good morning. it's 8:00am in singapore and 1:00am in london. scientists have discovered particles of plastic falling in snow in the arctic, highlighting the shocking scale of plastic pollution. i'm rico hizon in singapore. a region long thought to be pristine the headlines: is contaminated with microscopic particles, which are carried on the winds from thousands of miles away. our environment analyst roger harrabin travelled to the artic circle as the research was being carried out. here's his special report. a special report on plastic pollution in the arctic. the arctic, a place the snow is contaminated, raising of pristine beauty. smothered with snow, clean and pure. concerns for wildlife and residents. or, that's how it appears. pakistan's prime minister warns that but it's an illusion. india will pay a heavy price for revoking the special status arctic snow is tainted with microplastics and rubber particles and clothing fibres. of indian—administered kashmir. given the amount of pollution in the atmosphere, it's perhaps i'm ben bland in london. hardly surprising that we're finding also in the programme: a brexit war of words, britain's ex—finance minister says microplastics in snow. the prime minister's advisers are deliberately wrecking chances of a deal with the eu. but we have such a strong belief and a new report says argentine in the essential purity footballer emiliano sala 00:00:56,997 --> 2147483051:37:13,214 and his pilot may have been killed 2147483051:37:13,214 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 by carbon monoxide poisoning. of this stuff that some people will find this news rather shocking.

dr melanie bergmann led the research. first stage involves a bit of low technology. a dessert spoon and a flask. i think we're not treating our planet very thoughtfully. basically, we produce all these packaging materials, we cover everything in polymer—based varnish, we use a lot of rubber which we also find in our aerial samples, snow samples, and don't even think about it what is happening to this in the environment. but few people live here. where on earth do the pollutants come from 7 we know that most of what we are analysing up there and measuring are long—range transported pollution coming from the continent, coming from asia, coming from all over the world.

and some of these chemicals have properties that are a threat to the ecosystem for living animals. scientists have found that air and sea currents drive pollutants north. last year we broke the news that arctic sea ice had more microplastics than anywhere in the ocean because floating particles get bonded into the ice as it freezes. we found plastic pollution on the arctic beaches. some of this debris had drifted for thousands of miles. tourists still trek here to experience what appears to be wilderness, creating their own pollution on the way. how do locals feel about plastic in snow? i'm here to show pure and clean snow, and dogs and the arctic nature and that's what i hope to do for the rest of my life. and if it continues this way

i will not be able to. it woke me up, it woke my company up that we have to do something. so it's not good news but we must not give up. up here you look around you every day and you see or hear something that you think is the pristine arctic, as it's called, and it's not any more, and we see it every day and it's really, really sad. here's the truth. there is nowhere on the planet to escape pollution from us. however hard you run. roger harrabin, bbc news, in the norwegian arctic. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. police in hong kong have used tear gas to disperse protesters shining lasers at a police station, during more demonstrations on wednesday. the city has been gripped by unrest since the government proposed a controversial extradition law. china has called the protests "near terrorism", while the united states said it was "deeply concerned"

about chinese military movement along the hong kong border. stephen mcdonell filed this report from hong kong airport, the site of this week's violent clashes. behind me you can see the new security measures that hong kong airport. measures which have in effect put an end to the possibility of having mass rallies inside the terminal in favour of democracy. that is because now, to get into the building you need to present a passport and a travel itinerary, otherwise you can't come in. while there are a handful of pro—democracy activists hanging around inside, once they leave, they can't get back in again. it means they won't be able to refill their ranks anymore. in theory, you could have a protest outside the building, i suppose, but not inside.

many in the movement decided not to come back to the airport today. just because there will be no more large rallies inside the airport terminal doesn't mean has been any steam taken out of this movement more generally. more protests are planned, including a large march this sunday. also making news today: malaysian authorities have carried out a post—mortem examination on the body of nora quoirin. the teenager's body was found on tuesday and an investigation is looking into how she died. the 15—year—old, who had learning difficulties, disappeared from the jungle resort of dusun, where she had been on holiday with her parents and two siblings. canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau broke ethics rules by trying to influence a corporate legal case. that's the ruling from canada's parliamentary ethics watchdog. the commissioner said mr trudeau had tried to influence his former attorney general to settle a criminal case against the engineering giant, snc lavalin. the prime minister denied accusations that he exerted undue influence.

climbers who want to attempt mount everest should first have to prove they‘ re experienced mountaineers. the suggestion comes from a government—appointed committee in nepal. it recommends that people applying must already have climbed a peak of at least 6,500 metres. the mountaineering industry faced criticism earlier this year when at least 11 people died or went missing on mount everest, leading to calls for tighter regulation of the industry. pakistan's prime minister has declared that global powers would be responsible if war broke out with india over disputed kashmir. in a speech yesterday, imran khan described delhi's move to revoke indian—administered kashmir‘s special status, as a "strategic blunder." translation: i keep sending this message to the international community. to those organisations who are meant to stop wars,

whose job is to protect the weak from the strong, the united nations. it's not our trial, it's the united nations. you, the united nations, will you stand by your 11 security council resolutions on kashmir? if the powerful oppress the weak, can the un do nothing? does the un only work when the powerful wanted to? imran khan. so should we get worried that the situation in kashmir might worsen? alyssa ayres is a senior fellow for india, pakistan, and south asia at the council on foreign relations. i think we should worry that pakistan will not be able to gain through its efforts to internationalise this question, and we may see instead the reemergence of terrorist groups going across the line

of control to try to foment violence in kashmir. pakistan's claim diplomatically is quite weak if you look at it closely. i think that is the real concern. how should the international community address the region's tense situation? this is a tense situation, and there are two different dimensions of it. the first dimension you just raised, which is the india pakistan tensions over this issue. there has been a great degree of international attention to the problem of terrorism emanating from pakistan. the international community, including through the financial action task force, has been very focused on pressing pakistan to tackle all the terrorist groups that make their homes on pakistani territory.

the second dimension is that within india. as you are seeing, there has been some degree of protest in the kashmir region over this changed status. some of the security measures the government has put in place, like the communications blockade, some mainstream politicians under a form of house arrest, they should lift these too, because it is not what a great democracy does. so this other element that you are seeing international attention to. critics are saying that this is linked to the economic slowdown in india. is it a diversion for the government? it's hard to know exactly why the indian government decided to do this now. we know for sure that the indian government, which is headed by the bjp, this has been a long—standing priority for the bjp going back decades. so the big question

is the timing, why now? some people speculate that it is to detract from the economic slowdown news. some people speculate that the indian government has been concerned about regional security, following president trump's offer to mediate, following reports of negotiations with the taliban and what that might mean. we don't precisely know what drove the timing now, but we do know that this has been a long—standing priority. india's prime minister will be making a speech to mark the country's independence day in a couple of hours. we'll bring you that when we get it. turning to brexit now — the speaker of the us house of representatives nancy pelosi has reiterated there will be no chance of a trade agreement with britain passing the us congress, if brexit undermines peace in northern ireland. britain is due to leave

the european union on october 31st. and there's been a war of words here in the uk about prime minister boris johnson's strategy. the former chancellor philip hammond has accused mrjohnson‘s advisers of trying to wreck the chances of a new deal with the eu. but the prime minister says those who've opposed brexit were — as he put it — in a "terrible collaboration" with the eu. 0ur correspondent ben wright reports. from power to protest and a fierce attack on number 10. three weeks ago, philip hammond was chancellor — theresa may's money man, number two in the government. now he's turned his fire on the new prime minister's willingness to leave the eu with no deal at all. leaving the eu without a deal would bejust as much a betrayal of the referendum result as not leaving at all. the british people were offered a proposition that we could leave the european union while having a close relationship. they were told it would be the easiest deal ever done.

all: hear, hear... philip hammond was in a government that secured a brexit deal with the eu but failed to get it through parliament. the fallback plan to prevent a hard border in ireland is the most contentious part of that deal. borisjohnson believes the so—called backstop ties the uk's hands and has told the eu it must be scrapped. pivoting to say the backstop has to go in its entirety, a huge chunk of the withdrawal agreement just scrapped, is effectively a wrecking tactic. the people behind this know that that means there will be no deal. people like this man, dominic cummings... are you making demands the eu can't accept? ..the former director of vote leave and now borisjohnson‘s top aide in number 10. downing street has ramped up plans to leave with no deal at the end of october if the eu doesn't back down. answering questions from people on facebook earlier, borisjohnson accused mps who think they can block brexit, of a terrible collaboration with the eu and mrjohnson‘s allies

say the government's no—deal threat is essential. we're speaking to people all the time, we want to get a deal, that's always been our position. but as a responsible government, we have to prepare for the eventuality of no deal, of course we have to do that. with several tory mps like philip hammond ready to work with opposition parties to try and block a no—deal brexit, a ferocious fight in parliament is coming. but, with the brexit date written into law, mps may struggle to thwart a government intent on leaving the eu without an agreement. the rules of parliament will be tested and the speaker's role will be crucial. john bercow says he'll fight with every bone in his body to stop the government bypassing parliament. march on our way. the tory party's civil war over brexit has erupted again, with former cabinet allies deeply divided on how to leave the eu. ben wright, bbc news, westminster. you're watching newsday on the bbc live from singapore and london.

still to come on the programme: suspicion falls on carbon monoxide as a cause of the crash that killed argentine footballer emiliano sala and his pilot injanuary. also on the programme: pacific island leaders fearful of rising sea—levels hit out at australia over its massive coal industry. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutalformer dictator, has died at the age of 80.

he's been buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later when the sun set over the bay of bengal. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm ben bland in london. a scientific study has revealed high levels of tiny particles of plastic contaminating the arctic, previously seen as one of the last pristine environments in the world. pakistan's prime minister imran khan has said india will pay a heavy price for revoking the special status of indian—administered

kashmir. asian markets have opened sharply lower. wall street saw the worst day of the year. investors are worried that the us may fall into a recession. we may fall into a recession. will be getting initial rean from we will be getting initial reaction from the asian markets but that us get some analysis from my colleague mariko 0i. get some analysis from my colleague mariko oi. let me explain yield curve because it is correctly predicted all the us recessions that have ever occurred in the 20th and zist have ever occurred in the 20th and 21st what is it? it's the difference between the ten year treasuries and the 2— your treasuries so the idea as investors a re the 2— your treasuries so the idea as investors are usually willing to wait longer to get paid more. the yield over the ten year treasury should be higher than that of the 2—

your treasuries, meaning investors are willing to wait longer and get paid are willing to wait longer and get pa id less are willing to wait longer and get paid less and that is a sign that they are not confident about the us economy in the last time this happened was in 2007 before the global financial crisis and that's why we are seeing the panic sell—off on wall street and here in asia, we saw japan open on wall street and here in asia, we sanapan open one on wall street and here in asia, we saw japan open one 15% lower. australia also trading lower.m doesn't help we have weaker economic numbers as well from two of the largest economies, germany and china. but it's like north and south pole, the markets spell overnight. the previous day, the market is donald trump announced basically suspension in tariffs. we saw quite a good day on markets and wall street. labour it was after the us that it would delay imposing tariffs

at least until the middle of december, popular consumer goods like mobile phones, president trump said it was because they wanted to avoid hitting american consumers before christmas. he is repeatedly said it is china that has two babies ta riffs said it is china that has two babies tariffs but he admitted the impact on us consumers for the first time and it seems like the white house is worried about the us economy. if it happens, it won't be a merry christmas. thank you to my colleague, mariko 0i. new zealand's prime ministerjacinda ardern has challenged australia to do more on climate change. leaders from 18 countries are meeting for the pacific islands forum in tuvalu — a country often described as being on the front line of climate change. smaller nations are putting pressure on australia to move away from coal—powered energy and take more action on reducing emissions. here is what prime minister

ardern had to say. new zealand relative to other nations has a relatively small emissions profile. however, if we all took the perspective that if you're small, it doesn't matter, we wouldn't see change. every single little bit matters and that is why new zealand has joined that international call, it is why we speak, i believe strongly, on the international stage around these issues but ultimately we have to all take responsibility ourselves. my references was to the fact that australia has to answer to the pacific, that is a matterfor them. jacinda ardern. so what's the significance of climate change for this region in particular? dr tess newton cain is a pacific islands expert and professor at the griffith asia institute in brisbane, australia. the pacific island region, especially the atoll countries such as tuvalu, are on the forefront of climate change so they are already seeing clear and visible impact. they've had to relocate people within their countries because where they were originally living is no longer habitable because of erosion. they are suffering from greater

impacts of weather events, particularly cyclones, that can do huge amounts of damage to personal property and to countries economies. their water sources are becoming less secure, it's affecting agriculture which has a knock—on effect on health and food security. so these are all very real and present issues in this part of the world. they are not the stuff of future consideration. they are everyone's daily lived experience. and what do you think practically this kind of gathering of leaders can really achieve when a country as big australia is making it clear it will not sign any communique which talks about gazing out coal or coal generated power and even just as recently as june, australia gave approval for a new coalmine in queensland. this meeting of pacific island leaders has really in its personnel some people who occupy significant roles in the global stage when it comes to the planet. if you think of the 0resident of the marshall islands, hilda heine, prime minister

enele sopoaga of tuvalu and prime minister frank bainimarama of fiji, they occupy important positions and when the un secretary—general convenes his climate summit in september, these people will be occupying very central roles. he already said they will be front and centre of what happens so they carry with them a great deal of moral authority and when they speak, people listen so they may be frustrated that scott morrison doesn't appear to be listening to them but leaders elsewhere are listening to them, whether it's the uk, whether it's the european union or elsewhere in the world. when they speak, people do listen when it comes to climate change and obviously what happens at the end of today is going to send a very strong message as to where this region sits as a group and what the level of consensus is.

an interim report from air accident investigators says the argentinian footballer emiliano sala was exposed to harmful levels of carbon monoxide in the moments before a plane crashed over the english channel. the footballer and his pilot died in the january crash. 0ur correspondent wyre davies has the story. the death of emiliano sala atjust 29 years old and in such tragic circumstances shocked the footballing world. the argentine centre forward had just signed for cardiff city from nantes and was on his way tojoin his new team in the welsh capital. while city were trying to woo sala, he was flown between cardiff and nantes in privatejets.

but the last flight after he'd signed was in this single engined turboprop at night and in poor weather. shortly after take—off from nantes, in an audio message to friends, the footballer seemed concerned, even frightened. "i'm up here in a plane that feels like it's about to fall "apart," says the player. "i'll make it cardiff where we start training in the morning. "if in an hour and a half you haven't heard from me i don't know if they'll send anyone to find me." "dad, i'm scared," were his last words. less than an hour later, the plane crashed into the channel, killing the footballer and his pilot. the body of the pilot, david ibbotson, has never veeb found. —— never beeb found. —— never been found. but without the proper qualifications, his competence to fly in such conditions at night has since been questioned. it now appears there may have been other factors involved. it's now been revealed by the air accidents investigation branch that there were higher levels of carbon monoxide in sala's bloodstream and presumably that of the pilot as well. wyre davies, bbc news.

and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures of a dj who's really out of this world. italian astronaut luca parmitano has become the first person to dj from the international space station. his set was transmitted to a cruise ship in the mediterranean sea so people on board could watch. hello. for many of you, wednesday was a bit of a washout, to say the least. thursday, however, looking much, much better. the bulk of you will spend if not all but certainly most of the day dry and a lot brighter and feeling a little bit warmer as well. we are sort of etween weather systems on thursday, this weather system which brought

the rain on wednesday, we are sort of between weather systems on thursday, this weather system which brought the rain on wednesday, some heavy showers through the night and into thursday morning, more persistent rain around shetland, this is the next weather system for friday so in between those two, we've got a fair bit of cloud to begin with. nowhere near as chilly for the thursday morning commute as it was on the wednesday morning commute but a few showers here and there, scotland, parts of northern ireland northern england and north wales, more persistent rain in shetland with showers pushing the way eastwards and largely fade in intensity and number as they go, leaving most places under mostly sunny skies during thursday afternoon and with a lot more sunshine around, slightly lighter winds, of course it will feel warmer than it did on wednesday and that sunshine of course, a bit stronger as well this time of year. we finish the day with sunshine hazy across northern ireland, could be a bit of evening rain here but through the night, cloud and rain and wind start to push in from the north and west. parts of the midlands, eastern england will stay dry with some clearer skies and the coolest conditions down into single figures once again, but the temperatures here but mostly in the teens as we start friday morning but as you can see, it's going to be a day for the umbrella but also to really

have a tight grip on it because this area of low pressure also brings with it strong winds. it's out at the atlantic at the moment but it pushes this weather front on its forward edge, bringing rain to most parts of the day on friday, scotland, northern ireland, northern england and wales, the wettest part will be likely be during the morning as rain spreads its way southwards and eastwards and after a bright start in the south—east corner, it will turn here wetter into the afternoon, and more persistent rain across southern counties of south wales through the afternoon with scotland and northern ireland seeing more sunshine but across the board it will be a blustery day with winds topping out around gale—force around many coasts and hills. that same area of low pressure will be with us into the start of the weekend, keeping things like friday a little on the cool side. we have winds coming down from the north atlantic around it and they will continue to feed their way in, feeding showers. the more persistent rain linked to this weather front will be just

about clearing for saturday morning. early risers across the south—east may be still on the wet side but sunshine will come out for a time before that weather front inches northwards once again, turning the sunshine hazy across the south and turning things wetter in the channel islands. vast majority, though, saturday, the story of sunshine and showers. showers more frequent around scotland, northern ireland, northern england and some of those happy with hail and thunder. stays cool as it will do on sunday with the chance of some more persistent rain, close to the south coast. most will stick with that sunshine and showers theme and quite a windy one this weekend too.

i'm ben bland with bbc world news. our top story: scientists find high levels of plastic contamination in the arctic, previously seen as one of the world's last pristine environments. a study showed a litre of melted snow could contain tens of thousands of plastic particles, carried on the wind from thousands of miles away. pakistan's prime minister has warned india that it will pay "a heavy price" for revoking the special status of indian—administered kashmir. imran khan also said global powers would be responsible if war broke out over kashmir, because they

failed to implement un resolutions. and this story is trending on bbc.com. an interim air accident report has said that high levels of carbon monoxide may have caused the crash that killed argentinian footballer emiliano sala and the pilot of his plane. that's all. stay with bbc world news.