this is bbc news, i'm julian worriker, the headlines at ten: french president emmanuel macron says he must provide more clarity over its negotiating position on brexit. the uk's credit rating has been cut over concerns about public finances and fears brexit could damage the country's economic growth. tens of thousands of people downstream from a failing dam in puerto rico have been told to evacuate in the wake of hurricane maria. hundreds of thousands of people sign a petition calling for a decision to strip cab—hailing app uber of its licence in london to be reversed. also in the next hour, record membership for the national trust. five million people across wales, england and northern ireland now pay to be members of the trust. and coming up in half an hour, the travel show heads to the greek islands. good morning and welcome to bbc news.

theresa may must be clearer about what she wants from brexit before the eu can start trade talks, according to the french president emmanuel macron. monsieur macron said three key issues must be agreed. the rights of three million eu citizens living in the uk, how much the uk will pay on leaving, and the future of the uk—irish border. it's the first response by a european leader to the prime minister's speech yesterday in florence, in which she suggested a two—year transition period after brexit, meaning the uk would finally break away in 2021. brexit secretary david davis is heading to brussels for the next round of talks with the eu negotiating team on monday. our political correspondent leila nathoo reorts. theresa may came here to florence to try to unblock the brexit negotiations. with warm words about an exciting partnership ahead, a pledge to honour

written‘s commitments to the current eu budget, and promises to guarantee the rights of eu citizens in the uk, she hopes she's done enough to kickstart the talks. she appears to have struck the right balance, appeasing tory leavers and remainers alike by pushing for a transition period where security, trade and immigration rules remain the same, but insisting it would only last a couple of years. there should be a clear double lock. a guarantee that there will be a period of implementation, giving businesses and people alike the certainty that they will be able to prepare for the change and a guarantee that this implementation period will be time limited, giving everyone the certainty that this will not go on forever. brussels and eu leaders gave the speech a cautious welcome, praising what they saw as the constructive spirit and a show of realism. but there was a demand for more detail. the prime minister's speech has generated some goodwill.

the test will come when brexit talks test will come when brexit talks resume on monday. leila nathoo, bbc news. our political correspondent susana mendonca is here. in terms of the cabinet we are seeing a united front. of course, borisjohnson had written an article about how britain should not contribute to the eu to stay in the single market, but now saying he is supporting theresa may's speech. we have got philip hammond, who has been very much an advocate of a softer brexit, also talking about it being an excellent speech. so a moment for the cabinet to come together after what has been quite a divided time. in terms of the party more widely, role... remain mps have been positive, but brexiteers are

quite worried. for example is, bernard jenkin, owen paterson, concerned about that two year period during which we would still effectively be within the european union, the same trade rules and what have you. so also concerned about the comments that we have had from europe thus far, which have not been as positive, perhaps, as team—mate might have hoped that this speech would have led to. on the emmanuel macron, his message seems to be it is good as far as it goes but i still want more. he was talking about the need for more clarity, and the key areas, three key areas that the key areas, three key areas that the eu has said from the off, you know, before we get through those, we're not talking about trade. and thatis we're not talking about trade. and that is the future of european citizens in britain, the terms of exit in terms of the financial terms of exit, payments into the budget, and also the question of the irish border. in terms of that speech that he may gave yesterday, she talked about how britain would meet its

financial obligations, but no detail on the numbers. what is being suggested is this idea of a 20 billion euros figure, which we would pay for two years, but that does not go as faras pay for two years, but that does not go as far as the eu would want, so until those issues are really addressed, it is difficult to see how the eu would move forward. we have obviously got negotiations, the next round, next week, and theresa may was hoping that the warmer style, i suppose, would give the eu the impression that the uk now wants all would help to progress what has been seen as being deadlocked in those negotiations.” been seen as being deadlocked in those negotiations. i was going to say, it will be interesting to see, not so much were the talks begin, but the press conference afterwards. it is always about the relationship between the two, often david davis comes out seeming very positive, then we hear from comes out seeming very positive, then we hearfrom michel barnier, perhaps not so much. we will see how things go in terms of the chief negotiator, he to be, i suppose, a

little bit less open with his views of what has gone on in the discussions. with david davis, we might get more detail. susana, thank you very much indeed. the ratings agency moody's has downgraded britain's long—term credit rating. it says it made the decision because of the economic uncertainty caused by the brexit negotiations and the likelihood that the public finances would become weaker. downing street said the firm's assessments were outdated. well, jessica parker spoke to alistair wilson from moody's to ask him why the credit rating had been downgraded. we have downgrade uk for two reasons, firstly because we no longer have confidence that the uk government plans to bring the debt load down will come to fruition, and secondly because of the economic impact that we think brexit will have. another factor we have impact that we think brexit will have. anotherfactor we have taken into account is the distraction that brexit will pose to policymakers. the decision was made earlier this

week, before the prime minister made his speech in florence about brexit. downing street says your findings are outdated, what do you say to that? i have read the speech, it doesn't change our view at all. it is certainly not outdated, it reflects a medium—term view of what we think will happen in the uk economy, and in the physical sector as well. it is not outdated. do you welcome at the prime minister said on friday? in some respects, yes, this is a recognition that a transitional arrangement will be needed, that is a positive feature from a credit perspective. we and many others have said for a long time that it will not be possible to put in place alternative trading arrangements between now and the first half of 2019, so some form of transitional arrangement will be needed to avoid the risk of the eu. the prime minister and government 110w the prime minister and government now recognises that, and that is positive in that respect. moody's

have already downgraded us once this year, could we be downgraded even further? the stable outlook on ratings is there to illustrate the fa ct ratings is there to illustrate the fact that we think it is unlikely that will happen over the next 12—18 months, or even beyond that. let's put this into perspective, the uk has the third highest credit rating in our arrangements. this is a very strong credit, very strong economy, very strong government balance sheet, and most importantly very strong institutions. they are very positive factors in our assessment of the uk. reaction to that decision by moody's. let's return to our top story this morning. the french president, emmanuel macron, has said britain must give more clarity about its negotiating position on brexit before talks can be held on trade. jonathan isaby is editor of brexit central, a website dedicated to news and analysis of britain's exit from the eu. what did you think of the content and tone of the speech yesterday?”

thought it was very clear, frankly, she brought forward the position that britain is leaving the eu, no questions about that, definitely happening, but also that we want to have a productive, friendly relationship with our european neighbours after brexit has happened. there has been a bit of a vacuum over the past few months, not least because the prime minister herself as says she doesn't want to write a running commentary on what is going on, and when you get a vacuum, it is filled by speculation, sometimes unhelpful media speculation about what is going on. soi speculation about what is going on. so i think restating the government position, which is what she did, because there was not a great deal new, moving on from what she said at lancaster house elliot kear, but restating the position was important, making very clear that there will be a transition period. —— what she said at lancaster house earlier in the year. the most important thing was the promise to honour commitments made during the

period of our membership, which obviously relates to the fact that she foresees the british contributions towards the european union budget for the end of the seven—year cycle which ends in 2020. she has not put a figure on that, though. you would not expected to do that, it is a matter for negotiation, and negotiations continued next week in brussels. it isa continued next week in brussels. it is a very congregated —— congregated thing, because people forget to talk about eu assets, and as a country which has contributed for a0 odd yea rs, which has contributed for a0 odd years , we which has contributed for a0 odd yea rs, we have which has contributed for a0 odd years, we have a claim on those too. cloudy on the fact that the uk is leaving, but concerns for those who wa nt leaving, but concerns for those who want us to leave moral quickly. —— clarity on the fact. article 50 has been invoked, and that set the clock ticking on that. but papers are saying this has put brexit on hold. during the transition period, it

will be a halfway house, which i am sure will not satisfy everybody, but the prime minister wants to provide clarity and certainty to businesses, andindeed clarity and certainty to businesses, and indeed people at large, about the position is that we're in. and it is going to take a while to unpick a0 years of european union regulations and laws, which have been foisted upon us over the period of membership. thank you very much indeed, we must leave it there. the polls have closed in the new zealand general election, with prime minister bill english fighting to stay in office after a closely fought campaign. opinion polls had put mr english, of the conservative national party, neck—and—neck with his challenger jacinda ardern, who only took charge of the centre—left labour party last month. let's speak now to chris chang, who's a reporter for tvnz news based in the capital auckland. how is the counting going as far as you know? well, to date, as you say,

the national party is on a6% with just over 30% counted, labour was well behind on 36%, and although the national party has yet to start any sort of celebration, some political experts here are predicting that they could be in a stronger position to govern alone, which would be a unique situation for new zealand, as you probably realise. new zealand often has to have a coalition to make a government, and that takes weeks, so it will be interesting if that doesn't have to happen after tonight. if we are looking at a win for the national party, perhaps by more than the polls were suggesting, was there anything in the campaign to indicate that might happen? certainly in late polling, national started to pull away again, but the

jacinda effect, as they are calling it, certainly many thought labour could take it this time. jacinda ardern did have the support of the youth, the labour party offered to pay for tertiary education for stu d e nts pay for tertiary education for students in new zealand. cheering and applause we're just seeing the christchurch central polling, which is where we are, and the labour candidate is going to go against the tide and perhaps take away this seed for labour. we will leave it there, thank you very much indeed. some quite exuberant new zealand voters behind her! tens of thousands of people in puerto rico have been ordered to immediately evacuate an area because a dam is threatening to burst. parts of the 90—year—old barrier have been broken

by the weight of water after days of heavy rain following hurricane maria. andrew plant reports. after days of heavy rainfall, severe damage to this dam has sent torrents of water searching downstream, causing flash flooding four miles down river. 70,000 people in several populated areas told to evacuate from here, but information from puerto rico has been unreliable, and it's unclear how many people are still in danger here. is everybody ok in that house? it is already being called the worst storm for a hundred years, many roads underwater, with cars submerged, and those who stayed in their homes sheltering on the upper floors from the deluge and damage down below. do you have enough food and water? translation: there is a lot of damage, a lot of flooded areas. we need to work together, but yes, there is a lot of devastation. with

homes destroyed and power supplies down, puerto rico is suffering the effects of hurricane maria, the second devastating storm to tear through the caribbean this season, with homes and streets under water, families forced to evacuate to higher ground. the main priority is water, food, blankets. there are great damages all around the whole island. filmed from a rescue helicopter in winds up to 150 mph, these people we re winds up to 150 mph, these people were rescued from the surrounding seas, stranded on a capsized boat, adrift in 20 foot waves. the us coast guard, helped by the british royal navy, winched them to safety, but already here the death toll is in double figures and expected to rise. donald trump has said the us territory has been totally obliterated and has made federal emergency aid available. puerto rico's governor said damage to the island's electricity grid

was so severe that it could take engineers many months to fully restore power to the island. andrew plant, bbc news. time for the airlines on bbc news, emmanuel macron says the uk must provide more clarity of its negotiating position on brexit. the ratings agency moody's has downgraded britain's long—term credit rating. the government has said the assessment is outdated. tens of thousands of people living downstrea m tens of thousands of people living downstream from a failing damn in puerto rico have been evacuated in the wake of hurricane maria. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's mike bushell. good morning, nice to see you! now it's one of sports great rivalries — two sides of glasgow, meeting for the first time this season in the scottish premiership. it's been a bit one sided, recently — in fact, celtic have lostjust once in their previous 58 league matches. brendan rodgers has a record of five

wins and a draw from six matches so far. i have enjoyed all of them, of course, in different ways. you have got the league games, the cup games, record victories at ibrox. so they are all really, really special games, games that myself and that she really look forward to. the early kick—off in the premier league, is west ham against tottenham. the hammers mexican striker, javier hernandez, has arranged for the shirts of both teams to be auctioned off to raise money for the earthquake relief fund in his home country. his west ham manager, slaven bilic, knows his side have their work cut out today, because he thinks spurs are title contenders. for me, they are the team that plays the most attractive football, definitely one of the contenders to win the league. they have energy,

pattern, individual quality, they have got pace, and they have got the tea m have got pace, and they have got the team that has been building for three years now, i think. for us, it isjust follow for us, it is just follow our way and try to win. of course, we know very well what it means for our fans, to play in west ham, and we will try to stay and be ready to compete, fight, and to be aggressive and try to win, because in the end of the most important thing is try to win the three points. the years of sacrifrice will seem worth it tonight if britain has another boxing world champion. hughie fury, the cousin of tyson, is aiming to claim the wbo heavyweight belt. his opponent is the undefeated joseph parkerfrom new zealand, who's won every single one of his 23 fights. fury, who's unbeaten as well, is only 23 years old, but has been through numerous setbacks, injuries and illnesses along the way. now he says he's ready. it is like a new lease of life for

me, that is why i am super confident going into this fight. i believe 100% that no—one has seen this hughie fury before, and i'm just so excited to show the world what i can do. and you can hear commentary of that fight on bbc radio 5 live from 10:30pm this evening. lizzie deignan is hoping to become the world road—race champion later today, just four weeks after having her appendix out. she won the title two years ago, but was bed—ridden for 13 days ahead of the world championships in norway and lost two kilos of muscle weight. it's quite bizarre to be in such form, fine form, i was really going quite well, to wake up the next day in a hospital bed, and think, "right, that's it, it's over." and ijust had this small bit of hope that i could make it here, and it wasn't something that i was ready to give up on. the rowing world championships get under way this weekend in florida with 19 british crews taking part over the week—long event. for rebecca chin, who will be part of the british women's eight, the tournament will be chance to put to bed past demons. at the 2008 paralympics,

the then 16—year—old chin was stripped of winning silver in the f38 discus due to an on—the—spot reclassification. chin decided to leave para—sport and instead took up rowing. now, nine years on from beijing, she has her chance at a medal again. even though, obviously, the outcome wasn't what anybody wanted, it wasn't what anybody wanted, it wasn't anything i expected to happen, the experience of the games was still incredible, still competed in the stadium, had all of the paralympic experience, which was incredible, and that has made me really hungry and is determined to go and do that again at the olympics, and like i said, whatever result i have there will stand, and thatis result i have there will stand, and that is something that means a lot. that's all the sport for now. you can keep up to date with all those stories on the bbc sport website. hundreds of thousands of people have

signed a petition to reverse the decision to remove a licence to operate from uber. uber responded by saying that the decision will put more than a0,000 licensed drivers out of work and deprived londoners ofa out of work and deprived londoners of a convenient and affordable form of a convenient and affordable form of transport. we can speak to the labourmp of transport. we can speak to the labour mp were streaking, chair of the all—party parliamentary group on taxis. good morning. this petition is gathering strength, how do you respond to it? well, i understand if you are a uber customer, you will be disappointed by the turn of events,

but my advice to those people is that you are petitioning the wrong people. it is not tfl's faults that uber stands to have its licence revoked. the blame for this tobacco lies firmly and squarely with uber. they have flouted the rules of the road that every licensed operator in london has to abide by, and we're not talking about trivial regulations. uber has received damning criticism from the metropolitan police, for example, for failing metropolitan police, for example, forfailing to metropolitan police, for example, for failing to appropriately handle and report serious allegations of rape and sexual assault in uber vehicles. i don't think that is a way that a fit and proper operator would behave or should behave, so with uber once their licence back and wants to take part in london's taxi and private hire market and be pa rt taxi and private hire market and be part of the competition, they have to play by the same rules as everybody else. so you would like that option to be open to them, if

they reform their ways, you would like them back on the streets? well, of course, because the whole point of course, because the whole point of having a well regulated taxi and privatise industry in london is that we maintain standards that ensure fair competition, but also, most importantly, put passions as safety is paramount. uber flouted importantly, put passions as safety is paramount. uberflouted that. there are wider issues about their business model, beyond the scope of the inquiry led by tfl, and one of the inquiry led by tfl, and one of the reasons why people could enjoy rock bottom fares with uber is they are artificially low because they don't pay their drivers properly, they are leading a race to the bottom in terms of pay, terms and conditions, they don't pay their fairshare of conditions, they don't pay their fair share of tax in the uk, and they are saturating the market with huge and others of vehicles to drive out competition, and they are able to do that because the huge amount of venture capital behind that. it isa of venture capital behind that. it is a much wider debate about the future of the economy, the so—called gig economy, and the way in which we enforce better standards across

that, but in terms of the scope of tfl's decision, they have got uber bang to rights. is it not, though, true to say that there was a substantial gap in the market before they came along because, in the minds of quite a few people, black ca bs to minds of quite a few people, black cabs to expensive? gap well, that is a premium product, the driver has undertaken a most extensive training, the knowledge, of any taxi driver in the world, they know all the short cuts, you do pay a bit more for that. you pay a lot more for that, don't you? there is no doubt that trade has to become more competitive, in fact they are already are, which is why you have got innovations like a whole range of apps for black taxis. you can pay by credit card in a vehicle, and i sure there will be further innovations, because they have to be competitive, and the industry is up

for that, but we have to have a fairly regulated industry where people abide by the rules of the road, and uber has been found wanting. i mentioned 40,000 people signing the petition, what you say to the view that this woman says, she is annoyed because uber allows her to get out of what she calls uncomfortable situations if he is out at night. people like that are going to be left in limbo here. well, the good news is that the taxi and private hire industry has moved on in london, there is a whole range of apps now that have those same features of getting you from one destination to another, where you know the driver's name, you have got the number plate, but what i would say do viewers who are concerned about safety is that they should be even more concerned about the fact that there have been instances of alleged rape and sexual assault in uber vehicles which they have not properly reported to the metropolitan police. safety has got to be paramount, the regulator is

doing itsjob. if uber customers or drivers are angry about this situation, don't blame the regulator for enforcing the rules — let's blamed the company that flout them and tell them to back their ideas up so and tell them to back their ideas up so they can take part in the industry with the same rules as eve ryo ne industry with the same rules as everyone else. thank you for coming on, were streaking, labour mp. uber are appealing the decision. iran says it has successfully tested a new ballistic missile, in defiance of us president donald trump. the launch of the missile, which has a range of 2,000 kilometres, was shown on state tv. the test comes just days afteertrump, speaking at the united nations, attacked iran's missile programme and its nuclear deal with the west. the two main party leaders in germany will make their final appeals to voters today before sunday's elections. chancellor angela merkel‘s centrist party have a clear lead in the polls. in what is now a familiar picture across europe, both mrs merkel and the social democratic leader, martin schulz, are urging voters to shun the anti—islam, anti—immigrant rhetoric of right—wing candidates

that have gained support in the run—up to the election. the national trust has a record five million paying members — that's more than any political party or football club. but despite the booming membership, the organisation has been criticised for being too powerful and too old —fashioned. our correspondentjon kay has been speaking to the charity's boss to find out what's being done to change that view. stourhead in wiltshire. one of the most popular of the national trust's 500 properties. across england, wales and northern ireland, five million people now pay to be members. it is quite an overwhelming moment... the chairman told me he is amazed to have gained

an extra one million members in the last three years. so why does he think so many people arejoining, especially when household budgets are tight? many people spend time on a couch, time on their screens, we live a fairly sedentary life, many of us, and a life that is full of noise and activity. so we visit to a trust property can be a tonic. you get open air, real beauty, not virtual beauty, and you get some peace and quiet. but the last year has not always been peaceful nor quiet for the national trust. it has been accused by some of being too politically correct, and decisions like a controversial land purchase in cumbria have also been attacked. your critics would say you are too big as an organisation. you throw your weight around in communities, and you have been accused of bullying and arrogance. how do you reassure them?

we are not a bullying organisation, i can assure you of that. we aim to make sure that we sit in the middle of different situations where we have people who are living at our properties, we have many farm tenants, many people who interact with the trust, and we try to be fair. it is inevitable, with so many interactions, occasionally but our goal is to make sure we do the very best thing for the nation and all of the properties that we look after. there is always criticism of the national trust that it is old members, middle—class, white wealthy people. we may have a disproportionate representation of people who come from one background, but we are genuinely trying very hard to make everybody welcome at a trust property. we are enjoying some modest of success in that regard.

how? it takes time. is there more to be done? there is always more to be done. next month, members will vote on whether to ban trail hunting on national trust land — an issue that has been divisive, sometimes acrimonious. it goes to the heart of what this charity stands for and where it is going. jon kay, bbc news, stourhead. let's check on the weather forecast with helen willetts.