tonight at 10: the government wants business as usual on the irish border, after britain leaves the eu. the prime minister says people and goods should be able to cross between north and south as they do now. we do want to ensure that we don't see a return to the borders of the past, we don't see a return to a hard border. we'll ask whether the government's plans are achievable. also tonight: republicans, including two former presidents, join the condemnation of donald trump for his handling of the violence in virginia. unemployment falls to the lowest level in a0 years — but average earnings still lag behind inflation. also tonight, the bbc talks to child soldiers trained by so—called islamic state — and now living in europe. and, as herfilm about civil unrest 50 years ago opens, oscar—winner kathryn bigelow tells us race relations in america have barely improved. until there's a meaningful conversation about race in america, i'm worried that these events

will keep happening. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news: celtic try to make the champions league group stage for a second season in a row. good evening. after britain leaves the eu, people and goods should be able to move freely across the border between the irish republic and northern ireland, much as they do today. that's the government's ambition outlined in a paper published today. ministers says they want no return to checkpoints and border posts. at the moment there are about 110 million border crossings every year. northern ireland exports £21;

billion worth of goods south of the border, that's nearly a third of all its exports, and imports £2.7 billion worth. critics of today's proposals say they lack credible detail — and have raised concerns that an open border could become a back—doorfor immigration from the eu. our ireland correspondent chris buckler reports from the border, in narrow water. for more than 300 miles, crossing fields and bridges, roads and rivers, there is a political dividing line on the island of ireland. but it is a border that currently cannot be seen, and many want it to stay that way. soft toys and cushions are the latest protest against what's been called a hard brexit. where some kind of barriers could divide towns like belcoo in northern ireland and blacklion in the republic. they are just either side of this bridge and people in areas like this havejobs,

businesses and friends that require them to cross this border regularly. i cross this border quite easily 15, 20 times a day, moving goods sometimes, sometimes just to manage staff, meet different people, whatever is involved in daily work. if there is any sort of checks that slow that down or anything else, it is going to create a lot of logistical difficulties. the government doesn't want to return to the days when border huts and customs posts marked where northern ireland meets the republic. this position paper seemed to dismiss the idea of a return to infrastructure or even cameras at the border. and ministers say they are determined to protect the common travel area. allowing the free movement of people across ireland and britain. ideas and aspirations that will be welcomed beyond these islands and brussels, but ones which raise political and practical difficulties, with claims that it could allow a back door for people to get into the uk. we do want to ensure

that we don't see a return to the borders of the past, we don't see a return to a hard border and that we are able to ensure that the crucial flow of goods and people between northern ireland and the republic of ireland is able to continue in the future. some have raised doubts about the uk's ability to forge trade deals with other countries if it agrees to meet the eu's standards for food and agriculture. and if a customs deal cannot be agreed with the eu, there are questions about what will happen to the billions of pounds of trade carried along these busy border roads. the british government believes technology and online declarations could be used to monitor goods carried by biggerfirms. but there are concerns about smuggling, and the irish government has other doubts. i don't believe the island of ireland issues will be resolved through technology and i think this paper probably also accepts that, which is a step forward and i welcome that.

it does leave you wondering what the border is going to look like and if you are outside of the customs union how you police that. we are no clearer as to knowing what that is going to be, are we? that is because the negotiation now needs to take place. and there is a will to find solutions in those negotiations, because tied up with the politics and practicalities are concerns about the potential impact of peace and prosperity at this, what is currently the softest of borders. chris buckler, bbc news. in a moment we'll talk to our political correspondent alex forsyth in westminster, but first to chris buckler on the irish border. chris, we have heard plenty from politicians today, what is your assessment of what people really wa nt assessment of what people really want here? i think people who live close to this border will share many of the sentiments and thoughts in

this report. the idea that they don't want barriers, they don't want anything that would get in the way of open roads. but you get the impression that a lot of that will depend on the wider brexit deal. at the moment you get the idea that beyond the principles ministers are struggling to explain exactly how all of this would work in practice. however, looking at the detail there isa however, looking at the detail there is a recognition of how important it is a recognition of how important it is to this part of the uk, partly because of northern ireland's land border with the republic, and the eu state, also because of the past. in it they have said time and again there needs to be protection of the good friday agreement and the years of political progress. that is probably particularly true given there is no power—sharing government at stormont because of disputes between the two big parties. they don't agree on an awful lot, including bricks —— brexit and the position paper. the democratic unionist party welcomes the report,

saying it is a constructive step, but sinn fein has described it as a cynical bargaining chip, the peace process is cynical bargaining chip in the negotiation with the eu. you might not be able to see it, but this border is certainly political. alex is in westminster. is there a sense in which these proposals raise rather more questions than answers? the government has been accused of a lack of clarity and confusion over its report into brexit, and it says its report into brexit, and it says it has a vision. i am told the reporter on the island of ireland was not meant to be a technical blueprint but a broad statement of principle. on the commitment to no ha rd principle. on the commitment to no hard border there is alignment between the uk and the eu, but there is scepticism about how that can work in practice. there is concern too about whether it would allow the government to deliver on the referendum result, because a key plank of the leave campaign was about taking back control of uk

borders, and there are some concern that people can travel between ireland and the uk without extra border checks, it could leave a back open teu emigration. we expect more detail about government plans for its immigration policy post brexit, and this is subject to negotiation with the european union. the government says at the moment that it is about principles, the clarity offered today has been welcomed but there is no certainty about the day—to—day reality of life after brexit or even if the government can get agreement on that period in westminster, let alone dublin, belfast and brussels. thank you, alex forsyth and chris buckler. condemnation of president trump is growing, after his comments blaming all sides for the deadly violence in charlottesville, virginia at the weekend. two former republican presidents, george bush, and his son george w bush, have released a joint statement, calling on the american people to reject racial bigotry, anti—semitism, and hatred in all forms. one woman was killed and 19 people were wounded

in the clashes on saturday. our north america editor jon sopel reports. # amazing grace... the memorial service for heather heyer, an anti—racism protestor mown down by a white supremacist in cha rlottesville on saturday. but far from this being an occasion when a nation comes together, america seems more bitterly divided than ever. they tried to kill my child to shut her up. well, guess what? you just magnified her. applause. this was charlottesville on friday night — racist groups chanting "jews will not replace us," carrying ku klux klan style torches and also marching to the slogan "white lives matter." yesterday, the president blamed both sides for the violence that ensued. you had a group on one side and you had a group on the other and they came at each other

with clubs and it was vicious and it was horrible and it was a horrible thing to watch. but there is another side. there was a group on this side — you can call them the left, you have just called them the left — that came viole ntly attacking the other group, so you can say what you want, but that is the way it is. it is true there was violence on both sides. but the race hate protesters had come tooled up for trouble. many carried guns. this is not the army, but a right—wing militia that turned up bristling with weaponry. most had clubs, helmets and shields with white supremacist insignia. the anti—racism demonstrators were not organised, they were mostly local people among whom a small core had come to fight. but donald trump seeming to draw a moral equivalence between swastika—carrying neo—nazis and anti—racism protesters has brought near universal condemnation. the senior republican

paul ryan tweeting... the only significant voice of support last night came from the former leader of the ku klux klan, david duke, who said... there is reported to be deep unhappiness among some senior white house staff over the president's comments. he had not been due to say anything and significantly, a new intervention — this time from two the former living republican presidents george hw bush and george w bush — saying there is no room for bigotry or anti—semitism in today's america. donald trump left new york today to resume his hardly quiet or relaxing holiday. more isolated from the political and business establishment than at any time since

he took office. jon is in washington for us now. it's notjust political opposition, now a number of business leaders saying tonight they want nothing to do with him? dramatic developments, when donald trump became president of one of the first things he did was to set a two bodies, want to advise him on manufacturing and the other to advise him on business in general. they had the cream of the ceos of this country, they were the good and the great. after saturday the president's comments in charlottesville, one president's comments in cha rlottesville, one by president's comments in charlottesville, one by one a trickle became a flood and more and more started to resign, then this lunchtime it started to emerge that maybe the advisory body was to disband itself in

protest at what the president had done. this is a president who used to be the host of the apprentice, he does not get fired, he fires, so he disbanded both of these industry bodies at a stroke saying i do not wa nt bodies at a stroke saying i do not want anything more to do with you. it isa want anything more to do with you. it is a fundamental breach with the business community at a time when donald trump wants to achieve tax reform, greater infrastructure spending. isn't everyone wailing in the white house over this? probably not. yes, the globalists are probably very unhappy at the turn of events. but the nationalists and populists in the white house are probably quietly cheering all that has unfolded over the past few days. it isa has unfolded over the past few days. it is a sign of the dysfunction within donald trump's white house. jon sopel in washington, thank you. the number of people out of work in the uk is now at its lowest level in more than a0 years. there's also been a slight rise in average earnings. our economics correspondent andy verity is here with the details. jane. yes — if you look at the total number of unemployed people — it's 1.48 million.

part of the reason it's such a low rate — 4.4% — is because it's a smaller and smaller percentage of an ever—growing workforce — 32.1 million people. now with the unemployment rate that low — in theory wages should take off — because employers need to pay more to attract staff and workers have greater bargaining power. that hasn't been happening. pay rises did improve slightly — the average was 2.1%. but we used to take it for granted that pay would rise faster than inflation. that changed in the wake of the financial crisis, when pay rises — that's the blue line here — fell behind price rises — so we couldn't buy as much. in 2014 pay rises improved. but this year they flopped back again below inflation. in spite of low unemployment, earnings in real terms are shrinking. they call it the wages puzzle. the paradox is we've got super—low unemployment right down to the level that would normally cause an acceleration of wages,

but it's not happening. it's not happening here and it's not happening in any country in the developed world, even with low unemployment. for companies like this upmarket motorbike maker, the tight labour market won't be solved by offering higher pay. it simply can't find enough skilled staff to meet demand for the bikes. at the moment, i can't drive the growth as fast as we're able — bizarrely, not because of models or orders or finance, but people. and it's super frustrating that we can't get the skilled staff to come in and take advantage of the orders that we have. companies used to be able to afford inflation—beating pay rises because every year, each worker produced a little bit more per hour, helped by investment in new technology, training and skills. but that growth in productivity has been absent in 2017. today's figures also show something interesting about the flow of workers into the ukjobs market. 3.56 million people working

in the uk are non—uk nationals. that number is still rising — but not as quickly as it has been. in the first three months of the year it grew by 207,000 compared with a year before. but in the second quarter it went up byjust 109,000. that's a sharp slowdown. jane. andy, thank you. a brief look at some of the day's other news stories. the labour mp sarah champion has resigned as shadow equalities minister, after apologising for an article she wrote in the sun newspaper. in the article she wrote that, "britain has a problem with british pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls." the mp for rotherham said she used an extremely poor choice of words. tens of thousands of people have greeted the hms queen elizabeth as she sailed into her home port of portsmouth for the first time this morning. the 65,000 tonne ship, which took eight years to build, is the royal navy's largest

ever surface warship. it can't currently deploy planes, but flying trials are due to begin next year. a group of robbers used sledgehammers to smash their way into a london jewellers this morning. footage captured the men leaving the shop and escaping on mopeds. scotland yard said nobody was injured in the raid. no arrests have yet been made. a week of national mourning has begun in sierra leone, in the wake of the flooding and mudslides that claimed many hundreds of lives near the capital, freetown. officials say more than 100 children are among the 400 people who are known to have died when part of a mountain collapsed onto a settlement. and at least 600 people are still missing. from freetown, martin patience reports. in freetown the ambulances are rushing not to the hospital but to the main mortuary. they are ferrying the dead — victims buried alive by a landslide. the relatives wait outside

to collect their bodies. the stench of death is overpowering. emotions are raw. bishi lost her sister. daniel wasn't home when disaster struck. but he tells me six members of his family are dead, including his wife. they died, they died. the grief and anger is tangible here. this is a nation mourning the loss of hundreds. and rescue workers say that authorities are hampering their rescue efforts. this gaping scar was once a neighbourhood. now a landscape changed forever. it's the scene of a recovery operation on the hoof.

diggers have been drafted in but there are no sniffer dogs, not enough body bags. the fear is disease could spread unless hundreds of corpses are found. a trickle of aid is getting through but many, like adama, are now homeless. i've lost everything, she tells me. martin patience, bbc news, freetown. so—called islamic state is collapsing in the middle east and attention is turning to fighters returning home, some of them still very young. it's believed at least 2,000 children have gone through is military training. the group calls its child soldiers the lion cubs. the bbc has discovered that some of these boys and young men are now living in europe — with the authorities unaware of their past. 0ur middle east correspondent quentin sommerville reports

on how is cultivated, controlled and sent children into battle. this is childhood in the so—called islamic state. this footage, filmed secretly in raqqa and passed to the bbc, is of what is calls the cubs of the caliphate. they are child soldiers, barely teenagers. clumsy and armed to the teeth, there are guns are almost too big for them. even as is is collapsing, it's investing in its future. it's a slow and steady defeat. this was is‘s capital in iraq. mosul‘s old city is now in ruins. this is where the is war machine suffered its biggest defeat, but it isn't the end of them. here, the fighters honed their skills. this was their training ground. imagine fighting in this and then surviving.

well, some did, some escaped, and some have made it to europe. we travelled to belgium, and there we met ahmed. he joined is when he was just 15. translation: they taught me how to use a kalashnikov. we stayed for seven days in mosul. they would keep talking about martyrdom operations. i was brainwashed, and i believed it. i told my family, you can't change my thoughts, and no matter what you do, i'm going to stay. he became disillusioned with is and escaped first to turkey, then to europe. the authorities here don't know about his past. translation: they were my enemies, now i'm living among them. eating and drinking with them. they've received me and looked after me. when all this happened, i started to hate my entire past and decided to establish a new life. he's not alone.

we travelled to germany, where we met moutassem. again, his youth means his is membership has gone undetected here. he was one of many groomed by the group. translation: they would give us whatever we wanted, and they would tell us that we are the best, that we are right and all the others are wrong and must fear us. they would also allow us to carry weapons wherever we go. for two weeks, he underwent military training and was schooled in sharia law. he was assigned to an is media unit. others, though, volunteered for suicide missions. translation: they prefer children to adults because they can use them to bomb between civilians. nobody would expect that 3111 or 16—year—old boy would bomb himself. both teenagers that we met say they've turned their backs on is. but as we travelled across europe,

we learned of at least three more young fighters living here. we approached the eu police force europol, but they declined to comment. europe is still vulnerable, but it's here where the journey begins. 0n the turkish border, syrian refugees can still slip through, scrambling past sea rchlights and guard towers. near the border, i met a people smugglerfrom raqqa. he's one of many still operating. he helped one of the boys make it from is territory to europe in only a month. translation: i've helped many, a huge number. the route is getting worse. it used to be easier back in 2014 and 2015. now the situation is more difficult due to the presence of us backed forces.

you have to go through the kurds, the rebels and the borders. it's difficult. is is not yet defeated. its territory is shrinking and its supporters fleeing. these are the final days of the so—called caliphate, but still the islamic state is no less of a threat. and amid these ruins, they leave behind a legacy. hundreds of child soldiers and a new generation of hate. quentin sommerville, bbc news, mosul. thousands of low paid workers are to receive more than £2 million in back pay as a result of tax investigations by the government. around 230 employers were found to have paid workers less than national minimum wage. among the worst offenders was the retailer argos who were fined £800,000. thousands of extra care home places will need to be created in less than 10 years,

in order to cope with the growing number of frail older people. researchers at newcastle university say england will need an extra 71,000 home places by 2025 — because people are living longer, and many need substantial help in their last years. here's our health editor hugh pym. scroll down to messages for me. you're never too old to learn. ida, who's 92, is being shown how to text at this it class for older people. she feels she's making progress, though sometimes, it's hard to remember everything she's learned. your memory doesn't retain things. sometimes, it gives you a few minutes, then it comes back and — oh, i remember what it was! so, you know, you just have to work hard at that. the aim of the class at the abbey community centre, in north london, is to help the learners live independent lives and make some friends along the way.

what this new research highlights is that while living longer can bring more opportunities, it can mean declining health — and that means a greater need for care. the report predicts rapidly increasing demands on a system which is already under great pressure. the care needs of the over—65s have doubled over two decades. men now require 2.4 years of substantial care on average, women will need three years. so the report says 71,000 extra care home places will be needed in england by 2025, on top of the 220,000 in 2015. care providers say they need to know about official plans before trying to create those places. we need to create capacity and this

is something governments have failed to do up until now. sir andrew dilnot says the government needs to come up with something urgently. we need to spend more of as a nation. some of that needs to come from individuals and some from the government. what the government most needs to do is come up with a clear strategy. staying fit and staying healthy are the priorities for many in retirement. some will live many yea rs in retirement. some will live many years independently, some will need social care but the challenge for them and society as a whole is to work out who will pay for it. the actor daniel craig has put an end to months of speculation. willie return as james bond? guest—macro. yes. speaking on an american chat show last night, he did stress that his fifth appearance as 007 will be his last.

the film is due for release in 2019. the film detroit focuses on the civil unrest and riots that took place in the us city 50 years ago. and as we've reflected tonight, the recent protests in charlottesville show america continues to grapple with racial tension. detroit stars the british actor john boyega, and is directed by kathryn bigelow, the only woman to have won the best director oscar. it had its uk premiere tonight, as our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba reports. every direction you go to, you can see fires. north, south, east and west. 1967, news coverage of detroit, torn apart by race riots — the subject matter of the new film. this week, charlottesville, a situation today that resonates with kathryn bigelow‘s historic movie. even though the story takes place 50 years ago, it feels, sadly, very much like today, and therefore tomorrow. and until there is a meaningful conversation about race in america, i'm worried that these events

will keep happening. hey, fellas. melvin dismukes. i am with united security. i'm guarding that grocery store across the street. the movie centres on one tense and brutal night in the city. the story's moral conscience — a security guard played by john boyega. it's so weird, the timing and everything, but i think now this makes this movie very necessary for perspective and also to see just how little has been done and to hopefully spark a positive conversation. of course, the film world itself is far from perfect. detroit's director kathryn bigelow remains the only woman to win a best director oscar. but this year, there have been breakthroughs. at the cannes film festival, sofia coppola won best director. and wonder woman, directed by pattyjenkins, has become one of the year's biggest hits. so much more needs to be

done, but wonder woman is an incredible step forward. and i think it is simply a glass ceiling that's in the process of shattering, but perhaps not as quickly as we would like. the oscar's academy too has been changing, bringing in new members, like boyega. the academy to me represents huge influence — the voice of the industry — and it's very important for that voice to have a diverse perspective. ijust hope there is a move forward because, yeah, i think were done having this conversation! laughter. detroit is also aiming to be part of that conversation. a film that feels both historical and all too relevant to today. lizo mzimba, bbc news.