this is bbc news i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 2:00: ten men, aged between 13 and 30 are being questioned on suspicion of murdering pc andrew harper in berkshire. he is clearly a man who, in his short period of time, has touched many lives and has been an exemplary police officer. pro—democracy protesters take to the streets of hong kong once more — they've been supported by thousands of teachers. jeremy corbyn‘s proposal to be installed as a ‘caretaker‘ prime minister to prevent a no—deal brexit is rejected by another senior conservative mp. sudan's ruling military council has signed a power sharing deal with the civilian opposition, following months of protests. and this week's hardtalk

will be speaking to climate scientist tim flannery — that's in half an hour. good afternoon. ten people, aged between 13 and 30—years—old are being questioned on suspicion of murdering a police officer in berkshire, who was dragged along a road by a vehicle. pc andrew harper, who was 28, died on thursday evening while responding to reports of a burglary. flags have been flying at half mast across the thames valley force area, in memory of the officer, who married only four weeks ago. our correspondent, simonjones reports. married just a month ago, pc andrew harper was looking forward to his honeymoon.

now though, his death is the subject of a murder investigation. dragged along the road by a vehicle. among those to visit the scene today, the deputy police commissioner for thames valley. i've heard from people coming forward from across the country, police officers who worked with andy but also victims of crime he has supported in the past. i think that's one of the most fitting memorials to him, is those people whose lives he touched have been coming forward to say how much they appreciated what he has done for them. pc harper's death has been described as mindless and brutal by the prime minister. ten people are being questioned on suspicion of murder. officers have been searching a nearby caravan site as part of the investigation. there's been a steady stream of people throughout the morning bringing flowers. some who were colleagues of pc harper, visibly upset. others who didn't know him but wanted to express their own shock and sadness about what happened here. for police, it's a difficult task investigating the death of one of their own. the pain is shared among

the emergency services. a lot of people say we have a dangerousjob but most of our opinions of ourjob is it's nowhere near as dangerous or difficult as the police and the ambulance service. the police say they are still trying to establish the exact chain of events after a routine call—out to a burglary ended in tragedy. the police have shut this section of the a4 near to where pc harper was killed. they have been carrying out forensic examinations. we are not clear what exactly they have been looking for, in fact the police have given very few detail so far of their investigation. they are asking people not to speculate about what happened while their enquiries continue. we are hoping to get an update from them during the course of the afternoon. now fortunately, police officers being killed in the line of duty remains a very rare event. there have been around ten over the past decade. what's happened here has really shaken the community. there has also been further debate

about whether more police officers should be armed and whether police cuts have influenced increasing levels of violence against police officers. those are perhaps debates for a further day, but at the moment the focus for the police is trying to establish what exactly happened here to cause an officer to lose his life. that report by simonjones. pro—democracy demonstrators in hong kong have been taking part in a rally — in an area popular with tourists from mainland china. the organisers have been using loud—hailers to appeal for the event to remain peaceful — after violent scenes during protests at the airport on monday and tuesday. anti—government protests have been going on now for 11 weeks. our correspondent stephen mcdonell watched as police confronted protesters in the city. here we are, another saturday night in hong kong, another police station siege, or at least the stand—off. here we have the police in formation with their shields. they have been having various things

thrown at them from across the road and they are backing up. they are not in their full kits, so it's not as serious as it sometimes gets but we'll move around here and i'll try and show you where the protesters are. they are on the other side of the road where traffic is still actually coming through. every now and then they are running up and throwing tins and things like that, nothing too heavy it seems at the moment, at the police. but across the other side here, are the protesters. you could possibly hear these warning signs and i'm seeing people running frantically. it looks like we do have the normal riot police now in place. they have come out to try and clear them away from here it seems. just moving quickly down to this main road here. where the riot police are moving very quickly. this is their new method. they come in fast, this is what they told us

about in the briefing this week. they move quickly and try and seize protesters when they can. there is the line of riot police in front. they are holding up a sign telling people to clear away. we'rejust running to catch up with them. so this is in mongkok, for people who know hong kong, across the harbour. and the police are now moving through very quickly and with intent. the idea is to move protesters on very rapidly. it's not — the days of the long stand—off have gone. the days when we saw protesters having pitched battles with police. we are not having that any more.

you can see the police here giving instructions to people to clear out and i can tell you, the protesters, they are also moving very fast, they don't want to get arrested either. it's the speed of the running, you see. riot police, they are not walking any more, they are running in. they are running because they want to try and make arrests. they don't just want to control the situation, they are thinking long term now. if they are going to arrest enough of these protesters, they hope to take the wind out of, the more radicalised element of this pro—democracy movement. the senior conservative mp, sir oliver letwin, has said he could not support a plan to prevent a no deal brexit that would result in jeremy corbyn appointed as a caretaker prime minister. it's another blow for the labour

leader's plan to form a time—limited government of national unity. i'm joined now by our poltical correspondent, tony bonsignore. bit of a blow for the arithmetic for thejeremy bit of a blow for the arithmetic for the jeremy corbyn? the numbers are not looking good. the latest in a series of blows because we had liberal democrats coming out saying they didn't want to be part of it if it wasjeremy they didn't want to be part of it if it was jeremy corbyn being they didn't want to be part of it if it wasjeremy corbyn being caretaker prime minister. yesterday we had dominic grieve, senior tory, ardant remainer said he would vote against his government if it meantjeremy corbyn being in number ten and oliver, sir oliver n another tory. these are the sort of peoplejeremy corbyn needs to attract if he is to get his plan through the commons. he was speaking on the today programme about the prospect of his own government's plan as jeremy about the prospect of his own government's plan asjeremy corbyn as prime minister.

i would much prefer at the moment to try to get to something that is a substance of alternative arrangement to agree on. i would rule it out if it led to jeremy corbyn being to agree on. i would rule it out if it led tojeremy corbyn being in downing street. i am not at all convinced there is any solution that involves such a mechanism you were describing that would not have that result. we are talking about a very distant possibilities and i much prefer to focus on the question, how do we get there? the lib dems have been talking about alternative possible interim leaders, harriet harman, ken clarke being floated but labour is standing firm and saying no, if this plan is going to succeed and they want to avoid a no deal like plenty of mps do, they say it has to bejeremy corbyn. i suspect all those people

that are now making lots of noises in the media will realise that the option that will be put to parliament of supporting a motion of i'io parliament of supporting a motion of no confidence against the government in orderto no confidence against the government in order to prevent a no—deal brexit is the most important vote we will ever do is the most important vote we will everdo in is the most important vote we will ever do in parliament because it will prevent this country from being brought to a great problem by a no deal exit and i suggest they should think about that and support the motion i will put forward. the clock is ticking, how much time do they have to sort it out? very little, just over two weeks until mps return to the commons. those two weeks will be crucial because if they are going to put this plan in place it needs to put this plan in place it needs to happen soon because the real date is october the 31st, which is 75 days away. if they are going to agree on something, no sign of it yet. but if opponents are going to agree on something, they need to do it soon. tony, thank you very much.

crowds have gathered in the sudanese capital to celebrate the signing of a power sharing deal between the ruling military and the civilian opposition alliance. sudan's dominant military figure, general dagalo told the bbc that the council would abide by every letter of the deal. the agreement is intended to bring to an end months of pro—democracy protests during which the long—serving president omar al—bashir was toppled. my colleague zeinab badawi is in khartoum. there is doubt, a little lack of confidence on the part of the civilians that this deal will hold in time. that is the key question. yesterday, a lot of euphoria, optimism and hope but for the first 21 months of that transitional period, the military is still in the driving seat, after 18 months handover to do the civilians as being the ones in control. it is

what happens down the line that is important. the man you see signing there, general delgado, he is widely regarded as the most powerful man in sudan, he is signing on behalf of the military. he is the person i have been talking to for our programme and he has given me his own personal assurances that the military will not slip or slide and they will implement this constitutional agreement to the letter. so as things stand, what can you do forgive the military the benefit of the doubt. before i came here to talk to you on the banks of the beautiful river nile in the scorching heat, iwas the beautiful river nile in the scorching heat, i was inside the friendship hole where the signing ceremony was taking place and managed to grab a few words with people in there and just to kind of soak up the atmosphere a bit. there we re soak up the atmosphere a bit. there were journalists there, some of whom i knew and i think one can say

categorically, the sense of optimism is absolutely genuine. the chancellor, sajid javid, has said he wants to simplify the tax system when he sets out his first budget in the autumn. in an interview with the times, mrjavid said he was considering a number of reforms, including possible changes to stamp duty, making it payable on property sales, rather than purchases. joining me now to discuss any possible changes to stamp duty is property expert henry pryor. thank you for coming in, henry. it isa thank you for coming in, henry. it is a possible reform?|j thank you for coming in, henry. it is a possible reform? i think it is august, it is what is termed as the silly season. when i woke up and saw these headlines that somebody is trying to distract us from more pressing issues, this would be revolutionary. there are lots of

calls, there have been lots of calls for the stamp duty system to be changed and george osborne made significant changes. it is cheaper for about 95% of buyers, but these proposals would be revolutionary and they would, in the way they have been framed today, caused considerable consternation in the housing market in general because buyers and sellers and agents will sit on their hands and wait until there is some clarity. in terms of simplifying it, wouldn't the stamp duty just be simplifying it, wouldn't the stamp dutyjust be added on by the sellers to make it up, a bit like vat? for many it will be a zero—sum game, sellers will say the buyer is not footing the stamp duty bill, so now i have got to, i will put it onto the price. buyers who get a mortgage, 65% of people who buy a home get a mortgage, will put it on their mortgage, they will borrow money to pay their tax, which a lot

of people are deeply uncomfortable about. will it affect revenue? stamp duty has already started to dwindle because the market is tougher, particularly at the top end of the housing market. is this going to make a difference for people trying to scramble on the lower rungs of the housing ladder? first—time buyers already don't pay stamp duty up buyers already don't pay stamp duty up to £300,000 and what about the people of the government has been trying to encourage, older people trying to encourage, older people trying to encourage, older people trying to downsize to free up the family home so other people can move up family home so other people can move up the housing ladder, are they going to be able to afford this extra cost and will they be prepared to ta ke extra cost and will they be prepared to take it on the chin? it is a bigger tax bill for people downsizing. what sort of shape is the property market in? it is not sick but it is not the frothy markets of two or three years ago. we will get numbers from a big web portal on monday looking at asking prices and we got

numbers last week telling us about sales across the united kingdom. sales are holding up along their long—term average but what has changed is that for most people they are unable to get the prices they might have expected to get several years ago, but there is still a market if you wa nt to but there is still a market if you want to buy and sell, you can still do so. but what the chancellor has hinted that today is very much going to put a lid on the market for the foreseeable future. it is a possibility that he mentioned in an interview, like we said. a recent survey commissioned by santander said that 70% of young people said there is no chance we're going to get a foot on the housing ladder.

what is the solution to get the housing market kick—started, besides brexit uncertainty being sorted out? i have heard you talk about capital gains tax and the extension of the exemption for first—time buyers. there are lots of things that government could do and quite a few things that government are being encouraged to do but there is nothing that they must do. one of the things that the housing market reacts the things that the housing market rea cts ba d ly the things that the housing market reacts badly to its uncertainty and so this news today will cause some consternation. i am often asked, what can young people do in order to get onto the housing ladder, to have a chance of buying their first home. my a chance of buying their first home. my advice is rather cynical, be lucky and choose your parents well. without the benefit of the bank of mum or dad, without your parents owning a property, it becomes harder for young people to do that, statistically. the government has spoken about making changes, increasing house—building, and changes will come down the line in the autumn, wrapped up in the budget when the chancellor makes it, but i do not think stamp duty will be the single solution and we have more work to do to provide the homes that people want to rent and to buy. thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: ten men, aged between 13 and 30, are being questioned on suspicion of murdering pc

andrew harper in berkshire. pro—democracy protesters take to the streets of hong kong once more. they've been supported by thousands of teachers. jeremy corbyn's proposal to be installed as a "caretaker" prime minister, to prevent a no deal brexit, is rejected by another senior conservative mp. a54 pedestrians died on britain's roads last year. the number killed has remained broadly stable for the last decade, with no big strides in cutting deaths. road safety campaigners say more needs to be done. simon browning reports. stop, look, listen! well done. it is a phrase we all had drilled into us at school, and it is still crucial. a pedestrian is killed every single day in britain. this school in sutton coldfield has a busy main road running straight past the school gates. it is a bit dangerous.

not really safe. it is busy. there are lots of cars. and do you think walking to school helps with road safety? and those fears are not unfounded as the head teacher has had to deal with some nasty accidents on this road. we have also had a child with a broken collarbone, a couple of years ago, when he was knocked down outside school. in 2017, 65 pedestrians per day were injured in road traffic accidents. and a quarter of those were children. and the biggest problem we now face is being distracted by these, both at the wheel and on the pavement. the head at walmley infants is so concerned about her pupils' safety on this road, she has tried to make the school a mobile free zone. there are a number of parents who are on their phones looking at them, not paying attention to their child and as they are walking out of the gates, they are straight onto a busy road, looking at their phones. obviously the impact

could be devastating. surely a school can only do so much? we can and we do a lot at ground level but when we hand the children over, back to their parents at the end of the day, they are their responsibility. we are glued to our phones, notjust on the pavement but when we step off it and into a busy road. just watch this near—miss. pedestrian accidents happen every single day, often unreported. critics say we turn a blind eye as we live in a society with an ever—increasing number of cars. but for the survivors, the impact of an accident will last a lifetime. an entirely disconnected car mounted the pavement. and what was left was absolute carnage. jack martindale was simply walking along the pavement with friends. a single vehicle managed to collide with all five of us. you would not believe it, but it did, and injury us all. two young ladies died and i was the worst injured survivor. i spent over three months in a comma. people are careless and the car, if used wrongly, the car is a weapon, do you know what i mean?

it killed two people. road safety campaigners feel pedestrians are not a priority. we kind of accept the fact so many people are dying and being seriously injured as part and parcel of having roads. what is disappointing with the department for transport is they have not got a kind of set of numbers that they would be happy with, targets they are aiming for in terms of reduction. the government has recently announced new road safety plans, including teaching children about smartphone danger. and some local authorities are working toward zero deaths. are working toward zero road deaths. but with a50 fatalities a year, that still seems a long way off. a postmortem examination in new york city has determined that the death of the disgraced us financier jeffrey epstein was suicide. the chief medical examiner's office said that epstein, who was found dead in his cell in manhattan a week ago, had hanged himself. epstein was awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.

our washington correspondent chris buckler has more. a postmortem examination was carried out last weekend. but the details were not immediately released, which led to a flurry of stories and speculation in the us media. the washington post, at one stage, reported that one of the bones broken in his neck was more consistent with a case of somebody being strangled than a case of hanging. however, that is not always true in cases of older men, and the new york medical examiner's office say that having looked at the results, they are convinced and have determined that he died as a result of a suicide. however, there are still many questions about the circumstances of his death, particularly about irregularities at the prison itself, and also questions about why he was taken off suicide watch just days after an earlier attempt to kill himself. the us department ofjustice is also pursuing inquiries into some of epstein's associates, who they believe abused and groomed underage girls.

that was chris buckler. hundreds of people turned out to a funeral in el paso on friday to support a husband who lost his wife in the shootings earlier this month. with no other family, antonio basco sent an open invitation to the whole town, and 700 people waited in line in a0 degree heat to pay their respects. margie reckard was one of 22 people killed when a gunman opened fire on a walmart on august the 3rd. the hollywood star peter fonda has died at his home in los angeles. he was 79 and had been suffering from lung cancer. the actor was best known for the 1969 film easy rider, which he co—wrote and produced. our correspondent peter bowes takes a look back at his career. easy rider, the

counterculture classic. the open road, sex, drugs and rock and roll. the film was written, produced by and starred peter fonda, along with dennis hopper, playing a pair of long—haired bikers travelling through the american south—west and deep south. it touched a nerve with the country's youth and captured the mood of the times. it also spawned a new era in film—making, focused on younger generations. it earned peter fonda an oscar nomination for best original screenplay, and catapulted him to stardom in hollywood. later in his career he was nominated for best actor in the 1997 drama ulee's gold, in which he played a florida beekeeper. he won a golden globe for the film. peter fonda was part of hollywood royalty, the son of the actor henry fonda and younger brother ofjane fonda. like his father, he was honoured with a star on hollywood's walk of fame. a lasting tribute to the actor, and as news emerged of his death, a place for his fans to remember their hero.

in a statement peter fonda's family said they were mourning the loss of a sweet and gracious man who had an indomitable spirit and love of life. jane fonda said he was her sweet—hearted baby brother and went out laughing. a baton representing the lives of those saved by organ donation has been travelling the country to mark the beginning of the world transplant games. thousands of athletes, all of whom have received a transplant, are taking part. kathryn stanczyszyn has more. craig jones trains every week with his volleyball club in leeds, but this is a practice with a difference, his final one before becoming an international competitor. go, go, go! he's heading to a sporting event with one key criteria, you have to have had

a life changing operation. after multiple infections destroyed craig's lungs aged just 18, he spent the best part of his 20s housebound on 24—hour oxygen. i hid away a lot. and then nine years later, my lung capacity went down to 9% and the doctors told me that i needed a transplant, i needed one soon. in 2017, he received two new lungs. yeah, it's a completely new lease of life. before i couldn't breathe, now i'm here at leeds volleyball club, playing volleyball and i'm in team gb, which i'm still pinching myself now. for some reason, i don't know why they've selected me, but they have and it feels good, if feels really good. more than 2,500 athletes take part in the world transplant games. like the olympics, they move around the globe and this summer, they are in newcastle. it's been 2a years since the uk has hosted the event and for 2019,

there is something new, a special baton relay visiting key transplant centres where hundreds of lives are transformed every year. it represents the comfort that people get from the giving and receiving, whether you are the donor family or the recipients. this baton celebrates all the donors who've made those transformations possible by remembering one in particular. tom wilson died in an accident aged 22. he'd already signed the donor register. we were told that tom helped save and improve the lives of up to 50 people. if you could say one more thing to tom, what would it be? how proud. there to see tom's baton in manchester, seven—year—old brandon. i went to theatre and i woke up with a scar on my belly. and you've had a new kidney, is that right? yeah. currently 7,000 people are on the waiting list, less than a third will get the operation they desperately need. the transplant games aims to raise awareness about the need for more

donors and craig's hoping for success at his very first world event. the biggest success of all though, being there in the first place. kathryn stanczyszyn, bbc news. an orphaned baby dugong rescued in thailand earlier this year has died. pieces of plastic had clogged her digestive system, scientists said. the dugong came to international attention after images posted online showed zoologists giving her milk and feeding her sea grass by hand after she was found stranded on a beach in april. authorities say she contracted a blood infection from the plastic she'd consumed. now it's time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. things much improved on the weather front for the greater pa rt on the weather front for the greater part of the british isles. not everybody is feeling the benefit offered at the moment but many of

the weather watcher pictures that have come in through the day encapsulated the feeling that things have improved. away from the far north—west of scotland, close to an area of low pressure, we have a weather front wrapping those showers end towards the western shores of scotland, pushed on by a gusty wind. the top temperature this afternoon, 22, 23 if you're lucky. over the weather front continues its journey over northern parts of britain and the southern portion of the weather front comes back at us for a time to bring some rain across the far south—eastern quarter. in between the banks of cloud, a dry start to the banks of cloud, a dry start to the day but fairly cold. as the breeze and showers gets going, it will be a mixture of sunny spells and showers, the best of the dry weather in the south and a high on the day of about 22.

hello this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak.

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