prince andrew defends his formerfriendship with the disgraced sex offenderjeffrey epstein. the prince says he saw epstein once or twice a yearfor over a decade — but didn't see nor suspect criminal behaviour. some lightness from the leaders at the g7 summit, but tensions simmer over britain's exit from the eu. confusion for british airways passengers. some are wrongly told their flights are cancelled and that they should rebook. we called british airways 67 times since six o'clock this morning. we got through once, after a ali—minute wait on hold. and england fight to keep their ashes hopes alive, in the third test at headingley.

good evening. prince andrew has released a statement about his friendship with the disgraced financier jeffrey epstein, the first time the prince has spoken directly about his links — since epstein took his own life in a new york prison cell earlier this month. prince andrew said "at no stage" did he "see or suspect" any criminal behaviour. epstein had been awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when he killed himself. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. what was prince andrew doing at the home of a convicted paedophile in new york in 2010, peering out through the door as young women came and went? the questions about andrew's friendship withjeffrey epstein have shown no sign of abating — and so, from the prince today, a statement in which he says he is eager to clarify the facts. he states...

i met mr epstein in 1999. during the time i knew him, i saw him infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year. i have stayed in a number of his residences. the prince goes on... at no stage during the limited time i spent with him did i see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction. andrew does acknowledge that it was, in his words, "a mistake and an error" to see epstein after his release from prison. this photograph of them together was taken in 2010. andrew expresses regret that what he knew of epstein was not, as he puts it, "the real person". and yet epstein‘s behaviour was a matter of public record. two years earlier, in 2008, he had been prosecuted for procuring an underage girl for prostitution. he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. but andrew was one of his friends, emerged, when this

photo was published. it had been taken at one of epstein‘s parties in 2001. it showed andrew with a then—17—year—old girl — virginia roberts. andrew has always emphatically denied any impropriety. in today's statement, the queen's second son expresses tremendous sympathy for all those affected by the actions and behaviour of his former friend, jeffrey epstein. and nick is outside buckingham palace. where does this leave prince andrew? i think he clearly feels the need to establish as it were his version of events after a difficult and frankly damaging week in terms of media stories about him. let's have a look at what he says. he asserts that between 1999 when he says he met epstein and 2008 when epstein was convicted, he never saw any evidence of suspicious behaviour. that may

seem slightly surprising but we must ta ke seem slightly surprising but we must take it at face value. paedophiles do of course behave as secretively as possible. what i think it's still difficult for andrew is that he resumed the friendship with epstein after he had been released from prison. he was by then a convicted paedophile and yet andrew saw him in new york and went to his home, as we have seen from that video. andrew 110w have seen from that video. andrew now acknowledges that it was a mistake, a error and he regrets that one area he has not commented on in the statement is whether he will now cooperate with the us authorities and lawyers for epstein ‘s victims who of course are very desperate, to find answers and establish the truth. our royal correspond there, nicholas witchell. world leaders have gathered in the french resort of biarritz for the g7 summit, where the european council president donald tusk said he was "willing to listen" to borisjohnson‘s ideas for brexit — as long as they were "realistic". but the two men clashed over

who would be to blame in the case of a no—deal brexit. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in biarritz. landing for his first summit and it could be a tense one. borisjohnson is determined to leave the eu, but says britain won't be walking off the world ‘s stage. the prime minister wants to show he has got an important role to play and has strong views on global trade. i am very worried about the way it is going, the growth of the protection of tariffs that we are seeing, the uk thrives mightily on the open outward—looking free trade, that is what we will be promoting, because we think it is good for the world as well. there is a lot on the g7 agenda here in biarritz, but right now for borisjohnson, nothing is more important than brexit. can he persuade eu leaders to give him a new brexit deal? that is something brussels has said it won't do, even though parliament rejected the withdrawal agreement that theresa may negotiated. so, is this man likely to help the prime minister? donald tusk famously said

there was a special place in hell for those who promoted brexit without a plan. most saw that as an attack on mrjohnson. he will be the third british conservative prime minister, with whom i will discuss brexit. the one thing i will not cooperate on is no deal. and i still hope that prime ministerjohnson would not like to go down in history as mr no deal. but mrjohnson‘s optimistic it will be the eu that changes direction in the end. downing street is playing down the chances of a breakthrough here in biarritz, but thinks leaders like emmanuel macron are ready for some meaningful conversations about the so—called backstop to avoid checks at the irish border. the prime minister insisted again today that it has to go and said donald tusk should remember that, if he doesn't want to go down as mr no deal brexit. mrjohnson hopes he can depend on the american

president for support. donald trump has said that brussels hasn't treated the uk very well over brexit. tomorrow they will sit down together and discuss a post brexit trade deal. so far, so good. the weather is perfect. the guest list is fantastic. everybody is getting along and i think we will accomplish a lot this weekend and i look forward to it. friendly words, but they may not be able to disguise the serious differences between leaders here. vicky young, bbc news, biarritz. 0ur diplomatic corresondent james landale is in biarritz. james, there are serious differences aren't there? so how will borisjohnson navigate those when he meets donald trump tomorrow? well in recent weeks there has been something of a diplomatic bromance between them, frequent phone calls, lots of warm words about a trade deal sometime after brexit. i would expect a lot more of that tomorrow when they meet here. what has been

fascinating here today is to watch mrjohnson actually push back against mrtrump. mrjohnson actually push back against mr trump. joining his european allies in morning mr trump to de—escalate his trade war with the chinese and also warning him that the us tech giant is an online business it should face what he calls fair and proper taxation. tomorrow we are also told that mr johnson will also urge mr trump that in any future trade deal, those barriers to trade for british firms in the us must reduce. now, this has been amazing to watch this navigation between europe and the us by mrjohnson. so far there has been no response from mr trump and no tweets as yet. james, thank you. james landale there. british airways has apologised after wrongly telling some passengers their flights were cancelled, and telling them to book new ones. the mistake, which caused confusion for passengers, came after pilots announced three strike dates for next month — and the airlines advised some people with flights on non—strike days to rebook, or get a refund.

our business correspondent katy austin reports. josie spent time and thousands of pounds planning a trip to florida for her family and her disabled mother. then, last night, an e—mail saying that their flight was cancelled. we don't know whether it is the outbound flight or the inbound flight as well. we called british airways 67 times since six o'clock this morning. we got through once, after a 44 minute wait on hold. some of the thousands of passengers who received cancellation messages overnight expressed frustration and confusion on social media. unable to change their flight online or get through on the phone, british airways said affected customers could get refunds or be rebooked for a different date. that wasn't the end of the confusion. this evening the airline has confirmed some customers were wrongly sent cancellation e—mails about flights on non—strike days.

some people told the bbc they had already paid for alternative flights. ba has apologised and said anybody who has incurred expenses as a direct result should get in touch. the pilot strikes planned for september will be the first ba has ever had. the result of a stand—off with the balpa union over pay and conditions. passengers have already felt disruption, some of it avoidable, before a walk—out has even begun. katie austen, bbc news. an employee at the british consulate in hong kong who was detained in mainland china has been released. china says simon cheng was detained for visiting a prostitute. but his supporters have dismissed that claim and suggested his case was linked to the political crisis in hong kong — which erupted again today, with the worst violence in more than a week. 0ur china correspondent john sudworth is there. hong kong's protesters have become battle hardened... gunshots

..with the crisis well into its third month. what began as opposition to a proposed extradition law is now a full—scale, pro—democracy movement, fuelled by fears that the city's freedoms are being eroded under chinese rule. just before the barricades went up, news came that a staff member at the uk consulate in hong kong had been released from custody in mainland china. but the claim that simon cheng was detained for playing a prostitute has been met with disbelief. they got him and faked the picture. they photoshopped the picture which he was with a so—called prostitute just to detain him for 15 days. some suspect a political motive, the protests are the biggest challenge to communist party rule in decades and china has been accusing the uk of meddling.

hong kong's political stand—off descends once again into violence. the police firing tear gas and rubber bullets as they chase the protesters away down the main street. it continued late into the night, with the protesters already planning further battles in the days ahead. john sudworth, bbc news, hong kong. with all the sport now, here's 0lly foster at the bbc sport centre. good evening. captainjoe root has given england hope in the ashes, they need 203 more runs to win the third test, australia need seven wickets. from headingley here's our sports correspondent andy swiss. just a few hours earlier would have been unthinkable. the england captain cheering from the field with his teams ashes hopes still alive. earlier the australian batsmen seem to have ended them as they extended their lead. marnus labuschagne once

again showing his calibre and also his courage, struck in the helmet by jofra archer he was cleared to continue and made an impressive 80. by continue and made an impressive 80. by the time archer wrapped up their innings, england ‘s chances seemed realistically over. their target, 359, huge, but it soon seemed even huger. rory burns quickly went. but forjason roy was bamboozled by a beauty. at 15—2, england were staring at humiliation but finally, some resistance, the twojoe's, denly and root combining to impressive effect. a flicker of hope perhaps. as they both reach their half centuries, headingley were starting to believe. denly eventually went, love in one behind for 50, but crucially root kept going, australia are still favourites, but while he is at the crease, anything is possible. england have certainly shown some welcome fight, it may still not be

enough to rescue them or the ashes, but the fans hope there are still hanging on. andy swiss, bbc news, headingley. premier league highlights are coming up after the news, but i've got the results now, if you want them... liverpool are still top of the table after maintaining their 100% start to the season. mo salah scored twice in their 3—1 win at home to arsenal. marcus rashford was subjected to racist abuse online after missing a penalty for manchester united. anti—discrimination charity kick it 0ut have called for ‘decisive action' to be taken. united lost 2—1 to crystal palace in injury time. there were also away wins for chelsea, southampton, leicester and west ham. in the scottish premiership, livingston are up to third after a 4—1 win at ross county. motherwell were also winners and there were draws at hibs and kilmarnock. warrington upset the odds in the challenge cup final. they should have been no match for in—form st helens but came away winners by 18 points to 4. adam wild was at wembley.

less tha n less than ten miles separate saint helens and warrington, yet here they we re helens and warrington, yet here they were brought together for the first time on the game ‘s grand occasion. the two most consistent sides of recent seasons but success not followed that. i was about to change. the immediate luck, sainz did not get it. they look to have scored and the referee said no try. a second look suggested otherwise. so little between the sides but what gap there was, he pandered to put warrington in front. in front. in soaring heat, same sleeping space, this time ben murdoch finding the route to the line. second half, sainz needed something special, but with no way through, theo faraj decided to make his own way. a flash all too brief, daryl clark finding one last effort, one rate for glory.

finally success for warrington, long—awaited, hard earned, they came here as slight underdogs, they leave as challenge cup winners. adam wilde, bbc news, wembley. in rugby union, scotland avenged a heavy defeat to france last weekend by beating them 17—14 at murrayfield. it was much more one—sided at twickenham where england scored 8 tries in their record victory over ireland. 57—15 there. these are warm—up matches ahead of the world cup injapan that starts next month. there's more on the bbc sport website including highlights from the british athletics championships in birmingham. that's all your sport. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. that's all from me. good night.

hello, this is bbc news. a 16—year—old girl and a 21—year—old man died in a car crash in the early hours of this morning in essex. two teenage girls are also in a critical condition. a man was arrested in loughton. leigh milner reports from the scene. well, this is golding hill and as you can see behind me is a long stretch of road which runs through epping forest, and if you just look over my right hand shoulder you can see where the silver bmw m3 collided into a tree just after two o'clock this morning. a 16—year—old girl and a 21—year—old man died at the scene and two girls, aged 16 and 17 are currently in hospital with life—threatening injuries. earlier today, i spoke to counsellor michael stubbings who gave me his reaction.

i'm very sad, very sad that young people had to lose their lives and you don't know what happened at the time or what went on. what caused it. have you seen things like this happen before on this road? yes, many times i've driven down here and i've seen cars in the forest where people have missed their turning and come off the road for whatever reason. it is a road that has to be taken cautiously. a 21—year—old from left and has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and causing injury by dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice. he's currently in hospital with minor injuries. a 17—year—old girl has died at leeds festival in what is a suspected drug overdose. west yorkshire police were called to the bramham park site following a report that the girl,

who is from the 0ldham area of greater manchester, died shortly after 3.a0am this morning. the force have been told she took a combination of drugs. a 17—year—old boy who is also from the 0ldham area has been arrested on suspicion of supplying controlled drugs. chief constables in england, wales and scotland will hold an emergency meeting next month after an alarming rise in violence against police. in an unprecedented move, the national cilic piece council has called it after pc andrew harper was killed last week amidst a spate of attacks on officers. blows whistle. a policeman's whistle marked the start of a minute's silence for pc andrew harper, murdered in the line of duty. around the country, police forces paused to reflect on a colleague lost. pc harper was the first policeman attacked and killed in the uk since 2017, but assaults on officers are on the rise. the latest figures show that in the year to march, there were almost 31,000 attacks on police officers — that's up almost a fifth on the year before with at least 28 attacks on officers every day. martin hewitt, the chair of the national police chiefs'

council, says he'll convene a meeting of chief constables next month to see if there is anything more they can do to improve police safety. writing in the daily express, he said: in pc harper's home town of wallingford, these ribbons acknowledge the thin blue line working to keep us safe, but his death underlined the urgency to ensure police officers are kept safe, too. richard lister, bbc news. medical leaders have called for an urgent meeting with the government to discuss continued shortages of hormone replacement therapy. hundreds of thousands of women going through the menopause in the uk, are struggling to access hrt tablets, patches or gels. many have suffered side effects because they can't obtain hrt products at pharmacies.

0ur health editor hugh pym reports. thanks to hrt, karen, who lives in somerset, felt able to cope with the symptoms of the menopause. but when she couldn't get her usual treatment on prescription, she felt low and tired. and increasingly unwell, as she struggled to get an alternative. the symptoms got worse and worse but by that stage i was literally feeling hot and feverish. you get a generalfeeling of being unwell at that point. like many others, karen feels frustrated at the lack of information about the supply shortages. given the impact they are having on patients and their families. and that's what leaders in the medical profession want to find out. as they call on the government to do more to get answers from drug companies. what we have to do is try and work together as professionals with the dhsc and get these companies to be accountable. first of all, give us an explanastion can give us of what the problem is and most importantly of the timelines before

they will be resolved. the manufacturer of one product range says supply problems with continue until the middle of next year. alternative treatments are available, but demand for these has increased, because of shortages elsewhere. the department of health said it is working with all suppliers to maintain the overall flow of medicines to patients. karen has now been put on a new form of hrt, but is not yet convinced that it is as effective, and is frustrated that a problem affecting so many women is far from resolved. few places have experienced the effects of climate change as dramatically as the arctic. in finnmark, at the northernmost tip of norway, the warmer temperatures pose a challenge for indigenous sami reindeer herders. but one solution may make things even worse as our correspondent james cook has been finding out. a sami chief at the top of the world. neil herds reindeer like his ancestors before him. but now, the chief and his

daughter are worried about the future, a copper mine which they say will disrupt their animals and damage the environment. translation: this is life changing. if this mine becomes a reality, that makes the chance of survival impossible. both economically and mentally. at my age, we can manage somehow, but the young, they are in a dark, dark time. but exploration is already under way. the norwegian government has approved the mine, and the minister in charge of the size of the need for copper outweighs the disruption it will bring. it's true that the arctic is beautiful. but for us, for norwegians, it's also a place where we actually live. and if the world doesn't have more copper, we won't be able to build more windmills. we want to be able to have the huge shift to electrical cars for example that we need.

the government says marine life here will be protected by strict environmental standards. this is only a half—size they grow up to be. but the fishermen in the fjord, where the mines debris will be dumped, those assurances do not hold water. if they start mining, we cannot eat the crab, if we can catch it. i think all the crab will die in this area. there was a mine here once before, but that was many years ago, and it to divided opinion. this time, the boss argues that his company will revitalise an area that's been struggling economically. company will revitalise an area we estimate that the mining itself, with people working every day on—site, so contractors and us, will be 150 employees, and then there will be additional employees in society.

teachers, kindergarten, etc. but for the sami reindeer herders, that does not sound like a future full of promise. it's like, ijust... they are just taking more and more land. it's mining, it's power lines, it's wind power. we are so attached to lands and nature, and when you just cut that. ..contact, what's left? the fight for this land and this fjord may be a taste of what's to come for all of us, as the world realises that shifting to new technology to tackle climate change does come with a cost. james cook, bbc news, norway. now it's time for a look

at the weather with chris fawkes. temperatures are expected to reach 32 degrees on sunday. it is all down to the high pressure that is sending south—easterly winds. temperatures are on the rise. weather—wise on sunday, they will be a lot of dry weather, in many cases sunshine from dawn till dusk, but they could be some low cloud and mist fact —— affecting our coast. most will have affecting our coast. most will have a sunny straightforward day. temperatures are rising, highs of 23 in belfast, 27 in edinburgh, that is warmer than it has been for a number of weeks, and 32 in london and south—east england. the weather still will be warm for many of us on bank holiday monday with the jet strea m bank holiday monday with the jet stream taking this undulating

pattern, like a meandering weather, and some recent model runs and suggest there are two of these and others suggest they will just be suggest there are two of these and others suggest they willjust be one some way to the south—west of the uk some way to the south—west of the uk so there is still a little bit of uncertainty. the difference it makes for a bank of the day monday is that although the very latest charts suggest they will be showers working to south—west england, these may actually stay away from the uk if that cut—off low remain to the south—west of the uk. at the same time, band of rain could be slower to reach western areas of scotland. for most of us, a dry hot day, temperatures across eastern england pushing into the 30s once again, it could reach 33 degrees. there will be some changes in the weather picture as we head towards the middle part of the week, as the antics does to exert more of an influence. we could see thundery showers break out almost anywhere across england and wales but the main band of rain coming across the atla ntic main band of rain coming across the atlantic will still be main moving —— slow moving, bringing some fresh air in, so temperatures will be

dropping away across western areas, in edinburgh and belfast, 19 degrees, but still pretty warm at this stage on across central and eastern parts of england. back to the jet stream, mid week we see trucks moving on, working across the north of the country, steering areas of low pressure across the north of the country. we are going to see some pretty unsettled weather, rain at time and brisk winds as well. for all of us the winds will be easing. wednesday, we see some rain pushing eastwards a cross wednesday, we see some rain pushing eastwards across the uk, they could be showers and thunderstorms ahead of that and across the rest cash —— across the west, temperatures coming down but quite warm air holding on across the far east of england, with temperatures still in the mid to high 20s. wednesday is probably the last of the hot day because by thursday, the temperatures ease further. a band of rain effects

north—west scotland bringing fairly windy and blustery conditions, 1a degrees in stornoway, quite a change of fortunes. temperatures across eastern england at this stage also dropping away. so, some hot sunshine over the next few days, things ultimately will turn colder, more u nsettled ultimately will turn colder, more unsettled with showers around. still a little on saturday and the forecast with most of the uncertainty still focused, weather—wise, really, on bank holiday monday. that is your latest weather. goodbye for now. hello. this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment. first, the headlines. prince andrew has said he did not "see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort" that subsequently led to the arrest and conviction of disgraced financierjeffrey epstein. borisjohnson has been warned against forever being known