gathered on the streets of the seaside town of bray to pay their respects to the singer and also to the activist, sinead o connor. fix, the activist, sinead o connor. a huge shock for many when she died last month at the age of 56. what we can see here is herfuneral cartridgejust can see here is herfuneral cartridge just proceeding along the seafront in bray. people have been leaving flowers, throwing flowers as well. very sombre in bray, thousands have gathered. sinead o connor best known for her single nothing compares two u, that was a big hit backin compares two u, that was a big hit back in 1990, lived in this town which is just back in 1990, lived in this town which isjust outside dublin, for the past 15 years and was loved by many as we can see by the crowds that have shown up. to watch the funeral cortege go past. sombre scenes in bray and we will return live later in the programme. we are going to turn out to a major political emergency unfolding in west africa. dip
antony blinken, has voiced his concern that niger sjunta might turn to the russian mercenary group wagnerfor help. the group is active in neighbouring countries and its leader has welcomed the takeover. the coup leaders are currently standing firm against calls to restore democratic rule. here s what mr blinken had to say about wagner. for sure, we have concerns when we see something like the wagner group possibly manifesting itself in different parts of the sahel. and here is why we are concerned. because every single place that this group, wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed. insecurity has gone up, not down. it has not been a response to the needs of the countries in question for greater security. i think what happened and what continues to happen in niger was not instigated by russia or by wagner but to the extent that they try to take advantage of it and we see a repeat of what has happened in other countries where they ve brought not
coming up on bbc news, england quarterfinal opponents will be columbia who got the better of jamaica and the women s world cup of a i jamaica and the women s world cup of a i- 01 jamaica and the women s world cup of a i 01 victory. hello. thousands of people, including politicians and pop stars have turned out, to pay tribute to the singer, sinead o connor. the private funeral service took place in her hometown of bray in county wicklow, with well wishers lining the streets, as the cortege passed by. she died in london last month, at the age of 56. colin paterson has the story. they had come in their thousands to pay tribute to that woman they loved. my mother is 93 and she wanted to come out here. it was your mum s idea? yes. she was a woman that spoke what she wanted, you know? yeah. for the people. she was a warrior - and a weapon standing up to the powers that be before anyone else was. i sinead o connor lived on the sea front in bray county wicklow for 15 years. she lo
the leaders of eight south american countries that share the amazon, have gathered in the city of belem. the summit s host brazilian president lula da silva has urged leaders to agree on common policies to protect the environment and boost sustainable development. scientists are concerned that, deforestation in the amazon may be approaching an irreversible tipping point. president lula is hoping for a co ordinated regional approach, to tackle illegal mining and logging as well as other environmental crimes. he s promised to end deforestation in brazil by 2030. our south america correspondent katy watson reports from para, the most deforested state in brazil. virgin forest still exists here in the amazon, but every day the illegal loggers get closer. from up high you can see the damage done, the large patches of land totally cleared. this part of brazil has the highest rate of deforestation in the country. president lula has promised to fix the problem, telling the b
has to provide drinking and waste water and it does not have any competitors, but as you say, it has amassed debts of £14 billion over the years and this has to be serviced. it costs the costs are rising because of inflation. interest rates are rising. cost of servicing the debt has gone up. and also, it has to pay each year in investment, it is under fire for leaky pipes, sewage flowing into rivers, not meeting its performance targets, and of course hefty fines in the process. it needs to raise new money. it has already had half £1 billion from shareholders and it needs to raise in the region of another billion and it has a debt repayment coming up in the next year. it has to try and persuade its shareholders that this turnaround plan under the new ceo, sarah bentley, who left rather abruptly yesterday, that the plan is working, and for them to stump up and i think what has brought this story to the fourie is news that the government is looking at options. contingency p