live from london, this is bbc news. rival accounts are emerging about a reported car chase involving prince harry and meghan, and paparazzi in new york. parts of northern italy on high alert as severe flooding forces thousands of evacuations. world leaders begin arriving injapan, ahead of a g7 meeting with security in the indo—pacific top of the agenda. and the "biobank" — the world's largest body scanning project — trying to better understand how humans age. hello, i'm sally bundock.

a celebrity news agency has said it will launch a "thorough investigation" into an alleged car chase between prince harry and meghan, and members of the paparazzi in new york. some of the photographers were acting as freelancers for back grid usa during the incident. the couple say the pursuit lasted for two hours and involved multiple near misses. the news company says that isn't true. police in new york have confirmed an incident took place. nada tawfik reports from new york — and a warning that this report contains flashing images. tuesday night in manhattan, the duke and duchess of sussex are filmed leaving an awards ceremony in midtown with meghan markle�*s mother doria ragland before the incident in question. earlier meghan had been recognised for her advocacy on behalf of women and girls.

it was the first time the couple appeared in public together since the duchess�*s absence at the king's coronation. not long after leaving in a black suv, they claimed they were involved in a "near catastrophic" car chase at the hands of highly aggressive paparazzi. in a statement on wednesday the spokesperson said... more details are emerging about what happened. driver sunny singh said they briefly rode in his cab while trying to evade photographers and appeared nervous. but he said he wouldn't characterise the pursuit by paparazzi as a car chase. they were behind us, they stayed on top of us, just like journalists, like everybody else, trying to get pictures. new york's mayor

eric adams had this to say. i don't think there's many of us who don't recall how his mum died, and it would be horrific to lose an innocent bystander during a chase like this. harry has frequently voiced his fear that history could repeat itself, blaming the paparazzi for his mother princess diana's death in 1997. the couple's statement is the latest action prince harry has taken to fight intrusion by the press. he cited harassment by the british tabloids as one of the reasons he moved to the united states in 2020. live now to north america correspondent nomia iqbal, who's outside the ziegfeld ballroom in manhattan, where meghan received an award. just talk us through the

various reports that are coming through about what actually happened. through about what actually happened-— happened. yes, it was here where meghan _ happened. yes, it was here where meghan received - happened. yes, it was here | where meghan received this honorary award what the event said was her work on empowering women and girls. she, prince harry and her mother left the venue just before harry and her mother left the venuejust before 10pm, harry and her mother left the venue just before 10pm, where they headed out on this journey to get to a secret location, and we saw the bombshell statement that was released by prince harry's spokesperson that has made headlines around the world, but then we started to get different recounting of events from different people, as we saw their in that report. what's really interesting is here in new york, when i arrived here, just anecdotally talking to people, you could see again the sort of divisions, the way the couple do divide a lot of people. you had a taxi driver who said to me it's quicker to work in newark rather than getting the car, there is no such thing as

speeding cars in the city. when you have other people who said to have a great deal of empathy for prince harry because of course this has echoes of what happened to his mother princess diana. but at the moment there are conflicting headlines. i should mention that his security detail, one of them did speak to an american network and he described the incident as a near fatal. 50. incident as a near fatal. so, eo - le incident as a near fatal. so, peeple trying _ incident as a near fatal. so, peeple trying to _ incident as a near fatal. so, people trying to build a picture of what actually took place, and in terms of what their security is, they have private security, they pay for it themselves?— it themselves? that's right. ever since _ it themselves? that's right. ever since they _ it themselves? that's right. ever since they stepped - it themselves? that's right. i ever since they stepped down from royal duties in 2020, they have been on their own in terms of security, which is really upsetting for prince harry —— but for prince harry for is currently in a legal battle in the uk, taking on the home office, saying that by taking

0ffice, saying that by taking away his police protection they're putting him and his family is an unacceptable level of risk. but he wanted to pay for london metropolitan police to protect him. but the home office has argued that wealthy people shouldn't be able to buy protection in that way. there's that case going on, also other multiple court cases that harry and his wife are taking against several british newspapers, alleging privacy intrusion such as phone hacking. you have to remember that prince harry has been so vocal, he has long spoken out about media harassment, paparazzi intrusion and so forth. just to also add, we don't know where the sussexes are at the moment, we don't —— but we don't know if they are still in new york or if they have headed back to california.— california. thank you very much, nomia _ california. thank you very much, nomia iqbal- california. thank you very much, nomia iqbal in - california. thank you very | much, nomia iqbal in new california. thank you very - much, nomia iqbal in new york. more on this story later in the programme. large parts of emilia—romagna in the north—east of italy remain on red alert as water levels in some areas

continue to rise. at least nine people have died and 13,000 have been evacuated. the rains have now eased, but after two days of heavy downpours 2i rivers have burst their banks and about a0 towns have been inundated. the flooding has led to the cancellation of this weekend's formula one race at imola. again, more on that story later today on bbc news as we are able to talk to our correspondence based there. president biden is due to arrive injapan shortly for the g7 leaders summit. he originally planned to visit papua new guinea and australia as well, but will instead return early for high—stakes negotiations over the us debt ceiling. the gathering in hiroshima takes place amid rising tensions between the west and china, particularly over taiwan. during the summit, japan's prime minister, fumio kishida, and his british

counterpart, rishi sunak, will sign a new defence pact to deploy a uk carrier strike group to the indo—pacific in 2025. shaimaa khalil reports from hiroshima. at 0kinawa's naha air base, these routine military exercises have become more urgent. japan's southwestern islands are on the front line of any potential conflict between taiwan and china, a threat that's becoming more real by the day for the self—defence forces, or the sdf. captain ura and his colleagues know that any response would have to involve their american counterparts. 0kinawa is home to the biggest concentration of us military presence in japan. but the young pilot tells me, as china's capabilities increase, so too should his squadron�*s readiness to retaliate. translate: when i scramble. to intercept the planes and see chinese aircraft in front

of me, i naturally feel a sense of tension. but it also makes me realise that i'm on a mission at the front line of national defence. china's activities are getting more complex, so we need to reflect that in our training. when the government announced the biggest military build—up since the second world war, it illustrated japan's urgent need to show that it can defend itself. this is a pacifist nation now facing the potential of a conflict at its doorstep. be it from a belligerent north korea or because of china's increased aggression against taiwan. both scenarios will inevitably play out here. both would be catastrophic for the region and the whole world. an hour's flight from 0kinawa main is ishigaki island, a picturesque haven known for fishing and agriculture. and whose beautiful beaches have long attracted holiday—makers. but beyond this facade of calm stands japan's newest military base.

nearly 600 troops have moved here earlier this year, including squads capable of launching land to ship and land to air missiles into the east china sea and beyond. but the base has split a once close knit community. many fear their island might now be a target. every week, veteran activist tetsuya masato stands in the fields outside the base to protest. translate: as a person who has experienced - the second world war, i don't want the tragic situation to be repeated. i don't want this island to become a battlefield. we've been nurtured by nature and culture of this island. i don't want that to be destroyed or stolen by war. ishigaki is close to two volatile frontiers — taiwan and its growing tension with china and the senkaku diaoyu islands, which tokyo controls and beijing claims.

translate: geographically speaking, we are very close to taiwan and southeast asia. we are in a situation where chinese ships are patrolling very closely. the equipment we have in terms of missile launches is for defending ourselves. it's not for attacking other countries. we're not looking for war. japan has not fired a single shot in battle since the end of world war ii, but this country that has spent decades avoiding war might find itself being pulled into one. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, 0kinawa. let's get some of the day's other news now. montana has become the first state in the us to ban the chinese—owned video—sharing app tiktok, after governor greg gianforte signed into law a bill passed my montana's legislature last month. lawmakers are concerned that the chinese government could use the app for surveillance and accessing information. tiktok said in a statement that the ban infringed montanans'

first amendment right to free speech. uber has announced that teenagers will be able to order its taxis without parental consent for the first time. the new feature allows 13 to 17—year—olds to use the company's cabs alone. the teen account will be controlled by their parent or guardian who will be able to track the rides in real time. the new option will be rolled out in dozens of cities in the us and canada from next week. ecuador�*s president — who was facing impeachment — has defended his decision to dissolve parliament. guillermo lasso said the move was necessary because of a grave political crisis. he can now govern by decree for six months. voters in northern ireland head to the polls today to cast their votes in the local elections. there are a62 seats up for grabs across all 11 councils. the elections have been pushed back by two weeks due to the coronation of king charles earlier this month.

water companies in england have apologised for failing to do enough to stop sewage from flowing into rivers and seas. water uk say they'll invest £10 billion over the next decade to put things right with promises of the biggest modernisation of sewers "since the victorian era". 0ur environment correspondent jonah fisher reports. for years, campaigners have complained about the amount of sewage that flows into our waterways and that profit has been put before the health of our rivers and beaches. england's water companies have always denied that, but today, they came together to make an unprecedented apology. i'm here on behalf of the water industry today to say sorry. we're sorry about the upset and the anger from the fact that there have been overspills of untreated sewage onto beaches and into rivers over the past few years. we're sorry that we didn't act

sooner, but we get it. they get it — and proposed spending £10 billion by 2030. that's three times more than had been previously planned. if approved by the regulator, the money will go towards bigger pipes, upgraded sewage works, and huge tanks to stop sewage overflowing when it rains. fair to say, i think that there will be a modest impact on bills from these measures. this is the biggest investment transformation programme in the history of the water industry, but we are very sensitive to concerns about the impact on bills. there are also plans for a data hub, which should allow everyone to see in real time if there's a sewage spill near them. it's something campaigners have been demanding for years. the water industry has its back against the wall.

you know, the evidence is damning — the hundreds of thousands of sewage pollution events each and every year, the millions of hours of sewage that's being pumped into our coastline and into our rivers, and really a seeming sort of lack of appetite to really tackle the issue at pace and at scale that's commensurate with the outrage the people are feeling up and down the country. the water companies will hope this apology draws a line under their past failings and enables them to begin rebuilding both the sewage network and the public�*s trust. jonah fisher, bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. paris 2024 is fast approaching. for the gb rowing team, 0lympic qualification in september is top priority.

but the first step towards that is the european championships in henley�*s twin town of bled in slovenia. double olympic gold medallist helen glover's back in the squad, now competing alongside rebecca shorten in the women's pair. it's a team which is doing things in some ways better than any of the teams i've been involved in before. so for me coming on, i've had to be really open, i think, to the process. cox erin kennedy has had to navigate some choppy waters. the start of the european championships will mark a year since she was diagnosed with breast cancer. i didn't know whether i'd make it back, so i've just been basically doing everything i can. i've been working so hard. it's really emotional, to be honest, just to be back here. after a disappointing medal haul in the olympics in tokyo, they had a good last season and they'll be hoping they can dominate again in slovenia. you're live with bbc news.

a reminder of our top story this hour. a celebrity news agency has said it will launch a "thorough investigation" into an alleged car chase between prince harry and meghan, and members of the paparazzi in new york. some of the photographers were acting as freelancers for back grid usa during the incident. let's go live now to los angeles, where we can speak to giles harrison, who is a paparazzi photographer. giles, good to have you on the programme. when you heard about this story that was emerging yesterday, what did you make of it, harry and meghan�*s spokesperson saying they had a near catastrophic chase? i think, you know, it was a bit of an exaggeration. i think a near catastrophic to our car chase on the streets of new york probably isn't going to happen, if you have been to new york, you can barely get a mile within an hour. i'm sure there

was some kind of pursuit, i doubt it was a high speed, james bond —type thing through the streets of new york, i doubt that. do the streets of new york, i doubt that.— the streets of new york, i doubt that. do you work in newark? _ doubt that. do you work in newark? i _ doubt that. do you work in newark? i don't. - doubt that. do you work in newark? i don't. i- doubt that. do you work in newark? i don't. i have. doubt that. do you work in . newark? i don't. i have done, doubt that. do you work in - newark? i don't. i have done, i haven't worked _ newark? i don't. i have done, i haven't worked in _ newark? i don't. i have done, i haven't worked in a _ newark? i don't. i have done, i haven't worked in a while. -- l haven't worked in a while. —— do you work in new york. i'm based in los angeles. in los angeles, a high—speed car chase is entirely possible but in new york, it is not very likely. and what is it like for celebrities, for the rich and famous when it comes to paparazzi in terms of what they would see as harassment by paparazzi photographers? well, de-ends paparazzi photographers? well, depends on _ paparazzi photographers? well, depends on your _ paparazzi photographers? well, depends on your definition - paparazzi photographers? -ii depends on your definition of harassment. for people be pursued on the regular, it can be a big thing. it's nad—e—ali to thousands, where car chases were quite frequent. —— it's not the early 20005. and in the years before that. it's kind of

come down some, there is no reason to chase people at high rates of speed. celebrities do get pur5ued, they do get photographers on them on a regular basis depending on who you are, they can be seen as certainly, if you don't like it it can be seen as hara55ment but at the end of the day, photographers, paparazzi, they are photojournalists, some of them at least, who are trying to get stories, some are more aggressive than others. i think sometimes the ones that are more aggressive tarnish the rest of the ones that are not with the same brush. and that is unfortunate, because a lot of them are not as aggre55ive trying to get their stories in a fairly respectable fashion. of course, prince harry is very of course, prince harry is very clear with his agenda, he's been vocal about the fact that for his entire life it has been relentless, how he has been, he personally had his brother, his late mother, there wereju5t

followed constantly by pa pa razzi. followed constantly by paparazzi. it's all a member his childhood. do you think things will have to change, that actually, the way you are regulated a5 that actually, the way you are regulated as an industry might change as a consequence of his narrative?— narrative? you know, i think there has — narrative? you know, i think there has been _ narrative? you know, i think there has been a _ narrative? you know, i think there has been a lot - narrative? you know, i think there has been a lot of - there has been a lot of changes. as far as the uk goe5, changes. as far as the uk goes, there is a lot of laws already on the books that curb the behaviour of how photographs are obtained. same in the us. so i think there has been a lot of regulation, a lot of self—regulation. harry and meghan a5 self—regulation. harry and meghan as far as photo i55ues go arbery that are just so not a lot of fish right5 go arbery that are just so not a lot of fish rights are not a lot of photo agencies want to run afoul of them. no photo agency wants to be the one that gets sued out of existence for get5 sued out of existence for publishing photos of them that were gotten in a threatening or

provocative manner. so there is a lot of regulation of ready and certainly, in the us there are enough laws to combat bad behaviour of anyone trying to get photographs so i think that already exists.— already exists. good to get our already exists. good to get your perspective _ already exists. good to get your perspective on - already exists. good to get your perspective on this, i already exists. good to get - your perspective on this, thank your perspective on this, thank you for being on the programme, giles harrison. ten years ago, our medical editor, fergus walsh, became the first person to take part in the world's biggest scanning project. biobank was created to better understand how the body ages, by taking detailed images of the brain, heart and bones, to find new ways of treating and preventing disease. now, a decade on — fergus has been back to face the 5canner5 again to see what's changed. mapping the ageing human body. it's nearly a decade since i last had these images of my brain, heart and other organs taken.

now, overfive hours in multiple different 5canner5, it's all being repeated. why? the repeat imaging of thousands of volunteers will enable researchers to see subtle changes in the body that develop over the years. these may give early warning of conditions like heart disease and dementia long before there are any symptoms. the entire genetic code of every uk biobank volunteer has been sequenced so scientists can analyse dna alongside images of the brain and body. well, i think a real interest is us being able to look at changes in the structure and function of the brain over time, as that may give us ideas as to what are the determinants of early cognitive impairment and early biomarkers of dementia. so i think that is one of the most exciting aspects of this study.

so this just your health - and lifestyle questionnaire. is that all right? that's fine, yeah. 0k. good luck. thank you. all 500,000 volunteer5 had baseline health, lifestyle and cognitive a55e55ment5 when they joined over a decade ago. repeat testing help5 5cienti5ts track any decline. to date, over 7,000 research papers have been published using the data. uk biobank is the gold standard internationally for this type of study. it brings together blood samples, scans, linkage through the nhs to people's health records with their consent. so it gives an extraordinarily deep understanding of the causes of disease, which then can lead to better prevention and also treatments. big breath in. with every year that passes and volunteers like me get older, uk biobank will yield ever more information on how to combat the diseases

of ageing. fergus walsh, bbc news. when it comes to space exploration — we're living in interesting time5. in the past, the united states competed with the soviet union to explore the heavens. these days, its private businesses who are leading the way. the newest kid on the block is a small british company with big ambition5 — as tim allman explains. anything jeff bezos can do... we have liftoff. ..elon mu5k can do just as well. but space forge mission control cardiff have ideas of their own. it's a problem nobody�*s tried to solve before in terms of catching a satellite as it's falling. and so new problems require new thinking. but it's always good to go back to the innovations of the past and see what you can bring forward to the new products of the future.

the theory goes something like this. it's actually quite handy to make things in space. you're able to create products that can't be made on earth or would be too expensive. once the work's been done, the production satellite fall5 to earth and space forge catches it using a giant shield that expands like origami. no human has to go to space or return to earth, which may be a relief to some. astronauts de5cribe landing, even in water or on land, as kind of like a bit of a car crash. and the shock that you can experience on landing with current vehicles is enough to destroy many of the things that we might want to make in space. space forge claim their technology, once perfected, could save huge amounts of money and even be good for the environment. after all, they understand the old adage — what goes up must come down. tim allman, bbc news.

next, we have the top business stories, including the latest about the car industry in europe. hello, there. there's going to be some more warm 5un5hine at times on thursday. could be one of two showers breaking out, mind you. and later in the day, we're going to find this cloud coming in from the atlantic to bring a little rain into the northwest. right now, though, we've got this stream of cloud moving down from the north. a lot of it, though, is quite thin, high, cloud, but with more cloud around, temperatures will start at nearer nine or ten degrees early on thursday. and from that cloud, there could still be a little light rain or drizzle in scotland. now eastern parts of scotland should become drier and brighter. and in northern ireland there'll be some sunshine in the morning before that band of cloud brings that line of rain. for england and wales, there'll be some sunny spells developing, but as it warms up a bit we could trigger a few showers through the midlands, some eastern parts of england. further west it's likely

to stay dry, and we may well find the highest temperature around worcestershire and herefordshire, but it's still only 20 degrees. nothing to get too excited. we normally see temperatures a bit higher than that at this time of the year. and generally those numbers are going to be 17 or 18 celsius, once again, like wednesday. there is that weather front though, bringing that line of rain into scotland and northern ireland that's going to then push its way down into england and wales on friday. and that cloud may start to thicken up and bring and those could be a little heavy as they push into the midlands towards the south east of england. following on from that, we've got more sunshine to come for scotland and northern ireland, though the cloud will build up a bit and spread out. but temperatures are likely to reach 18 degrees in glasgow, the same as the temperature there in plymouth, and it'll be warm in the sunshine. for scotland and northern ireland as we head into the weekend, though, there's likely to be more cloud coming in from the atlantic, a little bit more breezy in northern scotland. high pressure will keep it dry, though, for england and wales, and there'll be a lot of sunshine around, as well. but more cloud for scotland

and northern ireland — just about thick enough to give a little light rain or drizzle here and there. no great amounts by any means. and we've still got temperatures of 18 degrees in the central belt. in the sunshine for england and wales, temperatures could hit 20 or 21 celsius. and there's more sunshine to come for england and wales on sunday. more of a breeze in the southeast. should actually brighten up with some sunshine in south east scotland. other parts of scotland and northern ireland again seeing more cloud, not much rain coming from that cloud. and where you have the sunshine, it'll be warm again.

live from london, this is bbc news. battery failure — europe's car industry says its supply chain is "simply not ready" for an electric future — under trade rules due to come in from january. also coming up — food relief. a deal to allow millions of tonnes of grain exports from ukraine is extended — just a day before it was due to expire — risking global shortages. plus, from rising african star to bailout case. ghana gets a $3 billion aid package from the imf. but what went wrong?