this is bbc news. the headlines at five: a state of emergency has been declared in colombia after more than 250 people are killed in mudslides; many more are missing. police in croydon are treating a brutal attack on a 17—year—old kurdish—iranian boy as a hate crime — six people have been arrested. this was a cowardly and despicable attack, this is a young man who has come to this country to seek sanctuary and it appears he has been set upon. the writer, broadcaster and civil liberties campaigner, darcus howe, has died at the age of 7a. a teenager whose mother and brother were stabbed to death at home says the family is "devastated". lydia wilkinson left flowers at the scene earlier. theresa may reassures gibraltar of britain's "steadfast" commitment and says she will work to secure the "best possible outcome" from brexit talks. also in the last couple of minutes, cambridge win the 72nd women's boat race.

it is victory for cambridge... cambridge trial in a record time after oxford gets off to a dreadful start. celtic have won the scottish premier league with eigth games to spare after beating hearts 5—0 at tynecastle. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. rescue teams in colombia are searching through mud and debris for survivors of huge mudslides which have killed more than 250 people. hundreds more are injured or missing. the mud engulfed the town of mocoa, where rescue efforts are being hampered by bad weather. keith doyle has the latest. a wall of water, mud

and debris swathe large parts of the town of mocoa. thousands have lost their homes, hundreds have lost their lives. this mountainous region has had unusually heavy rain in recent months. further downpours caused the mocoa river to unleash a devastating mudslide. witnesses say people were running for their lives as the mud pushed cars into buildings and ripped trees from the ground. streets were left littered with huge boulders and people have been picking through crumbled buildings, trying to find the missing and salvage any possessions. hundreds of people are still missing, many of them children. lists of their names and ages are scoured by anxious relatives. translation: we have lost a baby who has gone missing. the rest is as you can see. a little baby, we can't find him anywhere. translation: we do not know how many deaths there are going to be.

we're still searching, but the first thing i want to say is that my heart, our hearts, the hearts of all colombians, are with the victims of this tragedy. many roads have been washed away or are blocked, making it difficult to get aid into the area, which is without power and running water. troops and volunteers are searching for survivors. heat—seeking cameras and drones are being flown over the debris. the red cross says it's crucial to find survivors within the first 72 hours. three days on, the death toll is expected to rise. keith doyle, bbc news. earlier i spoke to arturo wallace from the bbc‘s spanish speaking service, bbc mundo, about the latest developments. the rescue operations continued all through the night, the rescue services were using drones with thermal imagery to try to locate survivors under the mud and the bridge that now covers large parts of mocoa. of course now with daylight

they are redoubling their efforts, they know they have 72 hours, more or less, to have good chances of finding people alive. so, it's still going on, it is still very difficult to bring all systems there because it's a very remote area, roads are not in a good state and bridges actually fell, but there is still hope although everybody knows the clock is ticking. the state of emergency was declared which meant that rescue operations could kick in. are they properly equipped to deal with this? yes, colombia sadly has a lot of experience in these sorts of tragedies and they prepared themselves very well for these sorts of things. the military is assisting in the operation and of course they're also receiving support from abroad. a lot of countries in the region send their support, not only words but they're sending and help with experts. the most important thing is time. of course, very soon it will be about dealing

with the aftermath of what happened, there will be a lot of people probably trapped under the mud. there is a risk of course for health, the local hospital completely collapsed, there's very little food and water, no electricity. things could become quite bad quite quickly, but yeah, in a way, colombia, it might be one of the best prepared in the region to deal with this sort of stuff. it had been raining for some time, when were people warned? it came a little as a surprise. the vulnerability of cities such as mocoa is well known. a lot of houses have been built next to the river and deforestation poses a big risk because it allows these things to happen with a little more intensity. on friday the rain that fell was quite surprising, the colombian president said that in one single day, mocoa got

the equivalent to 30% of the monthly rain, so it was a surprise in a way. six people are being questioned about an attack on an asylum seeker standing at a bus stop in south london. the 17—year—old boy, who's kurdish—iranian, was left with a fractured skull after being subjected to what police say was a ‘savage‘ attack. andy moore reports. the young man, believed to be kurdish iranian, was waiting at a bus stop late on friday night with two friends when he was approached by a group of about eight people. he was attacked after telling them where he came from. we believe it is a hate crime. prior to the attack taking place the young person was asked where they were from and when they said that they were an asylum seeker that is when that frenzied attack took place. police say the gang chased

the young man around the corner into the street where they kicked him in the head and left him on the floor unconscious. after that a number of members of the public came to help him. the attack only stopped when the sound of sirens was heard. the gang made off in the direction of this nearby pub. the young man was left with a fractured skull and a blood clot on his brain. he is said to be in a serious but stable condition in hospital. his two friends escaped the attackers and received only minor injuries. the local mp said croydon had generally very good relations between people of different backgrounds. he called the incident an appalling crime against somebody who had come to this country to seek sanctuary. the writer, broadcaster and civil liberties campaigner darcus howe has died at the age of 7a. born in trinidad, he moved to england to study law, where he joined the

british black panthers. his was most well known for organising the 20,000 strong black people's march in 1981 claiming neglect and insufficient policing of the investigation into the new cross fire which killed 13 black teenagers. earlier i spoke to the biographer of da rcus earlier i spoke to the biographer of darcus howe who described him as a remarkable man. simply put he was a powerful black

activist and he had enormous experience of the movement and routing in the caribbean, american and british intellectual traditions. a truly remarkable man and it is a very sad loss. the playwright bonnie greer has described him as upon a ...hewas greer has described him as upon a hewasa greer has described him as upon a he was a fighter, enormously courageous, i guess that's perhaps what she's getting out. these acts of courage extended throughout his career. in 1971 he took on the metropolitan police, the home office and special branch in a 55 day trial as one of the mangrove nine, taking on the police in the 70s at a time of enormous police racism and corruption was an incredibly courageous thing to do but he turned

the tables on his accusers and won the tables on his accusers and won the case. not only did he win his own freedom but he exposed police racism and forced the first official acknowledgement of institutional racism in the uk as a result of that case. so yes, and he was also a remarkable organiser, he organised the black people's day of action in response to the new cross massacre. 20,000 black people and white allies took to the streets of london in a symbolic march to. he had a 30 year career in the media. he took the intelligent discussion of racism and multiculturalism to prime time and mainstream media. very quickly i

know he is a survivor of prostate cancer, diagnosed back in 2007, do you have any idea how he died? i'm afraid not, as you say he did have prostate cancer and he was 7a so he was getting on, but all the way to the end he had enormous intellectual energy. he was always thinking of new things and campaigning, he was continually scrutinising british politics so yes, his death is enormously sad but right at the end enormously sad but right at the end enormous intellectual energy. in the last few minutes, cambridge have won the 77 -- last few minutes, cambridge have won the 77 —— 72nd women's boat race. they say they've removed an unexploded world war two bomb from the thames after it was spotted near putney bridge, close to where the race begins. our sports reporter kate grey

is in putney for us. yes, it was the light blue cambridge ladies that were victorious in the boat race and what was quite a dramatic race at the very start. it was won by cambridge pretty much before the race had even begun because the oxford boat caused a crab, which means one of the member's oars were caught underneath the boat, so cambridge capitalised on that advantage and oxford were not able to catch cambridge after that. the distance just grew and grew. cambridge were already set to be the favourite of that race and won by a significant margin. com plete won by a significant margin. complete extremes of emotions at the end of that race, cambridge over the moon that they were able to put to bed the disappointment from last year when they almost sank, but oxford, obviously terrible feelings for them, for the one individual who

caught her oar. it was cambridge that was victorious and in about 15, 20 minutes' time, the men will take on the river thames for the men's boat race. oxford are the favourites for this particular race. they lost last year to cambridge so they are desperate to regain the title and it is the 163rd boat race, the current score is 82 to cambridge, 79 to oxford. so perfect conditions here on putney embankment. the river is smooth and the weather is fine and the men's race isjust 15 minutes' time. and what about the cambridge

men? the record for the men has not been broken for many years, it is all about conditions and the conditions are perfect today. the river is smooth, it allows them to find their rhythm, and once they have that momentum they have the advantage. oxford won the toss, they are also the favourite so they have the advantage of the side of the river they prefer. they have chosen the surrey side of the river. cambridge will have to work hard to keep up with oxford who are set to be the favourites for this race. it will be a tough competition either way, and as we have seen from the women's race anything can happen. if they cannot get it right from the start, it could go either way. and cute, and we will hopefully be bringing you the end of that race, the most exciting part of it, live right here on the bbc news channel just before six o'clock. do is stay

tuned for that if you want to catch the end of the race, the men's race. the headlines on bbc news: a state of emergency has been declared in colombia after more than 250 people are killed in mudslides — many more are missing. police in croydon are treating a brutal attack on a 17—year—old kurdish—iranian boy as a hate crime — six people have been arrested. the writer, broadcaster darcus howe has died at the age of 7a. the government is facing pressure to guarantee that migrant workers will still be able to work in the nhs after the uk leaves the european union. a cross—party group of mps is warning that brexit will cause a critical shortage of doctors and nurses. it comes as the defence secretary, sir michael fallon, declined to rule out the possibility that freedom of movement could continue until the next general election and beyond. ellie price reports.

the brexit negotiations got under way this week to great fanfare and letters. theresa may wrote to the eu to trigger article 50, the eu in return published draft guidelines on its negotiation strategy, but as expected there was no more detail on the content of the deal, and this morning sir michael fallon would not be drawn on whether the uk would have full control over its immigration system by 2020. well, you're speculating about the course of the negotiations, which haven't even started yet. rule it out. we've made clear that we are not expecting to take advantage of the four great freedoms, including the freedom of movement of people, because we're not going to be members of the european union. i'm talking about transitionally, now you can't give me any timetable. we can't give a timetable on negotiations that haven't even started. the uk is set to leave the eu by the end of march 2019, just over a year later the country will have a general election. the government will want to avoid

setting time limits on such a thorny issue as immigration. but today, a group of cross—party mps wrote an open letter calling on the rights of eu staff in the nhs to be protected. because we have 140,000 eu nationals working in our nhs and social care sector, caring for our sick and elderly, we think they should be given an nhs guarantee that they will be able to carry on working in the nhs. they need that certainty and they need those rights. theresa may has made it clear she wants the rights of eu nationals in the uk and uk nationals living in the eu to be a priority in these negotiations. immigration was a key issue in the referendum campaign, it will be again. elli price, bbc news. the triggering of article 50 has also raised questions about the status of gibraltar. our political correspondent ellie pricejoined me a little earlier to explain more. theresa may wrote a letter triggering article 50 on wednesday

in which she didn't mention the issue of gibraltar. that might not have been an issue had the eu not replied with its draft guidelines in which it said the spanish government would have a veto over any future trade agreements that britain had with the eu specifically relating to gibraltar. what this has set in motion is a lot of newspaper headlines and lots of people talking about it. today we see downing street trying to dampen it down, we understand theresa may has spoken to the chief minister of gibraltar on the phone to reiterate her position that the uk remained steadfastly committed to gibraltar, its people and economy. this morning we heard from the defence secretary, michael fallon, who was also reiterating that gibraltar is a key priority for britain in these negotiations. the letter was about notification, the formal notification we are leaving, and about the process of negotiation, how we want the talks to be handled,

but the letter referred to the brexit white paper and gibraltar is firmly in the white paper. you will find eight separate references to gibraltar in the white paper and all the different issues we have got to deal with are set out in that white paper, whether it's the position of the city of london or fisheries policy, gibraltar and everything else. the key issue being gibraltar will not be used as a bargaining chip, the government saying these negotiations haven't started yet so let's calm down. then we had the former conservative leader michael howard seemingly ramping up the rhetoric again. i think there's no question whatever that our government will stand by gibraltar. 35 years ago this week, another woman prime minister sent a task force halfway across the world to defend the freedom of another small group of british people against another spanish—speaking country, and i'm absolutely certain that our current prime minister will show the same resolve in

standing by the people of gibraltar. is mr howard there really talking about going to war for gibraltar? that's how some of the critics have interpreted it. we have had tim farron, the leader of the lib dems, say it is unbelievable there are conservatives already discussing potential wars with our european neighbours. i suspect not but it is strong rhetoric from the former conservative leader, and i suspect also these are comments which will not be particularly welcomed by downing street today. the chancellor is to urge indian businesses to use the expertise of the city of london in the latest attempt by ministers to build trade links outside the european union. philip hammond's trade mission to delhi and mumbai is part of an effort to build a partnership with india as it tries to forge a future as a global manufacturing powerhouse. our business correspondent joe lynam has more. depending on how britain quits the eu, the city of london is set

to lose thousands ofjobs in the coming years, as some banks and insurers leave to remain in the single market. now, the chancellor, philip hammond, is hoping to court new customers for britain's financial services expertise. he leads a delegation of business leaders, as well as the governor of the bank of england, mark carney, to india this week, hoping that indian companies will use the city of london to fund the estimated £1.2 trillion of spending needed to modernise india's infrastructure. the government also hopes to use the trip to open new markets in india for companies like transferwise, part of britain's rapidly growing financial technology or fin—tech sector. all of this forms the backdrop for a comprehensive free trade agreement which britain hopes to sign with india once it formally leaves the eu. but that won't be easy — india has yet to sign any free trade deal with anyone and one stumbling block could be a demand by india to allow its citizens free movement to and from britain. lydia wilkinson has paid tribute

to her mother and younger brother who were stabbed to death in their home in stourbridge earlier this week. she laid flowers outside the house, accompanied by her boyfriend. she said her mother tracey had always put others before herself. 23—year—old aaron barley, of no fixed address, has been charged with their murders and with the attempted murder of lydia's father peter. he is known to the family and will appear in court again in the morning. sangita myska reports. lydia wilkinson arrived at the family home, where her mother and 13—year—old brother were killed, clutching flowers. she laid them at the makeshift memorial outside the property alongside floral tributes left by friends and family. each message, including her own, described how much mother and son were loved and will be missed. overcome with grief, she was comforted by her boyfriend. the house in stourbridge

remains a crime scene. it was here that lydia's brother and mother were fatally attacked. theirfather, 47—year—old peter wilkinson, was left critically injured but is now in a stable condition in hospital. today a 23—year—old homeless man appeared in court in birmingham where he was remanded in custody, charged with murder and attempted murder. in a brief written statement, lydia wilkinson described her brother as a fun—loving boy and her mother as a woman who would always put others first. she asked that the family be given privacy during a distressing time. let's get more now on the death of da rcus let's get more now on the death of darcus howe, who passed away at the age of 7a. on the line we have baron

morris of handsworth who knew him. thank you forjoining us this afternoon. how did you come to know da rcus afternoon. how did you come to know darcus? darcus was part of my generation growing up within the context of uk britain but he was focused not just on context of uk britain but he was focused notjust on what was happening in london but what was happening in london but what was happening in london but what was happening in other cities whether it was liverpool, birmingham or wherever there was social injustice and discrimination. he felt it had to be challenged and that's exactly what he did. what was the man like? we are learning more and more about his campaigning, his strong belief in civil liberties and fighting racism, what was he like behind

closed doors? behind closed doors, with his friends, we would socialise but he still wouldn't compromise. he would call it as he saw it. he had a strea k of would call it as he saw it. he had a streak of what i call honest truism throughout his public and private life and that's what made him such a good colleague because he was very honest and who —— he didn't compromise, it was either right or wrong. he set a precedent, didn't

he, with recognition there was racism within london's metropolitan police? it was one of the first campaigners and those who work within the front line took all the metropolitan police to account on basis of their policies like stop and search in communities, the only people who were being stopped and searched were black people. he didn't compromise on those sorts of principles and he will be sorely missed. there will be very many young black advocates around brixton and other parts of the communities who owes a lot to the tenacity of da rcus who owes a lot to the tenacity of darcus because people were very

scared of challenging the establishment during the 50s and 60s and even 70s, but darcus was rife there irrespective of the consequences, to speak the truth as he saw it. the mp diane abbott wrote an article in 2014, where she pointed out his life and the facts of his life and the era you describe there should really be far more widely known by britain, by the world. what do you think you most liked to be remembered for? he will be most remembered as a champion for social justice. and the be most remembered as a champion for socialjustice. and the rights of every citizen and individual to be respected, and to be recognised for their contribution rather than the colour of their skin. did he ever talk about his broadcasting career? because he went from the potential

to study in law to civil liberties and then to broadcasting. how did he view that side of his life? he saw his broadcasting not so much as a career, but broadcasting opportunity asa medium career, but broadcasting opportunity as a medium to articulate and promote the things he felt strongly about, the things he cared about, andindeed about, the things he cared about, and indeed to ensure that the community had a voice because those we re community had a voice because those were the days when most of the, if you like, the established broadcasting mediums wasn't interested in ethnic minorities and indeed the black community. they saw those communities as irrelevant to mainstream debate about social economic issues, and darcus was

determined the voice of the black community has got to be heard and its contribution which is unsurpassed by any other advocates or community campaigner. he really kicked down the door of the establishment in terms of getting the message through. lord morris, we appreciate your time and your memories of darcus howe, who has passed away at the age of 74. thank you very much. let's find out how the weather is looking. it was a pretty decent second part of the weekend for the vast majority with a good deal of sunshine. we did see some cloud across eastern areas, the odd spot of rainforan across eastern areas, the odd spot of rain for an unlucky few, but it was a decent day. there will be clear skies overnight and like last night it will turn chilly. in the

north—west there is a bit of a breeze, more cloud moving in here. that will help keep temperatures up at around eight or 9 degrees here, but across the heart of the uk it will be down to five or 6 degrees. it will be chilly first thing but it should be a bright start for much of england and wales. we have patchy rainfringing into england and wales. we have patchy rain fringing into the west of wales by the afternoon but for the ball of england and wales it will be a decent day. not quite so warm on tuesday, starting of grey in the south—east with patchy rain but that doesn't last long in most places, it will be dry and bright. this is bbc news, the headlines: more than 250 people have been killed, many more are missing after mudslides in colombia. the president has declared a state of emergency in the region. six arrests are made by police investigating an alleged hate crime attack on a 17—year—old kurdish—iranian asylum seeker in south london. the writer, broadcaster and civil

liberties campaigner darcus howe has died at the age of 74. he was most well known for organising the 20,000 strong black people's march in 1981 claiming neglect and insufficient policing of the investigation into the new cross fire which killed 13 black teenagers. a teenager whose mother and brother were stabbed to death at home says the family is "devastated". lydia wilkinson left flowers at the scene earlier. theresa may reassures gibraltar of britain's "steadfast" commitment and says she will work to secure the "best possible outcome" from brexit talks. cambridge triumph in a record time in the 72nd women's boat race after oxford got off to a dreadful start. let's find out how the sport is

looking. good afternoon. good afternoon. it may only be 2nd april but celtic clinched their sixth consecutive scottish premiership title this afternoon, after beating hearts 5—0. they've done it with eight games to spare, equalling a record set by rangers 88 years ago. brendan rodgers' side are now 25 points clear of second—placed aberdeen. here's our scotland football reporter chris mclaughlin. celtic started their league campaign here last summer and they have wrapped it up and wrapped it up in some style with a 5—0 win against hearts, pretty much indicative of their season as a whole. they have been ruthless, efficient, hungry under brendan rodgers. there will be talked about a lack of competition in scottish football. but take nothing away from the celtic side

under the former liverpool manager, a massive gap between them and aberdeen in second place, and they have finished this with eight games to spare. in terms of their ambitions between now and the end of the season they have got two particular ambitions, the scottish cup which would complete the domestic travel, and they have the chance to go on unbeaten and become the invincible. the way celtic are playing today and in this season, you would not bet against it. celtic are still on course to win the domestic treble, having beaten aberdeen in november to win the league cup, and they face arch rivals rangers in the scottish cup semi—finals later this month. let's hear from manager brendan rodgers. we never have a lazy day in our work. the players are very focused ona work. the players are very focused on a daily basis and we take that attitude and energy into the games andi attitude and energy into the games and i have got a attitude and energy into the games and i have gota group attitude and energy into the games and i have got a group of players who are still developing and senior players who are still developing. they bring that hunger into the

games. from a coaching perspective it is great to see. so, yes, big congratulations to them. big congratulations to them. big congratulations to the supporters because they have been absolutely amazing. because they have been absolutely amazing. there are two games in the premier league this afternoon and a huge match at the emirates right now, as arsenal take on manchester city. it's already been a fast—paced game, with arsenal knowing that victory could lift them into fifth, while city would move above liverpool into third with all the points. it's currently arsenal 2 manchester city 2. leyroy sane put city ahead in just the fifth minute after latching on to kevin de bruynes through—ball. theo walcott equalised towards the end of the first half. butjust two minutes and 11 seconds later sergio aguero put city back in front. their lead was short lived as well though with shkodran mustafi bringing arsenal level once again early in the second half. around 12 minutes to go and it is

still 2—2. around 12 minutes to go and it is still 2—2. in the lunchtime kick off a goalless draw wasn't much good for either swansea or middlesbrough down at the bottom. swansea had the best of the chances at the liberty stadium but couldn't find a way through. tom carroll had this first half effort miss the target but inches. rudy gestede perhaps should have won it for boro in stoppage time but his header also wentjust wide of the post. the point leaves swansea 17th, a point clear of the reelagtion zone. middlesbrough stay second bottom, five points from safety. coventry city have beaten oxford united 2—1 to win the football trophy final at wembley. this is the competition for leagues one and two and this season 16 b teams from the premier league and the championship also took part. coventry went 1—0 up after 11 minutes when gael bigirimana capitalised on this rebound to poke the sky blues ahead. early into the second half, george thomas fired in a fine strike from the edge of the box to double coventry‘s lead. oxford did set up a tense finale when liam sercombe's shot squeezed its way through a sea

of legs but coventry held on to put a bright note on their season. coventry a re currently bottom of league one, 13 points adrift of safety. shelley kerr will become the new manager of the scotland women's team. kerr twice led arsenal ladies to fa cup success and has also managed hibs, kilmarnock and spartans. she'll take over from anna signeul who will step down after this year's european championships. saracens will be the only british side in the european champions cup semi—finals. that's after they beat glasgow warriors 38—13 at home. the reigning european champions will face munster in the last four. maz farookhi reports. saracens are the most impenetrable tea m saracens are the most impenetrable team in europe. they have made a fortress of valiant spark, they have never lost a champions cup game here, some task ahead for glasgow. like all good packs, this team is

fleet of foot and travel fast. but despite the flowing rugby, the early exchanges were all with the boot. the home side spent the first 20 minutes in glasgow's half and eventually that pressure helped. but glasgow have never been this far in europe before and they were not willing to leave without a fight, finn russell with a wonderfully weighted chip to set up the try. but that score seemed to encourage saracens. they moved further ahead again. there was still time for late scores, but the difference was the saracens' clinicalfinishing. scores, but the difference was the saracens' clinical finishing. on this form the reigning champions are the team to beat. cambridge women have beaten oxford in the women's boat race this afternoon. the contest was effectively over after the very first stroke because one member of

the oxford team got their awestruck. cambridge sprinted off into the distance. it is the first time since 2012 that the light blues have won the race and it comes a year after they almost sad. it is a big thank you to everyone. this year we have had an amazing team and have had great support from everyone. we could not have done it without our supporters, friends and family. it has been a giant team effort and i am so privileged to lead this group. the men's races getting under way at any moment now and we can go to some live pictures of the start of the race. oxford are in dark blue and cambridge in light blue. there is something in the water. it could be delaying the start of the race. we are about to get under way. oxford

is signalling that they are ready to go. hoping for a clean start after what happened in the women's race. they will be eager to get off to a good start. they are almost ready to go. they are on the banks of the river thames. cambridge won this last year. it is the 163rd edition of the men's race. oxford are favourites to win it this year. the chorus is four miles, 374 yards long, about 6.8 kilometres. a real spectacle there, look at all the fa ns spectacle there, look at all the fans lining the banks of the river. oxford have just gone ahead. oxford have won this 79 times and

cambridge 82 with one draw. you can watch that race live now on bbc one. johanna konta says she's aiming to become world number one after sealing the biggest title of her career at the miami open. konta will rise to seventh in the world when the new rankings are announced tomorrow. she beat former world number one caroline wozniacki in straight sets to seal her third world tour title. earlier former british number one annabel croft told us what she thought of konta's performance. it was an absolutely fantastic achievement yesterday, one of the biggest achievements we have seen since virginia wade winning wimbledon in 1977. but she did not even play her best tennis, it was a jittery match against caroline wozniacki, but once she got that first set under her belt, she completely overpowered caroline in every department. her returning and serving were aggressive and she had very aggressive groundstrokes from the back of the court. two years ago she was ranked 147 in the world and all of us knowjust how hard she has been putting

in the hard yards in the practice court and off court as well. she worked with a mental coach who has sadly has now passed away, but he helped put in a lot of improvements. all the jigsaw puzzle pieces seem to be coming together. the calibre of the players she played this week. venus williams, former world number two simona halep and the former number one yesterday caroline wozniacki. an amazing achievement. england opener haseeb hameed is to have a scan on a hand injury he picked up this morning during his maiden first—class outing of the season. he was playing for lancashire against cambridge and was forced to leave the field of play after 23 balls. the 23—year—old made his england debut in india last year and scored 219 runs in three tests before a finger injury forced him out of the final match of the series. that's all sport for now.

you can keep up to date with all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport and we'll have much more it is still 2—2 in the arsenal and manchester city match. it is still 2—2 in the arsenal and manchester city match. in sportsday at 7:30. now it's time for meet the author. this week on meet the author the historical novelist three sisters, three queens is a novel of the women who became queens of england, scotland and france and who were condemned to rivalry, family conflict and a bloody battle for succession. a novelist doesn't have to invent that story, it was the real story of the early 16th century after catherine of aragon arrived as a tudor bride. philippa gregory has spun the story of that period into a string of bestselling novels and this is her latest subject — three sisters, three queens. welcome. even by 16th century standards

it is a great story. how well do you think this bit of the whole saga is understood and remembered? in a way it's a really classic example of fiction and history put together, that this story of three sisters, three queens is a construct. what we're actually talking about is the history of catherine of aragon in the relative early years of her marriage with henry viii and the quite separate histories of his two sisters. but, then, as a novelist i come to these histories and go, like, but they actually are sisters, they know of each other and as it happens the rise and fall of their success in their lives, in their kingdoms and in their fertility compares and contrasts almost exactly. so it's a very nice example for me

of what you can do in fiction that you wouldn't necessarily do in history. but of course the history itself, which hangs over the whole story, your fictional account of it, is so extraordinary. the fate of nations hanging on a marriage, on a rivalry, on an unexpected death, whatever it happens to be. it seems to me, i hope this isn't pushing it too far, but it's strangely contemporary, about how the fate of nations can change in the wink of an eye, whether it's a royal marriage or a referendum. i think one of the reasons why i love the tudor period so much is you get these enormous consequences from the decisions of one person. so if you look at the one person, you really get a way into the history, which is completely fascinating. and so you do get this big national story focused on, in this instance, the choice of james of scotland to marry margaret, henry viii's

sister, which puts the two countries into total unity and in the end produces the child who will unify the two countries. take us through the three of them. the rivalries that sort of entangled them in the course of a few years had huge consequences. we know the wives very well and there's been very much less work done on the sisters and almost no work done on the mistresses and i really think what you see there is an example of the historical selection, which goes, like, we don't want that many women in the record, thank you. we've got six wives, let's leave the sisters out of it. which means you actually really rarely, for the tudor period, you have these untold stories. so the story we do know is catherine of aragon and she arrives in the novel as she arrives pretty well at the english court, as a princess from spain.

and immediately attracts, in my version of events, the jealousy and the sort of affronted envy of margaret, who until then was the top princess at henry's court. the other girl in the mix is mary, henry's other sister, younger sister. famously beautiful, famously wilful, who is married off to the very, very old king of france and recovers from that really disastrous marriage for her, political marriage, to marry the man of her choice. so you've got these three very different stories about princesses who are all married to make the alliances for their family and how they survive that experience. it's the question that you have come to know very well over the years. how much liberty do you feel free to take with the history for which you have so much affection

and so much respect? i don't take liberty with the history. i know authors who do and i think they're right to take whatever choice they want, but i don't. but you are dealing with characters at a depth that we can't know. where i believe that i am right to go into fiction, where i love the process of going into fiction, is saying, if she did that, she must have been feeling this or she must be wanting to do this, or this is an expression of this sort of character. so the fiction comes out of the history, but first of all i look at what's happened and then i say, if somebody behaves like that then they must be a woman of this nature. you've lived with this gang for such a long time now. i've been married to henry viii longer than any wife! of these three women, the three sisters and queens, as you describe them in the title, which one draws you in the most? you say catherine of aragon because of the marriage to henry

as the one that we know, whether accurately or not. which of them attracts you most? it's very... in a sense, which you like best is not the same as who is the most interesting, so you've got two things going on there. i have great affection for catherine of aragon. i think she was an extraordinary and courageous woman. margaret, henry's sister, lived an amazing life. i mean, she's married as a very young woman to james of scotland and then, when widowed, she chooses her husband and she has to run away from scotland. she gets to england and divorces him, she marries a third husband for choice. she's behaving as if she were in total charge of her own destiny. but of course the loss of her first husband is the fault of the english court. yes, its planned as a campaign by catherine of aragon, so you have this terrible dark side of the sisterhood,

that they are always rivals and it is catherine of aragon's campaign that kills her brother—in—law. you can't read about these events, whether in straight history or fiction, without a sort of mind—boggling feeling of everything that subsequently came is determined by some of these almost chance events. i think the idea of history as the past, as another country, as the past is another country, i think when you're an historian you get this real double view of it. on the one hand you go, yes, it's almost completely separate from our world and completely different, yet you can see how the actions then produce the consequences of today. i mean, the whole concept of nationhood, the way the reformation separates us from europe, the way england and scotland are absolutely committed enemies for centuries before the unification, you know, these are in a sense

really current ideas, which were being worked out then and to which they came to some conclusions. and the union of the crowns itself in 1603, about a century before the union of the parliament, came about really by accident because of what had happened in the period that you're talking about. absolutely. it's margaret's granddaughter‘s boy. and she of course thinks all the time that when she is queen of scotland and when catherine of aragon is failing to have an heir, she knows that her boy will be king of scotland and king of england and it's only henry's decision to marry on until he gets a male heir that means margaret is not in fact the mother of the next king of england. which explains why the fascination continues. philippa gregory, author of three sisters, three queens, thank you very much. thank you.

we are going live to the closing stages of the men's boat race in south—west london and oxford are over a length in front at chiswick. it is interesting, there was a missed stroke near hammersmith that cost cambridge. it has remained like that since then. cambridge are still digging in, still hanging on and still hoping. these crews are making matthew pinsent worked very hard down here. cambridge put in a huge push to try and get back in this

race. you can see the additional effort they were putting down and they took a few feet back from oxford. that after that oxford were able to withstand it and oxford are backin able to withstand it and oxford are back in control. i am not sure how much cambridge has left to throw at them. it looks like oxford are putting their paddles under the ce ntre putting their paddles under the centre right now which will make it more comfortable for cambridge. some people were shouting and i think they thought that oxford were encroaching too much on cambridge's water, but they are now moving away again. i did see the arm of matthew pinsent asking them to get back again. perhaps the gap is beginning to look a bit more decisive. that is a significant lead now for oxford. this is a horrible way to row, it is

bumpy, that oxford on the other hand have got nice clearwater and they are looking down at cambridge. they can control what they are doing and they look pretty strong. the engine room in the middle is pretty solid. cambridge are getting a little bit tired. oxford are holding on to the lead. past the houses of barnes and the crowds have come out in their hundreds of thousands. it is expected to be around 200,000. there is the oxford boat. sam collier is the cox. cambridge are hanging on, but this is too much to get back beyond barnes bridge. matthew pinsent is still not happy that oxford had enough of a lead to be right in cambridge's water. he has

been warning them quite a few times. and still they fight. you can hear the cox is asking him. you can see cambridge hanging in there. but cambridge hanging in there. but cambridge seem to be getting closer again. cambridge have got some power in the middle of the boat. they are not going away. but i think the river will run out for them. for oxford again it is really important to stay relaxed and keep doing what they are doing and trust and believe in their rhythm. cambridge have nothing to lose. they have got to have minutes of racing to left. they have minutes of racing to left. they have just got to put everything into it. they have just managed to get

some clean water and they have moved up some clean water and they have moved up halfa some clean water and they have moved up half a length. they have got another two minutes and they have to keep pushing on. it is interesting to watch. the base speed of the cruise is similar, but oxford had the better start and they capitalised around the surrey bend. but in the past ten minutes they have been going at the same speed, so have been going at the same speed, so it has been a great race today. the gap is not closing for cambridge and oxford are maintaining the league. their bodies will be urging them to stop, but their minds are urging them on. matthew pinsent is not happy. he is saying they have to move back to that side. he stretches out the white flag again. it is a good lead, but it is not decisive. they have really broken away from cambridge and they have got a good enough distance. they can look back and see them in their sights.

cambridge are in that messy water, but it has been equal speed. undoubtedly cambridge have kept the pressure on right through this. no matter what, they are not going to let it go until they cross the finish line. sam collier, the cox, asking them for more towards the very end, but there will be no back—to—back wins for cambridge on this day. a huge flotilla behind the cruise. they are still so close together. perhaps the brighter start for oxford. oxford in the 163rd boat race will reclaim the thames. they are champions once more. cambridge are champions once more. cambridge are so close, but in a boat race thatis are so close, but in a boat race that is so far away. oxford have their celebrations and that was a very good race. all credit to

oxford, a very clinical race. they got into their rhythm. they were able to hold onto the lead. a very classy rhythm. cambridge had a lot of tenacity. they were still able to keep in close touch right until the end. and again the contrasts. so oxford have won the 2017 men's boat race. the women's race was claimed by cambridge. huge congratulations to both teams. now we have the weather. it was a pretty decent second part to the weekend for the vast majority. this sequence from earlier shows thicker cloud and the odd spot of rainfor shows thicker cloud and the odd spot of rain for the unlucky few. but for many it was a good day. overnight it

will turn quite chilly. more cloud moving into the north west and patchy rain in the western isles by the end of the night. but across the heart of the uk it will go down to five or 6 degrees. a bit chilly first thing, but it should be a bright start for much of england and wales. more cloud, a breeze and patchy rain in western scotland and west and wales, but for the bulk of england and wales it is a decent day with a top temperature of 17. on tuesday there is some early and patchy rain, but that does not last for long. this is bbc news. the headlines at 6pm: a state of emergency has been declared in colombia after more than 250 people are killed in mudslides — many more are missing. six arrests are made by police

investigating an alleged hate crime attack on a 17—year—old kurdish—iranian asylum seeker in south london. this was a cowardly and a despicable attack. this is a young man who's come to this country to seek sanctuary and it appears that he's been set upon. the writer, broadcaster and civil liberties campaigner darcus howe has died at the age of 74. a teenager whose mother and brother were stabbed to death at home says the family is devastated — lydia wilkinson left flowers at the scene earlier.