked for one. who is this? me. we had a couple of german shepherds. this was the one when i was growing up, apra one. it means king. —— ragu. and that is me with my dog, aged around 11. interesting shoes.

he isa aged around 11. interesting shoes. he is a big dog. he was a beauty. we had a golden retriever, gemma, and she was terrific. i've not had a dog for years, actually. tell us your dog stories. i suspect there will be a few of them. happy memories. stay with us. headlines coming up. it hello, this is breakfast with rogerjohnson and babita sharma. good morning. here's a summary of today's main stories from bbc news. the us senator and former republican presidential candidate, john mccain, has died at the age of 81. it was only announced on friday that the vietnam war hero turned politician was ending his treatment for a brain tumour. he ran against barack obama in the 2008 presidential election, and was a fierce critic of president trump. on his first official visit to ireland, pope francis has met eight survivors of clerical and institutional abuse by the roman catholic church. earlier he expressed his shame at the failure of the church to deal with crimes committed by its members. this afternoon in dublin, he'll say a mass for an expected congregation of half—a—million

people after visiting the knock shrine in county mayo. directors who dissolve companies to avoid paying workers' wages or pensions could face heavy fines or be banned from running firms, under government proposals. ministers are planning changes in the wake of what they describe as "recent large—scale business failures", which left suppliers out of pocket and sizeable black holes in pension pots. italy has ended a six—day stand—off involving around 1a0 migrants stranded on a coast guard vessel in a sicilian port. the passengers, mostly eritreans, have been allowed off. they were caught up in an increasingly bitter exchanges between italy and the eu about where the refugees should go. emmerson mnangagwa is due to be sworn in as zimbabwe's president this morning, following the ousting of robert mugabe last year. the ceremony will be held at the national sports stadium

in the capital, harare. it's expected to be boycotted by the opposition party, the movement for democratic change, which has claimed the outcome of the election was rigged. let's head to france now, and a festival dedicated to people who share a trait with just 2% of the world's population. for the first time ever, the country has seen a celebration of people with ginger hair. over a thousand people enjoyed ‘red love' festival, which organisers hope will fight discrimination. lets catch up with all the sport, shall we? there is a red team at the top of the premier league, for a change. liverpool, early days, but they are starting to dream? jurgen

klopp says it is three games in, early days, he would love a trophy, but no. and chester city falters slightly last, but a long way to go. —— manchester city. liverpool top of the premier league, 3 wins from 3 at the start of the new premier league season. last season's top scorer mohamed salah scored the only goal. i have never heard that somebody gives you some before being first on third match day. of course it is not important. the important thing is that we have nine points after three games, so that is really cool. that is the basis and now, let's carry on. in the scottish premiership, hearts are top after winning their third match out of three. they beat kilmarnock1—0. they're now four points clear of both hibernian and aberdeen who drew 1—1 at easter road. on—loan watford defender

tommie hoban put aberdeen ahead on the stroke of half time. jamie maclaren scored a late equaliser for hibs. elsewhere, stjohnstone beat dundee and livingston won at st mirren. manchester united women were beaten 2—0 by reading women in theirfirst home match following their 13—year absence from the game. gemma davision finished the scoring in the fawsl cup group stage match, in front of a record crowd for the competition of nearly 5,000 fans. since 1896, rugby league's challenge cup has been won only by english teams. not any more. catala ns dragons, based in perpignan, have become the first non—english team to lift the famous trophy. they beat warrington 20—1a in a tense wembley final, watched by adam wild. from the south of france, the cata la n

from the south of france, the catalan dragons officially in sound let all. blood and gold, perhaps no more fitting colours for rugby league grand final. not in great numbers but in great hope of being the first french eye to conquer this. warrington wolves stood in their way, but failed to lock the channel out wide. catalan breaching defence as early. the french side's determination to make their mark on history all too clear out in the second half as they did the first. this time braden mill yanni extending nearly. warrington got their luck when george keane gathered fumble setting up an agonising finish. catalan just clinging on foran agonising finish. catalan just clinging on for an extraordinary victory. so, after 122 years, the cata la n victory. so, after 122 years, the catalan dragons have done what was once on thinkable, they will no head back to the south of france with british rugby league's most anus prize. —— —— most famous. lewis hamilton will start today's

belgian grand prix from pole after coming out on top of a wet end to qualifying at spa. during a chaotic final session hamilton struggled at first, but pulled it together to claim the top spot on the grid ahead of his championship rival sebastian vettel in the ferrari, who hamilton had thought would go fastest. force india surprised everyone taking both spots on the second row just days after the team were rescued from going out of business. one of the toughest qualifying sessions that i can remember. it seems to get harder and harder all year long. but definitely, i don't know if they definitely had it, we were very, very close. we were split between half a 10th. i was hopeful that i could make that slight difference, but i knew it would be very close, very quick on the straights. but then the rain came and none of us have been driving this week in the rain, i cannot express to you how difficult it was. the weather looks set to play a big part in today's action at the british motogp, with a potential wet race lying in wait for the riders and fans. britain's cal crutchlow will be aiming to go one better than his second place

finish in 2016. he'll start today's race from ath on the grid. spain'sjorge lorenzo is on pole. the race has been brought forward by 90 minutes to try to avoid the worst of the showers. great britain won three gold medals on the penultimate day of competition at the european pa ra—athletics championships in berlin. it was a british one—two in the t3a 800 metres with hannah cockcroft taking gold, and taking revenge for kare adenn—egan beating her in the 100 metres on wednesday. cockroftjust held on to add to her paralympic and world titles in the event, but she still wasn't too happy about it! you know what, i thought it would be more satisfying than it was. another season slowest, we seem to be doing at these championships, but which not what i came here to do. you know what, my old coach said here everybody remembers medals, no one remembers times. when you come here that is all you've got to think about. sophie hahn breezed to the gold medal in the t38100 metres winning

it in a championship record time. hahn, who is also the paralympic champion has now won the sprint double in berlin after winning the 200 metres on thursday. britain's olivia breen finished third. and what a moment for 18 year—old thomas young who produced a personal best to take gold in the t38 200 meters, in what is his first major championship. you can see just what it means to him! that is all the sport for now. congratulations to him, he did very well. thank you very much indeed. we we re well. thank you very much indeed. we were talking about dogs ten minutes a go. were talking about dogs ten minutes ago.| were talking about dogs ten minutes a go. i don't have a dog. i have become a pet person of late. i never grew up in a household with pets, but the interactions as i got older, walking the dog, now lot better.

absolutely i will have one in the future. —— now a lot. dogs are such an important part of people ‘s lives. i have never seen so many e—mails. thank you for your pictures, we will work outside and to do with them. —— work with —— work out something. such a huge part of our lives as i am sure they are yours as well. hundreds of visitors are flocking to a marshland near boston in lincolnshire this weekend, to catch a glimpse of an extremely rare bird. the stilt sandpiper is a common sighting on the east coast of america, but has only been spotted twice before in the uk. the rspb say it probably got lost on its annual migration, as crispin rolfe reports. a stilt sandpiper, hundreds have

come to see it and more are on their way. but which of these, do you think, is a rare bird causing all the ocean? for a start, you will need a bigger lens because the stilt sandpiper isn't the biggest in the pond. it is from america, it really shouldn't be here, it should be travelling to south america at the minute. come here for his bank holiday. bank holiday in lincolnshire. how has it done for your crowds? really good, 500 visitors in the last two days and we can expect more. the stilt sandpiper is the third rare bird to shop in the accurate to's marshlands recently. the last recorded sighting of this bird was back in the 1960s. so, for shots of it like this, some snappers boasting lenses to get than mine have troubled hundreds of miles to get some great close—ups of this

small bird. first time i have ever seen one small bird. first time i have ever seen one in my life, i am 70 odd yea rs, seen one in my life, i am 70 odd years, it has been a long wait. a lot of people were not even born when the last one was seen. lot of people were not even born when the last one was seenlj lot of people were not even born when the last one was seen. i have only seen one that was in kent before. this one is an adult, much better mark and are really good bird to have its reserve. if you are into birds, then lincolnshire is the place to be this weekend, unless you are visiting from america. in weight —— in which case, to queen a phrase, the sandpiper is still a dime a dozen. that was crispin rolfe reporting. joining us now is mark champion, an ornithologist from the lancashire wildlife trust. you were saying while that report was on, you are only the second warden on those marshes. about 1988. you never saw one of these? knows.

it is incredibly rare. the last one was spotted in the 1960s, it is an incredibly rare bird to turn up in the country. explain why that is. they are not that abundant in america and obviously there is a different way that some species occur here quite regularly from america. things like pectoral sandpipers, there are probably ten, 12 every year, but it is unusual. it will have an unusual migration route. if it was picked up on these weather fronts that have been coming across as the weather changed and got caught up in the window. we have the end of a tropical storm coming through so i am guessing that it got picked up in one of these weather patterns across the atlantic and arrived in this country and that it would look for... arrived in this country and that it would look for. .. it got blown here effectively. on the northern edge of

the wash, one of the largest estuary is in the country. we are hearing people say that got lost on their way here. let's talk about the migration, why does it occur and how important is it? they have a food resource in the northern hemisphere, where there is loads of flies and shrimp and things for these birds. but it is too cold for them to be exploiting it year—round because you haveice exploiting it year—round because you have ice and so on. what they do is they move further south, in this case to mexico and the gulf of mexico area, and that is where it is nice and warm in the winter and there is plenty of flies and then they move up to exploit in the winter. it is a matter of keeping moving around, trying to follow the food. how long will they now stay here for? it will stay here for a few weeks, it thinks it is on the

normal migration route. i would imaginea normal migration route. i would imagine a couple of weeks while it feeds up on one of the biggest areas suitable foods, then it will continue to try and migrate south. it thinks, amazingly clever, but it it is in the wrong place. is not where it digs it is. is there a danger that it might not find it needs to go and it might be in trouble? yes, there are species like this which are similar and that went up this which are similar and that went up and down for a couple of years. it has got the chance that it will find somewhere in africa which would it -- find somewhere in africa which would it —— which it would feel would approximate to its habitat and it will move up and down. so it is not in danger? well it has lost its friends and its chances of it reading... have you seen one? no. it would be tempting to go and see it.

but i have been working over the weekend so i had no chance. lots of people are getting excited about this. can you sum up how significant it is us to be able to see this bird? it isjust really nice. is not a bird that is part our typical fauna of birds. but it is exciting. it makes birdwatching interesting because you never know when you go out what you might see. so there has been other several other quite unusual birds over the summer because we have had these crazy weather conditions. that excitement is palpable on social media. if anybody has looked up the hash tag, it is worth having a look, so many people have flocked to lincolnshire, taking pictures, showing how remarkable this bird is and the conditions that it is to travel in honour is quite something. are there

any other rare birds that we get visiting occasionally? there was an old wintel in sheffield, it was a trinidad of cornwall, there was a collared flycatcher as examples and some of these have overshot because in the spring it was lovely and warmth and they shot up and kept going in the fine weather. others have been caught on these storms and things coming across the atlantic. fascinating. thank you for coming in and telling us about it. the those who are interested in birdwatching, it is so fascinating to hear about it. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. the headlines today: john mccain, the vietnam war hero turned senator and presidential candidate, has died aged 81. pope francis has said he is ashamed of the catholic church's failure to adequately address the crimes of sexual abuse by clergy.

interesting hearing that the sandpiper was lonely and on the bad weather. it is all the weather's fault, thomasz, as always. isn't it? actually today, doesn't the saying go it is good for the ducks but i have set it so many times, i don't really know where it is from. is it because water off a duck‘s back to the dark can be in the rain and they don't get wet? i don't know! if anyone knows, let me know. anyway, todayis anyone knows, let me know. anyway, today is good to the ducks because it is wet and it will be windy as well. this is the weather system moving in right now. it is pretty much engulfed the uk. this is the cloud. showing you the radar now, it is that the forecast, it tells us where it has been raining. you can see the night here across the

central and eastern areas, this is piling in and reaching western areas of the uk and by nine o'clock it is just about into the lowlands and central scotland. throughout wales, the midlands, so by the time we get the midlands, so by the time we get the lunchtime the east coast will get the rain too but on the west coast on the other hand lead on this afternoon, the skies are going to clear. i think all of us today are infora clear. i think all of us today are in for a dose of rain and it is a wide riverfront, it is a in for a dose of rain and it is a wide river front, it is a wide area of whether that will sweep across the uk -- of whether that will sweep across the uk —— wide weather front. of whether that will sweep across the uk —— wide weatherfront. skies will mostly clear. i forgot to mention it will be windy around the western coast as well so blustery wind as bowlers rain. anyway, the western coast as well so blustery wind as bowlers rain. anyway, tonight, 15 degrees below in london, ten in the north—east of the country. tonight, the weather system is out of the way. we are in between weather systems actually, one is near iceland, the other in scandinavia and we are in a lull to

the skies should clear, sometime around and the breeze is noticeable from the north—west and there may be one or two showers, sometimes following low pressure as we get little sticky showers coming into because still get that on monday but with the bank holiday for many of us, it is looking better, and honestly any plans you have, if you have, tomorrow is your best bet to do anything. on tuesday, we start to see some slightly warmer weather coming in, slightly warmerair, the rich could actually get into the low or meet 20s perhaps across some southern and south—eastern areas and actually a really nice day on the way on tuesday. in the north—west, a little bit of rain. that is it. back to u2. thomasz, thank you indeed. we got the duck theme did we. we did.

someone said do you think we will hear much about the dog stories? someone else and der who asked you think would be up early? dog owners. we'll bring you the headlines at 7:00. time now for the latest technology news in click. florida, america's sunshine state, and home to the us's first sustainable town. this is babcock ranch. powered, befittingly, almost entirely by that big burning ball in the sky. it's 33 degrees. the humidity is, i believe, about 1,000,000%. and i've come to a solar field, so you don't have to. 3a3,000 solar panels

span some aao acres, providing 75 megawatts of electricity, and that's enough to power 15,000 homes. one of the big problems with solar energy has always been when the clouds come over or especially when it gets dark, the whole thing effectively goes dead. and we haven't really had a way of storing solar energy until very recently. but over there, ten buildings full of batteries. so, it's a start. a pretty good one, too. babcock has the largest combined solar and storage facility in the us. the batteries can store a0 megawatt hours of electricity, which is enough to keep around 2,000 average us homes alight forfour hours. of course, lithium batteries are just one way of storing energy to use later, and we've seen other methods before. there's electric mountain in wales,

which holds water at a top reservoir until power is needed. it then releases it back down to a lake below. switzerland's air cave fills itself with compressed air and then blows it out to turn turbines. well, now, over in california, kate russell is on track to see a new solution. since the oil crisis of the 19705, california has invested heavily into wind and solar power, with the latest state legislation calling for 50% renewable energy by 2030, and all new homes must have solar within two years. the state is way ahead of its target, so much so that they've had to start paying neighbouring states to take some of the energy from them. as we've heard before, the problem is storage. the grid was built to handle fossil fuel—generated power and storage solutions like hydroelectric dams are in short supply.

batteries too are very bad for the environment, turning unused renewable energy into not such a green solution. california—based company aries have come up with one alternative. aries was really an attempt to think of a way to use the inexhaustible, always reliable power of gravity. right? we know gravity is going to be there for us. we don't have to worry about shortages or any of that. so how do we use gravity to store and then discharge power when we need it? one of the most efficient ways to move mass known to man, which people have spent billions of dollars to perfect, are railroads. right? 150 years of experience, incredibly efficient, steel wheels on steel rails are one of the most efficient ways to move mass. dubbed ‘the gravity train', energy is stored using electricity to push its weight uphill. when you want to take the energy out, you let gravity pull the train

back down, using the friction of braking to slow the train in order to make power. it's the same way hybrid electric cars like the prius work. you see those wind turbines there behind me? they're completely still, even though there is clearly plenty of wind right now. it's not because they're broken, it's because there's no more room to store the energy they would create. and that's the problem the gravity train will solve. when you're into excess energy production, use it to power the train up a hill, and when you want the energy back, you just send the train back down again. this demo train carries almost five tonnes uphill, storing energy as it goes. a full—scale installation will return 80% of the stored energy, which is not quite as efficient as a huge dam, but has a lot less impact. the amount of energy we store is the weight of the train times

the height of the hill. simple mathematics. so the more weight and the higher the hill, the more energy we can store. we need long, gently sloping plains. but we had clients who approached us and said, "well, i only have steep, rocky, craggy mountains," so we've developed a new variation on the aries technology at almost vertical. in october, the company breaks ground on the first full—scale aries in the state of nevada. it'll be used to fine tune the inconsistent energy flows that are a natural part of using solar and wind power. minute by minute, it will trim the imbalance between load and generation on the grid, so our trains may need to go uphill for a minute, they may need to go downhill forfive minutes, they're constantly acting like a large flywheel that allows the grid to stay at exactly 60 hertz. it's early days yet and the concept has still to be proved in nevada,

but it could help solve one of the renewable industry's biggest conundrums right now, balancing the ebb and flow of nature—made energy in a more sustainable way. after we run 30 or a0 years providing energy storage and helping people, we can remove all of our facilities very quickly. 96% of them can be either repurposed or recycled, so only a% of our facilities could ever go into a landfill, and we're trying to reduce that. and we can then plant some native vegetation and six months later, you never know our facility was there. that was kate on a roll in california. back at babcock, i'm going for a solar—powered spin in an autonomous shuttle with its chief financial officer. so i guess the motivation for having these autonomous vehicles is that you're encouraging families here not to have as many cars. correct.

yeah, i think our thought is that over time, most families in the us have a two—car family, and so our hope is that we can get from a two—car to a one—carfamily, where you have your car for the family, perhaps, but if you have it a car for a commuterfor work, you won't need it anymore, you can take an autonomous shuttle or an autonomous vehicle to work. and so over time, which will take a long time, perhaps there are no cars. but i think, realistically, within the next 10—15 years, you could see a time when you go from two car to one car. you think the us government at the moment doesn't understand? i think they get it. i think they're getting it. the government's a little slow to move, typically. but i think in major cities, in major metros, where traffic and pollution are an issue, where technology can come in and save a lot of that, i think governments are willing to step up and make sure this comes to fruition. and we're seeing that slowly. what we're hearing and reading about is that a lot of major urban cores are going to become — there'll be restricted access, if you're driving your car and you're trying to get there, you can't get in, up to a certain mile, three miles outside of the city core, you can't

get into the city core without being in an autonomous vehicle, for instance. but outside of autonomous vehicles, i mean, building a city or a town that is sustainable, i mean, you're not going to be able to do this in colder, more crowded parts of the world. no, i think that's right. i think this is fairly unique. we've a unique situation here where we have the benefit of scale. there's not a lot of folks that own 18,000 acres of land. that's a big chunk of dirt. along with autonomous shuttles, babcock has its own water and waste facility, and as well as reclaiming water, there's a restriction on the amount that you're allowed to use. the tin roofs reflect heat, making homes 10% better at keeping cool, and the ranch's on—site gym is environmentally friendly, too — it's powered by the treadmills. one incentive to get off the couch, i suppose. it is a commendable vision to build a town with all these sustainable values but i can't help thinking you can only really do this when you are building a community from scratch. i mean, could you imagine trying

to retrofit an existing town with all of these technologies? you'd basically have to tear up the infrastructure and tear down all the buildings and start from scratch anyway. babcock has been built in the style of older towns to attract people who aren't necessarily fans of the new—build feel. hi, are you expecting me? people like the kinleys. mind if ijust step inside your air—conditioning and stay here forever? yeah, yeah. they've got a robot vacuum cleaner... i just want to kick those things. ..a coffee—making fridge... no, it's set up so it won't spill all over the place. ..and, of course, an electric car. for richard, a self—confessed geek and actual real fan of click, babcock was his calling. just reading tech blogs all the time on the internet, and it sounded fascinating to me. i liked the idea that it was environmentally friendly and was looking forward as far as energy solutions.

we — in atlanta, we lived just downwind from one of the biggest coal— polluting plants in the country, and i thought "that cannot be healthy". i think of it as guilt—free living. in the uk, when you have a small town with a central area that you can walk to, it encourages walking, so it's the lifestyle. and while the buildings may look like historic florida, for me, it was also all the technology, all the — you know, having 1 gigabyte of fibre optic internet to the home... yeah, you like that. yeah, you definitely like that. and that's it for the short cut of our sustainability special. the full—length version is available on iplayer for you to watch right now. check us out on facebook and on twitter at @bbcclick.

thanks for watching, see you soon.