hello, welcome to bbc news. i'm ben boulos. our top stories: inside the world of kim jong—un, a former north korean spy tells us pyongyang will never give up its weapons. translation: in the end, denuclearisation cannot be achieved. why? north korea's nuclear deterrent is tied to kim jong—un�*s survival. british police are dropping a review of sexual assault allegations by an american woman, virginia giuffre, against prince andrew. the spy who fed me. the fbi says it has uncovered a plot to sell a national secret concealed in a sandwich. after more than 100 days of lockdown, new south wales begins to open up — providing you've had the jab. and new research warns

that the loss of biodiversity risks tipping the world into ecological meltdown. hello and welcome to the programme. kim jong—un will never give up his nuclear weapons, according to a former senior officer in north korea's spy agencies. colonel kim kuk—song defected from north korea in 2014, says he was involved in targeted attacks and assassinations and even built an illegal drug slab for the leader. in an exclusive interview with the bbc has been speaking to our correspondent in seoul, laura bicker. for decades, one family has maintained a brutal grip on north korea. but occasionally, some slip through their grasp and reveal their secrets.

translation: north korea's intelligence agency _ is the eyes, ears, and brains of the supreme leader. colonel kim kuk—song spent 30 years in pyongyang's spy agencies. he defected in 2014 but has now, for the first time, decided to speak out. translation: there are many cases where i directed spies i to go to south korea on missions. many cases. he claims kimjong—un gave an order to kill off one of the leaders�*s main critics. the target was this man, hwang jang—yop. back in 2009, he was a high—profile defender in south korea. translation: it was a gift i to demonstrate kim jong-un's loyalty to his father. that's why this act of terror was organised. the attempt failed. pyongyang always denied it was involved. although some were caught, along with all their kit,

the colonel claims agents infiltrated many areas of south korean society, including in the early 1990s, the presidential office. this level of starvation is unprecedented... that same decade, as thousands of north koreans staffed in a disastrous famine, the colonel said the cash—strapped leader ordered him to produce and sell illegal drugs. translation: i brought three foreigners into north korea . and built a base to produce crystal meth. all the money into north korea belongs to kimjong il and kim jong—un. with that money, he built villas, bought cars, bought food, get clothes, enjoy the luxuries. as pyongyang stepped up its weapons programme, it too became a way to raise funds. translation: | know - that the operations department made arms deals with iran. as for the types, special midget submarines,

semisubmersibles. north korea was very good at building cutting—edge weapons like this. north korea continues to build and test new weapons and missiles. it's been accused of selling arms and technology to a number of countries, which it denies. efforts to encourage the regime to disarm have repeatedly failed. translation: the international community was excited - when kimjong—un and trump met. saying it was for denuclearisation. but i didn't view it that way. in the end, denuclearisation cannot be achieved. why? north korea's nuclear deterrent is tied to kim jong—un�*s survival. as the young dictator executed many of his political rivals, the colonel realised he too was at risk.

translation: i was the reddest of the red and to abandon my - country and to escape to south korea was the worst grief stricken decision, made in utter distress. while the colonel�*s account is impossible to verify, it serves as a timely reminder that the young leader has proved to be an adept dictator, with only one goal in mind — the survival of his regime. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. police and the uk are dropping a review of sexual assault allegations by the duke of york. lawsuit, alleging that jeffrey epstein lawsuit, alleging thatjeffrey epstein was trafficked and forced to have sex with prince andrew. prince andrew has

denied all allegations. in august, the most senior police officers said they were looking at the allegations, they say they have now completed the review and no further action will be taken in the uk. fbi agents have arrested a couple, suspected of selling secrets to a foreign power. they accuse jonathan toebbe of delivering data cards to an fbi agent in return for about $100,000 into cryptocurrency. earlier, our reporter explained how was caught. he was lowered into a trap by fbi, that involved a peanut butter sandwich and a data card that was slept on top of this image always squeezed inside the sandwich. let me explain how we got to this point where this caught him out. let me take you back to april 2020.

jonathan toebbe, with lots of access to secrets of the navy, wrote a letter in april 2020. let's show you that letter. this arrived in a foreign country with a package, sent to a foreign government. it said. now, that package was actually passed to the fbi in this we do not know what the signals were that were sent, but allegedly they agreed to do drop—offs of this information where they would be present but they would leave them in items such as the peanut butter sandwich, for which he got $20,000 in return so that he would give the password to the fbi. they did a second one in a chewing gum wrapper. the third one on the saturday, they

caught him and his wife. she is a teacher in america, teaching humanities, and she was acting as the lookout for these drop—offs, allegedly. $20,000 for a summit, i thought my lunch was extravagant. what were the secrets that they managed to get out, if any? they were on the way to finding out about the designs of nuclear powered warships. these are the type of warships that can go silently in the water and propel themselves so fast that not even a chinese submarine could potentially catch them. you will remember these other types of secrets that were sold recently to australia by the us, which enraged the french. jonathan toebbe had been working in the navy from 2012 to 2017, and thought he may get caught so he did have his passport and cash ready in order to be extracted. in fact, he was caught by the fbi before he could escape for attempted espionage, detained under the atomic energy act. he is innocent until proven guilty, and he will appear in

court with his wife for the first time on tuesday. 16 people have died in a plane crash in russia nearly 1000 kilometres east of moscow. a further six people who were on board the light aircraft were rescued, with serious injuries, and have been taken to hospital. the plane, owned by a local flying club, crashed soon after take—off. most of those on board were members of a parachute team. state media in yemen say that six people have been killed in a car bomb attack in the city of aden. it's understood that a convoy accompanying the local governor and a government minister was targeted. both men are reported to have survived but a press secretary and a photographer died. tens of thousands of people have protested in the belgium capital, brussels, for ambitious action to tackle global warming. it comes three weeks before the start of a major united nations climate summit, which is to be held in scotland. the issue gained a greater political traction in belgium in the wake of deadly floods that hit the country and the wider region injuly. ireland's foreign minister has said that the uk's demand

for changes to the northern ireland protocol could cause a breakdown in relations with the eu. the brexit minister, lord frost, has said he wants the european court ofjustice removed from oversight of the deal. people in new south wales are beginning to enjoy freedoms as they start to open up. 70% of they start to open up. 70% of the population is now double vaccinated, so the loosening of restrictions will only apply to those who have had the vaccine. those who haven't will have to wait until december. residents of greater sydney have been on stay—at—home orders for 3.5 months. however, the premier of new south wales warned against being too relaxed and encourage people be responsible. if we take personal responsibility, we will get through this difficult time.

it is a time of optimism and hope and we know that business confidence is crucial about getting the economy out but we need to do it in a safe way. it is an exciting day for our state but i do want to reiterate, we need to do this in a safe way, please treat everybody with respect, with kindness, that will be key as we move through this period of time. earlier i spoke to our correspondent in sydney to find out more about australia's opening up roadmap. this is the first step, if you will, to returning to normal, in its three major phases. it has to do with the number of vaccination rates. new south wales has said that 70% double—dose, and this is why it is now starting to ease its lockdown. lockdown will look quite different for those who are double vaccinated in new south wales. for example, cafes, restaurants, hairdressers, gyms, they are

open, children will start to school from next week. but there are rules. inside venues, only 20 people can gather, and there are social distancing wills and mask will still applying. the big one is that it is now down to business owners to make sure that customers provide proof of vaccination and they have to be double vaccinated for them to enjoy these loosening and easing of restrictions. we have heard the premier there, mr dominic perrottet, saying it is a step forward but it will be challenging. there are two things to look out for — one will be the spike or increase in covid—19 cases, but also the application of these vaccination rules. at the moment you are supposed to show your certificate. there has been talk about vaccination passport, they haven't materialised. but many people who haven't been double vaccinated are not happy, especially those who have been waiting for a long time before theirjabs. it'll be

their jabs. it'll be interesting theirjabs. it'll be interesting to see how businesses are by that but i think the whole of australia is really looking to new south wales because this is the first part of the country to shift from going to zero covid—19 cases to actually living with the virus, if you well, opening up, risking that increase in numbers but also increasing vaccination numbers. how is the vaccination campaign going there? it has picked up quite a bit in new south wales, i think we are past 90% first dose, inching towards 80% fully vaccinated here in new south wales. 0nce here in new south wales. once you have had that, they will be added number of easing of restrictions including being able to travel within new south wales. currently, yes, people will be able to travel freely within sydney enter its surrounding areas but you are unable to go to the regional areas. you will see that big change. of course, the other

big change when you reach 80% and above is the opening of international borders. we are yet to hear about that, so i think a lot of our new freedoms, a lot of how life is going to look like in the coming months is going to be directly related to those vaccination rates. and as they go vaccination rates. and as they 9° up, vaccination rates. and as they go up, we'll get more living back to normal and living with the virus. do stay with us here on bbc news. still to come: scientists warn the increasing loss of our precious biodiversity is risking the foundation of global supply chains. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life, but in the marina area where most of the damage was done, they are more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he has gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20—pound bomb which exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front

of the building. this government will not - weaken, democracy will prevail. it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this foremost of earthly honours. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they called the 33. and then, bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue and chile let out an almighty roar. this is bbc news. the headlines: a former top survival north korea tells the bbc that pyongyang will never give up

its weapons. a us navy nuclear engineer and his wife have been charged with trying to sell secrets to what they thought was a foreign state. in the uk, with the winter flu jab campaign happening, there is a warning of catching both the flu and covid at the same time. early evidence suggests you are twice as likely to die to become infected with both viruses at the same time. voice-over: viruses - are transmitted into the air when people infected with the flu or covid—19, breathe out, speak, sing or sneeze... as this latest nhs campaign video warns, this winter will bring with it other dangers, notjust covid. with little flu virus circulating last year, there are warnings low immunity could result in tens of thousands of deaths. this is also the first winter where there will be significant amount of flu and covid. research shows those infected with both viruses

are twice as likely to die, compared to covid alone. we do know from the small amount of data we had previously, that people are at more significant risk of death and serious illness if they are co—infected with the flu and covid, and that does not seem to be from our studies, a fact which many of the public understand. where are we now? injuly, england became the first nation in europe to fully unlock. other countries have followed but taken a more cautious approach. as this graph shows, the uk has one of the highest covid rates in europe, well above that of france or germany but if you look at the daily covid deaths, while the uk is still higher, a real concern for health leaders, the gap between the countries shrinks. this is an example of the power of the vaccination programme, providing vital protection to those most at risk. how will we cope this winter? the government hopes vaccines will protect us this winter, with more than 2 million

booster jabs administered in england alone. to protect schoolchildren, where infections are highest, covidjabs are being rolled out to over 12s, while the flu vaccine is available to those under 16. logistical problems, staff shortages and issues obtaining consent have caused delays, potentially to the end of november, prompting calls for other measures, like face coverings, to be brought in. vaccinations will help eventually, but it's happening slowly in the younger teens and children under the age of 12 are not offered the vaccine anyway. most are not seriously ill and many do not have symptoms at all but enough of them have serious long—term consequences or serious illness, or the knock—on effects, and that really matters. it is feared even a small surge in demand can cause real problems for the nhs and at this stage of the pandemic has also been called one of the most to predict what is to come.

anna collinson, bbc news. uk business secretary has said rising gas prices have caused a critical situation for many industries and is looking at whether there is sufficient government support. steelmakers are wanting they may stop production because of the cost of energy. katie prescott reports. cooking up a classic sunday brunch for hungry punters, but plating up in this leeds cafe is getting more expensive. as energy bills rise, they can'tjust turn off the coffee machine. i mainly worry that in the long—term the prices won't change and there will be that this idea that because we dealt with the current situation, it will be normalised to keep those prices the same. we might have to change our prices in the future if prices don't go down, which could have a knock—on effect on the people who feel like they can come in. the business secretary this morning would not commit

to extra support for energy bills for companies like this one. i think it is a critical situation. i'm speaking to industry, as you said, all the time, and high gas prices, they quadrupled this year, are making an impact, and that is why i am, as you say, speaking to people and listening and trying to work out a way forward. those industries that use a lot of energy for manufacturing say the time for working out a way forward has long gone. if the situation is critical which i certainly know it is, then why isn't government acting now, today, to address this problem for energy intensive sectors such as the steel industry? because without that help now, today, in the next week or so, we are going to see a significant, permanent damage to the uk steel sector. here is how dramatic price rises have been over the past year. households are protected by the energy price cap. that was set when prices were 65p. they are now almost four times that. businesses would like to see something similar put in place

for them in order to protect them from the worst spikes in the global market. but will it happen? to cushion businesses through this period, the business secretary says he has asked for help from the treasury, something a treasury source denies. labour says the government needs to act. businesses are tremendously worried, as are families, everything is getting more expensive, fuel, energy costs, the weekly shop, and while all that is going on, we have got a government that is in chaos, isn't getting a grip on what is needed and is not taking action to protect businesses and support families at this time. here, though, it is not the political ping—pong that matters, rather what the cost of energy might do to the price of a cup of tea. katie prescott, bbc news. a team of young female afghan footballers who fled after the taliban took control have been told they can settle in the uk with families. 35 members of the afghan

women's development team, aged 13—19, escaped from kabul to pakistan last month. the british home office says it is finalising visas for the group. sending humans to mars have been a long held dream. while rovers are already glancing at the red planet, a manned mission is believed to be more than a decade away. this is the ramon crator in the israeli desert, a site where a team of six will simulate what it be like to live on mars. they will be conducting a series of experiments in the field, including geology, biology and medicine, while engineers will improve autonomous navigation and mapping on a world where gps is not available. the idea is that valuable lessons will be learnt to inform a future manned mission. new research suggests the loss of biodiversity risks tipping the world into ecological meltdown. the data suggests the united kingdom is one of the most nature—depleted places in the world, ranking in the bottom 10% of all countries. we have been to a nature

reserve in the north of england. just outside the city of york is askham bog, created by a retreating glacier 15,000 years ago. it is brimming with biodiversity. that's the name for all living things and how they fit together. but the uk is one of the most nature—depleted countries in the world. a new report says thatjust 53% of our biodiversity is left. that is compared to the global average of 75%. that matters because biodiversity affects the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. biodiversity is more than something that is beautiful to look at and that we love. it is also what provides us with so many of our basic needs. it is the foundation of our society. we have seen recently how disruptive it can be when supply chains break down.

nature is at the base of our supply chains. the uk's lack of biodiversity is linked to the industrial revolution. intensive farming also plays its part. what more can be done to protect places like this? last year, the secretary of state turned down a plan to build 500 homes next door to this nature reserve. askham bog is an extraordinary place. it holds between 5% and 10% of all species of griffin. ——in britain. and, yet, if we don't do anything at all, we will lose more species than we already have from a place like this and if we don't get it right, if we allow the wider countryside to become nature rich again, this is the place from which the surrounding land will be colonised, and that's true of all the other nature reserves across the country. tomorrow, a week—long un biodiversity conference will begin virtually, hosted by china. negotiators will thrash out plans for protecting nature over the next ten years. a decade ago, 20 targets were set, but none of them were met.

scientists say this is our best chance for a sustainable future. 0livia richwald, bbc news, near york. right, we're showing you pictures from croatia, this is the olive picking championship! ten teams of four pickers across the olive growing world went head to head to see who can pick the most lives in 45 minutes. apparently, the key is to choose trees with the lowest hanging fruit and the competition ended in a tie with poland and israel bringing in a hall of 48 kg. a reminder of our top story, a former senior military officer in north korea's intelligence agency says he does not believe the country will ever give up nuclear weapons. country will ever give up nuclearweapons. kim country will ever give up

nuclear weapons. kim kuk—song achieve the rank of colonel over 30 years of service defected in 2014. you can reach me on social media. thank you for watching. see you soon. hello. last week brought us some heavy rain followed by some particularly warm weather. the week ahead, well, things will be much drier, rain mainly confined to the north of scotland, but it will be also cooler. temperatures will actually be around average but there will be incursions of chilly air towards the north and east at times, all running around the eastern edge of an area of high pressure which will dominate through this week. that's what's happening into monday, but we're on the edge of it, so we're going to have a rather chilly start — certainly compared with the morning commutes we saw at the end of last week. much cooler out there — temperatures down into mid—single figures as we start the day. but there'll be a lot of dry weather to begin with for england, wales and northern ireland. a bit of patchy mist and fog with some good sunny spells. the sunshine will be a bit hazy, and that's because we've got a weather front pushing in, mainly across the north and west of scotland,

where the rain will be persistent in the highlands and the western isles. some of that rain willjust extend erratically to parts of southern scotland, maybe the far north—east of england, but most places away from the north will stay dry. still breezy, but not as busy as it has been across northern scotland. lerwick in the colder air at nine degrees. still pleasantly warm with the heavy sunshine further south, 16 or17, a bit above where we should be for this stage in october. as we go into monday night that weather front is still there, bringing rain and drizzle across parts of scotland, also down across some eastern parts of england. but it does mean more cloud around. the temperatures shouldn't drop too much, and there'll be clear skies in the south. some mist and fog initially to start tuesday. we could also see some aurora hopefully on monday night, but cloud amounts will be crucial. that's because we do have that weather front draped in across the eastern edge of a high—pressure system for tuesday. the exact position could change a little bit, but certainly across parts of scotland, maybe into the north and east of england, the chance of some light rain and drizzle. 0n the eastern edge of it, we'll drag in some colder air. temperatures around ten to 12

degrees for scotland and parts of eastern england, whereas to the west of that weather front 18 degrees possible with some sunshine breaking through the cloud. a bit more sunshine and dry on wednesday. more of a westerly drift, so those eastern areas should warm a little bit once again, back into the mid—teens. only a few showers across the far north and north—west of scotland, but as we going to thursday, heavy rain pushes its way southwards across scotland. that's going to bring some colder conditions into the north as we go through the latter stage of the week and potentially some overnight frost. further south it does get colder, but it stays dry.

hello.

this is bbc news. the headlines: in an exclusive interview, a former senior military officer in north korea's intelligence agency has told the bbc doesn't believe kim jong—un will ever give up the country's nuclear weapons. kim kuk—song, who achieved the rank of colonel in north korea's powerful spy agencies, defected to seoul in 2014. police in britain are dropping a review of sexual assault allegations by an american woman, virginia giuffre, against prince andrew. london's metropolitan police say they have completed that review and no further action will be taken. the prince has consistently denied all allegations. fully vaccinated residents in australia's most populous state, new south wales, are enjoying new freedoms is lockdown begins to be lifted. people in greater sydney have been on stay—at—home orders for three and a half months, but some social distancing measures and limits on public gatherings remain.