The greens will become the first party to launch its manifesto later, with a pledge to reach net zero Carbon Emissions in the uk by 2030. Ahead of the general election bbc news is in southampton today, looking at the issues concerning voters there, with a focus on education. Renowned broadcaster Sir David Attenborough tells the bbc the world is beginning to tackle the threat of Plastic Waste. Its a bit of a litmus test to see whether, in fact, the population care about this sort of thing, and people do. And so i think its very encouraging. Coming up in sport, a big day for wales. If they beat hungary tonighttheyll qualify for the european championships for only the second time. Good morning and welcome to the bbc news at nine. An alleged victim ofjeffrey epstein has appealed directly to Prince Andrew to come forward and give a statement to us investigators. The duke is facing renewed calls to tell the authorities about his friendship with epstein, a convicted sex offender. Heres our los angeles correspondent, sophie long. This is the lawyer in los angeles representing five of Jeffrey Epsteins alleged victims. With her, a young woman who told reporters crammed into the small room that epstein raped her when she was 15. We were not hidden. It is upsetting to me to think that anyone who was closely associated withjeffrey epstein might argue that they didnt suspect that he might have been sexually abusing children. Her attorney urged Prince Andrew to come to the United States and tell investigators everything he knows about the behaviour and activities of his former friend, jeffrey epstein. He described in his interview this weekend thatJeffrey Epsteins home was like a railway station. A lot of people coming in and out. He should have asked, why are these girls here . This is the interview ms allred was referring to. Prince andrew responded to the allegations about him with categoric denials of impropriety. You can say categorically that you dont recall meeting virginia roberts, dining with her, dancing with her at tramp, or going on to have sex with her in a bedroom in a house in belgravia. Yes, i can absolutely categorically tell you, it never happened. But there are further signs of the damage to Prince Andrews reputation. The accountants kpmg have announced they are withdrawing their sponsorship of one of his initiatives, a mentoring scheme for entrepreneurs. Sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. Rohan silva was an adviser to pm David Cameron. Yesterday he wrote in the Evening Standard about two meetings with Prince Andrew at which he alleged that Prince Andrew had used racially offensive language. He spoke to the today programme on radio 4 earlier this moring. I traced the topic of the British Trade department and whether the prince thought it should be reformed, and he said to me, well, if you pardon the expression, that really is the n in the woodpile. That expression i did know, and i was, in truth, really shocked by it. The meeting ended shortly afterwards, and i remember walking out of Buckingham Palace and just feeling an incredible sense of regret that i hadnt said anything at the time, i hadnt taken him to task and challenge that. That was rohan silva, and we should say again that the palace has strenuously denied that the duke of york made these comments. More than 200 protesters remain barricaded inside a Hong Kong University surrounded by police, as a standoff there enters a third day. Protesters inside Polytechnic University are said to be running low on supplies. The territoritys chief executive carrie lam says she wants a peaceful solution but she cant rule out using force if a life threatening situation emerges. Rich preston has the latest. The morning after the night before. After days of violence, diminishing numbers of protesters and supplies. Ata numbers of protesters and supplies. At a press conference earlier the chief executive, carrie lam, said about 600 people had already left the university, around 200 of them minors. She encouraged those under 18 still inside the building to leave, saying they would not be arrested. Some have already had enough. Our only worry is to surrender, but then we were really afraid of being charged. Carrie lam insisted she has full control and does not need to china. |j insisted she has full control and does not need to china. I would assure you that we remain very confident that we are able to cope with the situation. Does not need to call on china. For those who refused to leave, a police cordoned remains in place and a promise that, sooner or remains in place and a promise that, sooner or later, he will be arrested. About 100 are reportedly still inside the university and say they are prepared to set it out. |j have stored an amount of dried food and some snacks. It is enough for me to stay a week or two weeks. The surrender of these protesters, cold and hungry, will be a welcome sight to authorities both in hong kong and beijing. Despite many leaving and despite carrie lams insistence that she has control, those inside are still a thorn in the side of hong kong authorities. This is not over yet. 0ur correspondent Rupert Wingfield hayes has been watching events unfold and brings us up to date. What you can see behind me here is the result of what happened here last night, which is that thousands of protesters came out onto the street here in kowloon, really, in support of the students who are besieged inside the campus of the hong kong Polytechnic University, which is about a kilometre down the street behind me here. And the object of those protests was really to cause as much chaos as possible and to divert the police, pull the police away, to allow the students inside that campus to escape. And this is the result. You can see all of this debris on either sides of the streets. These protesters were ripping up the sidewalks, ripping up the pavement. This street this morning was completely filled with debris, with roadblocks, there were cars burned, there were buses burned. It was, right across the southern end of kowloon, scenes of complete mayhem last night. Theres been a lot of cleaning up going on this morning. Now, at the campus, the siege is still going on, although it is much smaller than it was last night. We understand around about 100, we think, protesters remain inside there, the holdouts, either because they are hardliners or because they are just too scared to give themselves up to police. Since yesterday around 600 people have given themselves up. Of those, we understand a third, around 200, were minors under the age of 18. They have been allowed to go home after their details were taken by police. Thats one of the concessions carrie lam and the government has given to try and defuse the situation. Anybody under the age of 18 will be allowed to go home, but all the rest have been taken into police custody. And police this morning say they have taken more than 1100 people into custody over the last two days. Rupert wingfield hayes. Borisjohnson will go head to head withJeremy Corbyn tonight in the first of the general election live tv debates their first major clash of the campaign. The lib dems and the snp had wanted to be included, but lost a legal challenge yesterday. Meanwhile this morning theres a string of policy announcements, so lets take a look at what the parties are saying. The green party of england and wales will launch its election manifesto later, promising to spend £100 billion a year to help the uk reach net zero Carbon Emissions by 2030. The conservatives say adults who murder children will face life in prison without parole, if they are elected in december. And labour has promised to spend £45 million on combatting fox hunting, hare coursing and other wildlife crimes if they get into power. 0ur assistant political editor, norman smith, is in westminsterfor us. Good morning, norman. Lets start with tonights debate, the first live tv debate of the campaign. Are we expecting anything earth shattering from that debate tonight, and what do you think the two sides will consider a success . The short answer is we dont know, i suppose that is what makes it so fascinating, you have an hour of Live Television where anything could happen, albeit previous history suggests a usually dozen. What is slightly different about this debate, it is the very first time we will just have had debate, it is the very first time we willjust have had two Prime Ministerial candidates head to head, the last time we had anything like this you have to go all the way back to 2010 when there were three people in the ring, notch as gordon brown and David Cameron but nick clegg, which provided a change in the dynamic not just which provided a change in the dynamic notjust gordon brown. There was that brief upsurge in cleggmania. These debates have the potential to change a dynamic, but very often they do not, in part, i think, because both sides tend to be so well prepared, so well drilled, so well prepared, so well drilled, so familiar with each others arguments. We see so much of our political leaders now, our views and perceptions of them are pretty well grounded so it would have to be an almighty zinger or an extraordinary clangerfor it almighty zinger or an extraordinary clanger for it to be a almighty zinger or an extraordinary clangerfor it to be a Game Changing moment. In terms of the choreography of tonight, half of it will be devoted to brexit, so actually that pays to borisjohnson because undoubtedly he wants this to be about brexit, he wants the election to be about brexit and he will get half a tonights one Hour Programme on his core subject. The second half will cover absolutely Everything Else, from Foreign Affairs to the economy to education to home affairs. So it would seem to play to borisjohnson. Affairs. So it would seem to play to boris johnson. That is interesting, that the structure in that half of the debate will be devoted to subjects beyond brexit, because you wonder how much traction those at the policy issues are getting on a day when we have a handful of policy announcements and a manifesto launch . There is an awful lot going on, the question is how much breaks through into the a, and i would suspect not much, at the end of the day. Yes, we get the Green Party Ma nifesto, day. Yes, we get the Green Party Manifesto, a pledge of £100 billion more each year in being spent towards getting a stored net Carbon Neutral emission odds, they are planning to scrap tuition fees, another brexit referendum and a basic national income, in other words the universal benefit. The tories are talking about child killers having life injail without parole. Labour talking about more powers to Police Officers to investigate rural crime, the lib dems confirm they will put a penny on income tax to dedicate to the nhs and social care. Perfectly decent, serious policy proposals, they may not be cut through because the way the election seems to be shaping out is that so much of it seems to be solidified around your views on brexit, then the other half seems to be labours attempt to try to move the debate onto the nhs and austerity and Everything Else seems to be slightly falling between the tracks. Norman smith, thank you. The headlines on bbc news. Prince andrew faces new calls to talk to us investigators about his friendship with sex offenderjeffrey epstein from a woman who claims to be one of epsteins victims. In hong kong around a hundred protesters are still thought to be barricaded inside a university, which has been under siege by the police since sunday. Borisjohnson and Jeremy Corbyn go head to head in the first tv debate of the Election Campaign tonight after the lib dems and snp failed in a legal bid to be included. A massive day for wales as they try to qualify for the euros and eczema. They need a win against hungary in cardiff. Theyve only been to one major championship in the last 60 years. Ireland missed out on automatic qualification. They needed to beat denmark go through but could only manage a 1 all draw in dublin. Denmark qualify, ireland are in the play offs. And somerset have been docked 2a points after being found guilty of preparing a poor pitch for last Seasons County championship decider against essex. Theyll start next season on minus 12 points, with another 12 suspended for two years. Ill be back with more on all those stories are just after half past. See you soon, sally. Throughout the campaign, bbc news will be looking closely at the places where the election could be won and lost. We will be visiting ten parts of the uk where seats will be closely contested. From 11 today, the bbc news channel will be live from southampton on the south coast of england. The city is split into three constituencies. Two were held by the conservatives and one by labour in the last election. Later, simon mccoy will be in itchen. In 2017, the conservatives were re elected there but onlyjust, by 31 votes. Its a Battle Ground for the conservative and labour. Back in 2010 labour held the seat by 192. So a true swing seat. Dan walker has been finding out a little more about the history and the politics of the area. This morning were in southampton in hampshire on englands south coast. This is a port city with a long and varied maritime history. The mayflower docked here before setting sail for the new world almost 400 years ago. And it was from here that the titanic began its ill fated Maiden Voyage back in 1912. Southampton was the birthplace of the spitfire, which played a crucial role in world war ii. It was once home to one of britains most celebrated writers, jane austen, and now has modern celebrities like craig david. Most of the city is split into two constituencies conservative held Southampton Itchen and labour held southampton test. Itchen has been a Battle Ground seat for decades with Royston Smith claiming victory over labour byjust 31 votes in the last election. Over in southampton test, labours Alan Whitehead has been the mp since 1997. A leave voting city in the eu referendum, we can all expect plenty of attention on southampton over the coming weeks. Heres a list of candidates standing in southampton test. And these are the candidates standing in Southampton Itchen. You can find the full list of candidates standing here by going to the election section of the bbc news website. One of the election issues were looking at today is school funding. 0ur education editor Branwen Jeffreys has been looking at how classrooms are trying to raise standards and balance the books. You have chosen one number and youve made one number. Adding up is not always easy. For schools, cash in, wages out do not always match. Last year, this school went £200,000 over budget so everything is rationed, from glue to printing. Every now and then ill do something really special which i class as special that has to be in colour, but Everything Else just has to be in black and white because its too expensive. How do you manage when youre making your displays, youre doing things for the class, if you dont have enough money . I do it at home. I am spending a lot on coloured things that i need around. So the school is trying to raise standards while cutting costs. The cash going into englands schools has been going up, but the bills have been rising even faster, so the first bit of any money promised will have to go towards reversing those cuts. So the spending per child might just get back to where it was almost a decade ago. A third of the kids here get free school lunches. Some families are given food bank vouchers, not so easy to ask parents to fundraise. The head says this year they will balance the budget. Beef last ever speech and language person and our librarian, both coasts are very valuable and i would not get rid of those posts if i did not get rid of those posts if i did not have too. Have you really found all the savings that you can . Weve looked at every single budget heading that we can look at, and our biggest expenditure is staffing and people, so that is what it comes down to. Thats just what you have to look at. We have lost maybe 20 posts over the last four years. School budgets in england have cast a long political shadow, now, all the parties are promising more. Head teachers worry it is still not enough. Branwen jeffrey, bbc news, southampton. And with the election just over three weeks away, you can go online and find out who you can vote for on december the 12th check out the candidates who are standing in your area at bbc. Co. Uk news or on the bbc news app. Sir David Attenborough has said the world is starting to tackle the threat of Plastic Waste because people have become much more aware of the dangers it poses to marine life. He was speaking as the bbcs Natural History unit won an International Prize for highlighting the issue. Heres our science editor david shukman. Depressing images of Plastic Waste drifting in the water. Sights captured by