it's to bbc news. the headlines at seven. thousands take to the streets. calling for tougher action to combat climate change. from nairobi to new york, sydney to stockholm. millions protesting more than 150 countries around the world. we are young, and we are the ones who are going to have to live with this in the future. and we are not the ones who have caused this crisis. thousands of jobs are at risk for british holiday—makers could be left stranded as thomas cook faces collapse. the woman who claims she was abused by prince andrew speaks housed, buckingham

palace emphatically denies the duke of york had any sexual contact with her. a court hears details of the final moments ofjodie chesney‘s life. she was stabbed in london. four people are accused of her mother. the rugby world cup gets off a flying start with a win for the nation, japan. a flying start with a win for the nation, japan. and a news watch, reporting ben stokes distress over newspaper story about his family without telling the audience what that story said. join us tonight at 7:45 p:m.. here are bbc news. good evening and welcome to bbc news. millions of people, including many children have been taking part

in demonstrations around the world. demanding tougher action on climate change. huge crowds gathered in cities and more than 150 countries calling for governments and businesses to do more to save the planet. the teenage activist greta who purchase a loan out of this british parliament last year is tonight leading a march in new york. 0ur correspondent, sarah campbell, has the latest. what do we want? climate justice! when do we want it now? now! many animals could go extinct and everyone could die. my generation is terrified. some of us that were already thinking of not having children and starting families. right now, we don't feel the difference. it doesn't mean there are other people in poverty and other countries that aren't feeling the difference, and it's up to us to stop it.

young and old took over the streets around parliament in london and in towns and cities across the uk, marching in glasgow and aberystwyth, cycling in nottingham, demonstrating in belfast, bristol and birmingham. this was about children and young people mobilising adults into action. i hope they listen to us and realise we need a change. i've never been a protester before, but we have to act now, otherwise it's just too late. we are worried especially for these guys because it's them that will have to put up with these things. is this something you should take kids out of school for? it is one day a year. we wouldn't do it if she was older or had exams. these people are protesting as well as the adults. it is our future anyway. this is a global movement, with events

starting in the pacific and the flood threatened islands of vanuatu. in australia, thousands took part in rallies and marches, as they did south africa. which has recently experienced severe drought and flooding. then europe. this was berlin earlier today. new york is where world leaders will come together on monday for a un backed summit on climate change. already there is the 16—year—old campaigner from sweden who has become the voice of her generation. if someone had said to me when i sat outside the swedish parliament one year ago that what is happening today would be happening, then i would never have believed that. this is not only my voice,

this is the voice of millions of people around the world, but i think it is because we are young and we are the ones who are going to have to live with this. this was a day of passionate and peaceful protest, with young people leading the calls for urgent action to protect their futures. sarah campbell, bbc news. they come ahead of next week's you and climate change summit in new york where there will address how best to address global warming. a stark reminder of what the protests are all about. for these people on a pacific island, it's a matter of life and death — of whether their country can actually survive in future. as the planet heats up, the seas rise. and, for millions of people in low—lying communities, the threats are already extreme

and they're set to become much worse. i saw for myself two weeks ago how the ice of greenland is melting — adding to the level of the oceans. and scientists fear that more melting will follow. all the time, human activities keep adding to the problem. this is indonesia right now. the fires are immense, like in the amazon, and they release carbon dioxide into the air, and that makes the rise in temperatures even faster. the challenge is that the world is on a course towards dangerous levels of warming. the global average temperature has already risen by one degree celsius over the last 150 years or so. and scientists say 1.5 degrees is the maximum "safe level". anything more risks a range of damaging impacts. but we're currently heading towards a three degree rise

by the end of the century — and that's even if all the climate promises made by governments are kept. if nothing's done, some fear an increase of four degrees — with potentially catastrophic results. so what can be done? well, the un wants more renewable energy like wind turbines. today, the british government approved hundreds more — and they'll cost far less than expected. in the same way, the price of solar power has fallen. and the un is hoping the summit next week will see new promises to build more installations like this. but hard facts remain. much of the world depends on coal — the dirtiest of the fossil fuels. and moving away from it is difficult. and leaders — including president trump — support it. there will be a struggle ahead. david shukman, bbc news. we are crossing live now to new york. in our correspondent samira. we are seeing incredible injury

images but we need to see change and action. absolutely, and that ultimately the question. it has been an incredible experience to watch all of these young people become so energised and to be so vocal about the change that they believe is necessary in order to ensure they have a future on this planet. that said there needs to be that kind of change and i think it is important to note that this action, these protests are happening just before the un climate action summit that is due to take place here in new york on monday. there are, world leaders are going to be gathering, and they have been told do not come with platitudes, but come with real concrete plans on what you plan to do to try and address climate change, so look, there have been many instances throughout history in which you see the young people have been able to make things move ahead

and make changes, and what these people want to see is that happen with climate change. thank you very much indeed. joining me now from the isle of wight is the lead for institution of government relations at the environment of charity, the ellen macarthur foundation. thank you for speaking to bbc news. what have you made of the scenes that we have you made of the scenes that we have seen from around the world today? quite extraordinary. that week with the economy says the issue of climate change on their cover. the story captures the attention of the public of course but also business leaders and policymakers andi business leaders and policymakers and ijust business leaders and policymakers and i just heard business leaders and policymakers and ijust heard today the german government put it on the table with millions of euros for climate change. this is very topical situation that we are in, there's an emergency but it's a systemic issue

as well. as we have heard from your science correspondent the energy thatis science correspondent the energy that is at the heart of it and what it must not be forgotten is that they come from a good in products that flow through our economy so there is a massive potentialfor improvement as well. your twitter feed talks about the fact that we know what needs to be done, and we have the technology to do it. tell us have the technology to do it. tell us about that. in terms of these 4596 that i was referring to the processes ca n that i was referring to the processes can be of course much more refined. it's about designing waste out of the system in products that are built to last longer but also to be refurbished and kept in circulation at the highest value possible in order to retain the embodied carbon and energy in the same goes for agricultural practises that need to move to practises that restore the land that are conducive

to the separation in the soil. it's about the goods and materials in the way that we are producing and consuming them. you are saying that the tech is there, so why is it not being employed 7 the tech is there, so why is it not being employed? it's a realisation it will not be economically viable to carry on as we do today. as pressures of course in this price volatility in the system. negative the impacts which are not costed yet will end up being costed more and more. there is an incentive for businesses and investors also waking up businesses and investors also waking up to the fact that their business models are very risky in the long run and so they are starting to put pressure on companies as well and in order to come to a new economic model that can reconcile development and prosperity and also an ecosystem regeneration. this is what you refer to asa regeneration. this is what you refer to as a circular economy. this then,

from what i'm hearing, comes down to money. so what hope do you have in terms of what's going to come out of this summit on monday? it's always difficult to say exactly what will come out of the summit. the topic is at the heart of the meeting and bearing in mind the general assembly does not only look at these problems, there's also geopolitical issues in the table but for the first time the climate issue really rises to the top of the debates with governments making pledges and on bbc for they pledge to be net zero by any 50. that is a lot of movement around these topics and as soon as the financial investment immunity tackles it and makes it a viable proposition it really demonstrates that there is economic opportunity if we have done in our reports then we can see the roll—out of these technologies and practises at scale.

thank you very much for your time. my thank you very much for your time. my pleasure, and we will be releasing a report on the contribution that the economy can make to tackle climate change on monday. look out for that. we certainly shall. the climate group isa certainly shall. the climate group is a nonprofit organisation that works of business and government leaders around the world to address climate change. the director of strategy and impact deeming ryan is here with me now. thank you for speaking to us here at bbc news. looks as if a lot of this is going to come down to how much businesses wa nt to to come down to how much businesses want to invest. just tell us a little bit more about that.|j want to invest. just tell us a little bit more about that. i think that's absolutely right and i agree with pretty much everything that your previous speaker just with pretty much everything that your previous speakerjust said. i think it is important to emphasise that this is notjust down think it is important to emphasise that this is not just down to business, there is a relationship here between business and government and will be talk about is this idea

of ambition and the reinforcing of business action with opens a political space for government to ta ke political space for government to take and put in place more policy which will then in turn drive more business action. but i think the thing to realise is that businesses are moving, and have been now for a good many years, particularly post—paris and the lead up to paris in 2015 we saw the new paris agreement signed. we see increasing investment year on year by business and renewables and energy efficiency so and renewables and energy efficiency so it is true now that the business case for adopting these low carbon technologies is actually much better than investing in high carbon assets. we are seeing movement but the challenge is accelerating that action. other costs to businesses to invest? you said there's been an increase in investment in businesses

have done and work towards that. is it costing them? you've used important words, cost investment and we need to start working at —— stop working and looking at climate as a cost. it's an investment in basically the future of the planet. in creating healthy eric communities. like i wasjust saying it's also true that the cost of these technologies are actually now cheaper than the fossil fuel alternatives. most economies now, it's much more cost effective to invest in wind or solar then is to invest in wind or solar then is to invest in wind or solar then is to invest in coal. in a few years' time it's going to be the same with electric vehicles and same with gas infrastructure, so we are seeing change. it's not a cost, it's an investment. businesses and government leaders. do their aims, and strategies meet in the middle?

absolutely yes. the change from 20 years ago, i think, is quite stark. when the climate group was set up for ten years ago we did not really have many businesses are governments talking around climate as an opportunity for the kind of positive benefits that we talk about now. so yes we are seeing benefits that we talk about now. so yes we are seeing that interconnection. through the kind of policies that have been put in place and adopted by businesses. thank you very much for that. you're watching bbc news. don't forget and i'm sure this story and many others are going to be covered in tomorrow's front pages. join us at 1040 and 1130 this evening. the gastronomy tonight. —— guests joining evening. the gastronomy tonight. —— guestsjoining me.

time for the headlines here at bbc news. millions of people protest around the world to demand greater action on climate change. thousands ofjobs are at risk in british holiday—makers could be stranded if thomas cook fails to secure more rescue funds. the woman who claims she was abused by prince andrew speaks out, buckingham palace emphatically denies the duke of york had any sexual contact with her. the travel firm thomas cook could fall into it ministration this weekend unless it finds an extra £200 million to secure the future. 9000 jobs are at risk and more than 150,000 british holiday—makers could be left stranded abroad. 0r north of england corresponded reports. thomas cook is one of

the best—known names in travel. at any time, there are up to 100 of its planes in the air and it has 19 million customers per year, but the operator's financial problems have mounted and news that it faces administration is a headache for holiday—makers. luke dudley is one of them. he is currently in turkey and needs to get back to start a newjob on monday, but he is now worried about his return flight. we just don't know what the situation is, how we are flying back, back to manchester, or all things could collapse in the next couple of days or hours, and we have nothing to go back on. worries as well for people with future holiday plans. jackie cunningham booked a trip to the maldives to celebrate her recovery from cancer and today happens to be the deadline for her to pay the £8,000 balance. she doesn't know what to do. it could mean we don't go, and this is the second time we're going to have to cancel it, we might as welljust give up.

thomas cook is in the process of negotiating a rescue deal but its banks have demanded the company finds an extra £200 million to type it through winter. for now, the business continues. —— to tide it. there are 49 thomas cook flights coming and going from manchester airport alone today, but over the next 24 hours, it will be critical to the company's survival, and holiday—makers are travelling with the knowledge that, if it goes into administration while they are away, they could become stranded and need government help to get home. currently, there are 600,000 thomas cook customers on holiday, of which up to 160,000 from the uk. a collapse would require the biggest ever emergency operation to bring tourists home stop sources concerned the civil aviation authority is on standby at a potential cost of £600 million. in the uk, thomas cook has more than 500 shops and employs 9000 staff, who the government

have sought to reassure. we very much hope that thomas cook will be able to restructure and be able to continue to survive but, you know, we in my department are very keen to always make sure we looked after the staff in every way we can. thomas cook, whose statue stands in leicester, started his business nearly 180 years ago. where the company goes next is uncertain. steve's daughter is two to get married on the thomas cook package in costs next year. this must be incredibly worrying for the family. especially her daughter. absolutely. started this morning and she was texting me at work and

family and friends were texting saying that they had been having issues with thomas cook. we knew a little bit about it and the worries there, people have put a lot of money into it, for years in the planning for this wedding. she is really, really worried. what has she been saying to you? just saying may been saying to you? just saying may be it's an omen that she is not going to have the fairy tale wedding and it will just going to have the fairy tale wedding and it willjust be a registry. that's really quite sad. just tell us. that's really quite sad. just tell us. that's difficult or stressful enough, but how much planning has gone into this marriage abroad? well, her fiance proposed gone into this marriage abroad? well, herfiance proposed to her four years ago and we only eventually booked this about a year and a half ago to tie everybody to come to the wedding, there's 35 people that booked this package

holiday and, you know, so the organisation has just been a madness. and it's not cheap, is it? no, you are talking £1300 ahead so it's over £40,000 involved in this. what are you telling friends and guests, orfamily what are you telling friends and guests, or family who are asking the questions? what do you know? well we are getting no contact from thomas cook, just business as usual which i expect them to do because it could cause a bigger problem than if they come out in the press and say you know, cancel bookings or anything like that. so i understand that but it does not solve the situation of the people that have booked with us, so the people that have booked with us, so i'm a little bit concerned. she's already starting to think of another plan on what to do whether it's a weekend venue for everyone but i'm just saying let's write it out and see where it takes us, really. in

terms of the money, a lot of people have paid for this holiday, what proportion has been put down already? i would say probably at least 20 to 25,000 has been paid. if you are doing it all in instalments, but we are fairly far into the instalment payment. the wedding is only in june next instalment payment. the wedding is only injune next year. the majority of the money will be paid, and though it is protected, the concern is if they do go under how quick they will actually pay back for us to reorganise again. it's a lot of money at £1300 a head. i'm looking at some of the messages they have put out to customers who have been questioning them and they are talking about unsettled by all the media speculation surrounding thomas cook, all our package holidays continue to remain protected. what is your message to thomas cook right

now? i understand it is protected, but it still does not commit date should still get in touch with us until he sent an e—mail. keep us involved in the chain of what is happening and we would be interested to know that yet, if it does go to the wire where negotiations are at and if it looks like it's going to bea and if it looks like it's going to be a positive outcome. we just do not know. good luck to you, yourself and of course to shauna. and congratulations as well. thank you. steven berkley has concluded talks with the eu prospect chief negotiator. the european commission said a fully workable and legally operational solution be put forward to manage northern ireland public border. the skill left to westminster and speak to our political correspondentjessica

parker. good evening and a bit of a development tonight. we see in a memo sent by the commission to european diplomats and the brexit group in the european parliament and they are sounding none too impressed by these documents that were of course submitted to the eu earlier this week. the first time that britain ideas their with the proposals just discussion documents in the first time a written document of that kind had been left for the eu by the uk negotiating team under the borisjohnson eu by the uk negotiating team under the boris johnson government discussing alternatives to the backstop, but in this memo sent by the commission this evening it says that what has been written down does not provide legally operational solutions and fall short of satisfying the objectives of the backstop and protecting the island economy and preserving the integrity of the single market. it seems that while there's been a lot of talk

this week, it may be progress and tried to reach a deal by the 31st of 0ctober those initial documents that we re 0ctober those initial documents that were submitted earlier in the week, not really impressing the commission all too much. i think the uk government side they would say they arejust discussion government side they would say they are just discussion documents and the uk government's source this evening said that lea ks the uk government's source this evening said that leaks from brussels are part of the course you can set your watch by them. what we are focused on is getting a deal in the room and we will trust they will do the same. so a slightly terse response there from a uk government source. thank you very much for that. darren has the weather for us. hello there, warm in the sunshine again tomorrow. temper the mid—20s and overnight tonight we will have clear skies and it is going to be dry. some patchy cloud developing and heading into eastern scotland, a little fog overnight tonight because

the breeze keeps going and as a result it won't be as cold as it has been over the past few nights. if we look to the southwest start to see cloud and shower coming into the far southwest of england and wales and later it's northern ireland but elsewhere more sunshine to come. equate gusty winds for the western side of the uk but the heat this time is really on across much of wales into the midlands towards the home counties where temperatures will be up to 25 degrees. things change overnight and itjust sunday with subsea showers pushing up from the southwest. those can be heavy and thunder he and then a band of more organised rain comes in. that should be clearing away from the southwest in the afternoon as it turns cooler and fresher and to the northeast of scotland likely to be dry and warm for a while in northern and eastern england.

this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 7.30. a global climate strike:

in cities across the uk — thousands take to the streets — calling for tougher action to combat climate change. from nairobi to new york, sydney to stockholm, millions protest in more than a 150 countries around the world we are young and we are the ones who are going to have to live with this in the future, and we are not the ones who have caused this crisis. thomas cook could go into a demonstration if it does not come up with an extra £200 million in rescue funds over the weekend. the woman who claims she was abused by prince andrew speaks out. buckingham palace emphatically denies the duke of york had any sexual contact with her. a court hears details of the final moments of the teenagerjodie chesney, stabbed in london. four people are accused of murder. the rugby world cup gets off to a flying start, with a win for the host nation,

japan. and on news watch, reporting then stoke's distress over a newspaper story about his family without telling the audience what that story says. join us tonight, here on bbc news. a woman that claimed she was abused by prince andrew as a teenager has given her first television interview about the allegations. she told news in america she was trafficked to prince andrew who she described as an abuser. her allegations first came to light in court papers lodged against the billionaire businessmen jeffrey epstein with been accused of trafficking underage girls. buckingham palace has statically denied that the duke of york had any form of sexual contact or relationship with miss roberts. 0ur royal correspondent has more.

the prince, the teenager and the socialite. now an adult, for the first time outside a court, virginia roberts alleges she was trafficked to prince andrew. the link is this man, jeffrey epstein now dead. the hugely rich businessman became a friend of prince andrew's. the prince stayed at his houses and flew on his jet. virginia roberts says she was introduced aged 17 by mr maxwell to prince andrew. i was so young, he woke me up in the morning and said, you're going to meet a prince today. i didn't know at that point that i would be trafficked to that prince. she says they went to a nightclub and that she danced with prince andrew. then she left. i hopped in the car withjeffrey,

and they said, he is coming back to the house and i want you to do what you do for epstein. buckingham palace says it is emphatically denying that the duke of york had any form of sexual contact or relationship with virginia roberts. any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation. maxwell also denies any wrongdoing. these allegations have been made before, but this is the first time they've been made without the legal protection of the court. virginia roberts is challenging the people she accuses to sue. next week, across bbc news will be taking a closer look at the city of stoke—on—trent as part of the

reconnect r series. it is made up of six towns. being one city of six towns does bring its challenges. 0ur editorial director met people at the potteries museum and art gallery to find out what actually makes stoke tech. welcome to the pottery museum and art gallery in stoke—on—trent, this is our third in the we are series. we have had middlesbrough and bradford. it is an attempt to get out of london and properly covered the regions of england as well as the nations of the united kingdom but really it is about the audience talking to us about how we should be covering what is important to them, and this will be a week of special coverage from stoke—on—trent, guided by these fabulous guests we have brought together in the potteries museum.

about what they think is important, how they would like to see their city, the places they live and work, how they want those issues to be covered. i think there is a great degree of fear in this city, we are scared of ourselves and our schizophrenic six towns nature, there is something beautifully crazy and mad about the fact that is the way we work. i think it should be embraced. as we sit here under the wonderful icons that decorate us, i do wonder sometimes, don't we realise there is something about the juice and soil of this area which has had allowed us to be one of the most creative places on earth. we area most creative places on earth. we are a place where we have taken the ground itself and made it into something which you can see all around you. not many places on this planet can argue that. i'm quite shocked by this notion of the tempered bus return fare in a city which is not huge. the transport

network has separated the town is in effect. the towns have not worked together because there is no connectivity and especially working with young people, the public transport is very poor in the city so transport is very poor in the city soi transport is very poor in the city so i think with the work and leisure and creative activities, people really struggled to get around and get to places. one of the real problems, if you go from the southernmost town to the northernmost town, if you make that journey by public transport, it would take at least an hour long on yourup would take at least an hour long on your up from london today. wow. how long will it take? probably about to half hours. you live and work in stoke, tell us from a younger perspective, what you would like to see covered about this city? there isa see covered about this city? there is a lot more things in manchester and birmingham to do for people my age and younger than to stay in stoke. it does not have anything.

there is not manyjobs and a lot of people like my friends who are finishing university are going elsewhere. they do not want to have anything to do with stoke—on—trent. the challenges that faced here in stoke—on—trent are no different than they are in other industrialised cities. what we have had over the la st cities. what we have had over the last certainly ten years or more is a recognition that there is no white knight out there that is going to come back. we have to stand up and ta ke come back. we have to stand up and take responsibility and did this for ourselves. what should be next for stoke—on—trent? ourselves. what should be next for stoke-on-trent? i actually think we should go to be unesco creative city. we have what no other city around the world has that would allow us to have, those other bidding process that we went through a short left. eight unesco creative city has longevity. tell us what you think the main challenges are and what are the issues we should be covering. the biggest problem is

pride. years gone by, people worked on the banks and me to be developed things like that peacock behind you. at the end of the day, they were proud of what they made. now they are filling supermarket shelves and there is no right in the job. can i mention politics as a mirror of the society. it is not so long ago we had nine bnp councillors, more than any other city in the country. quite recently, we are at the third or second biggest exit supporter. none of this tells us exactly what we are and who we are. it does tell us there is a immense amount of disenchantment. how would you like to see the we are stoke project, what shall we be talking about?|j what shall we be talking about?” love it, there are so much community and abundance of community spirit. we have our issues and we need to

focus on that but there is also a lot of great stuff in the city. house prices, you can get on the property market, there is a better standard of living, a better family life balance. we have a problem with outside people seeing the inside and that has to change because i remembera lot of that has to change because i remember a lot of reports that the bbc have done and i think if i was in my rolls— royce bbc have done and i think if i was in my rolls—royce or bentley coming through the m6 from birmingham to invest money, i would say turn i don't want to go to stoke—on—trent, thatis don't want to go to stoke—on—trent, that is the perception you get from the media. this is a coal-mining place and what is the greatest thing court mining produces sometimes? diamond, crush to pressure and it is a diamond in the city that needs to be brought out. a net positive note, thank you all so much. that was really enjoyable and invigorating and will really help us cover your great city, the positives as well as

some of the challenges. now, the boyfriend of the teenagerjody chesney he was stabbed in a random attack in a part has told the court she screamed repeatedly for around three minutes after the attack and it took 15 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. two men are on trial for this. today, eddie coyle gave his account of the last moments of his girlfriend's life, describing how two men come out of the dark in an instant and she was fatally stabbed. they had been together forjust three months and he said she was a great person. funny, sometimes silly, sometimes sensible. he told the jury they were in the park with friends listening to music, drinking and smoking cannabis when two hooded men approached without a word being said. he demonstrated to the jury how the taller man raised his arm

and swung it towardsjodie's back. close to tears at one point, eddie said jodie was in shock at first, she didn't know what had happened. she just started screaming. she screamed very loudly, he said. continuously for about two minutes straight. then she began to faint. we can't name two of the defendants, who are 16 and 17. the jury heard svenson 0ng—a—kwie was seen on cctv the next morning getting rid of some of his clothes. manuel petrovic is accused of driving them in his car on the night. all four deny murder. anotherfriend ofjodie's, bryce henderson, recounted how he previously bought cannabis from a local drug dealer called spencer. he denied there was any outstanding debt or a feud. but earlier this weekjodie was described as the innocent victim her boyfriend said there was no reason for anyone to hurt her. dan johnson, bbc news, at the old bailey.

a series of strikes planned by pilots at ryanair have been called off. members of the unit was set to walk out tomorrow and over four days of the next week, they have said they have suspended strikes to pave they have suspended strikes to pave the way for more meaningful negotiations but their relationship with ryanair negotiations but their relationship with rya nair remains negotiations but their relationship with ryanair remains acrimonious. a number of conservative party members have been suspended for posting or endorsing islamophobic material on social media. the action was taken following a bbc investigation. there have been repeated calls for the conservatives to hold an independent enquiry into allegations of a islamophobia within the party. here is our political correspondent. just three months ago, during the race to be tory leader, this happened... shall be have an external investigation into islamophobia and the conservative party? they agree. they certainly seem to agree, including the night party leader, but there has not been much movement so far.

when is your independent enquiry starting? i think that is under way and we have had summary action against people who were associated... who is leading it? we are trying to get to grips with this problem. the problem is another tranche of people who say they're tory members and have posted or endorsed islamophobic content on facebook or twitter, including islam is the religion of hate, i don't want muslims in this country and muslims are savages. details are passed to the bbc by a twitter user who has been campaigning on this issue for over a year. we verified more than 20 cases, ranging from individuals liking or sharing one or two comments or pictures to others regularly posting offensive material. we gave details to the conservative party, which said it immediately suspended anyone who was a member but did not say exactly when there might be a full, independent enquiry. a spokesman said the conservative party will never stand by when it comes to prejudice

and discrimination of any kind. and that is why it is already establishing the terms of an investigation to make sure such instances are isolated and robust processes are in place to stamp them out as and when they occur. but for some, that is not enough. he was a member of the european parliament for 15 years and is still a conservative. he fears the party may row back on a specific enquiry into islamophobia. is there a need for it? there is. i have been extremely lucky that i have not directly suffered the consequences of these attitudes but what i have had is direct experience of fellow parliamentarians, where they conducted islamophobic conversations directly about me. one of whom actually is a serving minister at this moment in time. he hasn't named the minister, the party said if there was any allegation it would investigate.

but some want much firmer action on the wider issue — an enquiry and soon. alex forsyth, bbc news. bird populations in asia and the us are in crisis, according to two major studies. the first is that there were 3 billion fewer birds in there were 3 billion fewer birds in the us and canada than today compared to 1970. the second claim is on the island of java compared to 1970. the second claim is on the island ofjava in indonesia more birds live in cages than in the wild. 0ur science correspondent has been to jabber to find out more. sold in their thousands every day. injava, indonesia, the songbird trade is thriving. it is sealed by a national passion for birdsong. singing competitions like this take place all over the country every weekend. but it is also driving an extinction crisis. dozens of species caught

from the forests to supply the trade are disappearing from the wild. scientists studying this say it is now reached a tipping point. java is about the size of england and we estimate that is around 75 million birds in captivity. that is probably more than there may be in the wilds which is a very serious issue for the island and its wider environment. this is one of two major studies published today that point to a global crash in bird populations. the other, a project carried out by scientists in the us and canada examined 50 years of bird surveys in north america. it reveals that there are 3 billion fewer birds in the continent today than there we re in the continent today than there were in 1970. habitat loss driven by human activity has been blamed. but the researchers are actually optimistic that there are conclusions could be a wake—up call,

triggering action to protect