welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: india's prime minister is about to deliver his independence day speech, with unrest boiling in kashmir over his government's decision to change its status. a special report on plastic pollution in the arctic. even the snow is contaminated, raising concerns for wildlife and local people. asian markets drop reacting to 3% falls for the main american indices. analysts suggest the us may be heading for recession.

with tensions very high in an already very tense region of the world, india's prime minister is about to address the nation from red fort in delhi. india is celebrating its 73rd independence day, and this is narendra modi's first independence day address since he was returned to power with a massive election mandate. he is all but certain to address his government's massively controversial decision to scrap article 370, which granted special status to jammu and kashmir. rahul tandon is in delhi for us. rahul, in case people are new to this and wondering why we're paying so this and wondering why we're paying so much attention, this is an area and region over which india and pakistan have fought two wars, both are nuclear armed powers, and they came close recently to another war. it matters. it does. bill clinton, when he was the president of the us, described it as the most dangerous place on earth because it does cause so much

tension between these two nuclear powers. not just the tension between these two nuclear powers. notjust the eyes of india, more thani powers. notjust the eyes of india, more than i billion powers. notjust the eyes of india, more thani billion people powers. notjust the eyes of india, more than i billion people tuned powers. notjust the eyes of india, more thani billion people tuned in front of their television and radio sets, to see what their prime minister says about indian administered kashmir this morning but across the world people will have stayed up, politicians and leaders, who found out what he's going to say and which direction is the tension with pakistan going to go. he paid his respects this morning to the founding father of india, mahatma gandhi, but his message will be quite clear that kashmir is an integral part of india, no—one else's business and the removal of autonomy in his eyes will be of benefit to the region. but as he speaks, millions of people inside the valley in indian administered kashmir have no access to the internet or telephones and there is heavy security across this country this morning. there's been a lot of upset about it

but it's been something wrong most in the bjp election manifestoes. they won such a large mandate this time, they must feel they have a mandate. pakistan's by minister has been trying to get international backing for pakistan's case in this but perhaps not much chance of that? —— prime minister. i don't think so. the indians are quite confident of their position. there hasn't been a huge amount of international criticism of india, with many countries are saying this is an internal affair of the indian government and the indian government have been trying to make it clear, and we had a briefing from a senior foreign office official this week, saying its not us trying to raise these tensions with pakistan. we're not cutting off bilateral trade and suspending diplomats from our country and shutting down the bus and train services that exist between india and pakistan and we're not trying to an in military action across the border. the indian

position has always been clear around kashmir, which is it's an integral part of india and what happens there is basically nobody else's business. we're keeping an on oui’ else's business. we're keeping an on our monitors, the prime minister has begun speaking. we have a translator stop in let's go to red fort in delhi. -- stop in let's go to red fort in delhi. —— we have a translator. let's go to red fort in delhi. translation: on this auspicious day of independence, i greet all my countrymen and give my best wishes.

translation: the prime minister greets all the people on this festival. the prime minister is giving good wishes for fulfilment of everyone's dreams.

while the country's celebrating independence day, there are many people fighting against floods. i send my best wishes and sympathy for them. for restoring that normal life, we are doing our best.

translation: i salute all those people who gave their life and dedicated to the fight of freedom under the leadership of mahatma gandhl

i salute also all those people who have dedicated their life to the betterment of the country's future. translation: it has not been even ten weeks for the new government, but in every sphere, a new effort is

being made. translation: we dedicate ourselves to the service of the nation, with all our possible effort.

translation: 90,000 rupees have been put before the benefit of the farmers. studio: en india's 73rd independence

day, prime minister narendra modi speaking from red fort in delhi —— on. his first independence address since he returned to power with his massive election mandate. rahul tandon is with us. we won't take the whole speech, but we will monitor it forces no significant lines. anything coming out to you so far? not really, mike. mr modi speaks off—the—cuff and he often has long speeches. he didn't start with indian administered kashmir and what's going on there, he started with the flood situation which has seen 200 people die, particularly in southern india and now he's moving on to his favourite subject of development. i'm sure he will touch on indian administered kashmir and i'm sure many in this country will be interested to see what he says there. in his independence day speech traditionally he outlines his

vision notjust for speech traditionally he outlines his vision not just for particular regions but the whole country, and over the next 45 minutes or an hour with mrmodi, over the next 45 minutes or an hour with mr modi, he's going to be looking at many aspects of life in the world's largest democracy. we'll keep a close ear to that speech. talking of development, what do you say to the idea that it was long promised, the change in the status of indian administered kashmir, it was a tactic to change attention away from the economic slowdown in india. some have said that. this week we had figures from the automobile industry that showed car sales were down almost 31%, the biggest drop in almost a decade in this country. but i think when it comes to this particular issue of indian—administered kashmir, this has been a long held plan of the bjp government. it's been in their ma nifesto for government. it's been in their manifesto for many years and one of the founding fathers of the party was one of his key aims. while the economy is a huge issue in this

country, i don't think it was used asa country, i don't think it was used as a tactic to deflect away from that. this is a long—held aim. i think the debate taking place to some extent in india is it going to work? for 70 years, some extent in india is it going to work? for70 years, india has some extent in india is it going to work? for 70 years, india has had this problem with how to deal with this problem with how to deal with this part of the country where it seems some people don't want to stay with them. mr modi's going on what even his critics is saying is a bold move, but is it going to work? is the idea a completely new strategy? he's talking about developing the economy off to kashmir over the next few years, giving peoplejobs economy off to kashmir over the next few years, giving people jobs and giving it the same administration as the rest of india and integrating them all. that sounds like a great idea but when people have been locked in their houses for the last ten days and when they're not supporting that proposal, we're hearing, is it going to work? rahul tandon, thanks very much. we will keep an eye on that speech for

anything developing. rahul tandon there for us. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: an italian court says a migrant rescue ship can dock in the country's ports, but the right—wing interior minister says he'll still block it. 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 bbc news. the latest headlines: india's prime minister is delivering his annual independence day speech. it comes a few days after his government announced it would revoke the special status of indian—administered kashmir. a very controversial the long heralded decision. we are expecting more on that. scientists have discovered particles of plastic falling in snow in the arctic, highlighting the scale of plastic pollution. a region so many of us think of as pristine is contaminated with microscopic particles, carried on the wind from thousands of miles away. our environment analyst roger harrabin travelled to the arctic circle

as the research teams were working. here's his special report. the arctic — a place of pristine beauty. smothered with snow, clean and pure. or that's how it appears. but it's an illusion. arctic snow is tainted with microplastics and rubber particles and clothing fibres. given the amount of pollution in the atmosphere, it's perhaps hardly surprising that we're finding microplastics in snow. but we have such a strong belief in the essential purity 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 this 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 ? 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 wake me up, it wake 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. asian markets have opened sharply lower, following big falls in the united states where the country's three main indexes closed down 3%. it was the worst trading day of the year for us stocks. the dow jones industrial average fell by more than 800 points amid a key signalfrom the us bond market — that the world's biggest economy could be headed for a recession. let's cross over to singapore and to rico hizon with the latest on how asian markets are faring. what is the latest on this? well, if you take a look at the major indexes here in asia, they are slumping to more than two months lows, so

tracking the us market slide as it sent a warning to investors about the risk of a recession. let's update you on the nikkei 225. the all ordinaries update you on the nikkei 225. the allordinaries in update you on the nikkei 225. the all ordinaries in the red by 2—.i%. not much of a loss on the hang seng index, down by 0.7%. technology and manufacturing sectors are some of the biggest loser ‘s. investors, very nervous right now. it doesn't help that economic data from china and germany suggest a faltering global economy hit by the worsening us china trade war. you also have brexit and geopolitical tensions. us china trade war. you also have brexit and geopolitical tensionsm is maybe not surprising things are so topsy—turvy. as one analyst said to us today, a central market strategist, he said it is all a mess, strategist, he said it is all a m ess , every strategist, he said it is all a mess, every central bank around the world is trying to prop up economies, every politician around the world is trying to destroy economies. that's rate. there is a

lot of conflict taking place right now in the economic cycle. but the focus right now is the us and the reason for this fall is because of a key indicator called the yuko. for the first time since 2007 we are seeing it inverted. it is the difference between the treasuries. the idea is you will usually get compensated more to wait longer to get your money back and the ten year bond yield would be higher than that of the two year bond. an inverted curve predicted all of the recessions, almost, that have occurred in the 20th and 21st century occurred in the 20th and 21st ce ntu ry sto p occurred in the 20th and 21st century stop it is quite a reliable recession morning, if you like. so hopefully they are wrong this time around that we won't see recession. —— warning. the central bank in the united states, we could see them cutting interest rates yet again with more pressure from us president

donald trump. rico, thank you very much indeed. we round up more news to keep you up—to—date. a planar shot down idlib. the monitoring group is based in the uk and said the pilot of the russian—made plane has been captured by an extremist group. canada's prime minister, justin trudeau, broke ethics rules by trying to influence a corporate legal case. that is the ruling from the parliamentary ethics watchdog. he tried to influence his attorney general. the prime minister denied the accusations saying it exerted undue influence. he said he would not apologise for trying to protect canadianjobs. six police officers have been shot in a drug raid in the north of philadelphia. their injuries are not life threatening. local reports say a male suspect has been exchanging fire with police

and is still armed and inside the house. the teenage climate activist greta thunberg has set sail from britain heading to a un summit in new york. the 16—year—old swede refuses to fly because of the carbon emissions caused by air travel. she is travelling on a zero—emissions yacht with her father and a filmmaker to document the journey. italy's interior minister matteo salvini is to challenge a legal ruling that allows a migrant rescue ship to enter italian waters. the spanish charity open arms has a vessel heading for the island of lampedusa. there are nearly 150 people on board. the bbc‘s tim allman has the story. for nearly two weeks they have been at sea. dozens upon dozens of desperate people — men, women, and children. this ship unable to enter port until now. translation: we have overturned the decree which banned us from entering italian waters under

the threat of confiscating our boat. we can now enter italian waters without fear of being fined or having our boat confiscated. what was stopping them was an order signed by this man, interior minister matteo salvini, he's taken a hard line over illegal immigration, insisting tough measures were necessary to protect public order. in a tweet, he said he would file a legal challenge against this latest ruling and he was prepared to sign a new provision to stop other ships entering italian waters. some people have already been evacuated from the the open arms vessel. a family were taken off on tuesday when their baby had respiratory problems. concerns over the health of those remaining was one of the reasons cited in its ruling by the regional court. another vessel, ocean viking, is also at sea, still picking up

migrants, still trying to cross the mediterranean. and there is a sense of urgency, the un's refugee agency wanting european governments to intervene, warning that storms are coming. tim allman, bbc news. just very briefly, we take you live back to red fort in delhi where narendra modi is making his independence day address his first since his return to power. we are keeping a close air in case he says anything important about the controversial decision, though long heralded, to remove article 374 kashmir. an important issue, the two nuclear armed countries have fought two wars over kashmir. much more for you on all the news anytime on the

bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you for watching. 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 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.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the indian prime minister, narendra modi, is giving a major speech to mark his country's independence day. he has described the decision to revoke the india kashmir status as a major decision. it's been heavily criticised by pakistan and a number of indian opposition leaders. scientists have found 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, probably carried on the wind from thousands of miles away. global stock markets have fallen amid growing fears about recession. markets in asia opened sharply lower, hours after the main us stock markets closed 3% down on the day. the falls follow data from the us, germany and china suggesting economic growth is slowing down. it's