A warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. Also in the programme, new Research Suggests a desk at home and keen parents will help a child get to university more than smaller class sizes and a good school. Do you agree . If you went to university what was key to your success . Get in touch, just use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. We start in hong kong where pro democracy activists have continued to occupy parts of hong kongs Polytechnic University after a night of clashes. At one stage activists set fire to two of the entrances when police moved into the campus. A0 people have been arrested and police have been clashing with other protestors in the surrounding streets. Rich preston has the details. The battle for the university lasted a whole day and a whole night of the hundreds of protesters made this their base, barricading themselves inside. Police did try to enter the building, but were met by a barrage of petrol bombs. Fires raged at two entrances to the complex. Rubber bullets, tear gas, and Water Cannons we re bullets, tear gas, and Water Cannons were all used, and live ammunition was threatened. We arrived yesterday around three oclock or four oclock in the afternoon, and throughout the entire day, protesters just stood firm. Dozens of people were reportedly arrested. These are some of the most violent scenes in these Anti Government protests so far, and with each week, new scars on hong kong. With no clear end in sight for either the politicians or the protesters. Lets go live there now. Joining me now is correspondent robin brant. Whats happening at the moment . Not much outside, but have a look at this. This is the aftermath of fires, petrol bombs, rubber bullets, and just look at the debris on the road down here, this has been in place for a couple of days now, this is the students efforts, very effective to block an entrance to one of hong kongs three tunnels that take you to the island. They have really been looking to increase their impact on hong kongs infrastructure. These two bridges here, the first one there is dust was on fire last night, no one was injured, we were assured. The one behind as a road bridge, if you look in the distance you can see the umbrella stopping where we were last night and it was the scene of an hours long stand off between police and protesters stop elizabeth entrances these are both entrances these are both entrances to the university. This is the university itself, and an air there are around 500 protesters remain in place. They were there last night, they were there this morning. Police attempted to get an, they were repelled, i think reports as well as some protesters trying to get out but they were repelled as well, so what essentially what you have now is kind of a siege, where police officers, some of whom you can see at the moment waiting to see what comes next in the operation, it looks and appears like the police are essentially trying to blockade them inside and wait it out. They have told protesters that they can leave if they take their masks off and put their weapons down and come out peacefully. I am told actually that bridge over there is the place to try to do that but one officer we just spoke to said that no one is coming out, so perhaps a bit of confusion on the ground. But thats where we are after what has definitely been a night of the most aggressive and threatening confrontations between the two sides. Looking ahead, do we think this week will be the same as last week with the protests continued throughout the week in hong kong in various parts of hong kong, whereas previously it was more happening just on the weekends . You are right, last week was definitely different, the nature of this confrontation changed for both police, but certainly for the protesters, there we re certainly for the protesters, there were Office Workers coming out during the lunchtime in central district, right in the very heart of hong kongs financial district and taking over a few roads, causing quite a lot of significant disruption. We have seen these campus occupations as well by the protesters, First Chinese university in the last 48 hours here at polytechnic, and on the police side, they say they are being more aggressive because they are responding to petrol bombs and bows and arrows and catapults, but i think look towards the words of president xijinping, he think look towards the words of president xi jinping, he talked about the authorities here being more stern, more decisive and upholding the rule of law, maybe thatis upholding the rule of law, maybe that is why the police are taking on slightly more, not slightly more but certainly more, assertive tactics at the university. All right, for now thank you very much indeed. We will be looking at that in detail in the news briefing as well, looking at how local media is reporting on what is happening there at the moment. Prince andrew is said to be standing by his decision to give a Television Interview about his disgraced former friend jeffrey epstein, and allegations made against him personally. The duke of york told the bbc he didnt regret his association with epstein, while admitting it was a mistake to stay with him in new york in 2010, when he was a convicted sex offender. He also denied the allegations of Virginia Roberts who says she had sex with him in london when she was 17. Andy moore reports. Its the interview that continues to dominate the National Conversation stopping people close to Prince Andrew told the bbc he stood by his decision to do it. He wanted to address the issues involved with what they called honesty and humility, but it is hard to find anyone who thinks it was a success. I think that if a member of the royal family who was clearly friendly with a convicted six offender was going to go on television, then the first words out of his mouth should be i am sorry and if theres anything i can do to assist these victims and anyway, i would want to do that. But todays daily mail has claimed andrew has expressed in private the sympathy for epsteins victims that he didnt state and public. The son takes a very different line, claiming the prince had told the queen has interview had been a great success. Whatever the angle, the interview continues to dominate the headlines. There is also analysis of andrews admission that he had met epsteins girlfriend this year even though she had been accused of helping epstein room has victims. If there are questions that she has to answer, thatis questions that she has to answer, that is her problem, im afraid. I am not in a position to comment one way or another. When was your last contact with her . It was earlier this year. About what . She was here doing some rally. She has always denied the accusations against her. This was her six years ago, she hasnt been seen in public for many months and nobody seems to know where she is now. Lets brief you on some of the other stories making the news the winner of sri lankas president ial election, gotabhaya rajapa ksa, has promised to be the leader of all sri lankans, regardless of race or religion. The former defence minister won just over 52 of the vote, with his support concentrated in sinhalese majority areas. Chiles president Sebastian Pinera has condemned for the first time what hes called abuses commited by police in dealing with weeks of Anti Government protests. In a speech to the nation, mr pinera said the army and police had used Excessive Force in containing the unrest during which 22 people have been killed and thousands injured. He said any officer found to have breached protocols would face justice and extended sympathy to all those affected. The interim government in bolivia has had to fly basic provisions into la paz as supporters of the former president evo morales continue to block major highways to the city. Stocks of fuel and food have run low and there are long queues outside shops. The interim president says shell call fresh elections soon in an attempt to calm the tensions. Lets turn to the uk general election now, which is just under four weeks away. Party leaders will attempt to woo britains Business Leaders with speeches to the cbis annual conference later. With me isjonathan charles managing director, communications at European Bank for reconstruction and development. Very good to see you, as usual. So the cbi, you got borisjohnson, jo swinson and jeremy corbyn. One thing will unite them, and that is they are appearing before an audience of Business People and businesspeople at the moment do not love really the political parties, because they see issues about all of them, so yes they do with the messages. Boris johnson is saying i am the man who will get brexit dunn, ill help you with business rates, ill look at reforms. Jeremy corbyn saying go with me and you get 320,000 new apprentice places, very important for the future of business industry. Jo swinson almost saying like the conservatives, we other steady party, we wont be making all these crazy spending promises. She is saying we other one that will stop brexit. Yes, and it was going to say, the one issue is of crucial importance and that is brexit, whats going to happen, because they know that if even Dominic Brexit is done, there are many years of trade talks to come and that will be immensely difficult. Boris johnson looks like hes going to say i know you didnt want brexit, hes going to tell them that, but what you want is certainty and i can give you certainty, so he is going on the certainty, so he is going on the certainty message, but we are looking ahead and i think the head of that cbi has made this critically, 2020 will be not an easy yearfor critically, 2020 will be not an easy year for business, but probably one of the most crucial years. Its quite interesting, because we had a referendum in 2016 and we are now looking towards 2020. Good lord is it that long ago . Fair play to british businesses, small, medium, large, they have had to navigate yea rs of large, they have had to navigate years of uncertainty and having to change their plan again and again, we are possibly going to live at the end of march, and it is all. They have had to really think on their feet and they have proved to be very resilient. I think resilience is the keyword because theres no doubt that most businesses anywhere in the world, they are really good at being a fleet of foot. They can adapt to circumstances and they have certainly been doing that, but on the other hand in terms of brexit, there are crunch points coming up. If we are heading towards a deal which seem to be doing borisjohnson wins, then they are taking decisions. We are seeing manufacturing moving out of the united kingdom, we are seeing decisions that have been put on hold for a very long time, that will continue. I think, for a very long time, that will continue. Ithink, even for a very long time, that will continue. I think, even certainty as to what will happen, means uncertainty. Thank you for now. Jonathan is back a little later. We have got so much to discuss in a news briefing, and that is still to come. Large parts of central venice in italy are once again under water, as another exceptionally high tide inundated the city. Three of the worst ten floods since records began in venice, nearly a hundred years ago, have now happened within a week. Sam ryder reports. For venetians, more water and more misery. A week of flooding has closed businesses and attractions in one of the worlds most popular tourist destinations. This, the famous st marks square, normally filled with people. The city is now streets and alleyways turned into a network of canals themselves. The floods, known as the aqua alta, brought suffering and heartache. Translation we have lots of damage. The electrical system went underwater and lots of merchandise got lost. Necklaces and other goods, all underwater. We had to work a lot, every day, as you can see we have had to lift desks and drawers. There is a lot of work still to do. Rainfall of 140 millimetres floods roughly 70 of venice. Sundays rainfall was forecast to be around 160 millimetres. In the end, it was slightly lower. A small relief for residents and business owners. The mayor of venice has blamed the recent extreme weather on Climate Change, calling for more to be done. Translation the water has devastated the city, but venetians are on their knees only when they pray. Venice will stand up. It will always stand up. But i deem it appropriate that promises made by the government and all Political Forces be carried out. Strong winds brought these surges of water into venice and are threatening other areas, too. Further south, in florence and tuscany, the threat of the rising river arno. Back in venice, the waters are now due to subside, but a massive cleanup operation lies ahead, as well as the constant fear what about next time . Stay with us on bbc news, still to come how to help workers when dirty coal mines close can spain be a model . Benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistans general election and shes asked pakistans president to name her as prime minister. Jacksons been released on bail of 3 million after turning himself in to police in santa barbara. It was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast growing european anti nuclear movement. The South African government has announced that its opening the countrys remaining whites only beaches to people of all races. This will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilisation. Part of the centuries old windsor castle, one of the queens residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds worth of damage. Youre watching the briefing. 0ur headlines Hong Kong Police have arrested at least 40 protesters after a two day standoff at the Polytechnic University building. Prince andrew stands by his exclusive interview to the bbc to defend his friendship with sex offender jeffrey epstein, sources say. Its been seen as deeply damaging. The burning of coal is a huge driver of Climate Change, producing around 40 of Global Carbon dioxide emissions. But its also estimated that coal mining employs 6 Million People worldwide. So it stands to reason that helping those miners find alternative livelihoods will also help protect our climate. Its called a just transition, and one woman has been leading efforts to have it adopted worldwide. For our series climate defenders, ahead of a major un conference on global warming, Maryam Moshiri went to meet her in northern spain. The sun is setting on spains coal Mining Industry. For years, the industry has been economically unviable, and now the demands of Climate Change are finishing it off altogether. But, as one door closes, could more open . Sharan burrow is the head of the International Trade union confederation. A union boss with a difference. One who wants to defend the climate as well as workers. We want to see this region live. At the end of last year, spain reached an agreement with unions and the Companies Involved to shut down all its remaining coal mines. A deal was forged which promised 250 Million Euros to help miners like these retire early or be retrained. They call it a just transition, and believe it is a model for the rest of the world. Sharan is here to tell miners there is hope for them, but the spanish coal Mining Industry has some miners who remain unconvinced. Its good to look for alternatives. Sharan is visiting the recently shut down la escondida mine, one of many she has visited around the world to reassure workers about their future. I love being with the workers in their place of work and where they live. Coal burning is responsible for around one third of the rising global temperatures, the biggest source. It looks very rich, guys. Globally, around 6 Million People are employed in coal mining. And in some parts of the world, mostly in asia, coal fired power stations are still being built. Around here, though, things are very different. Mines like this one used to be the lifeblood of this area. But over the past decade, over 30,000 jobs have been lost in the coal Mining Industry in this region alone. In the nearby city of leon, sharans visit is generating a lot of interest. Just transition is under way in several countries, and industry sectors. And her message is blunt. We recognise there are no jobs on a dead planet. But there is a sharp reminder of the scale of the challenge she faces. The money she promised to help these men retrain hasnt filtered through because of continued Political Uncertainty in spain. Translation what i want to say is this agreement is good but it isnt being implemented. We need to build living jobs on a sustainable planet. If the planet is to live, we need dramatic ambition. The transition to a zero Carbon Society is essential. But it goes hand in hand with helping those whose jobs will be displaced. For sharan, it is very much a work in progress. She is well aware that in some cases, the reality does not yet match the aspiration. And next week well be looking at a huge source of global c02 emissions you may not even know about cement manufacturing. Well meet the boss of one cement company leading efforts to do something about it. Heres our briefing on some of the key events happening later. Now its time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. Hello, im Chetan Pathak with mondays sport briefing. We start with a man who beat Roger Federer in the semifinals, now Gree