this is bbc news, the headlines: the british prime minister, on through borisjohnson, has challenged eventually on through saturday, all of this is moving southwards away the house of commons to approve from the wettest areas, into east a snap election in december. anglia and south—east england. writer skies following on behind. he suggested the british people should be given the opportunity to end the paralysis over brexit. this is bbc news. in return — he's agreed to demands from parliament for more time welcome if you're watching here in the uk, to scrutinise his eu on pbs in america, or around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: withdrawal bill. borisjohnson calls british police believe the 39people found dead on the british parliament to back in the back of lorry an early general election in december. in south—east england on wednesday in return he's offering more time to were chinese nationals. debate his brexit deal. the chinese embassy is in close contact with police, police begin moving the bodies of 39 seeking clarification and confirmation. people believed to be from officers have been given more time china found dead in a refrigerated to question the driver, who's from northern ireland. lorry outside london. uluru's final ascent — thousands of tourists have begun tourists prepare to climb climbing one of australia's the sacred red rock, best—known landmarks — much against the wishes uluru — for the last time. a permanent ban on climbing it comes of indigenous australians into effect from saturday. for the last time. caught on camera, undercover — indigenous people have long asked the baby elephants taken people not to scale the ancient from theirfamilies sandstone monolith because it has in zimbabwe to be sold to the chinese. such spiritual significance.

britain's prime minister has agreed to demands from parliament for more time to scrutinise his brexit deal but only if mps agree to an early general election, in december. effectively, it means borisjohnson has conceded for the first time that he can't keep his promise to take britain out of the european union by the end of october. but it's not clear if even this move will work out for him — he needs a two thirds majority in parliament to call an election and the opposition labour party are not certain to support it. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. is there any clear way out of the storm? downing street wants a route to a general election. after weeks of negotiation with brussels, number 10 did strike a deal but mps rejected the prime minister's plan to force it through at top speed, so now he wants to force them to go

to the country. the way to get brexit done is, i think, to be reasonable with parliament and say, if they genuinely want more time to study this excellent deal, they can have it but they have to agree to a general election on december 12th. it's time, frankly, that the opposition summoned up the nerve to submit themselves to the judgment of our collective boss, which is the people of the uk. you're essentially trying to blackmail parliament with the threat of an election in order to ram through your bill. no, come on, we've had three and a half years. not looking at this bill. well, most of this bill is, of course, very familiar to parliamentarians. what makes you think that the opposition will give you your way this time? i mean, they could just keep you hostage. they could. but i think it would be absolutely morally incredible if they were to do so. after all, this is a party, the labour party under jeremy corbyn, has called repeatedly, endlessly for a general election. if mps do not agree to your demand

for an election, what will you do? to be absolutely clear with you, we would campaign day after day after day for the people of this country to be released from subjection to a parliament that has outlived its usefulness, that has fulfilled its function, that is refusing to get brexit done. reporter: is everyone in the cabinet backing an election, ms truss? even some of his cabinet, though, are not convinced this is a good idea. we should make sure we try to get everybody on board. and it's simply not in the government's control. reporter: prime minister, are we heading for a general election? the prime minister needs two—thirds of mps to back him to get his election. # there's so many of us and there's...# labour might be ready to take the stage, ready for a fight. crowds of their members might want an election but plenty of mps do not. the leadership won't say yes or no until the eu answers

the government's request for a delay. take no—deal off the table and we absolutely support the election. i've been calling for an election ever since the last one because this country needs one in order to deal with all the social injustice issues. but no—deal must be taken off the table. but the smaller parties are tempted if brussels agrees a delay. the liberal democrats are going to keep fighting to remain in the european union, and we're not going to get involved in boris johnson's tantrums. borisjohnson is playing games, and we should make sure that we don't dance to his tune. the opposition parties need to show leadership and make sure that we determine when and how an election is going to be called. boris johnson, though, may find himself trapped in downing street. this is the third time number 10 has tried to call an election. lucky for who, this time? let's get some of the day's other news: the us vice—president has accused the national basketball association and the sports firm, nike of bowing to chinese pressure, and muzzling criticism of beijing.

mike pence also attacked china's diplomatic and trade policies, adding that it had violated the rights of people in hong kong. but he insisted the united states wants to avoid confrontation. there are more trade talks are due on friday. the united nations is sending a team of human rights specialists to the chilean capital, santiago, to monitor the street protests and security clampdown that's claimed 18 lives. the un human rights chief and former president of chile, michelle bachelet, says she has watched the violence since it started last friday. president sebastian pinera has suggested public order and security is improving. the family of harry dunn is beginning legal action against the british foreign office over its handling of his case. the teenager died after his motorbike collided with a car driven by an american woman, anne sacoulas, who returned to the us afterwards, claiming immunity from prosecution. the family is also referring the northamptonshire police force, which is investigating the crash, to the independent office for police conduct.

let's ta ke let's take you back to the story of the 39 people, bodies are found. less believe they were all chinese and the container had arrived from belgium overnight and was collected bya belgium overnight and was collected by a driverfrom northern ireland. he is in custody. essex police say the case is now the largest murder investigation and their history. ed thomas reports. under police escort, and by private ambulance at night, the first of the 39 chinese nationals have been removed from the lorry trailer, at the port of tilbury docks. police said the priority was preserving their respect and dignity. an unwanted reminder, too, of what happened nearly 20 years ago in dover. here, 58 chinese immigrants suffocated in a lorry. it took months for all those

who died to be identified. sam doesn't want to remember. he moved to grays from china a0 years ago. when i heard the news this morning, all the 39 people that's nationality is chinese, isay, why, how? it has happened again. he lives and works close to where the bodies were found this week. it said 39 people died, struggling in the freezing cold in the container, in the dark, and no—one helped. there is now a major international investigation. the belgian authorities say the container arrived into the port of zeebrugge at about 2:30pm on tuesday afternoon. it left there later that afternoon, heading across the channel, arriving at purfleet in essex just after midnight, and at 1:05am yesterday morning, the trailer was collected

by a lorry. around half an hour later, ambulance staff discovered the bodies of 39 adults inside the container. vic makes the same journey to the port of purfleet. these are the checks he does every day. and obviously, if anything was in there, you would see it straight away. i've seen peoplejumping out of trailers, jumping out of containers, running around. what are the feelings amongst drivers? well, everyone's terrified that they're going to find someone in their vehicles — or worse. in 2016, the national crime agency warned that smuggling gangs were moving from major hubs like dover to smaller ports like purfleet. indeed, they'll only be caught if they get out of the trailers. this man worked at purfleet at the time of the nca report. he didn't want to show his face. but it happened daily. and what was the largest

number of people? the largest one i saw was a group of vietnamese. there was about 30, 32 of them, crammed into a little 10—by—12 room. you just became used to it, as horrible as it sounds. some of them had broken legs, one that was trying to run away from security onsite, not big security, about four people, with crutches, trying to run away, some holding children. and the security at purfleet? there's nowhere near enough. tonight, police are still questioning the lorry driver on suspicion of murder. he has been named locally in northern ireland as 25—year—old mo robinson. police say it will take until the weekend to remove all the bodies, and to begin to find the answers they need. ed thomas, bbc news, purfleet. rebecca miller is an expert on human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants in asia with the united nations office of drugs and crime, based in bangkok. i asked her whether the recent tragedy looked more like a case of people being trafficked against their will or of people paying to be smuggled. look, this is certainly a horrific event, and unfortunately we do hear

cases where migrants are losing their lives. and unfortunately, human trafficking and migrant smuggling are two of the world's largest criminal industries. because the facts of the case are still being established, it's quite difficult to know at this stage whether this is a case of human trafficking or whether it's a case of migrant smuggling. they are two distinct crimes, but they do have a number of overlapping elements. looking at — or at least, let's treat it as people smuggling more broadly. how organised are the networks that do that from asia to europe? there is talk here in the uk of snakehead gangs, of triads running the operations. yes, as we know, migrant smuggling is the facilitating of the irregular movement of people across borders, and principally that is for financial or some other form of benefit. a number of countries in south—east asia are source countries, and this includes china and vietnam, which were mentioned in the previous report.

there are well—established networks that are based with facilitators that originate in south—east asia, all the way through to their ultimate destinations in europe, the uk is clearly popular, and well—established routes that smugglers do use. you look at a tragedy like this and you think there ought to be more that governments and police forces can do to counteract it, to prevent it happening. is there more? absolutely. i mean, this is an enormous challenge that we face as unodc, to address both human trafficking and migrant smuggling, and for governments as well, and there's a number of initiatives that are taking place where governments are working collaboratively. it is, specifically when we're talking about migrant smuggling, a cross—border issue, so cross—border collaboration is a critical response to address this issue. is there anything in this incident that would confirm to you that these people were most likely chinese?

it is difficult to say. again, references were made to chinese migrants, to vietnamese migrants. we know there have been many instances in the past, and well—established networks that facilitate the irregular movement of these migrants. there are strong diaspora communities in the uk, which would be a pull factor, as well as strong employment opportunities. so there are a range of indicators that would suggest that these are chinese or potentially vietnamese migrants. but again, the facts of the case are still being established. it is difficult to know. about 2,000 people in northern california, including the entire population of one town, have been ordered out of their homes to escape a fast—moving wildfire. in just a couple of days, almost 2,000 people have been left without power, and thousands of acres of land in the wine producing region have been destroyed.

from los angeles here's the bbc‘s david willis. this feels stupid, let it out of here. a hair raising journey of a television crew caught in the midst ofa television crew caught in the midst of a blaze that has destroyed thousands of acres of land. the fire, in california's one country, to the north of san francisco, brought down power lines and prompted the evacuation of more than 2000 people. the flames spread rapidly, fanned by seasonal so—called centre anna wins. —— centre. firefighters have resorted to dumping water from aircraft overhead. some here were already making do without electricity after the local company supply in the hope of preventing a repeat of fires caused by sparks from outdated equipment. although, it has been

repeated at a fault with one of their transmission towers may have been to blame. california's outdated energy grid is clearly an issue the state governor finds irritating. energy grid is clearly an issue the state governor finds irritatingm is infuriating the odd words, to live in a state, as innovative and extraordinarily entrepreneurial and capable, as the state of california, to be living in an environment where we are seeing this, destruction and blackouts. 50,000 people have been evacuated, one of those blazes has already devoured more than 3000 acres. wins are expected to pick up overnight, and for those in the path of the flame, the worst may be yet to come. —— winds stay with us on bbc world news, still to come:

going up into the well, a new way to look at the manhattan skyline and 1000 feet. a historic moment that many of his victims have waited for for decades. the former dictator in the dock, older, slimmer, and, as he sat down, obedient enough. dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside korem, it lights up a biblicalfamine, now, in the 20th century. the depressing conclusion — in argentina today, it is actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. we've had controversies in the past with great britain. but as good friends, we have always found a good and lasting solution. concorde bows out in style. after almost three decades in service, an aircraft that enthralled its many admirers

for so long, taxis home one last time. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: britain's prime minister borisjohnson calls on parliament to back an early general election in december to give it more time to debate his brexit deal. british police say the 39 people found dead in the back of a lorry in england were chinese nationals. it's thought dozens of young elephants, taken from their families in zimbabwe, have been flown to china, bought for zoos and animal parks. animal welfare groups condemn this secretive trade, saying the young elephants, herd animals, were separated from their mothers a year ago and will be traumatised. officials in zimbabwe's wildlife parks defend the move, saying the money raised will save other animals from a devastating drought. our southern africa correspondent

andrew harding sent this report. secret footage of several dozen young zimbabwean elephants in a crowded enclosure, waiting to be shipped to china for the rest of their lives. they've been in captivity for a year already, separated from theirfamilies. the zimbabwean authorities say selling them is the right thing to do. there are simply too many elephants in the country. the money they'll earn from china will help to save other animals now at risk from a terrible drought. in the last two months alone, at least 55 elephants have died of starvation and thirst. there's no food, there's no water. and this situation is worst in many years, and it's happening. that is why we have been saying to the international community, yes, these are our problems. allow us to trade. earlier today, it is believed this cargo plane flew perhaps 30 of the elephants out of zimbabwe.

but the process was highly secretive, prompting fears of corruption and provoking outrage from animal welfare groups. well, sadly, they are in for even more of a miserable life than what they've already had, after being ripped away from theirfamilies and their mothers and, you know, they're going to be living in a hellhole, in captivity. this is the kind of park where the elephants may end up. more than 100 have already been sold to china. but next month, new international rules will make this sort of trade much harder. zimbabwe insists selling a handful of animals serves a greater good. but campaigners say that's not the point, that elephants live in close family groups, and their young should not be stolen from them. andrew harding, bbc news, johannesburg. washington has been paying tribute to congressman elijah cummings, who died this week. his body was brought

to the us capitol, where it will lie in state until his funeral later on friday. he was the first african—american lawmaker to receive that honour. the son of sharecroppers, he became a civil rights leader, earning respect and friendship from colleagues on both sides of the aisle, although he often clashed with president trump. former presidents barack obama and bill clinton will speak at his funeral. on friday, the climb to the top of uluru, the sacred red rock in central australia, will close. indigenous people have long asked tourists not to scale the ancient sandstone monolith, because of its spiritual significance. many tourists have just ignored those requests, and the closure has met with considerable opposition. our correspondent, phil mercer, is at uluru. this last day of climbing has finally, for hundreds of visitors, got under way. we were there just after dawn, large crowds waiting for their last opportunity to scale uluru. it's 348 metres high, taller than the eiffel tower.

but it was very, very windy here in central australia earlier today. it's still quite breezy now, but the authorities have deemed it safe enough for that last consignment of visitors to scale uluru. and as you say, at the end of today, there'll be celebrations among indigenous people, because they have always asked visitors not to climb uluru. at the end of today, the climb will be banned. and tell us more, phil, on this. for indigenous people, uluru is a living, breathing thing. it is, it's like a cathedral, a temple, a synagogue, a mosque. the indigenous people of australia revere the land. the land to them is a living, breathing mass. it's full of secrets and wisdom. indigenous people revere the rock you can see behind me. it's about 15 km away. and, for indigenous people, they believe that uluru tells the story of creation.

all the caves, the lines, the ridges, the rock itself, the surface of the rock, it all tells a story of creation. immensely spiritual for indigenous men, women and children, as well, and that's why it's so culturally significant today. in a few hours' time, visitors will be forbidden from climbing to the top of uluru, and over the weekend there will be dancing and singing and other celebrations in indigenous communities to mark what they consider obviously to be a momentous day. a british man who fought against the islamic state group has become the first person in the uk to be convicted of a terrorism offence following a retrial. aidan james, who's 28, was found guilty of being in a camp where terrorist training was being carried out by a kurdish group, the pkk. the world health organisation says the second of three wild strains of polio has

been eradicated. wild polio—virus type three was last detected in nigeria in 2012. it means that only one strain of the deadly disease remains in afghanistan and pakistan. there is no cure but the polio vaccine protects children for life. ancient artefacts that were destroyed by the islamic state group have been re—recreated using 3d scanning technology, and unveiled in iraq. this report from rich preston. pictures like these shocked the world. on their rampage through iraq and syria, ancient artefacts destroyed by islamic state militants. these, the massive winged bulls wa nts militants. these, the massive winged bulls wants stood in the ancient city of nimrud, blown up by the militants. now, they are born anew. we started working to record all of

the known fragments that were removed from nimrud and taken to the british museum in the 19th century, and then were spread around other museums in europe. from those scans, a perfect replica, carefully created. translation: these balls are symbols. the human's head represents wisdom and knowledge, ability and thinking. the wings show progress, speed, strength and highness. the body is a mix of a lion's body enable's body, animals that represent strength and wealth. they have now been installed at the university of mosul. translation: i feel very happy today to see the statue of the winged ball that ex presses statue of the winged ball that expresses the emblem, the civilisation and heritage of mosul. the originals cannot ever be brought back but these modern techniques give hope that ancient history be lost forever. richard preston, bbc

news. new york is famous for many things, but probably its biggest calling card is its skyline. a jungle of skyscrapers in glass, concrete and steel. a new addition is the hudson yards development. like other tall buildings, it'll have an observation deck, but this one's a little bit different, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. it is a city with no shortage of spectacular views, but even by the standards of manhattan, this is something special. welcome to edge, nearly 350 metres or more than 1,000 feet above street level, said to be the highest outdoor observation deck in the western hemisphere. one imagines the spectators over there may be a little jealous. it amazes me that from one spot i can see the statue of liberty, all the way around to central park, and every icon that you have always read about, that you know about, that you want to see. and from here, you can see it all in one spot. if you are afraid of heights, you might want to look away now. there is a glass—bottomed floor

where you can see the city streets below, cantilevered glass panels so people can lean out and stare straight down. this must have taken some care and precision to build. the first pieces were angled up more towards the sky. and then, as all the last pieces came in, it kind of levels itself out. and engineering—wise, it is amazing. i give the engineers credit for being able to think of how you can actually build this, that is just sticking out over the city, this high up in the air. edge is due to open to the public in march. the ultimate vertical city, from a whole new perspective. just before we go, some other pretty extraordinary pictures, this is the american gymnast simone biles ahead of game two of the major league baseball world series of. and olympic gold—medallist, and she performed that backflip of a0

throughout the first pitch in the second game of the world series. the height difference there is quite something... yes, she did that in jeans. that is it for now, thank you very much for watching. a battle between cold and cold and mild and taking place across the uk at the moment to see which went out for the weekend. the cold air eventually wins. before that happens, though, after a touch of frost across northern parts of the uk to start friday and a mild start to the south, there is rain moving in — south—west england, wales, the west midlands, across northern england, the eastern side of northern ireland, and southern scotland. is already in place across the northern half of the uk, a touch of

frost for you to start the day in scotland, northern ireland and england, i'll start the further start you us. a fine start for many of us, wintering on the hills, here comes the rain from the south—west, to southwest england, wales, into the midlands, especially the west midlands, the eastern side of northern ireland, the uk top and tailed by strengthening winds with coastal gales as well. it is turning much better than some of us, and we still have those big temperature contrasts across the uk, quite a lot of hill fog down towards the south—west of the uk in the mild as. these totals here are some of the high totals we may see on the higher ground of south—west england. without much rain falling for some, the potential for some flooding and some travel disruption, there are some travel disruption, there are some met office yellow warnings, so the possibility of seeing some disruption, especially for travel as we go into the start of the weekend. that's how we started saturday away from the area, and of course may be

a touch of frost as well. the rain does eventually move south on saturday away from those wettest parts of england and wales to get a wet afternoon towards east anglia and south—east england. brightest quys and south—east england. brightest guys developing for many, with a few showers around, and the cold air getting south into the south—east by the end of saturday afternoon. through saturday night and into sunday, we get rid of this front, get rid of the rain, the blue is in charge, the cold air has won the battle. it's not going to be bitterly cold, and as you can see from this on sunday, a lot of land showing up, meaning it is clear, a bit of patchy cloud, quite a bit of sunshine coming through on sunday, still a few showers dotted about, especially into scotland, quite breezy stop yes, temperatures are coming down, but by sunday, it is 00:28:55,460 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 drier and sunnier.