welcome to bbc news, i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: britain's prime minister says he'd rather be "dead in a ditch" than ask the european union for a further delay to brexit. it costs £1 billion a month, it achieves absolutely nothing, what on earth is the point of a further delay. the devastation of hurricane dorian in the bahamas — at least 70,000 people need urgent help. a special report fom alaska, where developers want president trump to remove environmental protections in america's largest national forest. and a new way of caring for people with dementia — a village where residents can wander freely and safely.

the prime minister's brother has resigned as a government minister and will also step down as an mp at the next election. jojohnson voted to remain in eu unlike his brother. he said he was torn between family loyalty and the national interest. after losing a series of crucial votes in parliament this week, borisjohnson has again pledged to leave the eu on 31st october. he said he would rather "be dead in a ditch" than ask for another extension. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports. you should be in brussels, negotiating! yes, we have been negotiating. you are not. you are in morley, in leeds! he attracts trouble. moments after he arrived on this yorkshire high street, the prime minister taken to task.

you're playing games — you're playing games. what i think people want us to do is to leave the european union on 31 october. well, we all know that. we all know that, but you're... that's fantastic, that's what we are going to do. borisjohnson divides. he's been speaking for the last... searching for support in the crowd that fast emerged. do you think we should we get out on 31 october? crowd cheers. but, just weeks into his time in office, he's been defeated in parliament, thrown out some of his mps. even his brother quit as a minister in government — to spend less time with his family. it's been an honour to be mp for orpington and a minister under three governments, but it's time to move on, and i've got to get to work. not much more work as an mp now. jojohnson was on a completely different side in the brexit argument, but had resolved to work for his brother in government. not anymore. citing concerns over the prime minister's approach, he wrote on twitter:

you're stuck, aren't you? because parliament won't allow you to leave without a deal. they won't right now allow you to get the election that you so desire. you're stuck. well, i have to say i think it's absolutely unbelievable that the leader of the opposition is currently refusing to have an election. i don't think ever in democratic history has a leader of the opposition refused to have an election. how will you make it happen? because you're stuck. well, what he should do is allow the people to decide. nice to meet you. get brexit done. he stirred up most of the people he met here today in support of brexit, it seemed, but could he take everyone with him? forget about that. he had wanted to show off his plans for more police officers, but held a strange, at times surreal, press conference... hang on, let's get this right. ..hesitating, stumbling. are you alright? 0ne officer almost fainting after waiting for his speech so long. that is a signal for me actively to wind up. and the prime minister

was criticised, too, for making his brexit promise using public servants as a backdrop. safe streets... again, a vow — no delay to brexit. i'd rather be dead in a ditch. so you would resign first, prime minister, rather than go and ask for that delay? look, ijust don't — i really... it costs £1 billion a month. it achieves absolutely nothing. what on earth is the point of further delay? i think it's totally, totally pointless. please leave my town. i will very soon. labour mps right now are keeping him dangling. we're up for a general election. i want to get rid of this government as soon as possible, because i'm really worried about what they're doing to the future of our economy and the future of our country. but it is about timing. and our prime objectives, and we put it in our last manifesto, is we want to prevent a no—deal brexit, because of the damage it could do to the country and the economy. the thing that parliament's doing is actually making it impossible for us to negotiate. on monday, the prime minister will try again to get parliament to back an election. but the plain fact is he does not

have it in his power to get to the ballot box alone. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, west yorkshire. well, monday is the next big vote in the house of commons. if as expected the law to block a no deal brexit has been passed, mps will vote again on whether to hold an early general election. the prime minister needs the support of two thirds of mps to go to the polls. will he get it this time? here's our deputy political editor john pienaar on what's likely to happen next. so where do the rival camps agree? trust me — this won't take long. all sides want an election to try to break the deadlock, and that's where the agreement ends. the argument now is about timing, and in there, the parties and the factions within parties are trying to thrash out exactly when this election might take place. down in the lords, peers are grinding through legislation to ban no—deal, maybe force borisjohnson to go to brussels and accept another brexit extension,

something he has sworn he will never do. it could pass into law by monday, so on monday in the commons, the government will try to get approval for a 15 october election. if they try the same thing as last night, it would need 434 mp5, that's two thirds of them, to say yes. and since last night, it has been clear the government doesn't have the numbers. but borisjohnson has pledged 31 0ctober will be the day we leave. so he is goading his opponents — let the people choose a prime minister to decide, brexit or no brexit, deal or no deal. and the commons could say, "no, have an election, but only after we extend brexit." they could defeat the government again. how else to get an election? well, frankly, it gets messy. borisjohnson is in office, but not in control. his opponents say he is a liar. he could get an election and then move the date ‘til after britain leaves on 31 october.

other options? they're limited, and messy. he could try to pass a law to suspend parliament's mandatory five—year term. only then labour, the snp, the lib dems, the whole alliance, might try to take control and set a date he doesn't like. any way borisjohnson can win? well, it sounds surreal, but some say the government might try to pass a vote of no confidence in itself. if that leads to paralysis, it could lead to an election to sort it out — unless it doesn't. another election could end in deadlock again. you're looking for a clear solution? sorry, there isn't one. let's get some of the day's other news: pope francis has met the president of mozambique on the first full day of his visit to three southern african nations. speaking afterwards, the pope said he hoped the recent peace accord that formally ended years of civil war would bring about permanent reconciliation. he will go on to madagascar and mauritius.

magistrates in france have dropped manslaughter charges against air france and airbus over a plane crash that killed all 228 people on board in 2009. the airbus 330 aircraft had stalled in a storm and plunged into the ocean. the victims' families had blamed the plane's crew for losing control after speed sensors froze. they called the magistrate's decision an "insult to the memory of the victims" and plan to appeal. the us special envoy for the middle east, jason greenblatt, has said that he's stepping down from his post. his resignation is likely to raise questions about the viability of an israeli palestinian peace plan that he had been crafting with president trump's son—in—law, jared kushner. the details of which have yet to be revealed. hurricane dorian is making its way up the east coast of america, with storm warnings in place for the states of north and south carolina.

the powerful storm has already brought devastation to the bahamas. un officials arrived there today, pledging emergency aid. dorian is the strongest—ever hurricane to made landfall. so far twenty five are known to have died in the bahamas, but that number is expected to rise. the worst damage has been on the abaco islands, where it's estimated 70 thousand people need aid. from there, aleem maqbool reports. this was one of the most popular resorts on these islands, torn apart by the brute strength of the storm. tourists who tried to weather it have been left shell—shocked. but these were the sturdiest buildings, in a place that wasn't even the worst hit. elsewhere, the picture is even more desolate. drive through marsh harbour, a little down the road, and there is not a building in sight that hasn't sustained considerable damage. well, this is where hurricane dorian made landfall, and those

record—breaking wind speeds and ocean surges have left behind a surreal landscape of boats and vehicles and rooftops and kitchen appliances, swirled in the air and flung across the land. and everyone here has a story of the terrors of dorian. the wind just had us fearfulfor our life. as one roof blowed off, we ran to another house, that blowed off. there were vehicles blowing in the background. it was just horrific. and to see the devastation now, with all the bodies laying around, ifeel that god has turned his back on the beautiful island of abaco. many of the dead have now been taken away, but in the heat remains the unmistakable smell of death, that suggests there are many more bodies to be found. for those who survived, the situation is desperate.

until a few days ago, many hundreds had lived in a huge shantytown here. there are few signs of the structures they lived in anymore. no house, no food, no water, you know, so... i'm thinking people — no life, you see, for me too. aid is starting to get to some places, but the needs are massive, and the hurricane turned upside down the lives of so many. aleem maqbool, bbc news, on the abaco islands of the bahamas. india's lunar mission, chandrayaan—2, is expected to land on the southern pole of the moon in about 2k hours time. the indian space research organisation says the objective is to develop technologies such as soft—landing and roving on the lunar surface, and to expand knowledge about the moon's surface, leading to a better understanding of its origin and evolution. if the landing is successful, it will make india

the fourth country to have explored the moon after russia, the us and china. bidushi bhattacharya, a former nasa scientist she can't wait to see it happen. it is really exciting. i have been following it, as has most of the world, and i cannot wait to see it happen. they can do things more efficiently and affordably which means we are building the global ecosystem faster than predict by nasa. and we need the commercial sector to come on board. so people who are trained all over the world are coming to india to contribute and indians also are spreading out and providing knowledge on a global scale. people are looking to mine the moon and in the long—term, what will drive space technology development these days will be a combination of political will and economic return.

for political will, the deal about who gets there first and does it best but from an economic perspective we need to work out how to monetise the resources we find on the moon and if we can find anything there they can bring back here affordably to benefit people here, that will be the clincher. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the first female rapper to officially sell 100 million albums and singles — nicki minaj — has announced her retirement from music business. she received a nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india's slums. the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was "a wonderful example of how to help people in need." we have to identify the bodies, then arrange the coffins and take them back home. parents are waiting and wives are waiting. hostages appeared, some carried, some running, trying to escape

the nightmare behind them. britain lost a princess today, described by all to whom she reached out as irreplaceable. an early morning car crash in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, warmth and compassion. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the british prime minister borisjohnson has said he would rather be "dead in a ditch" than ask the european union for another delay to brexit. hurricane dorian is making

its way up the east coast of the united states, with weather warnings in place. a relief operation is underway in the bahamas — where the storm brought devastation. there are fears that parts of america's largest national forest, could be destroyed, if environmental protections are lifted. the tongass national forest in alaska, has been home to eagles and brown bears for hundreds of years, but developers want donald trump to remove restrictions, banning the building of roads. campaigners say that could destroy the natural habitat, forever. 0ur correspondent, sophie long's report, is the latest in our series, on climate and the environment. the tongass forest spans nearly 17 million acres, an area more than three times the size of wales. tightly packed spruce and hemlock trees scrape the sky and give way only to rivers and the sea. the giant leaves of the undergrowth,

just a tiny part of this ecosystem which has remained unchanged for thousands of years. and those who share this land with the wildlife that thrives here are desperate to keep it that way. it's just beautiful fields... activist wanda culp shows me what she wants to save and what she fears may happen here. we passed seals and whales, families of nesting bald eagles. she says if you open the forest to roads, it'll mean major destruction. we know those roads are going into the forest so they could cut our trees down through clear cut. this just shows you how destructive it is, it doesn't grow back fast. salmon spawn here in their millions. they mature out in the ocean, sustaining one of south east alaska's biggest industries. disrupting their habitat would make

life even harderforfishermen here, already struggling to deal with changing ocean conditions. we have this amazing intact ecosystem, something that tourists like that mega yacht right there, come from all over to see and so my fear is we end up trading an extractive resource that's a one—shot, for something that if we take care of it and do it right, can serve us for many, many generations. at a rally in the state capital juneau, native alaskans and environmental campaigners are trying to make their voices heard. they say their senator in the us capital isn't listening. that she is dancing to the beat of a different drum. i grew up in communities in the tongass. i think i'm pretty in tune with those who know the tongass

and know that the tongass as a national forest, should be managed for multiple use. and there are many back in the tongass who agree, people who work in the logging industry, the power companies and miners. they want to be able to develop their businesses like people in the rest of the united states can. it's totally unfair in that we can't build a road to a little hydro site and get it in in a cost—effective and reasonable way, rather than wait for a heavy—lift helicopter and go through all of that and the cost and delay. they've got them everywhere else in the world and it's not going to hurt a thing. but these trees also store massive amounts of carbon, more than any other national woodland across the united states. division here runs as deep as the forest. are all these trees more valuable standing, or should some give way to development?

angela merkel is in china for a three day visit. she hopes to push for great access to markets there. the last year, germany and france china have pushed the eu —— germany and france have pushed the eu for a firmer stance on china. however, matters in hong kong may complicate matters in hong kong may complicate matters with the german chancellor then pressured to stand up to beijing on issues such as democracy. professor lee, thank you for being here. what did both countries hope to get from the meeting? both countries are hoping to get some kind of trade deal or some kind of agreement that they are going to resume business that they had before

and not let politics get too problematic for conducting business. certainly, these issues around human right have gained a lot of media attention but in the past, this has not interfered with doing business and soi not interfered with doing business and so i am sure that both sides are starting to rethink the strategies that are being done and deciding that are being done and deciding that maybe they need to go back to more practical ways of approaching these problems. a hong kong activist has sent an open letter to angela merkel asking her to raise the issues in hong kong while she is in beijing but that is an incredibly tricky thing to do with the beijing government. correct. certainly the beijing government will have nothing to do with that and i am sure

michael understands this. the fact that she knows and met with the protest leaders i think is basically a recognition that if she does that she would make no progress with beijing. so it is very delicate. i think that she is aware that, you know, of what her priorities are and i think it is to ensure that there is no further economic downturn. so as much as democracy would mean a lot to people, these are long—term issues and i think that her trip to beijing is basically an acknowledgement that they want to put some of these hot topics aside and try to work on engaging in more commerce. the american rapper nicki minaj has announced her retirement from the music industry. the star — famous for hits

like anaconda and starships — announced the news on twitter. she told fans she had decided to retire in order to have a family. it's not clear whether minaj plans to take a temporary or permanent break. over the course of her career the star has been nominated for ten grammys and won five mtv awards. joining me now is entertainment reporter at talk radio, josh rom. what is she playing at? she is 36! we are not 100% sure what she is playing at because only recently did she say that she is working on an up coming album and i think it is her fifth studio album. so she has caused a lot of confusion which is why i think the world has taken this news with such surprise. lets take her at her word then that she wants to concentrate on her family to she has given signs in the past that she

is getting increasingly tired and exasperated with the music industry and the media. could that be part of it? potentially so because she has had it? potentially so because she has ha d rece ntly it? potentially so because she has had recently a few home —— high—profile feuds. at the harper's bazaar after party she got into an alleged altercation with a popular wrapper, nine b and —— cardi b. she is also feuded with mariah carey on american idol. she has been feuding with little kim since the release of her debut album back in 2010. she famously also called out miley cyrus at the 2015 amp tv music video awards for speaking to the press,

famously. she has been a controversial figure, famously. she has been a controversialfigure, no famously. she has been a controversial figure, no doubt about that. weather that plays a natural pa rt that. weather that plays a natural part in her decision, maybe she does wa nt part in her decision, maybe she does want a quiet life. maybe she is tired from feuding. thank you for talking with us, josh. as much of the world's population grows older — the consequences of that longevity can be stark. 0ne impact is the increasing number of people diagnosed with dementia. caring for those suffering from that illness can be difficult — but in the canadian province of british columbia they are trying a somewhat different approach — as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. they call it the village. there is a general store, a hair salon, they call it the village. there is a generalstore, a hairsalon, even a local cafe. but this is not quite what it seems. the entire place is purpose—built. there is a home for those suffering for dementia. purpose—built. there is a home for those suffering for dementiam purpose—built. there is a home for those suffering for dementia. if you look at previous models of care they focus much more on a hospital

setting and when you think about it, no—one wants to live the rest of their life in a hospital setting so it rings that homelike setting to the long—term—ca re sector. it rings that homelike setting to the long-term-care sector. the seven acre site is surrounded by fencing so acre site is surrounded by fencing so residents can walk around freely. reassuring use for the daughter of one new arrival. i think it will also be critical to encourage our mother to get out ofjust sitting somewhere, being bored most of the time and getting up and doing things that she enjoys. around 12 people can live in each home. the cheapest accommodation begins at more than 7000 canadian dollars a month. so this is not cheap. but the people behind it say they want to create not just a behind it say they want to create notjust a care home but a community. a chance for a little independence in later life. that is it for now. you can find me on twitter. we will be back very soon

but for now, thank you for watching. hello there. this week has been very changeable up—and—down temperatures, one day sunny and the next day windy and wet. it looks like we are ending the week in fact on friday with wetter and windier weather for many but as a band of rain slips southwards we will see return to sunshine with blustery showers as well. it's courtesy of this next area of low pressure moving in. to the north of scotland where the isobars are closer together. windy conditions through friday and this band of rain first thing friday morning will be across more central areas, spreading slowly southwards and eastwards as the day wears on. eventually becomes confined to southern counties of england, and behind that the skies brighten up. plenty of sunshine around but also blustery showers and some will be heavy in the north—west and it will feel cool once again

with temperatures in the mid to high teens celsius. it stays breezy as we head on into friday evening. that weather front clears away from the south, skies clear and for many. a couple of showers across coastal areas otherwise sunny spells and with the cool air in place it will be a fairly chilly start to saturday. and temperatures in single figures for many, particularly out of town in the north. high pressure builds into weekend for both saturday and sunday it looks like we should be mainly dry thanks to this big ridge of high pressure. light winds as well but the air will be on the cool side. we start saturday off on a chilly note with plenty of sunshine around. still breezy and windy down the eastern coastal areas with feeding in a couple of showers otherwise for most, apart from an isolated shower, should be dry through the afternoon. sunny spells and temperatures in the low to mid teens in the north, 18—20 across the south. high pressure still with us on into sunday. the weather front may bring a bit more cloud to the north—west corner of scotland but most places will be under the influence of this high

but it will be a chilly start on sunday up and down the country. bright with plenty of sunshine around. it could bring thicker cloud and more of a breeze to the far north—west, most places shall see sunny spells. fairweather cloud during the day. again, temperatures after a chilly start reaching the mid— high teens celsius. as we head on into monday it looks like we have another weather system pushing in from the north—west. that will bring a band of rain and the wind will pick up once again so a messy picture for monday with outbreaks of rain, some of it heavy moving across scotland and then into england and wales. it brightens up behind the rain band again, blustery showers following on. cooler air as well, 14—16 degrees.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the british prime minister, borisjohnson, has insisted that holding an early general election is the only way progress can be made on brexit. at the end of another difficult day, mrjohnson said he'd rather "be dead in a ditch" than ask the european union for another delay. the health minister of the bahamas has said hurricane dorian‘s impact on the country's northern islands has been unimaginable, and the final death toll will be staggering. at least 70,000 people are said to need urgent help. the storm is currently off the east coast of the united states. german chancellor angela merkel is on a three—day visit to china to push for greater access to markets there. over the past year, germany has called on the eu to adopt a tougher line on china, but analysts believe her government may be softening its stance to avoid economic damage. now on bbc news:

thursday in parliament.