this is bbc news. the headlines at 2:00 — at least 60 tower blocks have failed new fire safety tests, carried out in the wake of the grenfell tower fire, the bbc understands. the chancellor, philip hammond, says any transitional deal in the immediate period after brexit must end before the next general election. another blow for donald trump, as the us senate fails, for a third time, to overturn president obama's health care policy. rubbish piles up in the streets of birmingham, as workers step up their industrial action. collections have already been disrupted for weeks. also in the next hour — the fighter planes patrolling the black sea. four raf typhoon jet fighters have been deployed to romania as part of a nato mission to patrol the black sea region. london's underground railways used to move post around the capital, but now it's visitors who can ride the mail rail. good afternoon, and

welcome to bbc news. the bbc understands officials believe at least 60 buildings have failed an official fire safety test, in which ininsulation and cladding, of the type fitted at grenfell tower, were analysed together for the first time. so far, just nine of the buildings which failed have been identified. they're in salford in greater manchester, where the local council is asking for help from central government to meet the cost of replacements. our correspondent frankie mccamley reports. as those affected by the fire at grenfell tower wait to find out how and why the fire spread, across the country, others are anxiously waiting to find out if their homes are at risk, too. but for many, it's not good news. the bbc understands officials believe at least 60 tower

blocks have failed a new fire safety test. including nine in salford, where the removal of cladding began weeks ago. the thought of it not being safe and you're sleeping in bed of a nighttime, do you know, that's it, it's bad, isn't it? really bad. they should take the lot off. i don't care how much money it costs them. it's not money, it's people's lives. i think we're sitting on a tinderbox. costs to remove and replace cladding are expected to run into tens of millions of pounds. the concern now is who will pick up the bill. local authorities, housing associations, some of them have reserves. all of them have access to borrowing capacity and if there are any authorities that have difficulties, we will ensure that we make additional capacity available to them so that they can get the cash they need to do any urgent and necessary work. in the first round of tests, cladding from every building failed, but critics said this wasn't realistic.

experts are now carrying out new, more thorough tests, like these, combining cladding and insulation to find out which materials are dangerous when put together, like they were on g re nfell tower. yesterday, the metropolitan police said there were reasonable grounds to suspect that the company that managed grenfell tower and kensington & chelsea council may have committed corporate manslaughter. it's very, very important that we now have a proper inquiry that finds out what happened, why that fire spread, whether the materials are the right materials and i and my colleagues will support that public inquiry. more than six weeks on, there's no escaping what happened here and with reverberations being felt across the country, there's clearly a lot of work to be done to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again. our news correspondent, judith moritz, joins us now from salford. nine of these blocks have failed the

test, and they are ready taking down some of the cladding, as we can see behind you. that is because salford council say they were not going to wait. they had conducted their own internal review pretty much straight after g re nfell tower internal review pretty much straight after grenfell tower happened, and last month, they began the process of beginning to remove the cladding, because they know it is going to ta ke because they know it is going to take a long time. there are nine blocks here, and it took two mac yea rs blocks here, and it took two mac years to put the cladding on the first place. if i step out of the way and move the camera in, at the moment, you look at this particular building, you can see that the grey and the red cladding, which is similarto and the red cladding, which is similar to that used at rental tower, that cladding is still there. we understand officials say it has failed these latest tests, so that cladding is good to come off. moving down, you can see that work has

begun to remove it, and it has revealed the silver installation that sits behind it. the council have told us they do not want to ta ke have told us they do not want to take that off as well, it is installation keeping the tower is warm, and it is important to lower heating bills, but they cannot be that exposed like that, so moving across again, you will see that some lettering is across that section of cladding. that is temporary, new cladding, consisting of concrete boarding. the council says that, by putting that on top of the installation underneath, it is safe, but it is not a permanent fixture. it is something they will keep on these buildings temporarily and safely until they have decided what to do in the long term. in terms of what is going to happen, they say the average to start tests next month, the middle of august, to look at different kinds of cladding to be fixed as a long—term permanent solution. they are not ready to do

that yet, though, so that concrete boarding is good to go up in the meantime. it will take a while and cost a considerable amount of money. we do not have a total figure, but it will run into the millions. the council has asked from —— for help from the central government. there are more than 800 flats across these nine buildings. plenty of those disruption, those we have spoken to have mostly said they have understand what is happening, but clearly they want to know they are living in safe towers. some of them have talked about disruption for yea rs have talked about disruption for years apparently cladding put on in the first place, and now having it taken off again. but in the end, they want to know that they are going to be safe, and they are telling us that at least that work is now underway. judith, thank you. with me is matthew needham—laing, an architect and a constructor lawyer at the law firm, katten uk. just to be clear for people, they're been lots of tests so far, but this test has looked at the combination

of the foam and the cladding in unison. that is correct, and they do it on quite a large scale so that they can see the effect on the of they can see the effect on the of the building. is all before the same, or as some more flammable... 7 there is various grades of flammability in the foam. the testing they are doing at the moment is generally called pir, it has a long—running which i cannot pronounce. that has been used on quite a lot of buildings, the one form that has managed to pass, in certain circumstances, i might add, the tests required. the important point is they are not distinction between different types of form. if there is foam and cladding, the buildings fail, is that what we are seeing7 buildings fail, is that what we are seeing? noel, there is some types of

insulation it would definitely fail. —— no. the pirfoam is a foam insulation that has got limited combustibility in certain circumstances. 0ne combustibility in certain circumstances. one of the reasons they probably put concrete panels on they probably put concrete panels on the building we havejust they probably put concrete panels on the building we have just seen they probably put concrete panels on the building we havejust seen is that the test carried out had concrete panels for external cladding when they did, and that passed the test. local councils are underan passed the test. local councils are under an obligation to do things as quickly as possible, but how are they going to force some of these private landlords to7 because i presume that under the current building regulations, these buildings meet the standards. from a legal perspective. from a legal perspective, the are assumed to have met the standards. someone has sent them off as complying with building regulations. so there will need to bea regulations. so there will need to be a change in the legislation to

force some of these private landlords to get cracking. yes, probably. the fire safety assessment should be picking this up, and should be picking this up, and should be picking this up, and should be seeing, there is a problem, and you need to deal with that. but that legislation and the fire assessments have come under a lot of criticism, and so there will have to be some regulatory change. i do not think that is the complete a nswer do not think that is the complete answer by any stretch of the imagination. as i said, all of these buildings have signed off by someone has been complied with building regulations, and now it is discovered that they have not. the designers who designed them would have believed when they designed them that they were compliant with building regulations, and of course, they are not. and the fire safety assessments that are supposed to be carried out on a regular basis are not. it will be frustrating for people, particularly those survivors from grenfell tower, where they have built or replicated the tower, that those were not done before, before

these things were involved in the building regulations. it is not mandatory that they do that particular test. they can either show that each of the elements has limited combustibility, or they can show that the complete system, when tested in accordance with that british standard, complies with the regulations that are required, so there are two methods. i think the first method, which is quite limited, and what the government we re limited, and what the government were looking at first of all, when they were doing the small amounts of panels and testing them, looking at the individual element and saying, that complies, that is not satisfactory. you have to look at the whole construction and say, doesn't work overall7 the whole construction and say, doesn't work overall? very interesting. thank you for your time. the chancellor phillip hammond has said there is broad agreement in cabinet that there should be a transition period of up to three years after britain leaves the eu, but that it should be finished before the next general election, which is scheduled for 2022. the chancellor said a failure to implement a transition deal

would sow chaos for business. 0ur political correspondent, leila nathoo, is here to tell us more. it would seem that the chancellor is winning the argument within the cabinet. that's right, there has been a difference of opinion within the cabinet on what brexit will actually look like. philip hammond isa actually look like. philip hammond is a key remainer among the cabinet, and this arrangement is too soft on the landing, if you like, into our relationship with the eu. —— too soft on the landing. we have also heard from liam fox, and michael gove also warning to this idea as the practical, pragmatic way forward. today, philip hammond made it clear that he thought a transitional deal would have to be over by 2022, when the next general election is scheduled to be. that seems to be the consensus, the

compromise, emerging within the cabinet, but philip hammond has said, actually, on the day that we leave the eu, you might find that actually things look very similar. it is clear that this should be a time limited transitional period. so there is a general view that any transitional period would have to be finished by the time we get to the date set for the general election, june 20 22. it might be a shorter period, it depends on the technical requirements to put in place customs and immigration arrangements and so on, and of course, this is all subject to negotiation with the european union. but the overriding concern as we leave the eu, and the job will be done on the 29th of march 2019, we need to go through this process any way that avoids destructive cliff edges for businesses and for individual

citizens. liam fox will be watching this very carefully, the international trade secretary. he is off around the world at the moment, laying the groundwork for the straight deals, but he cannot do anything until march 2019. will he be able to do something in that three—year interim period 7 be able to do something in that three-year interim period? this is where the differences still live. what exactly will this transitional period look like? what will be the terms of that relationship with the eu? terms of that relationship with the eu7 will terms of that relationship with the eu? will we be able to do our own trade deals during this time? will there still be time given that transitional period to negotiate our future relationship with the eu? there are biggest sticking points still there about the idea of a transitional deal. what will be the role for the european court of justice7 in philip hammond's version of this transitional deal, things in 2019, at the end of march, when brexit actually happens, will look very similarfor quite a

brexit actually happens, will look very similar for quite a while. there will be a gradual move into this new relationship with the eu. but for many brexiteers, having even a temporary relationship with the eu that looks very much like the one we have now, may not be acceptable. so there is plenty to still be worked out in the cabinet about the nature of this transitional deal, and remember, this has to be negotiated with the eu as well. we all know the clock is ticking. thank you very much. pakistan's prime minister, nawaz sharif, has resigned, after being disqualified from office by the supreme court, over corruption allegations against his family. the allegations stem from documents that came to light — the so called panama papers — regarding his children's offshore business holdings, which include four luxury apartments in london's mayfair. for opponents of the pakistani prime minister, today's court decision is a huge and unprecedented victory for accountability in a country where politicians often have a reputation for corruption. today, nawar sharif resigned

after the highest court disqualified him from office. a panel of five judges unanimously decided he had not been honest when explaining his and his family's financial dealings to a corruption inquiry. the supreme court has led from the front. and democracy will strengthen. democracy will evolve in pakistan and we will be able to establish a new pakistan. the allegations against sharif revolve around four luxury central london flats. the documents from the panama paper leaks revealed were linked to a number of his children. the pakistani supreme court has been trying to establish where the money came from to buy them. the prime minister's daughter widely seen as his political successor, as well as her father, will now face further inquiries by the national anticorruption body. no prime minister in

pakistan has ever completed a full term in office. sharif served twice in the ‘90s, but was overthrown in a military coup. some of his supporters have claimed the allegations against him now are an attempt by the country's powerful army to oust him again. his family have always denied any wrongdoing and outside the court some of his ministers remained defiant. translation: no matter who becomes the prime minister, the prime minister in the hearts of the pakistani people will always be nawaz sharif. the ruling party will now have to nominate a new leader but with elections due to take place by the middle of next year, the country is facing real uncertainty. 0ur headlines this afternoon —

the bbc understands officials believe at least 60 high rise buildings failed a fire safety test where insulation and cladding were tested together for the first time. the chancellor, philip hammond, says any transitional deal in the immediate period after brexit must end before the next general election. another blow for donald trump, as the us senate fails, for a third time, to overturn president 0bama's health care policy. in sport, england attempt to reach 300 on the two at 0val. it is currently 284—7, with ben stokes on 70 not out. lewis hamilton finishes third in the first session and is currently fifth in second practice ahead of the hungary grand prix, with daniel ricciardo currently fastest in both. and the record for the world hundred metres butterfly has been broken. the us senate as field for a third

time to repeal president 0bama's health—care reforms time to repeal president 0bama's health—ca re reforms —— time to repeal president 0bama's health—care reforms —— failed. vetera n health—care reforms —— failed. veteran senatorjohn mccain got the headlines. he broke off from brain cancer treatments to attend the session, and his noble proved decisive. president 0bama's affordable care act required all americans —— almost all americans to purchase health care. too invasive, too expensive, they said. for seven years, they have demanded

it be replaced. but they cannot agree on how, and with a single vote margin on last night's repeal bill, all eyes were on one man. mr mccain. the self—styled republican cast his vote with a thumbs down, to gasps in the chamber, and that killed the bill. -- the chamber, and that killed the bill. —— the self—styled maverick republican. for 0bama supporters, this was a real victory. further repeal effort seem unlikely for now. this is clearly a disappointing moment, from skyrocketing cost to plummeting choices, and collapsing markets, our constituents have suffered through an awful lot under 0bamacare. this repeal bill was highly controversial. it would have abolished the legal mandate to buy insurance, but increased the number of uninsured people by 15 million. it also increased some premiums by

20%. democrats said it was time for a new approach. every place in every quarter of the world, the country where we go, the number one thing we asked, and i know this because i have talked to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, is can you quys other side of the aisle, is can you guys work together? let's give it a shot. this is a test of donald trump's presidency, too. let 0bamacare implode, he tweeted. senator mccain was hailed outside congress, but he has left is party in chaos and his presidency related. unable to overturn barack 0bama's health—care legacy. president trump's new comedic asians director has become involved in an extraordinary public feud with two senior colleagues into the job we have a report on this, the latest

episode in the white house saga. president trump's west wing is at war with itself. the appointment of the flashy financier, anthony scaramucci, as the new director of communications has prompted a bitter battle to win the ear of the president. mr scaramucci has indirectly accused his colleague, the white house chief of staff reince priebus, of leaking information about the administration. he called a us network show to say that only mr trump could judge whether the tense relationship between the two was repairable. we have had differences. when i said we were brothers from the podium, that is because... but some brothers are like cain and abel. 0ther brothers can fight with each other and get along. i don't know whether this is repairable or not, that will be up to the president. in an extraordinary phone call with a reporter from the new yorker, anthony scaramucci described reince priebus as a paranoid schizophrenic. he also took personally about mr trump's chief strategist, steve bannon. on twitter he said he would refrain from using "colourful language", but would not give up

the passionate fight for donald trump's agenda. mr scaramucci has been in the west wing just one week, and appears to have spent more time launching personal attacks than pushing the president's policies. he may also be forcing the chief of staff, and a key republican establishment figure, out the door. laura, i read this on the way home last night in the new yorker. to be a fly on the wall this morning in the corridors of the west wing! we are all waking up, looking at the white house and wondering who will be there the end of today. you are looking at the white house chief of staff versus the new director of communications. there is one publication here in washington who describes anthony scaramucci as a mini me when it comes to donald trump. and that is quite an accurate

portrayal of the character. they have very similar attributes when it comes to the style, and when it comes to the style, and when it comes to the habits when it is speaking to reporters or on twitter. ten the mac says it himself, he is a straight shooter. when it comes to the chief of staff, he is an administration figure, and if it comes to those two, which one of donald trump may opt for, you can see that reince priebus might be shown the door. but that is not the only problem with staffing in the white house. having gone from being donald trump's faithful servant, he has now been described as the president and self as billy god and very weak. jeff sessions spoke out

on fox news. —— beleagured and very weak. do you think the president's criticism of you is very fair. it is hurtful, but the president of the united states is a strong leader. he is determined to move this country in the direction he believes it needs to go to make us great again. and he has had a lot of criticism, and the is steadfastly determined to get hisjob done, and he wants all of us to do ourjobs, that is what i intend to do. he has said again and again that you should have acted differently, you should have not accused yourself of overseeing the russian investigation. do you agree with that? i understand his feelings, because this has been a big distraction for them. plenty of twitter attacks on jeff big distraction for them. plenty of twitter attacks onjeff sessions from the president, but republican senators are coming out to support them. i heard lindsey graham saying

yesterday, the sax jeff them. i heard lindsey graham saying yesterday, the saxjeff sessions with the impression of them going after robert muller, this would be the end of his presidency. —— if he sacks jeff the end of his presidency. —— if he sacksjeff sessions. the end of his presidency. —— if he sacks jeff sessions. i have yet to hear a chorus of republican voices coming forward saying, hang on a minute, let's support reince priebus. so it would be interesting to see how the white house staffing over the next couple of weeks starts to either make changes or reorganise itself. when it comes tojeff sessions, one of the interesting things as he was one of donald trump's stalwarts, and many people in the west wing and the entire white house administration will be saying, ifjeff sessions can come under scrutiny and this kind of criticism from the president, then anyone can. it will give them problems for equipment. thank you for the moment. companies working on the crossrail project have been fined more than £1 million after three sets of failures, one of which led

the death of a worker. the companies pleaded guilty to offences following an investigation. rene tkacik died after being crushed by wet concrete in 2014. two other men were injured in separate incidents within six days of each other injanuary 2015. more than 50 people have been injured after a commuter train crashed in barcelona. reports said the train did not break when entering a station, hitting the buffers at the platform. council refuse workers in birmingham are stepping up their industrial action in a dispute that has left rubbish piling up in the streets. members of the unite union have been refusing to do overtime, and have been carrying out daily two—hour stoppages — which rose to three hours today. the dispute is about planned changes to working practices, as our correspondent sima kotecha reports. it looks bad, it smells even worse.

piles and piles of rubbish strewn across some of birmingham's streets. on this road it's been three weeks since the rubbish was collected. we have seen a rat over there yesterday, absolutely disgraceful. four weeks now it's been here, absolutely terrible. so we pay all our money, council tax and they won't come and get it, give the binmen what they want. just get these bins gone. it's not fair on the kids, the kids can't even play out any more because of the vermin. it's disgusting, we come out of our house and it stenches of rotten food, it's horrible. while the stench from this pile of rubbish here really is unbearable, not sure if you can see or not, but there are flies everywhere. and with this strike due to carry on until september, for people living on this street, the smell is going to get worse. since earlier this month, bin workers have been striking for two hours every day over changes to their shift patterns

and plans to cut the number of supervisorjobs. from today, they'll be striking for three hours a day. they say the proposed changes will lead to staff being paid thousands of pounds less. i can talk about working patterns, i can discuss those with my members. what i cannot discuss is members who are low paid, losing money that they can ill—afford. they have mortgages to pay and food to put on the table, remove that, don't have those on the lowest wages pay for austerity and mismanagement of council accounts. the local council says budgetary constraints mean they need to adopt a new way of working. in a statement, it says... with august around the corner, a mixture of hot temperatures and more rubbish is what many here are dreading. time now to take a look at the weather forecast.

eastern parts of england have seen most of the sunshine today. there are plenty of showers across scotland, northern ireland, and this area of rain is rather patchy for parts of the midlands and south west england. at spreading across more of wales as we go through the afternoon. some others will see very wet spells of whether going into the evening, and through the evening, this area of rain from wales and parts of the midlands and to northern england, where it will be heaviest. then south—eastwards as we go through the night. showers affecting the west of northern ireland and north—west scotland into the night. with the exception of the odd shower, it does turn dry overnight, temperatures around 13 to 15 celsius. many others in england and wales will be dried judging saturday, showers in scotland particularly in the west, one of two p°ppin9 particularly in the west, one of two p°pping up particularly in the west, one of two popping up in northern ireland and

northern england. rain neverfar away from the south coast. as we go through the afternoon and into saturday evening. this is bbc news. the headlines at 2:00 — ministers are promising there will be no shortage of money for safety works on buildings like grenfell tower, where more than 80 people died last month. officials believe at least 60 structures have failed a fire safety test on both insulation and cladding. the chancellor, philip hammond, has said a transitional deal after britain leaves the eu could take up to three years — but it would be completed before the next election injune 2022. a significant setback for president trump, as his bid to scrap the health care laws set up by his predesor president 0bama were rejected by the senate. at least three republicans voted against the bill, which needed a simple majority to pass. now the sport.

england have passed 301 day two of the third test against south africa, but have lost another wicket since lunch at the oval. moeen ali is the latest to fall the 16, but since he departed toby roland—jones has rather well. 21—19. still unbeaten, ben stokes, 78 not out after alistair cooke came nearly a century and after getting rid of the captain earlier on. 88 he was out for. 311—7 the latest score from the oval. daniel ricciardo has finished quickest in both practice sessions ahead of the hungarian grand prix. the second session has just ended with the red bull driver ahead of sebastian vettel in his ferrari.

lewis hamilton could only register the fifth best time in p2... afterfinishing third in first practice. the mercedes driver comes into the weekend just one point behind vettel in the drivers standings after winning the last race at silverstone. the build up to this weekend's race has been dominated by drivers comments concerning the new protective halo which is due to be introduced into cars' cockpits next season. for me there is no question. to implement any head protection, for next year, if fia study and develop the halo, then this is the most effective way to protect the head of the drivers. more than welcome in my opinion. at the end of the day, you have to respect the decision of the fia. i think since we introduced the virtual safety car, that reduced a lot of risks when you are speeding. also with the wheel tethers, they are quite strong in the moments i don't think you will lose the wheel very easily. when there are parts

flying around from the car, it's not really going to protect you. i don't really going to protect you. i don't really understand why we should need it. the mind games have begun ahead of england's quarter final against france in the women's european championship. coach mark sampson sez his french counterpart 0livier echouafni is "wet behind the ears" and says his record in tournaments is much better... even though france have beaten england in the last three tournaments. with echouafni claiming they wouldn't be happy to face his team in the last eight. meanwhile england men's manager gareth southgate sez he's not gareth southgate says he's not surprised to see the women doing so well. the work mark samson has done, obviously we work closely together at saint georges park. we are really supportive of what they do, most of the women's team and squad over the last few years as well. they are an impressive group of characters. not only are they good players but they have got a real good team spirit, so i'm not surprised to see them doing as well as they are. there's been more success

for british swimmers in today's morning session at the world championships in budapest. james guy has broken the british record in the heats for the 100m butterfly. guy is the olympic champion in the 200 metres... but failed to win a medal in that event earlier in the week. world 50 metres butterfly champion ben proud also came through his 50m freestyle heat. meanwhile after south africa's chad leclos claimed 200 metres butterfly gold on wednesday... his adoring father bert has spoken to the bbc. le clos senior shot to fame when cheering his son on at the london 2012 olympics... but it's been a difficult time for the family with both bert and his wife finding out they had cancer before the rio games. it was horrendous. horrendous. he got through it, for me, he's a superstar. for me he is a superstar, do have got two silvers. he actually got five golds in rio. in a bonus you were really expecting him tof‘ ! the

especially the freestyle. what i mean is, for him to get mean i:,,,faz7hlm,}g\.qa!.t\ua.,gil\m.zc,... flay, .. . it's like mean icffezahiamjnne!.t\ua.,eil\m.zc,... afla... .. . it's like someone - mean icafezahiamjnne!tummihmxea.. aaa... .. . it's like someone else! mean icafezahiamjnne!tummihmxea.. aaa... .. . it's like someone else getting five golds. the yearly had, honestly, i thank god. going forward. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour “am very aid workers in greece have told the bbc they are dealing with hundreds of extremely vulnerable refugees on the island of lesbos, many suffering torture and sexual abuse at the hands of so—called islamic state in syria and iraq. the european commission has said such refugees should be moved to athens for specialist treatment. charities say thatis specialist treatment. charities say that is not happening. this report from lesbos by our europe reporter. é—i rare footage from a place jeernaliata'are aanneeg'fi it shows tents have been replaced by containers, a reflection of europe's waiting room being made that little bit more long—term for the 4,000 being held on the island. most are destined to return to turkey to apply for asylum from there as part of the eu

migration plan but as they wait for a legal decision, violence, rioting and fires are becoming routine. the camps are full and migrants, though smaller in number, are still making it here by boat. since so—called islamic state started to lose ground, many who've arrived in greece have escaped attention. men tortured by is fighters, women used as sex slaves, some are pregnant here, there's little support and it's worsening the problem on an already volatile island. we're very worried, we think we need to improve the healthcare given to these people. if they're vulnerable they need to be recognised as such and may need to move somewhere where they can get care. the reality is there isn't this care here on the island and they need to move to the mainland to receive it. scars from years of torture, 0sama was once a syrian policeman but was caught by rebel groups and sold to is. he said he was regularly beaten and sexually abused by his captors. "i have so many marks of torture on my body," he tells me, "i've been in captivity for three years, two years locked in one room. i lost my family, i lost my wife,

i haven't seen anything about them. he tells me he was able to escape, hoping for a new life in europe. transition macro it will only rise here, detention. iam here for one year. sometimes i feel if i had been killed in syria it would be better than this, pure humiliation. the greek refugee policy is clear that extremely vulnerable migrants should be taken off the island quickly for specialist treatment in athens. so why are they still here? i would like at this point to remind that 30,000 people have come through the island since march, 2016, so there can be individual cases, some individual cases, where they may not have been processed as quickly. for the moment those needing the most help are still waiting

and with more migrants arriving and the camp increasing, the vulnerable are left to cope in volatile, deteriorating conditions. gavin lee, bbc news, lesbos. let me bring you one line of breaking news. we hear the uk has lifted a ban on carrying electronic devices in the cabins on some flights to the uk from turkey. you might remember there was intelligence that came from washington and some airlines have obviously put restrictions in place on what was allowed to be carried into the cabin, we are hearing that the uk has lifted some of those restrictions on flights from turkey. we will give you more on that as we get information. lots of holiday—makers in turkey at the moment of course. might be a tad easier to entertain the children on the way back. let's return to the resignation of pakistan's prime minister, nawaz sharif — who was forced out after his country's supreme court disqualified him from office for life and ordered a corruption investigation into his family. with me is our pakistan correspondent secunder kermani.

he had to go? a statement attributed to him says he had reservations about this deciding that he would abide by. it was a unanimous decision by a judge in the country's highest court, saying he was not honest in dealing with his corruptions with the enquiry, so therefore yes, once the judges had said that his position was quite unsustainable. having said that, his supporters have been saying that he is the prime minister of the people's hearts, still. he seems to be suggesting he may return to politics. the next elections are due in 2018. there's also the possibility that other people from within his own party will go on to become leaders, prime minister, including some people have suggested his brother. he is chief minister of

pakistan's largest province of punjab. it is possible that someone else within his family could take up the mantle as well. there is a pattern here, isn't there? i read today that none of pakistan's prime ministers have finished a full term. absolutely. no prime minister, it's about to be 70 years since pakistan was created and became an independent country, since then 0prah minister has ever completed a full term. —— no prime minister. this was the first prime minister to ta ke this was the first prime minister to take over in a democratic transition from another democratically elected prime minister. some of his supporters are saying now that, some more explicitly more subtly, but they are saying that the country's powerful military establishment is the real driving force behind these allegations. they have often clashed with nawaz sharif, and they say this is just the latest attempt to try to oust him. though the military has denied that. political opponents of

the prime minister had said, actually this is all part of the panama papers scandal, of global corruption. nawaz sharif is just the latest and perhaps most high profile victim of that scandal. plenty to watch in pakistan. for the moment, thank you. another challenge for theresa may over brexit has been reported by the times this morning. the paper claims ireland's new taoiseach leo varadkar does not like the uk's plans to introduce a high—tech land border between northern ireland and the republic after brexit. but the irish foreign minister has said no proposal has been made for a sea border between the uk and the republic of ireland after brexit. let's speak to jonathan powell, let's speak tojonathan powell, the former chief negotiator on ireland and former staff to tony blair. mr powell, good afternoon. so leo varadkar once the border to be somewhere in the irish saved we believe the times? well there will not be a technological answer to this problem, the notion that we can do it with three red routes or tv

cameras or whatever is absolute nonsense. you're not going to be able to control a 300 mile border which has been the centre of smuggling for centuries by putting in something like that. it will have to bea in something like that. it will have to be a hard border if we are outside the single market, and if we are outside the customs union. theoretically you could have the border across the irish sea, separate northern ireland from the rest of the uk, but clearly that would not be satisfactory for the democratic unionist party and after all it is the dup that is propping up all it is the dup that is propping up this government. so it's not going to happen. you took the words out of my mouth. they're all sorts of practical issues, not least the movement of people across the board and lesser—known goods. but you cannot separate the politics from it7 cannot separate the politics from it? the trouble with this border is, if we go to a hard border as tony blairand if we go to a hard border as tony blair and john major pointed out during the referendum campaign, what you do is reopen many of the questions we thought we had solved in the good friday agreement. it does not mean we go back to the troubles in the violence, but what it does mean as you put an element of political uncertainty back into the question. the question of

identity, essentially that had been solved by the good friday agreement with the people in northern ireland questioning whether they were british or irish, there was no border, they could be whichever they wa nted border, they could be whichever they wanted to be. this raises that whole issue again when we already have a political crisis because of course we do not have a government in northern ireland, this will make it more difficult to head to a solution. but we are leaving the eu and we have to come up with and in its innovative solution. what might you propose? i thought about it quite hard and looked at the various technological answers i don't think any of them work. there is not some clever fix to this. you can have a slightly less hard border by for example staying in the customs union but only really as a palliative measure rather than actually solving the problem. i'm afraid that if you really wa nt the problem. i'm afraid that if you really want to and germany me not to have a hard border but have a frictionless border, the only way to do that is to remain in the single market and the customs union. i'm glad to see the chancellor talking about transitional periods and i

know he has not got quite as far as saying we stay in the single market —— leavers on the market remained the customs union. we have heard it transition up to three years from the chancellor today, do you think thatis the chancellor today, do you think that is enough reassurance that businesses to avoid this cliff edge7 i think the chancellor is very sensible trying to get some reassurance, some continuity or away of planning for the future. the longer the transitional period is the better. we need a lot more clarity that the transitional period will have to mean actually staying in the single market and free mood of people as well as free movement of people as well as free movement of goods. we have not yet got to that stage but at least he is fighting the good fight inside the government. we heard from the prime minister appalled at the other day, starting to have doubts about brexit, whether it is going to happen. that will alarm some on the brexit side, what do you think? are there some insurmountable problems here7 there some insurmountable problems here? i have been saying for the last year and half but i don't think brexit will actually happen in the end because people will change their minds. they will change their minds because when they see the realities

of this, the irish border is a very small issue, but the negotiations are going, they may well want to reconsider. i was in brusselsjust the other week and i do get the impression that the european side can see the weakness within the government at the moment. michel barnier says we do not know what we're doing, we're too late to the table with our deals, there is a lot of spin here from the european side. we are giving too much credit, aren't we? obviously there are spin from both sides. the problem is, we do not seem to have prepared papers. it seems to be as a negotiator, that's what i do for a living, i see the eu and the commission turning up with prepared papers positions which they make public, and the british side seems not to be turning up the papers were responding to papers but down on the table by the commission. the problem with that is the commission drives the negotiations, we are always reacting rather than having ideas. if we carry on like that, we don't seem to be properly provided about having a year to do

so. provided about having a year to do so. i think negotiations could grant a very shambolic end and very quickly. we only got the papers on the calculation from the european side last week. you are saying that we should have put our calculation forward bias? some people would say that's not very smart negotiation. in my experience, if you want to succeed in negotiation you try to frame the negotiations. the way you do that is by being the first one to put forward the proposal rather than reacting to a proposal from the other side. if we believe we do not there was much of the commission says, we should've put down the calculation is in the current system we have for making regulations rather than they have. we simply have to do a watered—down version of what they have propose now rather than actually having our own proposal. to sum it up, which is interesting, you actually saying that what we should do is put our maximalist position right out there at the front, everything on the table, then negotiate from that? and that's not happening? not necessarily a maximalist position. i'm saying we should have a view of our own when we want the negotiation to go. looking at successful

negotiations, i have been involved with german unification with chancellor kohl, he defined the question at the start, set out the opposition, and that's what happened in the end the german unification. the soviets, east germans did not respond to that. there were always reacting to what chancellor kohl said. south africa likewise. unless you are the people of the daniel proposal at the beginning, you will not be the people who define the outcome. they give your thoughts. raf fighterjets are playing a key role in a nato air policing mission in eastern europe. four typhoon aircraft from coningsby inlincolnshire have been based in romania since april. they're patrolling skies around the black sea amid tensions with russia. there have been increased fears of russian aggression since the crimea peninsula was annexed by moscow in 2014. almost 150 raf personnel have been deployed to the region. from romania, phillip norton reports. a daily sight and sound at an

airfield close to the black sea. raf typhoon fighterjets, airfield close to the black sea. raf typhoon fighter jets, armed airfield close to the black sea. raf typhoon fighterjets, armed and ready for a day policing the skies of eastern europe. just 250 miles away, more than 400 military aircraft have been amassed in crimea. working alongside the romanian air force, the crimea. working alongside the romanian airforce, the raf ‘s role in this they commission codenamed operation biloxi is to reassure the people who live here. this really is nato showing, we are forced to be reckoned with. we are here to deter, thatis reckoned with. we are here to deter, that is ourjob. we are peaceful, but we are secure in the skies. i have will air force control working with remaining controllers in a bunker near bucharest. if they see something on the radar, they will tell skies to scramble and we will go on intercept and find out what i got this. this operation is taking place 24 hours a day, seven days a week. typhoons are flying every single day, as part of this policing

operation. more than 140 m men and women from alexa communications are here in support. there is no npower without ground power. it is true, there is a lot that goes on behind there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make sure that the squadron can do what they need to do when they need to do it. you get a feeling inside that you've done something towards the wider world. normally when you are sat behind a desk you don't see much of the outside world. here you hear the typhoons going off and it helps coming towards the ground, you get a feeling inside, happy feeling. the possible threat the pilots could face is real. earlier this week typhoon was scrambled to intercept to russian bombers, flying over the black sea. it's a busy part of the world at the insecure injury and military terms. it's common knowledge the russians are being very assertive, particularly in this pa rt very assertive, particularly in this part of crimea and the ukraine which

is only 250 miles away. there's a lot of activity out there, hence imparts to bolster the collective security. this five—month mission will be taken over by the canadian air force will be taken over by the canadian airforce in will be taken over by the canadian air force in september. will be taken over by the canadian airforce in september. but it's likely the raf will be back here next year. philip norton, bbc news. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour, but first the headlines on bbc news: officials believe that at least 60 buildings have failed a fire safety test which analysed insulation and cladding — like those at grenfell tower — the bbc understands. chancellor philip hammond, says any transitional deal in the immediate period after brexit must end before the next general election. another blow for donald trump as the us senate fails, for a third time, to overturn president 0bama's health care policy. in a moment... in the business news: more figures out on the american economy.

it's pace of growth has increased dramatically over the last six months. for the first three months it was growing at a rate of 1.2% a year. in the second three months its grew at a rate of 2.6% a year. barclays has set aside an extra £700 million to meet compensation claims for mis—selling payment protection insurance. the news came as the bank said costs related to the sale of part of its africa unit had pushed it into a £1.2 billion loss in the first half of the year.

of growth recorded in the first three months of the year and goes some way to meeting the 3% growth target set out by the us president. samira hussain is on wall street for us. she seems to have disappeared! country hear us? yes you can.|j she seems to have disappeared! country hear us? yes you can. i can absolutely here. i can even talk about those numbers. have a go. these numbers are regrettably strong. they are. -- incredibly strong. it really says that what happened in the first three months of 2017 was really just an anomaly, the first three months of 2017 was reallyjust an anomaly, that it was a lot to do with the winter months and people not going out and spending as much. fast forward to the last three months of this year and we really saw spending go up.

there were two areas, consumer spending, so household people spending, so household people spending more money. we are also seen spending more money. we are also seen business spending, businesses are investing more in big—ticket items like equipment, and that's really been a big boost to the great numbers which is why you are seeing such strong numbers for the last three months of this year. lochwinnoch market reaction have we got to that? i imagine people are thinking about higher interest rates and things like that. when we're talking about higher interest rates, the consensus has always been that we are going to be seeing one more rate rise sometime this year. when we look at these gdp figures, the growth figures, this is really in line with expectations, so there are no real big surprises here. a lot of economists were expecting some strong numbers to come, the expectation as this will not change the direction for the federal reserve and us central bank. thanks

so much for that. let's have a quick look at the markets. the ftse is down, dow down 21. unimpressed by those numbers. nasdaq down 28. more analysis on that in an hour's time. that's all the business news. a line of breaking news to bring you. three former police officers who are facing charges in connection with the hillsborough disaster are a p pa re ntly with the hillsborough disaster are apparently asking for public funding for their legal fees, that includes former chief superintendent david duckenfield was facing the charge of manslaughter and former superintendent donald denton, and former detective chief inspector alan foster. we are told at the moment no decision on funding has been made. we will try to bring you a bit more about this afternoon. for 75 years, an underground network of railways was used by royal mail to move post around the capital — but in 2003 the system was abandoned. well now it's reopening, as a tourist attraction — members of the public will be able to take a unique ride

through tunnels previously travelled by only parcels and letters. tim muffettjumped on board. throughout its 500—year history, the royal mail's mission has remained pretty much unchanged. newsreel: now down the chute into the vans... to harness technology of the day to deliver letters and parcels as quickly and accurately as possible. this new postal museum shows how deliveries have evolved. but by the early 20th century, the mail system in london faced two big problems — heavy fog caused by smoke billowing from chimneys, and heavy traffic. the answer lay below ground. in 1927, this underground rail network opened. newsreel: on the post office tube railway, 25,000 mail bags a day travel through 6.5 miles of tunnels below crowded city pavements... for 75 years, unmanned trains shuttled mail between six sorting offices and two railway stations, liverpool street and paddington. a bit of a squeeze.

i guess it was designed for letters, not people. exactly right. the service was stopped in 2003 but passengers will soon be able to ride specially—adapted trains through the tunnels. it was a really important part of moving the mail and speeding up the process. it was essential to allowing that communication to happen quickly and to get that mail delivered as quickly as people needed it. in 2003, the service stopped. its running costs were deemed too high. transporting mail above ground was considered more cost effective, even though some disagreed. this is one of the mail platforms, where the trains would have stopped and the mail would have been loaded into containers. it almost looks like it was abandoned. it pretty much was. the equipment was all left down here, newspapers and things like that still laying around, all the trolleys, the trains were still down here.

soon to become a quirky visitor attraction, for some the mail rail has been underappreciated. the postal service is really the first social network, keeping people in touch, allowing people to stay in touch over distance and quickly, and it was important, the speed was important, and that's what mail rail was about, speeding the system up. tim muffett, bbc news, 70 feet below london. a good holiday option! nick miller has the weather. eastern parts of england have seen most of the sunshine today, sunspots will break the 20th seltzer this —— the 20 celsius margin. rather patchy rain in the midlands but spreading across more of wales as we go through the afternoon. some of us will see a very wet spell of weather into the evening, and as we go through the evening this area of rain from wales, parts of the midlands and northern england where

away heaviest, spitting southwards through the night. holding onto showers affecting the west of northern ireland and scotland through the night. a brisk breeze. elsewhere with the exception of the odd shower it does turn dryer, temperatures around 15 degrees. many of us in england and wales will be driver a time, on saturday, showers continuing to affect all and especially in the west. an area rain never far away from the south coast, started to lift its way northwards as we go through the afternoon into saturday evening. this is bbc news. the headlines at 3:00 — the bbc understands cladding and insulation used in at least 60 tower blocks will be deemed to have failed a new fire safety test. the chancellor, philip hammond, says any transitional deal in the immediate period after brexit must end before the next general election. he says there is broad agreement in the cabinet on this matter. the us senate has rejected plans to repeal president 0bama's flagship health care reforms, delivering a major blow

to president trump. rubbish piles up in the streets of birmingham, as workers step up their industrial action. collections have already been disrupted for weeks. also in the next hour — we're on patrol with the royal air force. four raf typhoon jet fighters have been deployed to romania as part of a nato mission to patrol the black sea region. and london's underground railways used to move post around the capital, but now it's visitors who can ride the mail rail.