this is bbc news. i'm julian worricker. the headlines at 8pm: sir philip green categorically denies allegations of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour — after being named in parliament as the businessman who took out an injunction against the daily telegraph. i feel it is my duty under parliamentary privilege to name philip green as the individual in question, given that the media have been subject to an injunction eventing publication of the full details of the story. police in the united states are investigating more suspicious packages, this time sent to the former vice presidentjoe biden and the actor robert de niro. debenhams becomes the latest retailer to announce the closure of some of its high street stores — putting 4,000 jobs at risk. and the first—year student who drank so much alcohol on a night out that his heart stopped. a coroner says freshers should be taught the dangers of binge drinking. and also coming up,

a moment of history for the armed forces today. the defence secretary's announced that women will be able to apply for any british military role for the first time. and we take a look at the british company behind one of the most hotly anticipated games of the year — red dead redemption 2. hello, good evening and welcome to bbc news. the retail billionaire sir philip green has been named in parliament as the businessman behind an injunction against the daily telegraph, stopping it from publishing allegations about him. the owner of top shop was named by the former cabinet minister lord hain. he said he had been contacted by someone "intimately involved" in the case and felt it was his duty

to use parliamentary privilege to reveal mr green's identity, defying the injunction from the court of appeal. this evening, sir philip green said he "categorically and wholly" denies allegations of "unlawful sexual or racist behaviour". our business editor simonjack reports. retail tycoon, fashion billionaire, friend to the rich and famous, sir philip green was this afternoon named as the mystery businessman who took out a gagging order to prevent the media reporting claims he bullied and sexually harassed employees. an ex—minister used powers reserved for parliamentarians to say what they like without fear of being sued. i feel it's my duty under parliamentary privilege to name philip green as the individual in question, given that the media have been subject to an injunction preventing publication of the full details of a story which is clearly in the public interest. the newspaper that had been gagged

by the court said it was right he had been identified. in the post—#metoo era, it's right to report that first of all, a very senior businessman has used power, money and influence to try and silence employees who have claims of wrongdoing against them. and also because we think our readership would expect us, particularly having been their newspaper who broke the expenses scandal, to hold senior, high profile figures to account. his reputation as a deal—maker saw politicians court him. in 2010, david cameron asked him to advise government departments on how to drive a harder bargain, but his crown slipped when bhs went bust shortly after he sold it for £1 to a former bankrupt. it cost 10,000 workers theirjobs and saw 20,000 facing pension shortfalls. facing a committee of mps for tough questions... sir philip, welcome. he gave as good as he got. do you mind not looking at me like that all the time? it's really disturbing.

put your glasses back on. you look better with your glasses on. i just think that's an unnecessary statement. i think you should withdraw it, and i think it's very rude. sir philip promised to sort the bhs pension issue, and he did, with £363 million of his own money, but using his fortune to keep his name out of the headlines is proving more difficult. simon jack, bbc news. as i mentioned, sir philip green has this evening issued a statement, saying... our legal correspondent clive coleman has been following the story and joins me now. let's start with we have an

injunction in place, where does this leave this apparent contrast between the law on the constitution? at it leaves everything below that of a mess, and we had a similar situation seven mess, and we had a similar situation seve n years mess, and we had a similar situation seven years ago. people remember the supreme seven years ago. people remember the supreme injunction story that was a very big story that ran and ran. seven yea rs very big story that ran and ran. seven years ago, there was an injunction as related to the footballer ryan giggs. it was over allegations of an affair. and that got him onto twitter in spite of the injunction. and then the liberal democrat mp stood up in parliament and named ryan giggs. that was seem to be constitutionally really a damaging thing because the injunction is an injunction that is ordered by the courts, it is the rule of law working and operative, and in mp standing up and using

parliamentary privilege to effectively pierce the injunction was seen effectively pierce the injunction was seen as effectively pierce the injunction was seen as not a good thing, certainly not a good thing of happen on regular basis. thejudiciary and parliament got together and try to work out a way whereby these two very powerful arms of the constitution, parliament and the courts, would respect that one another‘s roles. and we've had really pieced, if you like, and still today. i think this represents a return to that difficult time, and certainly if this was to have on a regular basis, it doesn't have a regular basis, it doesn't have a regular basis, it doesn't have a regular basis but if it did, it will bea regular basis but if it did, it will be a cause for real concern. any parliamentary authorities might want to do something about it because there will be no point in having court injunctions if they would be breached regularly by parliamentarians. lord hain has used the public interest argument. yes, he has, and the courts have to say,

who was in the better interests to declare the public interest? in this case, it was a really long and detailed judgement. case, it was a really long and detailedjudgement. commentaries case, it was a really long and detailed judgement. commentaries who have not done that. —— or parliamentarians. some people will think the parliamentarians... we should add that, you know, the right of parliamentarians to stand up and speak freely in parliament is a rate thatis speak freely in parliament is a rate that is enshrined in our constitution also goes back to the bill of rights of 1689. it's very important that mps have a right to stand up and speak fearlessly on behalf of their constituents and on issues without the fear of being dragged off to court. you've got this constitutional tactic. where does this take is eventually? this'll be another reminder to parliamentarians, please don't do this too often and we carry on as we

are? may well do. there was going to bea are? may well do. there was going to be a trial in this matter. the order, the injunction, was eight injunction pending a trial, which everything was expected to take place in the new year. whether or not it does take place in the light of this, we will have to wait and see. but certainly, the senior people in parliament and amongst the judiciary will be wanting to talk to one another about this. clive, thanks very much. police in the united states say they have intercepted more suspicious packages similar to the ones found yesterday. the latest were addressed to a restaurant in new york owned by the hollywood star robert de niro and to the former vice presidentjoe biden. at least 10 devices have now been sent to leading democrats, including barack 0bama and hillary clinton, as well as critics of president trump and the broadcaster cnn. 0ur north america correspondent nick bryant reports. these are the scenes that america woke up to — what looked like old footage from the war in iraq, but which were real—time images

from a postal facility in delaware. a bomb disposal expert examining a suspect package, addressed to the former vice president, joe biden. yet another prominent democrat sent a crude bomb. in the middle of the night, lower manhattan became the focus and a package sent to a restaurant owned by the movie star robert de niro, an outspoken critic of donald trump. once again, a suspect explosive device, hauled safely away in a vehicle that is fast becoming a familiar sight. it's called a total containment vessel. at a campaign rally last night, donald trump said acts of political violence were an attack on democracy, but some of his strongest remarks were directed atjournalists. as part of a larger national effort to bridge our divides and bring people together, the media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative, and often times, false

attacks and stories, have to do it. have to do it. the president accepted no personal responsibility for his part in the coarsening of american life. and this morning on twitter, he renewed his attack on the media... that got this response from the former cia director john brennan, who was sent an explosive package. because none of the devices have exploded, the fbi has manned a mound of forensic evidence to help track down who is responsible. but some prominent conservatives have claimed this is all a liberal

hoax, timed to coincide with crucial congressional elections. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. we can speak now to aaron blake, who's a senior political reporter at the washington post. good evening. what is the view in the reaction in washington of all this? i think for a lot of people, this? i think for a lot of people, this was kind of a day that in one form or another, we thought might be coming at some point. there has been a co nsta nt coming at some point. there has been a constant deterioration of our political rhetoric in recent months and really in recent years. there is and really in recent years. there is a growing sense of tribalism and partisanship, growing suspicion of what the other political side is doing and what their motives might be. and it's really gotten rather ugly here. we saw last year that this first reared its ugly head in the form of a person going to a republican congress member's baseball practise and shooting people. we also saw a person go to a

newspaper in maryland and should the staff there. this was not inconceivable before it came. a doesn't mean it's ok. that doesn't mean people are all right with it but this something that has been rumoured and talked about for a very long time. does that mean that among those who need to take a look at themselves in all this, does that include the media? i think everybody needs to reflect on what they are doing, certainly, a growing amount of resentment toward the media in this country. the president has certainly criticise the media regularly. he is called the media the enemy of american people. while we may take issue with exactly how he talks about us, and the criticisms that he lodges against us, that doesn't mean that the media is perfect. that does mean that there have not been things that have been done to actually earn this trust —— distrust of the american people. but i think that's quite a different story than saying this is

inappropriate reaction to what might be legitimate grievances. he's tweeted today, referring to the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the mainstream media that i referred to as fake news. he doesn't say that's the whole problem but he says it's a big part of the problem. and this is a case that he has been making for a very long time. this is a way for him to talk about how somebody else is to blame for this after he has been accused in specific by cnn, i would add to him ina in specific by cnn, i would add to him in a statement on wednesday. basically, they pointed the president and how he has talked about their network and suggested that he needs to be careful with his rhetoric. this is him responding in kind. this is him trying to make a familiar target of his criticisms into somebody who is sharing blame here. again, we can all analyse exactly what should be said, what's appropriate to say, but there is a

real shift in how the president of united states has talked the media and how he's criticise the media, and how he's criticise the media, and we are all evaluating right now whether that's something that might have been part of the reason for something like this happening. we simply don't know right now. of course. there is a degree of speculative to all of this. the other thing he said initially, prior to that tweeted that i quoted a moment ago, was a reference to greater civility. he was suddenly suggesting that that's what ought to occur, mainly among politicians of different persuasions. you see any sign of that happening? certainly not, any reaction to what happened on wednesday what happened this week, i proves that we immediately —— prove that. we saw democrats immediately blaming the president for what happened here. we study president blaming the media and arguing that he's not been given a fair shake. people are too quick to blame him. there is a legitimate sense of grievance for the

president, for his political opponents, and that means that when something like this happens, the first inclination is not to come together and find common ground, it's to look for a reason or the other side is to blame. and that's happened, i would say, rather quickly relative to other past tragedies that we see like this one. you are very close to the midterm elections where you are. it may be too early to know the answer to this. do you think that all this will have any impact on how those turn out in the coming fortnight?m really difficult to say. i think if anything, it will further inflame some tensions in this race. this has not been something that's going to lead to a sudden coming together in which people drop their nasty rhetoric. certainly, we've seen a lot of fear mongering in this race. we've seen a lot of very serious charges, a lot of packing of motives, it's a very contentious election because the house is very much in play. democrats can win it.

that means neither side is going to unilaterally to disarm and give up whatever arguments they think might win. in this case, in the selection, a lot of those arguments that people think are winning do involve fear and do involve attacking the other side. thank you very much for your thoughts, aaron blake there in washington. time for the latest headlines here on bbc news. sir philip green categorically denies allegations of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour — after being named in parliament as the businessman who took out an injunction against the daily telegraph. police in the united states are investigating more suspicious packages, this time sent to the former presidentjoe biden and the actor robert de niro. debenhams becomes the latest retailer to announce the closure of some of its high street stores — putting 4,000 jobs at risk sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's will.

hello, julian. let's start with the latest from tonight's games in the europa league. four british sides in action, and what a night for arsenal in portugal, because unai emery‘s side have beaten sporting lisbon by 1—0. after having a header ruled out, danny welbeck got the winner 13 minutes from time to extend their winning run to 11 games, the first time arsenal have done that since the 2007/8 season under arsene wenger. arsenal stay top of group e with nine points out. not such a good night for celtic. they were beaten 2—0 at german side rb leipzing. santos carneiro da cunha put them ahead with just over half an hour played. brendan rodgers' side are 3rd in their group with just 3 points from 3 games and a huge uphill task to qualify for the knockout stage. chelsea kicked off at 8pm against belarussian side bate borisov, the perfect start for them at stamford bridge. they look to make it three out

of three in the europa league. ruben loftus—cheek put maurico sarri's side ahead in the second minute, and he's on a hat—trick after sidefooting in a second just six minutes later. and steven gerrard's rangers, also group leaders, under way at home to spartak moscow. still goalless at ibrox. cycling. the 2019 tour de france is set to be the highest in history, according to the organisers, after they revealed the route for the race today. it will include a record 30 mountain passes and five summit finishes. brussels hosts the grand depart on the 6th ofjuly. but the riders face a gruelling final week, with a finish at more than 2000 feet in the pyrenees. then two more at that altitude in the alps, with the final ride into paris on the 28th. geraint thomas the defending champion after winning his first tour this year. chris froome will be aiming for a fifth title. definitely a very difficult course. adding his very heavily weighted in

terms of declines and the mountains, especially over two dozen metres, which is a big factor as well. relatively fewer time trial kilometres to previous editions, so that's quite different. i mean, it's a race i'm really looking for cheaper current for now and, and it would be the dream for me to do a fifth tour de france when. a lot of k.i fifth tour de france when. a lot of k. i would fifth tour de france when. a lot of k. iwould not fifth tour de france when. a lot of k. i would not say i dislike that. generally, i quite like that. saracens centre alex lozowski has lodged an appeal against the ban that would see him miss england's autumn series opener with south africa. he was given a two—week suspension for entering a ruck in a dangerous manner during their win at glasgow. however, selection for an england training camp meant he'd only miss one saracens match. a disciplinary committee has now set his free—to—play date as november 5th, which is two days after the springboks game at twickenham. the appeal will be heard in london tomorrow.

surrey wicketkeeper ben foakes has been called into the england test squad as cover forjonny bairstow for the series against sri lanka. bairstow has an ankle ligament injury he picked up playing football in training. meanwhile, the england spinner adil rashid says we shouldn't too much into england's heavy defeat in the final one dayer against sri lanka. england lost that match by 219 runs — a record loss. but rashid doesn't believe it will knock their confidence ahead of next year's world cup. not at all, no. we know what we've been doing well for the past three, four years. we've been winning a lot of series. you cannot look at one game and analyse this too deeply. we know it is a want to improve on. hopefully now, going forward, we can put that in the place. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories and live text commentary of chelsea and rangers' europa league games, chelsea up 2—0, celtic still

scoreless —— rangers still scoreless. 0n the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. thanks very much indeed. 4,000 jobs are at risk after the department store debenhams became the latest casualty on the high street. the retailer says it's closing 50 shops — a third of its empire — after reporting an annual loss of almost half a billion pounds. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. this is debenhams' glossy vision of the future, pulling people in by making shopping fun, from blow—dries and beauty treatments, to make up tutorials and gin bars, but there's sobering news today — it wants to close 50 stores in a radical restructuring. customers are actually shopping less in our stores and more online. what we're doing is we're addressing this structural shift in the industry. our plan is very simple. we want to have fewer but better stores. we want to improve our shopping experience. we want to grow our online business, and we're doing that in a way

that makes debenhams a more profitable business. today, though, a staggering £492 million loss, due to an accounting reassessment of its assets. without this, it would have made a profit of £33 million, but even this is 65% down from a year ago. right now, property is debenhams' biggest headache. these shops aren't cheap to run and its costs are rising faster than its sales, partly because we're shopping more online. that means stores like this one are becoming less profitable. debenhams just doesn't need as much space as it once did, and it's certainly not alone. 0ver there, that used to be a marks and spencer, until it closed over the summer. debenhams hasn't said which stores it wants to shut, but it's the last thing they need here in slough. like many high streets this year, it's been one closure after another.

we lost marks and spencer, we lost british home stores, and if you go in a lot of the town, you'll see so many empty shops. there's been so many department stores that have closed down in slough and it's such a shame, because, you know, you have to travelfurther, or, like i said, if you're not internet savvy, you have to kind of ask someone to help you on the internet. but closing stores over the next five years won't be easy. landlords are negotiating with all retailers at the moment, it appears, so they're not going to let them get away. they'll have costly leases to get out of. on top of that, they'll have less money to invest in their stores in the future. and that's one of the key things that they need to do to survive. that's what it's done here at its new shop in watford, but debenhams is now beating a big retreat from high streets elsewhere. a business under real pressure to adapt. emma simpson, bbc news. saudi arabia's public

prosecutor has admitted that the killing of the journalist jamal khashoggi was premeditated. that contradicts previous claims that he died in a fistfight in the saudi consulate in istanbul earlier this month. meanwhile, mr khashoggi's eldest son salah also flew out of saudi arabia. he had previously been unable to leave the country because of a travel ban. and the cia director gina haspel is due to brief president trump on her visit to turkey this week over the killing. the meeting comes after reports that ms haspel had heard audio recordings of the murder. at least 18 children have died after their bus was swept away in flash floods in jordan. the bus had been carrying 37 students and seven members of staff when it washed away on the shores of the dead sea. a rescue operation involving helicopters and army troops is under way. the parent company of british airways has admitted that

a further 185,000 customers may have had their data compromised in a cyber attack. it comes after the airline said this summer that hundreds of thousands of card payments had potentially been leaked in a data hack lasting over two weeks. among the details feared to have been compromised are card numbers and billing addresses. the gender pay gap has fallen to a record low. figures from the office for national statistics show that in the year to april 2018, the gap for full—time workers was 8.6%. that's down from 9.1% the year before. and back in 1997, women earned 17.4% less than men. with me now is ann francke, chief executive of the chartered management institute. things are moving, gradually, in the direction most people would like.

yes, i think it is good progress but it is far too slow. if we look at some of the root causes of that, what we see is there is still far too few women in senior leadership positions, and in fact, the 0ms data confirms that at the top of organisations, the pay gap is still 2596. must be good that we're talking about the gender pay gap than equal pay and clarify the difference in the two. equal pay is a man and a woman doing the same job and getting paid the same. there has been recent controversy at the bbc about that, as you well know. but the gender pay gap looks at the overall pay in a group. it can be an organisation, it can bea group. it can be an organisation, it can be a country, of what men are paid, all the men, all versus all the women, not for the gender pay gap is. if you've got, for example, a lot of men in senior positions,

thatis a lot of men in senior positions, that is bound to do that. absolutely, and recall that affect the so—called glass peerman. because it looks like this —— we call that affect the so—called glass peerman. lots of men in senior roles in a pay gap and that is so persistent and stubborn. you talk about it not moving quickly enough, and i have seen moving quickly enough, and i have seen comments moving quickly enough, and i have seen comments from moving quickly enough, and i have seen comments from other groups saying the same thing. how do you speed it up? let's look at the causes. there are three causes and three solutions. because of our, as i say, too few women in senior positions because men are more likely to be promoted, women tend to be in the less well—paid stackers to sectors —— less well—paid sectors. and then get much bigger bonuses. what can companies do? three things. first, promote more women. you do that by sponsoring them. getting

senior male sponsors to advocate for the middle and junior women to pull them through the ranks. secondly, and this is very important, especially for all workers, more flexible working. because that benefits everybody. and of course, the final thing, which i think is also very important, is to look at the culture. and to try to make that culture work better for everybody. and have to underscore that the business benefit of doing this enormous. and the uk alone, we estimate it's 150 enormous. and the uk alone, we estimate it's150 billion, 5% of gdp. you go back to this, women less likely be promoted. you're talking a sponsorship. if you're talking about when not being promoted without that

going on, what is going on? that's what i talk about with the culture. it is the little remarks that hold women back at work, the assumptions. things like, when a woman asserts herself, she's being abrasive. when a man asserts himself, he's being assertive and strong. assuming that assertive and strong. assuming that a woman who's had a child wants wa nts a a woman who's had a child wants wants a job. jenny won't want that job. shejust had a baby. you don't know that. asked jenny! maybe you are wrong. and the bonuses point. men get bigger bonuses than women? we've done some research showing the male's bonus is a whopping 80% higher than female ceos. this is in pa rt higher than female ceos. this is in part due to the sector effects. you have women ceos in the not—for—profit and public sector and male ceos in financial services and construction, higher paid. and the uk, how does it compare with others?

in terms of the overall gender pay gap, the uk is better than many places but not as good as others. i think what is good... for example, the uk is better than the us but what i think is good is the gender pay legislation is forcing transparency. all companies now have to disclose their gender pay gap. and that's a good thing, you would say? that's an excellent thing. and of course, if you are looking at your own company, you can research this online and you can compare it. and if you don't like what you see, you can advocate to fix it. and ask, of course, your ceo what he's doing about it. ann francke, thank you very much indeed. time to look at the weather forecast. here's stav da naos. hello there. we're expecting the first real significant cold spell of the season to arrive on friday.

and particularly, it'll be noticeable into the weekend. we'll see a return to some wintry showers over high ground in the north, some frost and also the risk of some ice overnight. now, as we head on into tonight, it looks that we hold onto that mild air for central and southern areas. this is a cold front moving its way southwards. behind it, there will be some cold air. already, some of these showers will be turning wintry over the high ground of the north, and there will be stronger winds developing here. to the south, we could just see temperatures between eight and 10 degrees. so, friday, we start up with that weather front. some cloud and early mildness across the south. as that clears away, the cold air begins to filter southwards. although there'll be plenty of sunshine around, there'll also be a scattering of showers across northern and western and eastern coasts. these will be turning increasingly wintry, certainly, over northern areas, and those temperatures, eight to around 11 degrees. and it's cold into the weekend, particularly on saturday. single figure values right across the board, but there'll be plenty of sunshine. hello this is bbc news with julian worricker. the headlines. sir philip green categorically denies allegations of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour — after being named in parliament as the businessman who took out an injunction against the daily

telegraph. i feel it's my duty under parliamentary privilege to name philip green as the individual in question, given that the media have been subject to an injunction preventing publication of the full details of the story. police in the united states are investigating more suspicious packages — this time sent to the former vice presidentjoe biden and the actor robert de niro. debenhams becomes the latest retailer to announce the closure of some of its high street stores — putting 4,000 jobs at risk. and we'll be hearing from a councillor on islay — who can't understand the fuss caused by a hunter who shot a wild goat on the scottish island. the father of a first year student, who died after drinking so much that his heart stopped, has strongly criticised newcastle university for failing to do enough to address

alcohol—fuelled ‘initiation events' organised by student societies. a coroner ruled that ed farmer died after the toxic effects of excessive drinking and a lack of awareness of the risks involved. the 20—year—old had been on a bar crawl. danny savage reports. ed farmer, 20 years old and a student at newcastle university. he died after drinking so much alcohol at a banned initiation style event that his heart stopped. ed was a new member of the university's agricultural society. this is them on the night he died, heading off for drinks. later they egged each other on to drink large measures of vodka. the inquest heard that around 100 triple vodkas were ordered by the group at one bar they went to that evening. they then drank from other bottles of spirits as they went from pub to pub. by the time they got to this metro station to head off to a student house,

one witness says ed farmer was very drunk. in the station he fell over and had to be helped up. at the other end he was carried off the platform. surrounded by the friends ed was drinking with that night, his father today criticised the university and the tradition of initiation events. ed's is not the first utterly needless and wasteful death to come about through this potentially fatal practise. we heard in evidence how initiations have been ongoing at newcastle university in excess of ten years. despite such events being apparently banned by both the university and student union. we have heard in graphic detail about the nature of ed's death and i don't think there is a stronger message that should go out to students about the danger of excessive alcohol consumption and initiations. newcastle university says it was shocked by the events which led up to the death of ed farmer. the coroner says students should be educated about how to look

after a drunk friend. danny savage, bbc news, newcastle. the home secretary has apologised to people who have been wrongly forced to take dna tests to prove they were entitled to settle in the uk. sajid javid said some relatives of gurkhas and afghan nationals employed by the uk government were among around 400 people affected in recent years. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. andrew tran, six years old and learning to read was born in britain and used to have a british passport but the home office would not renew it after his british father who is estranged from his vietnamese mother refused to take a dna test. he has been left stateless. translation: i do not know what will happen in the future. no country and no nationality, you do not know you belong to. it is really upsetting me.

it is so confusing. it has now emerge that hundreds of letters like this were sent out in the last three years, requiring immigrants to take dna tests to prove who their father is. a statement, home secretary. in the house of commons, the home secretary apologised for those demands which the home office had no legal right to make. no one should have faced the demands to supply dna evidence and no one should be penalised for not providing it. in particular, i would like to extend my apologies to those gurkhas and afghans that have been affected. it is all further signs of dysfunction at the home office. four times lastjune, home office ministers told mps that there was no requirement for dna testing in immigration cases. this turns out simply wasn't true. a home office review found it wrongly made demands for at least 449 dna tests,

51 of them for gurkha families. 11 refusals were made solely because no dna tests were done and four of them were gurkha relatives. being asked for dna evidence, it's intrusive. it is insulting potentially to have your paternity questioned. it has all been reminiscent of the windrush scandal which affected elderly migrants from the caribbean. how are you? it has been seen by the opposition as further evidence of how ordinary immigration has been affected by theresa may's so—called hostile environment on illegal immigrants. daniel sandford, bbc news. let's get more on our top story, that the billionaire and former owner of bhs, sir philip green, has said he categorically denies allegations of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour.

he's been named in parliament by lord hain as the businessman who has taken out an injunction, to stop the daily telegraph, reporting the claims against him. lord hain has been telling bbc newsnight why he resorted to the use of parliamentary privilege to breach the injunction. for others tojudge for others to judge whether i have been right or wrong. but there is no point in being in westminster, which is the sovereign centre of the british constitution, has sovereignty. and with it the parliamentary plumage that is a privilege. there's no point in being there, if you never discharge that. if you never deploy the precious rights of parliamentary privilege, to be used as i have said, extremely carefully, with integrity and very responsibly, never just carefully, with integrity and very responsibly, neverjust loosely. can i ask what reaction you had? is

about three hours sent you stood up in the house of lords. well, there's been some criticism on social media, but i've had overwhelming support. particularly from women. you can hear more of that interview on newsnight at bbc two. at 10:30pm tonight. hundreds of soldiers may be dispatched to confront a procession of central american migrants travelling towards the united states. around 800 troops could be sent to the us—mexico border to assist with with fencing and support at key points. around 7000 migrants are currently in southern mexico and will take several weeks to reach the border, donald trump has vowed to prevent them crossing in to the us where they intend to seek asylum. political history has been written in ethiopia, former ambassador and un official, sahle—work zewde, has become the country's first female president. she also becomes africa's only female head of state. after being sworn in, the president promised to work hard to make gender equality a reality in ethiopia. you may have seen photos online

or in the papers of an american tv presenter posing with wild animals — a goat and a sheep — that she shot dead on a hunting holiday in scotland. larysa switlyk, who describes herself as a "professional huntress", posted several pictures of herself smiling behind the animals. she shot them on the island of islay, on what's thought to be a private shooting expedition. the scottish government has now said that it's considering whether the law needs to be changed. joining me now is alastair redman, who is a native of islay and represents the island on the local council. good evening. thank you for coming on. thank you for having me. i mentioned the social media reacts to. what has been the reaction in islay to all of this? this is the real issue here. i think frankly that there is a divide between the reaction on the island, which is

perhaps less bothered, and the reaction on social media. and all are anxious that local government seems to be an effective by social media outreach. what happens in royal constituencies across our united kingdom and emerald scotland, there is a cultural difference. hunting does go on. this is part of the rural economy and we cannot deny that. although there is an outrage on twitter among some urban —based vehicles, certainly the constituents i have been speaking to on a regular basis do not have concerns. and they understand that maintenance of the correct level of population is very important. and we cannot have animals over populating. it is bad for the health of the animals. and that for the local environment. this has to happen. it is part of the process of maintaining the land. that is an organised process, to as you say maintain the land. what seems to have caused dissent here is somebody doing what she did and then

ina quite somebody doing what she did and then in a quite triumphant fashion, choosing to put it online. you see why that might have caused greater disquiet? there is a difference between hunting and dominic in north america where that goes on a lot and hunting in great britain where we do not do that. that is merely a culture difference between canada and america, and perhaps australia and america, and perhaps australia and south africa compared to great britain and scotland. we tend not to pose for trophy pictures like that. but the process is very similar. and if real talking about a debate on hunting, then if we are to get rid of hunting in scotland, which i would hate to see, we would see £155 million that comes to the scottish economy disappear. and that would not disappear completely. it will go to other areas, i was the province, wales, england. all we end up doing by changing legislation and changing

rules is damaging the economy emerald scotland. and we have —— in rural scotland. we have many challenges, depopulation and quite the matlack of qualityjobs for younger people, the need to keep families in our rural constituencies. this would be another blow to rural scotland. i would not like to see that. it depends on what you hunt because one of the comments raised by some who commented on this, i'm looking at what the scottish government's brexit secretary said, he was horrified by these particular post and have called for the hunting of golds on islay to be stopped immediately, but says that is a very different situation from the hunting of red deer which is very firmly regulated. there are nuances to this debate, aren't there? regulated. there are nuances to this debate, aren't there ?|j regulated. there are nuances to this debate, aren't there? iwould regulated. there are nuances to this debate, aren't there? i would say that the brexit dignitary and scotla nd that the brexit dignitary and scotland should have better things to do in this time. there's a lot biggerfish he could be frying. again, these goats that have been hunted are not indigenous of islay and a population has to be controlled, otherwise they will damage the local environment, 0pera

populate and starve themselves. populations has to be controlled. there is no birth control in the animal kingdom. on that note, i think everybody can agree. alastair redman, thank you very much indeed for coming on. the headlines on bbc news. sir philip green categorically denies allegations of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour — after being named in parliament as the businessman who took out an injunction against the daily telegraph. police in the united states are investigating more suspicious packages — this time sent to the former vice presidentjoe biden and the actor robert de niro. debenhams becomes the latest retailer to announce the closure of some of its high street stores — putting 4,000 jobs at risk. a moment of history for the armed forces today. for the first time all rows in the military are open to women. it means those already serving in the army can now apply

for infantry roles as well. the defence secretary gavin williamson also announced that women will finally be able to apply to join britain's eley astle forces unit such as the sas and the sbs. jonathan beal now reports. this afternoon the dish army was demonstrating not just afternoon the dish army was demonstrating notjust its power. but new opportunities for women, too. they have already broken down most of the barriers. women have already served on the front lines. but so far, only in support roles. like dog handlers and medics. but for the first time on this exercise they were also female members on the group. she is on the first few women to qualify as a gunner on a challenge attack. i passed the fitness tests which i worked hard to do. then it went on from there and now i am one of the first females which is quite cool.

for the infantry as well it has only been men allowed. but it is now following the lead of the royal armoured corps and will be accepting its first female applicants as from today. i think it is fantastic for women, it is about time it happened. other countries have done it for a long time and it is good we are finally doing it as well. it is two years since the government said it was lifting the ban on women serving in close combat, but today the defence secretary went one step further, he wants to see women serving in britain's special forces. we very much expect our women to join elite units such as the sas. the value they will bring and the impact they will make will be phenomenal into all the services and they are looking forward to welcoming them. even the army estimate that less than 5% of the women already in the army would be able to pass the physical tests to join the infantry.

there would be even fewer able to meet the gruelling demands required to join the elite sas. women are still in the minority, making up just 10% of the army. it still insists it will not be lowering standards. but there will no longer be any limits to what women will be able to do. jonathan beale, bbc news, salisbury plain. police searching for a david schimmer "lookalike" thief believe they have identified the man, after being "inundated" with responses on social media. blackpool police shared this cctv image of suspect — who they're yet to trace. many have claimed he is the spitting image of the actor, best known for his role as ross from friends, seen on the right of your screen. two elephants calves been killed by a deadly virus at chester zoo. conservationists diagnosed

the illness just days ago — and the two tested positive for the virus, eehv on monday. 0ur reporter mark edwardson has the details. yes, this is the elephant enclosure at chester zoo. and it's a facility the zoo is very proud of. there are three generations of the same family of elephant in here and it's part of a large breeding programme. it's been going on for many years. unfortunately, two of the personalities who are usually part of this herd here are not with us today because, unfortunately, earlier today we got the news that those calves had indeed died. mikejordan is from the zoo. mike, obviously a sad day for the zoo. what has happened to those calves? devastating for us all here. a young three—year—old female and 18—month—old boy have both passed away today from elephant herpes. how common is that in these elephants?

well, the disease is widespread and elephant in their carry it. we all think all of them carry the disease, but it is only calves particularly about that are really susceptible to developing clinical symptoms and dying. so it's very widespread. but clearly not all calves die of it. a bit like us, they carry certain diseases which remained dormant, but unfortunately every now and then the worst happens at. yes it does. what is particularly devastating for us is to have these two elephants both showing symptoms on the same day and both dying just literally a couple of days later. we see the elephants just over your shoulder there, two or three adults and a couple of calves. how are they coping? they are very social and very intelligent animals, aren't they? they will clearly suffer from the loss of two members of their family. we have three generations of the same family here in our elephants, but they're incredibly resilient. they have a brief period of grieving

and then life goes on for them. i guess it for us, too. but no doubt it will affect them and it certainly affects us in the breeding programme. that is what i was going to say. does it put you bad at all? it really sets us back i guess by the loss of these two calves. but what is important for us if we focus on asian elephants in general, and so we carry on working towards trying to combat this disease. it really is a fridge for wild asian elephants as much as it is for those in the zoo. absolutely because you've been doing quite a lot of research on this virus as it is affecting elephants, as you say notjust for your own herd, but asian elephants worldwide. in certain places they are facing extinction, aren't they? they are. asian elephants are in danger right across their range. this disease we know is affecting eight of the 13 countries they occur in and killing young calves there just as it is with us here today. and focus on fundraising and research over the last few years has been to understand the disease, come up with treatments and cures and perhaps one day a vaxxing. thank you very much for your time. a difficult day. good luck with your research as well.

with that, back to you. that was mark edwardson there at chester zoo. there's a special poignancy to this year's poppy appeal, which is launched today. it's a century since the end of the first world war in 1918. over the coming weeks, volunteers will be selling poppies as the nation remembers the victims of not just that war, but all conflicts. lauren moss reports. the poppy — a symbol of hope, woven into the fabric of today. as this year's appeal begins, we're asked to remember, across the generations, those who gave so much. i think it's good and it represents, like, what the warriors did for us. barbara is 92 and a world war ii veteran. her parents both served and met in the first world war. she says the poppy still means so much. it's quite inspiring, really, because it could have faded away over the years, but i'm amazed and very pleased to see so many young people taking an interest now. i helped run a stall

in york a few weeks ago, for the british legion, and the number of young people coming along and contributing. and they weren't putting 50p pieces in, they were putting £10 notes and £20 notes into our bucket. we did quite well that day. former england rugby union captain lewis moody is supporting the campaign, honouring his relatives who fought. i think it's so important to remember the sacrifices. you know, it's the centenary now, coming to the end of the centenary period. to remember the generations, like my great—grandfather, who went and gave up so much so that we can enjoy the privileges we do today, the freedom of speech and choice and the life that we have. it's a hundred years since the end of the first world war, when more than a million british and commonwealth soldiers lost their lives. this installation is one of 15 across the uk, each of these threads carries a message connected to those who served.

0ther installations at football stadiums in northern ireland and preston, a former mining town in wales, parks and beaches signify that the memories will not be washed away. the money raised during the poppy appeal, and this year we are trying to raise £50 million, goes to our armed forces community, which is 6.7 million strong, and that is both serving, veteran and their families. there are some amazing things that the money will go towards. it is lifelong support, whether that be providing care in old age, whether it is providing respite and breaks for service families who haven't seen each otherfor nine months, whether it is through research at places like the imperial college london centre for blast injuries studies. people have been coming all day to see the sculpture and read the messages. the installations are open until monday the 29th october. the legacy is to never forget the sacrifices that were made in the past for the present.

britain's multi—billion pound games industry is preparing for the release of what could well be another blockbuster. red dead redemption two is a wild west adventure from the company behind grand theft auto. and much of the work has been done at the company's studios in edinburgh. here's our technology reporter marc cieslak. red dead redemption two allows players to experience a vast virtual version of the old west. robbing trains, riding horses and even playing poker. that is all the work of rockstar games and this latest release is so big it had to be created in nine different studios across four different countries. gentlemen, you all know what to do. about as far from the old west as you can get, edinburgh is home to rockstar north. it is the largest of the studios involved in an international effort to make this game.

for us, it's biggest game have ever made. notjust cos it's bigger and broader but it is striving for more in depth. being able to go into more environment and interact with things, interact with people and animals. in a way we haven't been able to do that before. the games industry is big business. last year in the uk it generated £3.35 billion in sales, almost as much as home music and video sales combined. but there are concerns in the games industry that those big numbers could be affected as the uk leaves the eu. one of our critical issues is the ability to hire the best talent from wherever they are in the world. if we don't have clarity over what that immigration system looks like there will be some uncertainty.

a gritty and atmospheric slice of roleplaying as an outlaw, from the extremes of caring for a sick horse to dealing with industrialisation spelling the end of the west at its wildest, even before its launch, this game is getting rave reviews. it seems a little piece of the american frontier will forever have its virtual roots in the uk. marc cieslak, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. there. we have done pretty well at the dry and sunny weather recently. if you thought the last few days we re if you thought the last few days were chilly wait until this weekend. it will feel colder. you see an arctic blast right across the uk which will introduce some wintry showers in fact, mainly across the hills of the north. 0vernight frost. a risk of ice in places. the next few days we're starting off this milder air. to those colder blues,

they will spread that way southwards. this is an arctic blast softwa re southwards. this is an arctic blast software across the country, with a biting strong northerly wind as well. the moment we still have the milderair well. the moment we still have the milder air with us. behind the succession of cold front looms the cold air. it will eventually move southwards as the night wears on into northern areas. this is the weather front. through central parts of the country as we reach friday morning. behind a much colder. some of these are already turning wintry over the high ground. to be south of it, a little less cold for now. a few rain showers. variable cloud, also some clear spells. will start off with that cloud early tomorrow morning across southern areas. milder air. sunshine mills in its place. the cold air begins to move southwards as well. the showers will be turning increasingly with early over northern areas, maybe down to lower levels. further south, good sunny spells around. now into the weekend, you can see isobars and showing very close together, meaning a strong north, northeasterly wind going right across the country.

pushing lots of showers into northern scotland down the east and also the west coast as well. it will certainly be wintry in nature. plenty of sunshine through central and southern areas. that strong biking orfully wind really and southern areas. that strong biking or fully wind really will make you feel cold indeed. these are the temperatures we're looking at around six, maybe eight or nine across the south. maybe it's in there. in the far southwest of england. and on a strong wind and it will feel more like low single digits right across the board. sunday, when began to vary a bit more to the northeast director. it will be a little less cold across the east there. still there'll be some showers pushing in here. and little bit of winter over this area. lots of sunshine. temperatures a degree or so up lots of sunshine. temperatures a degree or so up on lots of sunshine. temperatures a degree or so up on saturday. but still cold. into next week, we began ona still cold. into next week, we began on a wet and windy note. then gradually starting to become a little less cold as the week goes on. hello, i'm kasia madera. this is 0utside source. 10 explosive devices have now been

sent in america to leading democrats and critics of president trump, including robert de niro. new york city's mayor says this is absolutely terrorism—related. saudi arabia admits for the first time that the murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi was premeditated. president trump is to be briefed by his cia director, who's now listened to the audio of the killing. in italy, a 16—year—old girl is raped and murdered by three migrants. the tragedy is seized on by the populist government. and a museum in london proves beyond doubt that the fossil that shows birds evolved from dinosaurs is real.