nicholas witchell injohannesburg, case vigorously. nicholas witchell in johannesburg, thank you.eless people across england and wales. last year there were 726 deaths according to the office for national statistics. that's an increase of 22% on the previous year. it's thought the main cause of the rise in fatalities is drug use, with two in five of the deaths due to drug poisoning. torrential rain has swept across large parts of england and wales today, causing floods, closing roads and forcing people to leave their homes. landslides blocked the railway line between carlisle and newcastle. a major incident was declared on the isle of man, from where dan johnson sent this report. all the cars behind it are going, as well. they're used to bearing the brunt of the weather here. but in laxey, this — well, this was something else. oh, some sandbags, there... that's actually the civil defence van that is supposed to be laying sandbags. talk about optimism in the face of adversity... even rescue teams struggled as the river raged after hours of rain, so a coast guard helicopter came to

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports in johannesburg. nicholas: it has often been a heaught relationship betwe media and the royals. tstories and photographs m sell papers. so as the sussexes, harry and meghan, visited johannesburg on the final day of their tou the cameras were there in force. he is particularlyou sensitive abintrusion, exercised about protivting his family's pracy. we all know the reason. ooere were so many moments in harry's child when he came ea resent the media for th trtment of his mother, diana. little surprise, perhaps, whennt s such as this are recalled. but in last night's statement about the tabloid media, he aboureferred to the obsessive pursuit of her. "i see what happens," he wrote, "when someone i love is t commoditizthe point where they are no longer treated were seen as a real person.real i lost my mother, and now i watch myife falling victim to the same powerful forces." at no point during the day was there any public reference to the court action begun in the past couple of dayagainst "the mail on sunday

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports in johannesburg. nicholas: it has often been a fraught relationip between the media and the yals. stories and photographs of them sell papers. sothe sussexes, harry and meghan, visited hannesburg on the final day of their tour, tr, cameras were there iforce. he is particularly sensitive t intrusion, exercised about protecting his family's privac we all know the reason.re there we so many moments in harry's childhood when he came to resent the media for the treatment of his mother, diana.r little surprise, perhaen moments such as thisre recalled. but in last night's statement about the tabloid media, he referred to the tsessive pursuit of her. "i see what happens," he wrote, "when someone i love is commoditized to the point where theyre no longer treated wer seen as a real person. i lost my mother, and now i im to my wife falling vi the same powerful foes." at no poinduring the day was there any public reference to the court action begun in the t past couple of days agaihe mail on sunday" or harry's bro

so that was nicholas witchell with that report, and, kasia, as you can imagine, we've been talking about lot of debate about whether that was necessary , of debate about whether that was necessary, so i'm sure we'll hear a lot more from the protesters as well as police and of course carrie lam, the city's chief executive who will be returning to the city after attending that celebration in beijing. and, mariko, a little bit later on, the people that have been arrested, we are expecting them to appear in court. briefly, i assume there could be tensions when they do appear in court? 100 people charged with rioting from sunday's gathering will be appearing in court. protesters have been calling each other, especially in social media, to show up at the court and the —— show their support. it's one of the demands of the protesters are campaigning for, asking for more democracy in a peaceful manner which then turned violent, also the unconditional release of those who we re unconditional release of those who were arrested as well as universal suffrage. 0k, mariko, many thanks. this is of cours

nicholas witchell there in johannesburg is the duke and duchess of sussex are on the final moves of that has been in hong kong. looking forward, there have been many arrests following these days of protests, what happens to those people when they now face charges? —— mariko 0i has been in hong kong. in about 30 minutes loop was time, those 100 or so people will be appearing in court and protesters have been calling on each other to show their support. the term rioting is one of the demands by the protesters not to categorise them as such. other demands include universal suffrage as well as the unconditional release of those who have been arrested. but at the same time, after witnessing one of the worst valences yesterday, there is no end in sight —— some of the worst violence, there seems no way to calm down the division in society. think you mariko 0i for your coverage in hong kong. we will give you an update on those people who will face charges. we will see you very soon. goodbye for now. good morning. we've all had our fair share of rain, haven't we, just recently? in fact, tuesday,

nicholas witchell, bbc news, johannesburg. we can talk to nick in johannesburg now.itive coverage on this tour, you made that point, so, why this action now? i think their hand was. by the legal process, solicitors for the two sides, for the sussex is in for associated newspapers have been in touch with each other for a good few months, properly since february, they have failed to reach an out—of—court settlement and so, it was decided by the sussexes that they would take mail on sunday to court, the court papers were lodged, they were processed on monday, the fa ct they were processed on monday, the fact that this action was being taken was fact that this action was being ta ken was about fact that this action was being taken was about to enter the public domain and that. a hand last night. not at all ideal time, 2a hours before the end of what has been a very successful visit. the other thing i think it is unclear is the extent to which, if at all, harry has heeded advice from his officials about the wording of that very outspoken statement last night. it was very

nicholas witchell, bbc news, johannesburg.rship with bp, under pressure from environmental campaigners. the energy firm has subsidised a £5 ticket scheme for 16— to 25—year olds since 2013. rsc officials say they can't ignore the strength of feeling about the sponsorship, which they say has stopped young people engaging with the company. our arts editor, will gompertz, has the story. voiceover: if you're aged 16 to 25, then you can explore a world of theatre with bp's £5 tickets. this is the video the royal shakespeare company made to promote its bp sponsored subsidised tickets for 16 to 25—year—olds, who appeared happy with the deal at the time. it opens up a whole new world for you. such a variety of things, it's brilliant. it's the rsc and it's £5. you can't really say no to an offer like that. though not so much now, according to the rsc, which said in a statement... and so, today, it abruptly ended its relationship with the oil and gas giant. i don't believe that it's going to affect the number of people who can access th

nicholas witchell, bbc news, johannesburg.tunity" to help victims. that was theresa may's message in her first speech in the commons since resigning as prime minister. mrs may's government introduced the domestic abuse bill injuly, but its progress was delayed when borisjohnson suspended parliament. during the debate, the labour mp rosie duffield shared her own experience of domestic abuse, as our political correspondent jessica parker reports. a sense of discord has hung over this place recently but today, a loving partner shouldn't take away your choice of clothes. its adverts and campaigns like this about domestic abuse that are aimed at helping victims. domestic abuse bill, second reading. today mps debated legislation with cross— party today mps debated legislation with cross—party support. mrs theresa may. and, in herfirst commons speech since stepping down as prime minister, she said it is a landmark bill. but of course passing the legislation is only one step. this is about changing the attitude that people take to dom

nicholas witchell, bbc news, johannesburg.t comes after a group of students said last week that they would boycott the theatre if it continued to accept funding from the oil giant. bp says it is dismayed, pointing out that tens of thousands of students have benefited from its £5 a ticket scheme. let's talk to our arts editor, will gompertz, in central london for us this evening. these companies play an important pa rt these companies play an important part in arts funding, held much of a blow do you think this is going to be? well, george, companies such as —— organisations such as the national portrait gallery behind me, also sponsored by bp, have a fairly basic funding model, a third coming from public subsidy, a third from other activities and a third from sponsorship and philanthropy and if you take one of those away, the institution can wobble a bit. i don't think that is going to happen with the rsc in this instance, i don't think bp were giving them that much money. we don't know how they are going to fund those subsidi

nicholas witchell, bbc news, johannesburg.d trump over their impeachment proceedings against him has deepened. donald trump has once again called the whistleblower complaint against him a hoax. speaking at the white house, he insisted he had put no pressure on the ukrainian president to investigate his democrat rival joe biden and his son. and tension bubbled over at a press conference during an official visit of the president of finland. go ahead, ask a question. the question, sir, was what did you want the president to do about vice president biden and his son hunter. are you talking to me? yes, it was a follow—up of what ijust asked. are you talking to me? yes, it was a follow-up of what i just asked. we have the president of finland. asking a question. i have one for him. ijust wanted to follow—up on the one that i asked you. did you hear me? asking the question.|j hear me? asking the question.” but... hear me? asking the question.” but. . . asked hear me? asking the question.” but... asked this gentleman a question. don't

nicholas witchell, bbc news, johannesburg.ondent andy moore is outside buckingham palace for us this morning. andy, we've just heard a taste of what prince harry has had to say on this, but it's clearly very heartfelt, isn't it? yes, he says this wife has been the victim of yes, he says this wife has been the victi m of relentless yes, he says this wife has been the victim of relentless propaganda that is knowingly false and malicious. he says it is bullying, pure and simple. now, the legal company representing the couple say they have been forced to take this action because the paper wouldn't back down oi’ because the paper wouldn't back down or apologise, so no surprise that we've got a statement last night from the daily mail, sorry, the mail on sunday. saying the mail on sunday stands by the story it published and we will be defending this case vigorously. specifically, we categorically deny that the duchess‘s letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning, that last comment in response to claims from the prince tha

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell is travelling with the prince and sent this report.malawi — a place which should be a sanctuary for wildlife, for elephants in particular. except for this. the scourge of the poaching gangs, which kill wildlife in africa's game parks. it is a problem which takes human life as well. prince harry laid a wreath at a memorial to guardsman mathew talbot from the coldstream guards, killed earlier this year while he was on an anti—poaching patrol in support of local park rangers. having killed an animal... and then a demonstration laid on for the vip visitor. a gang of poachers who have killed an elephant are making off with the prized ivory tusks. in pursuit, a joint british army park ranger patrol, tracking them through the bush. it ended, unsurprisingly, with the poachers rounded up and in custody. this is a carefully staged example of what happens at the sharp end of the battle against the poachers. but of course, the underlying issue here is the need to conserve nature. and on that, harry, who is opening a new section of forest, part of

nicholas witchell, bbc news, johannesburg., with more rain and strong winds forecast for tomorrow. 0n the isle of man a major incident was declared yesterday, after flash flooding trapped some people indoors. cars were submerged after heavy rain in leicestershire and landslides blocked railway lines in cumbria. 0ur correspodnent tim muffett is in laxey on the isle of man. some of the pictures from yesterday we re some of the pictures from yesterday were quite astonishing, lots of people looking at those images on the bbc news app, so what is it like today? it is nice and sunny, but as you say some of those pictures were dramatic. many places had heavy rainfall but on the east coast of the isle of man... the river close by, burst its banks and the water came cascading into many properties, this being one of them. the water has subsided now but the damage... this must be very traumatic and thank you for talking to us. what happened yesterday? we came out, a normal day and it was raining. went to go to work. studio: iam really st

duke and duchess are on the last leg of their tour of southern africa. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchelling less than a stinging attack on the british tabloid media. now, at the centre of this legal case is a letter written by the duchess to her estranged father, thomas, at his home in mexico, portions of which were quoted in the mail on sunday earlier this year. in his statement, the duke says that his wife has become one of the latest victims of the british tabloid media. he refers to a ruthless campaign that's escalated over the past year. he talks about the double standards of this specific press pack, which has vilified her almost daily for the past nine months. he says that this amounts to bullying, and then he says this. "my greatest fear is of history repeating itself." now, i understand that both the queen and the prince of wales have been informed of this legal action. both the duke and duchess clearly feel very strongly about this. they feel that they have no option now but to take one of the country's most powerful newspaper groups to court. in a statement a short time ago, t

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell is in johannesburg.er this year the centre of the duchess's legal action. it quoted from a private letter she had written to his estranged — make her estranged father in mexico. the couple in their final stages father in mexico. the couple in theirfinal stages of father in mexico. the couple in their final stages of their tour of southern africa have now begun legal action in the duchess's name in the high court in london, alleging breach of privacy and copyright infringement. in a strongly worded statement, the duke has said: mac —— harry says his deepest fear is history repeating itself. he writes: that is a remarkably outspoken statement. it is clearly a measure of how deeply the couple feel. they believe they have no option now to ta ke believe they have no option now to take a major newspaper group to court. time for a quick look ahead at some other events happening today. it's the first day of pre—trial hearings in the corruption case against israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. it comes at t

nicholas witchell, bbc news, johannesburg. the great television figures of his time". a statement from his management company said he "died peacefully last night" in maidstone hospital in kent. we shall all miss him. in a moment the latest business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. our main headline this hour — the government has published its brexit proposals to the eu — they include plans to replace the irish backstop, instead creating an an "all—island regulatory zone". here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. is it the start of a new trade war? after a 15—year dispute over subsidies the eu gave to plane maker airbus, the us has been told it can impose tariffs on £6.1bn worth of goods it imports from the european union. it could mean tariffs on goods ranging from planes to shellfish are imposed. the european commission said the tariffs would be short—sighted and counterproductive. the chief executive of tesco says he‘ll leave hisjob next summer. dave lewis took over at britain‘s biggest retaile

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has been following the couple, his report contains flashingmedia and the royals. stories about them, photographs of them, sell papers. so, as the sussexes, harry and meghan, visited a township nearjohannesburg on the final day of their tour, the cameramen and reporters were there in force. he is particularly sensitive about intrusion, especially exercised about protecting his and his family's privacy. we all know the reason. there were so many moments in harry's childhood when he came to resent the media for their treatment of his mother, diana. little surprise, perhaps, when moments such as this are recalled. but in last night's statement about the tabloid media, he referred to their obsessive pursuit of her. "i've seen what happens, he wrote," when someone i love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. i lost my mother and now i watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces." at no point during the day was there any public reference to the court action begun in the past couple of days