welcome to bbc news, i'm mike embley. our top stories: walkouts expected around the world. protestors prepare for global climate change strikes and demonstrations. trudeau under pressure. the canadian prime minister apologises again after more footage emerges of him in blackface makeup. warnings of a global shortage of anti—venoms to treat snakebites. we have a special report from kenya. it is such a beautiful snake, isn't it? right. but this one can kill you quite quickly. yes, a little bit of this venom can kill you within an hour. and it's crunch time in tokyo, with japan hours away from becoming the first asian nation to host the rugby world cup.

we are live in the capital. millions are expected to join demonstrations around the world on friday demanding action on climate change ahead of next week's un summit. they're expected to spread from the asia—pacific, through europe and africa, to the americas. but the growing pressure to curb the emissions that are warming the world has not stopped president trump overturning more environmental regulations. he is trying to stop california setting stricter targets for vehicles, and taken a big step towards opening up alaska for drilling. aleem maqbool reports from another climate battleground in colorado. the north fork valley in colorado is an area of stunning diversity of landscape.

lush, green valleys beside striking, stark desert terrain, plateau mountains, and dense pine forests. but it also sits on one of the largest shale gas reserves in the us, leaving these pockets of untouched splendour severely under threat — perhaps now more than ever. well, this gas well has been in operation not farfrom north fork for many years, but the trump administration is pushing aggressively for more wells to be drilled on public lands, but that includes areas of natural beauty and even wildlife refuges. in just its first year, the trump administration offered up nearly 12 million acres of public lands to oil and gas companies, six times as much as the obama administration the previous year. this land was only settled a little over 100 years ago... those opposed to energy companies developing here say they're just not being listened to.

why are we trashing some of our remarkable landscapes and pristine landscapes just so somebody can make a profit? it doesn't make sense. why the rush to get at these areas, that we'll never be able to put ‘em back in the same way? but the current administration is proud that us oil and gas production is going up. this is an opportunity maybe for us to be able to export. we can export now into japan, we have some contracts... but at what expense to the environment? well, again i will point to my state. you know, we have some of the most stringent environmental requirements put in place. in fact, environmental regulations, like on emissions, on protecting wildlife, on drilling and pollution, have been overturned at an astonishing rate in favour of oil and gas companies. we've seen attacks on some of our most fundamental regulations, meant to protect our natural

resources, really bedrock environmental regulations, and we've seen definite efforts by the trump administration to reduce the amount of input that the community can provide to these important decisions. already, more than 50 rules to protect the environment have been scrapped, and all the signs are even more on their way out — good for the us oil and gas industry, bad for the environment and for climate change. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in the north fork valley, colorado. canada's prime minister, justin trudeau, has issued a new apology after fresh video emerged of him wearing blackface make—up at a student talent show. so—called blackface has a notorious history as a racist caricature, and the images are especially problematic for a politician who has positioned himself as a champion of diversity and tolerance, facing a tight election campaign. he now says he can't even recall exactly how often he has worn blackface. from ottawa, nick bryant reports.

in this age of celebrity politicians, justin trudeau is a politician who became a celebrity. youthful, telegenic, a leader who seemed to embody the values of modern—day progressivism, a model of political correctness. put this photo presents a very different picture, showing him wearing blackface make—up at a private—school gala in 2001. an arabian nights costume party where, as a 29—year—old teacher, he was dressed as a charaterfrom aladdin. his message today — "forgive me, i've changed." darkening yourface, regardless of the context or the circumstances, is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface. i should have understood that then, and i never should have done it. more blackface photos have emerged, and a video has surfaced from the early ‘90s showing a young

justin trudeau sticking his tongue out and making faces. all this in the midst of an election campaign in which mr trudeau had already been reeling from a corruption scandal. blackface is now recognised as a racist caricature, and his opponents are piling in. any time we hear examples of brownface or blackfacing, it's really — it's making a mockery of someone for what they live, and what their lived experiences are. i think he needs to answer for it. the young prime minister has always sought to portray canada as one of the world's most successfully multicultural countries. here, he greeted syrian refugees at the airport. this damages his political brand. but in the capital, 0ttawa, today, most people we spoke to were forgiving. it is nothing, because it was — he was very young at the time. and it was canada, it's not the us. we don't have the same history here that they have in the us. do you find it offensive? i do.

he has positioned himself as a liberal counterpoint to donald trump, but his golden boy image has been tarnished. let's get some of the day's other news: the brazilian mining giant vale has been ordered to pay nearly $3 million to the family of several victims of a dam collapse in january. the sentence by a court in the state of minas gerais is the first successful individual claim against the company. more than 300 people died in the disaster. the former president of tunisia has died in exile aged 83. zine el abidine ben ali was forced from office after two decades in power by mass street protests which triggered a wave of similar uprisings across the arab world. he was sentenced in his absence to 35 years in prison for embezzling public money. facebook‘s chief executive has been talking with president trump at the white house. on twitter, mr trump said it had been a nice meeting. 0n capitol hill earlier, mark zuckerberg met members of congress, and rejected calls for him to break up the social network.

the former british prime minister sirjohn major has accused the current prime minister, borisjohnson, of being dishonest about his reasons for suspending parliament. speaking through his lawyer at the supreme court, sirjohn said the only reason mrjohnson wanted a longer than usual suspension of parliament was to stop mps interfering in his brexit plans. the government argues it is not a matter for the courts at all. here is richard lister on day three of an extraordinary case. it seems at times like an argument without end. but those who gathered outside the supreme court today, intent on either stopping a coup or stopping the eu, knew that the arguments inside, at least, would end today. but not before one former conservative prime minister offered a damning criticism of borisjohnson for suspending parliament. he said

it was inescapable that the real reason was to avoid scrutiny of brexit and the government had not told the truth. the reasons set out in the documents put before the court by the prime minister can't be true, and be the reasons for the decision. he said suspending parliament was motivated by mr johnson's political interests. this is the issue at hand. whether boris johnson asked the queen to suspend parliament to stop mps scrutinising his brexit process. the length of the prorogation was motivated or at least strongly influenced by the prime minister's wished to avoid scrutiny by parliament because he regarded parliament as a threat to the successful implementation of his policies. it doesn't prevent accountability beyond parliament, where again, the executive will be questioned and held to account by the public, the media, or indeed during the party political co nfe re nce during the party political conference season at each of those

conferences, no doubt. courts in scotla nd conferences, no doubt. courts in scotland and england came to different conclusions about whether the suspension of parliament was lawful. the supreme court must now decide which of them was right. borisjohnson has again claimed some progress is being being made in brexit negotatations with brussels. the president of the european commission has said he believes a deal could be reached before mrjohnson's deadline of 31 october. 0ur europe editor katya adler has the latest from brussels. there is a lot of noise about briefings, here, there and everywhere, from number ten, from eu leaders, often really contradictory as to how much progress is really being made in talks, and there's a lot of movement. the brexit secretary zooming around europe, today madrid, tomorrow brussels. the prime ministerjets off to new york next week to the un general where he will sit down with macron and angela merkel. but frankly there is a lot of sound, a lot of fury, a lot of

spin, but not much is really changing on the ground. that irish backstop remains the sticking point to finding a new brexit deal with the eu and the uk still pretty far apart as to what could and should be done. but, on the positive side, eu leaders are as keen as boris johnson, if at all humanly possible, to find a deal next month. no—one on the eu side i speak to off the record thinks it is possible to find that magic solution by mid october, that magic solution by mid october, that eu leaders' summit here in brussels, as the prime minister wa nts. brussels, as the prime minister wants. but, with the clock ticking down to that 31 october deadline, if there is no new brexit extension, then the wisdom here is, in that last week or so, the pressure could be on the two sides to finally roll up be on the two sides to finally roll up their sleeves, sit down together, put the posturing to one side and

say let's really get down to work. more than 1,000 people have been rescued and hundreds of flights cancelled as heavy rains pummel parts of texas and louisiana. tropical depression imelda is slowly weakening but has caused widespread flash flooding. gareth barlow reports: in houston, rhodes became rivers. flash floods inundated the region, amid forecast that tropical depression imelda could dump close toa depression imelda could dump close to a metre of rain in some areas. the state's governor, greg abbott, declared a state of emergency in more than a dozen counties, as the storm knocked out power and left people stranded in their homes and ca rs. people stranded in their homes and cars. wherever you are, please stay where you are. do not think, because you look out and the weather is bad, let me get home. because essentially you will be leaving a safe place, getting out on the road, where there isa getting out on the road, where there is a lot of water, and you will be heading into dangerous conditions. 100 kilometres east of houston, a hospital in the town of wynee was evacuated as rising waters

threatened the wards. some areas experienced the worst flooding since harrigan harvey killed more than 60 people two years ago. further rain is expected throughout thursday and friday. —— hurricane harvey. for many, snakebite is a daily threat and can cause death or disability. but they can be treated, and so—called anti—venom is key to tackling the problem. but it isn't always effective. our global health correspondent tulip mazumdar has this report from east africa's first snakebite research facility in kenya. this is joffrey, this isjoffrey, one of can's leading snake handlers, and this is the green member he is about extract venom from. good. the toxins in this deadly liquid are the very same that are used to create the antidotes for some snakebites. it is such a beautiful snake, isn't it? right. but this one can kill you quite

quickly. yes, a little bit of this venom quickly. yes, a little bit of this venom can quickly. yes, a little bit of this venom can kill you within an hour. different types of snakebites from different areas in the world need different areas in the world need different types of antivenom is to treat them. so this particular venom mixture is from vipers and puff adder. scientists here are using venom adder. scientists here are using venom from poisonous kenyan snakes to try and develop new, more effective treatments for snake victims in sub—saharan africa. effective treatments for snake victims in sub-saharan africa. the antivenom is that we currently have are mostly produced from venom from indian snakes, and so they don't work as effective in our population here. george and his team of scientists in nairobi are working at a nearby farm in their hunt for better antivenom is. as well as trying to develop treatments for this region, they are also trying to come up with an antivenom that would work on many different snakebites from different parts of the world. he is doing fine. today they are looking at how cows are reacting to

a weakened cocktail of snake toxins. these cows were injected with snake venom a these cows were injected with snake venom a few days ago. it doesn't harm the animals but it does and immune response. researchers then harvest the antibodies in the blood of these animals, and they are used to develop new antivenom is in humans. they are looking good, aren't they? if their work here is a success , aren't they? if their work here is a success, this will be the first antivenom of its kind, protecting against 12 different kinds of snakes in both sub—saharan africa and south asia. it is extremely early days, but it is hoped less of the drug will be needed, so it will be more affordable as well. so we can think of red spitting cobra, lack member... meanwhile, geofray and nick are on the hunt for more snakes to ta ke nick are on the hunt for more snakes to take back to the centre.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the rugby world cup gets under way injapan later in what's considered the most open tournament for years. you 30 hours after the earthquake that devastated mexico city, rescue teams still have no idea just how many people have died. there is people alive and there is people not alive. we just can help and give them whatever we've got. a state funeral is being held for princess grace of monaco at the church where she married prince rainier 26 years ago. it looked as though they had come to fight a war, but their mission is to bring peace to east timor, and nowhere on earth needs it more badly. the government's case is being forcefully presented by monsieur badinter, the justice minister. he's campaigned vigorously for the abolition, having once witnessed one of his clients being executed. elizabeth seton spent much of her time at this grotto, and every year, hundreds of pilgrimages are made here.

now that she's become a saint, it's expected that this area will be inundated with tourists. the mayor and local businessman regard the anticipated boom as just another blessing of st elizabeth. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: preparing to protest for the planet. students around the world get ready for friday climate change strikes. justin trudeau — canada's prime minister — faces heavy criticism after more footage emerges of him in blackface make—up. the rugby world cup gets under way later today in tokyo, the first time the tournament is being hosted by an asian nation. it's only four years ago that japan's team, the cherry blossoms caused a huge shock with their 3a — 32 victory over south africa in england. nowjapan will be hoping to build on that stunning victory on home soil. mariko 0i joins us now from tokyo.

thank you, mike. the aim is to spread the popularity of rugby before on the traditional nations and of course asia is the most populous region on the planet and japan actually has the largest rugby playing population in asia. despite some earlier concerns about the excitement of the locals, it's fair to say they are quite excited about it, although i have to say baseball then put all are still a lot more popular. with me is the rugby producer with japan's macro —— j sports. you have been covering rugby atj sports. how do you feel about your own country to be hosting the world cup? my feeling is it is big—time, finally. very exciting.

world cup? my feeling is it is big-time, finally. very exciting. of course, baseball and football are still a lot more popular and after the 2015 shock victory by japan's team, the awareness of the sport has gone up but still not the number of stu d e nts gone up but still not the number of students playing rugby. do you think this tournament is going to change the popularity of the sport?|j this tournament is going to change the popularity of the sport? i hope so. for me, involving the rugby, the people wants to make the rugby are much more major sport. we don't want to miss this big opportunity. for this world cup. the rugby culture will maintain also through this world cup. the rugby culture will maintain also throuthapan. japan is expecting 500,000 foreign visitors through this tournament. japan will be hosting the olympics

so it's good practice. a lot of issues, like is japan going to have enough dear to feed the rugby fans? have these concerns been addressed? that is a big issue, an important issue but we are all aware that by issue but we are all aware that rugby fans are drinking the big amount of beer in the many bars and restau ra nts, amount of beer in the many bars and restaurants, and they are worried about how much the rugby fans actually drink libya but for me, i've been to the many rugby tournaments and i saw the rugby fans overseas, drinking beer all through the day before the match and during the day before the match and during the match and after the match so i think they are prepared and i hope there is enough dear. of course,

let's hope they are not going to run out. as we said, libya consumption is one of the major issues. also, tattoos, that a lot of rugby players have but in japan, tattoos, that a lot of rugby players have but injapan, they are associated with organised crimes. in the british embassy released some youtube videos on how not to behave injapan. youtube videos on how not to behave in japan. don't hug. youtube videos on how not to behave injapan. don't hug. it but it's fairto injapan. don't hug. it but it's fair to say, though definitely enjoying this festive mood. they will be watching the opening game here this evening. thank you very much indeed. amazon chief executivejeff bezos has pledged to to make the company carbon neutral and meet the goals of the paris climate agreement by 2040. it comes as more than 1,500 amazon employees prepare to stage a "walkout" protest on friday over the company's environmental record. our technology reporter

dave lee has more. if amazon had hoped thursday's announcement would dampen the energy of the walkout, that doesn't seem to have been the case. 0rganisers have told me that firm has pledged to reach the spirit of the agreement and it is proof that their concerns are being listened to and they feel invigorated but in our view, it doesn't go far enough. 0ne invigorated but in our view, it doesn't go far enough. one of the organisers of the walkout is emily cunningham, user experience design of the amazon in seattle and says amazon's impact on climate change goes well beyond its own goals and sustainability. if amazon truly wa nts to sustainability. if amazon truly wants to be a climate leader, we absolutely cannot be in bed with fossil fuel absolutely cannot be in bed with fossilfuel companies. absolutely cannot be in bed with fossil fuel companies. currently we are selling our artificial intelligence to big oil and gas to help them extract oil more quickly and that's the exact opposite of what we need right now. scientists say absolutely, to avert

catastrophic warming, we must keep fossil fuels catastrophic warming, we must keep fossilfuels in catastrophic warming, we must keep fossil fuels in the ground. 0rganisers say they hope that up to 1700 amazon workers will choose to walk out and said they don't expect there to be any personal repercussions from amazon about their decision. dave lee, bbc news in san francisco. more now on the global climate strike which is taking place around the world. in the us, 12 —year—old levi drayheim from florida has joined the charge against climate change. he's travelled to washington for the event and joined my colleague laura trevelyan a short while ago. what i'm hoping to achieve is to show adults that we care and to show the people that are in charge and in power that we care and we need to be taking action to save our future and our lives. why is it your generation thatis our lives. why is it your generation that is leading the way on climate change and not mine? the reason is that it's my generation and not yours is because the adults haven't been taking another action so we

need to be taking action and the adults are welcome to strike with us but we are the ones that are leading this. you live on a barrier island in florida. tell me about what you see that makes you think that climate change is real. so the barrier island that i live on is on the east coast of florida and this barrier island that i live on is at sea level and because when there is hurricane is, we often times experience flooding and so we need to be taking action if we want to save my barrier island from going underwater. you are actually suing the federal government over climate change. what is it you want to see the government do differently? what i want to see the government do differently is i want them to be taking action and being responsible for the actions that they have caused, they are literally killing us. people that are from low—income

communities that are minorities, they have been affected more and everybody has been affected so we need to be taking action if we want to have a future on this planet. the winner of the 2019 mercury prize for music has been announced and it's gone to british rapper dave. his album psychodrama looks at issues of race, class and grief, it's been called the boldest british rap album in a generation. here's the moment rapper dave won, and brought his mum up on stage with him. i want to firstly thank god. i want to invite my mum up, i want to invite my mum up into the stage. cheering and applause

hello there. temperatures are set to climb over the next couple of days. friday morning will start off with some fog patches in places but that should tend to lift and clear fairly quickly and then we'll see a lot of sunshine and some real warmth as well. high pressure is centred just about here. you can see the winds rotating around it in a clockwise direction. the high pressure keeping the rain—bearing cloud at bay for the time being out in the atlantic. one or two fog patches across southern scotland. northern england could be the odd dense patch of fog, some potentially for northern ireland as well but as we go through the day, any fog will lift and we will see patches of cloud drifting northwards but a lot of sunshine across most parts of the uk and temperatures widely between 19 and 22 degrees. but with the south or south—easterly winds blowing across the uk, the favoured spot for high temperatures will actually be

the north of scotland, particularly when you get some shelter to the north of high ground. could well see 23 or 2a degrees. now, as we go through friday night, it's going to stay dry. there will be long, clear spells overhead. we'll see more of a breeze at this stage so i don't think there'll be too many problems with mist and fog and it's not going to be quite as chilly as some nights we've had recently. some spots holding up in double digits. 1a degrees there for plymouth, for example, dropping down to 9 in glasgow and newcastle. but for saturday, we have this feed of air coming up from the south or the south—east. pretty warm wind direction, fairly humid as well. high pressure holding onto the first half of the weekend but notice these frontal systems out in the atlantic. these will eventually make their move and turn things quite a lot more unsettled. saturday then, the most reliably dry day for many parts of the uk. a lot of fine weather, lots of sunshine too but notice

the odd thunderstorm late in the day through the south—west of england, parts of wales, maybe northern ireland as well. temperatures, though, 21 degrees in glasgow. the south—east of england could get to 25, maybe 26 degrees. through saturday night, though, there's the increasing chance we could see thundery downpours drifting across western areas ahead of this frontal system. it is a cold front. it could be moving erratically northeastwards as we move to sunday. some uncertainty about where it will come to rest with its outbreaks of rain for the afternoon but ahead of it, another warm day, 23 or 2a degrees but behind that cold front, the air turns colder. it will feel much cooler and much fresher and that leads us into a cooler, fresher week generally for all of us next week and there will be some wind and rain at times. it is going to feel quite autumnal.

this is bbc news. the headlines: millions of people from australia to iceland are expected to skip school or work today to demand urgent measures to stop environmental catastrophe. the protests are planned in around 150 countries, and are likely to be one of the largest environmental demonstrations of its kind in history. the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, has again apologised for wearing blackface make—up on several occasions, decades ago. he faces renewed pressure ahead of next month's general election after pictures and footage emerged. the rugby world cup isjust hours from starting, with japan the first asian country to host the competition. the world's top rugby nations are poised for the start of the cup, with the outcome as uncertain as any of the previous eight tournaments. after 32 years, john humphrys

presented his last today programme